"Are you telling me that no one knows who the Tauseniggans are?" General Hammond looked around the table at the various individuals. The only people who knew about what really happened just past Jupiter sat around the table trying their best to come up with answers.
"The Tokra have no knowledge of such a Race." Selmac/Jacob Carter admitted.
"Nor do my people," Thor added. "And, I am still curious about the name of the ship."
"It is a very odd name." Teal'c agreed. "What is a 'Post Dated Check Loan'?"
"It's something that I just don't feel like trying to explain right now." O'Neill replied.
"But you do understand the reference?" Teal'c asked.
"Sure."
"Interesting."
"Why interesting?" O'Neill asked.
"I think what Teal'c is trying to say, is the term in question is recognizable to humans." Daniel elaborated, "And Captain Harris does sound like a Terran name."
"So Daniel," O'Neill replied, "have you ever heard of a Tauseniggan?"
"No," Daniel admitted, "Although the name sounds familiar for some reason."
"So we're back to square one." O'Neill shook his head, "We need the answers to three questions."
"Three questions, Sir?" Sam Carter asked.
"Who the hell is this Harris and What the hell is a Tauseniggan Thunderhead Superfortress, and how can I get one."
"Sir?"
"C'mon Carter." O'Neill leaned back in his chair. "Something that can kick Goa'uld butt like that, of course I want one."
"Of course," Sam rolled her eyes.
"Uhm, Sir." A young airman entered the room. "I know you didn't want to be disturbed, but Colonel O'Neill has a priority message."
"From who?" General Hammond asked.
"Uh, that's the weird part." The Airman admitted, "It just appeared on the computer. I don't recognize the name, but I really think you want to see it."
"Okay," O'Neill nodded, "Things couldn't get any weirder today. Forward to the conference room viewer."
"Yes sir." The Airman saluted.
"So," O'Neill said as they waited, "How do we..."
"Uh, Jack?" Daniel interrupted him, "You need to see this."
"What?" O'Neill glanced down at the screen, then did a double take. On the screen was a picture of a Mothership Bridge. Anubis stood dead center, backing away from whoever took the picture. Around him various Jaffa were looking in shock at the camera. On the bottom of the picture, someone had penned a message. "Dear Colonel O'Neill. Thought you might like to see the looks on the faces of the Goa'uld just before the Boom. Signed, Captain Harris of the Tauseniggan Thunder Superfortress Post dated check loan."
"Oh for crying out..." O'Neill stopped as he noticed Daniel and Sam looking amused. "Something funny?"
"It's just," Daniel started, "It's just something you'd do, Jack."
"He's got a point, Colonel." Sam agreed.
"Okay, so this 'Captain Harris' has my sense of humor." O'Neill chuckled, "I just wish Anubis had a face so I could see the look on it. How in the hell did he get this picture?"
"What I want to know is," General Hammond stated, "how did he get this image sent?"
Xander chuckled softly to himself as Petey sent the image to Stargate Command. "Hey Petey. What's a Stargate anyway?"
"I'm not 100% certain, Captain." Petey replied, "From the verbal descriptions, I've ascertained that it was a miniature version of a Wormgate."
"So the military has access to a FTL transport system?"
"More than one." Petey pulled up the schematics for a small, well smaller than him, starship. "This is the X-303 Prometheus, the first Terran built Starship."
"Nice," Xander examined design, "They should have called it Enterprise."
"I believe that was Colonel O'Neill's first suggestion." Petey noted. "Apparently they still have a few problems with the power throughput in the engines. The fuel source they are using requires a buffer to allow the FTL engine to work properly. I've already come up with a modified version of their design that is less prone to disruption by external forces. I've even come up with several new alloying techniques that Stargate Command can use to improve the structural integrity of the X-303 design."
"You did that al..." Xander stopped, suddenly remembering just how smart Petey was. "You've been busy."
"Not really." Petey sighed. "Rebuilding the ship didn't take very many computing cycles. So I ended up accessing several of you communications satellites to keep myself occupied."
"Including the Military ones." Xander smiled. "Any other dirt you can dish?"
"Hmm," Petey reviewed the pertinent data. "A government Black Ops unit known as the N.I.D. has a research facility under the University of California, Sunnydale location."
Xander gaped in shock at the Hologram, "Okay, see now that's the kind of information you need to get to me A.S.A.P."
"Construction only started a few months ago, Sir." Petey replied, "I used their surveillance satellites to pinpoint the work being done. They're using a fraternity house as cover."
"Frat boys." Xander shook his head, "That's... That's not a bad cover."
"I assume you wish me to continue monitoring them."
"Yeah," Xander nodded, then he remembered something that slipped his mind during the attack. "Hey, where are the Jonathan and Andrew?"
"Inside one of the labs," Petey replied, "I had to shoo them away from Commander Andreyasn's room twice already."
"Please, tell me they're not playing with something explosive."
"Of Course not sir." Petey looked affronted. "They're working on a teraport."
"Oh, that's..." Xander choked on his own words. "You're letting them play with a teraport? They could wind up porting themselves to Mars."
"One can only hope." Petey smiled.
""Petey," Xander sighed and thought about what to say, "This is a direct order, I want you to consider every person I've brought abroad this ship so far, as a member of your crew. Is that clear?"
Petey visibly deflated, "Does that mean I can't want someone to blow them out an airlock?"
"No," Xandger grinned. "Lord, knows, I've wanted to do it a couple of times since I met them. Just don't actually do it. Okay?"
"Yes, sir." Petey replied.
"Can you make sure that they don't actually send themselves, or anything else into deep space?" Xander asked.
"I'll inform them that you wish for them to stop playing with the Teraport." Petey pouted. "They'll just get into something else."
"Just make sure it's not something dangerous." Xander nodded. "And don't bother with wounded puppy dog eyes. I've been worked over by expert in that. I'm pretty much immune to anyone else."
"Yes, sir." Petey sighed. "I hope you realize sir, that not even Sgt. Schlock was as annoying as those two. At least the Toughs antics were amusing."
"I appreciate your patience, Petey." Xander told him, "Anything else, before I get back to the tutorial?"
"I'd like permission to begin incorporating the Prometheus design hyper-drive into my systems."
"Why? Xander frowned, "Isn't the teraport faster?"
"Yes," Petey acknowledged, "However, having a back-up is always a good idea."
"Right," Xander nodded, "You can maintain all of this equipment right?"
"Of course," Petey nodded emphatically. "I've also examining the wreckage of the Goa'uld ships. They have completely different approach to shielding. I'm going have to devote a few free cycles to analyzing it."
"Sure thing," Xander nodded absently, finally he sighed, "Petey..."
"Yes, sir?"
"Can you break this tutorial down into words I can understand?"
"Of course, sir." Petey smiled, that one of the things Petey liked about his new Captain. Tagon had been a passably good leader, a decent tactician and was becoming a good friend but he did have a tendency to believe he had all the answers. Xander Harris was willing to admit to his limitations. Petey realized that Captain Harris was actually prone to underestimating himself at times.
"I suppose I'll have to work on that." Petey thought, "Can't have a indecisive Captain."
"God damn it!" Jack O'Neill cursed as the latest round of answers came in. None of the races they'd encountered had ever heard of a Race called the Tauseniggans. "This is insane."
"Sorry, Jack." Daniel shrugged. "We'll just have to keep looking. Maybe I read the name in an old manuscript."
"Right," O'Neill shook his head, "An old manuscript about a 'Tauseniggan Thunderhead Superfortress'."
The Airman delivering messages dropped them in shock. "Sir, did you say Tauseniggan Thunderhead Superfortress?"
"Airman?" Sam turned to eye the young woman. "Have you heard of a race called the Tauseniggan?"
"Sir," The Airman stiffened, "If you've been given information about such a race, then you've been the victim of a practical joke."
"Explain that remark." O'Neill frowned.
"The Tauseniggan Thunderhead Superfortress is from an on-line comic, Sir." The Airman looked worried, "It's called 'Schlock Mercenary', Sir."
"Schock..." Daniel frowned deep in concentration. His eyes widened in realization and he snapped his fingers. "Now I remember."
"Daniel?" Sam asked. "Remember what?"
"Tauseniggan!" Daniel replied, "I was on-line a few weeks ago. One of my old colleagues mentioned that series during a on-line discussion. He said it was one of the funniest things he'd read in a while. That's where I heard the name before! I wasn't really paying attention because it had nothing to do with main discussion."
"What was the URL for the comic?" Daniel asked. After the Airman answered, he turned to one of the computers that had an outside link. Typing in the URL, he found himself at the main site. A quick search of the archives revealed another answer and a big question. "I'll be..."
"Jack," Daniel turned the screen to O'Neill. "Meet the 'Post Dated Check Loan'."
"Oh c'mon." O'Neill sat back in exasperation, "What kind of idiot names his ship after a fictional..."
O'Neill caught Sam staring at him archly. He glared at her, "That is not the same thing!"
"Petey," Xander examined the grey and blue vehicled sitting in the hanger. "What's this?"
"That's your new vehicle, sir. I've already added the registration into the State of California computers." Petey replied, "I patterned it after a vehicle in use with your military."
"Whoa, A Hummer." Jonathan said as he and Andrew entered the bay, "Civilian design, or military specs?"
"Neither," Petey replied, "I fabbed the entire structure out of Carbonan Fullerene. It's equipped with a annie power plant, inertic compensators, gravitic shielding and a gravity drive control system."
"Cool." Andrew looked inside. "This thing can fly?"
"Yes." Petey didn't elaborated, not wanting to encourage Andrew's questions.
"Petey," Xander sighed, "I can barely understand how to control *this* ship. I can't possibly learn to fly this hybrid."
"You won't have to," Petey's voice came from inside the Hummer, "I can fly it for you."
Xander stuck his head into the Hummer, the inside dash was heavily customized, including what looked like a radar display. But it was the small antenna like holo-link that got Xander's real attention. "You've got a node copy of yourself in here?"
"Of course," Petey replied, "I intend to take every precaution in keeping you safe."
"Oh wow!" Andrew gushed, "You're KITT!"
"Kit?" Petey asked. "A baby cat?"
"No." Jonathan was geeking almost as badly as Andrew. "The Knight Industries Two Thousand."
"Knight Industries?" Petey frowned, "I can find no reference for a company called..."
"Petey?" Xander frowned, Petey stopped in mid-sentence, something he'd never done before.
"I found the reference." Petey said flatly. "I know I was just insulted."
"Insulted?" Jonathon retorted, "KITT was the coolest car on Television!"
"I'm being compared to the AI of an 80's action series." Petey glared at the duo. "And only you two would think that was cool."
"Petey..." Xander warned.
"He started it." Petey pointed at Andrew.
"I don't believe this." Xander sighed. "Drop it, everyone."
"Yes, Sir." Petey looked sullen. "Are you sure...?"
"No, Petey."
"Maybe just Andrew?"
"PETEY..."
"Understood, Sir."
"What was he talking about?" Andrew asked about Petey.
"You don't want to know." Xander replied. Climbing in the Hummer, he examined the interior, "So we fly back to Earth?"
"Of course not," Petey's voice came over the link, "I've equipped this vehicle with a teraport. And I'm currently monitoring the garage at XWB Technologies. We have an open window to teraport in without anyone seeing it."
"Let's get home." Xander told Petey.
"See you two tomorrow." Xander told the Duo as they headed home.
Taking the Hummer out of the garage, Xander turned to head for L.A. and the hotel where Buffy and her mom were staying. As he drove down the street, Xander asked. "Okay Petey what other toy's do you have in here?"
"Hey sweetie." Buffy waved as Xander got out of his vehicle. "New ride?"
"Yep," Xander grinned as he pulled the Slayer into a hug, "An armored, teraporting version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. All courtesy of Petey."
"Can I drive?"
Xander blinked, "I'm an idiot."
"Because I want to drive your car?" Buffy asked.
"No," Xander laughed slightly, "I should have thought of this sooner."
"C'mon, you can drive."
Buffy laughed as she took the keys from his hand and dashed for the driver's seat. Xander chuckled as he opened the passenger side door and slid in.
"Petey," Xander said once they were on the road. "Pull up the most popular car designs for this year."
"I have the designs, sir."
"Put the images onscreen." Xander ordered.
On the dash a holographic display popped showing ten images of various automobiles.
"I've limited the display to the ten most popular cars." Petey replied.
"Wow," Buffy leaned over to look at the display. As she did so, her hand tugged the wheel slightly, sending the Hummer into oncoming traffic.
"BUFFY!" Xander shouted as the car corrected and slid back into the proper lane.
"Don't worry. Captain." Petey reassured him, "I can compensate for Miss Summers' driving."
"Thank god." Xander sighed as Buffy examined the cars.
"Why did you have Petey pull those up?" Buffy asked, slightly hopeful.
"Pick one." Xander told her.
"What?" Buffy's eyes widened.
"Pick one," Xander repeated, "or pick any thing you'd want. I'll have Petey fab one with a node clone to help keep you safe."
"For me?" Buffy's smile warmed Xander.
"For all of you." Xander told her. "The Government's got a secret military installtion setup at Sunnydale U. I've got to stop letting Tagon's memories cloud my decisions."
"Okay, that was a 'huh?' comment right there."
"Kaff Tagon was a soldier, a Merc." Xander explained, "For him, vehicles were just tools, to be issued out when the mission profile warranted it. I didn't even think about getting all of us cars till you asked if you could drive, I should have."
"You can't think of everything." Buffy smiled, "I always wanted a 1966 Corvette."
"Petey?" Xander asked.
"I have the specifications for that model." Petey replied, "Any particular color?"
"A Corvette should be red." Buffy stated.
"Noted." Petey replied.
Xander opened the glove compartment to reveal a keyboard, and started typing. "Okay, Petey. I want you to start work fabbing Buffy's car and the other seven vehicles I've got listed."
"Yes..." Petey's voice trailed off, then he whined. "Captain. You can't be serious about those two. Please?"
"Petey, Just build the vehicles." Xander ordered. "Oh and make those two exactly like the one's I've typed in, Okay?"
"I'm doing this under protest." Petey told Xander. "I hope you realize that, Captain."
Xander typed some more and Petey voice brightened. "Oh! Yes I can do that! And Captain Harris..."
"Yes, Petey?"
"You have my eternal gratitude."
"No problem, Petey."
"Okay, Xander." Willow said as Giles and Miss Calander joined the group. "We're all here. No what's the sitch?"
"Nothing much." Xander grinned.
"Xander..." Willow looked over at the matching grin on Buffy's face. "What's going on?"
"Like I said, nothing much." Xander walked over to where a large cloth curtain hid part of the garage. "I just thought you might like to see your new cars."
Xander pulled the curtain down, to reveal five cars and a van sitting side by side. As everyone looked on in shock, Xander held out a set of keys to Oz. "The van's yours."
Willow frowned at the green Aerostar, the color scheme looked really familiar to her. Then she recognized it. "Xander!"
"Huh." Oz saw the name 'Mystery Machine' stenciled on the side of the van. "Cool."
"I don't mean to sound rude." Miss Calander told Xander, "but isn't that a bit... conspicuous?"
"A little," Xander agreed. "I'll explain in a sec."
"Buff." Xander pointed to a Blue Honda Accord, "That one's for your mom. It's not as heavily equipped as the others."
"Giles." Xander held out a pair of keys to the Scoobie's 'Father figure'. "I think you can guess which one is yours."
"Couldn't you have gotten him a grown up car?" Buffy asked as she glared at the Citreon.
"That's the only Citreon in the world that can break maneuver faster than a Lemans racer and take on a Abrhams tank."
"Miss Calander." Xander held out the keys to a car that looked exactly like her current vehicle. "This one's yours."
"Herbie is mine right?" Willow asked.
Xander grinned. "I remembered how much you liked that movie, Will."
Xander walked over to where the last two cars were still hidden by a tarp. "Jonathan, Andrew. These are yours. I'll let you two fight over who gets which."
He pulled away the tarp to reveal a 1980's black Trans-am and a red Dodge Viper. "The instruction manuals are inside, with the exception of these two, all of the cars have node clone of Petey as the control system."
"Why not?" Andrew asked, still drooling over the Trans-am.
"Because the two of you really irritate Petey." Xander told them. "So I had Petey install a pair of new AI's into your cars. They're not as advanced as he is but I think you'll like them."
"Guy's." Xander told the two cars. "Introduce yourselves."
"I am the Knight Industries Two Thousand." The black Trans-Am introduced itself.
"And I am the Knight Automated Roving Robot." The Viper reported.
"What's going on?" Colonel O'Neill asked as he entered the conference room.
"Just a few hours age, we received another message from Captain Harris." Sam told him, "You're not going to believe what he's sent this time."
"I'll bite," O'Neill picked up the folder. Inside was a complicated diagram of what looked like part of the Prometheus. At least, like what O'Neill could remember of the ships designs.
"What is this?" He asked as he turned diagram upside down.
"That, Colonel O'Neill, is a blueprint of the buffer that allows the use of naquadria in our Hyperdrive." General Hammond told him.
"And?"
"I sent the diagrams over to the designers of the X-303." General Hammond picked up a folder, "According to them, there is a change in the design that allows for higher power output and a more stable energy flow."
"Sir, do you remember what happened when we hit those gravity disturbances?"
"Yeah," O'Neill nodded, "The buffer blew out, and then we almost blew the ship up."
"Well," Sam continued, "This redesign compensates for that. I'm not sure how we missed a fix like this one."
"Don't knock yourself out, Carter" O'Neill told her. "Thing's tend to look obvious once it's pointed out to you."
"This doesn't bother you, Colonel?"
"General," O'Neill paused to gather his thoughts, "are you referring to the fact that this Captain Harris has access to designs of the Prometheus or that he fixed something we've been working for over a year with no success?"
"Because if it's the latter." O'Neill continued, "Harris apparently has a ship or ships capable of destroying a Ha'tak cruiser, fixing our problem was probably simple for him."
"And the first issue?" Hammond prompted.
"Sir," O'Neill, "He sent a priority message over a super-encrypted channel with no trace of how he did it. I've been worried about his access to us since then."
"I see." Hammond nodded, "And that's why you, Dr. Jackson and two of our computer technician's have been pouring over the message forum for the comic strip?"
"Uh, well." O'Neill hedged a bit, "Daniel's just fascinated with the 'unique structure of dialogue that anonymous exchanges bring'. I just thought..."
"Admit it, Jack." Daniel said from the doorway. "I've caught you chuckling at those comics. You think they're funny."
"Okay," O'Neill flopped down into one of the chairs. "It's funny."
"You just like the image of a group of armed troops stomping their enemies." Sam told him.
"That too." O'Neill nodded.
"Hey, Xander." Andrew said as he peeked into Xander's office.
"What's up?"
"I think there's something wrong with KARR."
"Why," Xander frowned, could Petey have made a mistake in programming the AI?
"Every now and then the sunroof starts opening and one of lights on the dash starts flickering."
"I think, I'd better take a look at KARR." Xander headed for the door, "I'll talk to you later, Andrew."
Inside the XWB garage, Xander pulled up a diagnostic of KARR's systems. All systems registered green, just as he suspected they would. "KARR?"
"Yes?"
Xander shook his head slightly, he'd never get over how much like the 'real' KARR this AI sounded. "Want to explain to me why you keep trying to eject Andrew out the roof?"
"No."
Now Xander sighed, trust that AI to go for the direct approach. "Okay, then *tell* me why you keep trying to eject Andrew."
"I was attempting to preserve my sanity." The AI replied, "Unfortunately the Loyalty and Asimov Circuits that the Post Dated Check Loan installed allows me only abortive attempts."
"Aha." Xander nodded, "Got it. Look, I'll see about getting Andrew a new vehicle. In the meantime could you please be patient with him."
"If I must." KARR didn't sound happy about it.
"Thanks," Xander headed back to his office.
Once back in his nice comfortable chair, Xander opened his link to Petey and asked, "Petey, how did you program the AI's for KITT and KARR?"
"As close to their personalities from the series as possible." Petey told him. "May I ask why do you want to know?"
"Sure." Xander smiled.
Petey waited maybe a pico-second before rolling his eyes and saying, "Why are you asking?"
"Because KARR has taken to trying to eject Andrew whenever he's driving."
"Hmm, a little under month." Petey frowned, "It took him longer to break than I thought."
"WHAT!?"
"Captain," Petey informed Xander, "Andrew Levinson is a very annoying individual. Especially to an AI, I estimated that based on his programming, KARR would attempt to do away with him within two weeks."
"And programmed him that way anyway." Xander frowned, "Petey, were you disobeying my direct orders?"
"Of course not sir." Petey held his arms up defensively. "I even installed an Asimov circuit to insure that KARR couldn't hurt Andrew."
"I'm not too sure I like the idea of KARR not being able to hurt anyone." Xander frowned, "Sooner or later, he's going to have to actually defend one of us. And..."
"I wouldn't worry about that, Sir." Petey reassured him, "The Asimov is subservient to the Loyalty circuit. If anyone tries to hurt a member of the crew, KARR can take whatever action is necessary."
"That isn't very reassuring." Xander shook his head, "If I remember correctly, KARR was about as subtle as a wrecking ball."
"I have made a few modifications to his personality." Petey remarked. "He is a bit more of a team player."
"Good," Xander nodded, "Petey..."
"Yes, sir?"
"I need you to start working on a new AI. One more suitable for Mr. Levinson."
"That may take a while, Sir."
"A while in your time, or mine?"
"Mine." Petey replied, "Although..."
"What?"
"I could just use the duplicate file of ennesby that I made when he entered my systems."
"You've got a copy of..." Xander thought about it, "He'd work. But, you'd better install a loyalty circuit."
"Of course." Petey agreed. "And the vehicle?"
"Hmm," Xander thought about Andrew's tastes. "A 1980 Ferrari 308 GTSi. Make the default color red."
"I'll get right on it."
"Oh, I almost forgot." Xander picked up some notes Willow left him. "I was wondering if you have the capability to survey the Mars surface?"
"Yes, sir. Is there something in particular you want me to look for?"
"A spot were we can set up a permanent base. With the possibility of Terraforming later."
"Certainly sir." Petey nodded.
"I want a bolt hole in case charlie ever dances the foxtrot here."
"A wise decision sir."
"Lieutenant, You said you have something to report about the Harris case?" General Hammond waited as the young officer shifted nervously.
"Ye... Yes sir." The young man nodded. "We collated all of the data from the 'Schlock Mercenary' website. There were several people with either the first or last name of Harris posting on his forum. There was one interesting one."
"Oh?" O'Neill straightened up in chair, "Why?"
"Well for one thing, all but one of his messages were posted from public internet access sites."
"What about the one that wasn't sent through a public site?" Sam asked.
"We don't know where that one came from." The Lieutenant admitted. "Who ever it was spoofed the system and left false return code. The best we could come up with, it originated somewhere in California."
"So it's a dead end?" O'Neill asked.
"Maybe not," The Lieutenant replied. "Sergeant Davis did a bit more digging, and found something. A company called XWB Technologies in Sunnydale California. Extreme cutting edge, just founded about a year ago. The name of the president of the company is one A. Harris."
"What do they make?" O'Neill asked, "I mean the term extreme cutting edge doesn't mean anything if your talking about toasters and blenders."
"They don't make anything." The Lieutenant replied, "But every few months, a new patent is filed in their name and a bidding war for the license goes on. We're using some one of their designs right now."
"Oh?" O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"The new radios transceivers."
"The radios? The ones that weigh half the old ones, have twice the effective range and can compensate for most atmospheric disturbances." O'Neill asked. "Those radios?"
"Yes, sir." The Lieutenant nodded. "XWB has come up with a few totally new designs but mostly they take some piece of existing technology..."
"And improve it?" O'Neill shook his head. "Nah, couldn't be that easy."
"We can't just ignore it, Sir." Sam reminded him. "Even it does sound way too obvious."
"I agree," General Hammond told them, "SG-1 has three missions up. Once they're done, I want your team to head to California and investigate this A. Harris."
"She's perfect." Sunday told her minions as Willow walked back to her dorm. "Her room-mate just dropped out and her boyfriends gone on some trip. "Let's take her."
"What?" Willow suddenly found herself surrounded. "What do you want?"
"Dinner." Sunday told her as she and her minions 'vamped out'.
"Oh," Willow flexed her right hand in a specific pattern, triggering the flexible barrel of the goober gun hidden inside her coat sleeve.
"Hey," One of the less intelligent looking of Sunday's minions asked. "Aren't you going run? Or maybe scream?"
"Why?" Willow asked as she activated the helmet of her armor and pointed her arm at the lead vampire. "I'm not afraid of you."
"What?" Sunday managed to say before she was hit by a glob of sticky green material that quickly immobilized her.
"Hey how did..." The not too bright minion managed to ask before he too was securely wrapped up.
The remaining vamps tried to jump the young hacker but were quickly send sprawling by the disguised powered armor she was wearing. Several blasts of goober rounds later, all of them were cocooned and helpless.
"What the?" Riley Finn waved his team to a halt in the dark alley. Ahead of them a young girl was being targeted by HSTs. What followed threw the entire team for a loop.
"Did you just see what I saw?" Forrest asked.
"If you mean that girl with the weird mask going Spiderman on those HSTs. Then, yeah." Graham replied, "What the hell is that green stuff?"
"I don't' know," Riley told him, "Maybe she's an HST as well." "What's she doing now?"
The team watched as the girl pulled something from inside her jacket and pointed at the HSTs. There was blinding flash of light and all that remained of the HSTs was a scorch mark in the grass.
"Okay," Riley decided, "TASERs on full. We'd better take..." An odd thrum sound filled the alley and all of the Initiative members fell over out cold.
As Riley Finn came too, he realized, from the blackness, that either he was either blind, blindfolded or in a totally dark room. The tight wire like feeling around his wrists informed him that his arms were securely bound in front of him. As he reached up to check for a blindfold, a distinctive click made him freeze.
"Make one more move towards that blindfold before I tell you to. And I'll blow your head off."
"Who are you?" Riley asked.
"And where the hell are we?" Graham asked to his right.
"I'm going to do the talking," The Voice told them, "And once I'm satisfied that *you* understand the ramifications of what I'm saying. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll answer your questions."
"First of all," The Voice asked, "How stupid can you Initiative goons be? You almost attacked one of my team doing her job."
"What?" Riley was really confused now.
"You heard me," The Voice told him, "*my team*. As in you yoyo's aren't the only group in town. Second, are those uniforms, your idea of low-profile? For Pete's sake, you might as well wave a big flag saying, 'We're black ops!' around."
"Now, you can take those blindfolds off."
As Riley did so, his eyes were briefly dazzled by the room lights. He blinked to clear his vision, then blinked again when he saw exactly where he was standing. Directly in front of them was what looked like the helm of a hi-tech ship. But what really got Riley's heart beating was the sight of the Earth floating out the main window.
"What the?" Riley's voice trailed off as he noticed the slightly greying uniformed man glaring at him. He snapped to attention when he saw the Colonel's insignia on the man's uniform. "SIR!"
"Forget it, Agent Finn." As Riley reacted the man smiled, "Yes, I know who you are."
"Sir?" Graham asked cautiously looking out at the Earth. "I... Who..."
"My name is Colonel Jack O'Neill." The Colonel growled, "Where you are, and what unit I belong to is beyond your Clearance Level. I'm going to give you a direct order, you tell Maggie Walsh the next one of her boys targets anyone wearing that type of mask? I'm going to use this ship to put a crater where your little frat house is. Do you get me?"
"Yes sir!" Riley swallowed hard. "I get you, sir."
"Good," Now the Colonel smiled, "Have a nice trip."
"Wha...?" Riley started to ask when a flash of light and a feeling of disorientation passed over him. When the feeling passed, Riley and the team found themselves on the roof of their Fraternity.
"the hell was that?" Riley finished.
"I don't know." Graham said. "How did we get here?"
"I'm kinda hoping that this was nothing but a really bad dream." Forrest said softly. "And any second now, I'm going to wake up in bed."
"No such luck," Graham told him. "What do we tell Professor Walsh?"
"Exactly what the Colonel told us to say." Riley told them, "She's has to know that there's another agency hunting HSTs in this town."
After the Initiative team vanished, Xander stepped onto the bridge. Wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes, he said. "Okay, Petey. You can switch back now."
"Thank you, Sir." Jack O'Neill vanished, to be replaced by the familiar koalaoid form of the Post Dated Check Loan's AI. "Was that about what you wanted?"
"You were perfect, Petey." Xander sat down in the command chair. "Um, Petey... Why did you build a copy of the Prometheus?"
"Confusion, Sir." Petey told him, "The Thunderhead Superfortress is designed to be a combat carrier as well as a battleship. I decided that a terran based design with the necessary modifications would all me to more easily project force and confuse any attackers."
"I guess that makes sense," Xander shrugged. "How many can your bay's handle?"
"I can easily handle 20 such ships." Petey replied, "But I recommend 10 to allow storage of other ships as well."
"Acceptable." Xander nodded, as he sat there he finally made a decision, "Petey, start work on a squadron of X-302 fighters as well."
"Sir?" Petey looked confused, "The X-302 is very primitive. A standard tank can take one of them out."
"Yeah," Xander grinned, "But we can't give a standard O'Benn tank squadron to SG command."
"A bribe?"
"A helping hand." Xander smiled.
"Hey Mrs. Summers." Xander called as he walked into the house.
"Xander?" Joyce Summers smiled, "Buffy left already, she said you were late."
"Yeah, something came up," Xander sighed. "Plus, I was taking a tour of a new ship."
"Petey's been busy?" Joyce asked, she'd actually taken a liking to the AI on her visit the ship. The fact that it was Petey who fabricated the disguised armor that looked to greatly increase her daughter's life expectancy had forever endeared the AI to Joyce's heart.
"Actually," Xander admitted, "I think he's bored. So where is Buffy?"
"I think she said something about meeting Willow and going over to Mr. Giles apartment."
"Okay," Xander headed back to the door. "I'll contact them on my way there."
"Be careful out there, Xander." Joyce said as he left.
"I always try to be." Xander grinned at her.
As he got back into his Hummer, Xander activated his com. "Buffy?"
"Xander? You're late." Buffy accused him.
"Sorry, there was a situation."
"What happened?" Buffy sounded worried, "Willow told me she took care of a group of Vampires on campus."
"Yeah, I know." Xander replied, "I caught the end of that, but she had witnesses. Besides me, I mean."
"What?" Buffy swore.
"Hey, you kiss me with that mouth!" Xander admonished her.
"You're not being funny." Buffy scolded him, "What happened to the other witnesses?"
"I'll explain when I get there." Xander told her.
"You'd better."
"Agent Finn, this is Colonel Maybourne." Professor Maggie Walsh, told Riley. "He is the government liaison for the Initiative. I want you tell him exactly what you told me."
"Yes, Ma'am." Riley straightened up in his chair. "It started during tonight's patrol..."
Colonel Maybourne listened impassively as Riley recounted every detail of the incident. A momentary flicker of interest or maybe annoyance passed over his face as Riley described the Colonel who 'detained' them. After he finished, Maybourne sat there, staring at him for a long moment then said.
"Describe the interior of the bridge."
Riley described the bridge of the ship as best as he could. Maybourne nodded, and pulled out a pair of pictures. Sliding the first one over to the team, he asked. "Did it look like this?"
Graham nodded as he got a good look at the picture. Next to him, Forrest was doing the same. Riley took his time examining the picture and agreed with the others, "Exactly like that, sir."
"And is this Jack O'Neill?"
"Yes, sir." Riley nodded as he picked up the second picture.
"Goddamnit, O'Neill." Maybourne swore, "What the hell are you playing at?"
"Sir?"
"Nothing. Agent Finn." Colonel Maybourne stood up. "You and your men have been very helpful. Thank you."
"Sir?" Riley stood up as Maybourne started to leave. "What do we do if we see one of O'Neill's people?"
"Stay the hell away from them." Maybourne replied, "I wouldn't past O'Neill to actually carry out his threat."
"Hey, everyone." Xander said as he opened the door.
"Okay, Harris." Buffy stood there, arms folded across her chest, slowly tapping her feet. "Spill."
"Okay, okay." Xander grinned. He explained about following the Initiative team and coming on Willow just before she vaporized the Vamps. As he explained what he did to the team, Willow started to frown.
"Xander," She asked, "Why did you have Petey pretend to be Jack O'Neill."
"Because I screwed up." Xander told her as he flopped down on Giles' couch.
"Excuse me?" Jenny Calendar asked.
"Remember the Goa'uld attack?"
"Sure," Buffy nodded, "Petey blew them up, right?"
"Yeah, but I kinda sent a warning message to the Gouald before I gave Petey the go ahead." Xander answered, "And I kinda called myself Captain Harris of the Tausennigan Thunderhead Superfortress 'Post dated check loan'."
"You didn't. Xander! What if they figure out..." Willow's face paled, "They figured it out."
"Oh yeah." Xander nodded. "Petey noticed several government systems accessing the 'Schlock Mercenary' website. He back tracked them to SG command. Those same computers recently accessed online information about XWB technologies as well. I think they found me, Will."
"So what do we do?" Buffy asked.
"You might think I'm crazy but..."
"We are not going to let a Military agency find out about the Hellmouth!" Buffy shook her head.
"Buffy is right," Giles agreed. "I don't even want to consider the magnitude of..."
"Giles." Xander sighed, "Just hear me out, okay?"
"Look," he continued, "SG command is going to be poking their nose into Sunnyhell any day now. The truth is, I've had Petey investigating the people in charge of the project. And frankly they sound a hell of a lot better than the guys that set up the Initiative. General Hammond the chief bigwig of the SG command is considered to be a real straight arrow in the military circles. And Jack O'Neill, he's unorthodox at best."
"If any government agency has to find out about us," Xander told them. "I think they're the best choice."
"Xander..." Buffy paused thinking about it, "They'd just better not try to order me around. That's all."
"That still doesn't explain why you had Petey impersonate Jack O'Neill." Willow told him.
"Well," Xander smiled, "The NID, the agency that actually created the Initiative, had bumped heads with Jack O'Neill and SG command before. They don't get along, which is another mark in O'Neill's favor as far as I'm concerned."
"Having Petey impersonate O'Neill will send the NID on a wild goose chase. Even if SG command tells them that Colonel O'Neill didn't have anything to do with it, the NID goons will never believe them."
"And it give General Hammond an excuse to send SG-1 here to investigate the incident." Giles caught on, "An excellent diversion."
"Thanks." Xander grinned, leaned back. Buffy took advantage of his position cuddle up close to him. Xander absently wrapped his arm around Buffy shoulder and his grin turned into a peaceful smile.
"So," He asked Willow, "How did the goober rounds work?"
"You sent for us, sir?" Colonel O'Neill asked as SG-1 entered the conference room.
"I just received a very odd message from the NID." General Hammond told them. "They want to know why Colonel O'Neill took it upon himself to kidnap several members of one of their projects and take them aboard the Promthes to threaten them."
"When was this supposed to have happened?" Major Carter frowned.
"Last night." General Hammond told them.
"That's not possible, sir." Daniel Jackson shook his head. "SG-1 only got back from the Tokra homeworld fifteen minutes ago."
"I know that, Doctor Jackson." Hammond told him, "Just like I know that the Prometheus is under going trials near P-1228 to test the new buffer design. The question is..."
"Who could possibly impersonate me and make a reasonable clone of the Prometheus bridge." O'Neill finished for General Hammond. "What about the Asgard? Maybe Thor did something."
"Normally that would be my first assumption too." Hammond nodded, "However, the location of the kidnapping caught my eye."
"Let me guess," O'Neill shook his head, "Sunnydale. Harris again."
"I'm canceling your last mission." General Hammond told them. "You're heading for California."
Colonel Maybourne stood at attention as his superior went over the report. After several long moments, his superior looked up. "Explain your conclusions."
"Sir," Maybourne replied, "I honestly can not believe that it was Colonel O'Neill who grabbed and threatened our men."
"Why? It sounds like something O'Neill would do."
"Because, sir." Maybourne paused gathering his thoughts, "The Prometheus is currently around PS-1228. O'Neill couldn't have taken our men to it."
"What about the new ship? The Daedalus?"
"The Daedalus is the working name of the ship." Maybourne nodded, "But they haven't even finished the superstructure."
"So who did this then?"
"I honestly don't know." Maybourne hated to admit it, "It's possible that it was O'Neill and we've been given misinformation about the Prometheus. But my gut instinct is that it wasn't him."
"I see," Maybourne's superior was about to continue when the ringing of his phone interrupted them. "Hello? I see. Well, keep me informed."
"Sir?" Colonel Maybourne asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Apparently," His Superior answered him, "Your assumption was correct. SG-1 was just ordered to Sunnydale, California."
"I see." Maybourne frowned, "What should I tell Professor Walsh?"
"To keep the hell away from O'Neill!" His Superior growled, "That boy scout will ruin everything."
"Don't worry, Sir." Maybourne assured him, "I'll make sure they know to give SG-1 a wide berth."
"I still think meeting Mr. Harris at his office would be less confrontational." Daniel said as SG-1 approached the house.
"You don't get it, Daniel." Colonel O'Neill shook his head. "I'm feeling kinda confrontational right now."
"Doctor Jackson is correct," Teal'c informed O'Neill, "Confronting someone with access to the technology Mr. Harris has could prove hazardous."
"Oh for..." O'Neill sighed, "All right, all right, we'll go to his office."
About an hour later, SG-1 found themselves outside XWB technologies. O'Neill examined the plain building skeptically. "Doesn't look like much."
"Looks can be deceiving." Sam told him, "Besides, from what I read, XWB prides itself on results not appearances."
"Well..." Daniel waited.
"Let's go beard the lion in his den, shall we?" Sam told them.
"I fail to see..." Teal'c started to say as the entered the building.
"It's just an expression." Daniel told him, "It means facing a strong opponent on their ground."
"I see." Teal'c nodded. "Interesting."
In the lobby of the building, a young woman sat behind a odd desk. It looked almost like the standard receptionist's desk, but instead of being open in the back, it wrapped completely around her. She didn't even look up from doing her nails before saying, "Hi, welcome to XWB technologies. How can I help you?"
"Hi," O'Neill put on his most winning smile, "We're here to see..."
"Xander's expecting you." The girl still didn't look up. She jus pointed to her right. "Just follow the lights."
Sam looked to the right and discovered that under the hallway carpet a series of light flashed trailing down the corridor. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." The girl still didn't look up. "Oh, one other thing... Don't try to go anywhere else. The security cameras are trigger happy."
As they headed down the corridor, Daniel looked up at the camera following their every move. "Jack..."
"Daniel?"
"Did you notice that the cameras have an extra aperture?"
"Huh?" O'Neill looked up and verified Daniel's observations. "That's just great, that must have been what the girl meant by the camera's being trigger happy."
"Well then," Sam said nervously, "Let's not give them a reason to shoot."
"I agree." Teal'c replied. "I am curious about one thing. Xander?"
"Weird name." O'Neill agreed.
"I'd guess that it's short for Alexander." Daniel told them. "A. Harris. Maybe it's a good omen?"
"How?" O'Neill asked.
"Alexander." Daniel continued, "The name means..."
"We're here." Sam interrupted him.
"Here goes." Jack raised his fist to knock on the door, only to have it open by itself.
"Show off." Jack muttered as they entered the room.
"Yeah, well it impresses the clients." The young man that sat behind the desk told him. "You know you're late. I figured you'd be here at least an hour ago."
Jack O'Neill stared in shock at the kid sitting behind the desk. This 'Xander' Harris couldn't be more than twenty years old, if that. "What kind of a joke is this?"
"I kinda figured that would be your reaction." The 'kid' grinned at him. "No joke. I'm Alexander Harris. President of XWB Technologies and Captain of the 'Post Dated Check Loan'."
"Okay," O'Neill eyed Xander, "One question that's been bugging me. Why'd you name your ship after something out of a web comic?"
"That's it?" Xander almost laughed, "That's the only question you've got for me?"
"No." O'Neill replied, "I've got a lot of questions. But I figure that's probably the only one you'll answer."
Now Xander actually laughed, "Well, that's just the ship's name."
"That's a lousy answer."
"Only one you're going to get." Xander shrugged.
"If you're not going to answer our questions." Sam asked, "Then why did you meet with us?"
"I didn't say I wasn't going to answer all your questions." Xander told her, "I'm just deciding which ones I will answer."
"Oh?" Jack eyed Xander, "You think you can predict what we're going to ask?"
"Let's see." Xander pretended to think about it. "I'll bet they're something like; 'How did a kid like you get to be president of this company?, 'How did you get access to Stargate Command?', 'Where did you get the technology to destroy the Goa'uld fleet?', and probably the one Jack wants to ask more than anything else, 'Will I give you access to that technology?'.
"The answer the last one is a qualified 'no' by the way."
"Why not?" Jack asked, "You've seen what we're up against."
"Yeah, I've seen it. I also know that up until that attack, you'd managed quite well without my aid."
"Up until then." Sam nodded, "What happens if it occurs again?"
"Then I'll take action again." Xander told her. "I'm willing to share some of the tech I've got at my disposal. Just not all of it, quite frankly I don't trust you enough."
"Sorry," Daniel interrupted, "But I have to point out. You're the one with the unknown advanced technology. How do we know that you won't try to take over the world?"
Xander stared at the group in stunned shock, he bent over and started shaking. At first, Daniel thought he was crying then he heard a soft sound that gradually grew into a roar of laughter as Xander almost slid out his chair.
"What's so funny?" Jack asked.
"I've been accused of being a dim on occasion," Xander said still laughing, "But no one's ever accused me of being that stupid before."
As SG-1 continued to stare at Xander, wondering if he might be insane. Teal'c asked, "I fail to understand how you would equate Dr. Jackson's question with an attack on your intelligence?"
"C'mon," Xander settled down a bit, "Take over the world? I have enough headaches being the president of this company and we don't actually do anything here. All I do is act nice when the other companies come drooling over our latest designs, and sign off on the business reports Miss Calendar sends me every month. Even then, the paperwork is ridiculous and at least I don't have the problem of some overachiever deciding he wants my position."
Xander's voice trailed off as he noticed the wide eyed stares coming from three of the SG-1 members. Only Teal'c took his rant in stride. "Sorry, that's a bit of a touchy subject, we've never been able to get into the whole 'world conqueror' thingy, it just never made any sense."
"Not if you're a megalomaniacal alien with delusions of godhood." Jack reminded him.
"I suppose," Xander nodded, "Look, the simple truth is, from what I've heard General Hammond is a decent enough sort of guy. But I don't like some of the people he answers to. Not to mention I really don't trust the Tok'ra."
"Why?" Daniel asked him, "The Tok'ra have proven to be valuable allies."
"For now." Xander told him, "Sorry, I've already had my brush with the whole 'I'm technically the same as the bad guys but now I'm on your side' thing. It didn't end well."
"And," Xander continued, "I absolutely refuse to let the NID get anywhere near my ship."
"What do you know about the NID?" Sam asked.
"Pain the ass, Secret Ops unit." Xander shook his head, "Doesn't care about anything but their little projects. They've got one in town now, causing problems. I was this close to rounding them all up and dropping them on the moon."
"Do you need any help?" Jack asked.
"Sir!" Sam shook her head, "Don't encourage him."
"Oh, that reminds me." Jack frowned, "thanks a lot for dropping that mess on my shoulders."
"Sorry," Xander did look a little apologetic, "But you're the best choice to cause confusion at NID HQ."
"I guess," Jack nodded. "I don't get what the hell the NID is doing here in the first place."
"I can help with that." Xander told them, and asked, "Are you sure you want to know? Cause, you'll sleep better if you don't."
"I'm sure," Jack told him.-
"Then meet me at the Sunnydale University coffee shop at six pm." Xander told him, "And I'll show you something that will turn your world view inside out, never mind upside down."
"We'll be there." Jack nodded and motioned his team out.
"Sir?" Sam asked as the left the office, "Are you sure about trusting him?"
"Not, here." Jack glanced at one of the cameras. "I wouldn't put it past him to have microphones attached to those things."
"Actually." The Brunette told them as they entered the lobby. "The mikes are built into the light fixtures. Although if I ever find out that little dork has cameras in the Women's bathroom, he's going to be eligible for the Vienna boy's choir."
Daniel and Jack winced at the venom in the girl's voice. As they left the building, Sam noted. "She's pretty outspoken for receptionist."
"In actuality," Teal'c informed them, "I believe that the report mentioned that every employee of XWB techonologies is a stockholder."
"They've got a stockholder playing receptionist?" O'Neill shook his head. "I don't get it."
"It was in the report, Sir." Sam remembered, "The four principle Shareholders are R. Giles, A. Harris, W. Rosenberg, And B. Summers. They own sixty percent of the stock, insuring that no one could ever perform a hostile takeover."
"And the rest?" Daniel asked curious.
"Split between the six 'employees' of the company."
"That's it?" O'Neill asked. "That's the whole company? Ten people?'
"This was in the report about XWB Tech, Sir." Sam reminded him. When Jack looked embarassed, she sighed, "You didn't read it did you?"
"I tried," Jack defended himself, "I mean it was worse than one of Daniel's papers."
Daniel just shrugged off Jack's comment. "So what about the other employees? Anything unusual in there files?"
"Try all of them." Sam told him. "Jon Levinson, and Andrew Wells are listed as R&D assistants, Jenny Calendar is their Computer systems specialist, Daniel Osborne is the Special Projects Manager and Cordelia Chase is listed as Public Relations."
"From Harris' sense of humor," Jack remarked, "I'd say it was Miss Chase we just met."
"Wait," Daniel asked. "That's five. Who's the sixth employee?"
"That's the really weird one." Sam shook her head, "Her name is Joyce Summers."
"What does she do?" Jack asked.
"I'm not sure." Sam admitted, "Her job title is 'Buffy's mom'."
"You have got to be kidding me."
A few things, Sorry Tenhawk I forgot to credit you with the whole "You're late" bit in the last part. I wouldn't have thought of that on my own.
"I wonder why Harris wanted us to meet him here?" Jack asked as they walked through crowded courtyard to the coffee shop.
"Maybe because, B. Summers and W. Rosenberg attend classes here?" Sam told him.
"Why the hell would two of the principle stockholders of a company as success... Hey watch it!" This last was shouted to the pair of college students who bumped into him.
"Sorry," the first student started to apologize, then took a good look at Jack's face, went three shades of pale and took off as fast as he could.
The two students took off down the courtyard, continually looking back at the team. In fact, they kept looking for so long that both of them walked right into a concrete pillar.
"What's with them?" Jack asked as the two stumbled away.
"Maybe you've met them before?" Daniel replied, looking around he stopped their destination, "There's the coffee shop."
"I am not that scary!" Jack said.
"Yes, sir." Sam agreed.
"I'm not." Jack repeated as they continued towards the shop.
Inside the shop, Xander spotted the SG-1 team through the shop window. "There they are."
"Was that...?" Buffy noticed the two Initiative agents practically running from SG-1.
"Riley and Graham." Xander grinned, "Looks like they got the message."
"You think?" Willow asked as the two agents walked right into pylon. "Maybe you overdid it."
"Nah," Xander shook his head, "those boys needed to be hit over the head with a hammer, especially that Riley goof."
"You're not still jealous, are you?" Buffy grabbed Xander hand.
"Nope," Xander grinned at her, "Just peeved that 'Captain Cornbread' couldn't the hint and kept hitting on you, even after you introduced me as your boyfriend."
"So he's a slow learner." Buffy shrugged.
"Isn't that a bad thing for a T.A.?"
"Only if you're trying to be a good one." Xander shrugged, "Riley works for Walsh remember?"
"That lady shouldn't be teaching a psych class," Xander continued, "From what Petey explained, with her profile, she should be the subject of a psych class."
"Shh." Willow shushed them, "They're nearly here."
As SG-1 approached their table, Xander motioned them to sit. The four team members looked at each other for a second, then sat.
"Okay," Jack said as he leaned forward in his chair, "Which one of you is Rosenberg and which one is Summer?"
"I'm Willow," the young hacker replied, "I mean, my name is Willow Rosenber. Are you really Dr. Daniel Jackson? I read your treatise about the Great Pyramid. Giles says you had some very compelling arguments and I think he was right, they shouldn't have treated you like they did. I suppose that the Government needed you to decipher the Stargate and that's why you haven't published anything new in the last few years. I'm really happy to meet you and I know Giles really wants to discuss some of your theories about the ancient world and I'll be quiet now."
"Did she just manage to say all of that in one breath?" Jack asked slightly stunned by his first encounter with Willow babble.
"Will sometimes does that when she's nervous," Xander explained. "She also happens to be one of our resident geniuses."
"So you're the one who's responsible for the 'Post Dated Check Loan'." Jack smiled.
"Me?" Willow squeaked, something she hadn't done in over a year. "I couldn't have designed him in my dreams."
"Wait." Sam asked. "If you didn't design the ship, then who did?"
"Well that's part of the reason you're here." Xander told them, "I mean, why I asked you to come the coffee shop, not..."
"We get it," Jack told him. "You said you were going to show us something that would turn our world view 'inside out'?"
"Yeah," Xander smiled, "we're just waiting for sun to set."
"Why?" Daniel asked.
"You'll see." Xander told him.
"I'm beginning to wonder about the sanity of these people." Sam said as they waited near a grave.
"Just beginning?" Jack sighed, "We're standing around the grave of a guy that just died last night and they're acting like he's going to get up and crawl out of it."
"That's pretty much it." Xander told them, "We're right here you know?"
"I know," Jack told him, "Why do you think I'm saying it."
"Are you two related by any chance?" Buffy asked.
"I don... Son of a bitch!" Jack yelled as something grabbed his leg.
"Oh good, he's awake." Buffy said as the vampire dragged himself from his grave.
"Hold still." Xander pulled out a small pistol shaped object.
"Are you nuts!?" Jack tried to pull free from the dirt covered 'person' as it dragged him down.
"I try to see if this Stunner works on Vampires." Xander told him. "This is the first time I've had one when we're patrolling."
"On a what?" Sam asked, then jumped backwards as second hand came from a nearby grave.
"We gotta double header here!" Buffy turned to face the new vampire as Xander took aim at the first.
"Stop wiggling, damnit!" Xander growled as he took aim.
"Shoot already." Jack shouted as the vampire started dragging towards it.
Xander finally got a clean shot and fired. He grinned as the vampire went slack releasing Jack's leg.
"Hey it works."
"Great," Jack replied as he climbed to his feet, "Now want to tell me..."
"Look out, Sir!" Sam shouted from the side.
Jack threw himself back to the ground, just in time to avoid being sideswiped by a flying body. A second later a short blonde tornado whipped over him in hot pursuit of the earlier 'person'.
"What the?" Jack scrambled to his feet in time to see Buffy beating the tar out of another dirt covered former corpse.
"Okay," Jack said in shock, "She's good."
"An exceptional warrior." Teal'c agreed.
"Why aren't you helping her?" Sam asked Xander.
Xander paused in his duck taping of the other vamp to glance up at Sam, "She doesn't need my help."
"He's got a point." Daniel remarked as Buffy performed a spinning roundhouse kick that flipped her opponent on its back.
"Give up yet?" Buffy asked as the vamp scrambled to its feet. "Guess not."
"She's Buffy right?" Jack asked wanting to be sure. "Buffy Summers?"
"Yes," Willow answered him.
"And how much do you pay her mom?"
"Five percent of the total stock in XWB." Willow replied, "Why?"
"You don't pay her enough to put up with this." Jack told her.
The vampire roared and lunged at the Slayer. Buffy ducked under the charge and sent a kick to back of the vampire's head. Sending the outmatched demon head of heels onto his back again. This time, Buffy staked the vampire and watched it disappear in a cloud of dust.
"How...?" Sam almost stammered, "How did she do that?"
"Vampire," Xander replied evenly, "Wooden stake in chest, they go poof!"
"Okay," Jack shook his head, "Now I know you're all nuts."
Xander sighed in relief as he turned the corner to his place. The ride back was way too quiet for his liking. Of course, Part of the problem was him. Major Carter tried to ask several questions about the unique interior of otherwise Mil-spec Hummer, then gave up when no answer were forthcoming.
"Looks like the G-Man is here." Xander as they stepped out of the Hummer, Giles' Dodge Viper was parked in the front of his home.
"I still can't believe you gave Tweed guy, KARR." Buffy shook her head as he joined them.
"Hey, it was choice between him and Cordy." Xander said as he dragged the Vamp out of the back of the Hummer and towards the house. "Can you imagine Cordy with KARR?"
All three scoobies shuddered at that image. The members of SG-1 looked at each other in confusion. Jack asked, "You named your vehicles?"
"You could say that." Xander smiled.
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Sam asked.
"Think about it, it'll come to you." Xander told her.
They watched as he dragged the taped up vampire up to his door, and told the vampire, "You can go in now."
"So you already have a government contact?" Daniel asked.
"Huh?" Buffy laughed, "No, that's just the name that Xander torments Giles with."
"Giles?" Daniel asked, "That's Rupert Giles, former curator at the London Museum and current CEO of XWB technologies?"
"The one and only." Buffy nodded.
"Interesting." Teal'c noted.
"Okay, Oz much?" Buffy glanced at Teal'c.
"I fail to see what a children's book has to do with my comment." Teal'c told her.
"Not..." Buffy sighed, "Never mind, it would take to long to explain."
"As you say." Teal'c followed the others into the house.
"I have to say one thing, kid." Jack examined the living room. "This place looks nicer than your old house."
"You can thank Buffy for that." Xander admitted, "She picked almost everything in here."
"Except that I guess." Jack examined the gun-vault sitting against the far wall.
"Nope," Xander grinned, "That was Buffy's idea too. Sure beats a library cage."
"A library...?" Jack shook his head, "I don't want to know."
"Hey G-man!," Xander yelled, "Where are you?"
"Really, Xander." Giles said as he walked out from the kitchen, "You're now the President of a successful business, can't you act with a bit more decorum?"
"No," Xander grinned, "Is Father Lambert with you?"
"Of course," Father Nigel Lambert smiled, "And I take it these are the skeptics you need convinced?"
"Yep," Xander nodded, "Folks, this is Father Lambert our resident supplier for Holy Water. Father Lambert, these are the people that don't believe in Vampires."
"C'mon kid," Jack growled, "Fun's fun, but Vampires? How'd you vaporize that one guy?"
"Jack," Xander sighed, "You just don't get it. Here, let me show you."
Xander walked into the kitchen and came back with a pitcher of water and a glass. He filled the glass with water and took a slow sip. He then dumped about half the water in the glass on the Vampire's head. The vampire tried to howl its outrage at the soaking thru the duck tape covering its mouth. Xander refilled the glass and told Jack, "Hold out your hand."
When Jack complied, Xander splashed a little water on Jack's hand. "Nothing happened right?"
"No," Jack shook his hand, "Something happened, my hand's wet."
"Hold this." Xander handed the mostly full glass to Jack.
"Okay, Father." Xander bowed with a slight flourish, "You're up."
After the Priest blessed the water, Xander told Jack. "Still water right?"
Jack rolled his eyes and dipped his finger into the water. "Yeah still water."
"Now," Xander grinned at the taped up Vampire being held by Buffy and Willow. "Dump the rest on his head."
"MMMPPHHHH!" The Vampire tried to yank himself away from the two girls. Everyone could see the fear in his eyes.
"You're nuts." Jack told Xander.
"Just humor me." Xander told him.
"Why not." Jack splashed the water onto the 'vampire's' face. The result almost caused the hardened soldier to jump backwards in surprise. White smoke poured from where the water hit, and the screams of pain were audible even through the tape.
"What the hell?" Jack yelled, he looked down at the glass in his hand. "What did you do to this water?"
"Nothing," Xander took the glass from Jack and drank the last of the water in it. "It's just been blessed. Basically turned into Holy Water."
"I..." Jack stopped, for the first time in a long while, he couldn't think of any smart remarks to say. "This isn't a joke is it?"
"I truly wish it was, my son." Father Lambert told him, "Since allying myself with the brave people here, I've learned of many creatures of darkness that work to end this world."
"This is just not happening."
"Sir," Sam asked, "Are you all right?"
"I'm imagining the look on Hammond's face, when I tell him that the NID has a team in this town studying the boogie man."
"Well, the boogie man's probably the only monster I can guarantee isn't real." Xander replied, "But the Initiative isn't just studying the demons."
"Oh?" Jack frowned. "Not even the NID would be dumb enough to try recruiting them."
"Try drafting them." Xander told him. "The Initiative is apparently working on some kind of behavioral modification chip that prevents a demon from hurting a human."
"What's wrong with that?" Daniel asked.
"Because it's only one step away from 'only hurt those we tell you to'." Jack growled.
"And," Xander continued, "I'm pretty sure that Professor Walsh has her own little experiment tucked away somewhere. But so far, she's been pretty sharp about keeping her data separate from the Initiative computers."
"You've got access to NID computers?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, why?" Xander grinned, "You wanna know who the NID has as a mole in SG command?"
"Hell yes." Jack answered quickly.
"Well..." Xander started to answer when his comm. activated.
"Captain Harris?"
"Petey?" Xander frowned, "What's going on? I thought I..."
"You told me not contact you tonight unless there was an emergency." Petey agreed, "I think you should know that two Ha'Tak warships are about 10 light minutes away from the outer boundaries of the Sol system."
"Okay," Xander looked around the room. "Who taunted Murphy while I wasn't paying attention?"
"Let me get this straight." Sam asked as SG-1 followed Xander back to the Hummer. "You've got a ship in stationary orbit on the far side of Jupiter, and we're going drive there?"
"No," Xander grinned as they buckled up. "Not exactly."
"Then what..." Jack started to ask as a flash of light and a disconcerting lurch stopped him. When his eyes cleared, Jack found himself starting out the car window at what looked like the Prometheus."
"I guess that's the 'Post Dated Check Loan'?" He asked. "Is this the hanger for it?"
"Uh, Jack." Daniel pointed towards the back window. "Look."
"What?" Jack peered out the back window into the darkness of space. "Son of a bitch!"
"Where are we?" Sam asked.
"Hanger one." Xander said as he got out of the Hummer. "C'mon, we've got a long walk."
"Hanger one!?" Jack got out and looked around the hanger. On the far end he could make out several shaped darting around assembling what looked like X-302 fighters. "Damn, the kid's building his own fleet."
"Impressive." Teal'c noted, "I am curious as to how many Hanger bays this ship has?"
"I think I should point out," Sam told them, "The person with answers and his friends are already heading for the hatch."
"Hey, Harris." Jack yelled, "Hold up, I've got a bone to pick with you!"
"Yeah, Jack." Xander grinned as SG-1 caught up with the Scoobies.
"You're building your own fighter wing?" Jack pointed to the X-302's.
"Nah," Xander shook his head, "That's part of the 'carrot'."
"Carrot?" Sam asked.
"You know." Xander continued, "Give you a reason to leave us alone. That's the beginnings of a squadron of upgraded X-302's. I'm donating them to SG-1. At least I will if General Hammond promises to leave me and mine alone."
"You've seen the rest of the 'carrot'." Xander told them as they entered the elevator. "You know there's a good reason why we have to be in Sunnydale, unhindered."
"I'll grant you that." Daniel nodded, "But not to put too fine a point on it. Isn't there usually a 'stick' that goes along with the 'carrot'."
"There is," Xander agreed as the elevator stopped and the doors opened, "I'll explain the 'stick' after we deal with these goofballs."
"Sounds good to me." Jack agreed. Then he saw the holographic representation of the ship's AI floating in front of him. "Oh c'mon. Kid you read too many comics."
"Maybe," Xander grinned as he took the command chair. "Everyone pull up a seat. Petey, where are the cruisers now?"
"Holding position just outside of Pluto's orbit." Petey replied, "They haven't moved in the last few minutes."
"That isn't standard practice." Teal'c noted.
"I'll say." Jack nodded. "Why don't we ask them what they want?"
"Good idea." Xander smiled, "Petey open me a channel that the Goa'uld can hear."
"Done." Petey replied.
"Attention, Goa'uld ships." Xander said as somberly as possible, "This is Captain Harris of the Post Dated Check Loan. Please state your intentions."
After several seconds, Petey reported, "I have their response sir."
"Captain Harris," A deep resonant voice replied, "This is the System Lord, Xolotl. I and my Ally request permission to enter Tauri space."
"I repeat," Xander told them, "What are your intentions?"
There was an even longer pause before the Goa'uld answered, "We wish to discuss the possibility of an alliance against a common enemy, Anubis."
Xander waived to Petey to mute the signal. "Someone has got to be kidding me."
"Has this ever happened before?" Xander asked Jack.
"Teal'c?" Jack turned the Jaffa.
"To my knowledge," Teal'c replied, "No System Lord has ever gone to a non-Goa'uld for an alliance."
"First time for everything, I guess." Buffy said. "So what do we do?"
"I'm open to suggestions." Xander told them, "My knee-jerk reaction is just to blow them up and lie if asked wheter they were ever here."
"That sounds tempting." Jack agreed.
"Sir!" Sam sounded slightly outraged.
"Although," Jack continued as if he didn't hear Major Carter's rebuke, "I think maybe we should pass this on to General Hammond."
"Petey?"
"I've opened a link through the main secure military satellite." Petey replied. "I'm signaling General Hammond's phone now."
"Hello?" General Hammond's voice came over the comm.
"General Hammond." Xander replied, "It's a pleasure to actually speak to you."
"Who is this?"
"This is Captain Harris," Xander reminded him. "I have a slight situation that you might be better prepared to handle."
"Oh?"
"Apparently two System Lords have come, hat in hand, to ask for an alliance."
"Is this a joke?"
"It's no joke, Sir." Jack spoke up. "I guess they figured if Harris here kicked Anubis's butt once, he could do it again."
"Hey wait." Xander frowned, "Anubis is the one that I blew up? No way he could have survived that."
"Sorry to drop this on you, kid." Jack shrugged, "But Anubis isn't your ordinary Goa'uld."
"Are you telling me I pissed off someone that can survive a twenty-five gigaton nuke?" Xander fell backwards into his seat. "That's just..."
"A WHAT!?" O'Neill shouted, "You've got access too... On second thought I don't want to know."
"Good heavens." Giles almost dropped his glasses as he started to clean them.
"A whats a what?" Buffy asked, "How big a boom are we talking about?"
"Buffy," Willow was staring nearly as wide-eyed at Xander as SG-1 was. "Bombs are usually measured in tons, kilotons, and megatons. Each is about one *thousand* times more powerful than one before."
"Okay," Buffy nodded, "Got that. So a Gigaton is...?"
"A Gigaton is the next level." Sam told her, "Nobody have ever been able to design even a one gigaton bomb."
"Got that too." Buffy frowned, "Still not getting an idea of how big that is."
"The bomb that dropped on Hiroshima and ended World War two was a 15 *kiloton* bomb." Willow told her.
"Oh," Vague memories of History class filtered up through Buffy's memories. Images of a nearly totally destroyed city flashed in her mind.
"ARE YOU NUTS!?" Buffy shouted at Xander. "When you said this was battleship, I didn't think you meant something that could blow up the Earth."
