You Shall be Like US - SG/DW

[The Imperator]

Stargate/Doctor Who crossover.


Prologue


A small, red-gray rock hung in space, and would have gone unnoticed in the grand scheme of the universe, if not for one man. The planet was home to the Cryons, but their story was ended by a race of cybernetic beings, driven from their home planet, destroyed everywhere they went, by one man, one ageless, powerful man, who almost seemed to seek out races to destroy.

The cybernetic beings, called Cybermen, ran and hid, determined to survive, to keep their race alive, but even in hiding, the man of the Cybermen’s nightmares found them, and again he destroyed them… or so he thought. But, the Cybermen survived, and worked tirelessly to regain their power. Finally, they achieved success – they had built a phase shifting drive, to hide them where not even the man could find them. They activated it, and Telos vanished from the universe…

[The Imperator]

Chapter 1

Unidentified Planet


A brilliant burst of energy lit up the dark reaches of interstellar space, and a monstrous Ori vessel emerged from hyperspace. Its sensors immediately began to scan the area, looking for traces of the Asgard power cores of the Tau’ri vessels. A trace was found, but the sensors picked up an even more interesting trace - an unknown energy signature was detected on the closest planet, the third planet out from the nearest star. The planet was a frozen, grey rock, the surface long since ravaged through time and the cold. But, however inhospitable the planet appeared, sensors had detected some kind of activity on the planet below.

The vessel’s Prior beamed down, along with a cadre of armed guards, to investigate what this never before detected energy signature could be. If the possessors of this new energy signature were not willing to convert to the true ways of the Origin, than the Prior would have to take the knowledge by force. He desperately wanted to have a peaceful contact, the violent ones taxing him of late. Why would the Tau’ri and Jaffa not just accept the truth, he often mused to himself. But, his was not the place to ask questions, only to communicate the truth of Origin to this dark, ignorant galaxy.

His musings were quickly cut short as the guards came to the door of a small building, with a strange helmet shaped symbol on it. The Prior had never seen anything like it before, but, nevertheless, he commanded his soldiers to advance into the complex. The doors slid open, and a blast of stale air slammed in to the Prior’s face, causing him to momentarily grimace. Quickly shaking off his discomfort, the Prior walked through the doors, into a small control room of sorts. A broken hatch lay at one end of the room, and a long row of levers lined the other side.

“Search the room beyond the hatch,” the Prior commanded, and 2 of his 5 guards quickly headed down the ladder under the hatch. Suddenly, one of the guards howled in apparent pain, but was quickly cut off.

The Prior spun toward the hatch, sent his remaining three guards down, and then proceeded to travel down the hatch himself. The sight that greeted the Prior was a strange one indeed. The walls were lined with small alcoves, each about the size of a full grown Tau’ri; most of them had a strange plastic looking cover over them, but 3 were noticeably empty of whatever they had held within them. Another muffled howl resounded in the room, and the Prior noticed that he was the only one left standing.

“Come out, friends. I only wish to teach you the truth of the Origin, of the path to Ascendance Come out, and let me speak to you,” intoned the Prior, putting as much power as he could muster into those words.

From behind him, a slightly metallic, weirdly pitched voice answered him, “You belong to us, you will be like us,” as the Prior felt a huge shock run through his body, and he collapsed.



The Ori vessel was still in orbit over the planet when, 9 hours after the Prior landed, a short communication came through that informed the warship that the Prior and soldier were ready to beam up. As the transporter rings settled in to place, the other soldiers stared in shock at what lay in front of them; six silver suited, android looking beings had been beamed up instead. The tallest being turned to the nearest guard, and a bolt of energy shot from its hand and slammed in to the guard, dropping him instantly. The other beings began to slaughter the other guards, and within an hour, the ship was under the control of the Cybermen.