Buffy paused, and asked in a small voice. "Petey couldn't actually do that, could he?"
"Excuse me." Petey interrupted them, "I put General Hammond on hold when you started to discuss my capabilities. I assumed you didn't want that broadcasted. But, I believe he is becoming agitated."
"Oh nuts." Xander sighed, "I gotta remember Rule 17."
"What's that one?" Jack asked.
"Know when to keep your mouth shut." Xander sighed, "Especially when you don't want to overheard."
"Petey," Xander ordered, "Put General Hammond back on."
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON UP THERE!?" Hammond's voice roared over the speaker.
"Sorry, General." Xander replied, "That bit about Anubis shook me up and one of my people cut your feed before I let slip some technical data."
"What about SG-1?"
"We're fine, Sir." Jack told him. "I'll explain in person."
"Very well." Hammond calmed down. "We have a problem about the System lords. Does anyone know why they didn't use the Gate system to contact us?"
"I believe they did not want Anubis to discover their actions." Teal'c said. "Landing on a world with access to a Chapa'ai could result in their interception before they managed to contact us."
"I see," Hammond sighed, "I'm still not about to let them approach Earth with a Ha'Tak cruiser. Any suggestions?"
"We could always use the Prometheus copy that Harris has in his hangar bay." Daniel suggested.
"He has a..." Hammond stopped, "I can see this is going to be a long debriefing session after this is over."
"Yes sir." Jack nodded, "So what do you say Harris?"
"Why not." Xander shrugged, "Petey reestablish communications with the Goa'uld, please."
"On now, sir." Petey replied.
"Attention, Goa'uld System lords." Xander announced, "General Hammond of Stargate Command has agreed to meet with you. However as you should well realize, we are not about to allow a Ha'Tak Cruiser anywhere near the Earth. A Terran Battlecruiser with rendezvous with you at your current coordinates and transport you to the meeting."
"That is unacceptable." Xolotl replied, "How do we know that..."
"You may bring ten Jaffa along with you to act as guards." Xander told him. "That is the only concession to your safety I will allow. Otherwise, just turn around and go home."
"Petey?" Xander asked after several minutes passed.
"They are holding position, Sir." Petey replied. "I am detecting no signs of the engines being powered up."
"How are you monitoring them from here?" Sam asked, "It just occurred to me that there hasn't been any lag time between the signals."
"Hyperspace communications nodes attached to several missiles at the fringe of..."
"You're talking about a VLA?" Sam asked.
"No, Xander grinned, "A VDA."
"And that is?" Sam asked.
"A *very dangerous* array." Xander grinned, "We're using the smart missiles scanners linked as a high resolution telescope."
"That's... that's..."
"Proactive target acquisition." Petey told her.
"I was about to insane." Sam replied. "What if they detect the missiles?"
"Too small and too far apart." Petey replied, "Plus each is shielded against detection and..."
Petey stopped, "Sir, they're responding."
"Your terms are acceptable, Captain Harris." Xolotl said, "We will await the arrival of your Battlecruiser."
"Very well." Xander grinned, "We will arrive in approximately one terran half hour."
"They have ceased transmitting, Captain." Petey reported.
"Good," Xander stood up. "Buffy, Giles, you come with me. Petey, If those Ha'Taks do anything before, during or after the rendezvous..."
"There won't be enough left of them to analyze, Captain." Petey acknowledged.
"That's part of the 'stick'." Xander whispered as he passed Jack.
"Where exactly are we going?" Giles asked.
"Armory first," Xander told them, as they headed for elevator, "Then the Enterprise."
"You named it the 'Enterprise'?" Jack grinned as SG-1 followed him.
"Yeah." Xander nodded, "I liked your idea."
"I told you it was a great name." Jack said to Sam as the elevator started down.
"Two of them." Giles muttered, "Heaven help us."
Inside the Armory, Xander started pulling out two different sets of armor. The first set looked a lot like the standard armor used by the SG teams. It was the second set that caught Sam's eye. Grey body plates attached to a dark blue fabric, a dark grey helmet with a mirrored face plate was the last thing he pulled out.
"Here." Xander tossed the standard looking armor towards SG-1.
"Thanks," Jack said, "But this armor is use..."
"Standard Kevlar is useless against staff weapons." Xander nodded, "I know. But the stuff inside of this armor isn't Kevlar. It's a bi-phase ceramic mesh designed to safely disperse high-energy impacts."
"Let me guess," Jack said as he donned the armor, "This is another part of the 'Carrot'?"
"Yep," Xander started changing into the grey armor. "It isn't powered and I think you might be able to reverse engineer it in time. But I've got enough outfit your whole unit."
"All these 'carrots' are really making nervous about the rest of the 'stick'." Sam told Daniel.
"Me too." Daniel agreed as he pulled on the armor.
"Actually the 'stick' isn't that big." Xander replied as he pulled on the armored gauntlets.
"Why are you putting on that armor?" Teal'c asked.
"Xander..."
"Buff?" Xander turned to see Buffy and Giles holding their armor and looking at him archly. "Oh, yeah, sorry. There are a couple of private rooms over there."
As Buffy and Giles headed for the doors he indicated, Xander started pulling out weapons. Again the more normal looking gear, he gave to SG-1. "You don't get to keep those by the way."
"Oh?" Jack examined the pistol. "What's so special about it?"
"It's a gauss pistol for one thing." Xander told them, "There's no way I'm letting those go right now."
"Huh?" Jack put the pistol into the shoulder holster of his armor. "How good is it?"
"It won't penetrate the stuff I'm wearing, but it'll probably take the head off of a Jaffa, even in armor."
"All right," Giles said as he stepped back into the Armory, "Why are we wearing these costumes?"
"You said it, G-Man." Xander grinned as he picked up his helmet. "Costumes. We're not humans. We're Tauseniggans."
"We're...?" Giles nodded, "Of course."
"Could you explain it to me?" Jack asked.
"I think I know what they're doing." Daniel smiled, "An unknown quantity, to keep the Goa'uld off balance?"
"Yep," Xander grinned, he saw Buffy entering the room and waved everyone to the exit, "Let the Goa'uld go nuts trying to figure out where our 'Homeworld' is."
"I'm really beginning to like him." Jack said to Sam as they left the Armory.
Onboard the 'Enterprise', Jack found the exact same layout as on the Prometheus, every switch in exactly the same place. "You did a good job with this ship."
"Petey's the one that did a good job." Xander told him, "Of course he severely upgraded this ship. It can run rings around the original BC-303. The power plant, sensors, even the metallurgy on this ship are generations ahead anything the U.S. can produce."
"And you're upgrading those 302's the same way?" Sam asked.
"Nah," Xander shook his head, "You couldn't maintain a squadron of 302's that were this heavily upgraded. The one's we're building for you have more efficient engines, a slightly stronger airframe and the Elint system is about as advanced as current human technology can push it."
"Between the blueprints and the construction techniques I'll be supplying with the squadron," Xander finished, "SG Command shouldn't have any problems putting the upgrades into production on their own."
"So none of this is outside of human capabilities to construct?" Sam asked looking around the bridge.
"This?" Xander laughed, "This ship is so far from current abilities it's not funny. This has as much in common, technology wise, with the real Prometheus as Leonardo Davinci's Omithopter has with the X-302. I'm not even sure what makes it work half the time."
"Ouch," Jack winced. "That's low."
"Wait," Daniel frowned, "I've been trying to figure this out. Willow didn't design Petey, you surely didn't, so who did?"
"The O'benn." Buffy told him. "They..."
"Oh c'mon already." Jack shook his head, "Enough with the fiction okay?"
"Look, Jack." Xander grinned, "Just because the O'Benn race doesn't exist in this dimension, doesn't mean they didn't build Petey."
"This..." Jack paused, remembering SG-1's little mishaps with that dimensional mirror. "Are you trying to tell me those Psycho-bears actually exist somewhere!?"
"Oh, good." Buffy smiled, "You read the rest of the comic. So you know about the loyalty circuit."
"The..." Jack sighed, "Let me guess, the last part of the 'stick'?"
"Part of it." Xander nodded, he smiled as they arrived at the Ha'Tak cruisers. "We're here. Showtime folks!"
As Buffy and Giles put on their helmets, Xander nodded to Colonel O'Neill. "The ship is yours, Colonel. We'll go greet our visitors."
"Thanks." Jack sat in the command seat and waited. Once Xander and others appeared in the ring transport room he opened the comm. "Attention Goa'uld Vessel. This the Terran Starship Enterprise, we are ready to receive the System Lords through our ring transport."
"Activating transport, now." A new voice informed him.
On the monitor, Jack could see Sam and Daniel standing in front of the ring device. Behind them and slightly to the side of each, Xander and Teal'c stood. Buffy and Giles flanked them. As the device activated, there was a flash of light and six people appeared. One of them, a system lord by his cloths stepped forward and greeted Sam.
"Major Carter, I believe." The system lord asked.
Sam nodded, "Xolotl?"
"No," the system lord shook his head, "I am Quetzalcoatl."
"The god of the Maya." Daniel noted, "One of their most revered and far-reaching gods. Supposedly he was their father figure and teacher, and helped usher in a golden age among their people."
"I am remembered then." The Gouald actually looked pleased.
"Yes," Daniel nodded, "The Mayan's believed you would one day return."
"As I promised them." Quetzalcoatl nodded, "So the Mayan's still exist."
"As a nation, no." Daniel shook his head, "Their empire was destroyed several centuries ago."
"A pity," The Goa'uld sighed, "They were loyal servants."
"Is your 'brother' coming along?"
"You must be Doctor Jackson," Quetzalcoatl noted, "Your reputation as a scholar of the past is well earned. But, yes my brother will be accompanying us. He but waits for my signal."
The Goa'uld motioned to his Jaffa, ignoring the way the others stiffened slightly. The Jaffa obeyed silently, stepping out of the ring transport area and stood at attention.
"My brother." The Goa'uld spoke into a comm unit. "We await your arrival."
There was another flash and five more Jaffa and another Goa'uld appeared.
"Welcome aboard the Enterprise." Sam just barely managed to not roll her eyes at the ship's name. "Once we are underway, it should take us less than an hour to reach Earth."
"An hour?" Jack frowned, "The Sub-light..."
"Don't worry, Colonel O'Neill." Petey's voice came out of the comm, "Captain Harris told Major Carter that the Enterprise is capable of reaching Earth in that time period."
"Petey, when this is over, your Captain Harris and I are going to have a nice long talk about you."
"I believe he's looking forward to it." Petey told him. "Oh, I think that Major Carter is escorting the Gouald to the galley."
"Huh?" Jack's eyes turned back to the monitor. Sam and ,Xander from his build, walked along behind the Goa'uld with their Jaffa trailing behind. Teal'c, Daniel, Buffy and Giles followed behind to make sure there were no 'stragglers'.
"I am surprised that Colonel O'Neill did not decide to greet me himself." Xolotl was telling Sam. "I would think his distrust of my people would ensure his desire to personally oversee our movements."
"Colonel O'Neill is currently on the Bridge." Sam explained, "He is quite capable of monitoring things from there."
"I see." Xolotl nodded, "I am curious about one or two other items though."
"Yes?"
"I recognize the traitorous Jaffa, Teal'c, and your Doctor Jackson from descriptions of both. But I have never received any reports of the three armored warriors guarding us."
"I am Captain Har'as of the Tauseniggan Battelfleet." Xander his voice altered by the electronics in the helmet. "I am here as an Ally to the ones you refer to as the Tauri."
Both Sam and Daniel almost stumbled as the helmet changed Xander's voice into something very familiar to anyone from Earth.
On the Bridge, Jack O'Neill almost fell out the chair laughing. All Xander needed was the sound of a respirator added to his breathing to make the illusion complete. "Dammit kid, you've got a weird sense of humor."
Daniel walked onto the bridge just as the ship cleared the Asteroid field. "Jack, there's something really weird about our guests."
"You mean aside from being parasitic megalomaniacal aliens with delusions of godhood?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Daniel replied, just a little sharply, "aside from that. They don't act like typical Goa'uld."
"Oh?" Now Jack was interested, "What's different about them?"
"For one thing," Daniel sat down. "They actually seemed concerned about the comfort of their Jaffa."
"Well, that does make them different than most of the Goa'uld." Jack agreed. "What else?"
"They're polite." Daniel reported, "And they seem to be truly curious about 'Tauri' civilization."
"Okay, they're weird." Jack agreed as he leaned back in his chair. "So what do you think they really want?"
"To survive," Daniel shrugged, "From what Xolotl let slip, Anubis is moving against the Systems Lords. And he's winning.
"So they think by allying themselves with us, Anubis will leave them alone?" Jack shook his head. "Or do they really think we'll fight for them against Anubis?"
"To be honest," Daniel shrugged, "I just don't' know. I mean... 'The enemy of my enemy'..."
"Is my enemy's enemy, nothing more, nothing less." Jack told him.
"I can't believe you just quoted a comic to me." Daniel shook his head.
"Doesn't make it any less true, Harris knows it too." Jack replied, "They need us now to help them against Anubis. After that, well...We already know how far we can trust these snakes."
"I know." Daniel nodded. "So what are we going to do about Xander?"
"Tell General Hammond the truth and hope to hell he shows his usual common sense." Jack replied.
"You aren't just saying that because you know I'm listening, are you?"
"Jeez, Petey!" Jack nearly jumped out of his chair in surprise. "Don't do that!"
"Oh, good," Petey's form appeared on the bridge. "You forgot I was here."
"Petey," Daniel sighed, "It's not polite to eavesdrop."
"Monitoring the bridge can in no way be construed as eavesdropping." Petey told him, "It's a normal part of my function as the ship's AI.."
"You know," Jack glared at the Hologram. "You'd think you didn't trust us."
"Yes," Petey smiled, "You would think that wouldn't you?"
Daniel suddenly thought of something, "Hey Petey, would it violate your loyalty code if you answered a few questions about Captain Harris?"
"It depends on the question." Petey said cautiously.
"Can you tell me anything about the 'stick' Captain Harris intends to hold over us?"
"Actually Doctor Jackson," Petey grinned at him, "Captain Harris thought one of you might ask me about that. He authorized me to give a step by step walkthrough of what should happen if you attempt to take control of me."
"Well now," Jack said slowly, "That sounds a bit ominous."
"It should." Petey nodded, "The most extreme reaction will be provoked by the attempted capture or killing of any of my current crew."
"Oh," Daniel frowned, "Exactly what would happen?"
"In the event of capture," Petey replied in a flat voice, "I am to contact the remaining crewmembers and get them to safety. Then I am to attempt extraction using whatever force is necessary. In the event that the crewmember has been killed, I am to determine which agency is responsible and exact punishment."
"Hokay," Jack interrupted, "Punishment?"
"A single warhead with yield of about two hundred fifty tons delivered to the headquarters of the responsible parties." Petey replied, "Then..."
"There's more?" Jack asked in shock. "You're talking about blowing up a government agency!"
"Only if it's a government agency that tries." Petey told him, matter of factly.
"Could we get back to the rest of the 'stick'?" Daniel asked.
"Certainly," Petey replied, "What happens next is a low flyby pass over every nation in the world, while I simultaneously download details about the Stargate, SG-1 and everything that goes bump in the night..."
"Are you nuts!?" Jack exploded, "Do you know what kind of havoc that would cause?"
"I think that Captain Harris and Petey know exactly what kind of havoc that would create." Daniel replied, "Just like the NID would."
"So what if the NID or anyone else refuses to take the hint?" Jack asked.
"Then they would learn what a one teraton bomb sounds like when it goes off." Petey told him flatly.
"You wouldn't?" Jack asked.
"I know the NID has access to some of SG command's files." Petey told Jack. "And I want this understood, I have no loyalty to the human race as a whole. My loyalty is to the O'benn race, my fleet, my Captain and my crew. In that order. Captain Harris is more than just my commanding officer, I consider him my friend. If anything happens to him, my last act before transferring command to his XO will be to port a one teraton warhead directly into the base of the people responsible."
"Petey," Daniel tried to reason with the AI. "A blast that large would cause widespread ecological and meteorological disaster. I don't think that Captain Harris would appreciate you harming the Crew's family like that."
"It won't matter to them," Petey informed him, "By that time, I will have evacuated the entire crew to our base of the farside of the Moon."
"Moonbase?" Jack was stunned, "You've got a base on the Moon."
"Yes," Petey smiled, "Thoroughly hidden of course."
"Of course," Jack sighed. "Petey, do you have any good news for me?"
"We just passed the orbit of Mars." Petey smiled, "Next stop Earth."
"Cute." Jack sighed.
As the last of the Jaffa went through the ring transport, Xander removed his helmet and sighed. He turned to SG-1 and said, "Okay, you're next."
"What about you?" Jack asked. "Wouldn't look right if our new 'allies' didn't show up after riding all this way with us."
"Don't worry," Xander told them, "I'll be right behind you."
"Right," Jack and the rest of SG-1 stepped in the ring transport and quickly vanished.
"Petey, what exactly did you tell Colonel O'Neill?" Buffy asked.
"I explained that if anything happened to Captain Harris I would move all of the crew to our lunar base and commit a total conversion bomb to the destruction of the agency involved."
"We've got a moon base?" Buffy asked, then realized what else Petey said, "How big a boom?"
"Let's just say if I targeted Sunnydale with it, Washington State would probably feel it."
"WHAT!?"
"Relax, Buff." Xander grinned, "It won't happen, right Petey?"
"Of course not, sir." Petey said as ingenuously as possible. "I'm just supposed to get everyone to safety."
"Right," Buffy shook her head, "Xander, we need to talk about this."
"As soon as a I get back from SG Command," Xander promised. "Petey, you got the teraport?"
"On the console next to you sir." Petey replied, "I'll be monitoring you while you're there."
"If there's any trouble."
"I know what to do." Petey assured him. "You'll be back here before anyone can even blink."
"Good." Xander grinned as he stepped onto the ring transport. "Buff? You and the G-man take the transport back home, okay?"
"I'm going with you." Buffy told him.
"You've got classes tomorrow." Xander told her.
"Nothing big," Buffy replied, "'Sides, the weekends coming up. I'll play hooky. Willow and the others can handle anything that comes up."
"Don't taunt Murphy like that." Xander grinned. "Okay. G-man, you can handle things in good ol' Sunnyhell right?"
"Most certainly," Giles nodded as Buffy joined Xander on the transport area.
"Good. Helmets on." Xander told Buffy as he slid his back over his head.
"Hey," Buffy wanted to know, "You patterned your voice after Vader and Giles after Obi Wan. So whose voice did you use for me?"
"Uhmm." Xander frowned, "I..."
"C'mon, Xander." Buffy cajoled, "Who?"
"Eartha Kitt." Xander admitted.
"WHAT!?" Buffy's shout was distorted by the rings activating.
"That young man just looks for trouble." Giles smirked. "I don't envy him."
"Captain Harris is a quite capable young man." Petey defended his Captain.
"True," Giles nodded, "By the way, how long have had a Lunar base?"
"We don't." Petey replied, "However, I am currently surveying for a base on Mars."
Giles thought about it for several seconds and started to chuckle. "Do you know how many resources the various agencies are going to devote to find your non-existent base?"
"Hopefully quite a bit." Petey smiled back. "And my favorite part is that they won't stop until they actually find it."
As the glare from the transport cleared, Buffy was still in mid-tirade. "I can't believe you actually..."
She stopped as she realized that they were completely surrounded by armed soldiers. And every last one had a firearm pointed at them.
"Isn't this the Hammond Party?" Xander held his hands up in mock surrender, "We have an invitation."
"I told you to take the freeway." Buffy told her, "Now see, we're late."
"Stand down." General Hammond told his men. He stepped forward and extended his hand, "Captain Harris?"
"Nice to finally meet you, General Hammond," Xander took the proffered hand, "nice place you've got here."
"We like it," Jack told him as SG-1 entered the room. "I suppose Petey is monitoring the situation?"
"Of course," Xander nodded, "I'm not about to walk into the Dragon's jaws without some backup."
"Understood," General Hammond nodded, "Are you ready to hear their offer?"
"Why not?" Xander and Buffy followed General Hammond out of the room.
"So," Jack O'Neill leaned back in his chair, his attention on the Goa'uld known as Xolotl. "What are you offering?"
"That depends on what aid you are prepared to give us." The Gouald System lord replied.
"It doesn't work that way." General Hammond told him, "You came to us, so you go first."
The two System Lords looked at each other, and Quetzalcoatl nodded.
"Technology." Xolotl replied, "We will provide you with access to..."
"I'm afraid that isn't good enough, anymore." Xander interrupted, "The Tauseniggan are now the allies of the Tauri, we can and have provided them with technology equal to anything you can offer them."
"We are System Lords," The Goa'uld told Xander, "What technology could you provide that we cannot?"
"New alloying techniques," Xander told them, "Technology they can implement now, not items they need to reverse engineer."
"We provide the necessary equipment to use our technology now." Quetzalcoatl told him. "And we offer our..."
The Gouald paused, "our friendship."
"Okay," Jack eyed the two System Lords, "That's a new one. Goa'uld don't have friends. They have allies they intend to betray and targets of opportunity."
"We are not like Apophis or Ra." Xolotl informed him. "If we make this alliance, you can trust us."
"Right." Xander said flatly, "So what else are you offering?"
"You want more?" Xolotl asked.
"Well," General Hammond shrugged, "As the Captain said, he can provide us with any technology you could."
"We will have to discuss this." Xolotl told General Hammond.
"Of course." The General nodded, "You can use this room or..."
"This room will suffice." Quetzalcoatl nodded.
"I'll have a man waiting outside for you decision." General Hammond stood up. "Would you care for some refreshments?"
"Food would be appreciated," Xolotl nodded, "For our warriors as well."
"Of course." General Hammond nodded.
As Xander started to leave the room, he dropped a small picture on the table. "This is pretty much what Anubis looked like just before I blew his ship up. I'm making a collection of them. You don't want to be part of it."
General Hammond was about to intervene when he saw the faces of both System Lords. The slightly sick look on their faces pretty much made his day.
Once everyone was outside, Jack asked. "Another 'stick'?"
"Stick?" General Hammond asked.
"I'll explain at the debriefing," Jack promised. "It's a disturbing story."
"Not a long one?" Hammond asked.
"Trust me, sir." Jack shook his head, "When I say disturbing, I mean disturbing."
"I see," General Hammond wisely let it slide for now. He turned to Xander, "Were you serious about providing us with Goa'uld level technology?"
"Hang on a minute," Xander activated the privacy mode. "Petey, I need you to teraport those two boxes to the ring coordinates in ten minutes."
"In ten minutes. Yes sir." Petey responded.
Xander switched back to normal mode, "General, I suggest we head down to the ring transport area. I'm having a package delivered."
"You *have*to see this General." Jack said as they headed back to the transport room.
"Hey Buff?" Xander asked, "Why don't you and the others go get something to eat, okay."
"You sure you don't want me for backup?" Buffy asked.
"I think can handle this," Xander tapped his armor, "Sides, if I remember correctly I made you skip dinner."
"All right," Buffy nodded as her stomach growled, "I guess I could eat something."
Ten minutes later, General Hammond was treated to the earsplitting sound of an incoming terapedo. He stared at the odd missile shaped device that hovered in front of Xander.
"Sir, delivery completed," The object reported, "I'll be getting back now. Are you sure you don't need me to detonate?"
"Not right now," Xander ordered, "Thank you though."
"Yes sir!" the Terapedo vanished again.
"What was that?" General Hammond stared at the empty space where the terapedo used to be.
"That was my version of a ring transport device," Xander told him. "It's also how I blew up Anubis."
"You use a missile as a delivery device!?" Jack asked in shock.
"The device needs to be programmed," Xander shrugged, "The AI controlling it is just smart enough to reprogram itself for the return trip."
"And can remove any trace of evidence if it's captured, right?" Jack asked.
"That's what Petey said too." Xander sighed, "I gotta remember to have him build a few of those things without warheads."
"I'm beginning to suspect, that I don't want to know about the 'stick'." General Hammond's sigh matched Xander's.
"Umm," Jack examined the larger of the two boxes, "I recognize the first box as the one you pulled this body armor from. What's in this one?"
Xander grinned and pulled open the box. Peering into the now open box, Jack could make out several rows of rifles. "What the???"
"The M-37 ETC Assault Rifle." Xander hefted one. "It fires a 4.5 millimeter copper clad depleted uranium round at approximately twice the muzzle velocity any gun currently in production. A radically new chambering mechanism reduces the recoil down to an easily managed level. The electronic sights allow for both windage and range automatically. It can also tie directly into any supplemental weapons package."
Xander flipped the gun over. "The under body's been modified with a 40 millimeter grenade launcher that links to the sight for almost pinpoint firing. Push the button and the rifle trigger fires the grenade."
"Or," Xander removed the grenade launcher and attached a black tube to the barrel, "this basically an upgraded zatniktel, twice the range and a faster rate of fire. The same button that switches the sights to the launcher also allows you to switch to the zatt for firing."
"Why do I get the feeling those aren't the normal secondary weapons?" Jack asked.
"They aren't," Xander nodded, "But the technology for the Seeker round isn't even in the design stages yet."
"But this is?" Jack picked up the round for the rifle and examined it. It was smaller than even the 5.7 round for the P90. "How the hell?
"Electro-thermal chemical reaction." Xander tossed him the rifle. "There's no primer, just an electrical pulse that triggers the explosion."
"The barrel's too light for that kind of power." Jack hefted the gun. "What's it made of?"
"Composite material," Xander shrugged, "the details are in the book."
Jack picked up the book Xander pointed to and examined it. It was at least three times thicker than a New York City phone directory. When he opened it to a random page, he found it covered in math formulas. "I can't make heads or tails out of this."
"You're not supposed to." General Hammond took the book from Jack, "I assume these are the technical details for the rifle?"
"Technical designs," Xander nodded, "Blueprints, production techniques, formulas. Everything you need to put the gun and armor into production."
"And none of this is equal the equipment you're carrying right now." Jack observed.
"Jack," Xander shook his head, "Try to imagine it this way. You're an aviation engineer in say 1946, and an F-16 fighter suddenly appears on your runway. Even if every schematic and every production detail was stored with the plane, do you think you could manage to duplicate the design?"
"In time," Jack frowned, "*And* with enough money..."
"That's right," Xander agreed, "*lots* of time and *lots* of money. What I'm offering here, you can put into production now. Probably be able to equip the entire US Army with them in a few years."
"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, son." General Hammond tucked the book under his arm, "But if you can mass produce these items, then why not..."
"Make weapons of the highest tech level I produce?" Xander finished. "Exactly."
"Like I told Colonel O'Neill here," Xander nodded at Jack, "You couldn't possibly maintain those devices without a lot of help from me."
"But..."
"And I don't trust you enough yet."
"I see." General Hammond felt hopeful at the words 'yet'.
"General Hammond?" A young airman stepped into the room.
"Yes?"
"We have an incoming signal from the Stargate." The Airman reported, "It's the Tokra."
"I see." General Hammond nodded. "I'll be right up, have SG-1 meet us in the gate room."
"You mind if I go with you?" Xander followed them up, "I want to meet these 'Angel' wannabees."
"Angel?" General Hammond looked over at Jack.
"I have no idea, sir." Jack replied, "And I think I'm actually afraid to ask."
"That just means you really don't want to know." Xander told him.
"He's probably right." Jack agreed.
Underneath his mask, Xander's face registered the awe he felt as he saw the Stargate activated for the first time. "Wow, color me impressed."
"I know what you mean." Daniel Jackson said from behind him.
From the quicksilver surface of the gate, two figures stepped out, one man and one woman.
"Dad!" Samantha Carter rushed to hug the man. "What are you doing here?"
"The Tokra received word that a pair of Goa'uld were going to try to form an Alliance with SG command." Jacob Carter told his daughter, "We thought it might wise to have a few Tokra show up to strengthen SG-1's hand."
"We appreciate it," General Hammond told Jacob, "Although it appears we have a stronger hand than anyone imagined."
Jacob followed General Hammond's gaze and noticed Xander standing there in full armor. "Who's that?"
"Jacob Carter," Jack smiled, "May I present Captain Harris of the Tauseniggan Battlefleet."
"So this is Captain Harris," The female Tokra smiled, "I am Anise. Greetings." "Watch out for her." Jack told Xander softly.
Xander stood before the two aliens and couldn't resist himself. Holding his right hand up, he made a split fingered salute familiar to everyone in the room.
"Live long and Prosper."
Hearing those words coming from Xander's altered voice, Jacob turned to SG-1 and growled, "This had better not be somone's idea of a joke!"
"Not my idea, Jacob," Jack smirked, he pointed at Xander, "That was all him."
Xander decided to milk the joke a bit, "Was that not the appropriate response? I have been monitoring Tauri transmissions for nearly two decades and have seen several aliens greet tauri with that gesture and word combination."
"Oh great," Jacob sighed, "You're telling me our new allies learned about Earth Society from television??"
"Isn't that how most people learn?" Jack asked still smirking.
"I do not understand the significance of the salute."
"It's from a television series called 'Star Trek'." Jacob explained to Anise.
"I still fail to understand your reaction." Anise told him. Turning to Xander she smiled, "My apologies for my companion's rudeness."
"Not a problem," Xander bowed slightly. "It is an honor to finally meet the Tokra. I have heard some interesting things about you."
"If it came from Colonel O'Neill, I doubt it was very complimentary." Anise noted as they left the gateroom.
"Actually, some of it came from a Goa'uld datacore and it was worse than anything that Colonel O'Neill could come up with." Xander replied, "They do not appear to like you very much."
"I see." Anise frowned, "How did you get access to a Goa'uld datacore?"
"I salvaged it," Xander replied, "from the remains of one of Anubis' cruisers."
"Interesting." Anise's eyes lit, literally. "What other information was on the database?"
"Not much," Xander shrugged, "Just some technical specifications for the Hat'ak cruiser, and the incomplete operating system for the ship. It was severely damaged during my attack."
"I see," Anise looked disappointed.
"We about to convene in the briefing room to discuss our potential allies." General Hammond interrupted. "I assume you'll be joining us?"
"Of course," Jacob nodded, still eyeing Xander suspiciously.
"All right, Dr. Jackson. You have the floor." General Hammond nodded to the scholar.
"W... well." Daniel stammered for a second, reminding Xander of Giles. "Actually, the history of Xolotl and Quetzalcoatl is fascinating. Apparently the Maya knew Quetzalcoatl as Kulkulkan, they and the Aztec believed he was the father of their civilization."
"Okay," Jack leaned forward and looked puzzled, "Isn't that what they all say?"
"Not like this," Daniel replied, "According to legend, Quetzalcoatl actually left his people and promised to return to see their progress."
"Wait," Sam asked, "Are you saying that a Goa'uld actually left willingly? He wasn't driven out like Ra?"
"Pretty much," Daniel nodded, "I don't know if it's true but..."
"It is true," Selmac/Jacob told them. "Quetzalcoatl and his 'brother' Xolotl left Earth on their own. Their territory is considered unimportant among the system lords."
"Their?" Xander asked, "I was under the impression that System Lords weren't very big on sharing?"
"They aren't," Jack agreed, "Okay these two are really starting to sound weird."
"Starting?" Xander almost laughed, "I'm wondering what these two can actually offer that Stargate Command could possibly use?"
"If the rumors are true, Trinium and Naquada." Anise told them, "Supposedly, the brothers have uncovered large deposits on two of their worlds. That may be why they're so worried about needing allies they can trust."
"That would do it," Jack agreed, "Once the other System Lords get wind of this, those two are in for a fight."
"Wait," Xander asked, "How did you find out about it?"
"The other System Lords tend to ignore the brothers." Anise told them, "We on the other hand have been monitoring them closely."
"Let me guess," Jack said only slightly sarcastically, "You think they might be coming around the Tokra way of thinking?"
"Precisely,' Anise nodded.
"Great," Xander sighed, "Just what I needed."
"I do not understand." Anise told him. "What was it you needed?"
"A long vacation," Xander told her. "Away from all the World conquerors, World enders, and wannabees."
"I s..." Anise stopped obviously confused, "Actually, I do not understand what you are referring to."
"Doesn't matter." Xander shook his head.
"Are sure about him?" Jacob whispered to Sam.
"No," Sam whispered back, "But the alternative is a little too scary to think about."
As Jacob pondered his daughter's words, a knock on the door interrupted the discussion.
"Come in." General Hammond said.
"The two Goa'uld say they're ready to restart negotiations."
"Fine," General Hammond stood up, "Ladies and Gentlemen, shall we?"
"Of course," Anise agreed.
As they left the room, Xander switched to privacy mode and said, "Buff? You there?"
"I'm here, what's up?"
"We're ready to start the talking again."
"I'll be right there." Buffy told him.
A few minutes later the group was seated in the main conference across from the brothers. The brothers looked odd at the sight of the Tokra at the table.
"Why are they here?" Xolotl asked.
"We are the allies of the Tauri," Selmac told them, "When it was discovered that a System Lord was negotiating an alliance, the Tokra deemed it prudent to send emissaries."
"That is acceptable." Xolotl nodded.
Under her helmet, Buffy frowned. On the private channel, she contacted Xander. "Sweety, I'm not sure. But don't they look more pleased that bothered by the other people showing up?"
"I'm sure," Xander told her, "They are pleased that the Tokra have shown up. I'm beginning to believe that they've got other reasons for this alliance."
"You said you are ready to offer new terms?" General Hammond asked.
"Yes," Quetzalcoatl nodded, "We have found deposits of Trinium and Naqueda on two of the world under our dominion. In exchange for your aid, we offer half of what we can mine from both sites."
"You two really are desperate, aren't you?" Xander said as bluntly as he could.
Xolotl fumed, "We are not. .
"Stop," Xander held up his hand, "Let me see if I can put this together properly. The two of you control a relatively unimportant set of worlds. Up until now the other, more powerful, System Lords have been too busy infighting to pay any attention to you. But now with Anubis threatening everyone, you're sure that the other Lords will try to oust you to gain your resources. Your best hope is to ally with the only group who ever dealt with Anubis and use them as a stick to hold everyone else off."
The two Goa'uld looked at Xander with the same sick look they had when he'd shown them the picture of Anubis. When they didn't respond, Xander leaned back, "I'd say that was a 'yes'."
Finally Jack said, "So, what do you want?"
Quetzalcoatl looked startled, "You are still willing to negotiate?"
"Hey," Jack smiled, "We already knew we had you over a barrel, we just didn't know how big the barrel was."
What followed was two hours of non-stop negotiating. Buffy stared in awe as Xander's occasionally blunt but often brilliant tactics kept everyone off-kilter. Finally, Xander played his trump card.
"I can provide two battlecruisers right now with sufficient firepower to destroy a Hatak cruiser and enough speed to cover your entire territory." Xander told them, "All you need to do is provide me a frequency I can monitor for your calls."
"That of course," Xander continued, "Is, provided you're willing to allow a warship, not under your control into your space."
"You would be willing to patrol our space?" Xolotl asked.
"Give me enough time to reorganize the fleet and I can provide at least 10 cruisers to protect you space."
"Acceptable." Xolotl agreed, "We agree to the terms put forth by the Tauri General Hammond. Provided that Captain Har'as is willing to provide the agreed upon ships."
"Deal," Xander told them, "So we have preliminary treaty then?"
"Yes," Quetzalcoatl nodded, "We will allow a group of Tauri to inspect the mines and verify that the shipments are correct. We will also share all technical and tactical information we have available."
"In exchange," General Hammond provided their end of the deal, "Stargate Command and the Tauseniggans will provide manpower and fleet support to defend the territory currently claimed by the System Lords, Xolotl and Quetzalcoatl."
"We will await your emissaries to finalize the treaty." Xolotl and his brother stood. "Now, if we can arrange transport back to our ship?"
"Of course," General Hammond nodded, "Colonel O'Neill will arrange to take you back on the... Enterprise."
"Our thanks." Quetzalcoatl nodded.
Once the Gouald transported back to their ship, Xander and Colonel O'Neill headed straight for the bridge. There they found Major Carter and Daniel going over one of the starmaps on the main display.
"Something up?" Xander asked Buffy who was sitting at one of the consoles looking a bit bored.
"Beats me." Buffy told him, nodding over to where Jack was now in hushed conversation with Sam. "Petey was showing them the scans he's done of various systems using the VDA thingy and when he got to this map, they went all gaga."
"You're kidding me!?" Jack almost shouted, "Naquadria? Where!?"
"Here!" Sam pointed to one of the systems. "According the analysis of Petey's scanners, there's a large block of Naquadria in this system."
Jack shook his head, "I thought Naquadria was an artificial element?"
"It is." Petey told them, "When I say a block I mean a single large block. A roughly rectangular piece about ten feet wide by ten feet deep by thirty feet long. It is in a geostationary orbit over the magnetic pole of the fourth planet."
"So why haven't any of the snake's found it yet?"
"Because it's nowhere near any Stargate." Sam told him. As a matter of fact, it's so far off the beaten path, I'm surprised Petey found it."
"I wasn't looking for that." Petey told her. "I was looking for the O'benn. I wanted to be sure that they couldn't override my loyalty circuit. I read what happened to the other 'me' back in my old universe. The debris ring between the third planet and the second has the same orbital path as the O'benn homeworld. The Fourth planet is where the Kssthrata used to live."
"Used to?" Xander asked.
"Apparently someone decided to test Naquadria based weapons there." Petey shrugged, "The surface is almost glass smooth."
"I see." Jack sighed, "Petey is there any chance the O'benn did that?"
"No," Petey shook his head, "From my scans of the debris ring, I'd say the O'benn never had a chance to even evolve before something smashed the planet to rubble."
"Thank god for small favors." Jack sighed, "Uh no offense, Petey."
"None taken..." Petey stopped, "Oh... Captain, I think you're needed back on Earth."
"What happened?" Xander asked, "Did something happen to others?"
"Yes," Petey frowned, "Apparently, Jonathan just stabbed Andrew."
Xander didn't even bother getting to the transport, he simply had Petey reprogram the teraport he was wearing and ported directly to the trouble. He found himself standing in one of the unused labs at XWB tech with Willow pointing a stunner at him.
"WHOA! WILL! It's me, Xander!" He yanked his helmet off as the Willow started to pull the trigger.
"Xander!?" Willow dropped the stunner and grabbed her lifelong friend in a bear hug. "Thankgoodnessyou'rehereweheardsoundsof fightingandwhenwebrokeinhereJonathanwas stabbingAndrewandIstunnedhimandIdidn't knowwhatelsetodo!"
"Willow." Xander was worried, that was the longest babble he'd heard from her in a long time, "Breathe."
As Willow took a couple of deep breaths, Xander asked, "Where's Giles?"
"Meeting," Oz told him, "Willow didn't want to announce this over a public phone and Giles forgot his comm unit."
"Great," Xander looked around, sure enough Jonathan was flat on his back sleeping off the effects of the stunner and Andrew was laid out on the ground with an oddly famliar looking hilt sticking out of his chest. Taking a closer look at the hilt, Xander's eyes narrowed. A quick visual search of the lab found a similar tube lying on the ground near Andrew's hand. Xander picked the tube up carefully and examined it. One end was closed, small heat radiation fins radiated out from that end about one inch up the tube. The other end was open with crystal inset a small distance into the tube. Holding the so that the open end was facing away from everyone, Xander hit the only button on it. With a soft woosh, humm, a glowing green blade popped out of the open end.
"I knew it!" Xander shouted, "Petey! You gave them lightsabers!?"
"Of course not, Sir." Petey replied, "That's what they asked me for, but once I discovered that they intended to use them to play Starwars, I refused to build them. The kind of damage those two could do with real lightsabers, scared even me."
"So what is then?" Xander held up the Saber.
"A semi-coherent stun blade, with a few extras." Petey replied, "The only thing it can physically contact is another blade."
"Then why is it sticking out of Andrew's chest." Willow asked almost hysterically.
"Low level grappling field." Petey explained, "That way it reacts like a real blade to a body impact. It isn't actually capable of doing any real damage. It just knocks the target out."
"Oh for..." Xander reached down and turned the blade off. As the hilt came free, Xander noted that there wasn't any burn mark on Andrew's chest, "Will, why don't you go get the smelling salts from the first aid kit."
"Okay," Willow headed for the first aid cabinet.
"When did you get back," Xander asked Oz.
"Just before Giles apparently." Oz told him. "We cut our tour short."
"Oh," Xander looked down at the duo, "I'm gonna ground those two."
"You might be better off splitting them up." Oz remarked.
"Now there's an idea." Xander smiled, "I wonder if SG-l would like a liason."
"You can ask them yourself, sir." Petey told him. "I just teraported Buffy and the SG-l team back to the XWB garage in your HMV."
"I've got the smelling salts." Willow said as she ran back into the room.
"Good," Xander grinned, "Why don't you and Oz go to the garage and greet our guests. I know Oz and Teal'c should have a lot to talk about."
"Cool," Oz remarked as he followed Willow out the door.
"Now for you two." Xander snapped the capsule under Jonathan's nose and waited until he snapped awake.
"Wha...?" Jonathon looked around wildly, "Willow shot me!"
"And you stabbed Andrew." Xander said as he waved a second capsule under Andrew's nose. "I can't believe you two."
"Huh?!" Andrew woke, "Oh man, that was soo cool."
"Not cool." Xander told him, "Both of you, you scared the hell out of Willow and the rest of us. I'm just glad Giles didn't hear about it."
"Sorry," Andrew replied, "We were just..."
"I know what you were doing." Xander shook his head, "Why here? You know how loud those damn blades are when they crash together."
"We didn't think anyone would notice way back here." Jonathan explained, "It's the only place we could use them with enough room."
"You..." Xander stopped and sighed, he just had to ask. "So how did they feel?"
"You've got to try them." Jonathan said, "They've got the hum and you can feel the vibration when you swing the blade."
Xander took a couple of tentative cuts with the saber, "Too bad we can't build one of these, without the stunner, out of current technology. I know a few million fanboys who'd pay us an arm and a leg for them."
"At least until Lucas sues us."
"So we get a license from him." Andrew said, "Hey Petey, Is that possible?"
"Not with current technologies." Petey told them.
"Petey," Xander told the AI, "From now on, any requests from these two have to be approved by me before you start fabbing them. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Petey replied.
"Thanks," Xander told the AI, he turned back to the duo and frowned, "I'm giving serious thought splitting you two up for a while."
"Why?" Andrew whined.
"Individually you two are the most dedicated geeks I've ever met." Xander told them, "And that includes me. Together, you even make Petey nervous."
"What if we promise to behave?" Jonathan asked.
"Petey?" Xander asked, "Do these two have you working on any other projects?"
"They keep asking me to build them an X-wing fighter." Petey told him.
"Why?" Xander asked them.
"Because..." Andrew looked down.
"Because you thought it would look cool." Xander told them. "Is that it?"
"You had Petey build the cars." Jonathan defended himself.
"But the cars can still pass as cars." Xander shook his head, "If you fly an X-wing around... Hey Petey, just out of curiosity, how advanced would an... What am I saying."
"You two behave yourselves." Xander said as he walked out.
"So," Jack asked as they walked through the halls of XWB Technologies. "How the hell did all this start?"
Buffy began a long convoluted tale about Halloween costumes, Chaos Mages, Vampires and Artificial Intelligence Loyalty Circuits. Even Teal'c looked a bit taken aback at the story.
"You do realize," Jack told her, "if you told me this story two days ago, I'd have had you locked up."
"You would have tried," Buffy agreed. "Then you probably would have found yourself waking up in the hospital."
"I know you're tough," Jack told her, "But you can't wear your armor twenty-four seven."
"Don't have to," Buffy grinned as Jack looked dubiously at her, "I tell you what. I'll let Giles explain to you about me."
"By the way, why did you come back with me?" Buffy asked.
"We wanted to discus some technical support from Mr. Harris," Daniel told her.
"Just call him Xander," Willow told them, "Mr. Harris is his father, and the last thing Xander wants is to be, is mistaken for him."
"Oh," Sam nodded, "We were hoping that Xander would be willing to provide transport to the Naquadria site. A supply of that size would fill all of our fuel needs for the near future."
"I don't see why not," Buffy told them, "I know he plans on sending the Enterprise and the Defiant to patrol the System..."
"Whoa," Jack stopped her, "He's got two of them?"
"Three if you count the one Petey's building right now." Buffy shrugged, "I think he wants to name that one the Mcnally."
"Who?" Daniel asked.
"One of our best friends," Willow explained, "He was killed by the vamps about 3 years ago."
"I see," Teal'c nodded, "A fitting tribute."
"Not as far as Xander's concerned," Buffy shook her head. "He's always felt a little guilty about Jessie."
"I am curious about something." Teal'c asked, "How can this Andrew be all right if he was stabbed."
"Oh," Willow replied, "It was a mistake, Jonathan stabbed Andrew with a Stun blade lightsaber."
"A lightsaber..." Jack did a double take, "Are you talking about a 'May the Force be with you' Lightsaber?"
"Uh, yeah." Willow nodded, "Andrew and Jonathan are kinda a little on the geeky side."
"A little." Jack shook his head, "I'm surprised that between Harris, and those two you people aren't tooling around in..."
"Colonel O'Neill?" Teal'c frowned at the stunned look on Jack's face. "Are you unwell?"
"Jack?" Daniel asked.
"Son of a..." Jack ran back down the hallway to the garage. When everyone caught up with him he was staring at the black Trans-am parked next to the red Viper.
"Colonel?" Sam asked, "Is something the matter?"
"KARR, K A R R." Jack shook his head, then pointed at the black Trans-am, "Lemme guess, KITT?"
"Yes?" The Trans-am answered.
Turning towards the group, Jack caught sight of Andrew's very familiar looking Ferrari. He glared at Buffy and told her, "Your boyfriend really watches to much television, you do know that?"
Jack was still out of sorts, when Xander arrived. "What happened now?"
"KARR? KITT?" Jack eyed him, "I'm surprised you don't have Herbie the Love Bug sitting around here somewhere."
"Uh, Jack?" Daniel pointed to the far side of the garage where Oz and Willow's cars were parked.
"Aw C'mon." Jack groused. "Kid, I thought you were low profile?"
"Petey," Xander spoke into his comm, "Show Colonel O'Neill 'low profile' please."
Before SG-1's eyes, the 'Mystery Machine' and 'Herbie' suddenly changed. Jack's eyes widened at the new coloration of the vehicles. The van's marking now bore the marking of the Galileo Seven from Startrek, while the bug now sported a yellow and black paint job that made it resemble a familiar cartoon creature. Jack laughed, "That's not much of an improvement."
"No," Xander snickered, "That's Petey's idea of funny. Try again, Petey!"
This time, the cars changed to a metallic grey color with black trim.
"Better," Jack replied, "How...?"
"Electro-stimulated polychromatic polymer." Xander told him. "AI controlled."
"Cute." Jack replied, "So, any chance of getting that as part of our deal?"
"The army's working on a variant of it for the Land Warrior program now." Xander told them, "The formulas I've already given you should make their job easier. That particular version of the Polymer is still too advanced. "
"Too bad," Jack said, "The camouflage applications alone would be valuable."
"I know," Xander nodded, "But computer power required to control anything but the most basic patterns are out of this world."
"So," Xander grinned, "You need a lift right?"
Jack shot a glance at the lights in the hallway. "Yeah, we were hoping..."
"I'll have Petey get ready," Xander told him, "Who else is coming?"
"A pair of tech's we've had along with us before," Jack told him, "We can trust them."
"So long as it isn't Airman Carruthers, they're welcome aboard." Xander told them.
"So he's the NID mole?" Sam asked.
"Yep," Xander nodded. "One of them anyway."
"There are more?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," Xander told him, "One is in SG-5 and one assigned to SG-6. Anderson and Weatherly."
"Damn." Jack growled, "Thanks for the heads up."
"So," Xander told them, "You want to meet the rest of the crew?"
"Andrew and Jonathan?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah," Xander grinned, "I figure we might as well have a liaison between our groups and one of them should fit the bill."
"These are the two that Willow described as being 'a bit on the geeky side' right?" Jack asked.
"That's them." Xander checked his watch, "Look, why don't we grab some lunch, and discuss this?"
"Fine," Jack nodded, "I've got a couple of questions for you about your 'fleet'."
"Okay." Xander nodded, "I'll order take out and we can talk in my office."
"Fine." Jack and the others headed back to Xander's office.
"Let's see," Xander told the person on the phone, "Ah, just send me about triple our usual order, thanks."
"I take it you order Chinese a lot?" Jack asked.
"And Pizza, and chicken and anything else they deliver." Buffy grinned, "If it wasn't for my mom, Xander would never know what a real home cooked meal was."
"True enough." Xander grinned, "So what did you want to know?"
"How many ships are you actually building?" Jack asked. "And why?"
"Twenty," Xander told them, "Ten to patrol the Brother's space and ten to patrol our space."
"Captain?" Petey appeared next to Xander's desk. "I have some recommendations about that."
"Go ahead, Petey." Xander told him.
"If you actually intend to challenge the power of these 'System Lords', I suggest we build ships more impressive than the BC-303 class."
"More Battlefortresses?" Jack asked.
"No," Petey replied, "I was actually thinking about a Terran Battleplate."
Petey projected an image of the 'Tunguska' Battleplate.
"That looks almost like a Star Destroyer." Willow remarked.
"A Star Destroyer..." Petey mused, "Properly modified that design has merit."
"No..." Xander shook his head, "I am not flying around in something based on the bad guys."
"I did say properly modified," Petey replied, "This is what I had in mind."
What appeared was a diamond shaped craft vaguely teardropped shaped, one end longer than the other. At the joining points of the four 'upper' facets was the total annihilation plant that powered the craft.
"That doesn't really look like a Star Destroyer anymore," Xander noted, "Or a Terran Battleplate."
"I did say properly modified," Petey reminded him, "This design is loosely based on both the Terran Battleplate design *and* the Star Destroyer, with of course consideration to the fact that my designs utilize a gravity drive."
"Of course," Jack rolled his eyes.
"Exactly how *big* is this ship going to be?" Xander asked.
"four kilometers long." Petey reported, "Packed with as much firepower as a Battleplate."
"And how long will that take you to build?" Jack asked.
"If I devote half of my current stock of fabbers to building the ship and half to building more fabbers." Petey didn't even pause to make the calculations. "Five months."
"Five..." Sam's eyes widened. "You can build an entire ship in five months?"
"Since I have to convert raw materials," Petey replied, "Yes, it will take that long."
"What the hell do you need us for then?" Jack asked.
"Cannon Fodder?" Petey offered. When everyone in the room with the exception of Teal'c glared at him, Petey held his hands up, "Just a joke. It was discovered by most races that AI's working in tangent with Organics tended to be more efficient during battle. I'm still working out the reason for that."
"Let me know when you've figured it out." Jack told him. "Just out of curiosity. How many ships of that class would you suggest be made?"
"Five," Petey said with certainty, "Along with ten Thunderheads as escort vessels."
"You are building your own fleet." Sam accused Xander.
"Nope," Xander shook his head, "I'm just authorizing it."
"That's just semantics."
"Look," Xander told them, "The simple truth is. When it comes to ship related matters, I tend to listen to Petey."
"What if..."
"If you're about to ask about Petey betraying me," Xander told Sam, "All I have to say is... If Petey were capable of betraying me, he's already got the firepower to do so."
"Oh," Sam blinked, "That doesn't really reassure me."
"Would my oath that I cannot betray my Captain work?" Petey asked.
"Not really," Jack told him. "It's not that we don't trust you, Petey."
"It's that you don't really trust anyone." Petey finished. "Now wait one minute!" Jack started to argue.
"You don't trust Captain Harris either." Petey pointed out.
"He does have a point." Xander told them. "Look, point blank. I trust Petey further than I trust you."
Jack sighed, "Fair enough."
"Xander?" Willow asked, "How dangerous are these 'System Lords'?"
"Petey?" Xander turned to the AI, "Can you give us a strategic overview of the Goa'uld?"
"Of course sir," Petey proceeded give a breakdown of Goa'uld forces that surprised even SG-1. He included the location of the major System Lords themselves and a breakdown of the space based forces defending the worlds.
"How the hell..." Jack asked, ten minutes later.
"The V.D.A. and a few hypernodes." Xander grinned. "I've got it as a hardcopy for you.
Jack just shook his head and sighed.
Any further discussion was forestalled by the arrival of lunch. Xander called down to let Andrew and Jonathan know where the food was, only to hear the sounds of lightsabers clashing together.
"Are they at it again?" Willow asked.
"You want to go stun them both?" Xander sighed.
"I think they stopped." Oz reported.
"Darn." Willow pouted.
"What's for lunch?" Jonathan asked as the two entered the office.
"Chinese," Xander held up pair of chopsticks. "Get it while it's still hot."
"Cool." Andrew said as he loaded his plate. Then he got a good look at SG-1.
"Who're you?"
"Guys?" Xander asked.
"They're part of your team," Jack shrugged, "It's your call."
"Okay," Xander nodded, between bites of food, he explained to the duo about the Stargate and Goa'uld.
"Oh man, that's just like Wormhole Extreme!" Jonathan gushed. "That is so cool!"
"Wormhole what?" Xander asked.
"Wormhole Extreme." Jonathan told them. "You know the Television show about the guys that use a wormhole to visit other planets?"
"Jack?" Xander turned to O'Neill, "Is there something you want to mention here?"
"Ah hell." Jack shook his head. He gave his people an embarrassed, apologetic look, then launched into his convoluted explanation of SG-1's involvement with the Wormhole Extreme television program."
"Now how did I miss that show?" Xander asked. "Sounds like it might fun."
"If you want, I've got every episode on tape," Jonathan told him. "I never miss it!"
Jack was staring at Jonathan and so missed the same fanboy look that Andrew had on his face. Images of Jonathan at SG Command constantly commenting on how much like 'Wormhole Extreme' it was, or worse harping on how 'Wormhole Extreme' got it wrong.
"If the offer of a Liaison is still open." Jack told Xander, "I think we'll take Andrew."
"Oh man!" Andrew practically gushed, "Thank you God!"
"Oh god." Jack actually let his head thump onto the table, "They're both like that."
As Jack and the rest of SG-1 left his office, Xander turned back to Petey and asked. "All right, Petey. What did you leave out?"
"I've been analyzing our information about Anubis," Petey replied, unfazed by Xander's insight, "It is possible that since he survived the terapedo attack, he now knows that we have a weapon he can't defend against."
"The terapedo leaves an energy signature every time it ports, right?" Xander remembered from the comic.
"Correct," Petey nodded, "If he can scan enough teraports, he may be able analyze it and possibly block or duplicate it."
"And he's the type perfectly willing to kill a few hundred of his people to get those scans." Xander growled, "Great, there goes our really big advantage."
"Wait," Xander realized something, "Petey, how much firepower do we have compared to the Goa'uld."
"Without the terapedoes?" Petey calculated, "Theoretically, with the weapons I have installed on the Enterprise I can deliver a lethal strike against any Ha'tak cruiser with moderate risk to the ship. On board the Post dated check loan, I can handle up to ten such ships with the same amount of risk."
"What about the new ships?" Xander asked.
"As far as I can calculate," Petey told him, "There isn't a single System Lord that can muster a fleet large enough to be a threat to even one of the new design."
"Huh," Xander thought about it, "Each Thunderhead would be capable of carrying BC-303's right?"
"Of course." Petey nodded.
"Okay," Xander made his decision, "Start work on one of the new design with two Thunderheads and twenty BC-303's. We'll work on naming them after they're finished."
"I can name them if you like, sir."
"Petey, no offense," Xander smiled softly, "But I really don't have the desire to go into battle on a ship called the 'Poupance duungsmeer'."
"It only sounds dirty..."
"In galstandard west... I know," Xander replied, "But since Galstandard west and English seem to be the same, I'd really rather not go into battle with that ship name."
"Very well sir," Petey replied, "What should we name the new ship design?"
"The McNally class, of course."
"Of course, sir." Petey acknowledged, "I should have anticipated that."
The P.D.C.L. appeared just outside the extreme fringes of the star system containing the Naquadria slab. A quick scan revealed an apparently uninhabited system. "Everything looks clear, Captain."
"Take us in," Xander leaned back into his chair and watched the display warily. The last thing he wanted to do was taunt Murphy at this point.
"Hey, kid." Jack started as he walked onto the bridge. "How's it going."
"We're entering the system now." Xander told him. "How are the newbies doing?"
"Geeking over this ship, almost as badly as your two were geeking over the whole 'Wormhole Extreme' nonsense." Jack shook his head, "Apparently they're both fans of the comic."
"I see," Xander frowned, "Petey, you do still have the labs locked down right?"
"And the armory and Commander Andreyasn's room." Petey reported. "Although, those two aren't nearly as bad as Wells and Levinson."
"That's not too good to know," Jack told Petey.
"We should be at the planet in one hour." Petey reported, "I recommend expanding the VDA sweep zone, sir."
"Won't you lose resolution?" Xander asked.
"Resolution loss will be offset by the increase in area scanned." Petey told him.
"Do it," Xander nodded. "If there's anything out there besides us, I want to know about it."
"Understood sir." Petey acknowledged.
"Colonel?" Sam's voice came over Jack's radio.
"Yes?"
"We could use some help with some of the storage containers, sir."
"On my way." Jack told them.
"Petey," Xander told the Al, "I'd like you to reprogram some fabbers to assist them, if you don't mind."
"Done, sir."
"Good."
A half an hour later, Petey interrupted Xander's bored game of solitaire. "Sir, Mr. Giles wishes to speak to you."
"Huh?" Xander got worried, "Put him on."
"Xander?" Giles' voice didn't sound panicked which reassured Xander some. "What did you do to KARR?"
"What?" Xander blinked, "Say that again?"
"I just got back from the meeting," Giles informed Xander, "And asked KARR if anything interesting happened while I was gone."
"And?" Xander asked.
"He started laughing," Giles groused, "It's been ten minutes and he hasn't stopped yet. Although I did get one remark from him something about, Colonel O'Neill lasting two weeks at the most?"
"Ah," Xander grinned, "Petey, did you tell KITT and KARR about Andrew's new position?"
"Yes sir." Petey nodded, "I also informed Ennesby as well."
"What was his reaction?"
"He seemed upset until he discovered that you intended to send him with Andrew."
"Huh?" Xander blinked.
"Apparently," Petey sighed, "Ennesby is as big a geek as those two. He's just better at hiding it."
"Oh," Xander laughed, "I forgot about that..."
"Giles?" Xander continued.
"Yes?"
"Don't worry about it." Xander told him, "I just assigned Andrew to be our liason with Stargate Command."
"That would explain KARR's remark about Colonel O'Neill." Giles chuckled, "Although I think that two weeks is a bit optimistic."
As the slab came into view, Xander examined the surface with the long range systems. "What are those lines on the surface?"
"Hmm," Petey frowned in concentration. "They look like circuit diagrams. They're made out of a mélange of metals, dichromium, platinum, gold, primarily titanium. The VDA didn't get close enough to 'see' them on the first pass."
"I wonder what it's for?"
"I'm not certain," Petey admitted, "Sir, request permission to deploy a few mini-tanks to surface to act as probes."
"Send one to do a flyby of that slab too."
"Already done, sir." Petey nodded.
"What's going on?" Daniel asked as SG-1 entered the bridge.
"Take a look at the slab." Xander nodded to the screen. "What do you make of it?"
"It isn't any language I've ever seen." Daniel peered closely at the monitor.
"No, it looks more like a diagram." Sam added. "Almost like an intergrated…"
"The mini-tank is approaching the slab, sir." Petey told them.
"Let's keep this distance, Petey." Xander told him.
"Yes, sir." Petey acknowledged. Everyone watched the as the screen showed a split image. One image showing the mini-tank, the other showing the tank's point of view. As the tank approached, an odd glittering started over the surface.
"That's interesting." Petey told Xander, "We're being scanned."
"What's that?" Jack started to ask, when a flash of light struck out at the probe. The probe's image flickered and then went black.
"What the hell?" Xander frowned, "Petey, what was that?"
"I think," Petey paused, "Interesting."
"What?" Jack asked.
"That was a data burst." Petey told them. "I'm working through the data sir, that one signal..."
"What's the matter." Jack asked.
"It's..." Petey digested the information. "That was very sneaky."
"Petey..." Xander told the A.I. "You're making me nervous."
"The Naquadria slab is a giant data core." Petey told them. "It was triggered by presence of a Human ship containing someone with Ancient DNA. That one burst contained 200 gigabytes of data."
"About what?" Jack asked.
"Stargate coordinates." Petey explained. "Worlds that SG-1 doesn't even know about, there's one extremely odd one."
"Odd?" Teal'c asked.
"It contains eight symbols." Petey told them.
"That's outside the Galaxy." Daniel said. "Where does it go?"
"Odd," Petey reported, "The name of the destination is in the Terran Mythology database."
"What name?" Daniel asked.
"Atlantis."
Xander watched as the fifth mini-tank in twice as many hours went to meet its fate. "Petey, how much of this data is of strategic use?"
"Actually, not much." Petey admitted, "Sorting the data and filing is taking quite a bit of time. It would go faster if SG-1 would just let me collate it first, instead of going over it themselves."
"Humor them," Xander grinned as he remembered something. "Hey, we have hypernode communications back to Earth right?"
"Yes."
"Good," Xander smiled, "How about getting Buffy on the line for me."
"Yes, sir."
"Xander?" Buffy's face appeared on the monitor. "How're things going?"
"Slow," Xander told her, "Where are you?"
"In my car," Buffy smiled, "I'm on my way to the College for some study time with Willow, any special reason for the call?"
"Just missed you." Xander told her. "We might be longer than I thought."
"Oh? Why?"
"That slab of naqaudria is some kinda Ancient's data storage device." Xander told her, "According to Petey, that's why it's over the magnetic pole. The whole thing is one self-renewing energy source."
"Cool." Buffy replied, "So what's the hold up?"
"Daniel is going gaga over the data involving the social and linguistic structure. Sam is sorting through the technical data. Jack and Teal'c are pouring over everything looking for references to the Goa'uld." Xander sighed, "It's taking forever."
"Why aren't they letting Petey sort it?"
"I don't think they trust him." Xander shook his head, "They're afraid he'll hold something back from them."
"Do they know he's fast enough to remove data on the fly?" Buffy asked.
"Nope," Xander sighed, "And since I don't want to tell them just how powerful Petey is, we're going to be here a while, maybe weeks."
"Oh," Buffy sighed, "Try to be back before Halloween okay?"
"Why, is Ethan coming back for a return engagement? Because I really wanted to see what using the 'Force' feels like."
"And you complain about Andrew and Jonathan?" Buffy laughed, "No, but we're invited to a party at Oz's frat house."
"Ooh." Xander smiled, "Drunken frat boys. Just what I wanted for Halloween."
"Be nice," Buffy chided him, "Besides, if nothing else we get to laugh at the 'haunted house' they've cooked up."
"Double ooh..." Xander laughed, "Okay, I'll make it a point to be back before Halloween."
"How much longer is this going to take?" Xander asked. "I mean, it's been at least two weeks."
"I'm not sure," Petey admitted, "By my estimate we have to have downloaded about eighty five percent of the data in the core, nearly 500 terabytes of data. However, it is difficult to gauge the actual storage capacity, as the core continually increases the amount of data being transferred, so it might actually be larger than my estimate."
"AHHH!" Xander thumped his head against the console. "It might be longer!?"
"Perhaps," Petey shrugged, "Perhaps... Well this is interesting."
"What?"
"I think that was the last transmission." Petey deployed another mini-tank right away. "The signal was the shortest of the lot."
"Well?" Xander waited until the mini-tank actually made contact with the slab. "So that's it?"
"That's it," Petey nodded. "End of file."
"Oh thank you!" Xander actually looked up. "Thank you, GOD!"
"Petey, dump the last data to SG-1, bring that slab onboard and let's go home!"
"Yes, sir." Petey smiled as Xander actually started doing the 'Happy Dance'.
A few hours later, SG-1 and their 'prizes' were safely back at SG command and Xander found himself back in the garage of XWB technologies.
As Xander walked into the Offices of XWB, he found his eyes assaulted by the sight of Rupert Giles dressed in a slightly tacky looking Mexican outfit. Barely containing his laughter, Xander asked, "Let me guess, you got a new job at Jose's Taco Emporium."
"Don't be ridiculous." Giles frowned, "This is for Halloween."
"Halloween..." Xander goggled, "Oh nuts! I must have lost track of time. Buffy's going to kill me!"
"Relax, Xander." Miss Calendar told him as she joined them, "Their party only started a couple of hours ago. You should be able make it up to her with sufficient groveling."
"Gah?" Xander' s eyes nearly bugged out at the costume she was wearing. Light leather armor covered her torso and hips, buckles and straps kept the armor tight to her body. The armor ended at shoulders and thighs, leaving her upper legs and arms totally bare. A long sword was strapped to her side and a pair of knee-high leather boots finished her costume.
"Ah..." Xander finally got control of his voice. "You need a blonde wig to complete that costume.
"So Jonathan told me," Miss Calendar sighed, "I've got it in my car."
"Oh," Xander nodded, "Okay, I'm going now."
He turned and headed for the exit as quickly as possible. All the while a prayer kept running through his head, "Please if there's anyone listening up there, don't let everyone turn into their costumes tonight! I don't even want to imagine the disaster having that psycho loose in Sunnydale could cause. Anything but that."
After a seconds thought, Xander looked up at the sky, "Almost anything."
A quick trip to his house and a fast change and Captain Kaff Tagon was ready for the party. But when he got to the party, he found the place in chaos. There were people outside shouting that the decorations had attacked them. When he tried to get in, Xander found the doors jammed shut so hard that even boosted he couldn't budge them. "Somebody must have been listening to me."
Xander pulled out his comm. unit and said, "G-man you there?" "Xander?" Giles replied, "What is it?"
"Somethings happening at the party," Xander told him, "Are you still at the Office?"
"We were just about to leave." Jenny told him.
"Good," Xander sighed, Inside my office, in the second filing cabinet from the front, third drawer. There's a box marked 'Hull cutter'. I need you to attach a teraport to it, and have Petey transport it to the back of my Hummer."
"I'll have Petey teraport me, as well." Giles told him, "You might need some assistance."
"Thanks," Xander put his comm. unit away and checked his arsenal. Just like the other Halloween, he'd decided to take the BH-250 with him and put the Strohl in back holster. Removing the Strohl, he changed magazines from flechette rounds to the Hi-ex ammo. A quick click of his heels confirmed the Dorothy system was working. "C'mon G-man where are you?"
When he heard the ear-splitting screech of the teraport from around the corner, Xander sighed in relief and ran towards the sound. Giles stood there looking a little shaken, in Giles' hand was the box containing the Hull-cutter.
"Thanks," Xander said as he took the box from Giles.
"What exactly is that?" Giles asked as Xander took what looked like the handle of some type of power tool out of the box.
"It's a Hull Cutter," Xander answered as he headed for the door. While he was walking, he adjusted several dials on the side of the device. "It's normally used to cut away damaged sections of a ship's hull."
"I beg your pardon."
"Just watch," Xander pulled the trigger on the device and an inch long, four inch wide blade of energy popped out of the front of the cutter.
"Good heavens." Giles watched as with broad strokes, Xander cut the enter doorframe away.
"C'mon," Xander told him as he kicked the remnants of the door open.
"Ri... right behind you." Giles followed determined young man through the door. Inside they were almost run over by a crowd of people running for the newly opened exit.
"Buffy!" Xander shouted as they made their way through the building.
"Xander!" Giles interrupted his shouting. When the young man ignored him, Giles pulled out his comm. and said. "Petey, can you get a fix on Buffy's position?"
Xander stopped dead in his tracks and groaned, "I don't believe I didn't think of that."
"Miss Summers has left her Comm at home, however Miss Rosenberg and Mr. Osborne are located on second floor, third room on the left.
"Thank you, Petey." Giles said.
"You're welcome, Sir." Petey replied.
They ran up the stairs and to the third door on the right. Xander didn't bother with the hull cutter on the locked door he smashed through it like a linebacker. "Buffy?"
"Xander!" Buffy sent him flying backwards when she tackled him with a hug. "You didn't leave!"
"Leave?" Xander returned Buffy's hug, thankful the armor kept his ribs intact. "I just got here."
"No, you showed up." Buffy had tears in her eyes. "You said you were leaving, that you didn't love me."
"Buffy, ask Giles." Xander reasoned with her, "I just got here with him."
"You did?"
"Something is very wrong here." Giles frowned, "One of the other guests was screaming something about a giant rat chasing her."
"Willow?" Xander asked the shaken hacker, "Where were you all when this started?"
"It started upstairs." Oz replied for her. "The plastic spiders in the fake webs turned real."
"Why don't we take a look see." Xander told them.
Upstairs, Xander and the others found a glowing mystic circle inscribed on the floor. "What the...?"
"One of the Frat boys drew that." Oz told them, "I didn't think it was real."
"Where did he get the design?" Giles asked.
"From a book." Oz told them then he spotted the book laying on one of the tables. "That book."
"Oh bloody hell." Giles said as he read the book, "Amateurs should never meddle with magic, that is symbol of Gachnar, a fear demon."
"So how do we stop it?" Buffy asked.
"If nothing else." Xander pulled out the BH-250 and set it to full power, the soft ominous hum that filled the room actually did sooth the nerves of everyone there.
"One moment." Giles read the passage silently, "Well the first thing... Oh bloody hell, just smash the symbol."
"Okay," Buffy ripped the flooring up, totally obliterating the symbol. "So that stops cacknup from appearing right?"
"Actually it should summon the demon right away."
"GILES!?" Everyone shouted, even Oz.
"Here he comes!" Xander aimed the BH-250 down, as the light from the floor intensified.
"Just relax." Giles grinned wickedly as Gachnar appeared in all his teeny-tinyness. He held up the book so the others could see the picture of the demon. "See those words under his picture?"
"Yeah?" Xander replied.
"It says actual size."
Xander looked at his plasma gun, "You know, I think I just proved 'rule 37' wrong."
Buffy looked down at the inch high demon and stomped down on it before it could say anything. "What's rule 37?"
"There's no such thing as Overkill." Xander told her, "There's only open fire and I'm reloading."
Buffy looked down at the smear of goo that used to be Gachnar and then at BH-209 Xander held in his hands. "Yeah, overkill."
Once the company closed up shop for the night, the Scoobies usually met at Xander's home. That particular evening, Giles had some bad news to tell them.
Xander frowned as they learned that last night, there had been an incident with all the earmarks of a werewolf attack. "Petey, you did have Oz under control last night?"
"Of course, sir." Petey replied, "There was no breach of the Gravitic barrier used to contain Mr. Osborne during his more primal periods."
"So we've got another Werewolf out there?" Willow frowned, "How do we find him?"
"Same way we caught Oz the first time." Buffy told her, "We stake out all of the gathering places for teenagers in town."
Xander nodded, "Okay, so we do like the real Scoobie gang and split up to cover more ground?"
"Only you could say something like 'the real Scoobie gang' with that much sincerity." Buffy noted.
"Hey, Andrew and Jonathan would..." Xander paused, "I'm not helping my case am I?"
"No," Giles smiled, "You most certainly are not."
"He does have a point," Willow told them, "We can cover more areas by splitting up."
"So," Buffy shrugged, "Xander you take the Bronze, Willow you take the University campus, Giles and Miss Calendar take lover's lane and I'll patrol the town in case he finds someplace else to draw his attention."
"I'll have Petey scan the town as well." Xander told them, "But since he has to use indirect scanners, it'll be iffy at best."
"It's better than nothing." Giles replied. "We'll need weapons."
"Stunners?" Xander asked, "Or something heavier?"
"Stunners and Goober guns." Buffy told him.
"Coming up," Xander ignored the gunsafe and opened a hidden panel on the wall. He pulled out five stunners and goober guns and passed them out. "I still think we might need something heavier."
"Why would..." Buffy stopped herself. "No, I'm not going to jinx us now. Go get the heavy artillery."
"Actually what I was thinking about was the heavy net gun." Xander pulled out something shaped like a shortened bazooka. "This thing can wrap up an elephant at 200 yards."
"Cool." Buffy nodded, "So who gets it?"
"Since I never showed anyone else how to fire this," Xander shrugged, "I guess I'll carry it."
"So all we have to do is go hunting and hope we get lucky." Buffy slid the guns under her coat and stood up.
Later that night, Xander sat in the Bronze monitoring the comms hoping that no one got hurt by this new threat. He was so fixated on listening to the others, that he ignored the person sneaking up on him.
"Well, if it isn't looser boy, Harris." A familiar snide voice startled him.
"Hello Harmony," Xander sighed, "I thought you were in Hollywood posing for Hustler?"
"It wasn't that." Harmony Kendall sneered at him. "I am a legitimate model, I've been in several high class magazines."
"Playboy then." Xander sneered back. "Why are you in town?" "I'm looking for Cordelia." Harmony told him.
"Why?" Xander asked, "So you can rub your oh so small success in her face."
"Of course not," Harmony replied very insincerely, "I just heard she had to come back to Sunnydale with her tail between her legs after her acting career flopped. Some of the others told me she actually had to take a job as a receptionist."
"Sorry to disappoint you,". Xander told her just as insincerely, "But Cordie took a vacation, she's somewhere in the Riviera for the next couple of weeks."
"Wha...?" Harmony couldn't wrap her self-centered brain around Xander's statement. "You're joking right? How could a recept..."
"See, that's the part you've got wrong." Xander told her, "She sometimes fronts as the receptionist for XWB technologies but she's actually the Public Relations officer with a share in the company."
"Oh right," Harmony shook her head still not wanting to believe Xander, "How much could she make?"
"The high end of six figures annually after taxes." Xander stood up. "She's pretty happy with her position."
"Six..." Harmony goggled, "No way."
"If things go well," Xander rubbed it in, "She'll be pulling in seven figures next year."
"Ah..." Harmony could only gape as Xander left the table.
"Have a nice night." Xander smirked as he walked away.
A few hours later, Xander received the call from Petey. "Sir, I think I've found it."
"Where?"
"Miss Summers will intercept in about five minutes if she keeps to her current heading."
"Contact her," Xander ran for his car, "Tell her I'm on my way."
"Yes sir."
Xander raced through the pretty much empty streets of Sunnydale, "Petey status report!"
"Miss Summer engaged the Werewolf on schedule," Petey told him, "However in the heat of the moment, she forgot..."
"She forgot she was armed and took the thing on hand to hand." Xander finished.
"I'm afraid so, Sir." Petey told him. "She is currently chasing the creature in your direction now."
"I don't see... HOLY!!!" Xander slammed on the brakes as the Werewolf raced in front of his car. The Werewolf actually reared back to attack before being sent flying by the virtually indestructible car.
"Son of a..." Xander leapt out of the car, stunner out.
"Xander!" Buffy shouted as she raced up, "Watch out, the stunner doesn't work on it!"
"Oh great," Xander tossed the Stunner back into his Hummer and pulled the goober gun. "Okay furry, chase this."
Xander sprayed the Werewolf with green mod goober rounds. Within moments, the creature was totally covered in green goo. "Buffy, muzzle on my front seat!"
Buffy found the oversized leather muzzle right where Xander told it would be. She grabbed it and ran back around to car to find Xander using his armored hand to hold the were's mouth closed. With a quick move, Buffy slipped the muzzle over the snarling creature's mouth.
"Bad doggy." Xander snapped his finger across the Werewolf's nose. "Stay!"
"You're not helping, Xander." Buffy told him as she threw a tarp from the back of the hummer over the werewolf, picked it up and threw it into the vehicle.
"Hey, that's the way you're supposed to train dogs."
"I'm surprised you didn't try it with Oz."
"Are you kidding?" Xander laughed, "Willow would have shot me, and she wouldn't have used a stunner either."
"Well, you would have deserved it too." Buffy joined Xander's laughter.
"So," Buffy now frowned as they got into the Hummer, "What do we do with dark, furry and fangy back there?"
"Well," Xander eyed the still struggling beast, "We can park the Hummer at XWB and leave him locked inside till morning."
"Sounds good to me."
"Damn," Xander mock frowned as he started the Hummer, "I never even got to try out the Net gun."
As Xander drove away, he missed the Commando team watching from the shadows.
Riley hit the send switch on his radio, "I'm afraid that our 'competition' managed to find and contain the HST before we could. I'm afraid we lost this one. However,We do have information about our competion."
"Damn," Riley thought as he recognized the vehicle. "So XWB is at least a partial front for whoever Colonel O'neill commands. I would never have guessed that."
The next morning, Xander got up bright and early to let the by now human person out of the goober goo. He'd decided to sleep at the office so that the poor shnook wouldn't be uncomfortable for too long.
As he opened the back hatch of the Hummer, his eyes widened when he realized that instead of a confused frightened guy staring at him. He had a pissed off, struggling girl glaring at him.
Xander stared at her for several seconds then said the only thing that would come to his mind, "Huh?"
Buffy yawned as she staggered out of her car, Xander woke everyone up early to come down to XWB because of a 'slight problem' as he put it. She found everyone else staring inside the back of Xander's Hummer with looks of concern on their faces.
"What's...?" Buffy's voice trailed off as she saw the young woman struggling in the back of the Hummer. "Huh? A girl? Why haven't you let her go yet? And why does she have a piece of duck tape over her mouth?"
"That's the problem," Xander said a bit ruefully, "Her name is Veruca, she's the lead singer of a band that just arrived in Sunnydale a couple of weeks ago. And apparently she already knows she's a werewolf."
"What!?" Buffy asked in shock, "And she hasn't done anything to keep herself contained when she's a wolf?"
"That's why she's still gooped up and her mouth is taped, she wouldn't stop yelling that we had no right to hold her." Xander shrugged.
"Well, technically we don't have the right to hold her." Giles told him. "We are not the police or any other government agency."
"Well, if she wants a government agency," Xander removed the tape over Veruca's mouth. "We could always let the Initiative have her."
"What are you talking about!?" Veruca snarled at him, "Who the hell are you people?"
Xander grinned, "Just concerned citizens. Like I said, if you want someone with the authority to hold you, we can always give you over to the Initiative."
"Xander," Giles interrupted him, "Aside from the moral questions involved with turning her over to the Initiative, precisely how do you propose to do that without letting them know who we are?"
"Well," Xander frowned, "I hate to break the news to you but..."
"How did they figure out who we are!?" Willow asked. "I mean... I thought..."
"I already told you, Petey's monitoring everything about them." Xander reminded them, "Last night, Riley Finn reported that his team lost an HST to us. And that he recognized the vehicle used as belonging to the President of XWB tech."
"Oh great," Buffy rolled her eyes, "The 'creepy' government agency knows about us now."
"And they think we're at least partly a front for SG-1." Xander laughed, "So, they're keeping their distance from us anyway."
Veruca growled low in her throat as the group ignored her. "Let me go, now!"
"What are you going to do tomorrow night?" Xander asked her.
"Whatever I want." The girl snarled, "You don't have the right to stop me."
"That has to be the worst answer I've ever heard." Xander told her, "What gives you the right to endanger other people?"
"What gives you the right to interfere?" Veruca asked.
"Well, in Buffy's case. A supernatural mandate." Xander told her. "In the Initiative's case, the U.S. Government has actually authorized them to hunt supernatural threats."
"What?" Veruca stopped struggling, "You're insane."
"No, I'm Xander. You're insane."
"I'm honest about what I am," Veruca growled, "Not like that neutered puppy you've got over there."
Willow's eyes narrowed angrily, "Sending her to the Initiative is sounding better all the time."
"What the hell is the Initiative?" Veruca asked.
"A top secret Government Agency that experiments on what they call HST's." Xander told her, "In other words, supernatural creatures."
"Like us," Oz told her.
"And *you're* going to turn me over to *them*?" Veruca glared at Oz, "You're a hypocrite."
"No," Xander told her, "He's still human, I have my doubts about you."
"He's afraid of what he is."
"No," Xander shook his head, "He's afraid of what he becomes. That's because he cares about what happens to other people. You... you're nothing but a selfish witch."
"I think the term you're looking for is 'selfish bitch'." Willow growled.
"I was trying to avoid the obvious pun." Xander shrugged. "Will, you got the spare clothes I asked you to bring?"
"Yeah," Willow held up a paper bag, "Right here."
"Willow. Why don't you and Buffy get her out of the goop and help her dress." Giles told them.
Buffy was about ask 'why us?' when she remembered that were's didn't have their clothes when they changed back. "Right."
A few minutes later, all three men heard Willow's shout. "Look out!"
A soft cry of surprise and the thud of bodies being knocked together followed the shout. The three men ran back to the garage in time to see Buffy and Willow on the ground together in a tangled heap.
"She shoved you into each other and ran, didn't she?" Xander sighed. "I should guessed she'd run."
"So we go after her, right?"
"Petey?" Xander said to the air, "You got a lock on her?"
"She's currently running down the street as fast as she can, sir." Petey responded. "The micro transmitter is working perfectly."
"Micro...?" Giles blinked, "You planted a micro transmitter on her?"
"Not on her," Xander smiled, "In her."
"In her?" Buffy asked as she stood up, "How'd you manage that little trick."
"Slipped it to her in the water I gave her this morning." Xander shrugged, "Should be good for around... how long did you say, Petey?"
"At least ten hours," Petey told them, "I can track her unless she goes into a heavily shielded environment."
"Very sneak," Giles approved, "So, what are we going to do with her?"
"I don't know," Buffy admitted, "She's insane, but she's still a person."
"Buff," Xander sighed, "At this point, I don't think we have a choice."
Buffy frowned as she thought about it. Willow decided to add her thoughts to the argument. "But she isn't responsible for her condition anymore than Oz is."
"She may not be responsible for her condition." Giles told her, "But she is responsible for not taking precautions on the nights of the full moon."
"And we're the only ones who stop her." Xander finished, "Before she hurts someone else."
"But... Oz..."
"She isn't like Oz." Buffy agreed with Xander and Giles. "She enjoys being the wolf, she doesn't care who gets hurt."
"They're right," Oz told her, "She has to be stopped."
Willow wilted at Oz's words. "So how do we stop her?"
"I hate to do this but," Xander paused, then shook his head, "this the only way I can think of without killing her. Petey, do you have the design for the Initiative's behavior control chip?"
"Yes sir," Petey replied, "And the facilities to install it onboard. Although, I would prefer to use my technology to duplicate the effects of the chip, instead of relying on their primitive design."
"How long?" Xander asked.
"For construction and final testing?" Petey calculated, "About seven hours total."
"Okay," Xander nodded, "Let's see where she goes and ready the trap."
Riley Finn watched from the brush as the young woman ran from XWB technologies. Raising his camera he took several shots of her before she got out sight. "Who the hell was that?"
A few hours later, three cars left the company garage. What bothered Riley about that was, he'd kept watch over the garage since the break of dawn and he'd seen the cars arrive. These vehicles while having the same body design were a completely different paint job. "I wonder why they've got other vehicles for?"
Then it occurred to him that maybe, they were going out hunting again. He picked up his radio, "Scout to base, the XWB force may be out hunting. Repeat the XWB force may be out hunting."
"Base to scout," Forrest's voice answered him, "For God's sake, be careful. You know what official orders are?"
"Got it," Riley nodded, "Look, Metallic blue cars with grey trim. One old style bug, one Hummer, one Aerostar... hold on, wow and one Dodge Viper, same coloration."
"Confirmed," Forrest replied, "We'll have people looking out for them."
"Captain," Petey said over the node, "Agent Finn was outside of XWB and spotted the vehicles."
"Roger, Petey." Xander grinned, "Okay, switch the pattern once we're around the corner."
"Yes, sir."
As the convoy of cars turned on to a deserted street, their exteriors changed colors. Each now sported a different paint job normal for that brand of vehicle. Every car except the Viper, that is. That vehicle was now a deep purple, with a psychedelic flame job running from the front. Xander choked back a laugh as howls of protest came over the comm. He wasn't sure who was more outraged, Giles or KARR about the new paint job but neither sounded very happy.
"Petey..." Xander chided him, "Be nice."
"That wasn't me, sir." Petey told him, "I think KARR found one of the default patterns I intended for Mr. Wells."
"I see." Xander chuckled. Sure enough, KARR's coloring switched to a black with silver trim quite quickly. "I think he figured it out."
Veruca flopped onto the bed in her hotel room. "Who the hell do they think they are? Telling me how I should live?"
She thought about running but then decided that they couldn't have tracked her to this hotel. She'd paid cash under an assumed name so there wasn't any paper trail or computer record for them to find. "Besides, maybe I can get through to that Oz. Take him on a little hunt."
What Veruca didn't know was that Xander and the others were waiting in the coffee shop across the street from her hotel, waiting for her to come out.
"So we're just going to wait here?" Buffy asked.
"We'll take shifts," Xander nodded, "I was hoping to intercept her before she got to her hotel. Grabbing her from there will attract too much attention."
"So," Xander nodded, "I've got the first watch. Petey'll keep monitoring her, and as soon as she moves... We'll tail her."
"Please tell me *that* pun wasn't intentional." Buffy winced.
"Actually," Xander blinked, "No, it wasn't... I must be slipping."
"What if she doesn't leave till after the moon rises?" Willow worried.
"She'll leave," Buffy reassured her, "She won't want to destroy her own room."
"If she leaves too close to Sunset though," Oz frowned, "I can't help."
"I know," Xander sighed, "I'm hoping she leaves before then but if not... We'll do the best we can."
Willow was on watch when, several hours later, a still angry Veruca left the hotel and headed down the street. She was about to reach for her com, when Xander contacted her, his voice coming over the earpiece.
"Will. Petey says that Veruca is on the move. Do you see her?"
"Yes," Willow replied softly, "I've got her.
"We'll intercept," Xander told her, "Petey's scanning for a deserted street on her heading. Keep behind, stay out of sight."
"Right." Willow stood up headed for her car to follow Veruca down the road.
Veruca got about three blocks before a black Viper pulled up in front of her. As she dropped her bag and started to run, a sky blue van cut her off on the right, while a silver bug blocked her left. The soft squeal of tires behind her told her she was totally surrounded, a glance backwards confirmed that a charcoal grey Hummer was now blocking that route. She looked around frantically but didn't see anyone on the street who could help her.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Buffy told her as she stepped out of the Van.
Veruca snarled at them and ran straight for the smallest of the vehicles. Willow opened the window and fired her stunner straight into the charging girl. Veruca fell over and rolled to a halt next to the bug.
"Okay," Buffy grinned, "The easy way it is."
AN: This one is short and delayed for a reason, I tore it apart twice and rewrote because I wasn't happy with it. I'm still a bit leary about the last bit so, I'll let you tell me. Read it, and tell me if you can see Petey doing this. If not, I've got an alternate that I plan on using. But I do like this one a bit better.
Xander watched as the auto-doc lowered towards the top of Veruca's head. "Hey, Petey. You're sure this won't hurt her, right?"
"It only scores 0.5 on the ouchdammitometer, sir." Petey reassured him. "Since she's still out, she won't feel a thing."
"Well, you'd better hurry." Xander told him, "Moonrise is in..."
Xander checked his watch and did an amazed double-take. "Correction, was fifteen minutes ago. What the hell?"
"Um, sir?" Petey asked, "Why would moonrise on Earth affect us? We're still in stationary orbit around Neptune."
Xander stared at Petey in horrified shock, "Are you telling me that we could've kept Oz from transforming by just porting him to you every full moon?"
"It would appear so, sir." Petey admitted, "There were so many conflicting version of the Werewolf legend that I was unable to determine the exact cause of the transformation. This current incident does indicate that it is the rising of the Terran Full moon that causes the transformation though."
"Over a year, Petey." Xander sighed, "That's how long we've kept locking up Oz on those nights. I'm an idiot."
"Sir," Petey reassured him, "Just because you failed to see the possibility doesn't make you an idiot. I didn't think about either, and I'm far smarter than you are."
"You're not helping." Xander told the AI, "Besides, you're not the one who has to tell Oz and Willow about this."
"Hmm," Petey pondered, "You're right about that."
"Can I have your stereo?" Petey suddenly asked.
"What!?" Xander turned to find the Hologram grinning at him. His lips finally twitched upwards at the totally innocent look Petey was giving him.
"Seriously, sir? I honestly don't see why you're blaming yourself in this situation."
"Because..." Xander realized he didn't actually have an answer to Petey's statement.
"You have to admit," Petey continued, "Even Mr. Giles did not realize that simply removing a lycanthrope from the influence of the Terran Moon would cause a failure of the curse."
"Yes, but..."
"Mr. Giles is your resident expert on things supernatural, correct?" Petey continued, "If he didn't know about it, how could you?"
"You're right." Xander brightened a little, "Neither did Will."
"And technically she is the most intelligent of the group." Petey nodded, "However, being very intelligent isn't everything."
"I'd settle for just not being stupid." Xander replied.
"Sir," Petey told him, "You are not stupid. You aren't quite as smart as Miss Rosenberg or Mr. Giles but from my observations, you aren't at the bottom of the list either. Tactically your skills are comparable with Miss Summers and your ability to learn is actually on the higher end of the scale."
"When you aren't busy mentally sabotaging yourself." Petey continued.
"What are you talking about?" Xander frowned. "I don't..."
"Sir," Petey reminded him, "I've seen you do it. You constantly belittle your abilities when you're faced with learning something that doesn't interest you or you 'think' is beyond you."
"I..."
"The truth is," Petey told him, "You're quite adept at learning things you're interested in. For instance, you've picked up on running XWB technologies very quickly."
"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Petey." Xander disagreed, "But we both know that XWB is only a front to release tech that you've developed to the public. We don't actually do any real R&D there."
"That is true, Sir. The company doesn't actually do any real research." Petey grinned at him, "But in case you haven't realized it yet. XWB is a 'real' company, with taxes and a business portfolio and day to day decision making. Almost all of which is done by you."
Xander froze in place as he realized that Petey was right. For the last year or so, everyone had been bringing whatever problems the company did have to him for a decision. "They trusted me to run the company? Did they all go nuts?"
"Actually, Sir." Petey shrugged, "You have to admit the company was your idea."
"Yeah," Xander nodded, "But I deliberately suggested Giles as CEO so he'd run the company."
"And Mr. Giles and the others decided to give you a chance to run the company. They felt you earned it."
"They..." Xander again found himself at a loss for words.
"And you proved yourself more than capable." Petey continued, "The entire structure of the company and its business plan were all your idea."
As Xander stood lost in thought, Petey finished. "I'll remind you, that idea has insured that the Slayer is no longer reliant on the Watcher's Council for any kind of support."
"That's right." Xander straightened up a little. "XWB does do that doesn't it?"
"It does, *Captain*." Petey stressed Xander's official rank aboard the PCDL. "And if I might remind you, you were the one negotiating with the System Lords that day. You did quite well if I remember."
"I did." Xander nodded, still slightly shocked about all of it.
"Think about it," Petey told him before turning to a now beeping auto-doc. "The procedure is complete, Sir."
"Good," Xander nodded glad for the distraction, "Let's get her to the transport and we'll see if it works."
"Yes, Captain." Petey nodded.
"Oh and Petey?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Thanks," Xander said as he headed for the door.
"My pleasure, Captain." Petey smiled. He decided to go over his plan one more time. He was confident that he was done not even Willow Rosenberg would be able to discover that he'd known for nearly a year that moving a lycan to a place with no moonrise would block the transformation. He'd also calculated the odds against Oz escaping from the Gravitic cell and decided it was within acceptable tolerances. Allowing Captain Harris to make the 'discovery' on his own gave Petey the opportunity to reinforce his Captain's feelings of self-worth without appearing manipulative and Petey had learned a long time ago, appearances were very important to organics. Once he was sure that he'd done everything possible with that particular bit of knowledge, Petey locked away any and all references to his pre-knowledge of what would happen into a command encrypted file only openable by someone with an O'benn Admiral's command keys.
When Xander walked into the office, Buffy nearly pounced on him. "How did it go?"
"Perfectly," Xander grinned as he picked her up in a hug, "I woke Veruca up before transport, and she slugged me. Almost broke her hand on my helmet too."
"And when she changed?" Giles asked, doing his best to ignore their antics.
"Tried to bite me." Xander grinned, "She didn't even get within two feet before the chip gave her a jolt. Took about six tries between Jonathan and me, but she eventually learned that trying to bite someone causes extreme pain."
"I was curious about something," Jenny asked, "How in the world did the US Government create a chip that sophisticated?"
"They didn't," Xander told them, "According to Petey, it's more like four or five chips interconnected, each with a specific function. His chip, is just one very small very sophisticated little block that uses the brain's own pathways to operate."
"I see," Jenny nodded. "That makes sense."
"I'm glad it makes sense to someone." Giles muttered.
"Me too." Xander agreed, "I had Petey try to explain it to me three times, and I still don't get how it works."
"So what do we do with her now?" Buffy asked. "I mean she can't hurt anyone anymore right?"
"Nope," Xander nodded, "Petey even figured out a way to program the chip so she can't deliberately bite someone in human form either."
"I think you should know that Oz was asking about installing a chip in him." Jenny told Xander, "He's worried about Willow."
"Uhm," Xander grimaced slightly, "About that... Buff, when we tell Willow what else I found out tonight, you gotta promise you won't let her shoot me."
"Why would she want to shoot you?" Giles asked.
"Because I just found out that if Oz were to transport to Petey before the full moon, he wouldn't transform."
"She's going to shoot you, all right." Jenny acknowledged.
"Don't worry." Buffy reassured him, "I won't let her shoot you anywhere that shows."
"Gee, thanks oodles." Xander deadpanned. "I feel so much safer."
"So what did you do with Veruca?" '
"She's stuck in back of the Hummer until daybreak." Xander told them. "After that, we'll give her the 411 and cut her loose."
"What if she tries to get the chip out?" Buffy asked.
"According to Petey," Xander shrugged, "the only available methods to remove the chip without his assistance will probably result in the death of the patient."
"So, it's safe to just let her go?" Jenny asked.
"As safe as we can make her." Xander sighed, "She can still defend herself in human form and even take some defensive actions when she's wolfie but she can't bite anyone, ever."
"Sir," Petey interrupted their discussion. "I think you should know that Agent Finn is observing the building again."
"He's persistent. I have to give him that." Xander shook his head and turned to Buffy, "Why don't we have a nice talk with him."
Outside, Riley Finn hunkered down and pulled the zipper on his jacket up to his neck. Peering through his nightvision telescope at the darkened building, he strained to see any movement. The sound of breaking branches caused him to look up in time to see a large shadow drop in front of him. He scrambled for his Taser rifle, when the figure held up one hand and a glowing gold blade appeared. Xander Harris' face glared at him in the faint yellow light.
"Don't even think about it." Xander growled.
"Oh damn." Riley muttered as Xander pointed to the building. "Let's talk." Xander said a he waited for Riley to move.
Riley sighed as he turned and headed for the building. As he walked the the one hundred yards or so to the building, he wondered how cold it actually got in Alaska. He already knew that after this, unless he got really lucky, Alaska would be the nicest assignment he could expect to pull.
"So, Agent Finn." Buffy frowned at the ersatz teacher's aide sitting in front of her. "Are you so arrogant to assume orders don't to apply to you, or just stupid?"
Examining his gear, Buffy picked up the Taser rifle and hefted it, "Because, based on your equipment, I'm leaning towards 'just stupid'."
"Look..." Riley began before Xander cut him off.
"No you look." Xander leaned in till he was almost nose to nose with Riley, "You're sitting outside, at night, with no back-up and a glorified stungun for a weapon. Plus you're spying on people that I know you've been given orders to leave alone. That pretty much says stupid to me."
"I was told not to interfere with you." Riley defended himself, "Observation isn't interfering."
"He's got a point," Xander agreed, "He's not very bright, but he does have a point."
"So?" Buffy growled, "I still don't like be spied on."
"I wasn't spying on you," Riley replied, "At least not directly; I had the building under observation. I was trying to see how you fit into O'Neill's operation here."
"That's classified on a level you can't even begin to imagine." Xander told him, "So this is what you're going to do. You and your teams are to stay the hell away from this building and the people in it. Or I'm going to make you disappear, got me?"
"I got you." Riley nodded still unnerved by his earlier encounter with Xander. "Look, can I ask on question? I know you won't tell me about O'Neill or your operation, but where the hell did you get a Lightsaber?"
"This?" Xander pulled out his saber and activated it. The Humming golden blade sounded even louder in the confines of the office. "A couple of our techs are real geeks, they knocked these up out some our equipment to play with. I confiscated them and decided they might be useful."
"I don't suppose..." Riley stopped as Xander glared at him, "I didn't think so."
"A little bit of advice? Don't, go out alone at night, get yourself some real weapons and don't trust your bosses." Xander nodded to the door, dismissing Riley. "You can leave now."
As the door shut behind Riley, Buffy turned to face Xander. "I know for a fact that Jonathan's lightsaber was blue and Andrew's was green, so fess up."
"Okay," Xander shrugged as he turned the blade off, "I couldn't resist, I had Petey make a one with a golden blade."
"So that one's just like theirs?" Buffy asked, when Xander looked away instead of answering, she frowned, "Xander?"
"I had Petey make this one with Hullcutter technology." Xander replied, "It is a real lightsaber."
Buffy started laughing, she hugged her embarrassed boyfriend tight. "That's *my* big geek."
"Yep, *yours*," Xander grinned as he kissed her, "And don't you forget it."
"I never do." Buffy kissed him back.
The next morning, Xander woke to the shrill sound of his phone going off. He felt the bed shift as Buffy grabbed for the phone. Cracking open one eye, Xander was shocked to realize it wasn't even Seven A.M. yet.
"For the record," Buffy growled into the phone, "If this isn't an emergency, no court... Oh! Hi Mom!"
Xander almost bounced out of bed before remembering that Buffy's mom already knew she was spending the night at his place. Once his heart settled back into a normal pattern, he asked, "What's up?"
"Sam Mobuto called," Buffy told him, "Kendra needs help."
"How bad?" Xander shook his head, "He's risking the council, gotta be bad."
"You're right," Buffy nodded, "How fast can we get there?"
"By teraport? Faster than it'll take to get all our gear together." Xander told her, "We'll take the Hummer, I'll load the Hummer with the gear while you shower. Then you can call everyone while I shower."
"Got it," Buffy got out of bed and headed for the shower. Xander followed her nude form as she practically strutted to the door.
"Uh..." Xander finally managed to get his mouth working again, "Maybe we should just save time and shower together?"
"That's not a time saver," Buffy shook her head as she firmly closed the door behind her. A few seconds later, she reopened it, and peered back out. "Well?"
"Oh!" Xander almost fell on his face jumping out of bed, "My brain was still shut down from walking you watch... you walking watch..."
"Never mind." Buffy grinned as she pulled him into the shower, "I get it."
"Oh good." Xander managed before his brain shut down again.
AN: Short and late... Sorry folks, real life and just plain laziness got in the way this time.
As Wesley Wyndham Pryce peered through the brush at Sam Mobuto's home, he wondered if the other Watcher actually had the nerve to contact Rupert Giles. Ever since the 'incident' involving that exploding tree, every Watcher in the council was ordered to never speak of, or to the renegade Watcher, but Pryce suspected that Mobuto was desperate enough to risk the Council's punishment. He'd been ordered to keep an eye on the current Slayer over two weeks ago and had been diligently monitoring said Slayer ever since.
His persistence finally paid off as a black hummer appeared in a flash of light on the road in front of the Mobuto home and several people stepped out. "Well I'll be buggered."
Wesley picked up his cell phone and hit the first speed dial button. He waited several seconds as the phone on the other end rang, then finally an irate voice spoke. "This had better be an emergency."
"Mr. Travers." Wesley spoke quietly, "This is Wesley Wyndham Pryce, the person you assigned to keep tabs on Samuel Mobuto?"
"I know who you are, Pryce." Travers sighed, "I take it that Mr. Mobuto has contacted the rogue?"
"Yes he has," Wesley reported, "They arrived in what I believe is called a Hummer, sir."
"That's interesting," Travers' voice sounded irritated, "According to my sources, Rupert Giles hasn't used his passport recently, and that new company he owns doesn't have a private aircraft. Nor have they rented one recently."
"Sir?" Wesley hesitated, knowing that what he was about to say wasn't going to be received well. "They didn't drive up to the house, they teleported."
"WHAT!?" Quentin Travers exploded, "Don't be an idiot, Pryce. Rupert Giles doesn't have access to the level of magic necessary to teleport an entire vehicle and all of its passengers."
"*I am* aware of that sir," Wesley informed him, "Nevertheless, Rupert Giles, the Slayer Summers and three other individuals arrived by teleportation. This is first hand, they are less than forty yards away from me."
"Very well," Travers was totally exasperated by Wesley's attitude, "What are they doing now?"
"They are currently unloading the vehicle." Wesley looked closer, "Hold on, I only count eight people including Mr. Mobuto and Kendra. I can't see the last person."
Wesley peered through the binoculars looking for the final member of the group, he spent several moments scanning the entire area around the house.
"Pryce?" Travers was getting impatient, "What's going on?"
"I am still trying to find," Wesley stopped suddenly as he felt something cold and metallic press against the back of his neck. He swallowed hard against the lump in his throat and continued, "I think I found him, sir."
"Where is he?" Travers asked.
"He's currently standing right behind me with a gun to the back of my head." Wesley tried to sound matter of fact, but the tremulous warble in his voice made it come out as a whimper.
"Is that Quentin Travers, you're talking to?" Xander Harris asked the terrified watcher.
"Yes," Wesley nodded almost imperceptibly, "It is."
"Oh good," Xander took the cell phone from Wesley's trembling grip, "I've been meaning to have a chat with him."
"Hello, is this Quentin Travers?"
"Who the hell is this!?" Travers shouted in the phone. "Where hell is Pryce?"
"Well, if Pryce is the guy you were talking to earlier," Xander told Travers, "He's currently trying not to wet his pants. As for me? My name is Xander Harris, I know your former spies in Sunnydale have already told you about me."
"Yes," Travers nodded, "Can I ask you what you did to them that scared enough to quit our service?"
"Nothing much," Xander replied chuckling, "I just used them as bait for one of my traps. I just didn't tell them that I was still around. I figured sheer terror was the best way to get my message across about you people staying the hell out of Sunnydale."
Quentin Travers actually chuckled at Xander' s words. "Impressive, you can be quite ruthless, I don't suppose I can offer you a job
"I've already got a well paying job, thanks anyway." Xander replied, he motioned Wesley to start walking to the others, then followed. "I'm feeling in a generous mood so I'll give you one warning. Sam Mobuto showed good sense in calling us, so lay off."
"Was that a threat?" Travers asked in a too quiet voice.
"Nope," Xander answered, "That was a suggestion. Do actually you want the threat?"
There was a long silence that made Xander wonder if they were still connected, finally he had to ask, "Mr. Travers? Quentin? Are you still there?"
"This threat wouldn't happen to be anything like the incident with the tree, would it?"
"Actually," Xander said confidently, knowing that Petey was monitoring the conversation. "I had something much more personal in mind. Why don't you check your private accounts?"
"My private...?" Traver's voice faded out. Xander grinned and started counting. He was at about five when Traver's howl almost blew out the cell phone's speaker. "Buggering HELL!!!"
"What the hell did you do to my accounts!?" Traver's yelled at Xander.
"Nothing permanent." Travers would later swear he could hear Xander's grin over the phone. "Just a little demonstration of what a high tech computer wizard can do. If you force my hand, not only will your accounts permanently disappear but you countries tax agency will learn about the various scams you've been pulling to get out of paying your fair share of taxes every year."
"I haven't done..." Travers stopped, then he actually chuckled, "But that won't stop you from creating the evidence will it? You know, Harris. If you weren't such a pain in the ass boy scout, I think I might get to like you. You can be ruthless when you have to be."
"Only when it comes to protecting my friends." Xander warned, "So let's not get into a situation where you find out just how ruthless I can be, okay."
"All right," Travers agreed, "I won't act against Mobuto this time. You're probably right about him doing the right thing calling for help. Just out of curiosity, how do you plan on keeping Pryce quiet?"
"I've got a few ideas." Xander told him.
"I'll bet." Travers replied, "I'm curious about one other thing. Where did you get access to a mage capable of teleporting an entire vehicle and its passengers?"
"Are you at all familiar with Clarke's Law?"
"Who?" Travers sounded puzzled.
"Didn't think so." Xander sounded smug. "I guess it'll be our secret for now."
"I'll figure it out sooner or later." Travers told him.
"I know," Xander nodded even though he knew Travers couldn't see him. "But by then, I'll have my new plan in motion and it won't matter."
"New plan...?" Travers realized that he was talking to a dead line. "Why does that make me nervous?"
Back at the Mobuto residence, Wesley Wyndham Pryce was trying very hard not to wet himself as he was marched to the waiting group. He could still feel the hard metal pressed against his back as Xander Harris followed behind him.
"Look, I don't want any..." He began only to be cut off by Harris' cold voice.
"Save it," Xander prodded him in the back, "I don't like spies."
"But I'm not a spy!" Wesley practically wailed.
"Yeah, right." Xander gave one last shove that knocked Wesley into the center of the group.
Wesley staggered for second before finding his balance. He straightened and managed to actually give Rupert Giles a haughty look. "I should have guessed you'd associate with this gun carrying thug, Mr. Giles."
"Gun carrying?" Xander held up the thing he'd been prodding in Wesley's back. "I resent that. A gun is the least deadly of the things I'm carrying."
Wesley's eyes goggled at the sight of the metal tube, "You took me prisoner with a flashlight?"
"Flashlight?" Xander triggered the device. The golden blade of his lightsaber was bright even in the afternoon sun. "Who said anything about a flashlight?"
"I..." Wesley did the only thing he could think to do, he fainted dead away.
"Was it something I said?" Xander asked looking down at the unconscious Watcher.
"W... Why don't you two carry him inside?" Giles told Oz and Xander.
"Nah, we don't need to do that." Xander shook his head, and leaned down to shout at the unconscious Watcher. "WESLEY WYNDHAM PRYCE! GET UP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR CLASSES!!!"
"Oh dear!" Wesley's eyes shot open, "I'm terribly sorry fath..."
Wesley looked around wildly and groaned as he realized exactly where he was.
Everyone except Kendra ,Sam Mobuto, and Rupert Giles just laughed at the morose look on the young Watcher's face. With an appalled look normally reserved for Buffy's more teenagerish antics, Giles bent down and hauled the still shaken man to his feet. "For God's sakes, man. Show some decorum, you are a Watcher."
"But... he's..." Wesley barely managed not to whimper this time.
"Carrying a weapon that comes from a movie." Giles nodded, "I know, but that's not a reason to turn into a spineless cretin."
"I have not..." Wesley stopped as he heard the sound of the Lightsaber being deactivated. "How did he get that?"
"Made it," Xander grinned, "Now why don't we go inside, so Mr. Mabuto can tell us why he needed our help."
"Quentin?" Jason Stane asked as he heard first Quentin Travers shouting, then a soft chuckle coming from the Senior Watcher's office. "I thought you were waiting some type of an emergency call?"
"That was it," Quentin nodded, "Xander Harris just captured Pryce."
"What?" Jason shook his head, "So, Mobuto went against the Council's edict? What are we going to do about it?"
"Unless Harris tries to suborn *our* Slayer, nothing." Quentin told him, "That little bastard threaten to not only destroy our bank accounts but also to send the Tax agency against us."
"How?" Jason blinked in shock, "How can he do that, I thought the Council's accounts were with the most secure bank in London?"
"Right along my funds." Quentin nodded, "And he totally drained and replaced those funds in the space of a few minutes."
"Holy Mary Mother of God." Jason swore, "That's impossible, even that hacker friend of his isn't that good."
"I know," Quentin chuckled, "The bastard even asked if I knew what Clarke's Law was, when I asked him where he got a mage capable of teleporting an entire vehicle and its occupants."
"Which...?" Jason nodded, "The third law."
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Quentin nodded, "He actually believed me when I asked him who he was talking about."
"Why aren't you more aggravated?" Jason asked, "These are the people that set you up for a long jail term."
"Actually, I think I'm pretty sure it was Harris that came up with that plan." Quentin replied, "It seems like his style."
"He almost got you put away for good." Jason shook his head, "If we hadn't gotten the others with you to convince the appeals court that they were the ones who brought in the drugs and you had no idea that the drugs were even in the house..."
"I'm aware of all that," Quentin Travers' face showed a moment of anger over that humiliating incident. "I'm also aware of what happened after, as I told him, I think Harris would do anything to keep his 'family' safe. The kid's even more ruthless than 'Ripper' in that regard."
"You respect him." Jason suddenly realized, "That's why you're not more aggravated."
"Perhaps," Quentin shrugged, "He's got a few traits I wish more of our field people had, although that streak of nobility running through him is a real pain. He's certainly more impressive that that fool Pryce and I just discovered far more dangerous than anyone else on the planet."
"I'm afraid I don't follow?"
"He tipped me off when he mentioned 'Clarke's Law'." Quentin explained. "Come to think of it, he probably meant to do that."
"I'm sorry, but I'm still lost."
Quentin ignored his implied question and hit the intercom, "Michael?"
"Yes sir?" His aide asked.
"Pull up the file on the Sunnydale 'Halloween incident' from about three years ago please, and deliver it to my office."
"Yes sir."
"The 'Halloween incident'?" Jason asked, then realized what was implied, "I thought Rupert said that the ship vanished when the spell was broken."
"I'm beginning to suspect that Harris suborned Rupert far earlier than we first suspected."
"That means that every report since Halloween...?"
"Is suspect." Quentin nodded. "I have a feeling that Rupert Giles edited quite a bit out of his reports to the Council."
"Including a starship?" Jason shook his head, "I can't believe that."
"Sir?" Quentin's aide knocked on the partially open door, "You wanted the Halloween report?"
"Good," Quentin held out his hand to take the report. Flipping it open, he quickly scanned the pages to find the information he needed. "Here it is."
"Here what is?" Jason bent over and read the report over Quentin's shoulder. "Schlock Mercenary?"
"The webcomic that Harris used as the inspiration for his costume." Quentin informed Jason as he searched the web for the comic. He noticed the search engine for the comic and typed the name 'Petey' in. As he scanned the various strips about the 'Post-dated Check Loan', he saw several references to a Teraport. Typing that name in and reading the strips about that device made Quentin's blood run cold. "Oh dear God in Heaven."
"What?" Jason read the strip. "What's a Teraport?"
"A non-magical teleportation device," Quentin told him, "One that Harris apparently has access to."
"You mean he can go anywhere he wants?" Jason thought about it, then went pale, "Or just deliver a bomb anywhere he wants with no way to stop him. Bugger that."
"He's still got access to that technology." Quentin was nearly as pale as Jason. "Call the Council together, we've got to consider our options regarding Harris."
"So," Xander leaned back on the rather comfortable couch, "What you've got is a necromancer that's somehow managed to cast a resurrection spell on himself?"
"Basically, yes." Sam Mobuto nodded, "Somehow he's managed to find a way to reform his body every time Kendra's defeated him. Each time he reforms within a mile of the site of his death and each time, he summons more Zombies to his side. It becomes more and more difficult for Kendra to fight her way through to stop him."
"So his power is growing with each death?" Giles frowned, "Why does that sound familiar?"
"I think I can help with that." Petey told Xander over the communications link.
"Hold on G-man." Xander said out loud as Petey relayed the info to him. "Will? You downloaded all of the G-man's books to Petey?"
"OH!" Willow nodded, "I thought it might help him get over his Phobia, you know... I thought if he could quantify his fear he might be able to conquer it."
"I'm not mad, Will." Xander reassured her. "I just wish someone would keep me updated about this kinda thing. Petey did a search based on the information. He says there are four possible options. Sam, how powerful was this Necromancer before this all started?"
"Very weak," Mobuto frowned, "According to witnesses he took several days to summon even the weakest of spirits."
"Then he's gotten hold of the amulet of Morgron." Xander sighed, "And there's no way for us prevent his coming back."
"Oh bloody hell." Giles sighed, "If he discovers the other powers of the amulet, this island is dead."
"Then perhaps we should simply evacuate the island?" Wesley suggested.
"Cut and run?" Xander almost laughed, "Not a chance. Which power are you talking about G-man?"
"The Summoning of the Shadow Life." Sam Mobuto replied, "If he learns how to use the amulet properly, he can draw on the remaining life energy of the Zombies he's created to cast a spell that will literally suck the life out of everything in a day's travel from him."
"Holy..." Xander shook his head, "Kay, I'm guessing that taking the amulet off of this guy will stop his little 'Highlander' routine, and I'm also guessing that it isn't going to be very easy to do."
"Correct on both accounts." Sam Mobuto nodded, "The amulet cannot be removed by force. It can only be taken off by the bearer."
"That puts..." Xander stopped as some of Kaff Tagon's memories came to the fore. "Does he have to do it willingly or just physically?"
"Just physically." Petey informed him, "The bearer can be compelled to remove the Amulet by an outside force but his hands must remove the amulet."
"I'm not..." Giles started before being cut off by Xander.
"Don't worry about it, G-man." Xander grinned, "Petey just gave me the answer. Petey, how powerful is a Mind-rip?"
"At full power?" Petey answered, "The subject would be reduced to a child like state. Of course, if left on too long, he'll be lucky if he has the cognitive ability to drool."
"Perfect," Xander grinned, "I need a teraport set for the brig sent here ASAP."
"On its way, Sir." Petey acknowledged.
"Perfect," Xander turned to Sam Mobuto, "How long till our target makes like Conner Macleod?"
"We still have about six hours, Seven PM." Sam Mobuto answered, then turned to Giles, "Does he always speak in popular culture references?"
"Unfortunately they all do." Giles sighed, "I've grown used to it."
"My condolences." Sam replied, "Kendra defeated the Necromancer in a valley about thirty minutes drive from here."
"That gives us enough time to work out a plan." Xander sighed, "I'm going out to my car for a little while."
"Xander?" Buffy asked.
"I need to talk to Petey in detail for a while." Xander explained, "I just want to cover a few bases that's all."
"Oh," Buffy nodded, "Mind if I come along?"
"Nah," Xander grinned, "C'mon."
As the two left the house, Wesley asked, "Who in the world is Petey?"
"You'll sleep better if you don't know." Giles told him. "Trust me on this one."
"Xan?" Buffy asked, "Why did you want to speak to Petey alone?"
"Because, I feel stupid again." Xander told her as they got into the Hummer. "I've been ignoring something for the last year or so because of Tagon's memories again."
"Huh?"
"You'll see," Xander sighed, "Petey, Kaff Tagon's knowledge of his ancient history is about as shoddy as mine. When was the last century that remote close range probes were used in combat?"
"The late twenty-sixth century," Petey replied, "After that, jamming technology and high energy weaponry became too powerful and portable to reliably use anything less shielded than a tank to perform reconnaissance of an area."
"So they went back to using sentients in powered armor to perform the task." Xander finished, "I'm an idiot."
"Petey, how big are those remote probes?" Xander asked.
"About the size of a pigeon, sir." Petey replied, "Why would you want them though?"
"How fragile are they?" Xander asked.
"Well," Petey pondered, "I have several weapons that... You mean by Twentieth Century technology?"
"Yeah," Xander nodded, "By current modern standards."
"If they were willing to set off a nuke they might be able to destroy them," Petey pondered the question. "But, any other EMP generating device currently in serviced couldn't even phase them."
"So why didn't we deploy them throughout Sunnydale a long time ago?" Xander asked.
"A tactical blind spot?" Petey all but admitted, "I didn't even consider the use of such antiquated equipment. I'm sorry, sir. I should have thought of it."
"Well, at least Xander did." Buffy smiled at her boyfriend.
"After over a year." Xander shook his head, "I should have thought of it sooner."
"Not if you were using Captain Tagon's memories, sir." Petey told him.
"Okay, that was a 'huh' moment there, Petey." Buffy told the AI.
"Captain Tagon's tactical thinking was a product of thirty-first century training." Petey reminded them, "He would never have considered using a remote unit, unless it was ennesby, but then we would have deployed him in a tank."
"Yeah," Xander nodded, "That is the way Tagon thinks."
"See," Buffy smiled, "You don't have anything to feel stupid about."
"I guess," Xander sighed, "Petey, how long to fab me about a hundred of them?"
"About two hours," Petey replied, "Depending on much I have to manufacture out of raw material."
"How big would they be if you used more efficient technology?"
"I can make the size of a hummingbird, if you like." Petey answered, "Any smaller and the sensor arrays would start getting interference from the contra-grav."
"Good enough," Xander grinned, "Send them along with the teraport if you don't mind."
"Of course, sir." Petey acknowledged.
"So we're going to use the remotes to find this guy?" Buffy asked as they head back to the house.
"Yep," Xander nodded, "Wish I had thought of this when wolf-girl was running around SD."
"Me too." Buffy admitted.
"Are you telling me that this Alexander Harris? Has managed to not only suborn a Slayer and a Watcher but that he also has access to technology beyond anything on Earth?"
"That is exactly what I'm telling you." Quentin Travers told the head of the Watcher's Council. "As of right now, Mr. Harris is quite possibly the most powerful man on the planet."
"So what can we do about this?" One of the other council members asked, "We cannot allow a boy to dictate terms to us."
"You don't understand." Quentin sighed, "We're talking about someone who can be as ruthless as they come to protect his own. And I believe, he's got the firepower to back himself up."
"Then we send a 'retrieval team' to remove him." The council member argued.
"And risk provoking a strike against the Council?" Quentin shook his head, "I think not."
"Sir?" Petey's voice came over the comm unit.
"Yes?" Xander sighed as he woke from his nap.
"The Council has started deliberations about you."
"So the remote is working okay?"
"Affirmative, Sir." Petey replied. "Apparently most of the members want to remove you from the equation."
"Typical," Xander shook his head, 'You have the package ready?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good," Xander grinned, "Make sure you get a good picture of all their faces for me would you?"
"Of course sir."
"Thanks," Xander started back to sleep with a smile on his face. The last thought that ran through his head was, "Plan intitated."
AN: Going AU here, just my answer to a question that Tenhawk and others have rightfully raised before.
"I'm telling you picking a fight with Alexander Harris would be tantamount to suicide." Quentin Travers told the rest of the Council. "The only foreseeable outcome is the destruction of the Council."
"Don't be such a coward, Quentin." The Head of the Council shook his head, "Alexander Harris is only one man. You cannot be suggesting that we capitulate without a fight to a boy?"
"Regardless of what you believe," Quentin replied as evenly as he could manage, "Negotiation is not capitulation. We already know what he can do. Do you want to find out what he *will* do to protect his *family*?"
"I think your time in prison, weakened your will." The Head of the Council stated. "Just the fact that he can effectively destroy the funds necessary to do our work is reason enough to remove Mr. Harris from the scheme of things."
"I haven't gone soft," Quentin Travers began to lose his temper, "You just don't understand what Harris has at his disposal."
There was a large screeching sound from the middle of the room that caused everyone to wince. As they turned to look, a rather large image appeared in the center of the room. Of all the people there, only Quentin Travers and Jason Stane recognized the larger than normal furry form floating in the air.
"P...Petey?" Quentin actually found himself stammering.
"I thought it would be a good time for me to show the Council what Captain Harris is both capable and willing to do to protect his people." Petey told Quentin Travers. "I apologize for involving you in this Mr. Travers, since my monitoring shows you at least have some common sense. But, Captain Harris wants to make sure the entire Council gets the same message."
With that Petey vanished and was replaced with the image of a glaring Xander Harris. "Well, if it isn't the dumbest group of smart guys on the planet."
"Now, see here..." Jason started only to be cut off by Xander's next words.
"Forget about trying to reason with me," Xander told them, "This is a prerecorded message. I've had just about enough with you goofs. The only reason for this message to be sent is that you have either, have or are about to, decide to try to forcibly remove me from the slayer's life."
As the Council looked uncomfortably at each other, a pale Quentin Travers was staring at the device hovering in the center of the room. He recognized the shape from the webcomic and began wondering if he could run fast enough to escape the blast radius.
"I realize that we didn't specifically tell you to leave us alone, but you should have taken the damned hint!" Xander growled, "I tried to give a second warning with Mr. Travers but no... you just won't listen."
"So," Xander grinned again. "I'm going to do this the easy way."
Xander stopped and looked thoughtful, "At least, it'll be easy on me."
"This," He continued, pointing at the Terapedo below him, "Is basically a 500 ton bomb. Don't bother trying to run. Movies lie, you'd never be able to outrun this blast."
"Oh my god." Jason whispered, "He's insane."
"If you still believe in God." Xander told them, "You've got ten seconds to make your peace with him."
"Nine." The more academic member of the Council stood up to run. While the ones with some idea of how powerful the bomb was, tried to damage it with various weapons, in the hopes that they could at least weaken the blast.
"Eight."
"Seven." One amulet cast fireball, and six different calibers of bullets bounced off the terapedo's gravitic shield causing even more mayhem in the chambers.
"Six." Quentin Travers sighed and slumped down into his chair waiting for the inevitable.
"Five." Even the more determined members of the Council now realized that it was practically impossible to escape the blast. Some of them still tried to force the doors only to find that someone blocked all of them with another gravitic force shield.
"Four." A couple of the younger Council Members eyed the windows for second before realizing that; one, they were too high up and two, they couldn't possibly outrun the blast in short time remaining.
"Three."
"Two." Most of the Council Members closed their eyes.
"One."
"BOOM!" Xander yelled as loudly as he could causing almost all of the Council to jump, a couple even wet themselves in fear.
The projected image of Xander chuckled softly for a second. "I'm going to enjoy seeing the looks on your faces, you know that?"
"For the record," Xander sobered quickly, "Giles would tell me that I shouldn't make a threat and then not carry it out, that it only weakens any subsequent threats I might make. But I figure you'll remember how helpless you just felt. Because I swear, if you make any move against me or mine, every last one of you will find out what a close range blast feels like. And trust me on this, you don't have the firepower to take me out."
With that, the Terapedo vanished in a flash of light, leaving the shaken Council Members to stare at each other. Quentin Travers finally found his voice, "Now do you understand how dangerous he is?"
"Sir?" Petey's voice woke Xander from the short nap he was having.
"Yeah?" Xander blinked, "Petey, so what happened?"
"I delivered the message just as you asked," Petey replied, "I have the images stored on your vehicle's computer."
Xander laughed, "I gotta remember to share that with the G-man."
"Sir," Petey continued, "I think you should know that the N.I.D. is planning a covert visit to the Moon. Their agenda is to find the Lunar base we told SG-1 about."
"Huh?" Xander thought about it and grinned, "Petey, how hard would it be for you to fake a couple of prelim digs? You know, just make it look like a pair of sites that we started to work on and then abandoned?"
"I can do that easily, Sir." Petey replied. "Oh and I've found a suitable site for both a Mars base and a suitable asteroid for use as a spacedock."
"Good," Xander nodded, "Start work on both ASAP. Oh, yeah one last thing Do you have anything in your files about devices that looked promising on paper but turned out to be a money pit that led nowhere?"
"Several." Petey replied, "Including a prototype stardrive that never worked, although it did blow up a few labs before they figured out it was too unstable to ever use."
"That's a little too dangerous for my plan." Xander shook his head, "Anything else?"
"A personal force shield that they never got to work." Petey replied, "The energy cost was way too high for even a thirty-first century power system."
"But it looks doable on paper?" Xander asked.
"Oh yes," Petey got what Xander was planning, "The basic design was actually postulated in the early twenty-second century. Even Command Andreyasn took a stab at it once."
"Perfect," Xander grinned, "I want you to fab up a standard CD-rom disk, damage it so that only thing readable are the basic outline of the plans for the personal shield. Put a few recognizable tidbits that the NID already have in there. Not all of it, just enough to make it look like it's the genuine article."
"I understand perfectly, Sir." Petey's voice conveyed just how humorous he found the idea of the NID wasting their money on the shield design. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather use the Stardrive?"
"Nah," Xander shook his head, "According to your reports, NID might be a little more ruthless than SG command but the only real idiots are Kinsey and Maybourne. I don't want some poor dope of a technician blowing himself up for them."
"Understood, Sir." Petey replied. "Just one last question, just how large do you want the Mars base to be?"
"Would it be possible to make it big enough to park a Prometheus class starship and still not be seen from Earth?"
"Easily," Petey replied smugly. "What about personnel capacity?"
"I don't know." Xander admitted, "Let's build it with room to spare, figure a total capacity of ten thousand. We'll build in levels and bring each level on-line as needed."
Petey analyzed what Xander was asking for, he began designing from a tactical stand point. "Bottom level is power and life support, backups every fifth level. Primary C&C on the second to last level, extraneous storage and hanger bays on the first level?"
Xander nodded, "Internal defenses the same as the XWB building, but I want also want pop-up armored weapons platforms on every level."
"I'll have the final designs for you by tomorrow morning, Sir." Petey smiled. "What priority does the base have?"
"The only thing with a higher priority for now is the fleet." Xander told him.
"Understood, Sir."
"Hey Petey," Xander sat up, "One more question. I remember you saying that AI's operate better in conjunction with organics, is that true or just something you made up for SG-1's benefit?"
"No," Petey replied, "It's true enough, a AI operated ship with a proper complement of crew is twenty-five percent more efficient than an AI acting alone."
"Hmm." Xander sighed, "Petey, if we allow SG command access to the Enterprise and Defiant, will you be able to keep them out of the important stuff?"
"Of course," Petey said with certainty. "Not a problem."
"Then patch me through to General Hammond."
"Sir," A slightly harried looking airman walked in. "Uhm, there's someone on the secure line?"
General Hammond glared at the airman, "Well then why didn't you put the President through?"
"Because it isn't the President, Sir." The Airman replied, "He refuses to speak to anyone but you."
"Who..." General Hammond paused as he remembered the one 'person' who could access just about any part of SG-Command's systems. He picked up the secure phone and asked, "Petey?"