The transporter rings began to work, beaming up all the formerly stranded Cybermen, and all of their equipment, into the newly captured vessel. As the Cyber-Controller took the bridge, he commanded, “Set a course for Earth, we shall replenish our number and spread out among the stars.” The vessel launched into hyperspace, and once again, Telos was left alone, a cold, barren rock of little importance.




Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

“Alright people, we have a situation developing. Two days ago, the Odyssey picked up some strange sensors readings. Two Ori vessels were engaged in combat with each other, for unknown reasons,” General Landry began, but was cut off by Mitchell.

“Sir, isn’t it a good thing that the Ori are fighting each other?” The other members of SG-1 nodded their heads in agreement.

“The only problem is, the Odyssey picked up strange energy readings coming from one of the Ori vessel. From what they could gather, someone or something has managed to take over an Ori vessel, and is slowly making its way toward Earth, stopping off at every inhabited planet along the way. We don’t know what the being, or beings, plan is, but we do know that every planet that they have visited is now unable to be reached by our gate.”

“So, you want us to investigate?” asked Mitchell in his typically sarcastic tone.

“Yes, but I will be sending the Odyssey with you, so the Ori ship can be destroyed if needed. Time is of the essence, though, as the vessel will arrive at Chulak within the next four days. Mitchell, I want your team suited up and ready to go within the hour.”

“Yes sir!” Mitchell responded, grinning at the chance of another mission.

“It would appear that our defeat of the Ori will not give us a chance to ‘take a break,’” Teal’c said in his calm, monotone voice. The team headed out of the conference room, toward a new threat brewing on the horizon.

The Odyssey, 10 minutes out from Chulak…

“Alright, let’s lock and load, people. We will be beaming aboard the Ori ship once it engages the Odyssey, and from there, find out as much as you can about these… whatever they are, that have taken over the Ori vess-” but Mitchell was cut off as alarm klaxons began to blare through the ship.

“This is Colonel Davidson, we are under attack by the Ori vessel, I repeat, we are under attack by the Ori vessel. Man the battle stations.”

The ship rocked, and the conduits, that ran over SG-1’s heads, spit out streams of sparks, one of them hitting Teal’c.

Vala reached down and helped Teal’c steady himself, and remarked, “Well that’s not good, is it?”

Another explosion rocked the ship as the team sprinted towards the transport rings. The team hurried to stand inside the Ring platform, and the nearest technician activated them. The Rings flew up and converted SG-1 into energy, and within milliseconds, the Ori vessel’s rings activated, depositing SG-1 within the Ori vessel. The view that the team saw upon rematerializing was not the typical view of an Ori vessel. The walls had been stripped bare of all but the most essential items, and much of the technology that could be seen had been cannibalized in some way. The door to the Ring room opened, and a strange, almost comical looking, silver suited being plodded into the room.

“Alert, unidentified beings detected, send reinforcements,” the being called in a strangely pitched, mechanical voice.

“What are you supposed to be, some kind of kitchen cleaner?” quipped Mitchell, almost unable to hold in his laughter at the beings strange appearance.

The being looked at Mitchell, and responded slowly, “We are the Cybermen, and you will become like us.” It raised its hand, and a blast of electricity slammed in to Mitchell, collapsing him instantly.

The remaining team members slowly backed up, keeping their weapons trained on the being. “Stand down,” Teal’c commanded in his the strongest voice he could muster,” We mean you no harm, we simply want to discuss what you are doing with the planets you have been visiting.”

“We have converted them into Cybermen. We must survive,” responded the Cyberman, “and soon you to will be like use.”

“So, wait, you guys are like the Borg from Star Trek,” asked Daniel Jackson, “some kind of cybernetic life form that needs to ‘assimilate’ other beings to survive?”

“Was that a culture reference, because I didn’t get it,” whispered Vala under her breath.

“We have no knowledge of these… Borg you have mentioned, but if they get in our way, they will be converted as well. We will survive.”

The door behind the Cyberman flew open again, and five more Cybermen walked through. “Take them,” commanded a Cyberman with a larger than usual head. Teal’c opened fire first, but the bullets barely damaged the Cybermen. Within minutes, SG-1 was down.

The Ori vessel leapt into hyperspace, and the damaged Odyssey was left alone in the void of space…

[The Imperator]

Chapter 2


Within captured Ori vessel

The Prior, when he awoke, discovered that he was strapped onto a human shaped operating table, standing upright in a small alcove. Wires and tubes were connected to different parts of his body, and several of his extremities had been replaced with cybernetics. A metallic voice spoke to him as he awoke, but he could not see where is came from

“Good, you have awakened. You have proved to be troublesome, even though you are but a weak organic being. We cannot fix your mind, something is protecting it. Tell us what it is!”

“The Ori are protecting me,” the Prior choked out, blood running down his cheek from his mouth, “and in taking me, you have made a grave error. The Ori shall avenge themselves upon you, for treating their emissary in such a manner.” An electric jolt shot through his body as all the cybernetic systems came online.

“If we cannot purge you of emotions,” intoned the Cyberman, “we shall be forced to break your mind.” The Prior could almost feel that the Cyberman’s shriveled, organic face was smiling underneath the helmet as he said those last words.

He gritted his teeth. He was prepared for Ascendency; he was ready to meet the Ori. But, when the pain came, he screamed – a long, painful, miserable, powerless scream of a broken animal. But, the machines didn’t halt their unceasing work, and f the mechanical nanoprobes and components ate his mind away, one cell at a time.

“You will not be going anywhere, and these ‘Ori’ will be dealt with once the Cybermen have reached Earth. We will replenish our numbers to survive, and we will spread out across the galaxy,” whispered the Cyberman as it looked at the Prior’s broken, lifeless body. “The Ori shall fall, and shall be like us, just as you have…”



Odyssey, en route to Earth for repairs…

“Gen. Landry, Sir, I regret to inform you,” Colonel Davidson said slowly, “that the Ori vessel leaped into hyperspace just after SG-1 beamed aboard. I have no way of knowing if they are all right.”

Landry’s voice crackled back over the damaged comm, “Well then, go get ‘em. I need them back with whatever information they have.”

“Sir, this ship is barely sturdy enough to make it back to Earth, let alone go chasing after another Ori vessel. Request permission to head to Earth for repairs.”

“Permission granted, I am putting the Apollo on this now, you get that ship back here so we can get it patched up and back in the field. Landry out.”

Cyber-Ori vessel…

The Cyber-Ori vessel dropped out of hyperspace above the planet P3X-797, shields raised and weapons active. But, no vessels were detected and the shields dropped. All over the ship, hatches opened and Cybermen clambered out of the ship into the vacuum of space, intent on repairing the vessel.

Inside the ship, in one of the many repurposed holds, the members of SG-1 were strapped to operating tables in alcoves. The Cyberman with the large head was standing over them, and he directed a question to them. “Are you to protected by the ‘Ori’? Even if we are unable to convert you, we are still able to kill you.”

“Of course we’re not pro-” began Mitchell, but Carter cut him off.

“Yes, the Ori protect us to.” Carter said slowly, and Jackson nodded his head vigorously in agreement with her statement. He glared at Vala and Teal’c, who both also joined in nodding.

“Then you will tell us of these ‘Ori,’” began the Cyberman, “or we will be forced to harm you to gain the truth. The ‘Prior’ was most unhelpful, and now he has been deleted. The same fate will befall you if you do not comply.”

Two Cybermen walked in to the room and unstrapped Jackson and Vala. “You are known to us from the ‘Ori’ databanks on this ship,” said one of the Cybermen. “You, Daniel Jackson, were once a ‘Prior.’ You, Vala Mal Doran, were the mother of the ‘Orici.’ You will tell us what you know of the Ori, or we will forcibly convert your ‘friends’ to be like us. Do not disappoint the Cybermen!” With their shoulders firmly gripped by the Cybermen, Vala and Jackson were led out of the operating room.