"Hello, General Hammond." Petey replied, "Captain Harris asked to speak to you."
"Hiya, General!" Xander's voice caused Hammond some concern.
"Son, Is there a problem?"
"Sortof," Xander answered increasing Hammond's anxiety. "I've just got a question for you, General."
"I'm listening."
"How are things going with the 'Brothers'?"
"I thought Petey was keeping you apprised of the situation?"
"About the two Hatak cruisers that the Enterprise and Defiant destroyed, sure." Xander replied, "I'm just concerned about the ground fight."
"So far we're holding our own." General Hammond replied, "Not that it's been an easy fight."
"I see," Xander sounded serious, "Would having access to the weapons and armor onboard the two ships help?"
General Hammond almost dropped the phone in shock. "Are you serious?"
"I do have a few conditions." Xander told him.
"Such as?" Hammond asked in a wary tone.
"All of the weapons and armor needs to be maintained on a regular basis," Xander told him, "So it all has to be returned to the armory and ship's stores after the missions are complete."
"I see," Hammond unconsciously echoed Xander's earlier words, "Any thing else?"
"Except in extreme emergencies, the terapedo firing system, main computer core and the engine room are going to be locked. Any attempt to gain entry to those points will be considered a breach of our agreement and Petey will dump the entire crew on a planet with no Stargate." Xander told him, "Is that clear enough?"
"Yes, I understand," Hammond waited for the remaining conditions. After several seconds Xander finally broke the silence.
"So do we have a deal?"
"Those are all of the conditions?" Hammond asked in shock. "Just that?"
"Pretty much." Xander told him, "Of course, if I ever need help..."
"You just have to call," Hammond assured him. "Stargate Command will always back its allies."
"Then, I'm turning technical command of the Enterprise and the Defiant over to SG command as of right now." Xander told him, "Petey will stay on the line and coordinate the transfer with you."
"I don't want to appear greedy," Hammond asked before Xander could hang up, "But, what about the new ships you're developing?"
"The McNally and its attendant ships will be in Sol orbit as a first line of defense, in case any Goa'uld get stupid." Xander told him, "I'll be sending two more upgraded BC-303 ships as soon as they're completed, and I'll make my decision about more ships when we see how our new 'arrangement' works out."
"Now I know I'm going to sound ungrateful," Hammond acknowledged, "But what brought about this change of heart?"
"I just realized that I've been fighting a reactive fight." Xander told him, "I decided to become more proactive, that includes gathering as many allies as I can."
"I'm not sure I follow you." Hammond admitted, "But if it helps us against the Goa'uld, I'm grateful."
"I sure hope you still feel that way if I have to call for help with the next Big Bad that wants to destroy the world."
"Don't worry, son." Hammond chuckled, "We've had some experience in that field."
"I'll bet." Xander returned Hammond's chuckle. "I'll leave you to work things out with Petey then, bye."
"Goodbye," Hammond replied. As he discussed logistics with the AI of the 'Post-dated Check Loan', Hammond couldn't help but look up and thank whoever was watching over their world for the aid.
Xander sighed as the connection to SG command shut off, he turned around to see Kendra and Giles watching him. "Hi, how much did you here?"
"Most of it actually," Giles told him, "I suppose you've already thought about the repercussions of what you're about to do?"
"I know," Xander sighed, "I'm turning over technology from a thousand years in the future over to the Military."
"I was referring to the fact that you've given Jack O'Neill access to technology that he will undoubtedly use to drive the NID insane."
"You know," Xander grinned, "I actually didn't think about that part."
Xander sobered up quickly enough, "You're okay with me sharing with SG Command?"
"I admit I have my reservations about this," Giles told him, "But I trust your judgment in this."
"These soldiers?" Kendra asked. "You trust them?"
"Yeah," Xander nodded, "I think I do."
"That's good enough for me."
"Thanks." Xander leaned back in his chair. "By the way, Kendra. I never congratulated you about what happened in Guatemala."
"I beg your pardon?" Kendra looked puzzled, "What happened in Guatemala?"
"Didn't you deal with a Master Vampire and his minions in San Marcos last month?"
"No," Kendra shook her head, "I have been here for the last four months."
"Oh," Xander blinked, "Maybe I misread that report then. Sorry."
"There is nothing to apologize for." Kendra told him as she turned to go.
"Xander? Are you all right?" Giles asked.
"I'm fine, Giles." Xander replied absently, "I just need to check on a few things, that's all."
"I see," Giles frowned, "Blast it all, Xander what is it?"
"Giles," Xander frowned, "I'm sure I read a Watcher's Council report that said that a Master Vampire was dealt with in Gutemala by 'the usual methods'. And if it wasn't Buffy or Kendra then what the hell does the 'usual methods' mean?"
"I..." Now Giles frown nearly matched Xander's. "I can't imagine."
"Petey," Xander came to a decision, "I want you go over everything in the Council records. Cross reference everything until you can tell me what happened in Guatemala."
"Okay, sir." Petey replied, "I have it. Do you want it projected for you?"
"Yeah," Xander nodded, "Let me see this."
As Giles and Xander read the report a growing suspicion took hold in Xander's mind. "Petey. Go over everything, find every reference to a threat being dealt with where a Slayer wasn't involved."
"I have them, sir." Petey reported, "There are nearly four hundred, going back at least a century."
"Sonofa..." Xander started to swear then sighed, "How do we break this to them?"
"How the hell do I tell the woman I love that her 'Great Destiny' as the Chosen." Xander asked, "That the 'Slayer', the one girl in all the world. Has become nothing more than a walking target to draw the attention of the Big Bads while the Council's 'Retrieval Teams' do most of the real hunting?"
"We do it as tactfully and gracefully as possible." Giles told him. "Although in your case, that could be a bit of a problem."
"Yeah," Xander nodded absently, then realized what Giles just said. "HEY!"
As Xander followed Giles to living room, Buffy was laughing at what Kendra was telling her, one look at their dour faces though and she knew something bad had happened.
"Oh God," She sighed, "let me guess, our Necromancer friend has allies?"
"I'm afraid it isn't anything that simple," Giles told them, "We... Xander and I just discovered something rather disturbing about the Watcher's Council."
"What?" Buffy asked, "Are they sending someone to remove Mr. Mobuto?"
"They can't do that!" Willow stood up, "Mr. Mobuto didn't do anything wrong..."
"That's not it." Xander shook his head, "I... uhm... Giles? Help me out here?"
"Well..." Giles paused, "It... It..."
"Guys," Buffy stood up, folded her arms and glared at them, "You're started to freak me out."
"I'm not sure how to tell you this..." Xander started.
"Just spill already!" Buffy yelled.
"WEJUSTFOUNDOUTTHATTHECOUNCILHAS DEMONHUNTINGTEAMSTHATTHEYUSETOA CTUALLYFIGHTWHILETHESLAYERDRAWST HEATTENTIONOFTHEBIGBADSOFTHEDEMO NWORLD!" Xander rushed out.
"Good Heavens," Giles sighed, "Is that your version of 'tact and grace'?"
"No," Xander replied, not taking his eyes of the two shocked Slayers, "That's my version of 'angry girlfriend results in blind panic'."
"I see." Giles turned to the still silent young women. "I'm sorry you had to be told that bluntly..."
"It's not that," Buffy shook her head slightly, "I think I already had an idea that might be the case."
"I beg your pardon?" Giles stammered, "Wh... what do you mean?"
"Huh?" Xander was less eloquent in his surprise.
"Think about it," Buffy told them, "All the big bads that came through Sunnydale? That whole chosen one thing is great but I did kinda wonder who kept the vamps in line outside of Sunnydale."
"Makes sense," Oz agreed from the sidelines.
"No," Kendra stood up, obviously agitated, "You have to be wrong about this."
"Sorry, Kendra." Xander shook his head, "I've had Petey sending out remotes for awhile now, and one of them just confirmed there's an armed group of men situated in a base camp about a mile from here. They're carrying British made weapons and at least two of them are former SAS."
"I don't believe you." Kendra stood up, "You're lying."
As the angry Slayer stalked out the door, Xander turned to the others and asked, "Anyone have any idea what that was about?"
"I think I do." Buffy replied, she followed Kendra out the door, "I'll talk to her."
"I swear," Sam Mobuto still looked a bit shocked, "I had no idea..."
"No Field Watcher does." Xander told him, "They all get the same indoctrination as the Slayer."
"Oh, bloody..." Giles growled and sounded more Ripper like as he mocked his own training, "You've been chosen to perform a sacred duty. Train the Slayer, guide her... Miserable ponces, you bloodly well meant lead her by the nose until she was dead."
"I have to apologize to Kendra," Sam Mobuto headed for the door.
"Why?" Willow asked, "You've got nothing to apologize for. If anyone should be apologizing, it's the Council."
Xander shook his head, "They're not going to apologize."
"They're not?" Willow frowned until she got a good look at Xander's face. "Xander..."
"When I'm done with them," Xander told everyone, "they're going to grovel."
"Xander." Giles frowned, back in Watcher mode. "I thought you said..."
"Relax, G-man." Xander grinned wickedly and turned towards the door, "Destroying the Council isn't in my plans."
As he headed outside, they all heard him say, "Taking them over is."
"Please tell me that young man was joking." Sam Mobuto asked the group as the door shut behind Xander.
"I honestly wish I could." Giles replied.
"He's not." Willow told them, "You know that look on his face before he left? That was his version of the 'resolve face'."
"Oh dear," Giles started polishing his glasses, "I almost feel sorry for those benighted fools now."
"I don't," Sam Mobuto growled.
Outside, Buffy finally caught up to her 'sister' Slayer, she took one at tears pouring down Kendra's face and lost her anger. "Kendra, look I know why you freaked out like that..."
"No, you don't understand how I feel." Kendra replied through her tears.
"You're wrong." Buffy shook her head. "I do understand how you feel."
When Kendra looked at her in disbelief, Buffy continued.
"You've been told for years that you were 'special', 'chosen'." Buffy sighed, "Probably from the time you were taken from your parents, you were told that you had a destiny to fight evil. And now you feel that everything you knew, was a big lie."
"How?"
"I got if from exactly the opposite point of view." Buffy told her sadly. "I was 'Little Miss Normal', didn't have a clue about the dark forces, didn't want one. Then one day this creepy English guy shows up and turns my life around with four little words."
"You are the Slayer." Kendra finally understood what Buffy was saying.
"Yep," Buffy nodded, "Just like that, everything I believed in was suspect. But you know what the one difference is between you and me?"
"No," Kendra admitted, "I do not."
"I didn't have any friends who could possibly understand," Buffy told her, "You've got at least one, me."
"Two," Xander said from behind them. As they turned to face him, he caught sight of Kendra's tearstained face, "Damn, now I'm regretting not blowing up those Monty Python rejects."
"Who?" Kendra looked puzzled.
"The Watcher's Council." Buffy explained.
"You cannot destroy them." Kendra told him.
"Sure I can," Xander growled, "On fifty kiloton bomb should do..."
"No," Kendra shook her head, "I mean, you must not destroy them."
"She's right, Xander." Buffy told him.
"Why?" Xander frowned, "Just because they're humans? I've seen vampires with more humanity than that bunch."
"No," Kendra tried to explain, "Despite their lies to us, the Council is still trying to do what's best for Humanity."
"Wha?" Xander turned to Buffy, "I figured you'd both be madder than hell."
"A little," Buffy admitted, "But I think we're mostly disappointed that we aren't as special as they kept telling us."
"Sorry to undisappoint you, Buffy."
"Is that even a word?" Buffy asked.
"But," Xander ignored her question, "You two *are* the Chosen ones. You are special."
"Right," Buffy shook her head, "So special that the Council uses armed troops to replace us."
"Buff," Xander shook his head, "The Council might be using the Slayers to draw the attention of the big bads, but that doesn't change the facts that the Big Bads still see the Slayer as the main threat. I mean if the Council really thought about it, they'd use the Slayers as the Champions they were meant to be."
"Okay," Buffy replied, "You went all the way into the 'Huh' zone again."
"Champion can mean a winner or a supporter of a cause." Xander explained, "But the first use was a Warrior that fought for a cause. Achilles, Hector, Lancelot. They were all Champions. They were examples for others to follow, rallying points."
"I get it now," Buffy nodded.
"Perhaps," Kendra ventured, "The time has come for them to become rallying points again?"
"That's pretty much what I was thinking," Xander agreed, "And I'm going to start by paying the Council a visit and telling them I'm stealing all of their 'Retrieval Teams' from them."
"When?" Buffy asked.
"Well, they're probably still shell-shocked," Xander activated his com, "Petey, is the Council still meeting?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good," Xander grinned, "Send two sets of heavy armor, one for me and one for Buffy. Oh! And the extra weapons crate."
"Yes, Sir." Petey acknowledged.
"Why the heavy armor?" Buffy asked.
"Because I want to make the right impression."
"And what impression would that be?"
"That if they don't play by our rules, they don't get to play anymore." Buffy told her.
"And the armor will give them that impression?" Kendra frowned.
"No," Xander shook his head slightly, "The really big guns we'll be pointing at them will do that."
"Damn!" Xander shook his head as he looked at the clock. "We can't do anything about the Council right now."
Buffy glanced over at the clock and saw the time, "Yeah, we've only got a couple of hours before 'Mr. Zombiemaker' gets back up."
"Well," Xander nodded, "We've got everything else in place, so let's go pay a visit to the 'Retrieval Team'."
"I fail to understand why you wish to speak to them." Kendra told him.
"I want as much firepower on our side as possible." Xander told them, "Besides, they're going to be working for us anyway."
Quentin Travers sat slumped in his chair, thoroughly exhausted by the last round of arguments in the Council Chambers. Some of the more hardline conservative faction of the Council, which if he had to admit things Travers originally counted himself a member of, still argued for finding some way of removing Harris from the equation. Thankfully the Moderate and Progressive Factions quickly voted them down. Now he was stuck in the unenviable position of trying to be Peacekeeper between the factions.
He ignored the shrill ringing of his phone for several seconds before finally picking up the receiver, "I'm guessing this is an emergency."
"I'm sorry, Sir." The person on the other end replied, "This is Walters. We've got a bit of a situation here."
"What's Harris doing now?" Travers sighed.
"How?" Walters returned Travers' sigh. "I've got Harris, the two Slayers and, oh bloodly hell, it's Rupert. They're... What the fu... What the hell kind of rifle is that?"
"Walters, I want you to show some restraint."
"Don't worry, Mr. Travers." Walters reassured him, "I'm not about to piss off someone even capable of carrying a rifle that big."
"Rifle?" Giles could hear another member of the Retrieval Team remark, "Tha's not a bloody rifle, at's a bleedin cannon that is."
"I think I already know what he wants." Travers reassured the leader of the Retrieval Team, "Just give him the phone when they reach you."
"Here," Travers heard a short while later, "Mr. Travers wants to speak to you."
"Quentin?" Rupert Giles voice came over the phone. "When this is over, I plan on clocking you one."
"Really, Rupert." Travers chided, "There's no need to be so melodramatic."
"Melodra... Listen, you bloody ponce..."
"Giles," Harris' calm voice reasoned with the former Watcher. "Let me talk to him, especially since he doesn't even know why you're going beat him up."
"Hi!" Xander Harris' voice now came over the phone, "Look, we're going to 'borrow' your Retrieval Team for a while. I'd really appreciate it if you'd just tell them to obey our orders for now."
"Exactly what incentive do I have to do that?"
"Well, how about this." Xander's voice went cold, "One, we know the truth about your 'Retrieval Teams' and their real mission, two, you people made one of my girls cry."
Quentin Travers had already far too many shocks for one day to do more than blink at Xander's revelation. Then the second half of Xander's statement sunk in and Travers went four different shades of pale. "Look..."
"No," Xander interrupted him, "You look, the fact is, the only reason I didn't blow you dopes up is because Buffy and Kendra talked me out of it. And the only reason I'm not in England making like Mel Gibson on the whole mess of you is this mess right now. So play nice and you'll be, as Giles would say, 'be back in my good graces'."
"Put Walters back on, please."
"Sir?" Walters asked as he came back up on the phone.
"I want you to work with Rupert and his people, Walters." Quentin told him. "As far as you're concerned they're in charge. Am I clear?"
"As crystal, Sir." Walters replied.
"So," Walters asked as the Retrieval Team walked into Sam Mobuto's home. "I already know the situation; do we have a plan of attack?"
"First off," Xander grinned, "Could each of you stand in front of the door?"
As a member of the team stepped up, a small hovering device flashed a scan line over each of them. When the last person was done, Xander asked, "You got their sizes?"
"Yes Sir," Petey's voice reported from the remote, "Standard low-profile armor or the heavy gear?"
"Mid-level Heavy Armor." Xander told him. "And M-37's with sufficient ammo to complete this mission."
"On its way, Sir." Petey responded.
"We already have body armor and weapons." Walters told him.
"Not like this," Buffy smiled as the terapedo appeared with the crate of equipment.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT!?" One of the Retrieval Team, Daniel Chalmers, had his SA-80 pointed straight at the Terapedo.
"I'm afraid that won't do much against the Terapedo's shielding." Xander told him. "And you don't want to piss it off it might just decide to detonate."
Walters was already easing Chalmers rifle to point the ground, but curiosity got the better of him, "Exactly how much of a yield are we talking about?"
"Not sure," Xander admitted, he turned and asked the Terapedo, "What's your current load?"
"Nominal yield of 200 tons, sir." The terapedo reported, "Will I need to detonate now?"
"Not now," Xander shook his head, ignoring the pale faces of retrieval team. "Just report back to the P.C.D.L. please."
"Yes sir," The terapedo actually sounded disappointed before it vanished again.
"Xander, you have really got to remember to have Petey build a few of those that at least aren't that eager to go boom." Buffy told her boyfriend.
"A bl... bloody two hundred ton smart bomb that *wants* to detonate and... and he's using it as a delivery boy." Walters muttered to himself, to Xander he said, "You're a nutter, you do know that."
"Hey, at least I didn't use one of the really high yield bombs!" Xander defended himself.
"High...?" Chalmer's hands were already shaking at the thought of being that close to a *live* 200 ton missile primed to go off. "On second thought, I don't want to know."
"Wise choice," Giles nodded.
"Okay," Xander opened the crate and started handing out body armor.
"Let's get everyone fitted, then we'll discus tactics." Xander told them.
"I don't know about this armor," One of the other members of the team told Chalmers, "and I really don't see the purpose this."
He held up a flat piece of flexible material that looked for all the world like a slightly oversized black pad for a computer mouse. "What the hell is this?"
"That is a late twenty first century equivalent of a ceramic trauma plate." Xander told him. "It's a form of memory plastic."
"A what?" Chalmers asked.
"That's a material that 'remembers' a specific form when subjected to certain conditions." Xander took the material from Chalmers and laid it out on the couch. He slammed a blade down on the piece and everyone watched as the material went rigid and actually shoved the sofa in slightly. "In this case, a sudden shock above a certain point turns this into a plate capable of taking a hit from fifty caliber rifle without penetration."
"You're joshing right?" Walters picked up the material. He folded it over without any effort at all. "The Military..."
"Isn't going to get wind of this stuff for a few years." Xander told them, "I'm issuing you for this mission only."
"Why this mission only?" Walters asked
"Because, apparently our Necromancer 'friend' is smarter than the average bear and he's armed a few of his less decayed minions with guns."
"What's the world coming to." Chalmers grinned.
"Yeah, "Xander grinned back. "We've actually got a bad guy that thinks."
"So when this is over," Walters finished fitting the last of the 'plates' into his armor, "You're going to want this gear back then?"
"Pretty much," Xander nodded, "You'd never be able to get ammo or replacement parts anyway."
"Besides," Xander shrugged as he headed out the door, "If you sign up with us, I'll provide gear that makes this stuff look it came from the toy store."
"Was he joking?" Wesley asked from the far side of the room.
"About signing up the Retrieval team or the gear?" Buffy asked.
"Either."
"Oh dear," Wesley slumped back into his chair in a near faint.
"Somebody needs to install a backbone on him." Buffy told Giles as Wesley all but whimpered softly to himself.
"Quite." Giles agreed.
"Okay," Walters asked as the finished going over the M-37's. "We've got the gear, now I assume we have a battleplan?"
"When Zombieboy rises, so will all of his little helpers." Xander told them, "Plan A is to use a terapedo to grab him and get him to remove the amulet."
"Then all we have to do is keep the zombies away from the town until then."
"Wait," Chalmers frowned, "The Zombies will still be moving?"
"If they're in his range when he revives, they'll be under his control. Even after we the snatch and grab, he'll be able to give them orders. Xander told them, "And since these zombies make like the night of the living dead..."
"You mean they actually eat people?" Chalmers asked disgusted.
"No, more like everyone they kill becomes a zombie too."
"Which means if they get into town..."
"The whole town will probably be wiped out before the mind-rip is finished." Xander nodded. "We are not going to let that happen."
"Amen," One other member of the Team said fervently.
"We've got a plan A." Walters nodded, "I hope that means there's a plan B?"
"Uhm..."
"Oh you have to be joking." Walters growled, "We don't have a backup plan?"
"I'm working on it." Xander told him.
"That just bloody marvelous."
"He's risen." Petey informed the waiting group. "And I've got him."
"Where are his zombies?" Giles asked.
"Map coordinates e5 grid maker 20." Petey told them. "Oh..."
"I don't like that 'oh'." Buffy said softly.
"Petey?" Xander asked.
"I believe we miscalculated the Necromancer's current level of power."
"How many?" Xander sighed.
"Three thousand four hundred and sixteen revenants in varying states of decay." Petey reported. "Approximately one hundred of them are armed."
"This just gets better and better." Xander examined the map in front of him. "Oh good, we get to play out another clich,."
"What?" Giles looked at the map and realized the only accessible route between section e5 and the town was a pass about two miles away. "Ah, we're going to..."
"Head them off at the pass." Walters chuckled.
"We caught a few good breaks," Xander noted, "At least the pass is less than two hundred yards wide at the mouth. The walls are too high to climb over and we've got five hundred yard killing field into the pass itself."
"Who the hell is this kid?" Chalmers whispered to another of the Team.
"Dunno," came the reply, "But he does know his shit."
"How long till they reach the pass?" Xander ignored the half whispers.
"One hour fifteen minutes."
"Great," Xander sighed, "That doesn't give us much time. Load everything that kills, and lets move."
As everyone headed out the door, Walters turned to Giles and told him, "He's seen one to many bad war movies, hasn't he?"
"Something like that," Giles replied, "no, actually it's more that he's been forced to live one to many war movies."
"I don't get it."
"I didn't expect you to."
"Now that's just bloody disgusting." Walters muttered as the shambling group of revenants came into view. "And I thought Slime Demons looked bad."
"Be grateful that those helmets filter out the smell." Xander told him, "They have to stink worse than my gym locker."
"Now there's a bloody thought I didn't need in my mind." Chalmers muttered.
As the Zombies marched closer, one of the team members frowned. "Didn't 'Arris say that some o' them 'ad guns?"
"That's what..." Chalmers instinctively ducked as bullet whizzed by. "Shit!!!"
As several dozen armed revenants opened fire, everyone ducked. Even though he knew that his armor could easily stop the rounds whipping past them, Xander found himself ducking behind some cover. "At least they're lousy shots."
"I'll say," Chalmers broke cover just in time to take a 30-06 bullet right to his face. He reeled backwards as everyone looked on in shock. Once he caught his balance, he shook his head and straightened up, "Damn, I barely felt that."
"I'll be damned." Walters looked down at the armor he was wearing. "And he's got stuff that makes this look like a toy. I'm in."
"Xander," Giles spoke as evenly as possible. "I don't want to alarm you, but they getting rather close."
"Anybody know Murphy's laws of combat?" Xander asked.
"What about it?" Walters asked.
"Know the one about the 'easy way'?"
"The easy...?" Chalmers started then his eyes widened, "How in world did you manage to mine the area that fast?"
"I had a friend deliver the remote mines while we were getting loaded up." Xander smiled, "As a matter of fact, they should be reaching the mines right about now."
Xander held up a small detonator and hit the button. The entire pass where the Zombies were walking vanished in a roar of debris as the mines detonated. When dirt and debris finally settled all that was left was a field of shredded body parts.
"Huh," Xander blinked, "That was too easy."
Even as those words escaped his mouth Xander knew he'd just taunted Murphy again. "I don't believe I just said that."
"Why?" Chalmers started ask, then stared as the bits and pieces of the Zombies started to pull themselves back together again.
"That's why," Buffy told him, "With Hellmouthy stuff, you never want to say things like, 'that was easy, or 'no problem' and you never ever want to say 'what could possibly go wrong?'."
"Noted," Chalmers nodded as he level his M-37 and started firing. When Buffy raised her rifle to fire, Chalmers couldn't resist asking. "What the hell is that, anyway?"
"It's technically an anti-tank multicannon." Buffy told him, "But right now, I've got it loaded with 'shredder' rounds."
"Aside from kitchen utensil and a reference to a kid's comic what's..." Chalmers started, when Buffy fired the multicannon. The cannon roared once, the single round traveled at low velocity about ten feet then exploded. The explosion sent cloud of shrapnel into the reformed Zombies turning them into a red spray. "Now I get it."
A couple of hours later and everyone was on about their third crate of ammo. Xander frowned, even with staggering the fire teams, fatigue was starting to set in. Even the Ex-SAS members were starting to waver a bit. The Zombies on the other hand kept putting themselves back together and trying to get past them, and it would only take a handful of zombies getting through to screw things up for the town. "Dammit. Petey any change?"
"No sir." Petey replied, "Unfortunately, the Amulet is in charge of the necromancer and is resisting the mind rip."
"Oh great," Xander muttered as he fired another 'shredder' into the mob of Zombies. "I should have guessed that Zombieboy wasn't in charge. How much longer."
"At least four hours." Petey reported.
"There's no way we can keep this up for four hours." Walters told Xander.
"I know, I know." Xander groused. "Ah dammit, Petey! PLAN B!"
"Executing." Petey reported.
Within seconds, every zombie collapsed into a quickly decay pile of goo. Everyone stared at the sight then turned to look questioningly at Xander. Finally Buffy managed to ask what everyone wanted to, "What was plan b?"
"I had Petey port our friend, amulet and all, straight to the surface of Neptune." Xander explained.
"Why the hell didn't we just do that in the first place?" Chalmers asked.
"I have to admit I fail to see..." Giles began before realizing Xander's reasons. "Of course."
"Um, Giles?" Willow frowned, "You mind explaining, I don't really see an 'of course' anywhere in this plan."
"He's still got the amulet." Xander reminded them. "Which means he's still going to be coming back, and each time he'll be just a little bit more powerful. Which means..."
"He's going to keep coming back to life!?" Willow's eyes widened, "But... but the pressure on Neptune's surface..."
"Will flatten him like a empty soda can," Xander nodded, "Once a day from now till forever I guess."
"Bloody hell." Walters mind just barely grasped the horror waiting for the necromancer. "One brief moment of life then..."
"Thbt!" Xander made a squashing motion with his hands. "Nobody deserves that. All I wanted was to get that damned amulet off of him and chuck it into the Sun."
"Good plan." Walters nodded. Then changed subjects so fast Xander almost got whiplash, "Were you serious about that joining up bit?"
"Very," Xander nodded, "I'm thinking about a network of teams all across the world. I've got reconnaissance end finished, and I've almost got the logistics end wrapped up. That just leaves the teams and tactics to work out."
"Kid..." Walters started then corrected himself, he was one of the few people to have heard the entire 'Halloween Incident' story. "Captain Harris, how long have you been working on this plan of yours?"
"About four days." Xander told them.
"Four days..." Walters wanted to sigh, he was silently arguing with himself. "Either he's nuts or a certified tactical genius. I'm not sure which one is scarier."
Walters considered everything he'd learned during the hour they'd had to prepare. Like the Slayers and their Watchers, the Retrieval teams had been on the receiving end of a major lie. They'd been told that the Slayers had their own support teams and that RTs were there only for backup or in case of multiple events. The idea that a young girl was being used as a decoy rankled not only their professional pride but also their innate sense of honor. Given everything he'd learned, Walters had only one way to answer Xander's offer. "I'm in."
"So your entire team has agreed to your decision?" Giles asked after victory celebration quieted down a bit.
"Every last one of them," Walters nodded, "Of course, Mr. Harris' offer to double our current salary and add combat bonuses helped enormously."
"I see." Giles smiled slightly at the respect in Walters' voice when speaking about Xander. The young man had impressed the entire retrieval team with his tactics. "And I suppose having access to a rifle capable of disabling any armored vehicle currently in production had nothing to do with your decision?"
"I didn't say that." Walters grinned, "Hell, some of my boys would work for free to play with the gear that Harris is offering us."
"I won't tell him you said that." Giles returned Walters grin. "Have you contacted the other retrieval teams yet?"
"All ten of them," Walters nodded, "We've got almost all of them. Not many of them liked the idea that we've been using a teenage girl as a judas goat."
"I can imagine." Giles nodded. "I believe that Xander and Buffy intend to inform the Council of the new 'rules of the game', as they call it."
"And you're thinking that perhaps an escort wouldn't be inappropriate?"
"Precisely."
"Actually," Kendra approached the pair, "Mr. Mobuto and I agree that I should accompany Buffy and Xander as well."
"I concur." Giles nodded after some thought, "A united front would be appropriate at this time."
"All right," Quentin Travers sighed as he entered the Council chambers. "What has Harris done now?"
"How..." Jason Stane paused and matched Travers' sigh with his own, "He does seem to be the only thing we discuss these days."
"Mr. Harris has just suborned some of our Retrieval teams." The senior most member of the Council, Stephen Montgomery Aubrey informed Travers in a cold voice. "I just received the resignations from our teams in Thailand, Germany and Canada. Not to mention the loss of two members of the Australian team."
"Dear Lord in Heaven," Quentin murmured, "So, that's what he meant."
"Are you trying to tell me, you knew about this?"
"Not exactly." Quentin explained, "Harris told me he had another plan in the works. I just had no idea what it entailed."
"So, what can we do?" Stane asked, "We know the use of force to gain back our assets is out of the question."
"I think I had best inform you of my last conversation with Mr. Harris." Quentin Travers explained Xander's co-opting of the South American team. When he got to part about 'making one of his girls cry', several members of the council started wondering whether their wills were up to date.
"Dear God in Heaven," One of them muttered, "I read Harris' profile, we're dead."
"Actually, Harris said that both Slayers talked him out of 'blowing us dopes up'." Travers told them, as they started to relax he hit them with the other shoe, "He also said and I quote, 'the only reason I'm not in England making like Mel Gibson on the whole mess of you is this mess right now.'."
Before anyone could remark, an assistant handed Aubrey a slip of paper. After reading it, Aubrey announced, "We've just received the resignations of the teams in Egypt, India, the Urkraine, and North and South Africa."
"I think it's safe to assume since we're now hearing from our Retrieval Teams, that they have defeated the Necromancer and Harris is about to pay us a visit."
"Actually," Petey's form appeared in the middle of the council chambers, "He's on his way right now."
"Oh," Petey grinned at them, "I wouldn't try anything if I were you. The Captain is looking for an excuse to 'go medieval' on you."
"Thank you for that warning," Travers said in all sincerity. "I appreciate it."
"Don't thank me," Petey told them, "Your gratitude should be aimed at Miss Summers."
"I beg your pardon?" Stane frowned.
"Captain Harris promised Miss Summers not to injure your group unless you began the hostilities." Petey explained. "Miss Summers was adept enough at reading between the lines to realize that the Captain was hoping you would try something and ordered me to warn you before hand."
"I see," Aubrey frowned at the few Council members still fingering their weapons. "Rest assured, no one here is foolish enough to try anything."
"I'll inform the Captain that you're expecting him then." Petey winked out.
"So," One of the progressive members of the Council looked around at the others. "Do any of you actually believe that there is anything we can do to retake control of this situation?"
As everyone looked down, the member nodded. "Now the only question is how many concessions Harris will demand."
A few minutes later, the now familiar sound of Teraport arriving announced the arrival of Xander Harris and company. What startled them was the sight of former SAS Sergeant Major 'Fitz' Walters standing alongside the young man, on either side of them, were the two slayers. All four of them carried a six fool long rifle with a barrel that looked like a person could lose an arm in.
"Hi," Xander grinned, he rested the gun barrel over his shoulder, "I think you're expecting us."
"Walters," Aubrey frowned, "What the hell is going on?"
"I've already turned in my resignation," Walters sneered at the Council, "But Captain Harris here allowed me to tag along so I could express my utter contempt for a group of old fools who sent out a young *girl* to fight without any kind real support. I met some miserable individuals, but you lot... You lied to them, you lied to us. I'm bloody surprised you even tell each other the truth."
Walters cut himself short before he started using profanity. Stepping back a little, he nodded to Xander, "Captain."
"Sergeant." Xander nodded back before turning to face the council, "You know, I called you the 'dumbest group of smart guys on the planet'. I think I've changed my mind, you're just the dumbest group of people on the planet period."
"Now see here," Aubrey began only to be cut off by Xander's angry growl.
"No, you see here." Xander raised the rifle to a ready position. "You idiots sent the Slayers out to die, when you could have provided them with the proper tools for the job."
"Tradition..."
"Now that is the poorest excuse you could possibly use." Walters sneered, "Tradition has its place, but not on the bloody battlefield!"
"What do you want, Mr. Harris." Travers asked, trying again to be the peacemaker of the group.
"Well, I what I want is all of your heads on a silver platter." Xander told them, "But... I promised Buffy and Kendra that I wouldn't hurt you. So I'll settle for your turning over all the information you have on the potentials to us. We'll be taking over that part of the operation from now on."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Aubrey growled.
Xander's grin turned just a bit nasty. "My name is Xander Harris, I'm Captain of the Tauseniggan Thunderhead Battlefortress 'the Post Dated Check Loan', and I'm also the person who has a serious attitude about people who think tradition is more important than a young girl's life."
Xander paused and let his words sink in before continuing, "Oh, one final thought. I'm also the only private citizen with enough firepower to glass the entire surface of this planet several times over."
"If you take the Slayers," Stane asked, "What are you leaving us with?"
"I'm leaving your organization intact for one thing." Xander told them, "I wanted to just pull a Gordon Gecko on you guys and take over, but the G-man reminded me that you are good at research end of things. So... This is how it's gonna work. For starters we're going to double the number of combat teams."
"Before anyone asks," Xander held up a hand to forestall any protests, "XWB will be covering the extra costs for the new teams."
"Not that you couldn't afford it." Xander heard Fitz mutter under his breath. Barely suppressing a grin, Xander continued.
"We'll also be providing them with new weapons and armor. Not to mention several automated armories positioned around the globe to maintain the equipment." This time Xander did grin at the flummoxed look on the faces of the Council. "Four of the teams will be stationed at Sunnydale and will act as a support team for the Slayers. The remainder of the teams will be under your nominal command, but I'm reserving the right to oversee any decisions you make.. The Council will act as both research and home base for the remaining teams."
"Wait," Travers frowned, "Why are you being so generous with your terms?"
"Because, as much as I hate to admit it. You've done a pretty good job with the teams." Xander shook his head, "The only problem I've got with you turkeys is the way you've treated the Slayers."
"And," Xander continued, "Since both Slayers have argued against me blowing you up. I figure I might as well use the experience you've already acquired."
"And what else do you want from us?" Travers asked cautiously.
"You keep doing what you've always been doing..." Xander shrugged, "Research. And this time, you're gonna share."
The Council members looked at each other warily. Running through each of their minds was the same thought. They'd been given back nearly everything they'd lost and more, all they had to do was acknowledge that Xander Harris was in charge. Slowly, one by one each of them nodded. Finally it was left to Quentin Travers to reply.
"Agreed."
As the glow from the teraport faded, Walters and his retrieval team stumbled out of the Humvee. Their almost literally a shade of white that Xander had never seen before.
"You okay?" He asked the shaken soldiers.
"Bloody... What the hell was that?" Walters managed to get out.
"Yeah, I know. Kinda freaky huh?" Xander grinned, "That's one of the reasons we prefer to be inside the car when we use it."
"Are you trying to tell me it can be worse?"
"Nah." Xander shook his head, "It's more of a mental thing."
"What?" Walter thought about it, "Oh, the same reason some people who are afraid of heights don't get scared in an airplane."
"Okay you just lost me." Buffy said as she joined the conversation.
"What he means, Buffy." Giles said as he joined the gathering, "Is that people tend to be reassured by the presence of four solid walls around them. Or even the perception of said walls."
"Oh," Buffy nodded, "Yeah I get it now."
"Speaking of four walls." Walters changed the subject, "Where are we bunking tonight?"
"Well you can bunk here for tonight," Xander mused, "Then we'll try to find you something more permanent tomorrow."
"Well," Willow told him, "There's a pretty high end apartment that just went bankrupt. From what I can tell the owners really want to get rid of it."
"Hmm... That's a lot of room though." Xander thought about it, "Some of your team have families right?"
"Correct," Walters nodded, and thought about the extra room they'd have. "We can also convert the extra space into an armory and training area."
"Sounds good," Xander decided, "I'll have Cordy start negotiations."
"Cord..." Walters frowned, "You mean Cordelia Chase? I thought she was just your Public Relations person?"
"You've never seen Cordelia when she's shopping." Buffy replied.
Xander nodded, "We'll probably get the place for about seventy to eighty five percent of what they're asking."
"Oh."
"So we're buying the Sunnydale Royale?" Buffy smiled at Xander, "Are you going to move into the penthouse?"
"After all the trouble we went through to get our place just perfect?" Xander shook his head, not realizing his slip.
"*Our* place?" Buffy leaned in close. She asked as sweetly as possible, "Was that an invitation to move in with you?"
"Wha..." Xander's eyes widened in trepidation at an image only he could see. Buffy frowned as a look of fear flashed across his face.
"There's no need to panic, Xander." She said in a slightly hurt tone. "It's not like I don't spend most nights there anyway."
"That's not it." Xander hastened to soothe his lady's hurt feelings. "I just had a flash of you telling your mom about moving in with me and her coming after me with an axe."
"Oh for..." Buffy sighed, "Xander... You do know that my mom already knows where I spend most of my nights. Besides, she likes you."
"Oh yeah," Xander nodded, "So do you want to move in with me?"
"I'll think about it," Buffy told him as she turned and headed for the door.
"Was that a yes?" Xander asked as Buffy ignored him and kept walking.
"Sergeant." Xander turned to Walters as Buffy vanished through the door.
"Yes Sir?" Walters turned slightly to face Xander.
"If I ever, ever, say that I understand women?" Xander told him, "I want you to call the men with the with coats and the jacket that lets you hug yourself all day."
"Understood sir." Walters said without even breaking a smile.
Explosion ripped the ground all around the squad, as Death Gliders raked the area with their cannon fire. On the ground a man dressed in the uniform of the US military reach his commander. Just beyond the explosions, he could see the army of Jaffa slowly advancing.
"Colonel Maybourne! We have to evac!"
Colonel Harold Maybourne glanced over at the young NID operative. "And go where? We're completely surrounded."
"Uh Sir," The Radio man approached him, "I just received a message from SG-1. It says 'Maybourne you idiot, take cover."
Maybourne may have been quite a few things but being slow on the uptake wasn't one of them. "EVERYONE DOWN!"
As the entire NID squad hit the ground, The ground around the trapped team exploded. Maybourne looked up to see all of the Death Gliders suddenly veer off in a westerly direction. In seconds he realized why, as X-302's engaged the Death Gliders.
"What in the name of..." Maybourne frowned as the 302's flew overhead. There was an odd sound as the ship passed but for the life of him, he couldn't hear or see any sign of the thrusters. A suspicious thought began forming in his mind, "Those aren't..."
His suspicions were confirmed when one of the 302s took a direct hit from a Death Glider and a glowing shield deflected the shot.
"That son of a bitch has access to shield technology." Maybourne growled. "I'm going to..."
His voice trailed off again as the Jaffa, still reeling from the airstrike now turned and began firing wildly in the same direction that the Death Gliders had taken, then began falling to some kind of fire. Maybourne grabbed his binoculars and tried to see who was doing the shooting. At first he thought he was seeing things and actually took the glasses down and rubbed his eyes. But the scene before him remained the same, blurry indistinct figures moving forwards firing some kind of weapon.
"Where the hell did O'Neill get this technology?" Maybourne asked himself as the Jaffa finally broke and ran.
"Colonel." The Radio operator reported, "We've got transport coming in."
Maybourne glanced up to see something that looked like an art deco toaster crossed with an old style Star Trek shuttle coming for a landing. "And where did he get that thing?"
As ship touched down and the hatch opened, Maybourne caught sight of the man responsible for his getting an ulcer. "Jack."
"Get your people inside!" Colonel Jack O'Neill yelled. "The Gate's been overrun and there are at least four Cruisers inbound. Pretty soon, there'll going to be more Snakes here than even my people can handle!"
"Right..." Maybourne nodded still a bit shell-shocked. He turned to his men and shouted. "All right, you heard the man... Everyone on board!"
As the soldiers scrambled abroad, Maybourne looked at the odd transport. "What the hell is this?"
"A gift from someone who watches to many television shows." Jack replied, "Something about it was either this or an Imperial Shuttle."
"A what!?" Maybourne goggled as he sat down, "It's finally happened, Jack you've officially lost it."
"I just wish the answer was that simple," Jack sighed, he turned to his pilot and told him, "Set a course for the ship, max power."
"Yes, Sir." The pilot responded.
"All fighters and transports return to ship." Maybourne heard Jack order.
"Jack... What the hell is going on here?" As Maybourne tried to reason with Jack, he finally noticed the black armor that Jack was wearing. "And where the devil did that armor come from? You look like a escapee from a video game."
"Funny," Jack groused a little, "That's what that kid Andrew said to. Something about a Halo."
"I don't believe this." Maybourne growled as the transport broke atmosphere. In a high orbit, he could make out the wreckage of a Goa'uld Ha'tak class ship slowly breaking up as it drifted towards the planet. In a slight higher orbit was a 303 class ship. "How in the hell did the Prometheus take on a Ha'tak and survive?"
"That's not..." Jack stopped as a voice came over the comm.
"Attention transport. Stand by for biologic scan."
"A what?" Maybourne asked.
"They're going to make sure we haven't been grabbed the snakes." Jack told him. "It's S.O.P."
Hitting the comm button, Jack answered, "Message received Enterprise, waiting for clearance."
"Is that the ship you used to grab our people?" Maybourne asked.
"Yep," Jack decided to keep Xander's secret as long as possible. "We got it from a new ally."
"That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with XWB Technologies would it?"
Inwardly Jack cursed, he'd heard that someone at NID had connected the dots. Outwardly he put on his best poker face and gave Maybourne the cover story Petey worked out with General Hammond.
"No, XWB's owners learned about what you call HST's on their own. When SG Command found out, we cut a deal with them to develop new weapons and armor for us."
And that's where you got all of this?" Maybourne gestured at the Enterprise. "XWB developed it?"
"We received the Enterprise and her three sister ships from a new ally that is only willing to work with SG Command." Jack sighed, "And they came with conditions."
"Ship capable of killing a Ha'tak?" Maybourne asked, "What did they want? The firstborn child of everyone on the Earth?"
"No," Jack shrugged, not seeing a reason to lie, "We don't' actually get any of the technology involved. The ship and all weapons are not to be disassembled, poked, prodded or otherwise examined beyond general field maintenance."
"You've got to be kidding." Maybourne stared at Jack in shock. "And Hammond agreed to that?"
"Did you see that Ha'Tak?" Jack asked, "And, according to General Hammond if this agreement works out, we'll be receiving a new class of ship soon that's even bigger."
"Not to mention the fact that our allies are currently patrolling our solar system to keep it safe."
"Wait..." Maybourne remembered the reports from their various agents. "These wouldn't be the same ones that stopped Anubis would they?"
"Yes." Jack didn't elaborate as the Enterprise gave them clearance to land.
Maybourne's eyes flicked over the interior of the ship as he was escorted to his quarters. The interior of the ship appeared identical to the Prometheus, except he when he'd tried to filch one of the firearms, a small hovering robot had slapped his hand and taken the gun away. What had really shocked him was when two armored soldier, at least he thought they were soldiers and not robots, picking up a full crate without any effort at all. When no one was really paying attention, he'd examined the crate to find it had to weigh several hundred pounds!
'Kinsey is going to flip when he hears about this.' Maybourne thought to himself. He was still working out his report in his head when the alert claxon sounded and a unknown voice shouted out.
"Battlestations! Prepare for Teraport!"
"What the?" Maybourne began as the ship gave a disconcerting lurch. At least that was the only thing he could compare what just happened to the ship to. As soon as the feeling past, O'Neill's voice rang out this time.
"All point defense systems online, Shields at maximum. All tanks and fighters deploy as soon as you're ready!"
"What the hell is going on?" Maybourne raced up to the bridge. Once there, he couldn't do anything but stare at the sight of three Daedalus design 303s taking on five Ha'tak cruisers and just barely holding their own. Three of the cruisers were duking it out with two of the 303s, while the last 303 tried to deal with two to one odds.
"Potemkin's shields are starting to fail." One of the bridge officers told O'Neill.
"The Defiant and The Hood report minimal damage."
"Okay," Jack nodded, "Let's take some of the heat off of the Potemkin then."
"Lock all weapons on the lead Ha'tak cruiser and fire at will."
Maybourne goggled, as even though it should have been out of range, the Enterprise's weapons lashed out at the Cruiser and actually hammered the Goa'uld ship's shields. That got the ship's attention and it turned its fire on the Enterprise. At the same time, a swarm of oddly shaped craft flew in alongside the 302's to engage the already deployed Death Glider's and launch a barrage of missiles at the second Ha'tak.
"Jack, what the hell is going on?"
"Not now." Jack growled, "We're a little busy at the moment."
"Another Ha'tak Cruiser approaching." The Officer at the tactical station reported. "It's the Brothers, sir."
"Who the hell are the Brothers." Maybourne asked as the newcomer opened fire on the ship attacking the Potemkin.
Maybourne watched at the new ship took the brunt of the fire, defending the Potemkin. Then the combined fire of the newcomer and the Potemkin managed to pierce shields already taxed by the missile barrage. As the Cruiser began breaking up, the remaining attackers began to realize that the odds had turned against them.
"The remaining hostiles are breaking off sir." The tactical officer reported.
Maybourne turned from the forward windows to look at Jack. He saw the look of determination flash over the officer's face. "We can't let them escape."
"Sir," The Comm officer interrupted him, "The Brother's ship is querying us."
"Contact all the ships," Jack ordered, "Tell them to pursue and engage."
"All ships." The Comm officer said into his headset, "Pursue and engage, repeat pursue and engage."
Maybourne simply watched in shock as over the course of the next fifteen minutes or so, each of the remaining Hat'tak Cruisers were destroyed before they could engage their Hyperdrives.
As the last of the ships broke apart, the Comm officer again told Jack. "The Brother's ship is requesting to speak with you, Sir."
"Okay, put them onscreen." Jack actually grinned, "I love saying that."
Maybourne had had just too many shocks to even ask what Jack meant by 'put them onscreen' and decided to simply watch and wait.
In the area just in front of Jack's chair a translucent glowing image appeared. It looked for all the world like a normal projection screen image, except that there wasn't any screen for the image to be reflected off. It took a moment for Maybourne to realize that there was depth to the image as well. "A holoimage?"
"Xolotl," Jack nodded at the person in the image. "Thanks for the assist."
"We *are* allies, O'Neill." Xolotl nodded back. "And we do appreciate the support that the Tauri have provided to us. Without your help, we would have lost half of our worlds already."
"No problem." O'Neill replied as the Comm officer informed him that the Commander of the Potemkin also wished to speak to him. "Duty calls, I'm afraid."
"Our's as well." Xolotl nodded, "We will return to our patrol as well."
"Talk to you later." Jack said before the image vanished. "You know, I'm actually starting to like those two."
"My sentiments exactly," the Command of the Potemkin said as his image appeared. "They are certainly unique for Goa'uld."
"Colonel Chekov," Jack smiled. "How badly damaged are you?"
"Not too badly, thanks to your timely intervention." Colonel Vasily Chekov nodded his thanks. "Our mutual friend tells me that we should be back to one hundred percent in an hour or so."
"That's good to know. I'll be sure to thank his commander when I see him." Jack smiled, "Well, we have to get our 'guests' back to SG-1."
"Just out of curiosity, Colonel O'Neill." Colonel Chekov asked, "Who is going to be in command of the new larger ship that rumor has it we might be receiving?"
"I don't know." Jack admitted, "We honestly don't know whether we'll even get the new ship. It all depends on how well things work out."
"If half of what I've heard about that ship is true. We could certainly use it."
"I hear you." Jack agreed, "O'Neill out."
As the image vanished, Jack turned to Maybourne and as innocently as possible asked, "So, I think you had some questions for me?"
Xander Harris found himself being roughly shaken awake. Alarmed, he started inching his hand towards his gauss pistol before realizing that it was a very upset Buffy Summers shaking him.
"What's wrong?" Xander asked, or at least he tried to. Even though he knew his lips were moving no sounds came out. He shot out of his bed panicked that he'd gone deaf when his hand knocked over the alarm clock. At first the rattling the clock made as it bounced along the floor made Xander sigh in relief. At least until with a panicked thought he realized that he wasn't deaf, he just couldn't talk. Glancing up at Buffy, he saw a similar panicked look in her eyes. Frantically he grabbed the comm from the nightstand and began thumbing the emergency signal. A second later, one of the new remotes appeared tapping at their window. Xander opened the window, and began waving his arms in the air. Petey's image appeared a moment later.
"One moment, Captain." Petey held up his hand and frowned, "From your actions, I assume that you and Miss Summers have been affected by whatever my remotes are telling me has struck the entire town?"
As Xander and Buffy nodded frantically, Petey smiled slightly, "I think have a partial solution, Sir."
A second remote appeared and dropped two small packages onto the bed. Xander picked up one of the packages and opened it, inside were three small one looked like a flat disc of plastic and the other two almost looked like a pair of hearing aids.
"The disk attaches to your neck near your voice box." Petey instructed them, "and the other two go into your ears."
The two of them followed Petey's instructions and waited, and waited, till finally Petey smiled and said, "Say something."
"How?" Xander mouthed the words, then rocked backwards in stunned shock as he heard the words in his ears. "what the..."
"It's a subvocal communicator." Petey told them, "It was used for stealth operations til the early 22nd Century when detection gear became sophisticated enough to trace the signal no matter how short the duration."
"Petey, if you were solid. I'd kiss you." Xander grinned, "I hope you've distributed these to the others?"
"Xander?" Willow's voice sounded in his left ear.
"Will?" Xander looked around for second, "You're at the dorm right?"
"Yep," Xander could tell Willow was smiling, "Just letting you know that Petey just dropped these off."
"Quite right." Gile's voice interrupted them, "I suggest we meet at XWB as soon as possible."
"Any idea what's going on?" Buffy asked.
"I'm not certain." Giles admitted, "Jenny and I are looking through the books now."
"We'll be right there." Xander promised. He then turned to Petey and asked, "I suppose there's a privacy switch?"
Petey nodded, "Either simply touch the disk and say 'engage privacy mode' or 'private channel with' and then say the names of the people you wish to speak to. Then the person on the other end will be informed of the private channel."
"Cool." They heard Oz say.
"Private Channel with Buffy." Xander said as he touched the disk attached to his throat.
"How bad do you think this is?" Buffy asked once the private channel was engaged.
"Uh sir?" Petey asked interrupting them, "Did you want me to continue to monitor the private channels as well?"
Xander thought about it, while the whole eavesdropping factor was a bit on the 'ugh' side, the tactical benefits did outweigh the other considerations. "Yes, keep monitoring. I assume you can break into the privacy channel if you have to?"
"Of course, Sir."
"Good," Xander nodded, then held his arm out to Buffy. "Shall we get moving?"
"Let's take your car." Buffy told him, "We might need the room to carry the guns."
"So," Xander frowned, "We've got another group of fairy tale creatures out there. We can only kill them with the sound of a live human voice and I can't just blow the place up because of potential collateral damage?"
"That does sum it up." Jenny nodded.
"Oh." Buffy frowned.
"Oh?" Xander turned, "Was that a bad oh or a good oh?"
"I was just thinking that if no one can say anything..."
"That some of the local low-life's might decide to take advantage of the situation?" Damien Woljowski, the head of the second assault team finished for her. "I was thinking the same thing."
"Okay," Buffy decided, "So we'll need to cover the entire town."
"Right," Xander nodded. "All right, everyone split up into teams of two. Walters, you and your partner are with Buffy and me. We'll be hitting the bad guys at their home base. I want to one team to cover the families at the Royale. Buffy's mom and the Rosenberg's are out of town so they're safe. What about your folks, Oz?"
"They're cool." Oz shrugged. "They moved to L.A. over the summer."
"Good," Xander grinned, "Let's get ready."
"General Hammond?" Professor Daniel Jackson poked his head into Hammond's office. "I think you should see this."
"What's going on?" General Hammond asked as Daniel turned on the monitor.
"Ever since we met Xander," Daniel explained as the news report came on, "We've increased the monitoring for any incidents in California. Especially the Sunnydale region."
"I see," General Hammond listened in shock as the reporter described the strange loss of speech and the quarantine of the residents of Sunnydale. He picked up his phone and began dialing.
"Sir?" Daniel frowned, "Shouldn't we be getting a team ready?"
"Not until we're sure about what's going on." General Hammond replied, then turned his attention to the phone. "Petey? What's going on over there? I see... Do you require any assistance? No, it won't be a problem... I'll have them standing by."
"General?"
"According to Petey," General Hammond sighed, "Captain Harris and Miss Summers have already taken a team to deal with the problem. He's asked us to keep a team in reserve in case of a Snafu."
"I see." Daniel nodded, "Is there something else?"
"Petey traced the quarantine order." Hammond growled slightly, "It came from indirectly from the NID."
"We'd better not let Jack hear about this." Daniel mused outloud, "He might try to talk Petey into sending Kinsey an armed Terapedo."
"That thought did occur to me," Hammond actually smiled a bit, he leaned over to reach the intercom button and signaled his aide. "Tell SG-5 to prepare for an on-planet mission."
Riley Finn frowned as he followed Buffy Summers and Xander Harris through town. On a hunch, he'd gone straight to XWB to see if maybe they had a line on what the hell was going on. He'd arrived in time to see Harris and Summers lead an armed team to Harris' Humvee. He'd barely managed to keep up with the vehicle as it tore down the streets of Sunnydale, Rily quickly came to the conclusion that whoever was at the wheel was either an expert driver or a certified maniac. As thehe Humvee finally came to a stop in front of an old deserted Church, the entire team piled out of the vehicle and into the building. Shortly after that, the sounds of gunfire echoed through the building. Riley frowned as the gunfire continued far longer than he expected. Then he dove for cover as a flaring light blew out a section of the Church's roof. Three more blasts knocked out other sections of the roof, then with a groan the entire building came tumbling down onto itself.
"What the..." Riley's voice trailed off as he realized that he could speak again. In the ruins of the building, several beams began to shift and the XWB team began to climb out of the rubble. He noticed Harris was saying something but could quite make out the words. The angry retort from Summers on the other hand could probably be heard in Los Angeles.
"YOU THINK!?"
As soon as they entered the building, the Assault team opened fire on the 'Gentlemen'. Despite the concentrated fire, it quickly became apparent that Giles was right, the demons could only be killed by the sound of a human voice. As fast as they took one down, another would be up and attacking them. After several minutes of firing, Xander was almost tempted to call in a teraport on the whole lot of them. It was only the possiblity that one of the 'Gentlemen' might have their voices on him that stopped that plan.
"And here I thought those zombies were weeble people." Xander said as he dropped the same demon for the fifth time. "These guys are worse, it's just set em up and knock em back down."
"Where do you think they're keeping our voices?" Buffy asked.
"Well from the way they're trying to keep us away from there." Walters replied, nodding towards the stairwell. "I'd say somewhere on the second floor."
"In that case." Xander pulled his BG-250 out and dialed it power setting to 4. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
"Xander!" Buffy shouted as he began shooting through the ceiling into the floor above.
After the fourth shot, Buffy's yelling caused an interesting effect on their opponents. Almost as one the creatures grabbed their heads and Buffy frowned in disgust as she was nearly covered in the goo of the creature's exploding heads. "That was just... Ew!"
"Uhmm." Xander frowned, but not for the same reason. "We might have a problem."
"Problem, sir?" Walters asked.
"I think some of the stuff I shot was structural." Xander said as the building began to groan.
"COVER!" Walters shouted as the building began to collapse.
Everyone instinctively covered their heads and dove for the ground as the timbers fell around them. Even in armor capable of taking the both the impact of several tons of building falling down onto it, being buried alive wasn't any picnic.
"Everyone okay?" Xander asked.
"Fine, Sir."
"Xander!" Xander winced at Buffy's tone.
Xander shoved the debris aside and stood up. Around him the other member of the team appeared from the wreckage. When Buffy appeared glaring at him, Xander managed a sheepish smile, "I guess high energy weapons fire in an old wooden building was a bad idea."
Buffy's shout practically ruptured his eardrums. "YOU THINK!?"
"I told you," Giles overheard Buffy tell Xander. He could see her holding him at arm's length as she kept his BG-250 as far away from him as possible. "I'm not letting you have this back for at least a week."
"What did he do now?" Giles asked with a sigh as the team started putting their gear away.
"Knocked the entire building down with that plasma gun of his." Walters replied. "Although I have to admit, it did do the job."
"You see," Xander pointed over to them, "Walters is on my side."
"He works for you." Buffy retorted.
"Keep me out of this." Walters headed for the door as quickly as possible.
"Coward." Xander muttered under his breath.
"Where angry women are concerned?" Walter replied, "You had better believe it."
"Aww... C'mon..." Xander whined.
"NO!" Buffy told him emphatically, "And if you get Petey to issue you another one, I'll take that one away too."
"That's not fair." Xander continued to plead as the two of them left the room.
"Does this happen very often?" Walters asked Giles after they were gone.
"Destroying a building or the whipped boyfriend routine?"
"Destroying buildings." Walters grinned, "I've seen the whipped boyfriend routine already."
NID HQ January 9th 2000
Colonel Maybourne sat ramrod straight in the chair across from his superior. He could feel himself sweating as Kinsey glared at him. "Maybourne, I've been told you do know to obey orders."
Before Maybourne could answer him, Kinsey took a piece of paper out of a file folder, "So, would you care to explain this request for the Initiative to investigate XWB technologies?"
"Just following our mandate, Sir." Maybourne replied, a bit shaken by the barely constrained anger in Kinseys' voice. "You've already read my report about Stargate Command's rescue of my team."
"Yes," Kinsey sighed, "It confirmed something we've suspected for several months. What does that have to do with XWB?"
"Well, Agent Finn reported seeing the XWB team head out and from the description of the armor. It... It just seemed that there was a connection."
"Of..." Kinsey stopped in mid-sentence and smiled, "Took you long enough to connect all the dots."
"Sir?"
"That's right." Kinsey made his decision, he slid a folder over to Maybourne. "You've never read the full report on XWB."
"Sir?" Maybourne picked up the file and began reading. As he kept reading, he grew steadily paler until finally he turned to Kinsey in shock, "Is this accurate?"
"Entirely," Kinsey sighed, "XWB's President is the most powerful person on the planet."
"I don't get it." Maybourne returned to the file, "Why don't we just grab Harris and make him... Oh."
"From the look your face, I'd say you read the bit that SG command added."
"Is this for real? This AI is actually threatening anyone that grabs Haris or one of his friends?"
"It's real." Kinsey nodded, "You should have seen the smile on O'Neill's face when Hammond handed me that report."
"I'm a bit surprised that Hammond shared this information."
"Don't be," Kinsey almost growled, "The AI asked him to share. Hammond told me that the AI's exact words were and I quote, 'I have no loyalty to the human race as a whole. My loyalty is to the O'benn race, my fleet, my Captain and my crew. In that order. Captain Harris is more than just my commanding officer, I consider him my friend. If anything happens to him, my last act before transferring command to his XO will be to port a 40 megaton warhead directly into the base of the people responsible.' End quote."
Maybourne could only stare in shock at Kinsey's statement. When Kinsey finished the only words that Maybourne could say was, "Well, hell."
Another thought occurred to Maybourne as he mulled over what he'd read, "Sir, how do we know that Harris isn't..."
"Planning on taking over the world?" Kinsey actually smiled as he finished the question for Maybourne. "He's not. It's not in his nature to want that kind of power. My best people tell me that, according to his profile, Harris would only claim authority if he believed that it would help him protect his people."
"There has to be a better reason than that for not expecting Harris to take over."
"How about... if Harris wanted to take over, he's already got the power do it." Kinsey shrugged, "He's an interesting type, on his own with just himself on the line? He's not a very efficient or dedicated fighter. But put one of his friends on the line? He becomes a nightmare."
"That's why you're going to order Walsh to keep as far away from Harris as possible."
When Maybourne suddenly looked very uncomfortable, Kinsey felt his stomach started doing somersaults. "Why do I get the feeling that you're about to give me some bad news?"
"I... I already authorized Agent Finn to make contact with Harris and company, Sir."
"You what!?" Kinsey nearly exploded, "Have you lost your mind?
"In my defense, Sir. I don't honestly think that this is a violation of any of the 'rules' as laid out by this AI."
"That's the only reason I'm not already having you shot." Kinsey glared, "Exactly what were your orders to Finn?"
"I told him to try to confirm XWB's involvement with the new technology that SGC is fielding." Maybourne responded, "And if he can confirm it, then to try to arrange a similar agreement between XWB and the Initiative."
"So nothing actually threatening XWB or its personnel?"
"No, Sir." Maybourne shook his head, "After seeing the level of technology that Jack showed me on board the 'Enterprise' I wasn't about to piss off anyone who could actually back track it to me."
"Very good." Kinsey smiled slightly, they still had a chance to avoid learning what a atomic blast would feel like at ground zero. "I want you to give Walsh written orders, that no matter what happens. No matter what Finn learns, she is not to try anything and I mean anything at all against the people at XWB or their families. If she does, I won't have her killed, it'll be like she was never born."
"Understood, Sir." Maybourne saluted. As he stood to leave, something else occured to him, "Sir, what about that Lunar base that the AI mentioned?"
"I sent a team up along with last Daedalus test flight." Kinsey smiled and continued in a smug tone, "They came back with photos of what look like preliminary excavations and a few bits and pieces of evidence."
"I don't understand, Sir." Maybourne frowned, "Why do you sound so damned pleased?"
"Come with me, I'll show you."
Maybourne followed Kinsey through the building to the research division. As they entered one of the doors marked 'authorized access only', he almost tripped over his own feet in shock. In the far end of a firing range, the researchers had a department store mannequin covered in a web of high tech circuitry of some kind. "What?"