Jackson and Vala were forced into an ornate bedroom, reminiscent of the bedroom Vala had had when she was raising Adria. But, that was where the similarities stopped. The bed had been removed and replaced with 12 alcoves, half full with newly converted Cybermen, only lacking the distinctive silver pressure suit. The Cybermen that had been herding Vala and Jackson roughly pushed them into the room, and the door slammed shut behind the two humans.

Now alone in a room full of dormant Cyberman, Jackson quickly walked toward the alcove and began to inspect it. “These designs are quite amazing, Vala. Look at this one here – it has and energy supply, a nutrient supply, and it can slowly transform humans into Cybermen. It is really quite amazing.”

“I suppose it’s amazing, but only if you like watching what will be used to kill us!” Vala almost yelled in response.

“Vala, don’t yell. I think these ‘Cybermen’ are dormant, but I don’t know how long they will stay that way,” Jackson replied quickly. Jackson began to look over the alcoves, inspecting the language that was written on it, which appeared to be a stylized form of binary. A monitor attached to each alcove had a rapidly scrolling list of numbers flying past the screen.

The door to the room slid open and the tall Cyberman walked in. “You will tell us of the Ori, so they can be like us, untainted by mortal flesh,” intoned the Cyber-Controller in his strange, metallic voice, “We will survive, and we shall become the dominant life-form. What are these Ori? Tell us!”

“Sorry to break it to you, but the Ori are energy beings, they don’t have bodies anymore, they… Ascended. We, the Tau’ri of Earth, fought a war with the Ori, and we killed them all,” responded Jackson slowly.

“So the Ori are not a threat to the Cybermen? That is perfect, now we can focus on Earth. It shall become the new, Mondas, and nothing the Doctor can do will stop us.” The Cyber-Controller turned and walked out of the room, but stopped before he had walked all the way out. He turned toward the alcoves, and commanded, “Put them in hibernation till we need their intelligence again. They must not die yet.”

The partially converted Cybermen in the alcoves all woke up as one, and advanced on Jackson and Vala.

[The Imperator]

Chapter 3

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex

Gen. Landry walked briskly through the halls of the Cheyenne Mountain complex, mulling over the recent events. It had been over 2 weeks since SG-1 had been captured, and the search was not going well. The Sun-Tzu, Odyssey, and Apollo had turned up nothing in their recent searches, leaving SGC without any information on who or what the new alien threat was. Landry was sick of this happening time and time again, as if the members of SG-1 were pieces in some gigantic chess game.

Landry was snapped back from his musings by an excited Sgt. Harriman. “Commander,” Harriman exclaimed, “We have news from Atlantis, they’ve picked up the stolen Ori vessel on the fringes of the Pegasus Galaxy closest to the Milky Way. The Apollo and the Odyssey have both requested permission to check it out, Sir.”

“Send the Apollo, but tell the Odyssey to stay put, in case the data from Atlantis proves to be faulty. We need to get that ship found, but I don’t want all our eggs in one basket,” Landry responded curtly, and he quickened his pace and walked into his office. Some days he thought the stress would kill him, today just adding another log to the fire. Then he got a phone call from the Pentagon, and his day just kept getting better…

Cyber-Ori vessel

“Status on vessel,” the Cyber-Controller’s electronic voice barked
.
“We are on approach to a planet, undesignated by the Ori,” responded the Cyberman at the helm, “Located in the southern spiral arm of the galaxy designated the Pegasus Galaxy by the human. 486 seconds till arrival.”

The Cyber-Controller turned and strode off the bridge. It headed for the cryogenic chamber, walking as fast as possible with its mechanical gait. The Cyber-Controller stopped at the doors to the former worship place, and commanded the three Cybermen at the chamber’s doors, “Rejuvenate the human prisoners. We will need their knowledge of the ‘Pegasus’ Galaxy so that we can upgrade the humans of Atlantis. The knowledge they will give us will be most beneficent for our survival.”

The Cybermen turned and advanced into the cryogenic chamber. When the sensors of the cryogenic alcoves detected the presence of Cybermen, the thawing procedure began. Six figures fell from the alcoves, each one weakened by the week in stasis.

Teal’c was the first to regain consciousness, followed by Mitchell and then Vala. Mitchell fumbled to get into a sitting position, already becoming the largest presence in the room.

“Nice room service you got here,” he coughed, “How’s the breakfast?”

“Mitchell, shut up,” hissed the recently awakened Carter while she struggled to sit up, “we don’t need them any angrier.” She slumped back over, still week from the cryogenic freezing process.

“We do not have emotional weaknesses, anger is irrelevant,” commanded one of the Cybermen, “You will accompany us to the bridge; we need your knowledge and human irrationality to serve us. Follow!”. It, and the other two with it, turned toward the door, beckoning to the now fully awake SG-1. The team stumbled to their feet, and after checking each other over , they trudged through the door, following their captors.

Atlantis

“Rodney, what’ve we got?” asked Weir when the entire team had taken their seats in the conference room.

“Well, ass you know,” began McKay as he stood up and started speaking, “We have been tracking the stolen Ori vessel for the last several days, but so far it has just slowly cruised along the outskirts of the Pegasus Galaxy, and it has not yet come any closer to Atlantis. However, yesterday, we picked up two Wraith ships, both on an intercept course with the Ori ship. This morning, our sensors picked up a strange subspace energy spike, consistent with what we know of phase shiftin-.”

“So let me get this straight,” Colonel Sheppard interrupted, “We have some kind of unidentified alien’s captured Ori vessel within striking distance, and it has phase shifting?”

“Well, unless the Wraith suddenly got their hands on some phase shifting technology, then... you’re right…” McKay answered slowly, his shoulders drooping as the knowledge of the phase technology hit every person in the room.

“These Ori, hat are their vessels like?” asked Teyla, voicing a question that most of the group was mulling over, almost all of them having come to Atlantis before the Ori/Tauri war broke.

“Big, look like toilet seats, and have ridiculously high powered beam weapons,” McKay quickly answered, “the only thing that Earth has that comes even close to their offensive and defensive technologies are our Asgard shields and Asgard beam weapons.”

“So, how do we plan to fight this ship if it does turn its sights to us,” Ronan asked in his usual gruff, no nonsense tone. He crossed his arms and set his shoulders as he asked, and those around him could almost hear the gears turning in his head.

“The drones should be enough, especially with the Zed-P-M in operation,” McKay responded evenly, and then began to speed up as he got excited, “We have enough drones to take out any ship that comes against us, and we have the cloak ready to use incase anything goes wrong. The shields are ready for us to activate at any time. If I do say so myself, nothing that the Ori vessel has should be a problem.”

“Rodney, I need to know how much of this base we can get up to full potential. I don’t want us to be sitting ducks out here if that ship finds out where we are. Dismissed.” Weir stood up and followed Colonel Sheppard out. “Colonel, I want you to make sure that these men here are ready for a fight forces that can seemingly defeat Priors with ease.”

“Yes ma’am,” answered Sheppard. He quickened his pace and headed for the armory. Along the way he grabbed the heads of the other Atlantis teams, briefing them on what McKay had discovered.

The Atlantis crew dispersed quickly and got about their duties, shoring up Atlantis’s defenses in preparation for what could be another siege. The base gained an unsettling quiet for the next several days, all of the staff and soldiers feeling a cold dread in the pits of their stomachs. 5 days after the subspace sensors picked up the former Ori vessel the sensors registered that the vessel was heading toward Atlantis, via the position of the Daedalus and Apollo.