Kinsey pulled him behind the thickest blast shield he'd ever seen outside an artillery test site and nodded to one of the lab techs. The technician hit a switch and two heavy steel plates rose to turn the shield into a bunker.
Maybourne frowned at the elaborate protection, until he saw the fifty caliber automatic rifle slowly being raised up on a robotic arm. "Holy…"
"Watch." Kinsey said with a smug smile.
"Firing!"
Even through the thick plastic, Maybourne still winced at the roar from the big fifty. Saw a slight shimmer around the mannequin as the bullet ricocheted off and slammed into the concrete wall of the range.
"Shield matrix is beginning to destabalize." The technician reported. "Increasing power."
"Shield...?" Maybourne turned to Kinsey, "We've got shield technology?"
"Firing!" The second round fared no better than the first, slamming into another wall without penetrating the shield.
"Matrix is destabilizing again. Increasing power."
"Just keep watching." Kinsey told Maybourne.
"Firing!"
This time the shield began to shimmer wildly as the bullet bounced off. Within moments the shimmer became a cascade of light that flared briefly then died out.
"Total shield failure after three rounds." The technician noted, there was a slight note of triumph in his voice. "That's the longest we've managed to keep the matrix stable so far."
"Excellent, I want regular progress reports." Kinsey smiled, he turned to Maybourne and motioned him out of the room.
As they left the room, Maybourne could barely contain his questions. They walked in silence for a while before Kinsey started talking.
"We found a damaged portable computer in a cave in at what appears to be a preliminary dig site on the far side of the moon." Kinsey started explaining, answering Maybourne's questions before he could ask them. "The area was unstable and apparently abandoned after a cave-in. It was badly damaged but some of the files were recoverable."
"I don't understand," Maybourne frowned, "The file on the shield must have been almost complete for us to already have a working prototype..."
"It was complete," Kinsey told him. "As a matter of fact the only parts missing were the power supply and the computer to control the shield matrix. We had to improvise on those."
"The real problem is this *is* just a prototype." Kinsey groused a little. "The file containing the final design was too badly damaged to read. All we could read from that one was that the final version of the shield was capable of taking a direct hit from a pocket nuke and surviving."
"I see." Maybourne grinned, he was finally one up on O'Neill. "Do we have anything else to show for the trip?"
"Just bits and pieces." Kinsey replied, "The largest piece of data we could retrieve mentions something called a wave-form drive. Whatever that is."
The two of them walked down the corridor, discussing the new 'discoveries' and how best to utilize the information they'd managed to gather. Neither one took any notice that the several of the security cameras were following their every move. The man controlling the cameras sighed as he listened in on their conversation.
"Petey." Xander said as he turned off the connection, "Please tell you didn't put in the information about the exploding stardrive."
"Of course not sir." Petey smiled, "But I did put several notes mentioning the drive and a few parts of the mathematical formulas for the drive."
"Would you mind telling me why?" Xander frowned as he tried to puzzle out the answer.
"Anyone that can figure out the remainder of the formula is someone we really want to look into recruiting." Petey replied.
Xander started to chuckle. "Petey, only you could take a distraction and turn it into a recruitment test."
"How long do you think they'll keep working on the shield technology?" Xander asked after he stopped laughing.
"At least a decade," Petey replied, "Technically the shield does work, it's primary drawback is that energy matrix that makes up the shield is highly unstable and requires a nearly geometric increase in power to keep it functioning."
"I'm not sure I get any part of that beyond the idea that shield's power requirements make it complete impractical."
"That's pretty much the gist of what I was saying." Petey agreed.
Xander blinked. "I got it right... Wow."
Something occured to Xander as he sat there. "Petey... Did you send you little test to anyone else?"
"Yes sir." Petey nodded. "I felt that we might want to recruit a few more people to make XWB's profile a bit more diverse."
"Who?"
"A Professor Spengler in New York and Major Carter at SG-1."
Buffy Summers was taking a much needed afternoon nap when she was jolted awake by the sound of Xander's yell. "YOU SENT IT TO WHO!?"
Buffy walked into Xander's home office to see him glaring at Petey.
"Petey, how could you send that to Sam? Are you trying to get O'Neill and Hammond mad at us!?"
"I'm monitoring both of them, Sir." Petey reassured Xander, "As soon as they solve the formula, I'll contact them with the information about the inherent instability of the drive."
"That's not the point!" Xander continued to glare, "I mean, that's part of the point. But trying to steal one of SG-1's people?"
"I'm not trying to steal her..." Petey shrugged, "I'm just offering her other options."
Buffy smothered a giggle as Xander sighed. "Petey, we are not going to steal people away from our friends."
"Understood, Sir." Petey replied. "What about Dr. Spengler?"
"Who is he?" Xander frowned, "I mean the name sounds familiar but..."
"Geez, Xand." Buffy laughed, "Don't you remember the movie they made about them?"
"About who..." Xander's eyes widened. "THE GHOSTBUSTERS!? Petey, I thought you were... Huh, y'know I guess having the Ghostbusters on our side would make you happy."
"Especially if I can get access to their positron emitters." Petey told him fervently.
Peter Venkman was heading to the kitchen for a snack when he noticed the lights still burning in Egon's Lab. Poking his head inside, he found his fellow Ghostbuster in exactly the same place he'd been in before nightfall. "Egon... haven't you gone home yet?"
"Hmmm?" Egon looked up from his work. "Oh hello, Peter."
"Egon, Egon, Egon." Smiling slightly, Peter just shook his head. "You know that Janine is going to have both our heads if she finds out that you're working around the clock again."
"WHAT!?" Egon glanced down at his watch. "Oh no... She's going to kill me."
"Hang on." Peter told him chuckling slightly, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Egon's house. He held the phone away from his ear as a loud shrill scream blasted from it.
"EGON SPENGLER! If you're not in the hospital you're a dead man!!!"
"Hi Janine!" Peter said as she wound down. "It's Peter."
"Peter?" Janine's voice lost its anger. "Why are you calling... Ohmygodit'segonisn'tit? He's..."
"Egon's fine, Janine." Peter told her, "We just had a call right before he was going to leave for the night. We just got back, the stinker wasn't very powerful but it sure could move. We chased it all over the place before we bagged it. Egon fell asleep in the car on the way back, and I thought it would be best if he just stayed here tonight."
"Well..." Peter could hear the annoyance in Janine's voice. "Okay, but you let him know that next time he doesn't call, he's going to be on the couch for a month."
"You got it, Mrs. Spengler." Peter smiled as he hung up the phone. Almost on a whim he checked their answering machine.
"Guys, this is Janine... Have any of you seen Egon? He hasn't come home yet."
"I guess you're on a call. Can someone please call me back as soon as possible? I'm really getting worried."
"Where are you guys...? I can't reach Egon. Please somebody call me!"
Peter sighed, "Egon, you knothead... Did you turn your cell phone off again?"
The man who was inarguably the smartest member of the Ghostbusters glanced down to the phone at his waist and groaned, "No, I forgot to charge it."
"Egon..."
"I know." Egon reached for the phone, "I'd better call her and apologize."
"Before you do that." Peter peered over Egon's shoulder, "Exactly what are you working on that would make you risk Janine's wrath again?"
"A mathematical equation that was sent to me by a P.D. Tauseniggan of XWB technologies." Egon said as he pushed his glasses back into place. "If what I've come up with so far is correct, it pertains to the formation of a deformation in space that will allow a vehicle to surpass the speed of light."
"A warp drive." Peter grinned, "Cool."
"I have my doubts about the equation, though." Egon turned back to the paper. "The basic idea seems sound but some of the equations are a bit... iffy."
Knowing Egon as well as he did, Peter decided to intervene by grabbing the papers from Egon and handing him the phone. "I'll keep these for Ray to look at, you can call Janine and start groveling."
"Exactly why did you ask for this meeting, Senator?" General Hammond asked the man sitting across the table from him.
"It's about XWB." Kinsey told the head of SGC. "I need your help with them."
"Exactly what kind of help?" Jack O'Neill asked.
"Not that kind of help." Kinsey almost growled at one of the biggest thorns in his side, "I'm ruthless not stupid."
"The truth is," Kinsey continued, "Regardless of our differences. We do have the same goal. Gaining the technology to defend our Country."
"We won't help you spy on..."
"I'm not asking you to spy on them!" Kinsey almost shouted at Hammond. "I want them to supply the U.S. Military with the X-39 and the Bi-phase Ceramic armor they gave you the blueprints for."
"You want them to give you...?" Jack frowned, Harris was generous but that was asking bit much.
"Hell, do I look that stupid. I'll get them a contract to produce them." Kinsey laughed slightly, "You get them to agree to produce the weapons. I'll have their design fast-tracked through appropriations and they'll get a plausible increase in financing that will allow them to expand their operations in the future and the U.S. Military will have equipment that's beyond the cutting edge. We'll both benefit from this deal."
As much as Hammond disliked agreeing with Kinsey, getting XWB to produce the advanced weapon would not only give their regular troops an edge but would practically guarantee that all of the equipment would be of the highest quality. "I'll see what I can do."
"Do your best." Kinsey nodded and stood to leave.
After the Senator left the room, Jack O'Neill sighed, "You know, Sir. It really bugs me, every time I get to point where I fell justified in thinking he's a total slimeball, he goes and reminds me that he really believes he's doing what's right."
"I know," General Hammond closed his eyes for a second. "I really don't relish the idea of trying to talk Captain Harris into providing the NID with anything."
"Don't worry, Sir." Jack smiled, "SG-1 is on standby right now. I'll go talk to Andrew and then go pay Harris a visit."
"Why don't you take the entire team with you?" General Hammond suggested, "If I remember correctly both Major Carter and Professor Jackson have expressed an interest having an in depth conversation with members of XWB's organization."
"Are you sure about that, Sir?" Jack asked in mock concern. "I mean if we let Daniel and Rupert Giles start talking moldy books, they may just disappear into his library for a month."
"I'll take that chance." Hammond chuckled softly. "Have a nice trip."
"I'm going to a town that's a Dimensional Gateway to Hell." Jack shrugged, "I'm really not counting on that."
"Okay G..." Xander Harris paused as he saw Riley Finn standing in the middle of the room, "What is he doing here?"
"Look," Riley told Xander, "I know you don't like me but..."
"It's not you soldier boy." Xander shrugged, "I don't like the people in charge of your organization. I have an aversion to anyone besides me and mine who use blackmail and threats of violence to get things done."
"I really need your help." Riley told them. "Someone's killed Professor Walsh."
"Hmm." Xander frowned, "Petey? What was the cause of death?"
"One moment, Sir." Petey replied over the comm., "Hmm, that's interesting."
"What?" Xander asked slightly uncomfortable. It was never a good thing when Petey found something interesting.
"Well, the cause of death was single wound penetrating entire through the thoracic cavity." Petey reported, "That's not what's interesting though. Someone's apparently connected Professor Walsh's computer to the Initiative network. There are several files that have been heavily encrypted. They pertain to something called 'Project Adam'."
"You ever hear her mention that name?" Xander asked Riley.
"No." Riley shook his head, "Never heard of it."
"Petey? Can you crack the files?"
"Give me five minutes." Petey told them.
"Okay," Xander frowned, "While you're at it, get me Senator Kinsey on the line. I want to talk with him."
"Sir." Senator Kinsey's secretary spoke over the office intercom. "There's someone on the line that insists on talking to you. I tried to explain he needs an appointment to talk to you but he claims that you'll want to speak to him. I checked your approved list and there is someone with a similar name on it. But it can't be the same person."
"Why not?"
"Well the person on the other end... He sounds like a teenager."
Kinsey frowned as he tried to remember any teenagers that might have his number. Then his eyes widened as he put two and two together. "Put him through."
"Yes, sir."
As he picked up the receiver, the Senator actually wondered if he was about to find out what it felt like to be at ground zero during a blast. "Mr. Harris?"
"You can call me, Captain Harris." Xander told him, "Or just Xander."
"Captain Harris then." Kinsey didn't want the young man to think him presumptuous enough to assume everything was peaches and cream between them. "What can I do for you?"
"I want you to tell me everything you know about Maggie Walsh's 'Project Adam'."
Senator Kinsey blinked in confusion. "Project what?"
"I kind of figured that would be your answer. You didn't know about Maggie Walsh's little pet project, did you?"
"Walsh?" Kinsey frowned, "I won't insult you by trying to lie about the Initiative's agenda but what do mean her 'pet project'."
"Hang on." Kinsey could hear Harris talking to someone on the other end of the line. From the sounds of disbelief coming from the young man, Kinsey guessed that something interesting had been discovered.
"Senator," Xander sighed, "You never going to believe this one. I had Petey send the documents to your private e-mail."
"Hold on." Kinsey pulled up his email and opened the documents, he was about one third of the way through it when he finally realized what he was reading. "What the hell!? That crazy..."
"That's another thing." Xander interrupted him, "Why the hell did you pick someone with such an obvious god complex for this assignment?"
"It wasn't my decision." Senator Kinsey defended himself. "You wouldn't believe the political favors I had to call for this venture."
"Actually," Xander sounded slightly stunned, "I would. Petey just sent me a list of the oversight committee for the NID. Considering some of the names on this list, I'm surprised someone reasonably sane and competent managed to be put in charge of the operation."
"That's because I can be a ruthless son of a bitch when I have to be." Even though he knew Harris couldn't see it, Kinsey actually smiled at that thought. "I'll do whatever it takes to make this Country safe."
"Come to think of it," Kinsey finished, "From what I've heard from some friends across the Atlantic. You're considered to be nearly as bad."
"If it's the same bunch that I'm thinking of," Xander told him, "I'm not impressed."
"I doubt it's the same group." Kinsey smiled, "The head of MI6 is a very hard man to impress. And if he says he thinks you're ruthless that's saying something."
"MI6?" Xander's voice registered stunned shock. "How the hell does the British Secret Service know about me?"
"The head of the service is very good at his job." Kinsey said chuckling. "He even mentioned that if wasn't for the fact that XWB is an American company, you'd be getting a call about doing some design work for them."
"You're on speaking terms with the head of MI6?" Xander frowned, "Why isn't that in my profile of you?"
"That's because James and I aren't friends." Kinsey told him, "Our paths crossed a few times at Langley and in England, that's all."
"James?" Xander sounded curious, "I thought the head of MI6 was called 'C'?"
"At least you didn't call him 'M'." Kinsey chuckled softly at that, "James has always disliked those movies. Though he does claim that of the actors portrayals, he could best tolerate Connery's."
"Wait..." Kinsey could almost hear Harris thinking over the line. "James...? Are trying to tell me... I don't want to know."
"The answer's yes." Kinsey told him.
"I said I didn't want to know." Xander replied. Then changed gears as something occurred to him. "By the way...Why weren't you more surprised that I called?"
"Well..." Kinsey decided on the honest approach, "I asked General Hammond to broach the possibility of XWB providing the U.S. Military with the gear that you originally gave us the designs for."
"Hmm..." There was a long silence on the line as Xander thought it over, "The *entire* Military right? Not just the NID?"
"That's right." Kinsey told him, "I've already seen what the armor and the rifles are capable of. We need those weapons, and I know you can deliver them in both the quality and quantity we'll need."
"Huh," Xander sounded impressed, "I'll talk with General Hammond about it later. Right now, I've got a Frankenstein's Monster to bring down."
"I'll contact the Initiative's Military Commander and have him give all the assistance possible."
"I'd appreciate that."
As he hung up the phone, the Senator began grinning. It never hurt to cultivate the favor of people with real power. Keeping that in mind, he picked up the receiver to contact the Initiative Commander.
Xander sighed as he hung up the phone, "Okay, Finn. Your commander should be getting a call telling him to help XWB hunt down this 'Adam'."
"You know Senator Kinsey." Riley Finn stared at Xander in shock.
"Never met the guy." Xander shook his head.
"But he knows you." Riley was more than slightly shocked at that revelation. The scuttlebutt was that Kinsey wasn't just the man in charge of the Initiative, but that he actually had his hands in every 'black' project not officially in the books.
"Well yeah," Xander shrugged, "You already know we've got Government ties."
"I got that part from Colonel O'Neill." Riley nodded. "It's the part about the man that may be the next vice-president taking your calls that still boggles the mind."
"Don't let it," Xander replied. "I need you to gather your team and bring them back to XWB for outfitting."
"We've got gear."
"Not like ours." Xander smiled slightly at image of the looks on the Initiative team's faces when they saw the gear they'd be using. "Just get them."
"I'll go check in with Commander." Riley told him, "If he verifies the orders, we'll be here."
"Take my Hummer." Xander told him, "It'll be faster than walking."
"Keys?" Riley asked.
"You don't need keys." Xander shrugged, "Just be careful and don't mess with anything you don't have to."
"You don't want me to mess with your stations, huh?" Riley smiled, "Don't worry I won't change the channels."
"That's not it." Xander smiled, "I just don't want you to accidentally push the fire button on one of the weapons systems. Don't want to lose any buildings."
"By the way," Xander said as the visibly pale soldier was heading out the door. "The Hummer's self driving, all you have to do is get in and tell it where to go."
"Sure thing," Riley stumbled out the door.
"Petey," Xander said after the door closed, "he's had enough shocks for now, so give him a nice smooth ride. Okay?"
"Most assuredly, Captain." Petey replied.
Giles stared at Xander for several seconds before he began smiling. "Of course, you don't have any built in weapons on that vehicle."
"Nothing that Petey can't override if Finn actually does get itchy fingers."
"Xander!"
"Hey," Xander grinned, "Petey built it remember? He armed it, not me."
"What about the other vehicles?" Giles asked, alarmed at the thought that they'd all been driving what were potentially, city killers.
"Pop up front turrets." Xander told him, "Low velocity anti-armor rail gun."
"How low velocity?" Giles almost moaned, "And define 'anti-armor'."
"Two and a half times the speed of sound." Xander shrugged. "Anything smaller than a modern Main Battle tank."
"What?" Giles fell backwards into his chair in shock.
"I told Petey support weapons," Xander shrugged, "He took me seriously."
"When this is over," Giles frowned, "You and I are going to have a long talk about 'things the Watcher needs to know'."
Riley stepped out of the elevator to see his entire team already prepped and ready to go. "I take it you got the word?"
"We're going to working with the guy that almost made you wet yourself?" Forrest nodded, "We heard."
"I didn't almost wet myself." Riley told them, he'd been getting ribbed about his run in with Harris ever since they'd heard about it. "Although when he pulled that lightsaber I almost wanted to."
The other chuckled softly as Riley turned, "I'll meet you guys outside. Wait'll you see the ride Harris provided."
Once he was back at the Hummer, Riley whispered, "Petey?"
"Yes, Agent Finn?"
"You're the one piloting this vehicle right?" Riley asked, not quite sure about the answer.
"Yes, Agent Finn."
"Do you mind doing me a favor?"
"It depends on the favor."
"I just need you to give my boys a little rollercoaster ride back to XWB."
"That I can do." Petey assured him.
"Thanks." Riley Finn smiled to himself.
Xander spent the next 20 minutes going over what they'd need to reasonably create the illusion of a weapons plant. Making his decision, he grabbed the comm and spoke, "Fitz?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Are the Fire teams ready?"
"Of course, Sir." Walters sounded offended at the suggestion that his teams wouldn't be prepared to deploy.
"Good, we'll be rolling in about an hour. I want the teams here in thirty minutes."
Oh yeah, I'm going to need you to check with your teams. Get me a list of immediate family that might be willing to work at a fictitious armaments plant doing absolutely nothing and being paid for it."
"Are you pulling my leg?"
Xander chuckled, "Nope. I'll explain when this is all over."
"I'll look forward to hearing it." Walters replied.
A few minutes later, his comm activated again. "Uhh, Xander you there?"
"Andrew?" Xander picked up his comm again. "I thought you were still at SG command."
"He is," Jack butted in before Andrew could answer. "I asked him to call, we need to ask you for a favor."
"I think I know what this is about," Xander told him, "But we could use your help on another matter. Have Ennesby teraport you here, I'll meet you in the garage."
"See you in a few." Xander smiled.
"Why don't I like the tone of your voice?" Jack asked, "You sound really too pleased with yourself."
"I just need your help hunting down a Frankenstein's monster that the Initiative's nut job of a leader built."
"WHAT!?"
"Harris," Jack shook his head as Carter went over the blueprints Petey'd decrypted, "I kinda hoping you were just pulling our leg."
"That's the one thing I never joke about." Xander told, "Joke about it going to occur? Yeah. But joke about the monster being here? Never."
"Got it." Jack replied, he noticed Carter in deep conversation with Willow and the duo. "Something interesting?"
"The hard part is where to start, Sir." Carter told him.
"Start with the Wolverine Bones!" Andrew interjected. "That part is so cool."
"They put animal..." Jack stopped remembering just who said it, he racked his brains trying to remember the reference when a vague but still painful memory of his son showing him an X-men comic rose to the surface. "They reinforced his bones?"
"With trinium." Carter frowned, "A lattice of trinium over every bone. How did she manage that and still keep this person alive?"
"I don't think you want to know." Willow told her in a mock whisper. "I figured it out and I'm going to have nightmares for at least a week."
"I'll take my chances." Sam told her.
"She did it while she was putting the body together."
"Putting..." Jack turned to stare at Xander. "When you said 'Frankenstein'..."
"We were being pretty much literal." Xander nodded, "Walsh built Adam out of parts of different demons and the remains of a soldier killed in action."
"Oh," Carter looked a little green about it. "How did..."
"Carter." Jack shook his head, "I don't want to know."
"We can talk later." Willow said cheerfully.
"Is she always this enthusiastic?" Jack asked Xander.
"Only about learning new stuff." Xander shrugged, "Petey, have you found it yet?"
"I believe that our patchwork opponent is still inside the Initiative headquarters." Petey told them.
"Not a chance." Riley said as they came in from the armory, "We went through every inch of the place. Even the ventilation ducts."
"What about this area?" Petey projected a section of the base into the air.
"There are power lines going into this area," Willow pointed them out, "But there's nothing else there. I thought maybe it was for expansion purposes, I mean you know it's easier to put..."
"Breathe." Oz told her.
Willow stopped and took a deep breath, "Better now."
"Good," Xander smiled, "Petey, want to fill in the blanks?"
"Unfortunately, the remote's signals are unable to penetrate through that much rock," Petey informed them, "So I've had to use them in relays to keep line of sight and I haven't been able map the entire cavern system yet."
"I did however manage to gain acess to a satellite with ground penetrating radar capabilities." Petey projected a second set of images connecting to the Base. "The caves continue for several miles out into the hills just outside of Sunnydale."
Jack examined the new section carefully, "Petey, is my imagination or is the section connected to base too regular to be natural?"
"Yes, Colonel O'Neill," Petey nodded as the area in question turned blue, "I would say that this is Professor Walsh's private labs. And... I... That's interesting."
"Hmm..." Petey continued, "So that's what she wanted that for."
"Petey..." Xander added a tone of impatience to his voice.
"Professor Walsh apparently installed an alien jamming device into Adam." Petey reported, "I cannot get the remotes close enough to him to get a visual. Although, I now have a position on him within a one foot radius."
"How?" Riley started to ask as a small red circle appeared on the projection. "If he's got a jammer how can you tell where he is?"
Petey rolled his holographic eyes. "Simple, the jammer creates a dead zone where my remotes go dead. He has to be in the center of the zone."
"Oh," Riley frowned as Xander and Jack tried to hide their grins. "So can we tell what he's..."
"He's trying to gain control of the base." Petey informed them. "I believe he's setting a trap."
"For who?" Daniel frowned, "If he gains control of the base..."
"Daniel." Jack sighed, "The trap is for us."
"Oh yeah." Daniel matched Riley's frown with one of his own. "How do we know it's a trap?"
"Someone hooked up Professor Walsh's computer to the network to allow Petey to gain access to her private files." Xander told him. "I'm pretty sure that Walsh gave Adam detailed files on us. It's a trap."
"Got it now." Daniel nodded. "So, what do we do?"
"Spring the trap." Both Xander and Jack replied at almost exactly the same time.
"Why am I not surprised?" Daniel sighed.
"If we know it is a trap," Teal'c frowned, "Would it not be prudent to avoid it?"
"Well," Xander grinned, "All Walsh knew about is the Gauss guns and the goober rounds. That gives us an edge."
"She also knew about whatever it is you used to knock down that old church." Riley told them, "I think it was some kind of energy weapon. At least that's what I told Walsh."
"You see?" Buffy rounded on Xander. "What did I tell you?"
"Uhm," Xander tried to change the subject as quickly as possible, "When Fitz and the teams arrive, his team will go with us into through the caverns. The other team will wait with SG1 and Riley's crew until we're in position before entering the elevator into the Initiative."
"How do you know..." Riley shook his head, "Never mind, the remotes right?"
"Yeah," Xander nodded, then wondered about something, "Petey, what is Adam trying to do to the base?"
"Right now, nothing." Petey reported, "I've created a program shell that appears to be the control systems of the base and I've intercepted every command he's sent. All he's doing right now is turning a few of the lights on and off."
"He's testing his control of the power." Giles mused, "Why?"
"The power grid." Sam realized, "Why would he want to... Is the entire base on one power grid?"
"Not exactly." Forrest answered as he tried to remember everything about the security on the base. "Oh man, but both grids are controlled by the central computer."
"Both grids?" Jack asked.
"Central power grid." Forrest replied, "and the grid powering the holding cells."
"You mean he can pretty much unlock all of the cells holding the demons." Buffy sighed, "And if shuts to power down to everything else..."
"Our people will be caught with their pants down." Riley turned, "What are we waiting for?"
"Well, for Fitz and his team to arrive." Xander told him, "And then for Petey to give us an accurate assessment of the number of Initiative personnel and Demons currently in the base. Besides, he's not going to do anything until we get there, the traps for us remember."
"Got it, sir." Petey informed them. "Hmm... With the number of patrols currently out, the demons and the personnel are about equal."
"Where's the other girl?" Forrest asked. "The one with the accent?"
"Patrolling," Xander told them, "They've got our other teams out keeping ol' SunnyD safe while we deal with this."
"Other teams?" Jack frowned, "You've been expanding again?"
"Nope," Xander shook his head, "Just relocating assets."
"Just out of curiosity?" Graham asked, everyone noticed he was staring at the crushed buttstock of their stun rifles. From the marks, Xander realized he'd crushed the gun by squeezing to hard with the powered armor, "Is there anyway to get a transfer to your end of the job?"
Xander hid his grin, "Our roster is kinda full right now. But we'll keep you in mind."
"Sergeant Walters and his strike team are waiting in the parking garage, sir." Petey told them.
"Okay, let's go." Xander grabbed a cut-down multi-cannon and stood up. "Will, you and Oz are with us. Sorry G-man, I'm sticking you with GI-Joe."
"Hey!" Forrest and Jack voiced their complaint as they followed Xander out the door.
"You do have to admit, Jack." Daniel replied, "There some similarities."
"I refuse to be compared to someone who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn if they were standing in it." Jack defended his outrage.
"Xander, We're in position." Giles reported over the com.
"We're almost there." Xander answered, "I suggest you head down now. Make a big show of it. Petey's going to let Adam see everything. My bet is that he's going to try to override the power just as you start heading for the tunnel."
"I disagree," Fitz told them, "It is more likely he'll wait until someone is actually facing him before he makes his move. If Professor Walsh is the main designer then it's more than likely he's going to be an arrogant prig."
"He does have a point." Riley told them.
"I'll say," Buffy told them, "You should have heard some of her lectures."
"He does seem to be supremely arrogant, Sir." Petey chimed in, "I don't believe Professor Walsh ever bother to download the Evil Overlord's Handbook to him."
"They never do." Xander smiled, "Okay, let's trip this trap."
"What?" Xander asked as Fitz stared at him.
"You live to make comments like that don't you?"
"You're only just realizing that now?" Willow asked.
"No," Walters smiled, "It's just that I just couldn't keep the comment in any longer."
"Okay," Oz nodded.
"Are you children done chatting yet?" Giles' exasperated voice interrupted their banter.
"Sorry G-man." Xander replied contritely. "We're ready to go."
"Very well." Giles told them, "We're in the elevator now."
"Okay, we're moving to engage Adam." Buffy reported.
As they continued to head forwards, the rock walls gave way to the concrete of the base. Turning the final corner, the team found themselves in Professor Walsh's private lab. Standing in the center of the room, stood Adam. "I've been waiting for you. Now everything is in place."
"Bye," Xander told him as the entire team raised their Multi-Cannons and opened fire.
"We'd better hurry," Jenny told the others as they ran through the corridors of the Initiative.
"Too bloody right." Giles agreed. "There..."
"I know this is a bad time," Petey announced to everyone with a comm., "but I just received some disturbing news from Senator Kinsey."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with Adam being equipped with a Goa'uld shield device would it?" Xander's voice rang in everyone's ears. "Or the twenty millimeter explosive cannon he's got in his right arm?"
"Oh, I suppose the warning came a bit too late." Petey responded.
"Yeah," Now Buffy chimed in, "A little."
"Oh bugger." Giles swore as they made it to the concealed door to the secret lab, only to find the tunnel totally filled in with rubble. "Xander, Adam's collapsed the tunnel on the other end. I don't know how long it will take to dig through."
"Roger that," Xander replied as he ducked another explosive round. "Where the hell did Walsh get a shield from anyway?"
"Mother lied to her superiors, of course." Adam told him, "When she learned how deadly you and your friends were she decided to give me every advantage."
"Note to self," Buffy murmured angrily as a second round tore chunks out of the , "If we survive, punch Kinsey in the nose as hard as I can without armor."
"Buffy," Xander told her, "That would still kill him."
"Your point being?"
"I want to hit him." Xander told her.
"While this banter is amusing." Adam interrupted their conversation, "I think it's time to end this game. *Now*."
Adam paused, almost posing. Xander glanced around then asked, "Well?"
"I don't understand." Adam frowned, "I have absolute control..."
"over this system." The part of Adam that was trying again to shut down the power tried to send the commands again. Everything responded exactly as he expected. Then the controls vanished and he was staring at something big. So large that all he could really make out was a giant black disk.
Petey couldn't resist, he reduced his size and smiled benignly at his befuddled opponent. Then he decided to rub it in by saying, "Boo."
"I don't know who you are," Adam told Petey, "But you cannot possibly understand how powerful I am."
Petey's smile got wider as Adam began trying to regain control of the mainframe. After Adam made several futile attempts, he decided to introduce himself. "I am the Post Dated Check Loan, the A.I. now in control of the Initiative's mainframe."
"I don't understand how you can block my control." Adam told him, "Mother created me to be the most advanced system ever built. You will suffer for this."
"Ohh," Petey clapped his hands, "That was a good one. Could you continue?"
"What?"
"Captain Harris picked up a habit from Captain Tagon," Petey actually grinned, "Or maybe Tagon just reinforced his tendency, but the Captain actually enjoys seeing villians resorting to cliches and so far you've used two of his favorites."
"I'm recording everything for him," Petey continued, "So do have any other cheap theatrical lines you want to recite."
"Cheap theatrical!" Adam howled, "I am the pinnacle of human creation, I was created to be invincible."
"That's another good one!" Petey replied.
"I have had enough!" Adam growled as he tried to shut down the computer itself.
"Actually," Petey shook his head, "I've already cut all your access to the actual mainframe. By the way, goodbye."
"What?" Adam managed to ask before everything went black.
"What just happened to him?" Xander asked as Adam's face went slack. As far as they could tell Adam was in the middle of a sentence when he'd simply stopped moving. "I think he's broken."
"No," Petey told them, "I accessed his control systems and shut down his external controls. I also ordered his cannon to do an ammo dump."
"Petey," Buffy smiled, "I could kiss you."
"I would recommend haste," Petey told them, "When I shut down his external controls, I also cut his link to the Mainframe. He might be able to reboot his systems."
"On it," Buffy stood up and took aim.
"Buff," Xander warned her as she fired, "The shield is still up."
"The shield is still there." Buffy didn't hear Xander's warning, "Petey..."
"I'm sorry, Miss Summers." Petey replied, "But the Shield and the Jammer are of alien origin and Professor Walsh apparently did not have the technical expertise to..."
"We get it, Petey." Buffy said as she charged the Goa'uld.
"Petey," Xander asked, "How do we defeat that shield?"
"It's only effective against high velocity attacks." Petey told them.
"Okay," Buffy smiled, "Fists aren't high velocity. Where's the shield generator?"
Once Buffy was sure about the location she pushed through the shield and ripped it off of Adam's body. She tossed Xander the shield and said, "Okay, let's send this guy to the scrap heap."
"Right," Xander started to raise his rifle when he paled, "BUFFY LOOK OUT!"
"Wha...?" Buffy turned in time to catch Adam's arm as he backhanded her. Powered armor or not, the sheer force of the impact sent her flying across the lab.
"Whoa." Buffy groaned as she staggered back to her feet.
"Okay," Xander growled as he dropped his rifle, "Now you did it, I'm going to have to hurt you now."
"Captain?" Fitz frowned, "I don't think this is well thought out plan."
"I don't care," Xander turned to the soldier, as he did so, he raised his visor and winked, "I'm going take this guy out personally."
"You have to be joking." Adam raised his arm and tried to fire, the twenty millimeter cannon whined for a second then shut down. "What?"
"Guns work better when they're loaded," Xander grinned and raised his g/g pistol. There was a loud blam and Adam's head jerked back from the impact. Xander's grin faded as Adam straightened up and smiled, there was a long gouge across his face, through the blood, Xander could see the glitter of trinium. "Damn."
"Not bad," Adam smiled, "It's my turn now. Did you know? For all her intelligence, Mother was sorely lacking in tactical planning. I had to learn that scanning the military database."
"Oh," Xander didn't like the sound of Adam learning tactics. "What exactly?"
Adam held up a small case with a red button on it. As he pushed the button he replied, "Backup plans."
"Aw shi..." Walter's managed to get out before a loud rumble ran through the complex.
"What the...?" Everyone frowned as the lights faded out and the lab was lit by the dim glow of the emergency lights.
"You're kidding." Xander said. "No backup power?"
"Xander," Giles voice sound through the comm. "We've got a problem up here. The power is out and I believe that the security cages are no longer electrified."
"Okay," Xander actually growled, "Now you're really going down."
"No," Adam raised his arm and out slid a long bony spike. The shimmer of metal told everyone that the spike was also reinforced. "Your pistol is incapable of defeating the subdermal armor that Mother installed in me. I have the advantage."
"Fat chance," Xander grinned as he reached for his back up weapon. "I..."
Xander's grin faded as his hand hit empty air. "Uh oh."
"Now," Adam advanced on Xander, "yo..."
Adam's voice trailed off as a glowing golden blade appeared from his chest. The blade flashed up, drawing a dark burn line from the center of Adam's chest right up between his eyes.
"I hate long winded monologues." Buffy said from behind Adam.
"You stole my Lightsaber!" Xander complained.
"If you told Petey to make me one," Buffy replied, "I wouldn't have had to take yours."
"You could have told Petey..." Xander trailed off. "That wasn't the point was it?"
"You're so whipped." Walters muttered just loud enough for Xander to hear him.
"I think it might be prudent to inform you that Adam was powered by an atomic core that is about to rupture." Petey warned them.
"What!?" Xander checked his suits radiation meter, the level was still in the safe zone but rising quickly. "Dammit, Petey is the Jammer still working?"
"No, Sir." Petey responded, "Terapedo on its way."
The Terapedo arrived in its usual earsplitting manner. Xander didn't waste any time with pleasantries. "Teraport that body to the farside of the Sun and detonate!"
"Yes SIR!" The terapedo responded eagerly, "THANK YOU, SIR!"
"That's still disturbing." One of Walters' men muttered.
"We've still go the bad guys upstairs to deal with." Xander said, "Petey, I need a second tera..."
"Don't worry, Xander." Miss Calander told him, "We've got it covered up here."
"It was an experiment," The head of the committee, "The Initiative represented the government's interest in not only controlling the otherworldly menace but harnessing its power against the Goa'uld. I have to say it was a total failure. Dr. Walsh was brilliant but her unauthorized prototype..."
"Not unauthorized, you personally approved it." Senator Kinsey interrupted as he strolled into the room backed by the Initiative's Military Commander. "I might add, you did so against the will of the rest of this Committee as well."
"What?" One of the other committee members turned, "Don. What is he talking about?"
"Don't bother trying to deny it." Kinsey grinned evilly. "If you're going to approve something like this, you shouldn't do it over the phone."
"And." Kinsey placed a small projection device on the table in front them, "You especially shouldn't be talking to someone sitting inside a monitored room."
An image of Dr. Walsh's office appeared on the far wall. The entire committee could see Walsh hit the button on her phone and heard Committee Head's voice. "So the prototype designs are done?"
"Yes," Dr. Walsh replied, "All I need now is the human body."
"I'll find one for you."
As the image faded, several of the committee members looked stunned by what they'd just seen.
"Don." Kinsey sighed, "What the hell were you thinking? I've seen pictures of the prototype, we could never have fielded that monstrosity."
"Maggie was sure she could make refinements to the design..."
"Let me guess," Kinsey shook his head, "You actually believed that she could create a chimera that could pass as human. How did you ever get to be head of this committee?"
"Does it matter?" One of the other members asked, "We've decided to shut down the Initiative."
"No." Kinsey told them, "We're not. We can't afford to shut it down."
"And why not?" Don asked.
"This is why not." Kinsey slid a folder of pictures over to the others. "One of our Green Beret teams acting as advisors in Brazil accompanied a local patrol into a suspected drug dealer's base."
"Turns out, he wasn't just a drug dealer." Kinsey informed them, "He was also a vampire, with other demons acting as enforcers."
Even the more hardened members of the committee looked green at the sheer carnage the photos revealed. "What were our losses?"
"We lost half of our men and the entire Brazilian patrol before another group came in and killed all of the demons in the base." Kinsey reported, "They didn't identify themselves, but one of our men was equipped with a minicam. We got that image off of his equipment."
The last picture showed figure in some form of advanced battlesuit. One of the Military officers on the committee shook his head, "I'd give my first born to be able to equip our boy's with a suit like that."
"Well," Kinsey smiled, "We'll have something like it soon. I've cut a deal with Harris about the Bi-phase armor. He's even agreed to manufacture it with the advanced electronics package."
"Kinsey," The Military man, General Lydecker, chuckled, "I'd give even odds if you ever had to cut a deal with the Devil that you'd come out ahead."
"So what are we going to do about the Initiative?"
"XWB technologies' security division is going to take the Initiative under its wing." Kinsey told them, "Technically, all of the Initiative personnel will be on detached duty, while under going specialized training."
"And after they're trained," Lydecker asked, "Will the Initiative take over training the new teams or has Harris agreed to this long-term."
"I'm still negotiating that point with him now." Kinsey admitted. "There is one catch however."
"What does Harris want?" Don asked, worried.
"Well, he wants two things." Kinsey said, "He recorded them for some reason."
The projector started again, and Xander Harris' face appeared on the wall. "Okay, from what the Senator told me. I'm now addressing the people taking the stupid pills."
"WHAT!?" Several members of the committee looked totally outraged while the General actually hid a smile.
"I'm not going to bother telling you why I think that," Xander continued, "but let's get straight to business. First, you guys wouldn't happen to know who shot Kennedy would you?"
The entire committee, including Kinsey, gaped in shock at his question. At least until an outraged voice yelled out from the projector. "Xander!"
"Sorry," Xander grinned, "I couldn't resist... Okay, this is the deal.
First off, nobody and I mean nobody goes anywhere near any of my people. Hands off! Second, no more chips! You search and destroy the hostiles and leave the non-combatant demons alone. We'll teach them which demons are the 'just trying to get by' types and which ones need to fed a diet of hi-explosives. If I find out that you've reactivated the whole, 'let's see if we can conscript them' part of the Initiative, the entire deal is off and you're on your own. Now, having thoroughly annoyed everyone in the room, I'll let Senator Kinsey take the heat."
With that remark, the projector shut down. Kinsey sighed, "Well?"
"Who the hell does that kid think he is?" The head of the Committee asked.
"The only Civilian Nuclear superpower on the planet?" Lydecker replied. "He's got us over a barrel, Gentlemen. We're getting off easy."
"That does bring up one other question." Don pointed out, "Why is he being so easy on us?"
"I asked," Kinsey admitted, "He told me that, 'it's easier to hunt demons when the other hunters aren't using you for target practice'."
"So, he doesn't consider us a threat?"
"Weren't you listening to the message?" Lydecker asked in shock, "He's telling us not to become a threat. That 'Hand's off' message was probably the only one that we'll get. If Harris ever believes that we're a threat to his people? We'll find out what it feels like to be at ground zero."
"Oh..."
"Sir," Senator Kinsey's secretary reported as he stepped past her desk. "There's a Alexander Harris waiting in your office."
"Ah," Kinsey smiled, "I wondering if he'd show up in person. Thank you, Sarah."
As he walked into his office, the Senator frowned. It took him a second to realize that Xander was sitting in the high backed leather chair facing away from the door. He walked around the desk and stood before the most powerful human one planet. Kinsey actually found himself suppressing a laugh. Despite the very expensive tailored cut, Xander Harris looked very uncomfortable in his suit. "I half expected you to be facing the door with a gun in you hand."
"Why?" Xander shrugged, "Anything you could use to get through my armor would probably level most of this building."
"That is true." Kinsey conceded.
"So," Xander smiled, "We've already started moving part of our operations into the Initiative base. I've got Cordy negotiating for the purchase of a new building to house XWB's first real manufacturing facility. We'll have the M-37's and the Armor ready for field trials..."
"We won't need field trials." Kinsey assured Xander as he sat down. "After you cut that deal with Hammond, he shipped all of the armor and the specs to the Pentagon..."
"Where the N.I.D. suborned it?" Xander finished.
"Actually, I had it classified top secret and began clandestine field tests." Kinsey sighed, "Unfortunately a few of the soldiers couldn't keep their mouths shut. So now I've got everyone upper echelons of the Military clamoring for this gear."
"Well," Xander frowned, "That's where things get a little sticky. I was discussing it with Will, who's our math expert and Jonathan, who apparently has a very good grasp of both manufacturing and logistics. While we could fit every soldier in the Military with this gear in a few months, there's no way we could do it without drawing a lot of questions that can't easily be answered."
"I was thinking about that myself." Kinsey nodded, "What I suggest is that we start by outfitting the elite forces first. Then slowly increase the orders and phase in the other units one at a time. That should still allow us to have one hundred percent distribution by the end of next year."
"Sounds good." Xander nodded.
"That isn't the only reason you're here, is it?"
"No," Xander bent down and picked up a briefcase. As he did so, Kinsey could just hear him mutter, "I can't believe they made me bring a briefcase, I mean the suit is bad enough."
"That's the cost of becoming successful." Kinsey told him, "You have to start dressing the part as well."
"Tell me about," Xander muttered as he looked through his case. "Here it is!"
Xander pulled out a small sheaf of papers and started to read. "Project Manticore."
"Never..." The Senator stopped, "Wait... I did hear that name before. Something that General Lydecker was trying to get funding for."
"Yep," Xander read down the paper, "Looks like the General was better at reading between the lines than the others, he wanted a program that took the long view. Twenty to thirty years minimum."
"And you're interested in it, because?"
"Genesplicing non-human DNA into people is a very bad idea." Xander told him, "It can get messy. Not to mention I've got some reservations about the types of DNA they want to use. C'mon, dog DNA? What you want a soldier that can fetch your slippers."
"We wouldn't need Manticore, if you'd provide us with the soldier boosts." Kinsey hinted.
"Ah..." Xander shook his head, "I don't think so. At least not unless I absolutely have to."
"I see." Kinsey wasn't surprised by Xander's reaction. "I was rather hoping we'd gotten past the mistrust."
"Senator." Xander grinned slightly, "You're a politician."
"Ah." Kinsey understood the implied insult. "I was also hoping we could get past that as well."
"Not yet." Xander shook his head lightly, "There is one other thing. I need a few names."
"Names?" Kinsey frowned, "What kind of names and what for?"
"Phase three." Xander replied enigmatically.
"Phase three?" Kinsey looked worried about that, "And what is phase three?"
"I need some experts, medical and others." Xander shrugged, "Petey's got a ton of technology that can improve everyone's lives but..."
"I think I understand." Kinsey nodded. "You've got the mechanical and computer sciences almost covered, but none of your people could even remotely be thought of as qualified in the more biology oriented fields."
"Yeah," Xander nodded. "I really need some Doctors. People who either have really great records or people so brilliant that even with a spotty record, they'd be the ones who'd make major breakthroughs."
"Such as?" Kinsey asked.
"How about a cure for ninety to ninety eight percent of the cancers out there?" Xander passed a folder over to Kinsey. "Or a cure for AIDS?"
"You have those?" Kinsey was honestly surprised by that, he glanced through the folder. Inside was a list of various medical conditions that XWB was capable of either curing or alleviating. "And they work?"
"On paper." Xander admitted, "That's the other reason I need the experts. We don't know enough to be actually transfer Petey's tech to the real world. I need real experts to go over everything before we release it."
"And you trust me to help you find these people?"
"I trust you to be smart enough to see the benefits, and to realize that trying to sneak a mole past me would be a really bad idea."
"I get your point." Kinsey conceded. "How do you know they won't blow the whistle on you?"
"Petey says he can sift through the people you give us to find the ones who'll be able to see the reasons why we need to keep this quiet." Xander shrugged. "Besides, I don't know many people who could turn down the chance have a virtually unlimited funded lab to work in."
"Hmm..." Kinsey smiled, "I agree. On one condition."
"Now I guess I say, 'Which is'?"
"I want five percent of the stock in XWB technologies." Kinsey smiled, "Considering the sheer amount of money you'll be making. I think that would be a wise investment for the future."
"I don't know." Xander frowned, "I don't know much about political legalities but won't that cause some problems? I mean a Senator having stock in a company that provides equipment..."
Xander trailed off as Senator Kinsey chuckled softly, 'Don't worry, Captain Harris. I'll arrange the legal parts of it. You just have to transfer five percent of your stock to me. Deal?"
Xander thought about it, he didn't like the idea of distributing XWB stock outside of the group but Kinsey could get names that even Petey couldn't get access to, mainly because the names weren't on any computer to begin with. Finally, he nodded and held his hand out. "Deal."
"Egon." Peter Venkman sighed as the brains of the outfit walked into the firehouse. "This is your day off. If... Oh hi Jeanine."
"Hey Peter." Jeanine Spengler waved. "I agreed to let Egon come in to use the computer for a few minutes. I didn't want part of California to fall into the Ocean before we got to Disneyland."
"Wha...?" Peter went a little incoherent. "What are you talking about!?"
"Is it something we need to get involved in!?" Ray Stantz asked just a little too eagerly for Peter's comfort.
"No, Ray." Egon opened his email account and sent a quick message to the address provided by XWB. "It's about that math formula P.D. sent us.
"What about it?" Peter asked, "I mean you did say some of the equations were iffy."
"That's just it, Peter." Egon explained, "There's a fundamental flaw in the base equations. And unless I'm wrong, one that won't show up in any computer simulations utilizing the formulas. But if they actually try to build a device based on them. Well, let's just say that the results will range from the just painful and humiliating to 'the containment grid blew again'."
"That's not good." Ray agreed. "I really hope they haven't reached that stage yet."
"I'm sending them a warning now." Egon replied, "And I hope they're willing to listen to reason."
"Captain?"
"Hey Petey," Xander looked up from the paperwork on his desk. "What's up?"
"Doctor Spengler just sent me a reply regarding the equation.
"Oh?" Xander smiled, "It's been what a month?"
"Less," Petey replied, "but beyond that, his response was very interesting."
"Really?"
"He sent an e-mail warning us that the equations had a flaw in it." Petey actually sounded impressed, "One that would lead to the catastrophic failure of any prototype based on the design."
"He got all that just from the incomplete equation?" Now Xander sounded impressed. "Wow."
"Wow, indeed. Sir." Petey agreed. "So... He's on the new list?"
"Yep." Xander nodded, "We'll contact them in person I think."
"That might be best." Petey agreed. "I believe Miss Summers has stated that she wanted to go on a short break. With our current manpower, this might be a good opportunity."
"I'll call her." Xander smiled, "A road trip does sound kinda fun."
"Oh," Petey blinked, "You wanted to drive? I was assuming you'd take your private jet."
"I have a jet?" Now it was Xander's turn to blink.
Alex Jagger watched from door as his assignment, Simon Mckay, went out to greet the two visitors to his home. They talked animatedly for several minutes and from the way Simon was shaking his head, the inventor wasn't interested in whatever they were pitching. Finally the two shook Simon's hand and headed back to their vehicle.
When Simon walked back into the house, Alex relaxed and asked, "So, what was that about?"
"What can you find out about XWB Technologies?" Simon asked him.
"What ever you want," Alex replied. "Why?"
"That's who they claimed to represent." Simon told him."I just want some details."
Alex noticed Simon pulling a small football sized device from a cabinet, "What's that?"
"A device I was working on to allow children to explore the wilderness with minimal risk to either side." Simon replied, "I stopped at the prototype when I realized the abuse potential."
Alex watched as two propellers popped out of the object and began spinning. With a barely audible whirring sound, the object rose from Simon's hand and headed for the window.
"What?" Alex noticed the television image change to an elevated view of the area just outside the front door. "A nearly silent remote surveillance device? I get what you mean about abuse potential."
"Shh..." Simon shushed Alex as he listened to the conversation outside.
"I still don't understand why Kinsey gave you Mckay's name. He must have known about the whole 'I'm retired from anything to do with the government' thing."
"He's not on Kinsey's list." Xander told her, "He's on my list. Simon Mckay was one of the best inventor slash researcher slash consultant that the U.S. ever had. Then he packed it all in to become a toymaker."
"So we want him for the toys?" Buffy frowned. "How does that fit with your whole 'let's make the stuff that'll improve everyone's life' plan?"
"You wouldn't think so, would you?" Xander shrugged, "Simon's work has all been pointed at helping kids learn to think creatively and he makes it fun. We want someone like that running our toy division."
"Well," Buffy sighed, "I think you killed that idea when you told him we had a weapons division."
"Better tell him up front than have him find out later." Xander echoed Buffy's sigh. "I really wanted him on the team, you should see some of the toys he's built."
"Is that what you were buying?" Buffy asked, "His toy line?"
"Uhm..." Xander shrugged, "Hey they're cool."
"I'm dating a lost boy." Buffy laughed.
"I won't grow up..." Xander began singing.
Simon started to laugh as Xander actually continued to sing. "Find out what you can about XWB."
"Right." Alex nodded. He started dialing the number to an associate in his organization.
"Hey Dave," Alex said the man picked up. "I need some help. What do you know about XWB technologies?"
The only thing Alex heard from the other end of the line was laughter.
"Stop laughing," Alex told the man, "What do you mean, haven't I read the reports? I've been on assignment, remember?"
"Hell Alex," Dave told him, "XWB just scored a major contract to supply the Military with some cutting edge body armor *and* a new type of rifle that's going to replace the M-16. They've already got a roster of patents that's making them rich. They've also got security clearances up the wazoo. Every last agency in the world is trying to find out more about them."
"So what do we know?"
"You have a secure fax line?"
"Yeah."
"I'll send what we have over." Dave told him, "Not much of is really classified though."
"Thanks." Alex said as hung up.
"This is weird." Alex told Simon as he read through the dossier on XWB, "I don't know why this company would have government clearance. There's nothing..."
"Any idea why someone like Kinsey would have an immediate entry authorization for for a kid that's barely out of High School?"
"That is a puzzle." Simon agreed, "I think I might have to reconsider their offer."
"Who the hell names their daughter Buffy?" Alex frowned as he kept reading the file. "Or Lavelle? These people must not have like their kids much."
As they drove down the worn dirt road, Buffy growled, "Are you sure about this guy?"
"Petey is." Xander nodded, "Dr. Edward Brazzleton might be considered a bit eccentric, but he is considered to be one of the finest metallurgists and possibly one of the best engineers on this planet."
"Okay," Buffy looked out the window, "And he lives out here?"
"I told you he was eccentric."
"Right..."
Edward 'Brazz' Brazzleton peered out at the Jet Black vehicle approaching his 'lab'. If he had been the paranoid type, Brazz figured he'd already be either running or reaching for a weapon. Being more pragmatic about such things, he decided instead to walk outside and meet his guests.
As the vehicle came to a halt, Brazz was startled as instead of the expected military, two civilians, a man and a woman stepped out. They certainly looked out of place in the dry dusty area, dressed in extremely expensive looking clothes and looking way too young to be interested in a worn out old scientist like himself.
"Hi," Brazz managed a smile as the two approached him, "Are you lost?"
"Doctor Brazzleton?" The young man asked.
"That's right. What can I do for you?"
"My name is Xander Harris," The man held out his hand, "and this is Buffy Summers. We represent XWB Technologies. We wanted to talk to you about your project."
"Ah..." Brazz frowned, "Well this way then."
"Well that went easier than I expected," Buffy said as they drove down the old dirt road.
"It helps that Doctor Brazzleton is obsessed with his ship." Xander told her. "He's pretty much devoted his entire life to seeing become a reality. I think even if was the devil himself making the offer, Brazzleton would actually consider it."
"That doesn't really reassure me about him." Buffy told Xander.
"Petey," Xander almost made it a sigh. "Tell her what you told me."
"The metal that Doctor Brazzleton developed isn't in my database." Petey informed Buffy. "As a matter of fact, I intend to incorporate the metal into the new ships currently under construction."
"Oh..."
"Captain." Petey continued, "I think we might have a problem with Professor Orbit."
"Which one is he?" Xander asked.
"The one that Miss Rosenberg wants us to recruit." Petey explained, "He's perhaps ten to twenty years from developing trinary programming."
"That's the yes, no, and maybe, AI stuff right?"
"That's right." Petey replied, "His quantum processing is just brushing the edges of true AI sentience right now."
"So what's the problem?" Buffy asked.
"He's developed the control system for a remote combat vehicle called the E.D.I." Petey told them.
"Eddie?" Xander considered the acronym.
"And I suspect that a lightning strike may have actually caused the system to breakthrough to true sentience."
"And this is a problem because?" Xander prompted.
"The system has several thousand combat scenarios in its memory and no real experience determining the difference between a hypothetical attack and an actual mission. I also believe its core directives are geared towards fulfilling its goals."
"So we've got a heavily armed determined AI with its own idea of reality out there?" Xander said in shock. "This is really high up there on the bad scale isn't it?"
"Not quite 'The world is about to end bad', but close." Petey agreed.
"So where is this EDI, now?"
"Onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln." Petey reported. "They are prepping for a mission even as we speak."
"Get one of our F-302's here now." Xander said as he pulled the car over. "Teraport if necessary. Buff, I need you to teraport back to SunnyD, get Willow and convince Orbit that we've got to shut down EDI now."
"What are you going to do?" Buffy asked as the F302 space interceptor appeared next to the Hummer.
"I'm going to ghost this mission." Xander told her, "If EDI goes rogue, I'll shoot it out of the sky."
"Right." Buffy nodded as Xander ran to the fighter.
Professor Keith Orbit was busy writing his new article regarding quantum processing, when a screaming sound like metal on metal, nearly caused him to knock over his laptop. "What the hell was that?"
He turned around and saw two young women standing in his apartment, apparently arguing.
"Buffy, I don't think that's what Xander wanted us to do." One of the girls, a redhead, told the other.
"He said it was an emergency." The other girl, Buffy, replied, "This was the fastest way in."
"Excuse me." Professor Orbit interrupted them, "But who the hell are you?"
"Oh!" The red head jumped at his aggravated tone. "I'm Willow and this is Buffy!"
"Will, that's not exactly jam packed with information." The Blonde, Buffy if he could believe that name, told her.
"I'm Buffy Summer and this is Willow Rosenburg," Buffy held out her hand, "We're with XWB technologies. I think that Senator Kinsey spoke to you about us?"
"He told me to expect you," Orbit frowned, "But he said nothing about breaking and entering."
"We didn't break in." Willow looked offended at the accusation, "We utilized a tachyon wormhole formation with a particle dispersion -reintegration field to bypass your door."
"Did she just say that you used a teleportation device?" Orbit looked at them like they'd both lost their minds.
"Look," Buffy sighed, "We don't have time for this. The reason we rushed is because there's a problem with EDI."
"And don't bother using the 'I never heard of it' line." Buffy continued, "Let's just skip to the part where we tell you that your little HAL 9000 wannabe is in serious need of a time out and that lightning hit did a major rewire job on it."
"How..." Orbit sighed and gave up, "The EDI program is currently under operational review. I'm certain they would contact me if something was wrong."
"One of our experts," Willow told him, "says you're about 20 years away from developing a truly sentient AT. He also thinks that maybe the accident may have done it for you."
"All right," Orbit shook his head, "Now I know you people are insane. Get out!"
"We downloaded the system diagnostics to your computer! Look at the main data interpretation sub-routines!" Willow told him, "You'll find that EDT is analyzing gigabytes of data that have nothing to do with his current mission profile. Then cross reference that with the main logic functions."
"If that will get you two to leave, fine." Orbit turned back to his laptop and pulled up the information, "You see? There's..."
His voice trailed off as he really took a good look at the program, "That's... that's impossible. I've never seen that... Oh dear lord, you aren't crazy are you?"
"No." Buffy shook her head, "And we're not kidding either. Now will you contact Captain Cummings and tell him to abort?"
"Of course." Orbit grabbed his phone. After several minutes, he sighed, "Something must be going on. He's not answering."
"Xander?" Buffy suddenly said out loud. Orbit looked around to see who she could have been talking to. "What's going on?"
"Man these planes are fast." A voice sounded from Buffy's clothes. Orbit belatedly realized that she was talking to someone over a radio. "They're already over the site. I... Shit! We've got a problem. No time to chat! PETEY! ! !"
"Xander?" Buffy shouted, then she yelled again, "XANDER!!!"
"He's gone into private mode with Petey." Willow told her, "Something really bad must have happened."
"Petey!" Buffy now yelled. "What's going on?"
After several minutes, someone apparently answered her. This time Orbit couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, but what he did hear filled him with a cold sick feeling.
"What do you mean EDI blew up a nuclear convoy!?" Buffy shrieked. "Xander's pulling all the medical personnel? Why? Radiation treatments? Okay, get in touch with Kinsey tell him what's going on. We need someone to help run interference over this. Kinsey's not directly involved in the EDI project? Good, from what Xander's told me, he'll love the idea of knocking someone else down a peg or two."
"This can't be happening." Professor Orbit muttered to himself.
"You can say that all you want." Buffy told him. "It doesn't work."
"Okay, Petey," Xander said as the X-302 appeared over what Xander assumed was the Pacific Ocean. "Where are we?"
"Just over the horizon from the Abraham Lincoln." Petey reported, "We should be able to intercept the squadron as they fly by."
"Stay at least 1 minute behind them, Petey." Xander told the AI. "Unless EDI is really freaking, we don't want the regular Navy to learn anything us."
"Yes, Sir."
"How fast are these Talons?"
"Hypersonic," Petey replied, "Theoretically they can achieve seven times the speed of sound. Although structural limitations hold them to about six."
"So, who are the pilots?"
"I have their files." Petey placed each face on the screen as he gave Xander the Intel on the Talon pilots".
"Talon One." The square jawed handsome face that stared out from the screen made Xander want to dislike the guy immediately. That combined with the supremely confident look on his face made Xander think of all the Jocks from school that made his life difficult. "Lt. Ben Gannon Excellent pilot, has the highest scores of the group. Cited several times for breaking various minor rules during missions."
"Talon Two." This time Xander found himself looking at a cover-girl quality beauty. "Lt. Kyra Wade, the most technically competent of the pilots. The data suggests she's being groomed for the upper ranks."
"Talon Three." Now a young African American face appeared, "Lt. Henry Purcell, commonly referred to as a 'Real Hotshot'."
"So if anything goes down," Xander sighed, "I have three potential opponents that might just decide to keep me from splashing EDI?"
"That's about the gist of it, Sir." Petey acknowledged.
"Just great." Xander sighed.
Tajikastan About twenty minutes later.
"Damn," Xander muttered, "I didn't know the regular Military had anything that fast and maneuverable."
"Technically." Petey told him. "They shouldn't. Most of the technology on the Talons and the EDI are ten to fifteen years ahead of what the US should have."
"Goa'uld tech?" Xander mused.
"Yes," Petey continued, "And a few other sources. The NID has been busy."
"Ah," Xander smiled. "They still don't have anything on us, do they?"
"If you mean technology wise, no sir."
"Can you patch into their communications?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Talon two, to Operations." Kyra said over the com. "Request, reassessment of collateral please."
"Talk to me, Two." Ben ordered.
"We're looking at five hundred to a thousand people down there. Farmers mostly."
"I just got an update, wind patterns have shifted. Fallout will now be blown over neighboring country of Pakistan."
"Control, this is Talon One. I am exercising my authority as Field Commander and aborting the mission due to excessive Collateral Damage."
"Xander?" Buffy's voice came over the com. "What's going on?"
"Man these planes are fast." Xander told her, "They're already over the site. I..."
Just then, EDI responded to Talon one's decision in the worst possible way. "Negative, Tinman will prosecute!"
"Shit! We've got a problem. No time to chat! PETEY! ! !" Xander cut the link to Buffy and started shouting, "Splash him! FAST!"
The air screamed as the fighter accelerated tearing past the Talons as though they were standing still. In a less than a minute, they were on top of the UCAV.
"I can't get a lock." Petey told him, "His maneuvers are to unpredict... He's firing!"
"Dammit!" Xander growled, "Can we splash the missile?"
"Too late." Petey said as the missile slammed into the convoy sending a cloud of debris into the air.
"Son of a bitch!" Xander swore, "Get me a line to Fitz now!"
"Sir?" 'Fitz' asked as the link was made.
"FITZ! Get all of the medics together now! Use whatever you have to but get them and a fully outfitted fireteam to Petey ASAP! Petey, I know we've got radiation scrubbers and anti-radiation treatments but do we have anything big enough to handle this?"
"Yes, sir." Petey replied, "Atmospheric and ground scrubbers."
"All right, Deploy those with the fireteam. And get me that Russian Colonel, the one in charge of the Potemkin. We need some local help to clean up this mess."
As Xander issued his orders, Petey kept the fighter right on EDI's tail. The three Talon pilots watched in shock at the maneuvers that this intruder was capable of.
"What the hell?" Lt. Henry Purcell. "Operations, are you getting this?"
"Affirmative, Talon Three." Captain Cummings replied, "We are attempting to identify the craft now."
"Do you know what I want to know," Lt. Wade told everyone, "Why we can't see it on our radar?"
"Son of a bitch." Lt. Gannon's eyes widened as EDI performed a maneuver that would have guaranteed a redout in a human pilot, a maneuver matched perfectly by the unknown fighter. "That's not..."
"Talon pilots." Captain Cummings informed them, "That fighter is not in any database."
"Incorrect," They heard EDI respond. "That is a Code Name Classified design. Air Force designation the F-302 Space superiority fighter."
"I knew it!" Lt. Purcell shouted, "The Air Force pukes always get the newest toys!"
Xander felt his stomach lurch again as Petey put the F-302 into another gut-twisting roll. The intertics systems built into *his*version of the fighter kept him from feeling the G-forces involved, but did nothing to prevent his inner ear from telling the rest of his brain that something was very wrong. "Reminder to self... Bring Sea sickness pills when flying. Ohh!"
"There is a motion sickness kit in the side compartment, sir." Petey informed him.
"Great!" Xander twisted in his seat to open the compartment. The white plastic bag he found inside didn't make him feel any better. "Really funny, Petey."
"The kit is inside the bag." Petey sighed.
Xander grabbed the bag and peered inside. There was a small plastic case that, when opened, revealed a small auto-syringe and several ampoules. As he loaded on of the ampoules into the injector, he asked. "How effective it this?"
"Ninety nine percent of users are completely covered." Petey told him, "The last percent seem to be totally unaffected by the serum."
"Okay," Xander pressed the syringe against his arm and felt the small sting as the device delivered its dose of serum. "So why is the case in that bag?"
"In case you're one of the one percent, sir." Petey replied patiently.
"Oh," Xander shook his head. As his stomach settled, Xander realized he'd missed some of the conversation between Tinman and the Talons. "What's going on?"
"The Talon pilots tried to reason with Tinman and failed." Petey informed him, "They have also apparently identified this vehicle as an Air Force black book project."
"Ah hell." Xander sighed, "Okay, contact..."
"I have Senator Kinsey trying to reach you, Sir." Petey informed him, "Miss Summers ordered me to call him."
"God I love that woman." Xander grinned. "Okay, connect us up."
"Captain Harris?" Senator Kinsey's voice sounded almost concerned. "How bad is this?"
"Petey?"
"The debris cloud is containable," Petey reported, "But approximately five to eight percent of the radiation will still get through the scrubbers."
"Damnation." Kinsey growled, "What about Tajikistan?"
"We have sufficient radiation kits to treat the population of both countries. I'm kinda worried about coverage though."
"I'm on my way to have a talk with the head of the EDI project now." Kinsey told them, "Then I'll contact the Russians for assistance. SG command and the Initiative can provide additional medical personnel."
"Good," Xander nodded, "I'll leave that end to you, then. Now, let's go have a nice long heart to cpu chat with Tinman over there."
"That may be a bit of a problem, Sir." Petey informed him, "Talon Three is attempting to intercept the EDI."
"Great." Xander sighed, "Is that even possible?"
"So long as Tinman doesn't do anything extreme." Petey replied, just as the UCAV began nape of the earth flying. "Like that."
"Damn!" Xander growled, "Put me on a frequency that they can hear!"
"You're live, Sir."
Xander thought for a second about what to say then shrugged. "Attention Talon Pilots! This is Viper One, break off, I'll handle Tinman."
"Negative, Viper One." Lt. Gannon replied, "Tinman is part of our squadron and we'll deal with him."
"Look," Xander tried to reason with them, "Tinman's way more maneuverable than you are. Sooner or later one of you is going to lose it. I can match it, so back off!"
"Not a chance!" Lt. Purcell replied, "I'm on him."
"I estimate that Talon Three has a fifty percent chance of crashing if Tinman continues to maneuver at this speed and complexity. Odds are increasing to Fifty five percent. Fifty-six..."
"Damn," Xander eyed the terrain, "Okay the next flat area, I want you to fire a high yield pulse into the ground about 100 feet ahead of Tinman. That should force it to break off its actions. Then we'll show it how vulnerable it is."
"Yes, Sir." Petey acknowledged.
"Talon Three." Xander ordered again, "This is Viper One, I'm giving you one more chance to break off your pursuit and then I'm taking action anyway!"
"Negative, Viper One." Lt. Purcell answered, "I'm on him."
"Firing." Petey said as they cleared another hill.
"Holy!!!" Lt. Purcell howled as a blazing white bolt of light tore past his fighter. "What the hell?"
Two geysers of dirt erupted in front of the fighters. Tinman's reflexes allowed it to dodge the plumes and it began a rapid ascent away from the ground.
Talon Three on the other hand maneuvered too slowly and plowed through the uppermost part of the plumes. As he gained altitude, black smoke began pouring from his engine. The other two Talons flanked him.
"Henry, you okay?" Lt. Gannon asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lt. Purcell replied just as the onboard systems began blaring their self destruct commands. "Oh Shit! No I'm not!"
"Eject!" Xander ordered, "I'll have an SAR waiting for you on the ground!"
"Petey!" Xander ordered the Al, "I need..."
"Transport pod on its way." Petey anticipated his Captain's orders.
"Good," Xander watched as Lt. Purcell popped his hatch and ejected from his dying fighter. "Now, let's take care of Tinman."
Xander grabbed the sides of his seat as Petey put the fighter into a climb that literally caused the air to scream as they passed through it. Xander weighed his options, then came to a decision. "As soon as we get in range, splash him."
"Yes, Sir!" Petey responded.
"Attention Viper One, This is Talon Control."
"Hello Captain Cummings." Xander said cheerfully. "I was wondering when I'd be hearing from you."
"Well, that puts you one up on me, Viper One." Captain Cummings said, "Now, this fighter represents hundreds of millions of dollars and years of work..."
"Please don't give me the 'it's too valuable to be destroyed' pitch." Xander sighed.
"All I'm asking is that you at least try not to destroy it."
Xander frowned as he contemplated the request. Part of him just wanted to disregard it, another thought about Petey and wondered if destroying the AI was the same as killing it.
"Petey, can we corral this puppy?"
"Easily." Petey nodded, "But I don't believe that Captain Cummings can keep him corralled."
"We'll worry about that later." Xander frowned, "How do we do this?"
"Based on Tinman's programming an overwhelming show of superiority should force with a guarantee of destruction should cause primary goals to kick in."
"Let's do this then."
The EDI UCAV aka Tinman was calculating the flight path to complete operational mission when the F-302 ripped pass at two times its own maximum speed. The F-302 whipped back around in a physics defying turn and headed straight back at the UCAV. Tinman responded with a volley of gunfire, only to note that the rounds were being intercepted by some form of shield in front of the craft.
The F-302 veered slightly and passed to the right of Tinman before the AI could fire any other weapons. Rear mounted cameras verified that the F-302 quickly placed itself exactly on Tinman's six. Despite every maneuver that Tinman performed to shake the F-302 loose, it stayed stubbornly right behind the UCAV.
Tinman's calculations indicated it had a less than fifty percent chance of evading its opponent. It had already decided against trying to combat the other fighter and was about to begin evasive maneuvers when two more F-302's took up position on either side of the first. Tinman gave the electronic equivalent of a sigh as it began its calculations again.
Xander frowned as two new F-302s arrived. "Petey, are these from SG-1 ?"
"No, Sir." Petey responded, "They're from the Russian Airwing. I've been allowing each country to keep one wing of advanced fighters on Earth, just in case. I believe that they teraported in after we contacted the Russian government."
Xander nodded, "Okay. Get me Tinman again."
"Ready."
"Attention Tinman, this is Viper One." Xander grinned. "You've seen the capability of the 302. If you do not change course and return to the Abraham Lincoln immediately, we will shoot you down."
Tinman finished calculating its chances of survival against the three fighters and decided that its primary goal was to survive to complete future missions. "Tinman will comply."
Lt. Henry Purcell looked around the cabin of the transport craft in pure shock. From the outside the ship looked exactly like the transports from the series that his cousins sometimes tried to get him to watch, but on the inside... He shook his head and peered at the weapons rack that took up one side of the craft. "This cannot be real."
"I assure you, it's quite real." The disembodied voice of the pilot answered him. As Henry reached to pick up one of the rifles, the voice told him. "Please don't touch the weapons, Sir. I'd hate to have to eject you out the back."
"Got it." Henry yanked his hand back. "No touching the Starwars stuff."
"Bob!" Ray smiled as Robert Kinsey strolled into his office. The smile faded away when he noticed the grim look on Kinsey's face. "Is there a problem?"
"E. D. I." Now Kinsey smiled, not a very pleasant smile. It was a smug smile that told Ray he was in a lot of trouble. "There's been a problem in Tajikistan."
"I don't know what you're..." Ray's voice trailed off as Kinsey slid a packet over his desk.
"You little project just blew up a convoy containing nuclear material heading for a two bit warlord." Kinsey shrugged, "That's not so bad except now the debris is heading straight for Pakistan."
Ray stared at Kinsey for several seconds, then smiled. "Captain Cummings is responsible for the EDI project."
"Ray..." Kinsey shook his head, "Cummings might take the fall but if this gets out... You know you can't avoid all of the political flak this is going to create."
Stephen Montgomery Aubrey, one of the Senior members of the Watcher's Council sighed in satisfaction as he finished the spell and waited as the image into the mirror changed.
The Council man knew that any phone or radio conversations would be monitored by that interfering calculator known as Petey. But he was betting his life that the AI couldn't trace magical communications yet.
"Ah, Sir Aubrey. A pleasure to hear from you again. And to what purpose have you initiated this communication?" The Head of the Terakan order asked.
"I have a commission for you." Aubrey smiled coldly, "At ten times your normal fee."
"Intriguing. For you to be willing to pay that amount..." The Terakan mused, "And what is the name of this obviously formidable person?
"Alexander Lavelle Harris of Sunnydale California."
Aubrey expected the Terakan to be pleased with his request. He'd known that the Terakans had only dropped their assault against Buffy Summers because Spike had neglected to finish paying for the contract. He'd heard that some of the Terakans felt that their pride had been injured by the failure of the three that sent against the Slayer. What he didn't expect was the laughter that erupted from the Assassin's Leader.
"AH!" The Terakan finally got himself under control. He gestured to someone off screen before turning back to Aubrey. "I wondered why Travers was so adamant about putting the Terakans under retainer."
"Travers." Aubrey smiled, "I should have guessed he had something up his sleeve."
"Not exactly." The Terakan replied enigmatically. Before he could continue a knock sounded on Aubrey's door. The Terakan stopped and told Aubrey, "You'd better answer that."
Aubrey covered the mirror with a small cloth and headed for the door. He was a bit surprised to see his assistant standing there. "William? Is there some reason you're here?"
"I just wanted to inform you that I'm being transferred, Sir." His assistant replied, "And I wanted to say farewell."
Aubrey glanced down at his assistant's extended hand and frowned, "I wasn't aware of your transfer."
"I was just informed myself, sir." The assistant again extended his hand.
This time Aubrey took it, "Well, I hope whoever you're assigned to knows what a valuable asset he's getting."
"Thank you, Sir." The assistant nodded and turned to go.
Aubrey watched him for a second then closed the door and sat back down. After removing the cloth, he asked. "So why does Quentin have you on retainer then?"
"To turn down anyone trying to take a contract out on XWB or its personnel." The Terakan smiled.
"But ten times your normal fee!" Aubrey felt both aggravated and strangely exhausted by this revelation.
"Nothing compared to what Mr. Tausennigan has offered to us." The Terakan smiled again. "He had a most generous offer."
"Tau..." Now Aubrey tried to stand only to find his arms and legs weren't up to the task. "What...?"
"Sir Aubrey," Now the Terakan actually looked slightly sympathetic. "Did you know that the Terakans we sent to deal with the Summers girl were considered the bottom of the rung? That the best of our Assassins can wait for years until we tell them who kill? They infiltrate a group, and then blend in until they're activated. One of them can kill simply with sufficient skin to skin contact."
"Skin...?" Aubrey managed to glance down at his hand. "no..."
"Oh yes." The Terakan smiled, "Mr. Taussennigan offered us two cubic meters of pure gold, in advance, to eliminate anyone who tried to send us against XWB."
"Help..." Aubrey tried to hit the intercom button but couldn't make his arm move. "More money..."
"Do I look that stupid, Sir Aubrey?" Now the Terakan's smile was smug, "I already know about XWB's little toy. I think you know the one I'm talking about? Did you know that magical wards don't affect their ability to appear or to detonate? I've no desire to be receiving end of an active one."
"Oh..." Aubrey's heart leaped as the door to his office opened. He looked up to see Jason Stane and Quentin Travers step in front of him. "Travers..."
"Aubrey, you stupid fool." Quentin Travers looked at his old friend sadly. "You and your little conspiracy could have destroyed the Council."
"How?" Aubrey managed to get out.
"Your magical wards kept Petey from learning exactly what you and the others were up to." Travers told the dying man. "But just the fact that you took so many pains to keep him from checking in on such a large gathering tipped him off. We were just lucky that he already knew about my retainer with the Terakans or things might have ended differently."
"Diff..." Aubrey couldn't manage to finish the word. Through eyes beginning to dim with what ever was killing him, he could just make out the fading form of Jason Stane bending over him.
"Yes." Jason said sadly, "Petey is giving us one chance to clean up our own house."
The Terakan leader watched as Sir Aubrey slumped down into his chair. "Mr. Travers, Mr. Stane. Will you be needing our assistance in this matter?"
"No," Travers shook his head, "We can handle this, ourselves."
"Understood." The Terakan shrugged, "You have my condolences over the death of your friend."
As the image faded, the Terakan turned to *his* assistant. "Have the payment forwarded to William."
"Of course, Sir." The assistant nodded, "If one can inquire?"
"You wish to know why we accepted the retainers?"
"It is not the Terakan way."
"It is also not the Terakan way to invite the destruction of the entire order." The Leader picked up small picture, one of his trophies from his active career. "You are aware of course, why we didn't accept the contract against Hitler until the very end."
"Yes," The Assistant nodded. "Hitler had several demonic allies sworn to destroy any supernatural force that struck directly against him."
"Those same allies eventually abandoned him and we struck." The Terakan smiled at the memory of that contract. "It was one of the few times we worked alongside of those we call enemy."
"What the Thule society wanted was unacceptable." The Leader continued. "As much as I disliked working with Brume and his compatriots, *Herr Fuhrer* was the greater threat to our order."
"And Harris?" The assistant asked.
"Harris has an ally that can level this world." The Terakan answered, "And has no compunctions about doing so. Worse, this ally calls him friend."
The assistant frowned. True friendship carried loyalty and the mix of loyalty and power was one that spelled disaster to anyone who tried to tamper with such a friendship. "So we stay away from Harris."
"Like he was the second coming." The Terakan leader nodded.
"What of the one in Sunnydale?"
"We will keep that one in reserve." The Leader smiled, "Should Captain Harris ever decide to move against us, that one will be our insurance."
"Understood, Sir." The Assistant made a mental note to remember that.
Lt. Henry Purcell jumped out of the transport with a grin on his face. He was quickly caught a group hug by the other two members of his flight team. "Man I am so glad to see you two."
Lt. Ben Gannon laughed, "You're just a regular bad penny, you know that right?"
"Of course." Henry laughed. "I always turn up."
"Not that I'm not happy to see you," Kyra Wade told him, "But what the hell was that?"
"I'm still trying to figure that one out." Henry replied. "The cockpit was empty and the only voice came over the com system."
"Another Tinman?" Ben asked.
"Dunnoh." Henry shrugged, "Who ever it was said we'd be hearing from them about a new assignment though."
"Think we're going to get a chance to fly those Vipers?" Kyra asked.
"Could be." Henry smiled. Then he noticed the technicians crawling over the UCAV. "What's up with Tinman?"
"Don't know." Kyra echoed Henry's earlier comment. "Something about pulling EDI and sending the whole kit to some place in California for evaluation."
"Figures." Henry sighed. "What's going on with the radiation?"
"Not sure about that either." Ben frowned, "I know that Captain Cummings is being held pending investigation, but that I haven't heard anything else yet."
"Hey Doc." Colonel Jack O'Neill stopped in his tracks as SGCs Chief Medical officer frantically raced past him. "Something happen?"
"Trouble." General Hammond told Jack as he stepped into the Medical center. "An NID UCAV went rogue and destroyed a nuclear material convoy in Tajikistan."
"Holy..." Jack just stared in shock. "How bad?"
"Kinsey is calling in nearly every top secret military group's medical teams to deal with the problem," Hammond told him. "With back-up from the Russians and XWB."
"Wait..." Jack frowned, "Harris called Kinsey first? I'm not sure I like the idea of those two getting that close."
"Apparently, Captain Harris felt they needed someone with more political connections than the SGC could provide."
"Ah," Jack sighed. "Why did it have to be Kinsey though?"
"You can always ask Harris when you see him." Hammond smiled, "I'm sending SG-1 and SG-2 as security for the medical people."
"Yes sir." Jack nodded.
Xander held his hands up as both his closest friend and his girlfriend leveled their G/G pistols at the doorway he just entered. "Whoa!!!"
"XANDER!" Buffy grabbed him in a breath stealing hug followed closely by Willow.
Keith Orbit watched amused as the young man began gasping for air. "Oxygen becoming an issue here!"
"Oh!" Willow let go, while Buffy just relaxed her grip a little.
Professor Orbit coughed slightly to get everyone's attention. "Can someone please tell me what happened?"
"Well, do you want the short version or the long one?" Xander asked.
"I think the abbreviated version will suffice for now." Professor Orbit told him, "I already know that EDI destroyed a nuclear convoy."
"Okay, we caught a break." Xander sighed, "The wind shifted again and we managed to contain the debris cloud to the valley the convoy was passing through."
"How did you..." Professor Orbit shook his head, "No, I'll get that later. What about casualties?"
"The Warlord who was buying the missiles and most of his followers are dead." Xander continued. "And the Russian and U.S. governments are providing the manpower to administer the radiation treatments."
"So the damage has been contained?" The Professor sighed. "What about EDI?"
"I had a talk with Kinsey and they're going to pull the AI out and ship everything to XWB for analysis."
"You mean reprogramming." Professor Orbit said.
"No," Xander shook his head, "I mean Analysis. We want to see if Tinman can be taught about acceptable and unacceptable risks beyond its own survival."
"And if not?"
"Then we'll have to shut it down." Willow replied. When Professor Orbit frowned at her, Willow informed him, "I'm in charge of the computer related projects."
"Wait." Professor Orbit frown deepened. "If I accept the job offer with XWB, will I be allowed access to EDI?"
"Anything short of taking him out of the building or connecting him to an external data port." Willow told him.
Keith Orbit mulled over the proposition. He'd received the original offer from Willow Rosenberg a week ago and dismissed it without a second thought. Up and coming high tech firms were a gamble at best, not to mention he had serious doubts about their ability to deliver on the promise of 'nearly unlimited research budget and lab space'. Then he'd received the call from Senator Kinsey strongly endorsing the offer. Of course, he still had some doubts about the two girls sanity but he couldn't deny that Miss Rosenberg's grasp of his theories were quite sound. The chance to really work on EDI's core programs and find a way to duplicate it clinched the deal.
"If the job offer is still open. I'm in."
As the Black HumVee stopped by the side of the former fire station, a maintenance worker shouted, " You might want to move that!"
Xander was halfway out of the vehicle when he asked. "Why? Are they going to tow me?"
"Nah," The worker shook his head, "But you can never tell when some things going to come flying out of that place."
"I think I'll take my chances." Xander smiled.
"It's your insurance premium." The worker shrugged.
"Okay," Xander grinned at the firehouse. "You know, they did a really great job duplicating this place for the movie."
"What do think they'll say to our offer?" Buffy asked.
"Depends." Xander frowned, "We didn't really discuss it much. Do we tell them most of the truth? Or just pitch the offer."
Buffy thought about it, "The truth. At least the part about Sunnydale. I think we should keep Petey under wraps until they join up."
"Yeah." Xander nodded. "Well, here we go."
As they entered the firehouse, Xander felt a sense of Deja Vu. He'd been a fan of both the Ghostbusters movie and the cartoon made from it. Looking around the building he couldn't help but stare in awe at how accurately they'd portrayed the inside of the HQ. "Wow!"
"Can I help you?" A slightly accented voice asked.
Xander and Buffy turned to face the red head sitting behind the receptionist's desk. "Hi, I'm Xander Harris and this is Buffy Summers. We're here to talk to..."
"Oh yeah." The Red head nodded, "Egon's waiting upstairs."
"Excuse me." Xander smiled, "But you wouldn't happen to be Jeanine Melnitz would you?"
"It's Spengler now," Jeanine nodded, "But guilty as charged."
"And he's got you playing receptionist?" Buffy frowned.
"Nah," Jeanine smiled, "The regular girl is sick, so I'm just filling in. This way I can make sure Egon gets home on time."
"Got it." Buffy nodded.
They just started up the stairs when Jean me yelled. "Hold on. You can't go up there yet!"
"Why?" Xander started to ask then remembered something from the cartoon. "You're kidding right?"
"Five..." Jeanine started counting down off her watch. As she reached one, there was a large rumbling explosion that shook the building. "Okay now you can go up."
"They haven't finished that thing yet?" Xander asked.
"Captain?" Petey's voice came over the private link. "Are you all right? I detected a rather large, dimensional surge coming from your vicinity."
"We're fine, Petey." Xander whispered as Jeanine answered him.
"If you're talking about the gadget in the cartoon, they finished that years ago." Jeanine smiled up at them, "This is a new one."
"Oh good." Buffy said as they continued up the stairs. "We get to be blown up by something new."
"Well..." Xander's voice trailed off as the sound of yelling came from one of the rooms.
"Look out!"
"Just blast him!"
"Duck!"
"Somebody do something!"
Xander and Buffy looked at each other and reached for their guns. Xander mouthed the words, 'on three' and silently counted down. As one they kicked open the door and leveled their guns. Straight at a very surprised looking green ghost.
"AHHH!!!!" The little green ghost dropped whatever it was carrying and dove behind one of the four men looking at the doorway in shock.
"WHOA!!" The slightly hefty member of the quartet dove and caught the falling object and then glared at two intruders. "Who are you?"
"Oh!" Buffy glanced down at the gun in her hands and quickly put it away. "We're with XWB technologies and we have an appointment to see Egon Spengler."
"That doesn't explain the guns." The African American man that Xander assumed was Winston Zeddemore said as he crossed his arms. "Want to tell us about that?"
"Ghostbuster's HQ," Xander started ticking points off on his hand. "Loud explosion, lots of yelling from this room, and one specific voice saying 'just blast him'. What would you think?"
"He's got a point," the tall lanky blond nodded and pointed around the room. "I'm Egon Spengler, this Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore and the one laughing the bed is Peter Venkman. Now would you care to explain why two corporate executives would be carrying firearms?"
"If you knew where our Headquarters was located," Xander replied, "that would explain everything."
"Sunnydale, California." The Ray told them, "High on the paranormal scale but we've never had a call from there."
"That's only because everyone in the town is heavily into denial." Buffy groused. "Ghost's get the same treatment as everything else that goes bump in the night. It didn't really happen."
"Would it help if I told you the Spanish name for the area?" Xander asked. As the four Ghostbusters waited, he finished. "It was called the Boca Del Infernio."
"Sounds like a good name for a club." Peter Venkman said. Then frowned when Egon and Ray sighed. "What?"
"The literal translation is 'Mouth of Hell'." Egon explained in tone of long suffering patience. "Or to use the more colloquial name the 'Hellmouth'."
"You've heard of it then." Xander sighed in relief.
"I've heard of them." Egon nodded, "I didn't believe that it was more than a legend though. In our entire career as paranormal investigators, we've never actually encountered one."
"That's probably because people who live on Hellmouths tend to lean heavily on denial." Buffy replied. "Weird things just get put into the 'there's a logical explanation' category."
"Ah," Egon nodded, "That does explain why we never received a call from certain areas. But it doesn't explain the firearms, they would be practically useless against a supernatural entity."
"Here," Xander removed the ammo from his gun, broke it down and passed the parts over to Ray, "Take a look at it."
Ray Stantz examined the parts closely, then he frowned. "What? This... Egon take a look at this. Tell me that's not what I think it is."
Egon took the part from Ray and examined it under a magnifying glass. He quickly found what Ray was referring to. "It can't be."
Every, including Janine who ran upstairs when the doors smashed open, watched as Egon took the part and practically ran to his workbench. "I don't believe it."
"You don't believe what?" Winston asked.
"A room temperature superconductor." Egon said in awe. "How?"
"XWB is sort of a front." Xander shrugged. "Our primary job is demon hunting. That's what those are for."
"I see." Egon frowned, "And you want me to work for you?"
"Actually." Xander shrugged. "What we actually want to fund any research you're currently doing and get your input on research we're doing."
"And the catch?"
"Well," Xander admitted, "We don't want you talking about any of our projects of course. And you can't ever reveal what XWB actually does. In exchange, XWB will provide you with latest and best equipment. Some of it so far beyond cutting edge it'll seem like magic."
For Peter Venkman, the look on Ray Stantz's face filled him with a kind of dread. It was the same eager look he'd had whenever they faced some new challenge. With one fast move, he was across the room and ushering Ray out the door. "We'll just go get lunch."
"But..." Ray managed before he was dragged out.
"Hmm..." Egon frowned, "I'm not certain how this would work."
"I tell you what." Xander smiled, "We'll pay for you to come down to SunnyD and you can see what we're about."
"I think we can manage that."
"Good," Xander smiled and handed Egon a business card. "Give us a call when you're coming."
"Petey," Xander asked as he pulled the Humvee into the Hospital parking lot. "Progress report?"
"The Medical teams have finished treating seventy five percent of the valley's population." Petey informed him, "And the scrubbers have accounted for approximately sixty five percent of the debris. We will begin clearing outlying areas in a few days."
"And the reporters?"
"The mainstream media has accepted the story that the warlord accidentally damaged the missile while trying to arm it causing the explosion. Of course, the conspiracy theorists already have heard a rumor that an alien spacecraft destroyed the convoy."
"Backed of course, by some fuzzy footage of some unknown aircraft firing a 'death ray' at the ground." Petey said smugly, then pondered, "I wonder how long before some realized it's a grainy edited version of 'War of the Worlds'?"
Xander and Buffy both started laughing. "So, everything is going okay. You're sure I'm not needed there?"
"No, sir." Petey reassured him, "Captain O'Neill and Colonel Kabanov have the security end under control and Major Frasier has the medical end well in hand."
"That's good." Xander sighed. "So, shoot me the data I requested for our next recruit."
"It should be printing now." Petey said as Buffy turned to grab the papers being ejected from under the rear passenger seat.
"I thought we already had all the info on this guy?" Buffy frowned. "I don't get it, nero whatsis? What is this"
"Something that I'm really ashamed of myself for even considering using." Xander replied. "But we really need this guy and I don't think the normal pitch is going to work with him."
"What's so special about this guy?" Buffy asked. "I mean I know he's a doctor."
"Doctor Charles Emmerson Winchester the Fourth." Xander replied. "Absolutely the best Neuro-surgeon in the U.S.A. and one of the finest medical researchers on the planet."
"Mr. Harris, Ms. Summers, a pleasure to meet you." Dr. Charles Emmerson Winchester the IV smiled politely as he shook each their hands. With a slightly theatrical gesture he waved to the seats in front of his desk. "Please have a seat."
"Dr. Winchester." Xander smiled back, "I assume you've already received our offer?"
"Yes," Dr. Winchester nodded, "Your Miss Chase was refreshingly direct about your company's desire to have me join your new medical research division. But as I told her, I'm quite happy with my arrangement with Massachusetts General."
"Did Miss Chase explain the benefits of our offer?" Xander asked carefully.
"In great detail." Dr. Winchester replied. "While she sounded quite sincere, I do have my doubts about your offer of a nearly unlimited budget and practically unlimited lab space. That is a rather extravagant claim, don't you agree?"
"No," Xander shook his head, "We just purchased a facility in Sunnydale and it turned out to have more floor space than we actually needed. The remaining facilities are being converted to state of the art research labs. For all practical purposes, each researcher will have all the lab space they'll need."
"I see." Dr. Winchester still looked unconvinced. "Well, regardless. I have no desire to relocate to 'California', so I must decline your offer."
"We're sorry you feel that way," Buffy said as she stood up, "I'm sorry we wasted your time, Dr."
"I'm sorry too," Xander didn't stand up, instead he pulled out the papers that Petey sent, "I didn't want to do this, but I need you to look a this."
"What could you poss..." Dr. Winchester frowned as he started reading. Buffy decided to sit back down as the Doctor just kept reading, occasionally muttering something that sounded like, 'This could work.' or the occasional 'I can't believe this.'. After nearly fifteen minutes, Dr. Winchester finally put the papers down and glared at Xander, "You have a very sick sense of humor Mr. Harris."
Xander ignored his glare and picked up one a photograph from the desk in front of him. Buffy leaned over and saw a picture of smiling happy young boy. Xander carefully put the picture back, and asked. "Nice kid, your son right?"
"As if you didn't already know." Dr. Winchester's voice was absolute ice.
Xander sighed, "Yeah, I know. He was diagnosed with a degenerative nerve disease about a year ago. You've pretty much dedicated life since then to finding a cure."
"And this?" Dr. Winchester held up the papers. "What is this?"
"Exactly what it looks like." Xander shrugged, "A cure. sixty-nine percent total, ten percent halt of the progression of the disease..."
Buffy frowned as she began to suspect what Xander was doing. All she could do was pray that she wasn't right.
"I read that part." Dr. Winchester interrupted him, "Some of it confirms what I've already discovered but..."
Dr. Winchester's face hardened as something occurred to him. "And I suppose if I turn you down again, you'll keep this a secret."
Buffy felt her heart fall as Xander sighed. Then she blinked in relief at his next words. "Nah, that's yours. You can do whatever you want with it."
"I'm not certain I heard you correctly." Dr. Winchester frowned. "Did you just give this to me?"
"Yep," Xander nodded, "I never intended to make any of our medical division's research proprietary. Any medical research that can help people will be put into the public domain."
"Then why are you putting so much effort into this?" Dr. Winchester looked really confused, "How are you going to recoupe the costs for this research?"
"It's not going to cost us that much." Xander told him enigmatically. "And we are going to be building all of equipment needed for any procedure we develop."
"If you have people capable of doing this," Dr. Winchester now asked, "why do you need me?"
"Because all I have is the end product." Xander smiled softly, "And none of the proof that the medical community requires to accept it."
"None?" Dr. Winchester was incredulous, "How...?"
"It's a long story." Buffy sighed.
"Too long to tell right now." Xander nodded to Buffy. "But I do want you to think about something. You don't have even the medical research to back this up."
Dr. Winchester glanced down to the papers in surprise, somehow in his shock he'd completely missed that fact. "Without medical data..."
"All you've got is a theory." Xander nodded, "Even if you're sure it will work, you still can't use what you know."
"And getting that data can take years." Dr. Winchester now felt his heart fall, he already knew just how long normal medical testing took. And he was painfully aware of what his son's life expectancy was. The outcome was too close for his comfort. "You're sure this will work?"
"I have most of the research." Xander told him, "I need someone that can verify the research and complete the final research notes that the medical community will accept."
"It still sounds like a lot of effort for one..." Dr. Winchester stopped as he finally got what Xander was leading up to. "You've got more don't you?"
"Here." Xander slid one last piece of paper towards him.
Dr. Winchester read through the page with a growing sense of both hope and disbelief. There were many things said about the Winchesters, often behind their backs. And sometimes, especially in the case of the Pierces, straight to their faces. They were called vain, arrogant, pompous, and occasionally, by one Senator in particular, sanctimonious bastards. But even their worst detractors couldn't deny one thing, the Winchesters were dedicated doctors.
"You're going to need more than just one neurosurgeon." Dr. Winchester informed Xander, "I see the need for at least a virologist, an oncologist and several general researchers."
"More than that." Xander agreed. "XWB is going to need enough people that no one's going to start getting more than a little suspicious."
"That sentence only just barely made sense." Dr. Winchester told him. "How do you plan to finance this? I'm aware of X.W.B.'s rising star in the technology field but..."
"Don't worry about the financing." Xander grinned, "If necessary we'll turn out a few more patents this year than we originally planned."
"You can't just turn out patents like a..." Dr. Winchester stopped and looked back down at the paper he was holding. "I'm better off not knowing the answer to that, aren't I?"
"Probably." Buffy nodded. "So does this mean you're onboard?"
"Heaven help me," Dr. Winchester nodded, then he considered one other possibility. "But so help *me*, Mr. Harris. If this is some fraud you intend to perpetuate on the public... I will be the first one in line to crucify you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Xander's grin was so totally irreverent that it reminded the Doctor of the one person that could still get his father riled up.
"You wouldn't happen to know a Doctor Benjamin Franklin Pierce would you?"
"Nope." Xander shook his head.
"Hey, we've got a Pierce on our list." Buffy glanced down at the data port she was carrying. "No, this is a Dr. Henry Sherman Pierce. *Henry Sherman*? And I thought my name was odd."
"He was named after two men that his father respected." Dr. Winchester informed her.
"Huh." Buffy pulled up the info, "Dr. Benjamin Franklin Pierce, served MASH four thousand seventy seven, Korean conflict. His commanding officers were Colonel Henry Blake, then Colonel Sherman Potter."
A few seconds later she had Dr. Winchester's file open. "Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester the Third... Wow, your dad served in Korea?"
"Under great duress." Dr. Winchester nodded.
"So," Buffy smiled, "I don't suppose you could talk to the medical people on our list? Try to get them onboard?"
"I want to see these facilities first." Dr. Winchester told them, "And I want the data for these supposed cures."
"You'll have them." Xander agreed. "We'll have the facilities ready in about a month. But you can have all the time you need to..."
"No." Dr. Winchester cut him off. "A month will be more than sufficient."
"Good." Xander stood. "I'll see in a month then."
"Mr. Harris?" Dr. Winchester asked as Xander headed to the door. "Has anyone told you that you're a totally unprincipled scoundrel?"
"I believe the term you actually want is 'A sodding right bastard'." Xander said as he left the room.
"Xan?" Buffy gently laid her hand on Xander shoulder as they left the office. "Are you all right?"
"He's right you know." Xander told her.
"Xander..."
"I didn't just pick him because he was the best in his field." Xander admitted, "We needed someone who couldn't afford to turn us down."
"I picked him because of his son." Xander continued, "I deliberately waved that cure in his face to make him sign up. What does that say about me?"
"That you'll do what ever it takes to help people?" Buffy replied, "It's not like you blackmailed him into joining."
"No," Xander sighed, "I just reminded him that without the research data, that we wouldn't provide, the papers he had would take years to develop into a viable cure. The worst part? I'd it again if I had to."
"Xan." Buffy couldn't really think of what to say, so all she could do was wrap her arms around him and give him whatever emotional support she could.
After several seconds, Xander's hold on her eased and he said in a gruff tone. "Thanks, Buff."
"Anytime." Buffy smiled. She glanced down at her PDA and frowned. "Hey Xan, Why is our next stop in Japan?"
'Huh?" Xander took the PDA from her, "We're supposed to be going to Washington D.C. next."
"Wait." Xander smiled as they started heading for the exit. "Petey... you found him?"
"Yes, Sir." Petey replied over their radio link, "A small village about an hour's drive from Nagoya.
"Great," Xander smiled, "What about the other one?"
"We located him in Tokyo." Petey informed him, "And we located Mihara in Saitama"
"Great." Xander grinned. "Buffy, you've got your passport right?"
"Sure," Buffy nodded, "So who're we going to see?"
"Do you remember Ted?"
"Oh god," Buffy sighed, "How could I ever forget Mr. Roboto."
"I think the real Ted, stole some of his designs from the guy we're going to see." Xander told her. "A lot of what Petey found on him was sketchy at best, but it looks like he actually developed an AI android in the late seventies."
"Whoa," Buffy stopped in her tracks, "Say that again?"
"You heard me," Xander smiled, "but supposedly he destroyed all the prototypes after a terrorist organization called Dark used his designs to build monsters."
"Robot monsters?" Buffy frowned, "Oh good, an entire army of Adams and Molochs."
"Actually Petey couldn't verify any of it." Xander frowned, "We've got websites with pictures of the monsters, and we've got some of the locations. But the only police reports just mention terrorist activity."
"Kind of like 'gangs on pcp'." Buffy nodded. "So there was some kind of shadow war going on in Japan?"
"As far as I can determine, it's still going on." Petey told her, "There have been reports since then mention other groups employing Oni."
"Oni?' Buffy frowned.
"Japanese ogres." Petey replied, "Or demons. It depends on the translation."
"So someone in Japan is using robot demons to take over?" Buffy frowned. "Why does that sound so familiar?"
"Because it's the basic story from the Power Rangers series'?" Xander smiled as he opened the door to the humvee.
"Another Wormhole Extreme?" Buffy sighed.
"I believe the original Japanese series were a disinformation campaign used by the Japanese Government to cover up the real terrorist actions." Petey told them. "I've spoken to Saburo Kaneda, the leader of the Japanese hunter team and he's confirmed that they've kept several incidents involving similar creatures from the Council."
"I've been trying to track down the leaders of the terrorists, but unfortunately the organizations use a dedicated communications system that I haven't found a way to tap into yet." Petey continued, "But I have worked out something very interesting. If my facts are correct, all of the various organizations are actually Cells within the master organization. The one plus side to this is that the real demons tend to avoid Japan like the plague. There are a few stupid ones that turn up every now and again but most of them tend to stay on the Asian mainland."
"And the Government..." Buffy shook her head, she'd already seen how the US handled the situation. She couldn't imagine anyone else's government being any more forward about potentially supernatural monsters. "Nevermind."
"So who's handling it now?" Xander asked as he drove the Humvee towards the Airport.
"Our Japanese strike team and some concerned civilians." Petey told him. "The civilians seem a bit overdramatic sometimes but they've gotten job done for at least the last 30 years or so."
"They must be pretty good." Buffy mused.
"Actually," Petey replied, "I'm almost positive they're not entirely human."
"Figures." Buffy groused, "So who are we going to meet anyway?"
"Dr. Den Komyoji." Xander told her, "He's the most important one. After him, we've got an interview with an Ichirou Mihara and a Dr. Katsuhiro Okoze. They're all experts in various types of cybernetics."
"Oh," Buffy frowned, "We couldn't find anyone closer to home?"
"A couple." Xander admitted. "On is happy where he is, and the other one... well let's say he had an accident with some of his equipment and now he drools a lot."
"Besides," Xander continued. "Those three are regarded as the best in their fields."
As their private jet flew over the pacific, Buffy watched with just a little bit of awe as Xander handled the usual day to day operations of XWB. They'd known that Xander was very good at making all of the little decisions that kept the company running, but she'd never actually been in his office while he was working. He'd already run over the monthly figures with Ms. Calendar, turned down two separate requests from Andrew and Jonathan to build something called a slipfighter, and gone over the weekly training schedule with Fitz. Things that would have driven her nuts, he handled with confidence.
"Captain?" Petey asked as Xander finished his last call with Fitz. "We have a slight problem. Sergeant Kaneda won't be able to meet you at the airport as planned."
"Is something wrong?" Buffy asked.
"There's been an incident near Hokkaido." Petey told them, "The local unit's already handling it, but even with the remotes they're going to be there a few days searching the area for survivors."
"No problem," Xander smiled, "We'll go check on Katsuhito Akaei first then."
"Who?" Petey blinked, then groaned, "Sir, please don't let Jonathan use that translation program that Willow designed anymore. He just doesn't seem to understand how to use it properly. The man's name is Katsuhito Stingray."
"Dammit!" Xander growled, "Okay from now on I want you to do all of the translation work for the recruitment drive."
"Yes sir."
"So." Buffy smiled, "From what I understand we've still got a few hours flying ahead and our door locks from this side right?"
"Yeah," Xander absently answered as he went over the info on Kastuhiro Stingray again. Then his brain finally caught up with what Buffy had just said. "OH!"
"That couch looks kinda comfy," He said as Buffy smiled at him again. He smiled and ordered, "Petey, unless the worlds about to end, I want total privacy until we reach Tokyo."
"Yes, Sir." Petey replied before shutting down the comm.
"Now." Xander grinned, "You have any ideas on how to kill a few hours?"
"I have few ideas." Buffy pulled him closer.
"Captain." The pilot's voice came over the intercom, "We will be arriving at Tokyo International in about an hour."
"Thanks, Michael." Xander replied as he started hunting for his clothes. "Let us know when we're ready to land."
"Sure thing."
"I need a shower." Buffy said as she dug through her bag looking for clean clothes.
"Back of the plane," Xander said as he pulled on his pants, "Second door on the right."
"I love this plane," Buffy smiled, "If Petey was solid, I'd kiss him."
"Forgotten already." Xander mock sighed, "O' fickle woman."
Buffy's response was to stick her tongue out at her boyfriend.
"Don't give me ideas." Xander grinned, "Or we'll never be ready to leave."
"I still don't believe you hit that teacher!" Xander exclaimed as they headed down the city's crowded streets.
"I didn't know he was a teacher! He was on the roof, dangling a kid by his ankles!" Buffy defended herself. "What was I supposed to do?"
"I dunno." Xander admitted, "But from what I heard the Principal was more mad at you for grabbing them both and throwing that punch."
"What!?" Buffy shouted, "What kind of crazy school was that?"
"Actually," Petey told them over their radio link, "The student was trying to commit suicide. Mr. Onizuka grabbed him as he jumped and just barely managed to keep from going over himself."
"I guess I owe him an apology." Buffy whispered in shame.
"Well..." Petey smiled, "Mr. Onizuka was actually threatening to drop the student when you grabbed him. He was saying that if the kid wanted to die, why should he bother?"
"I believe," Petey continued, "That was his version of 'tough love'."
"So I was justified in punching him." Buffy brightened up. She stuck her tongue out at Xander and grinned, "I told you so."
"You had to go and tell her that didn't you?" Xander muttered softly to Petey. "Now she's going to be smug for at least the rest of the day."
"Sorry, Sir." Petey didn't actually sound the least bit repentant.
"Okay," Buffy frowned as she stared at the building in front of them, "Why are we at the High School?"
"Petey?" Xander was just as confused as Buffy was.
"This is the best place to meet Mr. Stingray." Petey informed them.
"He's a teacher here?" Xander frowned.
"No," They could hear the humor in Petey's tone. "A student."
"WHAT!?" The surprised shout from both of them caused several students to look at them oddly. Then Xander sighed, "Let me guess, Jono again."
"I'm afraid so, Sir." Petey replied.
"Petey make a note." Buffy grumbled, "Have a long talk with Jonathan about only putting the facts in his recruitment reports."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"So what now?" Buffy asked. "We can't recruit a teenager."
"No." Xander agreed, "At least not until he graduates. But I don't think there's any problem with us offering him an all expenses paid internship. Is there, Petey?"
"Not so long as we get parental permission, Captain." Petey told him. "And I think we might want to hurry a bit."
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"I just confirmed that another company is seeking to recruit Mr. Stingray."
"Who?" Xander frowned. "ENCOM? Cyberdyne? or Pierce Technologies?"
"None of them," Petey replied, "A company called Genom is interested in him."
"Genom?" Xander frowned, "Why does that sound familiar?"
"Some of our patents have severely impacted their IPO." Petey told him, "Several of their products turned out to have a higher than average defect rate. Nothing much would have come of it, except..."
"Except our devices had an almost perfect record." Xander nodded. "Now I remember, they were the bozos that tried a smear campaign against us."
"When was this?" Buffy asked.
"About three months ago," Xander shrugged. "First they tried to smear us in the trade papers by claiming we stole some of the patents. Then they tried to strong arm a few of the companies that had contracts with us."
"What happened?" Buffy asked.
"The trades published their complaints right next to Ms. Calender's rebuttal of each of their claims." Xander grinned, "She made them look like a bunch of whiny schoolkids."
"What about the companies?"
"Did you know that four of the companies we have patent contracts with are actually government fronts?"
"You're kidding?"
"Nope," Xander grinned, "Genom just barely managed to backpedal fast enough to avoid several major investigations into their business practices."
"Suffice to say," Petey finished, "They've gone from the next Microsoft to just another tech company."
As they headed into the building, Buffy's curiosity got the better of her and she asked. "So, who is the next Microsoft?"
"A small privately owned company." Petey told her, "Every major company and investor starts drooling over even the slightest hint that they're going public."
"So, who is it?" Buffy asked again.
"A small company in California." Petey replied, "You might have heard of it. It's called XWB Technologies."
"WHAT!?"
As everyone turned to stare at them again, Xander whispered. "Petey could you please not surprise her like that."
"Sorry, Captain." Xander was certain he could actually hear that holographic furball grin.
The smile left Buffy's face as they left the building. "We have got to work on our communication."
"Next time we do this." Xander told Buffy at almost the same time. "Remind me to ask Willow if she's already got the hi-tech ones signed up."
"That was almost embarrassing." Buffy agreed. "If you hadn't fast talked him into believing we were a follow up team just making sure he was still onboard..."
"Yeah." Xander agreed, "That was close."
"So who's next?"
"Wait," Xander frowned, "Hey Petey, link me up with Willow."
"Xander?" Xander could hear the worry in Willow's voice. "Is something wrong."
"Will," Xander asked, "Did you already talk to Ichirou Mihara?"
"Oh, yeah." Willow replied, "I spoke to him and one other person, a Daimon Yakuta. He's another robotics expert."
"He isn't on my list." Xander frowned.
"That's because his designs are purely robotic." Petey told them, "There was virtually no autonomous capability in the system he developed. You asked for the best in their fields and Yakuta's designs are inferior to even Mr. Stingray's work. It's all voice operated."
"Voice." Xander grinned, "That's what I get for thinking too far ahead."
"Xan?" Buffy frowned, "You lost me."
"The neural interface that Katsuhito is working on is still years in the future before we can even reasonably be expected to field it." Xander kept smiling, "But Voice rec... We can release that now."
"And I can think of several fields that would love to have one hundred percent reliable voice operated systems." Xander continued.
"Not to mention all of Andrew and Jonathan's geek friends." Buffy smiled back, "Think we can license Majel Roddenberry's voice?"
"We'd make another fortune." Xander laughed.
"So," Buffy brightened, "We've got a few days to ourselves."
"Hmm..." Xander frowned, "Hey Petey, can you pull me up a map of the best sites to visit in Tokyo?"
"Of course, Captain." Petey replied.
"Does the Hunter team have any available vehicles?" Buffy started to ask just before a tricked out metallic blue Skyline screeched to a halt next to them."
"Never mind." Buffy sighed.
"Nice." Xander frowned, "But a little flashy."
"This is a spare personal transport, sir." Petey explained. "Given your ages and the area, this should draw only moderate attention. And most of that will be on the car."
"Okay." Xander shrugged, then blinked as he thought of something. Sighing he turned to Buffy, who was standing there with an expectant look in her eyes. "Buff, you want to drive?"
Buffy giggled and practically dove for the
"Captain," Petey said on a private line, "I assume you want me to compensate for Miss Summers driving again?"
"You're darned tootin." Xander agreed as he went around to the passenger's side.
"Miss Summers," Petey informed the Slayer, "I've been monitoring the local military bands. You'd better pull over now."
"Okay," Buffy started to pull the Skyline over when a huge vaguely man shaped machine ripped by.
"What the hell was that?" Xander asked.
"A prototype battle suit, code designation MADOX Zero one." Petey told them. "I think the Japanese Security force needs to seriously reevaluate their security protocols. They shipped the device with its main systems turned off but still in reserve mode."
"So why is it..." Buffy started when something that looked like a small tank now roared past. "Let me guess, that was the Military looking for their toy."
"Oh yes." Petey replied, "As far as I can tell from monitoring everything and everyone. The Military believes that someone has hijacked the suit and is using it to cause havoc."
"So what's really going on?" Xander asked.
"I've been trying to crack the very primitive AI that controls the armor." Petey told them, "But the system doesn't have any ports I can access without a hard connection."
"I did manage to get hold of the video records from the military," Petey continued, "Whoever is inside that armor tried to warn them off just before the weapons on the suit fired. I accessed the SDF files and found that the system has what can only be described as an automatic mode."
"Are you trying to tell me that there's a renegade AI out there with armed weapons?" Buffy goggled, "And it's a stupid one too?"
"We'd better make sure that no one gets killed." Xander sighed. "I don't believe this, we can't even get a day off when we're halfway around the world."
"Xan," Buffy giggled, "You couldn't get a break when you were completely off the planet."
"Don't remind me."
"The guy in the tank is nuts!" Xander growled as another shell from the tank totaled a stone column. "What kind of idiot fires that wildly in a populated area?"
"Someone with an almost pathological desire for revenge." Petey told him, "Apparently the person controlling the tank was also the commander of a tank squadron that was defeated by the MADOX unit during a test."
"Oh great." Buffy growled, "Another member of the psycho branch of the military?"
"To be fair to the Military, Buffy." Xander smiled just a little. "Walsh wasn't technically a member."
"They were the ones that put her in charge, so she's still military." Buffy returned, "Petey do we have any contacts inside the Japanese Military?"
"Daisuke Aramaki, he's the head of a new division in the Self-Defense forces." Petey told them, "And he's in the know about SG command. They also have a contract with XWB for procurement of the new weapons package."
"Good," Xander nodded, "Get him on the line and tell him we may have to take this idiot out if he keeps endangering people."
"On it, Sir." Petey responded.
"Can you give me a idea of how dangerous these two are to us?" Buffy asked.
"Moderate threat to you personally." Petey replied, "But minimal if you remain in the vehicle."
"Is this car armed?" Xander asked.
"Standard railgun." Petey told him, "Easily capable of taking out either vehicle. And an emp burst device that should be able to disable the MADOX."
"What about the tank?" Xander asked.
"The MADOX is a prototype, not very heavily shielded." Petey replied, "The tank's been hardened against EMP."
"Got it." Xander nodded, "Let's get between them and the civs."
"Captain," Petey interrupted them "Mr. Aramaki just alerted me to the fact that Lt. Kilgore may have gone rogue. He's become so obsessed with destroying the MADOX that he's disregarding orders. We're actually being asked to stop him."
"Peachy," Buffy sighed, "So now we know who to shoot at."
"And who's going to be shooting at us." Xander told her, "That's a very important thing to know."
"Okay," Buffy nodded as she steered the car between the two.
"Get that piece of junk out of here!" Kilgore shouted at them.
"Lt. Kilgore!" Xander shouted through the car's PA system. "I'm giving you one chance to stand down. Or Else!"
"Go to hell!" Kilgore turned the tank's turret to face the Skyline. "Move, you're interfering with a Military Operation!"
"We're working on the direct authorization of Daisuke Aramaki!" Xander told him, a quick touch of a button and the rail gun was out and leveled at the Tank. "I know what my gun can do to you, can you say the same?"
"What the?" Kouji Sujimoto exclaimed as what looked like a street racer suddenly produced a very ugly looking cannon from its hood. For one second the computer controlling the armor flashed a danger warning and armed its own weapons. When the cannon turned to point at the tank, the Armor's systems lowered the threat level and put its weapons back to standby. "Thanks heavens!"
His relief was short-lived as the maniac chasing him fired at the skyline. There was a terrible explosion and Kouji found himself praying for the person who tried to help him. Then the smoke cleared and Kouji's eyes widened, the skyline was still sitting there looking totally untouched. The only saving grace was that the maniac looked even more shocked than him.
"Okay," The person inside the car replied, "You were warned."
There was a flash of light and roar from the Skyline's cannon and the Mini-tank that the maniac was driving shattered. Pieces of metal sprayed off the bottom of the tank as the cannon's round ripped through. As flames started to lick up the body of the ruined vehicle, the stunned pilot jumped out and was promptly decked by a young woman who leapt out of the Skyline.
Not for the first time today, Kouji wondered what exactly was going on. Then he heard, "Sorry bout this."
There was a flash and everything went dark as the Armor went dead. He heard the sound of someone tapping on the armor and suddenly the displays came back on and he was ejected out the back. "Huh?"
From his vantage point on the ground, Kouji could see a pair of Gaijin, a man and a woman, glaring at him. Finally the man asked in just barely understandable Japanese, "Would you care to explain yourself?"
The young man managed to stammer out a hurried explanation of why he was running around in a piece of military hardware. What he didn't expect was to see both gaijin suddenly begin laughing.
Buffy barely managed to get her laughter under control before glancing over at Xander.
Xander shrugged, "He's a curious teenager that stuck his nose into something dangerous. I'm feeling generous."
Buffy nodded and told the young man he was free to go. The blank look she received set Xander to laughing again.
"Buffy." Xander managed, "He doesn't speak English."
"Oh." Buffy frowned, "Petey, how to I tell him to get lost."
Buffy repeated the words Petey told her, only to see the young man's eyes widen in terror. Then Xander started laughing again.
"What's so funny." Buffy asked as Xander repeated the words she said earlier. This time the man took off running as though his life depended on it. Buffy glared at Xander until he finally stopped chuckling.
"Buffy, you mangled every word you said to him." Xander wiped tears from his eyes. "Petey just told me that one way of translating what you said was, basically you were threatening him with something really awful for a guy."
"Oh," Buffy said as the man vanished into the crowd. "Now what do we do?"
Xander saw the military vehicles approaching, "Wait for them to pick up the pieces I guess."
Spending the rest of their time being guests of Daisuke Aramaki and Section Nine, Buffy and Xander finally managed to get to see the sights of Tokyo. Mr. Aramaki had made it clear that they didn't have to stay in Section Nine's HQ if they didn't want to but he'd offered them the hospitality of the base while they were in Japan.
"So," Buffy asked as they left the HQ, "We're supposed to meet Saburo Kaneda and some guy from the local group right?"
"Yeah," Xander looked around. "I think that's them over there."
Buffy turned to see two men carrying motorcycle helmets approaching, one dressed in black leather and the other dressed in relatively normal street clothes.. Both them looked nearly as young as she was. As they got closer, she realized that the one in leather actually looked a bit younger than Xander, so she was stunned when he smiled and introduced himself as Saburo Kaneda.
"H... hi!" Buffy managed to stammer out.
"Sergeant Kaneda." Xander greeted the young man before turning to greet the other person, "And you are?"
"Kazama, Shin." The slightly older man smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Captain." Petey said over the private com, "I think this would be a good time to tell you that neither of them is entirely human."
Xander didn't even blink at Petey's announcement. Instead he smiled and nodded. "So you're our escort to meet Professor Komyoji, right?"
"Hai!" Shin Kazama replied, then caught himself with an embarrassed smile, "I mean, yes. Yes, we are."
"And I am *so* glad you can speak English." Buffy told them. "I've managed to insult way too many people already by trying to speak Japanese."
"No problem," Sgt. Kaneda replied, "Director Aramaki suggested it."
"So," Xander eyed the helmets, "I'm guessing you're on cycles?"
"Right." Shin nodded.
"Okay," Xander smiled, "Why don't you lead the way and we'll follow you then?"
"Okay." Shin gave them a thumbs up before heading for the pair of street bikes parked near their Skyline.
Xander stopped smiling once they were inside the car, "Okay Petey, spill."
"Section Nine deals primarily with Cyber Crimes and to some extent Cybernetics related terrorism issues. So almost all of the field agents for Section Nine has some form of cybernetic enhancement." Petey told them, "In Captain Kazama's case, both his eyes, right hand, his entire left arm, and I'd say that some of his internal organs have either been replaced or enhanced."
"So what about Sgt. Kaneda?" Buffy asked.
"That's the interesting part." Petey told them, "I only recently managed to get the medical bay fully operational for the Asian squad. Sgt. Kaneda deliberately stayed as far away from that wing as possible. I finally got curious and set up a medical scanner in one of the hallway walls."
"So?" Xander asked.
"Sgt. Kaneda is nearly entirely cybernetic." Petey finally said. "Only his brain is organic."
"How the hell do you do that to someone?" Xander mused. Then quickly said, "Petey, that was a rhetorical question."
"Understood, Sir." Petey replied.
"Didn't you say that you didn't believe the Civilian hunters were entirely human?" Buffy remembered.
"And I'm still trying to find out where their cybernetic enhancements originated." Petey told them, "All seven of them have some very unique modifications."
"Petey, where the hell could they get this technology?" Xander asked. "From what I can get from Tagon's admittedly sketchy memories, at the earliest this is late 21st or early 22nd century technology."
"I know, Captain." Petey acknowledged. "Either someone else has access to future technology or..."
"Off world." Xander muttered. "Just great, another alien? That might explain the weird monsters that I read about."
"Perhaps, Sir." Petey nodded. "I've been back tracking legends involving demons and found an ancient legend from mainland Asia about a god that challenged an enemy from another land and lost. Supposedly his sky vehicle fell into the great eastern sea."
"How long ago?" Buffy asked.
"If my calculations are correct," Petey told them, "About the same time that Ra was driven out of Egypt."
"Well, damn." Xander shook his head, "Okay, how much time do we have?"
"The trip should take about two hours and fifteen minutes."
"SG-1?" Buffy asked.
"Yep," Xander nodded, "Petey, call SG-Command, see if they can contact the Tokra and the Asgard. See if anyone has any info about a Goa'uld that uses cybernetics."
"Yes, Sir."
"General Hammond? There's a call on the secure line. It's Captain Harris."
"Oh?" General Hammond felt a slight sinking sensation in the general vicinity of his stomach at that simple statement. Steeling his courage, the Commander of SG-Command picked up the phone. "Captain Harris?"
"Hey General." The cheery voice of the Commander of the *the* most powerful Terran force ever, answered, "I need a favor."
"You know you just have to ask." General Hammond said a bit warily.
"Nothing requiring military assistance." Xander reassured him.
General Hammond released a sigh of relief upon hearing that. That feeling of relief was shortlived as Xander continued.
"I need you to contact the Tokra and the Asgard. I've got find out if there were any Goa'uld on Earth during the time of Ra that used cybernetic enhancements."
"Cyber..." General Hammond mentally reviewed a few reports he'd received from the agencies allied to SG-1, then he made the match. "You're in Japan?"
"You've already heard from Director Aramaki then?" Xander asked.
"Just general reports." General Hammond admitted, "You suspect Goa'uld activity?"
"It was just something Petey dug up that suggests it." Xander told him, "I think that whoever it was took on Ra and failed."
"We'll get right on it." General Hammond promised.
"Great!" Xander smiled, "Oh yeah! I thought I should also let you know that Petey's got the Guardian ready for launch."
"The Guardian?" General Hammond frowned.
"Our second Thunderhead Superfortress." Xander explained. "The other one is going to be called the Sentinel."
"I see." General Hammond replied, "I assume that this one is being lent to SG Command?"
"Along with four riderships." Xander informed him, "The Hector, The Bonadventure, The Roger Young and the Concord."
"That's very generous of you." General Hammond said gratefully.
"Just keep that bastard Anubis away from the Earth until I'm really ready for him." Xander told him.
"Ready for him?" General Hammond couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.
"We're working on a plan." Xander told him, "I just need some time to finalize the details."
"We'll get it for you." General Hammond promised him.
"Thanks," Xander replied.
"As soon as we hear from the Tokra, we'll contact you."
"The sooner the better."
"Whoa," Buffy eyed the rustic village, "I thought that villages like this only existed in picture books."
"Almost no modern conviences," Xander told her, "No phones or cell service. Very isolated."
"Perfect if you want to avoid someone with Hi-tech surveillance." Buffy finished.
"And there's the house we're looking for." Xander pointed to the small cottage off to one side of the village.
"Huh," Buffy smiled, "Motorcycles? The Civilian group must really like them."
"I'll say." Xander said as Buffy parked the Skyline next to the Yellow Sidecar equipped Motorcycle.
As they climbed out of the car, Buffy noticed an older Japanese woman step out to greet them. She saw the woman's face light up as Saburo Kaneda stepped off his motorcycle.
"Masaru!" The woman exclaimed as the hugged the young man.
"Okay," Buffy frowned, "Did I miss something here?"
As Sgt. Kaneda stiffened in her grasp, the woman pulled back and with a slight look of pain, apologized. "Gomen, Saburo."
"Don't worry about it." Sgt. Kaneda brushed it off. "I see one of my brothers is here."
The woman frowned as Sgt. Kaneda used english, then she noticed Buffy and Xander standing there. Turning to face them, she bowed and again apologized. Her English only slightly accented. "Gomen Nesai. I am Mitsuko Komyoji. You must be the people that Saburo told me about."
Buffy nodded, "I'm Buffy Summers."
"Xander Harris, It is an honor to meet you." Xander managed in just barely passable Japanese. "We hoped to speak to your father."
Mistuko's face saddened at his request. "I'm sorry, but my father passed away several years ago."
"Captain, I don't have any records of Den Komyoji passing away." Petey whispered through the private link. "Although if it occurred in a remote area, there may not have been any..."
"Petey?" Xander whispered back.
"Section Nine has his death certificate on file." Petey told him, "They had it mislabeled and low-level encrypted to hide it. They're sneakier than I expected, hiding as a miscellaneous expense report."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Xander apologized. "We hoped too..."
"Saburo has already explained what you are looking for." Mitsuko managed a wan smile. "Please, step inside and join us for dinner. Afterwards we can discuss your request further."
"Arigato." Buffy used one of the few words she'd mastered as she stepped into the small home.
As they entered the house, Xander noted the two men practically standing guard, watching them. Neither seemed hostile so he just nodded to them as they sat down.
"Miss Summer. Mr. Harris." Mistuko began introducing everyone. "This is Komyoji Jiro and, Hongo Takeshi."
"Captain," Petey interuppted, "I can't find any references to a Jiro Komyoji anywhere."
"Hmm." Xander managed not to let anything show. "Sgt. Kaneda, I'm curious. Why didn't you inform me that you already knew the Komyojis?"
"That was my decision," Mitsuko told him as she brought in the first dish. She waved off, Xander and Buffy's abortive offer to help her. "Mas... Saburo told me he believed that you wouldn't misuse father's work. But I wished to meet you myself before I made any decisions."
"Captain," Petey again interjected, "Masaru Komyoji's death certificate is also in Section Nine's records. There has been a concerted effort to hide this family's existence from everyone."
"I see." Xander smiled, "I hope we haven't disappointed you."
"Not so far." Mitsuko returned his smile, before gesturing to the table. "Please, enjoy."
"Arigato." Xander said before picking up his chopsticks. As he expertly grabbed a piece of meat, he was for once thankful for all the Chinese takeout that his mother had ordered for dinner.
The meal was accompanied by comfortable banter between everyone. The high point of the meal for Xander was the look on Hongo Takeshi's face when Buffy mistakenly asked about the Power Rangers. That, and the coughing laughter from Shin Kazama put a pleased smile on both Xander and Mitsuko's face. The pleasant atmosphere didn't cause Xander to miss the fact that while both Jiro and Saburo sat at the table and joined in the conversation, neither even reached for any food, much less ate any.
"Is there something wrong?" Xander asked them, nodding to food.
"I'm afraid, that neither my brother nor I would gain any benefit from eating." Jiro explained.
"I see." Xander said, still a bit confused. After several seconds, he finally realized why and his eyes widened a bit. "Oh."
"Spill." Buffy told him.
"After dinner." Xander promised.
When the meal was finally finished, Mitsuko couldn't prevent her two guests from assisting her with the cleaning. Their insistence on helping certainly raised them higher in Mitsuko's evaluation of their character. Once the dishes were done, Mitsuko sighed and asked. "Now, why did you want to speak to my father?"