Southern Spiral Arm of the Pegasus Galaxy, rendezvous between Daedalus and Apollo, minutes earlier

Colonel Ellis of the Apollo was in a sour mood. The Ori vessel had been located, but the Daedalus and Apollo had been ordered not to engage the vessel until after the Wraith had ceased engaging it. He couldn’t believe that Landry had ordered them to hold off engaging an obviously weakened enemy, but those were the orders.

One of the men on the bridge looked up from the sensor display, and shouted, “Sir, Ori vessel is moving to intercept us. Both Hive Ships have been crippled, but the Ori vessel is still operating at over 70% efficiency.

Ellis ordered a Red Alert, and as the klaxon’s blared, he readied himself for a fight. It seemed that that was all he ever got to do. Ori, Wraith, and now this; sometimes he coulodn’t wait for retirement. On the Daedalus, Caldwell was also preparing for the fight. Just as the two Tau’ri vessels’ shields activated, the Ori vessel opened fire.

Paris, Earth, 1889

Dorothy was perturbed. The stupid sexism of this time zone pissed her off to no end; the military had been a lot better, even with the hard work and the constant Machiavellian machinations of her former traveling companion. Nevertheless, even though she had put all that behind her, she still knew when it would be useful to step into her old shoes again. When the water in Dorothy’s glass began to twist into the shape of a humanoid figure, Dorothy knew it was that time again.

“We have another… mission for you,” the water figure said. “I am sorry, I know we promised, but sometimes these things cannot be avoided. A pivotal event in… his… history has removed itself from the space/time Web. And although we have successfully repaired the damage, the instigators of the egregious crime have fled to another Web, in which we have signed a nonaggression pact to encourage cooperation between that Web and ours. We can give you the coordinates, but that is all I am allowed to do.”

“Plausible deniability, that’s not like you. Is the job getting to you?” Dorothy asked in an almost sarcastic tone, and then added as almost an after thought, “What am I up against?”

“Cybermen,” the water figure answered.

“And him…?” Dorothy slyly smiled

“Just you, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, wait until he hears about this one then,” Dorothy chuckled. “I get all the action.” When the water figure splashed back into her glass, Dorothy stood up and grabbed her black bomber jacket. She began to walk toward her awaiting motorcycle, but stopped and turned as the waiter called to her.

“Ma’am, Dorothy ma’am. You need to pay.”

“The names not Dorothy…” she smiled with her wicked, suicidal grin as she stepped onto her motorcycle, “And I have work to do.” She pulled her long, dark brown hair into a ponytail and threw on her jacket, and laughed as she revved her bike. “If only the Professor could see me now.

[mr friendly guy]

So far so good. I am not sure how powerful old school Cybermen are though. The best demonstration of their power (besides being able to steer an entire planet) was in Revenge of the Cybermen where they had bombs which can be carried by a human, with yield sufficient to shatter Voga the planet of gold, provided its detonated as close to the core as possible.

[The Imperator]

So far so good. I am not sure how powerful old school Cybermen are though. The best demonstration of their power (besides being able to steer an entire planet) was in Revenge of the Cybermen where they had bombs which can be carried by a human, with yield sufficient to shatter Voga the planet of gold, provided its detonated as close to the core as possible.

Thanks, and yes, that is one of their higher showings. Luckily, that was before they froze themselves, so I may end up using that weapon...




Chapter 4


Southern Spiral Arm of Pegasus Galaxy

Another hit rocked the Apollo, but the damage was only superficial. “Return fire, attack when ready!” Colonel Ellis barked, gripping his seat so hard his fingers were turning white. “Communications, hail the Daedalus, see how they’re doing. We need to take this ship down; I’m not letting anymore planets be razed by these things. Keep firing!” Ellis was tired, more tired than he had been in a long time; the battle appeared to be favor of the two 304s, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the Ori vessel was holding back. He turned his attention back to the battle, just in time for the Ori vessel to fire its beam weapon on the slightly damaged Daedalus, knocking a hole in its shields.