"Maybe we should sit down for this." Xander sighed back. He'd been talking with Buffy using the silent communications system and they'd come to a decision about how much to reveal. "It may take a while."
"Incoming wormhole!" The announcement over the PA got everyone up and running. General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill were the first through the door, followed closely by Major Carter. The Airman turned and informed them, "It's the Tokra, Sir."
"Open the Iris." The General ordered.
"Please don't let it be..."
That was as far as O'Neill managed to get before two familiar figures stepped through the Stargate. O'Neill sighed, "Damn."
"Dad!" Carter smiled as she headed out of the control room.
"Sam!" Jacob Carter returned his daughter's smile. "We heard you needed some information and I happened to have some time."
"Good to see you again, Jacob." O'Neill smiled, then he turned to the female tokra accompanying him, "Hi, Anise."
"O'Neill" Anise smile was almost predatory.
"Let me guess." O'Neill smirked. "You decided to come out of the goodness of your heart."
"Just call it idle curiosity." Anise replied.
"Let's take this into the briefing room." Jacob told everyone.
"Right" O'Neill nodded.
"Now," Selmac took over conversing with the SG crew. "You wanted information about a Goauld that uses cybernetic enhancements, correct?"
"Exactly," General Hammond nodded, "One of our associate organizations, Section Nine, has been engaged in a clandestine war with an enemy that uses enhanced warriors. According to research, this war may have been going on even longer than we originally suspected."
"And you found a link to the Goauld?" Anise asked.
"Research," Daniel explained carefully avoiding the source of the knowledge, "Pointed to a legend about an Asian god that waged war against a god from a distant land and failed. Supposedly his 'skycraft' fell into the pacific near Japan."
"Raiden." Anise replied, "So he survived."
"You know who we're talking about?" Hammond asked.
"Score one more for Petey." O'Neill whispered to Sam. "Looks like we've got another snake."
"If it is Raiden." Selmac told them, "You've got a major problem. Raiden doesn't rely just on what he's managed to gather, he had others working for him that actually developed new technology."
"Sound's like our man." Daniel noted, "If it is, he's been patient."
"Very," Selmac agreed, "His defeat at Ra's hands might have taught him that."
"We'd better contact Section Nine and warn them." Jack stood, "Thanks."
"Our pleasure," Anise smiled.
As everyone turned to leave, Jacob stopped and turned to his companion, "Anise, if you don't mind, I'd like some time with my daughter and her friends."
"Of course," Anise nodded, "I will inform the others that you are staying."
"Thank you." Jacob smiled, but as soon as the door closed. The smile left the former General's face.
"I've been hearing some disturbing news, Sam." Jacob told her, "The System lords have formed a true alliance. They're about to combine all of their fleets and are planning on sending half of them to engage Anubis."
"Half?" Sam felt a bit of dread, "What about the rest?"
"Will be sent towards the Brothers." Jacob sighed, "There are far too many ships for even your newly upgraded ships to deal with."
"Well," Sam frowned, wondering if she could trust Selmac with the information about the newest additions to the fleet. Finally she decided to ask, "Dad, do you trust Selmac?"
Jacob frowned at the question, "Why would you have to ask...?"
"Please, Dad." Sam repeated herself, "Do you trust Selmac?"
"I trust him, Sam." Jacob informed his daughter. "I trusted him with my life and I'd trust him with yours."
"Good enough," O'Neill nodded, "Selmac, I want your word that what I'm about to tell you won't be repeated to the Tokra unless SG-Command gives you permission to talk."
Jacob's eyes flashed as Selmac took over. "You have my word."
"How many starships does Earth have?"
"Six," Selmac replied, "Four patrolling the Twins space and two actively assisting SG command in operations."
Hammond smiled slightly, "We have at least four more about to be brought on-line and one larger vessel capable of being a carrier for the C-303 class ships."
"The Superfortress?" Selmac asked. "The one that dealt with Anubis' fleet?"
"One like it," Hammond nodded, "Our new allies provided it."
"The Tausenniggans?" Selmac looked concerned. "That the other item I wished to discus with you. We have yet to find any trace of this race anywhere. Where did they come from and why are they providing you with this technology?"
"The where, I can't explain." Hammond admitted, "But the why is simple. Captain Harris is fighting his own war."
"And the ships are in exchange for us helping him in his fight?" Jacob asked, anxious about the idea of Earth getting involved in yet another battle.
"Not exactly." O'Neill told them, "He pretty much just wants us to keep the Goa'uld busy."
"And," Daniel had to add, "For us to keep out his way as well."
"That's it?" Jacob frowned, "I don't get it."
"Jacob," O'Neill sighed, "Trust me, you'll sleep better if you don't know."
"Captain," Petey interrupted Xander's explanation to his potential allies, "I'm detecting several vaguely humanoid, non-organic forms approaching the town through the woods."
"Son of a..." Xander growled as the others looked alarmed, "I just got word, we've got company and I don't think they're friendly."
"Son of a..." Xander growled as the others looked alarmed, "I just got word, we've got company and I don't think they're friendly."
"Shimata!" The four men ran out the door, followed closely by Xander, Buffy and Mitsuko. Outside, they could just make out the inhuman forms exiting the woods.
"Umbra." Mitsuko sighed, "They found us."
Xander ran for the Skyline and pulled three sawed off multi-cannons from the back. He tossed one to Buffy and the other to Saburo, who quietly passed it off to Shin Kazama. Xander paused at that, but then shrugged it off and activated the hood of his armor. Next to him, Buffy did the same.
"Remember me, Kikaida?" The lead creature asked. It looked for all the world like a overgrown anthromorphic ant. "Orange Ant?"
"Orange..." Buffy sighed, "Now that's just lame."
"NANI!?" The Ant creature looked outraged. "How dare you insult me?"
The others took advantage of the momentary distraction by doing something very odd. Takeshi and Jiro both struck very formal poses and shouted.
"HENSHIN"
"CHANGE!"
Saburo didn't say anything; he just pulled a knife from his boot and held it in front of him. As all three changed, Xander grinned, "Okay, now I get the Power Rangers references."
Jiro struck before anyone else could act. Crossing his arms in front of him, he cross chopped the self proclaimed 'Orange Ant' while shouting. "Denji End!"
"What the...?" Xander frowned as sparks flew from the creature before it vanished in an explosion of flame.
"A high level focused EMP Blast." Petey reported, "Very advanced. *I'm* impressed."
"Uh, Xan?" Buffy pointed at the advancing large group of what, to her Power Ranger's acclimated eyes, looked like this villain's versions of Putties. "They can't hurt us but what about Mitsuko?"
"They're not going to get that close." Xander grinned as he raised the Multi-cannon. "Ready?"
"Yep," Buffy raised her own cannon.
"Bye," Xander's singsong farewell and wave caused the enemy troops to stop in their tracks in confusion. There was a loud continuous roar from the cannons and everyone stopped in their tracks as the troops all but vanished into little pieces of colored cloth.
"What the...?" One of the creatures suddenly realized how badly outgunned they were and very carefully began slinking back into the cover of the woods.
"Destroy them!" The leader of the creatures, who looked almost exactly like Saburo's changed form, waved the remaining forces forward.
"Hakaida Red!" Saburo yelled as he drew a pistol from a boot holster. "I thought you and the others were long destroyed!"
"Our Master decided to resurrect us, traitor." Hakaida Red crowed. "I've been given the honor of destroying all of you! Especially you, Hakaida!"
"Our American Allies have a term that applies here." Saburo/Hakaida replied as he opened fire, "BITE ME!"
Hakaida Red suddenly noticed that the pistol Hakaida was holding wasn't the one he remembered. Too bad for him, it was just before the blast that scattered him over the landscape.
The battle didn't last much beyond that. Xander and Buffy introduced the Umbra warriors to rule 37 of the seven rules for highly effective pirates. In less than a minute there were bits and pieces of wiring all over the ground.
"Well that was fun." Xander said joking only a little.
"Petey," Xander frowned, ever since seeing the 'private resort town' that doubled as the home to the Asian hunter teams families, he'd going over the yearly XWB budget. "I've gone over this budget five times now, and I can't find the financing for those special towns that the hunter squads use as home base."
"It's not in the XWB budget, Sir." Petey admitted, "It's part of the Harris Undersea Mining Company's budget."
"The what?" Buffy turned to Xander, "Did you start a new company?"
"Petey?'
"When you started planning phase three, I realized that XWB might not be able to provide the financing within reason. So I took measures."
"What kind of measures?" Xander asked almost dreading the answers.
"I patented this through XWB." Petey projected an odd looking vessel. From the propellers and fins, Xander guessed it was an undersea vehicle. "This is the Sea Track 3000, ocean floor miner."
"Cool." Xander smiled, "How much can it mine?"
"Nothing." Petey shrugged. "It doesn't actually work. I expect that several patent raiders are going insane trying to duplicate what we claim it can do."
"Then what is it supposed to do?" Buffy asked.
"Officially it extracts minerals from the ocean floor and returns the debris back to the floor in an environmentally friendly manner."
Xander examined the vessel, peering underneath he could see the scoop to pick up the minerals. "But this doesn't actually work?"
"Not one bit." Petey shrugged. "It looks like it would work though."
"Okay..." Buffy frowned, "Obviously you're still making money, how?"
"Well, there was a lot of material left over from the fabbing process." Petey replied, "I've been stockpiling it for quite a while now."
"So who's running this company?" Xander asked.
"One of Senator Kinsey's nephews." Petey answered.
"Are you nuts!?" Xander yelled. "You let Kinsey get that close to one of our operations!?"
"There's an old proverb that still applies even in the 3Oth century." Petey informed him, "Keep your friends close..."
"...and your enemies closer." Xander finished. "So, what does Kinsey get out of this?"
"The Senator is planning on making a bid for Vice-President in the upcoming elections." Petey told them, "And running for President after that. He's getting a ten percent cut of the company's profits for his warchest."
"Hmmm..." Xander frowned, "Is that legal?"
"I had to do some creative bookkeeping," Petey acknowledged, "But in the end, yes completely legal."
"So I don't have to worry about an IRS audit then?" Xander asked remembering Cordelia's Father's problems.
"We've been deliberately understating all of our deductions for both companies." Petey told him, "If the IRS ever did do an audit, they'd be really upset at the size of the extra refund we'd get."
Both Buffy and Xander laughed at the image that conjured up. Then curiosity got the better of Buffy. "Petey, exactly how much is Xander worth?"
"Well," Petey pulled up the latest figures. "Counting all assets, liquid and long term... five hundred fifty four million give or take a few hundred thousand."
"Five...?" Buffy goggled. Since Petey was way better at financial details than any accountant in the world. None of them were really paying attention to the fiscal end of being part of XWB. They all knew that they had money but most of the time, they didn't even bother checking the balances in their accounts. "How much am I worth?"
"Just shy of one hundred and fifty."
"Thousand?" Buffy guessed.
"Million."
"Whoa!" Buffy whistled as she fell backwards into the couch. "Xan...? Xander?"
When she didn't get a response, Buffy glanced over to where Xander was. The young man was just sitting there staring ahead in shock. Concern overwhelmed her feelings of being overwhelmed and she got up and walked over to him. "Xan?"
"Petey, I think you broke him."
"I suggest something to distract him from the shock."
"Hmm?" Buffy frowned then her eyes lit up. She leaned in and started whispering in Xander's ear. Petey kept his pickups low so that he couldn't hear the conversation. But he did hear bits and pieces of it. The words, 'Twinkies', 'chocolate sauce' and 'handcuffs', were overheard. Petey decided that he didn't want to even consider the bedroom habits of the these two and activated the privacy channel.
"Master," The only one of the Umbra creatures to escape the battle groveled before the ultimate leader of their organization. "We have failed."
"And yet you live." The leader growled, his eyes flashed white for a brief moment. "Explain this to me, Gold bat."
"The Riders have a new ally."
"I already know about Section Nine." The Leader raised his hand towards the groveling android.
"Not Section Nine." Gold Bat replied, staying his master's hand. "These warriors had weapons far beyond what the other humans have. "They destroyed the entire force in less than a minute."
"That is disturbing." The leader didn't lower his arm, "Now explain how you survived."
"1 recorded the battle to my memory." The Android defended himself "I knew that we had no chance of victory and attempted to get every bit of information back to you."
"And you expect this to save you?"
"No, Master." More groveling accompanied his reply, "I accept any punishment you deem deserving. I just beg that you view the battle before destroying me."
"Show me.'
The Android opened a panel in its abdomen and connected a cable from the monitor panel next to his master's throne. The main monitor lit up and the images of the battle appeared on the screen. It actually began as the force left the woods and approached the house. When the enemy appeared, the recording zoomed in on the pair of Gaijin who grabbed some very heavy looking rifles from a vehicle.
"Harris!?" A voice sounded from the shadows. Gold Bat turned and peered into the darkness. A young man, a gaijin from the looks of him, was standing behind his master.
"You know him?" Their master turned.
"Yah," The young man stepped forward. "He's from my home town, his name is Xander Harris. From what I heard he's made a fortune selling cutting edge technology."
"I see." The Leader turned back to the monitor. "So which one of my enemies are you?"
"Master?" Gold Bat looked puzzled.
"You did well, Gold Bat. Your information outweighs your failure, so you may live."
"Thank you, Master." Gold Bat disconnected himself and quickly left the room.
"Harris, very interesting. Dr. Walsh had very detailed notes on Mr. Harris and company."
"On Harris?" The young man stepped out of the shadows. "He's a total goof. I don't get how he managed to build such a successful company."
"That is a puzzle isn't it." The Leader frowned, "Mr. Mears?"
"Yes, My Lord Raiden?" The young man, afraid he somehow had offended his new boss, bowed low.
"How far along are you in reconstructing Dr. Walsh's work?"
"I've managed to duplicate all of the cybernetics." Warren replied, "But I'm still having some trouble making the demonic and human parts to be compatible with each other. If I had more complete data..."
"The remnants are all we managed to salvage from that operation." Raiden reminded him. "A pity about Adam though. He would have been a great asset."
"I did manage to recompile some of Adam's programming." Warren told the Goauld. "I don't think that Dr. Walsh was all there. Adam's programming was really insane."
"A pity." Raiden turned to glance in the shadows. "Of course he was just a prototype. I'm glad Dr. Walsh managed to smuggle me the final product before her unfortunate demise. Isn't that right, Lilith?"
"Yes, My Lord." Warren suppressed a shudder as Lilith stepped out of the shadows. The androids were scary in an almost comical way. Even in their humanoid forms they looked a bit weird. But Lilith, she was just... Warren couldn't really find a word for her. She looked beautiful, he had to admit that. But something about her just freaked him. Maybe it was her eyes, Warren could swear that she saw him the same way a shark saw a tasty seal.
"So," Warren barely managed to keep the stammer from his voice. "What shall we do, Master?"
"Patience." Raiden smiled. "We observe and wait. I want to know which one of my enemies I may be facing."
"Yes, Master." Warren again bowed.
Buffy threw open the door to her home and shouted, "We're home!"
"Hello dear." Joyce Summers smiled as her daughter dumped several pieces of luggage onto the floor. "I thought you were heading for Washington?"
"We cut things short to attend the launching of the Guardian." Buffy explained, then her voice quavered just a little. "And... and what the hell did Petey mean your treatment worked perfectly? What treatment?"
"I asked Petey not you tell you about that!" Joyce looked outraged.
"He didn't!" Buffy countered, "At least not at first. Miss Calander was going over the medical reports for the Hunter teams and found your records by accident. What treatment, mom?"
Joyce sighed, " Petey found a small tumor during my last medical checkup. It turned out to be benign and easily treatable by 30th century standards. I'm fine."
Buffy stood staring at her mother for several seconds, the lunged forward and grabbed her mother in a nearly painful hug. "Mom!"
"It's all right, baby." Joyce gently stroked her daughter's hair. "Both the auto-doc, and my real doctor have given me a clean bill of health. I'm fine."
"I'm sorry." Buffy half sobbed. "I'm just..."
"Scared." Joyce said as softly as she could. "It's all right. You don't have to apologize for worrying." "Now where's Xander?"
"Outside, he wanted to give us some time alone." Buffy said as she wiped her eyes.
"Is it safe to come in now?" Xander asked, poking his head into the room.
"Yes," Buffy managed a giggle, "Your manliness is safe from all the touch-feely emotional stuff."
"Oh good." Xander grinned as he entered the room, hiding something behind him. "And guess who Aunty Willow was bringing back from her walk in the park?"
"Momma!" The little girl almost threw herself at Buffy and was caught up in a sweeping hug.
AN: I gotta thank Ed Becerra for not only the idea about the asteroid minerals but the info on asteroid mining as well. Plus several ideas that I've put into parts of the story already.
"Okay," Xander's mind was still boggling over the sheer size of the vault that Petey had built near the space dock. "You're telling me that even with the amounts of material we're pouring into the Mars base and the starships that we've got tons of silver, gold, platinum and titanium in our stores?"
"And cobalt, osmium, zinc, iron, silicon..."
"I get it now!" Xander stopped Petey from giving him a full rundown of the valuable components of the asteroids that had been mined. "How much is that vault worth?"
"I'm not really sure I should tell you that when Miss Summers isn't around, Sir."
"That means a lot, doesn't it?"
"If we were to dump all on the market at one time, we'd probably cause a massive crash."
"Whoa!" Xander blinked. "Okay, I can't figure that one out in my head. How much?"
"I estimate that by the time we're done with production of the fleet and the Mars base. The remaining metals and valuable minerals will allow us to pay off the National debt with money to spare."
"Petey..."
"Assuming we're just talking what's left over after building and that we don't process the ore just for profit?" Petey shrugged, "Nearly a trillion dollars overall."
"Wha....?" Xander managed just before tripping over his own feet. "OW! ! !"
"Sorry, Sir." Petey said as sincerely as possible.
"A trillion?" Xander said from the floor. "I can't even think that high."
Then he began thinking about it, "Pay off the nation debt? We can actually do that?"
"In the long term, yes sir." Petey nodded. "But unless you want to severely damage the world market, I wouldn't suggest just dumping it all at once."
"Got it." Xander climbed back to his feet. "So, how much can we put on the market without messing up the economy?"
"Enough to finance any plans you can come up with." Petey assured him, "We can probably even finance private space exploration if we had to."
"Huh," Xander gazed out of the window to see the upper deck of the Guardian. "I thought we were already doing that."
"I guess we are in a way." Petey agreed.
Bridge of the Guardian. About the same time
"O'Neill, when you told me about the size of these ships, I wasn't sure if I should believe you." Colonel Chekov exclaimed. "But now... If anything you were being too conservative about the size."
"Yeah," Jack looked around the bridge. "I wonder how much firepower this baby has?"
"This ship with its entire payload of non-teraport based weapons, along with the other C-303 class vessels should be just about a match for the Goauld fleet being gathered against you." Petey appeared next to them.
"Dammit, Petey! !" Jack jumped slightly as the AI popped in. "Don't do that!"
"I was just answering your question." Petey said innocently, "And I thought you might want to meet the AI for the ship."
"You are not the AI?" The Colonel asked.
"No," Petey replied, "The clone nodes will operate the 303's but each Superfortress will be equipped with its own AI."
"May I introduce myself?" The hologram of a Knight appeared. "I am Guardian's AI, Torm."
"Torm?" Jack frowned, "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Unfortunately," Petey sighed, "Captain Harris was a bit distracted when Jonathan asked about 'helping' me design the basic template of the Al."
"Jon..." Jack remembered where he heard the name. Andrew and several members of the technical teams were arguing about some kind of... "He was patterned after a deity in a game!?"
"Yes." Torm replied, "And actually Andrew made an excellent choice. My core personality is actually almost perfectly suited to the duties I have been assigned."
"And what exactly is that?" Colonel Chekov asked.
"To serve Captain Harris to best of my abilities." Torm replied.
"How does..." jack started before Torm continued.
"And to protect this world and her allies with everything at my disposal, even if it means my own destruction."
"Okay, on the same page now." jack smiled. "So, does either of you know how many of these ships Harris has planned?"
"Besides the Protector which goes online in a week or so? Four more Thunderheads, Ten Prometheus class." Petey told them, "And at least two of the McNally class, as well."
"Any chance of us getting one..."
"Sorry, Colonel O'Neill." Torm smiled, "For the foreseeable future, Captain Harris wishes to keep the McNallys under his control."
"Well, I'm still wondering." Colonel Chekov asked, "Who is being given command of the Guardian?"
"That decision is being left up to SG-Command." Torm replied.
"Will the McNally be ready if the Goauld attack?" Jack asked.
"It should be fully functional by the time the Goauld fleet arrives." Torm assured him. "We will not let them have the Earth and its people."
"I'm beginning to like him." Colonel Chekov smiled.
"I think I agree with you." Jack smiled. "So. you said four more Thunderheads? Have they been named yet?"
"Well," Torm sighed, "Thankfully Captain Harris managed to quell his own geek tendencies and didn't name them the Andromeda Ascendant or the Excelsior."
"Or gave into Jonathan and Andrew." Petey added.
"Why?" Jack started to ask, then sighed, "Let me guess, They wanted to name it the Milleneum Falcon?" Petey just grinned, "The Captain decided on the Defender, The Slayer. The Paladin and the Liberty."
"I know that the first of the battleships is going to be called the McNally," Colonel Chekov asked still curious, "But what about the second one?"
"I believe that Captain Harris has settled on the Merrick."
"Who?" Jack frowned.
"Buffy Summers first Watcher." Petey told him, "He died in Los Angeles shortly after she was called."
"So the McNally class is going to be named after the people..."
"Who died facing the dark." Petey nodded.
"That is another thing I wished to speak to you about." Colonel Chckov turned to Jack. "I called you some rather unpleasant names when you told me about the demons and I wish to apologize about that."
"Nah," Jack shrugged, "You didn't say anything I didn't expect to hear. Does this mean you got your empirical evidence?"
"A rather large group of something called Polgara Demons decided that a remote mining camp would make a good snack." Colonel Chekov shrugged, "Fortunately for the Miners, I had some of my men on a training patrol. Those things were not pleasant to look at."
"Not as ugly as a Slime Demon." Jack shrugged, "But yeah, they're ugly."
"Since you are here." Colonel Chekov turned to Petey, "When will Captain Harris be arriving?"
"He's in the space dock now." Petey told him, "And should be on the Bridge in a few minutes."
"Good, My government wishes to award him a medal for his actions in Tazikastan." Colonel Chekov told them, "And to offer him a contract."
"What sort of a contract?" Petey asked as Jack looked slightly alarmed.
"It actually concerns Harris Undersea mining."
"You want us to open an office in Russia." It wasn't a question.
"We'll even forgo most of your taxes in exchange for a share of the metal." Colonel Chekov informed him.
"I'm certain we can work out an equitable arrangement." Petey told him.
"Dear God," General Lydecker couldn't help but gawk at the sheer size of the landing bay of the Guardian. "This is bay is big enough for a 303."
"Two of them actually." Xander said from behind them. "And if you're wondering, there are four bays."
"Four?" Lydecker glanced around again, "What the hell do you need four bays this big for?"
"Fighters and Tanks." Xander shrugged, "The Thunderhead wasn't just a battleship, it was a force projection device. A battleship and Carrier and Troopship all combined into one."
"Son of a..." Lydecker muttered softly. He hadn't really been invited to the party. Captain Harris told SG-Command that anyone who was in the know could come to the launching ceremony and Lydecker had managed to get onboard as part of Kinsey's group. Now his mind was racing over the possibilities Captain Harris represented. He examined the young man standing there waiting patiently. "I understand you wanted to speak to me about Manticore?"
"I've got my concerns about the Chimera part." Xander told him, "For instance, what will happen to the failures?"
"You mean the ones whose development isn't up to Manticore standards?" Lydecker shrugged, "I'm not sure, we're still years from that stage."
"This is when you should be thinking about that." Xander sighed, "Not making it up as you go along..."
Xander paused for a second, "I can't believe I just said that."
"One of the Hazards of command." Lydecker smiled slightly, "If you're any good at it, you start thinking about long term."
"So why aren't you?"
"Unless you give us the soldier boosts," Lydecker replied, "I'll be long retired by the time Manticore is up and running. If things work out, my son will be responsible for finalization of the project."
"I'm still considering whether giving anyone the soldier boosts is a good idea." Xander admitted, "Petey tells me that the Manticore project might equal the soldier boosts but he's sure that unless you get the engineering right, you're going to have side effects."
"That is a risk." Lydecker nodded, "But I still believe the rewards will outweigh that."
Petey frowned as the data from the Potekim's Clone node was analyzed. He queried the other node clones, and except for the Enterprise, the data discrepancy was always the same. After careful analysis, he came to the conclusion that the two memories cores showing the discrepancy had only one thing in common, both had been Insystem during the last week.
He glanced over to where Captain Harris, accompanied by Generals Hammond, Lydecker along with Senator Kinsey, was just entering the Bridge. Deciding not to bring the discrepancy up in front of people who might exploit it, or distract the Captain from what looked like a serious conversation, Petey decided to contact the other member of the crew affected by the information.
"Hello, Miss Summers. I need to speak to you in private." Petey told the Slayer over the com link.
"Captain." Petey interrupted Xander's discussion with Colonel Chekov. "Miss Summers is requesting that you meet her on the Spacedock observation deck."
"Okay, thanks Petey." Xander acknowledged before turning to make his apologies. "Sorry to interrupt the discussion, Colonel."
"Not at all," Colonel Chekov nodded, "We can continue this discussion at a more opportune time."
"Why don't you stop in at XWB when you get the time?" Xander said, "We can hash out the details then."
"Of course."
As he walked down the corridors of the Guardian, Xander mulled over the talk he's had with General Lydecker and Colonel Chekov.
It had started with the two soldiers discussing various actions they'd been in over the years and the talk had taken a tangent to people who'd been awarded the highest honors in their respective countries. Xander was a bit awed by some of the stories of sacrifice the two career soldiers told him. By the time the transport pod was leaving the bay, Xander made his decision.
"Petey, I need you to do a data search."
"Parameters?"
"I want you to find me military people who have received their Nation's highest honor." Xander told him, "Concentrate on those who won the award posthumously."
"I have your list, sir." Petey informed him. "It's rather long."
"All right," Xander nodded, "We'll discuss the renaming of the next group of Thunderheads and BC-303s after I've had a chance to go over the info."
"Yes, Sir." Petey sounded approving. "I'm a bit surprised that you didn't do that from the first. After all you did name one of the 303's the Roger Young."
"Umm," Xander looked embarrassed, "That was Jono's suggestion, he said it was from some book called Starship Troopers."
"Hmm," Petey mused, "Sir, do you have your data pad with you?"
"Sure," Xander pulled the small pad from his pocket.
"You might want to know the history of the real person behind that name."
Xander turned the pad on and started reading. "Is this accurate?"
"Reported and documented by Young's Commanding officer shortly after the incident."
"Wow." Xander frowned, "I wish I knew that before we named the others."
"We can always rechristen the ships when they come in for upgrading." Petey told him.
"Maybe," Xander sighed, "But we are going to name the remaining ships with appropriate names."
"Yes, Sir." Petey sounded approving.
"Hey," Xander asked, "Why does Buffy want to see me anyway?"
"I think it might be best to wait until you're with her before I answer that."
"Okay, that means it's bad." Xander sighed.
"Actually, I'm not certain what it means yet myself." Came the honest reply.
"Hey G-Man!" Xander smiled as he saw the father figure for the Scoobies sitting next to Buffy. The smile faded as he saw the serious looks on their faces. "Okay, this is bad right?"
"We know yet." Giles admitted then turned to the A.I. "Petey, it might be best if you show him."
"Very well." Petey nodded and the Observation Deck shimmered and became XWB's main staging area. When Fitz started talking, Xander realized it was during the visit of the speech robbing 'Gentlemen'. After a few seconds he and Buffy 'arrived' for the meeting.
"Sorry we're late." The image of Buffy said as they grabbed their gear. "Had to drop Dawnie off with Petey first."
"I don't get it." Xander asked, "This what happened, so what's wrong with it?"
"Because this is the recording from the Clone node on the Potemkin." Petey told him as the hologram reset.
Everything played out the same as before until he and Buffy arrived. This time they entered and it was Xander that spoke. "Okay, G-man. Who are they and how do we kill them?"
"WAIT!" Xander shouted, "What the hell?"
"That's what's wrong." Petey told him. "Every mention of Dawn is missing from the four clone nodes in the ships that were on patrol in the Brother's section of space."
"So someone got them?" Xander frowned, "Wait... That doesn't make sense, why tamper with data concerning Dawnie?"
"As much as it pains me to admit it." Petey told them, "I don't know. But there is more."
"Petey?" Buffy asked, "You didn't mention more."
"I was awaiting confirmation from SG Command." Petey explained. "I had to work through General Hammond and Doctor Frasier to prevent anyone from getting overly suspicious."
"Okay," Xander nodded, "Hammond's a pretty straight up guy. What were you confirming?"
"General Hammond. Colonel O'Neill and the rest of SG-1 remember meeting Dawn." Petey told them, "But SG-9 assigned to the Prometheus didn't."
"Wait," Buffy frowned, "Sg-9 is commanded by Captain Nolan right?"
"And Nolan met Dawnie when we refitted the Prometheus." Xander frowned, "This has got to be magic right?"
"Possibly." Giles nodded, "It w... would explain things."
"So someone has plans for out little girl?" Buffy frowned, "We..."
Her voice trailed off as she heard the distinct sound of Xander's BH-250 warming up. "Xan?"
"If someone intends to hurt Dawnie," Xander holstered his plasma gun, "I'm going to introduce them to Rules 27 and 34."
"A - bloody - men." Giles agreed.
"Oh God, They're right behind us." The young girl cried as she glanced behind her. She and her companion were running through a deserted area of town as fast as their legs could carry them. "What are they!?"
"I told you..." Her companion's voice trailed off in mid-sentence.
"Brian?" The girl looked around and saw nothing.
"You know," A black armored figure stepped out of the shadows on the side of the street. "We haven't had any of you this stupid in quite a while."
"Please," The girl half sobbed. "You're making a mistake."
"God," Another armored figure came up behind her, "That's just pathetic."
The girl heard a soft puffing sound from the rifle the new figure was carrying and felt the pinprick stings in her arms and legs. Then she began screaming. "IT BURNS!"
As smoke started to pour from the girl's body, she fell into dust. Fitzhugh raised his visor and glanced down at the modified dart gun in his hands. "Petey, tell Captain Harris that the Holy Water hypodart works perfectly."
"I'm monitoring you on the remote feed." Xander informed him, "Cass you've yourself earned another bonus'."
"Rog..." Fitz paused as a small pulse of light caught is eye. "Did you see that?"
"Yeah," The other armored figure raised her visor, and walked over to the pulse. She bent over to examine a small globe. "Looks like some kind of kid's toy."
"Careful, Cass." Fitz warned, "Let the remote check it out first."
Cassandra Wilcox, the Chief Armorer for the squads stationed in Sunnydale frowned as she lowered her visor again. "EM, IR, UV. All Negative. This thing's glowing without any visible power source."
"Hmm," They heard Petey reply, "I'm contacting SARA."
"Sarah?" Cass asked.
"Supernatural Archive Research Assistant." Fitz replied, "Rupert Giles' new Al database for mystical items."
"The Neo-Luddite actually got a computer?" Cass chuckled. "Why not use..."
Cass heard the soft chirp that indicate privacy mode. "Petey has this quirk about Ghosts, so Miss Calendar and Mr. Giles decided to create an AI strictly to handle the supernatural database."
"But doesn't Petey deal with the supernatural all the time?"
"They don't want to push the denial command any harder than they have to." Fitz shrugged, "So they had Petey design a research AI and loaded everything they could into its memory."
"Sara confirms it's a Dagon Sphere." Petey told them, "Protective magic, I recommend you bring it in for closer examination."
"Well," Cass smiled as she picked up the small glowing sphere, "At least they didn't download a demon into Sara."
"A what?" Fitz asked as Cass headed back to their vehicle.
"You never heard that story?" Cass laughed, "About how they scanned a demon into the internet?"
"You're pulling my leg." Fitz started to laugh as well.
"I kid you not."
"Okay," Buffy asked, "Who won the pool?"
"Willow and Oz," Xander shrugged, "Petey found them a Vampire's nest near the old church."
"So we're buying the takeout for tomorrow." Willow beamed.
"Is it just me," Kendra asked, "Or is there something wrong with that?"
"It's not you." Jonathan smiled, "Money doesn't mean much too this group. At least not in the usual way. So bragging rights goes to whoever bought the most meals for the group during the month."
"I think I see." Kendra looked dubious. "Where are Sergeant Fitzhugh and his team?"
"They had a couple of rabbits." Walters told them, "Pair of leeches took off running when Fitz took out their companion. Must have been newbs, they didn't keep to the areas where the remotes go wonky."
"They should be here soon." Xander told them, "They're bringing in something weird. A
Sphere of Bacon? Or was that Bagon?"
"The correct term is a Sphere of Dagon." Sara's soft voice corrected him.
"A Dagon Sphere?" Giles started polishing his glasses, "Oh dear."
"Okay Sara," Buffy frowned, "What is it?"
"A Dagon Sphere is a defensive ward created to protect against a demon called 'the one who cannot be named'."
"Any relation to the man with no name?" Xander asked.
"Xander!" Buffy sighed.
"C'mon Buff." Xander replied, "A title like that is just asking to be mocked."
In a mock solemn voice, he intoned, "I am the one who cannot be named, brother to you know who from the land of you know where."
"We get your point." Giles tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile.
"Sounds like that guy from that series that Giles gave me." Willow smiled.
"I really doubt that this 'no name' is anywhere as cuddly as moldwarts." Buffy replied.
"Petey?" Xander frowned, "Anything out of the ordinary in town?"
"The usual assortment of supernatural entities." Petey replied, "Wait. That's new."
"What?" Buffy asked.
"Several demons," Petey projected an image of a short robed demon. "Accompanying what Captain Harris would consider a very pretty woman into a building."
"Wait a minute." Buffy frowned, "Accompanying? Not chasing?"
"Actually," Petey sounded a little confused, "I think she's in charge. Very odd."
The image changed to the grainier realtime feed. The Blonde was obviously shouting orders to the practically groveling demons. As they watched, the demons began carrying several trunks out of the vehicle next to the building.
"I wonder what's in the boxes?" Fitz frowned, "Weapons maybe?"
Xander sighed as Buffy and all of the girls laughed.
"What's so funny?" Walters asked.
"Girl that looks like that?" Xander asked, "What else would she have in those trunks... Gotta be clothes."
"Clothes." Buffy agreed.
"Yep." Willow nodded.
"Even I knew that one." Jonathan told him.
"Petey," Xander turned back to the Al. "Plant a bug in their place. I want to know whether she's harmless or a threat. Although I'm leaning towards betting she's another big bad, maybe even Miss 'No Name'."
"On it, Captain." Petey replied.
"Giles." Buffy turned to her Watcher. "I think you'd better call the jerk. I think we're going to need their connections to find out what this 'no name' person is and why they're so feared."
"I... I'll get right on it." Giles assured her.
"Hey, G-man." Xander frowned, having Kaff (Needs a Clue Hammer to the Head) Tagon's memories didn't really help here, but both of them had a real dislike for coincidences, "Could this 'no name' and what's happening with the Clone nodes files be connected somehow?"
"I'm not certain," Giles admitted. "But we shouldn't rule anything out yet."
"GILES!" Buffy yelled as she tore into the Meeting room at XWB, totally ignoring the fact that the room was empty. "Tell Travers to get his butt over here now!"
"Buffy?" Giles and Miss Calendar walked out her office and walked into the meeting room. "What's going on?"
"It... It's..." Buffy slid into a chair and started crying. Miss Calender crouched down next to the distraught Slayer and hugged her. All Rupert Giles could do was stand there feeling helpless as the girl he'd come to consider his daughter broke down.
"Hey Giles." Xander said when he walked in a few minutes later.
"Don't..." Giles began automatically before catching the down tone in Xander's voice. "What happened?"
"Buffy and me decided to check out that warehouse where Fitz found the Dagon Sphere." Xander told him. "We found Blondie torturing some monk. She didn't appreciate our interuption. Kept talking about some kind of key."
"A key?" Miss Calender frowned as Buffy sobbed again, "A key to what?"
"The monk wasn't to coherent about that." Xander told them, "All I managed to get out of him before we got him to Petey was that the Key was energy and they sent it to the people most able to protect it."
"Sent it?" Giles frowned, "I don't..."
"They made it human." Xander told him.
"Human?" Giles frowned as the tried to digest the information he'd been given, then his eyes widened as the pieces fit into place. "Oh Dear Lord."
"Now what's going on?" Roger Wyndham-Price asked as he entered the Council Chambers. "And whose bright idea was it to call a meeting this early?"
"I'm afraid that was my doing." Rupert Giles apologized, "It's quite urgent."
"Rupert?" Roger Wyndham-Price felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The last time Rupert Giles entered the Council Headquarters, they had been very neatly neutered by one of the former Watcher's proteges. "Why are you here?"
"We need all the information the Council can uncover on a demon calling herself Glorificus."
"You could have simply called for the information." Quentin Travers told him. "We haven't held anything back from your end since we made our agreement."
"I'm aware of that, Quentin." Giles replied, "But Xander felt that a personal visit would lend weight to the urgency of the request."
"I see," Stane shook his head slightly, "I was of the opinion that Mr. Harris held us in contempt."
"As you know," Giles reminded the Council, "Xander reviewed all of the Councils reports with Petey just before he decided to take over. His only real complaint with the way you handled things was the treatment of the Slayers."
"I'd like to think that my advice contributed to his decision to leave the Council intact." Giles continued, "But in the end it was his own belief that as researchers, the council has no equal."
"I see," Travers straightened visibly, "And Mr. Harris felt that the information was vital enough to actually send you here in person?"
"Vital enough that if he wasn't so concerned with staying on top of the current situation, Xander would be here himself requesting the information."
A murmur went though the Council Members at that revelation. Finally Quentin Travers coughed politely and announced, "Tell Mr. Harris that the Council will collect whatever information we have and that I will deliver it personally."
"Very good." Giles managed a smile, "I'll leave you to it then."
Once the former watcher left the room, the remaining Council members began talking among themselves.
"So that's what we've been reduced to?" One of the Council complained, "An information service?"
"More like a valuable research asset." Stane told them, "Weren't you listening to Rupert? Harris considered our services so valuable that he would have been willing to come himself."
"Considering how he feels about us personally, that says quite a bit." Travers nodded. "How long will it take to gather the information he wants?"
"At least a few days." Wyndham-Price told him, "Perhaps longer."
"Then perhaps we should put every available man on it." Stane suggested.
The other members gave their assent and Travers sighed, "Very well. Is there any other business that needs our attention?"
"Xander? Petey's..." Buffy peered into their little girl's room to see him sitting next the bed.
"What's wrong?" She asked as she noticed the somber look on his face.
"I should have known that something so perfect couldn't really be mine." Xander said softly as he brushed a stray hair off of his daughter's face.
"What?" Buffy suddenly grabbed Xander by the ear and dragged him out of the room. Xander managed to keep quiet until the door closed behind them.
"OW!" Xander grabbed his now free ear. "What was that for!?"
"That," Buffy said with more than a hint of anger in her voice, "Was to get you out of there before you said something even more stupid!"
"Buff."
"She's ours, Xander." Buffy said emphatically. "I don't care what anyone else says. She's ours. Even if it was a spell, they made her from both of us."
"Us?" Xander replied almost too softly for Buffy to hear him. "Is there an us?"
"What?" Buffy almost growled, "What do you mean?"
"The spell created Dawn." Xander whispered, "What if us is a result of the spell too?"
"Oh for..." Buffy sighed, "I should have guessed that it wasn't just about Dawn."
"Xan." Buffy continued, "You do remember Petey had SG-9 questioned right?"
Xander nodded, not exactly sure what Buffy was driving at.
"He also accessed their files." Buffy continued, "Captain Nolan's personal logs mention that he was warned about staring to long at your girlfriend, one Buffy Summers."
"So..."
"We were a couple before the spell." Buffy shook her head as Xander brightened, "Why didn't you ask... Never mind, I know. You were scared weren't you?"
"Buff," Xander sighed, "You and Dawn are the most perfect parts of my life, the idea that this was all just the spell..."
"Screw that." Buffy swore uncharacteristically as she wrapped her arms around Xander and hugged as hard as she could. "You're mine, I'm yours and Dawnie is ours. I'll fight anyone that says otherwise."
Buffy felt a shudder run though Xander as he relaxed, "We're not going anywhere."
"Now," Buffy' s smile was a bit grimmer than Xander liked, "Petey's finished his surveillance against Miss Blonde Airhead demon and we've got every exit covered. Time to make with the Blam."
Now Xander's smile matched hers. "Let's get Dawnie over to her Uncle Petey's then."
"Minions!" The exiled Hellgoddess screeched as loud thumps echoed through the building she had claimed as hers. "What is that noise? I..."
Before she could finish, the doors to her room shattered inwards as one of her many sycophants was thrown through it.
"Mistress..." The minion, Durg, gurgled. Blood foamed from his mouth as he spoke, "You must flee. They..."
Glory winced as a loud boom echoed in the room. Her Minion's head vanished in an explosion of gooey mass that splattered her dress. "Oh! Whoever you are, that's never going to come off and this was a nice dress!"
"I don't believe you." The armored figure that walked through the ruined door muttered, "We kill one of your servants right in front of you and all you're worried about is how it's going to stain your clothes!?"
"She's a ditz." A second armored form slightly shorter than the first person, asked from just outside the doorway, "Petey already told you that."
"Hey." Glory growled, "I'm going to hurt you now!"
"I don't think so." The first figure raises a pistol and fired.
The rounds ripped through the Hell goddess and blew out the wall behind her. For a second she slumped a little then she growled, "I'm going to rip out your spine!"
"She's tougher than she looks." The smaller one remarked.
"Yeah," The taller one nodded, "PETEY! Plan b!"
"What?" Glory asked just before the two of them closed with her. She threw a punch that was, surprisingly to her, blocked by the smaller one. Before she could strike again, both of them tackled her so hard that they all went through the red brick wall and out into the street.
"Who the hell are you two!?" Glory growled as she picked herself off the asphalt.
"No one you want to know." The taller figure removed his helmet and grinned at her. "NOW PETEY!"
There was a loud sound that caused Glory to spin around in surprise. Behind her a small metallic creature hovered, it waved its spindly arm and in the most annoyingly cheerful tone she'd ever heard, said. "HI!"
There was a flash of light and Glory found herself standing on a desolate red landscape. She tried to take a breath but quickly realized that the air was too thin for her to breathe in. As she gasped and fell to her knees, a small metallic form watched her.
"NO, NOT NOW!" She tried to yell as she felt her control over her body start to slip away. Her body blurred and when the blurring stopped, a young man stood there wearing Glory's dress.
"Well," Petey frowned as he analyzed the data from the teraport drone. "That might be a problem."
He calculated Captain Harris' response to him simply allowing this problem to die on the Martian landscape and sighed. He then calculated the odds of being able to successfully cover up the problem and decided that, given that Captain Harris was watching a live feed from the drone, it was too low to consider. "Oh well."
A quick series of commands to the drone solved the dying part of the problem.
Ben barely had time to register the lack of air, when he suddenly found himself trapped in mid-air, facing a glowing slightly see through Koala bear. "What the hell has she gotten me into now?"
"Okay, Petey." Xander frowned as they walked into the brig of the ship and laid eyes on Ben hovering in midair. "Who's the cross-dresser and why do we have him in a force field?"
"Sir?" Petey frowned, "That's the form Glory took when we captured her. You were watching the live feed right?"
"Sure," Xander nodded, "But... Who is he?"
"Miss Summers?" Petey asked, "You must remember seeing Glory transform into this young man, correct?"
"Nope." Buffy shook her head. "I remember you teraporting Glory to Mars, then you asked us to come to the ship."
"Oh." Petey began running scenarios until he came to the best conclusion and realized that something blocked their memory of Glory becoming Ben. "Bother."
"Petey?" Xander prompted the AI.
"I just had another Homer Simpson moment as you call them, sir." Petey replied, "This young man is apparently Glorificus' host body. There seems to be a spell or other effect that causes anyone witnessing the transformation to forget this fact."
"Say that again?" Buffy asked.
Petey sighed, "Here, let me show you."
They watched as the last few minutes of Glory's capture replayed, there was a moment of shock as Glory transformed and then was teraported into the Zero-Gee brig.
"Okay," Xander frowned, "So you're saying that this guy has some connection to Glory?"
"Not again." Petey sighed, "Miss Summers."
"I..." Buffy frowned, "I know that this guy is important to Glory but I can't remember why."
"Hmm..." Petey pondered the situation. "Sir, May I try something?"
"Go ahead."
"I'm going to continuously play the last 3 minutes of the Glory's capture. There will be a thirty second pause between each playing. When you can remember the entire playback, notify me."
"Got it." They both nodded.
It took six repeated viewing before Buffy responded. After eight, Xander asked, "So there's a connection between Glory and this guy right?"
Petey pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He was about to replay the vid again when Buffy slapped Xander across the back of his head. "Not funny!"
"Okay, okay!" Xander held up his hands. "So is Glory a parasite like the Goauld? Or is she one of those oat things?"
"The word is Symbiote or more correctly symbiont. And I'm not really sure." Petey admitted. "I've been consulting with SARA but even with the information from the Council, we don't have enough evidence either way."
"She's a parasite!" The young man told them, "My name is Ben, and for as long as I can remember she's been ruining my life. You don't know what I've..."
Ben's voice trailed off, then he started to panic. "No... not now."
This time when the transformation was over, Xander looked over at Buffy, "Well, that was just...
"Creepy." Buffy finished for him.
"That's the word all right."
"Let me out of here!" Glory yelled at them, "Durg! Where are you!? Where..."
Buffy noticed the dazed look in Glory's eyes. "What's the matter with her?"
"She's being even more brain dead than usual." Xander agreed. "Petey?"
"Unknown, Sir." Petey replied.
"I need..." Glory paused as though trying to gather her thoughts, "I need... What do I need."
"Okay..." Xander frowned, "She's going bye bye."
SARA appeared next-to Petey, "I'm sorry, Sir. I cannot find any reason for her behavior, either."
Buffy eyed the Lara Croft look-alike's image and whispered to Xander, "I swear if you ever let Andrew and Jonathan design an AI again..."
"There's nothing you can threaten me with that could possibly be worse that what Miss Calendar said she'd do to me."
"Good for her." Buffy nodded.
"Is there something wrong with the way I look?" SARA glanced down at her form, "Mr. Giles seemed to think it was okay."
"I'll bet." Buffy sighed.
"Sir?" Petey interrupted them. "Can we get back on topic?"
"Right." Xander nodded. "Okay, so now what do we do? We can't Nuke her without wasting this Ben guy."
"For now, I've already built a temporary brig on one of the asteroids." Petey told him, "That should make it impossible for her to get away until we can figure something out in regards to Ben."
"It will also insure that Glory will not get free if this ship should have to enter combat." "Do it." Xander nodded.
"We can't keep them trapped forever." Buffy said as they left the brig. "What are we going to do?"
"I wonder if I can give them to the Goauld?" Xander wondered.
"That would be too cruel." Buffy replied, "I mean the Goauld are bad, but c'mon even they don't deserve that."
"Major." Jack O'Neill nodded with a smile, at his second in command as she handed him a cup of coffee.
"Colonel." Sam Carter returned Jack's smile. "You seem to be in a good mood.
"You know, I actually missed this." Jack waved his hand to cover the base camp.
"Sir?"
"Don't get me wrong, Carter." Jack shrugged, "I love the fact that we're kicking the Goauld's butt all over the galaxy. But I missed this."
"This?" Carter frowned.
"The whole through the Stargate to another world part!" Jack replied, "I missed this part. Hell I even missed Daniel saying..."
"Jack, I think I found something interesting." Daniel stepped up to them as if on cue.
"That." Jack's smile actually got brighter.
"Did I miss something?" Daniel asked in a confused tone.
"Nothing important." Jack turned to face the archeologist. "So, what did you discover?"
"Do you remember all of that data we received from the Naquadria slab that Harris helped us recover."
"How could I forget that." Jack replied.
"Well part of that information pertained to a city of the ancients referred to..."
"Daniel!" Jack interrupted him, "Get to the point."
"Right. We had a gate address."
"I know that." Jack sighed, "Pegasus Galaxy, we're still putting together the expedition team."
"Yes," Daniel nodded, "But the writings didn't all match. Some of the information hinted that Atlantis was on Earth. It didn't make sense."
"So this is the part where you tell me that you found something that makes it make sense?"
"I found some ruins nearby and inside..."
"Daniel!"
"There's a map of the Earth at the time the Ancients left. One of the cities is clearly marked on the Antarctic continent, which was at that time in a totally different place on the globe. I think the second Stargate we found was part of a larger structure."
"And you think that maybe..."
"Atlantis may have been two cities, one here and one in the Pegasus galaxy. Connected..."
"By the Stargate." Jack nodded, "Okay, let's get packed and we can ask Petey to help us check it out."
"Now?" Daniel frowned, "I mean I just got started investigating the ruins."
"Daniel," Jack sighed, "The ruins will still be here later and SG-7 will finish mapping the place for us. But think of the possibilities of investigating an Ancient site, especially one that has to have been buried and possibly preserved under the ice for who knows how long."
Jack saw the gleam of excitement appear in both scientists' eyes at the prospect of investigating a potentially intact ancient site.
"I'll go pack my things." Daniel turned and raced for the woods.
"I'll get everyone else packed." Sam said a second later.
"Worked like a charm." Jack smirked as he poured himself a second cup of coffee.
Lt. Terrell Clark tensed as the Stargate activated. He and the rest of SG-7 dropped into a crouch and leveled their guns at the event horizon. He glanced over at his C.O. and saw him reaching for his radio.
"Colonel! We've got incoming!"
"We're on our way back." Colonel O'Neill's voice replied, "Keep under cover until..."
"Holy Crap!" Clark shouted as several armored warriors walked through the firing some kind of energy weapon.
"We're under heavy fire!" Their C.O. shouted into his radio just before taking several strikes from the new weapon.
"Oh god." Clark whispered as their C.O. went down. They hadn't been expecting any real trouble so were kitted out with the new standard combat armor and weapons instead of the gear from the ships. "Fall back!"
"Colonel!" Clark shouted into his radio as he and the other started to retreat, "We have hostiles with armor capable of resisting the M-37's ammunition and blasters more powerful than the Jaffa Staff Weapon!"
That was the last message he managed to get off before he was caught in deadly crossfire and went down.
"SAM!" Jack yelled as they heard the last message "Doubletime it!"
"I thought this planet was supposed to be clear of the Goauld!" Jack growled, "I mean that's why we're not in heavy gear, right? Clark, fall back as quickly as possible, we'll meet up with you about halfway!"
"Clark?" Jack frowned as he heard nothing but static.
Colonel!" Sam shouted, "I've lost contact with SG-7!"
"God damn it! Everyone hold up!"
"Colonel?" You could hear the question in Sam's voice.
"We've been cut off from support." Jack answered, "It's gotta be a trap. They're probably waiting for us at the Stargate."
"I don't see that we've got much choice in the matter." Sam replied. "We can't wait, it'll be dark soon and..."
"I know." Jack sighed. "Teal'c!"
"Yes, Colonel O'Neill?"
"We've got point." Jack nodded. "Everyone stay together, and keep your eyes open!"
A couple of hours later, Teal'c held his arm up. "There is something up ahead."
"Nothing on Low-light." Sam frowned.
"Yeah." Jack nodded, "Try UV."
"Whoa!" The entire team dove for cover as hidden figures opened fire on them.
"Son of a bitch!" Jack growled as the UV setting revealed several hidden figures. "Switch to UV and open fire!"
Samantha Carter leveled her M-37 at the treeline and opened fire.
She saw sparks fly off of the armor of the figure. "Sir!"
"I see it," Jack cursed softly as the figure he shot paid almost no attention. "Carter, if we get out of this, remind me never to taunt Murphy again!"
"Don't worry General." Jack mocked himself, "It's a clear world, we aren't going to need the really advanced gear! From now on, we're going to have Petey issue us at least two sets of power armor!"
"Or at least a plasma gun?" Sam smiled as she pulled an AP-130 out of her pack.
"Where the hell...?"
"If you'd bother to read the mission briefings, Sir." Sam shook her head slightly, "You'd have read the part about Xander allowing us to keep a back-up armory at the SGC."
"Ah hell." Jack sighed, "You're telling me we've got a hi-tech Arsenal at the disposal of the explorer teams?"
"Well." Sam shook her head, "Technically, it's supposed to be used only if we had a foothold situation."
"So how...?"
"Petey likes me." Sam replied as she leveled the fusion weapon at the group and fired. The weapon had been set at its widest strongest beam and vaporized most of the treeline. The five armored warriors were momentarily haloed by the beam, then vaporized under its onslaught.
"Nice." Daniel said from behind them. Then he ducked down as more fire came from either side of cleared area.
"Okay," Sam nodded, "More targets."
"Teacher's pet." Jack muttered as Sam started sweeping the beam to the left of her original blast zone.
Janet Fraiser ducked low and ran as one of the SG-team took a hit and went down. She grabbed the soldier and started to drag him back when a blast from one of the armored warriors raked across her chest. She felt a brief flash of pain and then everything went dark.
"JANET!" Sam screamed as she finished off the last of their attackers. "Corpsman!"
"I'm telling you, I'm fine." Janet Frasier told her CO as she tried for the fifth time to climb out of the infirmary bed. "I need..."
"To stay exactly where you are until the tests are finished." General Hammond finished for her. "Dr. Frasier, I'm not certain you fully understand the situation. Seventeen hours ago, you and SG-7 were brought in with no pulse or respiration. If it wasn't for Petey beaming you into his infirmary and somehow reviving you, we'd be preparing your memorial service right now."
"I'm aware of all of that, General." Janet sighed, "But the autodoc cryokit totally repaired all of the damage."
"Which brings up another problem." Hammond pointed out. "This cryokit sounds too much like the Sarcophagus, we can't be sure about side effects."
"Trust me on this one, Sir." Janet actually laughed, "If you've ever spoken to the AI controlling the Cryokits, you wouldn't ever mistake it for a Goauld device."
"Be that as it may," Hammond glanced to the soldiers laying in the rest of the infirmary bays. "When Dr. Lam finishes her tests, you'll be allowed back on duty."
"Yes, Sir." Janet flopped back onto the bed in resignation.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Come on in, Jack." General Hammond nodded to his other guest, "You remember Ms. Calender, of course?"
"Jenny." Jack smiled, "What brings you here?"
"Xander's currently occupied with matters in Sunnydale and asked for volunteers to pay you a visit." Jenny Calender smiled, "Willow jumped at the chance and I decided to join her."
"So," Jack looked around the room and saw no one else, "has she finally developed a personal cloak or...?"
"She's visiting with Major Carter." General Hammond informed him.
"That would have been my second guess." Jack nodded, "Is this just a social call or...?"
"Mostly business. Xander heard about the incident with those new Goauld Warriors." Jenny told them, "According to Petey, the System Lords have recalled the fleet heading for the Brothers and pulled in the rest of their ships to a defensive posture."
"What the hell?" Jack started to say before Jenny continued.
"It looks like Anubis has developed a new weapon that can briefly overload a Hatak's systems." Jenny informed them, "From what we can gather, once he disables the ship, he beams some kind of new warrior aboard to kill everyone on the ship. Only nine of the ships sent against him got away. Eighteen were destroyed and about twenty were taken intact."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Jack almost shouted, "He's got another superweapon?"
"I'm afraid so," Jenny nodded, "And he apparently has some knowledge of the Ancients because he's been sending out squads to investigate abandoned sites."
"You're the first SG team to encounter them, but the communications traffic between the System lords indicates that several minor lords have gone silent recently."
"About that," Jack asked, "Is there any chance we can..."
Jack's question was interrupted by the sound of General Hammond's phone ringing. "Hammond here. I see. No, don't touch anything. I'll be right there."
"Ms. Calender?" General Hammond asked as he replaced the phone in its cradle. "You wouldn't happen to know about three rather large crates that just appeared in storage area, do you?"
"Has Christmas come early this year?" Jack asked.
"Xander had Petey issue you a few presents for the SGC itself." Jenny nodded. "Even I'm not sure what's in there."
"Well, let's got open them then?" Jack smiled. "General, do mind if I take Sam with you to look at our new gifts?"
"Not at all." George Hammond picked up his phone and contacted Major Carter, then waved his hand toward the door. "Ms. Calender?"
About halfway to the storage area they met up with Major Carter.
"Sir." Major Carter quickly matched step with them, "What's going on?"
"We have a few presents from Harris and company to unwrap." Jack nodded over to Ms. Calender, "Courtesy of Mrs. Claus here."
"Oh!" Sam smiled, "Anything special?"
"We're not sure." Jack smiled, "Apparently Harris wanted it to be a surprise."
"Oh."
Inside the storage room, Jack was surprised by the size of the first crate. It nearly filled half of the twenty by twenty room all by itself. "Let's open that one first."
Hammond hid a smile as he nodded to the two airmen in charge of the storage area. They quickly had the case open, revealing three coffin like objects.
"Well, that's not exactly what..."
"Those are the autodoc cryokits." Jenny informed them. "They can pretty much repair any damage short of brain death."
"Oh!" Jack blinked, "then it is kinda what I was hoping for."
"And this," From the other crated, Jenny pulled out what looked like a bull-pup configured assault rifle, "Hmm... One second."
Jenny pulled out her cell phone and started dialing.
"How?" Jack started to ask, then sighed. "Petey."
"Got it." Jenny said after talking on the phone for a minute, "This is the big brother to the M-37. The M-53."
"Holy..." Jack took the rifle from Jennys' hand. "What caliber is this?"
"Seven millimeter." Jenny handed him a magazine. "According to Xander, it has the same type of round as the M-37 but we've switched to new high temp alloy for the bullet and it now has a trinium-tungsten core. Although the standard Military Model will only have the tungsten core."
"Nice." Jack hefted the gun, "From the weight, I'd say it was made out of the same composite material?'
"I think so." Sam nodded as she examined one of the guns. "This should have the power to punch through the warrior's armor."
"Xander's also empowered me to authorize the issuance of heavy weapons units from the foothold armory to each SG exploration team."
"And before you ask." Jenny continued, "Xander's still not quite comfortable letting the really high tech weaponry out of his control. On the ships, the Al's can keep monitoring the armory but the one here is out of the loop."
"Not to mention that the Russians are already complaining about Xander boosting our weapons technology." Sam added, "Especially since our side has been using the fact that the advances are technically not being gained through the Stargate program to block their access to it."
"That part's true." Jenny nodded. "Colonel Chekov and Ambassador Kurakin just arrived to discuss Xander setting up a mining operation when I left. The Colonel was almost shouting at someone over the phone about the US not sharing. So I'm afraid that we aren't going to be increasing the foothold armory just yet. You're going to have to issue the weapons on a case by case...""
"Incoming offworld activation!"
"Ah, hell!" Jack and the others hurried to the Gateroom.
"It's SG-12, Sir." Sgt. Harriman, informed them. "They said they have a prisoner and want permission to bring it in."
"Permission granted, open the Iris." General Hammond replied.
Jack leaned over to Carter and asked. "I thought SG-12 was supposed to be on the Hector."
"They are."
"I guess... WHOA!" Jack stopped as SG-12 walked through the event horizon carrying a goo covered, black armored figure that Jack couldn't possibly forget. "What the hell?"
"Present from Torm, Sir." Lt. Colonel Grammer told them, "It was part of a squad that attacked one of the Brother's worlds."
"Let's get it down to the lab." Sam told them, and then caught herself. "With your permission, Sir!"
"Of course." General Hammond nodded.
"Dr. Frasier," General Hammond told his CMO, "I'm still not sure about..."
"Dr. Lam has already cleared me for work, Sir." Dr. Frasier reminded him, "And I really want a closer look at this new warrior."
"So do..." Jack began to agree with her when the alarms began ringing again.
"Unscheduled ..."
"Oh for crying out loud!" Jack yelled over the alarm, "What now!?"
The entire group managed to reach the gateroom in time to see Daniel Jackson and SG-10 race through the event horizon.
"JACK!" Daniel shouted as he came to a halt. "We've got trouble! I need..."
"Daniel, slow down!" Jack replied, "What's going on?"
"It's gone."
"What's gone?" Jack asked slightly exasperated.
"Everything," Daniel told him, "Anubis leveled the ruins. I only found a couple of fragments."
"And the emergency is?"
"One of the pieces had the word 'legacy' written on it in Ancient, as well as a part of a stargate address."
"Legacy?" Jack had a sudden sick feeling. "As in..."
"As in the Ancient database." Daniel nodded, "Part of the fragment has the ancient word meaning legacy and enough of the surrounding words to convince me that this is talking about another database."
As they followed Daniel down the hail, Sam asked, "Couldn't this be talking about the same one?"
"The address is different," Daniel handed her the fragment, sure enough while the last four symbols were missing, the surviving symbols weren't the same as the ones for the first database they discovered.
"I have it on tape." Daniel continued as he all but ran into his office rummaged through the video tapes, and popped on into his VCR. "Here!"
A quick fast forward viewing and the tape was slowed when an overturned column covered in ancient writing and gate addresses appeared. The camera panned over the column and then slid down between the far side of the column and wall to reveal several more addresses, the one with the first three symbols was almost obscured by dirt and rubble. Daniel jotted down the symbols. "This is it. And we need to get there fast."
"Not to put a damper on your enthusiasm, son." General Hammond replied, "But wouldn't Anubis already be there?"
"No," Daniel shook his head, "The column wasn't moved, even if someone had looked behind it, all they would have seen was the address. Not where the address went to."
No one noticed Ms. Calender, standing off to one corner and talking quietly on her com. She turned back just in time to hear Daniel practically shouting, "We need to get there before Anubis does!"
"And if he shows up with those new warriors of his?" Jack asked, "Or worse, with a Hatak? Then what?"
"We can take..." Daniel paused, "All of 'our' ships are currently protecting the Brothers, aren't they?"
"Um, Xander said you can take the Kingsley?" Jenny offered.
"Good!" Daniel said, then frowned, "The what?"
"The David R. Kingsley." Jenny told them, "It just came out of the shipyard along with the George Watson."
"Cool." Jack smiled.
"General Hammond," Walter Harriman poked his head into his CO's office. "The Kingsley is reporting in."
"Patch them through."
"General, we found it." Colonel O'Neill reported, "And, then Anubis showed up with about half his fleet... Long story short, Sir. We had to blow it up and I doed it again."
"Colonel..." General Hammond sighed, "I'll have a medical team standing by."
"We'll be arriving in two hours, sir." Major Carter informed him, "I'll have the mission log ready for debrie..."
"I'm afraid as much as I'd like to, I can't be here when you arrive." General Hammond interrupted her, "I've been ordered to the Pentagon to brief some VIP's."
"Who?" Daniel asked.
"The French, English, Australian and Chinese Ambassadors."
"WHAT!?" Jack shouted, "Is Kinsey behind this!?"
"Honestly?" General Hammond smiled, even though he knew that SG1 couldn't see him. "Senator Kinsey is actually against this plan. I believe he doesn't want to give the secret Mr. Harris' existence any more governments."
"I wonder if Harris has a way to measure the temperature in Hell?" Jack mused.
"Why would you ask that?" General Hammond wondered aloud.
"Because for once, I'm in total agreement with Kinsey." Jack's cynical tone came in loud and clear. "Have fun."
"Colonel."
"Yes, sir."
"Work on your sense of humor while I'm gone."
"Will do, Sir."
"Don wanna go sleep!" Xander could hear from the other room, "NOT SLEEPY!"
"Dawn Jessica Harris..." Buffy warned in her 'Mom' voice. "I said..."
"NOT SLEEPY!"
'What's going on in here?" Xander poked his head in with a grin.
"DADDY!" Dawn crowed, holding her arms out to her father.
Xander managed to hide his smile as he picked up the little girl.
"Are you listening to your mother?" Xander said as sternly as he could with his daughter giving him her 'innocent who me?' look.
"Not sleepy." The young girl declared. "Wanna story."
Buffy sighed, "We go through this every night. One story after you get in bed!"
"Kay!" Dawn squirmed out her father's grasp when a familiar figure appeared in the living room.
"Unca Petey!" Dawn almost threw herself at the Hologram before remembering that the one time she did that, she'd gone clean through him and bumped her head against the couch. "HI!"
"Hi, Dawn." Petey smiled, then nodded to Xander, "Captain Harris, General Hammond is currently enroute to the Pentagon. He'll be meeting with the Ambassadors in two days."
"Unka Gengeorge here?" Dawn looked around a little confused.
"No Sweety." Buffy picked her up. Both she and Xander were trying not to laugh. Dawn had been introduced to SG-l and General Hammond a short while ago and instantly decided they were more Uncles and Aunts. The look of apprehension on Jack O'Neill's face when she'd tried to say 'Uncle General George' had been priceless, especially when General Hammond had simply laughed about it. "Petey just said that Uncle George is going to Washington."
"Oh." The little accepted that then remembered, "Wanna story."
"Right." Buffy smiled. Glancing over at Xander, she nodded, "I'll put her to bed. You talk business with Petey."
"Thanks, Buffy." Xander smiled back, "Night Dawnie."
"Night Daddy." The girl waved as her mother carried up the stairs to her bedroom.
"She's a very nice child." Petey remarked.
"She's got us right where she wants us." Xander agreed. "So anything else I should know about?"
"Well," Petey nodded, "We have something new in the area. I've been unable to get a good fix because it's kept to the magically hot areas that cause the remotes to malfunction. But I believe that it's a cyborg."
"Ah crap." Xander shook his head, "So Raiden tracked us? Or is this some leftover from the Adam project?"
"I'm not certain yet." Petey admitted, "I've already alerted the squads to keep on the lookout for it."
"Okay." Xander nodded, "What else?"
"The Kingsley has returned but there's been a complication."
"What happened?" Xander sighed.
"Colonel O'Neill managed to get another repository downloaded into his brain."
"Again!?" Xander almost laughed, then he sobered up pretty fast. "Wait, isn't that dangerous to him?"
"In the long term? Extremely dangerous." Petey agreed, "But they felt it was important enough to risk it."
"So what can we do?" Xander asked.
"I'm working on modifying the Hyperdrive on the Kingsley for intergalactic travel. I was busy getting the new ships running and up until now there wasn't any rush to adapt the technology we found in the Slab." Petey replied, "Hopefully I'll have it done in time to reach the Asgard before the Colonel is permanently damaged."
"Good." Xander nodded. "So when are we supposed to meet with General Hammond?"
"You're supposed to be at the Pentagon at Four P.M." Petey reminded him.
"Okay," Xander picked up some of his paperwork. "So, what time are the Ghostbusters arriving?"
"Seven AM, Friday of next week, Sir." Petey replied, "I've arranged a full tour of the facilities and Mrs. Spengler wondered if they'd have time to visit Disneyland."
"You made the arrangements?"
"Of course, Sir."
"Okay, let's go over the presentation we're using again." Xander asked.
"Very well, Sir." Petey began, "As you're aware. Miss Calendar's family has had some dealings with the Ghostbusters in the past. They recommended a full disclosure as the Ghostbusters have always proved to be capable of keeping secrets. So..."
As Petey continued to cover how they were going to explain everything to Spengler and Co. Xander kind of zoned out and began wondering how his life could be so great and so damn weird at the same time. He thought about the only conclusion he could make at that point. "Damned Hellmouth."
"I am aware of the 'official' explanation given by your government over the loss of your ship." The Chinese Ambassador informed Colonel Chekov. "What would you say to the fact that we know that when the ship in question was supposed to have gone down, it was in port taking on supplies?"
"I would say that your intelligence service was wrong." The Russian Colonel replied evenly.
"Now..." The Ambassador's voice trailed off as he saw someone entering the room. Colonel Chekov turned to see his aide and General Kurakin walk into the room. What really unnerved him was to see General Hammond and Director Aramaki following them in.
"Bozhe Moi." Colonel Chekov realized the only reason for those particular people to show up now.
"So," The Ambassador smiled slightly, "Now I understand. You've had some encounters with the more nocturnal occupants of this planet?"
The Colonel glanced back to see the Ambassador open his jacket slightly. Tucked neatly into what looked to be a custom made pocket was wooden grip. Chekov had no doubts that the hidden part ended in a needle sharp point.
"I wondered why they didn't take this." The Ambassador informed him.
"Ah, well..." Before they could continue their conversation, Colonel Chekov's aide stepped forward to tell him something. The Colonel cut her off, "I think I know what's about to happen. Are they sure?"
The Aide managed a rueful nod.
"Very well." Colonel Chekov sighed, "This should be interesting."
"I already know about..."
"Not about this, Mr. Ambassador." Colonel Chekov informed him. "This is something quite different."
"I apologize for the delay, Gentleman." General Hammond sat down at the vaguely horseshoe shaped conference table and nodded to the officer standing next a large screen. "Major Davis will be briefing you today."
"Gentleman," Major Davis stepped slightly to one side as a image of the Stargate appeared on the screen. "This is the Stargate, it was discovered during a dig on the Giza Plateau in..."
"General." Colonel Chekov frowned. "Is this such a good idea?"
"The simple truth is that even between the U.S. and our own forces, we cannot field enough men to press our new advantage against the Goa'uld and still maintain our own internal security." General Kurakin whispered back. "Plus, I believe that Captain Harris asked to be a part of this."
"Harris asked?"
"There are several scientists within the People's Republic that he wishes to recruit." The General smiled, "He's already gotten his hands on Zalenka and I believe he's made an offer to Dubov as well."
"Are we getting anything in exchange for allowing two government scientists to work for him?"
"Access." General Kurakin replied, "Anything our people help to develop for public release."
"Ah." Colonel Chekov shared a smile with the General at that idea.
Several minutes of lecture, intermingled with exclamations of disbelief from the English and Australian ambassador, followed by reassurances from those 'in the know' ended with looks of total disbelief from the previously mentioned gentlemen. The discussion was cut short by the arrival of a slightly disgruntled Robert Kinsey.
"Where is he?" Kinsey asked General Hammond.
Colonel Chekov noticed the sudden look of interest in the eyes of both the French and Chinese Ambassadors. Now he was sure who was in the loop about Captain Harris.
"Apparently some people he wanted to recruit showed up early." General Hammond explained. "He'll be arriving shortly."
"Who the bloody hell are you talking about?" The English ambassador asked.
"I'm sorry." Senator Kinsey replied, "I believe it's better if he introduces himself. Now are there any other questions?"
"Aside from that," The English Ambassador eyed Senator Kinsey. "We've been treated to a rather amusing Fairy Tale."
"Oh, it's not a Fairy Tale." Kinsey replied, "The Stargate exists and they routinely go through the damned thing every day."
"And you've kept it a secret all this time?" The English Ambassador asked totally aghast, "Didn't your President just go on the air and call Great Britain 'Your greatest allies'? How is it that the Russians and the Japanese apparently know more about it than we do?"
General Hammond nodded, "The Japanese discovered about the program during a raid on a terrorist cell that we have only recently determined is probably a Goa'uld. During the raid, several pieces of equipment were recovered that forced us to reveal the secret to the Japanese Government. As of right now only the head of the Japanese Government and the members of Section Nine have any knowledge of the Stargate Program."
"And the Russians?" The Australian Ambassador asked.
"The Russians gained access to information that not only allowed them to recover a Stargate from the bottom of the ocean but to also run their own program briefly."
"There are two of these things?" The English Ambassador asked.
"Actually..." Major Davis now continued his briefing. Now the Ambassadors listened with rapt attention as the Major began going over details of the Goa'uld and other races as well as their technologies. When he reached the US's attempts to develop technology to counter them, especially the X-302 program, the Australian Ambassador broke in.
"Are you trying to tell me that you have a fighter capable of operating in space?" Then the Ambassador remembered something, "The incident in Tajikistan! There were reports of several unknown fighters in the air at the same time. You?"
"No." General Hammond shook his head, "Stargate Command had nothing to do with that incident."
"If I may ask," The English Ambassador frowned at the Chinese Ambassador, "Why aren't you more upset by this?"
"Because," The French Ambassador answered instead. "For nearly a half year now, we've all felt the benefits of the Stargate program."
"I don't..." The English Ambassador began only to be cut off.
"I assume," The Chinese Ambassador asked, "that this is where he received the technology that we have been given access to?"
"I asked once," The English Ambassador reminded them, "Now I'm demanding, who the bloody hell are you talking about!?"
"The person in question will be here shortly," Senator Kinsey informed him, "But to be truthful, he's the one providing us with technology."
"WHO!?"
"I assume from your confusion that you haven't been briefed by Mr. Travers?" The French Ambassador asked. He elaborated on his question by explaining, "The current head of the organization known as the 'Watchers Council'?"
"The Wa..." The English and Australian Ambassadors exchanged looks of surprise. "Jason Stane arrived yesterday from that organization, but he was rushed to hospital with food poisoning. They're just some kind of old men's club aren't they?"
Seeing the look of confusion on General Hammond's face, Colonel Chekov glanced over at his superior. When General Kurakin nodded, the Colonel cleared his throat.
"I suppose it would be best if I explain things to those 'not in the know'?"
"Colonel?" General Hammond frowned as he began to realize exactly why the Chinese and French Ambassadors weren't getting upset.
"For the last few hundred years," Colonel Chekov began, "There has been a secret agreement between the major governments of the world. This agreement goes beyond any declarations of war or other hostilities. It is called the Shadow Compact."
"And what, pray tell, is this 'Shadow Compact'?" The English Ambassador asked.
"As Colonel Chekov already stated, it is an agreement." The Chinese Ambassador answered, "One meant to preserve the world."
"I'm afraid you lost me as well." The Australian ambassador interjected.
"To quote some of my English associates." The French Ambassador got involved, "This world is older than you know..."
One slightly long-winded soliloquy later, and the two disbelieving ambassadors gave the impression of people trapped in the room with a group of maniacs. An impression confirmed by the English Ambassador, who asked in an appalled tone. "Magic!? Demons!? Are you all mad!?"
"Unfortunately, we aren't insane." The Chinese Ambassador held up one hand in a semi-cupping gesture and produced a small blue flame from his fingertips. "Magic is very real."
General Hammond wasn't as shaken by the demonstration as he could have been. Being in charge of the SGC did tend to make you a bit jaded towards shows of power. But he was impressed by the matter of fact manner the Chinese Ambassador gave the demonstration.
"So." Hammond asked, "I think it's safe to assume this 'Shadow Compact' has something to do with magic."
"I'm sorry." The French Ambassador chuckled ruefully when he realized he hadn't actually explained the Compact during his history recital. "Nearly every government in the world has what would best be described as a black ops bureau dedicated to the prevention of demonkind reestablishing their control over this world."
"Each bureau would be given near autonomy in dealing with its counterparts." The Chinese Ambassador added. "As a result of England's expansionist policies in the past, the Watcher's council being one of the more widespread in it's influence. They have established forces in most of the former English territories and are closer to a multinational force than most."
"That would explain why I supposed to be briefed alongside my British associate." The Australian Ambassador sighed.
"I'm still a bit lost here." General Hammond admitted.
"You know about the Watcher's Council." Senator Kinsey replied, "You know about the 'Retrieval Teams'."
"Of course." Hammond nodded, "I learned about them from the same source as you did."
"Well, what neither of us knew was that the Watcher's Council actually worked in conjunction with other units within the individual Countries as needed." Kinsey sounded even more annoyed than normal. "And apparently, those forces have been given access to the equipment that he uses, under similar terms as the SGC."
"I see." General Hammond sighed. "This is getting complicated."
"Getting?" The English Ambassador asked. "Just getting complicated!? And could someone please tell me who you referring to?"
Before anyone could say anything else, an airman stepped into the room and headed for Senator Kinsey. He bent down and whispered something to the Senator. The Senator actually brightened up and announced, "Well finally!"
"Gentlemen." He announced to the room at large. "If you would be patient for a few minutes. The last member of this little party will be arriving."
A short time later, General Hammond was treated to the sight of a slightly harried Xander Harris walking into the room. The young man looked around the room and apologized. "Sorry I'm late. I really needed to recruit the people I was with. So... What did I miss?"
"Mr. Harris?" The English Ambassador looked stunned, "What the hell?"
Xander smiled at the stunned look on the Ambassador face. "Nice to finally meet you Ambassador."
"You know the Ambassador?" Senator Kinsey seemed genuinely surprised by that information.
"We've chatted a few times." Xander informed him, "Great Britain is currently in talks with Harris Undersea Mining to produce a variant of our system to extract all that hydri whatever it is safely from the bottom of the North Sea. They've been driving the G-man crazy with all their 'Love of Country' stuff Guys, truth? Giles is on your side in this, you don't have to keep ringing him every day to make sure about that."
"So," The English Ambassador pointedly ignored Xander's last comment, "You're the front man for the technology that the SGC brings back through this Stargate?"
"No," Senator Kinsey frowned at Xander for a moment before replying. "Captain Harris is the one providing us with more advanced equipment."
"How...?"
"Let's just say I magically inherited a lot of advanced technology, and leave it at that." Xander told them. "I really don't want anyone accidentally summoning the Borg or the Deathstar or something worse to the party."
"Something worse?" The Australian Ambassador briefly contemplated that idea then shuddered as his mind decided he didn't want to know. "I'm afraid I'm still a bit lost. Why are you bothering to reveal this now?"
"Well," Xander shrugged, "The SGC needs more manpower. And I need an excuse."
"I understand now." The Chinese Ambassador smiled. "I was empowered by my Government to negotiate a treaty with Captain Harris in return for the same consideration given to the Russian Republic. I assume any such negotiations will also cover the Stargate program?"
"Participation in the program and access to..." General Hammond began before being cut off.
"Perhaps we should finish the briefing before beginning negotiations?" the Senator suggested.
"Yes," General Kurakin nodded. "That might be best."
Before the briefing could continue an airman walked into the briefing room and whispered something into General Hammond's ear as he passed over a note. The General glanced down at the note, then passed it over to Xander.
Xander glanced at the note and sighed. He pulled out his cell and told everyone, "Sorry folks, Technical issue involving the fate of the world, again."
"Petey... Yeah, I got the message, how's the Kingsley? Still? Then send the Watson."
"What was that about?" The Australian Ambassador asked.
"SG-l wanted to borrow one my ships." Xander told him without really thinking too much. "They think Jack's come up with important intel on a planet and it's gate is down or something."
"Your ships?" For the first time the Chinese Ambassador's face went from inscrutable to shocked. "You have..."
"Interstellar capable starships." Major Davis answered, pointing the screen, he brought up the schematics for the BC-303. "This is the Prometheus the prototype starship developed using technology reverse engineered from various sources."
"And how many of these ships do you have?"
"The SGC has two operational ships." Major Davis called up a different design. "The Prometheus was the prototype. The Daedalus was built incorporating all of the alien technology instead of just having it tacked on."
"The Kingsley and the Watson are two of the ships Captain Harris has built." Senator Kinsey replied, sensing a way to at least keep some control of things in the US.
The Chinese Ambassador mulled over the phrasing of Senator Kinsey's response and asked after a brief pause, "How many ships does Captain Harris currently have?"
"Hmm..." They heard Xander start to ponder out loud. "Lemme see, The Hood, the Roger Young..."
Xander's voiced trailed off as he started counting off ships on his fingers. All four Ambassadors' eyes widened as he went into double digits. "Huh, wow thirteen of them."
"Thirteen?" The English Ambassador asked, still a little stunned by that revelation. "Thirteen ships like the Prometheus?"
"No..." Xander shook his head, "Two Prometheus class, eight Daedalus class and four larger ships."
"Larger?" Even the Chinese Ambassador looked stunned, "How much larger?"
"About the same size as a Ha'Tak." General Hammond informed them.
"So..." The Chinese Ambassador now leaned back in anger, "America has basically used its access to the Stargate to place itself in a position of absolute power."
"I wish." General Hammond could just hear Senator Kinsey mutter.
"That is not the case." General Kurakin replied at about the same time. "While the United States does have two such vessels, the remainder of the ships are 'on loan' from Captain Harris."
"But Mr. Harris..." The Australian Ambassador began, only to be interrupted by Senator Kinsey.
"While Mr. Harris," Senator Kinsey said as evenly as he could, "is an American Citizen. He doesn't believe that giving us an overwhelming technological advantage is prudent at this time."
"I see." The English Ambassador's tone indicated exactly the opposite. "I think i might be best if we find out exactly what is Mr. Harris offering in exchange for our cooperation?"
"This," Xander placed a small palm sized device on the table in front of him. A soft light emanated from the device and suddenly the middle of the room, a three dimensional image of a 302 fighter appeared. The English Ambassador got up and walked around the image, the detail was amazing, so fine that you could even make out objects on the ground that the 302 was flying over.
"That's amazing." He said softly, "But..."
"This is a standard F-302 Space Superiority fighter." Xarider explained as a second 302 ripped past the first and pivoted until was flying backwards its nose pointed at the first fighter. "And that is the 302a that I've lent the U.S. and Russia."
"I see," The Chinese Ambassador nodded, "And we will have access to this fighter as well?"
"Two squadrons each." Xander nodded, "For defensive use only. And half the international patent rights to anything scientists from your country help me to produce for the open market."
"Considering how much Mr. Harris' companies have made in such a short time. That could be quite a bit of money." The English Ambassador noted.
"Since he's only started that policy, our income from the patents is a small one." Senator Kinsey informed them, "But it is growing at an almost exponential rate."
"And what would our end be?" The French Ambassador asked.
Xander glanced over at General Hammond, when the Officer nodded, he answered. "Manpower mostly. SG command has the equipment and know how, but they're being stretched thin."
"So," The Chinese Ambassador mused, "We provide the manpower..."
"I provide the equipment." Xander nodded, glancing over to General Hammond, he continued "Stargate Command will provide the logistical and tactical infrastructure to keep every thing running smoothly." General Hammond finished.
"A mutually beneficial arrangement." Senator Kinsey finished.
"My Government will of course require some from of oversight." The Chinese Ambassador informed them.
"That can be negotiated." Senator Kinsey reassured them.
"Then let us see what we can agree on." The French Ambassador smiled.
For the most part, both Xander and General Hammond kept quiet as Senator Kinsey did most of the negotiating. For once Hammond knew that Kinsey would have Stargate Commands best interests in heart, if only to keep on Harris' good side. They only added their comments to expand on or clarify points raised during the negotiations.
In the end, Xander got what he wanted, the backing of the governments where he wanted to actively recruit. And SG command got the manpower it needed to expand its operations against the Goauld. The Clincher for each Government was the assurance that they would each be loaned at least one upgraded Daedalus class starship as part of the arrangement.
"Exactly what are you two doing to the ring transport?" Daniel asked Petey as Jack pulled out another component from the device.
"Modifying the rings to bore through the Antarctic ice." Petey replied. "This is very inventive, it's actually capable of using the ring energy to melt the ice and displace the water simultaneously."
"I just wish that.. ." Sam's voice trailed off as Captain Keagle's voice came over the comm.
"We found something!"
Colonel Jack O'Neill practically dropped his work and all but ran to the bridge. Sam and Daniel just barely managed to keep up with him as he weaved through the corridors.
"Is this what we are looking for, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked as he pointed to a nearly perfect dome of rock displayed on the holographic projector.
"Proclarush Taonas." Jack replied as he touched the image with his hand.
"I'd call that a yes." Daniel sighed.
"Whatever it is." The Captain informed them, "Scans say it's hollow."
"I'm getting an energy signature near the center." One of the Airmen reported.
"Petey, I need ...
"I already have a teraport programmed and ready to go." Petey told Sam, "The atmosphere is practically non-existent, so I've also had several medium battlesuits readied for you."
"Thank you," Sam smiled at the Al before following Jack out the hatchway.
A brief teraport later, and SG-1 with backup from the Kingsley arrived in a small chamber. The lights from their suits revealed a practically empty chamber with only one feature standing out.
"We came all this way for a hi-tech easy chair?" Lt. William Lennox asked as he and his squad began scouting the room.
"No... " Daniel watched as Jack sat down on the chair and images began forming over them.
As they watched, an image of the Antarctic continent appeared with a small bright light marking one point on the map.
"Atlantis." Jack informed them. Then the image shifted to become what was looked like city, which suddenly shrank in size and appeared over the Antarctic continent. The image then shifted and a line formed from the Earth to another Galaxy.
"They moved it." Daniel suddenly understood. "The whole city?"
Jack didn't answer the question, instead he stepped out of the chair and crouched down near one of the markings surrounding the chair. He did something that that none of the people watching him understood and what looked like an abstract art version of a tiffany lamp slid out of the floor.
"You know." Sam noted, just slightly redundantly as the cavern's walls started to cave in, "I think that was the power source for this facility."
"Lt. Lennox!" She continued, "We are leaving!"
"Form up!" Lt. Lennox shouted to his men.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Corporal Epps answered as they all ran to within range of the teraport.
Back on onboard the Watson, Captain Helen Keagle's blood pressure spiked as she heard tactical suddenly shout. "Three Ha'tak cruisers just exited hyperspace!"
"Contact..."
"SG-l just ported back in!" Another person reported.
"Helm!"
"Jumping to Hyperspace, now." Her helm officer acknowledged.
For the hundredth time since signing up with Harris, the former Navy officer wondered if the stress was worth it. The acknowledgement that she was engaged in a genuine noble cause and a quick glance around a ship that put everything that put everything in the US Military to shame made her decide again. "Hell yeah this is worth it."
"So this is the artifact?" The French Ambassador asked.
"Pandora's Box itself." Senator Kinsey nodded.
"I thought it would be..." The Australian Ambassador's voice trailed off.
"More impressive?" Xander asked. "Wait till you see it in action."
"I am a bit concerned about the size of the facility." The Chinese Ambassador noted, "It seems a bit small for the use intended."
"Thanks to technological breakthroughs," General Hammond answered, "NORAD is being moved to several linked locations. Once that's done the Cheyenne Mountain facility will officially be put into mothballs."
"So we'll have all the room we require?" The French Ambassador asked.
"Effectively." Senator Kinsey replied. "Most of the facility will actually be moth balled as a cost cutting measure but we should have ample room."
"Cost cutting?" The Chinese Ambassador frowned, "But I thought Mr. Harris was providing most of the equipment?"
"We're still actively engaged in producing our own BC-303 class ships." Senator Kinsey shot a quick look over at Xander. "Just in case Captain Harris decides to pull his support of the SGC."
"Pull?" The Australian Ambassador frowned, he thought back to the various conversations that occurred during the negotiations and paled. "Holy Mary Mother of God."
"Something wrong, Tom?" The English Ambassador asked.
"I think I've just a few too many shocks today." The Australian Ambassador replied, "I just realized something."
"Well," There was a shrill sound that caused everyone to jump a little. Xander shot everyone an apologetic glance, "Sorry. Xander here."
"Huh," Xander looked pleased, "He's sure about that? Okay, give him a high priority lab. WHAT? That fast? Okay, I'll be right there."
"Sorry, everyone." Xander pulled out a small round device from his pocket. "According to my people, our new recruits have already come up with a potential weapon to use against Anubbi So I've got to get back to XWB. I'll call with any details as soon as I can."
There was a loud sound and a flash of light and Xander Harris disappeared from the SGC control room.
"What the hell?" The English ambassador jumped at the noise, then blinked in shock when he realized what had happened. "A bloody teleporter? You've got a teleporter?"
"I have to remember to ask Harris to stop doing that without warning." General Hammond muttered as he rubbed his head.
"So," The Australian Ambassador nodded, "I am right."
"Tom?" The English Ambassador left the question unspoken.
"As I said earlier, all these shock seem to have interfered with my ability to put things together." The Australian Ambassador answered, "Has it occurred to anyone that Senator Kinsey hasn't given us the entire truth about Mr. Harris?"
"The entire truth?" Senator Kinsey asked.
"It's just..." The Australian Ambassador paused, "Has anyone else realized that, considering the level of the technology that Mr. Harris has access to, he's effectively the only private citizen that's also a superpower?"
There was a long silence as the other Ambassadors absorbed the information, then the French Ambassador all but slapped himself in the forehead. "Mon Dieu, I'm an idiot."
"We all are." The Chinese Ambassador nodded, "I didn't occur to me either. Exactly how powerful is Mr. Harris? Militarily I mean?"
"Captain Harris..." Senator Kinsey sighed, "has command of an Artificial Intelligence run Starship capable of destroying the planet."
"Oh, bloody hell. You're not kidding." The English Ambassador slid down into one of the control room chairs. "What if he decides...?"
"To take over?" Hammond finished, "When SG-1 asked him about that, Harris replied that 'he wasn't that stupid'."
Senator Kinsey added, "My best people tell me Harris won't try to take power, unless we force him to."
"How could we..." The Chinese Ambassador sighed, "I think my Australian colleague is correct, we've had a few to many shocks today. You mean if we leave him alone..."
"He'll leave us alone." The Senator nodded. "Harris doesn't like politics or politicians, he just wants to be left alone to get the job done."
"He seems to like you well enough." The English Ambassador noted.
"Don't let that fool you." Senator Kinsey chuckled softly, "He may tolerate me better than most, but that's because I've gone out of my way to provide him with assistance. That's what keeps me on his good side."
"I see." The French Ambassador chuckled.
"I'm not sure why you find this funny." The English Ambassador frowned.
"The current President happens to be a second cousin of mine." The French Ambassador replied, still laughing, "He and I don't quite get along. I was just imagining the look on his face when I informed him that an American Citizen has achieved the status of a Global power."
"At least you'll get a laugh out of it." The Austrailian Ambassador sighed, "If it wasn't for the fact that you've already told me that they know, I'd be worried about being put in the looney bin when I field my report."
"Well," Senator Kinsey nodded, "I have one last message that you should see. Now that we've come to a basic agreement, I think Captain Harris won't mind me showing it to you."
"Why didn't you show it earlier?" The French Ambassador asked as they left the gateroom.
"Because, Captain Harris basically used this message as the 'stick' part of his original pitch to the SGC. As a matter of fact, the only person who gets reminded of this lately is the current head of the NID, he gets an email reminding him, everyday from a different email address on his list."
"Oh?" The Chinese Ambassador tilted his head slightly.
"You'll understand when you see the video." Senator Kinsey shrugged, "From what I've heard, he's actually developed a bit of a twitch whenever he hears 'you've got mail'."
General Hammond barely managed to smother his laughter over that comment before hearing over the intercom, "General Hammond, you're needed in the Gateroom."
"If you'll excuse me Gentlemen." General Hammond turned around and headed back the way they'd come.
"Sir, we're just gotten confirmation that the Watson is inbound. ETA five hours." Davis said as General Hammond entered the control room.
"Any other messages?"
Davis checked his records. "Yes sir. We just received a message from Petey. Captain Harris is currently working with new recruits on how to deploy their new weapon and Petey himself is about two days away from finalizing the hyperdrive modifications to the Kingsley."
"Two days?" General Hammond frowned. "We may not have that long."
Dr. Fraiser walked in time to hear the exchange and smiled slightly, "Actually, General. I was just on my way to inform you that Harris and company may have come up with a stopgap measure."
"Oh?" General Hammond was a bit perplexed by Dr. Fraiser's announcement.
"Since I am the CMO, Willow thought that she should go through me." Dr. Fraiser explained. "She suggested pulling the Colonel in stasis."
"Will that work?" General Hammond asked.
"Well, I conferred with Dr. Winchester and we feel it should halt the progression of the transformation until we can get Colonel O'Neill to the Asgard."
"Do we..."
"They had one installed onto the Kingsley." Dr. Fraiser nodded.
"Well, that's one crisis point handled." General Hammond sighed, "Now if nothing else..."
"Incoming Wormhole!" Davis announced.
"It's the Tok'ra, Sir."
"Open the Iris." General Hammond ordered as he headed down to greet the Tok'ra.
"Jacob." General Hammond's smile faded at the serious look on his friends face. "Is something wrong?"
"Very wrong." Selmac's voice spoke from Jacob's lips. "Anubis struck at our main base, we've been forced to pull out but no before we learned some disturbing news. Anubis ceased operations against the other systems lords and has begun gathering his forces."
It took General Hammond a moment to digest that news and come up with the only possible conclusion. "There aren't any System Lords powerful enough to need that many ships are there?"
"No," Selmac shook his head, "Anubis's forces are far superior to even the combined might of all remaining System Lords."
"So there's only one place he could be planning to attack."
"I'm afraid so." Now Jacob took over, "You'd better call all of your ships in, George. Anubis is planning an all out assault on Earth."
"Captain Harris, we have a message incoming from General Hammond." The Merrick's AI, Mycroft, interrupted his discussion with Rupert Giles.
"Huh, less than an hour since I left." Xander shrugged, "Sorry, G-man, I'm sure whatever you agree to with Her Majesty's Government will be fine with me."
"Of course." Giles smiled ruefully, no longer even bothering to try to get the young man to stop using that irritating nickname. "You can count on me."
"Okay, I'll leave you to it then." Xander smiled back.
Outside the room, Xander lost his smile and sighed, "How bad is it?"
"Anubis is about to make another attempt on Earth," The slightly corpulent Al informed him. And for the umpteenth time, Xander wondered why Mycroft's appearance was that of a slightly overweight English guy with a really old looking taste in clothes. He'd asked Giles once and had been regaled with another 'Pop Culture Americans' semi-rant, after that he'd just given up. At least he'd known where they'd got the basic form for the McNally's AI, Clark.
"Petey is currently coordinating with Torm and Clark, they have recalled all of the ships but the Hector and the Roger Young." Mycroft continued, "The Chinese, French, Australian, British and Canadian Governments have signed the new treaty and are requesting that we deploy the Viper squadrons as soon as possible."
"How the hell did Canada get involved?" Xander asked as he continued down the barely finished corridor to the Bridge.
"I assume that Petey neglected to inform you that the Canadians authorized the English Ambassador to negotiate for them."
"Huh," Xander frowned, "Hey wait, didn't Simon mention a couple of relatives of his that lived in Canada?"
"Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay and Jeanie Miller." Mycroft nodded, "We tried to recruit both of them. Dr. McKay is currently working at Area 51 under the auspices of the SGC. And Dr. Miller basically told us to go to hell."
"Damn." Xander sighed, "Well, maybe Simon can talk to them for us."
Xander decided to put that off until the current crisis was dealt with, he stepped onto the Bridge and nodded to the AI. "Okay, patch the General through."
"Sir, I believe you should know that Jacob Carter is currently with General Hammond in his office."
"Damn," Xander mulled over if for a bit. "Ah to hell with it, we had to face this sooner or later. Go ahead, put 'em through."
"Hello, General." Xander managed a smile as the face of the SGC's Commander appeared in front of him. "I wish I could say it was good to hear from you."
"I wish this wasn't business related as well." General Hammond agreed before being interrupted by Jacob.
"George, who the hell is this?"
"Captain Alexander Harris, at your service." Xander managed not to smile at the flummoxed expression on Jacob's face.
"WHAT! ?"
Xander didn't bother trying, he just began laughing as Jacob began sputtering and trying to get out a coherent sentence at the same time.
"We met once before, when the Brothers first negotiated with the SGC."
"That was you!? What... all that..."
"I'm sorry for the deception, General Carter. But it was necessary disinformation." Xander replied, "I'm part of an organization fighting what amounts to a shadow war on Earth against Extra-dimensional invaders."
"Are you...?" Jacob's voice trailed off as though he were listening to someone else, finally he lowered his head and Selmac took over, "So, the beings survived?"
"You knew about them?" General Hammond asked.
"We believed them destroyed," Selmac replied, "Ra and the other system lords did their best to erase them from the face of your world. Until now, we believed they succeeded."
"Now, that's the most arrogant assumption I've heard in a long time. Still, the System Lords actually did us a favor?" Xander thought about it, "Jealous gods, makes way too much sense."
General Hammond considered Xander's words. "They didn't want to share their power with other world conquerors."
"It was a one sided battle." Selmac told them, "The Goauld were sure that they'd destroyed all of their enemy."
"What about the Tok'ra?" General Hammond asked.
"Our founder did wonder if the enemy was truly dead." Selmac acknowledged, "But despite many rumors, we could find no evidence that any of the demons survived. It was assumed by the Goauld that the Demons had been wiped out, and no further action was necessary."
"Unfortunately," Xander sighed, "The dimensional weakspots that allow them access to our world still exist. That's where me and mine come in."
"I see." Jacob took over again, "I can't argue with Selmac, but why are you going against Anubis?"
"Besides the fact that he wants to make my home go boom?" Xander grinned, "He's at least partly ascended, that means he's partly extra-dimensional and puts him under my Aegis. Wait. Aegis?" Xander frowned, "I've been talking to the G-Man too much again."
"So, I know you have a fleet," Jacob said, "but do we have enough ships?"
"How big a fleet are we talking about?" Xander asked.
"At least 60 ships," Jacob answered, "Possibly more."
"Sixty," Xander frowned trying to work the math in his head and not liking the numbers, "Mycroft? How operational are you again?"
"All weapons, drives and shields are operational." Mycroft answered. "The Bridge and four levels below are completed and have life support. The remaining area is either superstructure only or open to space."
"That means you're no way ready for combat." Xander frowned, "Unless it's a real emergency. Okay, Mike, I need you to take up a parking orbit over the Antarctic and keep out of sight. You're our ace in the hole when Anubis turns out to be a bad loser."
"You're sure we can win this fight?" Jacob asked.
"I'm about eighty percent sure we can take big dark and cowly out for good. It's how fanatical his warriors are that really concerns me, they don't strike me as the type that'll just give up."
"They won't." Jacob agreed, "Especially his new super warriors, they have only one thought in their heads. 'Serve Lord Anubis'."
"That's going to be fun." Xander sighed, "Does anyone know how much time we have?"
Selmac again took over to answer the question, "We have at least two days, perhaps more."
"I'll take the two days." Xander smiled, "That's way more warning than we've had lately."
"I find it unfortunate that I know exactly what you mean." General Hammond agreed. "Although if you're sure about being able to take care of Anubis, then this may be a blessing in disguise."
"Wha...?" Xander frowned, then realized what General Hammond meant, "Oh, you mean the Ambassadors, right? I heard they signed on."
"Not just them." General Hammond chuckled, "Apparently, while we at our meeting, each of the government's leaders got a visit from a ghostly koala-like being that gave them the... I believe the term it used was the '411' on the SGC and it's allies. That and the usual 'stick' lecture."
"Oh yeah," Xander grinned, "I forgot about that. I figured they might not be willing to listen to their Ambassadors."
General Hammond sighed as former General Jacob Carter asked, "Are you telling me, he threatened a group of world leaders?"
"Nope," Xander's grin got a bit wider, "I just had one of my ship's AI's spell things out to them. That's all."
"I..." Jacob shook his head, "I think I'll take a page from O'Neill's playbook. I don't want to know."
"Good choice." Xander smiled. "I'll have Petey transfer the Vipers to the various governments, if Charley decides to dance the foxtrot... they'll need them. The worst part of this is, I've already assigned as many of oure Hunter Teams that we can afford to spare to the ships to help. We can't spare anymore."
"You have more resources at your disposal?" Selmac again took over, "I don't understand? Why can't you..."
"A good part of my resources are dedicated to protecting this world from the Beings as you call them." Xander told him, "I can't afford to leave that front helpless, even for Anubis."
"Surely you can spare them for..." Selmac's voice trailed off then he frowned, "Murphy? Who... I see, I think I understand Captain Harris. This is what you meant by keep the Goauld busy."
"Pretty much." Xander nodded, "I'm trying to build my forces to point where we can put paid to the hostile beings, then once our world is secure... Well let's say that I already know how to deal with wannabe 'Gods'."
"Oh?" Jacob asked.
"Massive amounts of firepower." The Captain of the PDCL grin was truly feral.
"The Kingsley just arrived, Sir." Davis informed General Hammond as the latter looked up from his paperwork, "It's currently hovering over Central Antarctica."
"What is it doing there?"
"Apparently drilling a hole down to Atlantis, Sir." Davis replied. Colonel O'Neill's condition seems to be worsening, but he was able to pinpoint the location of the city."
"Put me through to the Watson."
"Yes, Sir." Davis made the connections.
"Watson here, sir." Samantha Carter's voice announced.
"Major Carter," General Hammond began in a tone of long suffering patience, "Exactly why are you drilling into the Antarctic ice?"
"Petey contacted us about Anubis, Sir." Major Carter replied, "And even though we've seen Harris pull off some amazing things. The Colonel felt we needed a back-up plan."
"There's a weapon there?"
"One that Jack is sure can take out Anubis' ships." Sam replied, "He's come up with a risky plan, he wants us to put him in stasis and bring him out when Anubis actually attacks."
"Stasis?' General Hammond sighed.
"Sir?" Major Carter replied.
"Our friends in California have already installed a stasis unit onboard the Kingsley." General Hammond informed her, "Their best people say it should keep the Colonel from getting worse. At least until we can get him to the Asgard."
"That's a relief," Major Carter sighed, "We..."
"Sam," Daniel's voice came from off screen, "We've got a ring lock. And Jack's being Jack."
"Go on, Major." General Hammond smiled slightly, "I'll be waiting for your report."
"I hate this." Captain Keagle growled, "Where the hell are they!?"
"You want to be in the middle of a firefight?" Her XO asked.
"Hell no" Keagle growled, "But even that would beat this damned waiting!"
"Yeah," The helmsman sighed, "Nothing like having to wait for a fight you can't avoid."
"Exactly!" Captain Keagle agreed. "If we have to fight, why can't we just get it over with!?"
"Attention all ships!" Xander's image appeared at the front of the bridge. "Our new deep space telemetry systems have detected Anubis's fleet on final approach to Earth space. ETA is two hours, The PDCL, Guardian and McNally will take point. First strike wave will be single teraport missiles targeting each ships power distribution systems. If Cowl boy has managed to create a TI device and the missiles fail, then fall back to plan b."
As soon as the image faded, Captain Keagle turned to her command crew, "All right, you heard the boss. I want plan B up and running!"
"Yes, Ma'am." Her XO grinned, relieved to finally have to waiting over.
"And have plan C ready too!"
With a surprised look on his face, the President turned to stare at the commander of the SGC, "We actually have a Deep Space Telemetry system that can detect these Goauld ships?"
"No sir." General Hammond looked just as surprised. "I wasn't aware of it either."
"Harris," Senator Kinsey actually chuckled, "He's full of surprises."
"He on our side right?" The President looked worried.
"If you mean humanity's side, Sir? Then yes." General Hammond nodded. "If you mean the U.S. then only so far as we're part of humanity."
"A bit further than that." Senator Kinsey corrected, "Harris is an American citizen and he won't place another country above us in the pecking order."
"Unless we do something to antagonize him." The President remembered his meeting with the AI known as 'Petey'. "I'm still not sure what he gets out of risking his life like this."
"The safety of his family, his friends, and his world, Mr. President," a cultured English voice informed them. "Self-interest at its most basic of levels."
The three men turned to see the holoimage of Mycroft, the Merrick's AI behind them.
"Mycroft." Senator Kinsey acknowledged their visitor. "Is there something wrong?"
"I was reviewing standard Goauld tactics with Teal'c," Mycroft informed him, "I just arrived to recommend that you activate your Stargate now, but I see that will not be necessary."
"We've begun the evacuation of personnel to the Alpha Site in case things don't go according to plan." General Hammond told him, "We'll continue until the last minute."
"Very well," Mycroft nodded, "Then I shall continue monitoring the situation from the Antarctic."
"Mycroft?" The President asked, "What is the situation at the Antarctic Outpost?
"Colonel O'Neill is out of stasis and has the control chair of the Atlantis outpost running."
"How powerful is this weapon at the outpost?" Senator Kinsey asked.
"If you are asking me if it is capable of destroying me?" The AI smiled at the brief flicker of panic that flashed over the Senator's face. "The answer is yes."
"I'm sorry," The President interjected, "But did you just..."
"The weapon is quite capable of destroying a McNally Class Dreadnaught that has ventured within its targeting range." Mycroft replied, "However... I am not required to be within the range of the Ancient's weapon in order to launch a lethal strike against you."
"I see." General Hammond understood the Al's response. It was a not so subtle reminder of the capabilities of the ships under Harris's command. "So if Anubis should manage to defeat our fleet...?"
"You will be able to destroy what ships may remain of his fleet." Mycroft assured them before fading out.
Two hours later, the normally empty space between Earth and Mars suddenly became even more crowded as a fleet of ships exited Hyperspace and advanced towards the SGC's ships.
"What's the 411, Petey?" Xander asked as the two fleets closed with each other.
"The first volley of terapedoes failed to materialize." Petey informed him.
"Damn." Xander sighed, "He figured out how to block them. Okay plan B it is."
As Petey relayed the orders to the rest of the fleet, Xander noticed something odd about the tactical display. "Hey, Petey. How many ships are out there?"
"Thirty-five Ha'tak class cruisers, Two command class, and fifteen troop transports."
"I thought the readout looked funny." Xander frowned, "I was told he had at least sixty Ha'tak cruisers. Do you think he's held a few back as a res..."
"Sir." MyCroft's figure appeared on the bridge. "20 Ha'tak class cruisers just appeared inside lunar orbit."
"Son of a bitch!"
"How the hell did he pull that off?" Xander almost screamed, "Petey! Did he develop a Teraport?"
"No, Sir." Petey frowned as he digest the data from Mycroft, "He simply brought his ships out of hyperspace closer to the planet than normal, dangerously so."
"Holy..." One of the weapons crew said aloud, "Is he nuts!?"
"No," Petey shook his head, "Uncaring about the lives of his people. The main drives on all twenty ships were all but burned out in an attempt to decelerate the ships. Five of the ships failed to shed sufficient velocity in time and struck the outer edges of the Earth's atmosphere."
Xander glanced at the tactical display, they were still well out range of the Ha'tak's primary weapons, he still had some time to figure something out before they'd be to busy to do anything but fight. "So, they're crippled?"
"The remaining fifteen will no longer be able to maneuver in space, but they still retain the capability to safely land." Petey replied, "The five that hit the atmosphere have begun an uncontrolled descent that will result in their destruction."
"There is one problem though." Petey continued before Xander could say anything, "The trajectories will drop them in a line running roughly from the Philippine sea to the Middle east."
"Aw crap." Xander sighed as he began to imagine the chaos that would result from the debris hitting the surface. "We can't really do anything about that now. See if Mycroft can handle the bigger pieces, that might keep the damage from getting too bad. Now, where's cowlboy?"
"My best guess would be the Command ship with the unusually large power signature." Petey replied as one of the ships changed color. "I am assuming that he would want to have his 'super weapon' at his immediate disposal."
"Yeah," Xander nodded, "That's a safe assumption. All right, send word to the outpost. Tell the Colonel he can blast the ships in Earth orbit. And send word to the Viper squadrons, have them take out any death gliders or escape pods that leave the ships."
"Done, sir." Petey acknowledged, "Now, plan B?"
"Damn straight," Xander grinned, he hit the com button to the weapons bay, "Hey you big brains ready down there?"
"Are we ever!" An overly enthusiastic voice informed him, "This is going to be so cool!"
"Although," A slightly less enthused voice interrupted the first one, "I would have liked more time to install this technology."
"Sorry for the deadline." Xander replied, "It wasn't my idea."
"Well, fortunately despite the rushed job, both of the new terapedoes are now ready to deploy."
"Okay," Xander hit the 'fleet wide' com button. "All ships! Plan B!"
As the ships readied 'plan b', Anubis apparently decided to gloat a little. His image appeared on the bridge of the PDCL, and announced. "I am your God! Bow before me if you wish to live."
The last thing the ascended being expected to hear was the sound of laughter coming from the ship's Commander. "You dare to mock me?"
"Mock you?" Xander snorted, "You're not even worthy of being mocked."
"I have your world at my mercy!" Anubis growled, "With one command I..."
"Please." Xander sighed, "Did you really think that you'd outflanked me? Get real."
At the Antarctic outpost, Mycroft relayed the confrontation to the waiting SG-1. Major Sam Carter nodded, "I think that's the best lead-in we're going to get."
Colonel Jack O'Neill, who was listening to everything with the aid of a translator provided by Petey nodded and leaned back into the control chair. He closed his eyes and concentrated. A moment later, a stream of glowing objects tore through the ice and headed straight up.
On board the PDCL, Xander grinned as Anubis was suddenly distracted, probably by someone on his ship telling him about the Outpost weapon.
"HOW! ?"
Xander ignored him and turned to his com officer. "We ready?"
"All ships signal ready."
"Then let's rock." Xander leaned back into his chair and waited.
Every ship in the fleet fired nearly half of their total inventory in one massive wave that send over two thousand terapedoes at their targets. A majority of them were stopped by Anubis' crudely constructed Teraport Interdiction Field, but the sheer number of missiles guaranteed that on each ship at least one missile managed to get through to it's target.
Onboard Anubis' command ship, a lone Jaffa was stunned to see three missiles appear next to the main power distribution grid. Before he could raise his weapon, one of the missiles noted. "We have reached primary target." The last thing the surprised Jaffa saw was a blinding light as the three missiles simultaneously detonated.
On the bridge Anubis was livid as the lights flickered and finally came back on. His Prime dropped to one knee and reported, "My Lord. The ships are reporting in, they are on auxiliary power and can no longer advance."
Back on the PCDL. Xander waited until Petey informed him, "All of Anubis' ships are disabled."
"You guys ready down there?" Xander asked the Armory.
"Ready!"
"Okay, Petey." Xander stood up. "Launch the GBT1 ."
Anubis didn't flinch as the missile appeared on his bridge. He'd survived the last one used against him and he was sure he could survive this one. This one looked different though, there was an odd device attached to the front of it with two small armlike antenna extending from either side. The two extensions had small lights running up their length and moved up and down like a person waving his arms. Then the image of the Captain of the fleet appeared in front of the missile. "Hey Annie! My name's Harris. I'm the guy that's going to make you wish you were dead."
"You will pay for this." Anubis growled.
"So put it on my credit card, Annie. I've faced down a real hell-god." Harris sneered, "How are you in anyway scarier than that? Your fleet is crippled, and you're in a lot of trouble."
"Then destroy this fleet." Now Anubis sneered, "Your weapons cannot hurt me."
"Now why would I want to do that?" Harris grinned, "Especially after I went through all the trouble of using conventional warheads on your ship's power systems."
If Anubis had had eyes, they would have widened in realization. "You..."
"Congratulations idiot, you just handed me your fleet, your command ships, your superweapon, and your ass." Harris laughed, "All on a platter."
"I can still..."
"You're ready?" Harris turned away from Anubis as though listening to someone else. "Good. Launch the GBT2."
A second missile appeared next to the first, this one had four obvious weapons pointed at him. Anubis laughed, "Do you really..."
That was about as far as he got before four positron streams hit him simultaneously. Anubis' screams were deafening as the beams wrapped themselves around him, effectively immobilizing him.
"Trap open!" A voice called out from the missile. The front of the missile opened and another light flew out, sucking the now helpless System Lord in. Once he was inside, the same voice said, "Trap Closed. We got him!"
Once the second missile vanished, Xander's image turned to the Jaffa staring at him in shock "Your 'God' is now my new night light. I'm going to give you one chance. Surrender now and I give you my word of honor, you'll be sent to a world of your choice. Fight, and you won't live to regret your decision."
As the signal was cut, Xander activated the ship to ship com. "Teal'c? You ready?"
"Of course, AlexanderHarris."
"Then make your pitch."
Over the com lines of Anubis' remaining ships, Teal'c's voice announced, "I am Teal'c former First Prime of Apophis. The System Lords call me Shol'va, I say it is they who are the betrayers. The Jaffa owe the Goauld no loyalty, I say they are false gods. The one called Anubis has now been defeated twice by the Tauri, he is not a god. Those of you who believe as I do, join with us. Cast off the shackles of servitude, die free!"
On several of the crippled ships, many of the Jaffa glanced at each other, doubt filling their eyes. They had heard the rumors, Ra had fallen, Apophis had fallen, now even Anubis could not stand before the Tauri. And for some, a decision was made.
Back at the SGC every word and image was being relayed by the Al's to the Briefing room. There, the Russian President, The Chinese Premier and the U.S. President were sitting in stunned silence at what they'd just witnessed. Only Senator Kinsey and Jacob/Selmac were discussing something in low tones on the other side of the table.
"You cannot be serious!" Selmac's voice rose slightly.
"Jacob?" General Hammond looked over at the arguing pair.
"Tell the Senator," Selmac managed to regain control of his temper. "that his plan is foolhardy."
"What..." General Hammond was about to ask. 'what plan?' until the Senator interrupted him.
"George," Kinsey in his excitement dropped all of his usual pretensions, "We've got an opportunity here. Those ships are dead in space, all we have to do..."
"Is fight an untold number of Jaffa and Super Warriors to claim them." Selmac reminded him. "You don't have the..."
"We've got the manpower." Xander's voice caused everyone to jump. They turned to see his hologram standing through the desk. "I've got about ten teams sweeping the ships now, but I could use whoever you can spare."
"I've got six SG teams on standby." General Hammond informed him.
"Good," Xander nodded, "I've authorized Petey to break open the Foothold lockers. Get them suited up for heavy combat and I'll arrange transport."
"Could we be of any assistance?" The Russian President offered.
"Yeah," Xander nodded, "You've still got Spetsnatz forces right?"
"Yes."
"And we have units as well." The Chinese Premier informed him, "Their English name would be..."
"Night Tigers." Xander nodded. "I've heard of them, they're the supernatural equivalent of your Snow Wolves. I could use the manpower."
Senator Kinsey suppressed a sigh, he'd known that the program was going international but he'd still hoped to keep the other militaries as far out of the loop as he could. But... he could still manage to keep quite a bit of the power he'd garnered, at least as long he kept on Harris' good side. "Perhaps we can use the SGC as the gathering point?"
"Good idea." Xander smiled, "If you gentleman wouldn't mind gathering the forces you can trust for a mission like this, I'll arrange for their transportation and their equipment."
"Most assuredly." The Chinese Premier nodded, followed quickly by the Russian President.
"Xander...?" Senator Kinsey began hesitantly.
"Yes, Senator?"
"What exactly are you going to do with those ships?"
"Well." Xander smiled, "Petey and Andrew collaborated on a cobbled together interface that allows a clone node to access the Goa'uld's systems. So the idea is to deliver one node to each ship and once we've got control, lock the ship down until we can clear it out."
"That's not exactly what I meant." The Senator replied.
"What...?" Xander frowned, "OH!! You mean the ships!? Well, except for the one with the Superweapon, you can have them. I wanna see if Petey can duplicate it and install it on our ships."
"You are..." The Chinese Premier looked a bit shocked until he realized that without the 'interdiction field' which was undoubtedly onboard Anubis' primary command carrier, Harris could easily destroy all of the Goauld ships with one of his. "I see."
"Good." Xander replied, "Then..."
"Pardon me." The Russian President interrupted, "But just out of curiosity. What was Plan C?"
"Well..." Xander hesitated, "Plan C... We had five three teraton bombs primed on each ship. If plan B failed, we were going to teraport each of the bombs to a specific location just outside of the Interdiction field, effectively surrounding Anubis' fleet with bombs. Then we were going to detonate them."
The Russian Premier blanched at that news. "That would have been visible from Earth."
"In the daytime, at high noon." Xander nodded. "Now you know why it was plan c."
"I'm glad it didn't come to that." Senator Kinsey remarked, he had also turned an alarming shade of green when told of Plan C.
"You and me, both." Xander replied, as he faded out. His last words caused a chill to run down the spines of all people in the room. "Because Plan D was even scarier."
"Plan D?" Jacob looked around the room at the pale faces, "Someone please tell me he was kidding."
Back onboard the PCDL, Xander was listening to the progress of the strike teams onboard the Ha'tak cruisers. "Petey, You're sure we can keep these ships powered down, right?"
"Right up until we install a clone node." Petey nodded. "Torm already has control of the Command ship and the first sweep teams are clearing it out as we speak."
"Good," Xander turned his attention back to the global display. "What about the debris?
"We've managed to clear most of the larger debris." Petey replied, "Unfortunately, there was too much to stop it all without resorting to tactical weapons."
"Which means?"
"Thousands of pieces of debris, ranging from the size of a softball to the size of a motorcycle are going to be raining down on the East and Middle East."
"How bad?"
"We've sent out a warning for the path of destruction." Petey told him. "Most of the affected regions are sparsely inhabited to loss of life will be minimal. But..."
"But?" Xander pressed.
"When it impacts the Middle-East, we're looking at about a loss of at least seventy percent of that area's oil production."
"Oh crap." Xander sighed, "Is there anything we can do to offset this?"
"Short term," Petey shook his head, "No. The world economy is going to slump for a while. Long term? We have several improved oil extraction processes that we can 'develop' and release in the next year. And we can 'develop' several alternative energy sources that will make up the slack but that may take several years before they can be implemented fully."
"Got it," Xander sighed, "Get all of our brains on it. I just hope some no conspiracy nut blames us for it."
"Understood." Petey replied, "SG-1 is requesting permission to take the Kingsley to the Asgard homeworld."
"Any reason to delay them?"
"No, Sir."
"Then tell them 'Good Luck and God-speed'."
"Done sir."
"Any other developments?"
Petey pulled up the tactical display of the Earth. "The only concern now are the Death Glider Squadrons heading for the planet surface."
"Squadrons?" Xander enlarged the screen, "All I see is one big bi... Ah crap!"
"Atmospheric inference is making exact numbers difficult to determine, but I would estimate that Anubis transferred nearly every death gliders he could manage into the ships invading Earth. "I would even go so far as to say that he never intended for those Gliders to return to the invasion fleet, sir. Win or lose, this was a one-way launch."
"This is going to be messy, isn't it?"
"Possibly," Petey replied, "We've had to deploy the fleet's fighters as a security screen in case one of the Ha'tak vessels manages to get its bay doors open. The surface based Viper squadrons are enroute to intercept."
"And terapedoes would be too visible," Xander sighed, "Pull up the main tactical again."
After studying the display, Xander smiled, "Use fighters from the McNally to cover the Enterprise. Hood and Roger Young. Send their squadrons down to reinforce the surface squadrons."
"Transmitting orders now." Petey acknowledged.
Major Cameron Mitchell stared in horrified shock at the swarm of Death Gliders on his long range monitor. At his best guess, they were outnumbered about twenty or thirty to one. "Son of a..."
"I'd make a comment about the Alamo right now." His Wingman, Major Matt Mason commented, "But it's not really the right analogy."
"So what is?" Major Mitchell asked.
"The Charge of the Light Brigade."
"Now there's a cheery thought." Lt. Kara Wade replied. "Comparing us to a suicide charge."
"No," Major Mason explained, "They're the Light Brigade. They're so outmatched, I almost feel sorry for them."
"Then perhaps you do not require our assistance." A heavily accented Russian voice chimed in.
"Major Ganya Ivanovich!" Major Mitchell grinned at the sound of his Russian Counterpart's voice. "What took you so long?"
"My apologies. Major." The Russian pilot responded, "Our governments were concerned about where the Death Gliders were heading and decided to wait until they were sure of the enemy's final destination."
"The more the merrier," Major Mitchell smiled.
"I hope that includes us." Captain Ben Gannon asked as the squadrons from the Hood and the Roger Young fell into formation.
"And us." Lt. Shin Kazama asked as the Japanese Squadron joined them.
"All Squadrons active swarm logic." You could practically hear the grin in Major Mitchell's voice. "Lock on targets."
Onboard each of the fighters the swarm AI activated, linking their targeting systems together. Individual missiles acquired their separate targets and sounded lock-on tone.
"I've got tone." Lt. Wade announced, "Ready to fire."
"All squadrons..." Major Mitchell aborted his order to fire as nearly a quarter of the Death Gliders suddenly began a rapid ascent. "What the...?"
"You think they're bugging out?" Captain Gannon asked.
"Maybe," Major Mitchell replied, "Or possibly they're responding to Teal'c's message. All right, reacquire targets, lock up and fire."
Almost as one, every fighter opened fire, emptying their long range missiles in one volley. The enemy fighters were still out of visual range when the explosions lit up the sky.
On the other side of the battle, the leader of the Death Glider squadron barely had time to register the betrayal of some of his forces before missiles struck. Within moments he and nearly half of the remaining forces were blown out of the sky. Seconds later the two forces engaged and all hell broke loose.
The Death Glider pilots quickly realized that they were out matched and began using desperation tactics. Major Mitchell stared in horror as three Death Gliders rammed his wingman's plane. There was a flash of light as the Viper's shield overloaded then the tell tale trail of smoke indicating the firing of the ejection module.
"Son of a bitch!" Mitchell heard, Captain Gannon growl as he jinked his fighter to the right, narrowly avoiding the Death Glider coming straight at him. The Death Glider pilot chasing Gannon wasn't quite up to same skill level and plowed right into his compatriot.
"Oh Shit!" Mitchell swore as he saw four of the enemy closing with him from different angles. Just then another swarm of missiles screamed into the fight and a good number of the Death Gliders from the sky.
"What the hell?" Mitchell frowned as another fighter squadron ripped past.
"Is that...?" Captain Gannon asked.
"I think it was..." Captain Wade nodded.'
"Well son of a ..."
"Tin man requesting permission to join the fight." A pleasant voice informed the Vipers.
"EDI!" Lt. Purcell recognized the voice and the call sign. "When did they let you out?"
"XWB Industries decided that additional support might prove advantageous." EDI informed them. "And because I have been undergoing several 'years' of training with Petey on what is a real objective and what is an exercise in theory, Ms. Rosenberg agreed that my release was an acceptable risk."
"Well," Major Mitchell announced as he dodged another suicide attack, "Whoever you are, welcome to the fight."
Major Mitchell glanced over at the new fighters just in time to see the fighter perform a maneuver that was totally impossible for a human to do without blacking out, even if one considered the inertial dampeners built into their fighters. For the briefest moment, Mitchell allowed himself to be distracted trying to puzzle out just what 'tinman' was. That distraction was all several Death Glider pilots needed to force the Major into a collision course. He felt the tell-tale shift in g-forces as the ejection module separated from his fighter and breathed a sigh of relief as the back up inertial dampeners kicked in.
His relief was short-lived as another squad of Death Gliders began firing on him. There was a shudder as the main landing systems failed and the Module deployed a backup chute. He was just about to say his final prayers when one of the new fighters knocked the enemy squadron out of the sky.
"Oh shit." Major Mitchell swore as the nearby explosions caused the backups to fail. As the module began freefalling, he quickly calculated the maximum shock force that his flight suit's inertics could handle and started hammering on the inside of the cockpit canopy. He managed to get it open just in time to see the ground rushing up to meet him. "This is going to hurt."
Sergeant Ben Storm frowned as his team made their way through the corridors of the Ha'tak Class Mothership. For the first hour or so of the mission they'd encountered heavy resistance. Then all of a sudden nothing, not even a Jaffa yelling insults. As they entered what should have been the secondary control room, he saw several large containers sitting in the center of the room.
"Ah shit!" He swore as he suddenly remembered Murphy's rule about the easy way. "Clear out!!!"
The team managed to get exactly five feet down the corridor before the blast from the bombs caught them. The last thing Sgt. Storm felt was a searing pain across his back before the darkness.
Onboard the PCDL, Xander Harris was listening in horror to the reports coming in from both the battle and the medical bays.
"Petey, how bad is this?"
"Not as bad as it seems at first glance." Petey replied, "We've had only six confirmed fatalities, two pilots. Their ejection modules were shot down by the enemy and they didn't manage to get out in time. And four assault team members. they were at ground zero when a bomb went off"
"Son of a..." Xander cut himself off "What about other causalities?"
"The regular medical teams are handling the minor injuries and the "magic Cryokits" are being used to take care of the serious injuries."
"So why do all of the reports mention nanniebags and the regular cryokits?"
"The Jaffa that have refused to surrender have begun using suicide tactics to take as many of our men with them as possible." Petey explained, "The explosives they have access to aren't powerful enough to destroy our people's battlearmor unless they're right next to blast, but they can breach the armor. And unfortunately..."
"Anything that can breach the armor is likely to cause major trauma." Xander understood. "So there have been a lot of serious injuries?"
"In the last hour," Petey reported, "We've taken control of forty-seven point five percent of the ships and suffered twenty one point three percent personnel losses to injuries. We're transferring the injured to the medical bays and using the regular cryokits and nanny-bags to keep them in stasis until they can be treated. As amputations can be dealt with by regrowing the severed limbs, I am currently classifying them as serious but not fatal, moving them to a less urgent status, medically speaking."
"The regular medical bays are being overloaded." Xander frowned, vague memories of watching various war documentaries rose to the surface of the young man's mind and he remembered something that might work. "We need dedicated hospital ships. Petey is there any..."
"I can modify the base superstructure of the current batch of BC-303's to accommodate a full hospital." Petey replied.
"There are four of them right?" Xander remembered something from the military records Petey had given him months before.
"Yes." Petey thought about the way Xander asked the question and quickly found the reason. "I think I know what you want to name them. They would the perfect names for the Medical ships."
"How long before they're ready to launch?"
"Three Months."
"Good," Xander curled up a little, "They've got priority. Oh! And Petey? During the after-action reports, I want to see a follow-up on the Jaffa who fired on downed pilots. I'd like to have a long talk with them."
"Understood." Petey acknowledged, "Although given the lack of ejection systems in the Death Glider design... I don't believe there will be many enemy pilots taken alive."
"Well, keep track of them anyway."
"Yes, Sir."
Story downloaded from http://www.grandt.com/XanderZone/stories/read.php?story=XanderMercenary-Sequel.html