The comm crackled to life, and Caldwell’s voice came through, “----en hit, we are go--- to h---ve to p------ ack, re---t, we are cripp--- and ca---t move. We are dead – t-e wat--.”

“Understood Caldwell, I’ll hold of the vessel as long as I can. Send a message to Atlantis that we won’t be able to hold for long.”

The battle raged for several more minutes, until the Apollo too was trashed, leaving the damaged, yet still functional, Ori ship with a clear path to Atlantis. Ellis grimaced, knowing that the fate of Atlantis was no longer in his power to affect. He hoped that Atlantis had a plan, or else there wouldn’t be any Atlantis left for the Daedalus and Apollo to limp to.
Cyber-Ori Vessel, t-minus 25 minutes till arrival at Atlantis

Jackson grimaced as the bright light of hyperspace hit his eyes, temporarily blinding him. Behind him, the other members of SG-1 were doing the same. So this is what cryogenic freezing felt like, Jackson mused to himself, and he wondered what other side effects would occur.

“Human designated ‘Daniel-Jackson,’ you will tell us of Atlantis’s defenses, we must survive.”

“No,” said Jackson indignantly, “I’m not going to tell you how to get your hands on Ancient technology, no matter what you do.”

That’s tellin’ ‘em,” Mitchell chuckled.

“Your attempts at angering us will not succeed, we are superior to you in that aspect,” intoned the Cyber-Controller, “Emotions do not afflict us. Now Daniel-Jackson, tell us of Atlantis!”

“Never!” Jackson hollered, “I won’t let you get your hands on anything that will make you more powerful than you already are.”

“Then we have no further use for you. Take them to be converted; they will help us in our conquest of Atlantis regardless of what they choose.”

But before the Cybermen could push the humans out the door, Teal’c spun around and hit two of the Cybermen right in the chest, freeing himself and giving the team a shot at running. The team sprinted out the door, Teal’c and Mitchell grabbing two Cyber-guns from the stunned Cybermen. Within minutes, an explosion rocked the main engine of the vessel, knocking the vessel out of hyperspace, and tossing around the occupants of the bridge.

The Cyber-Controller stood up slowly, and turned to one of the Cybermen Teal’c had assaulted. “Were the Cybermats successfully hidden within the ‘gear’ of the humans?”

“Yes, Cyber-Controller, it was accomplished. The cybermat will return to Earth with the humans; the conversions will start within a day, and then we will be able to convert the entire Earth. Our new Mondas will be completed on schedule.”

Atlantis, t-minus 15 minutes till Ori vessel arrives

McKay was pacing back and forth in front of the ZPM, a thousand scenarios, all bad, running through his mind. They had been in some tight spots before, but this enemy seemed different, but he couldn’t place his finger on why. His wanderings were cut short when Weir walked into the power room, worry oozing from her like a bad smell.

“Rodney, what can you tell me about our power situation, do we have enough for shields or cloak? The ship will be here in 15 minutes, we don’t have time to second guess ourselves.”

“I know, I know, I just have this nagging feeling that something is wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Well, either figure it out or drop it, we need you ready to act when that ship gets here,” Weir said as she turned and walked out of the power room. She too had been having an uneasy feeling lately, but she pushed that aside and refocused herself. It wouldn’t help anyone if she spent her time trying to examine life. She had work to do.

In the command room, something was going on. The gate was spontaneously flickering on and off, and the command center’s computers were getting weird readings that didn’t make sense. It was as if something was trying to hack the gate, but was hacking everything but the gate. As Weir walked in, she instantly realized something was wrong.

“What is wrong with the gate?” she queried before she had even entered the command center.

“Ma’am, all we know is something is attempting to remotely hack into the gate, but we aren’t sure what it is,” responded one of the Command Center technicians. “We’ve managed to isolate the sections of the mainframe that are being hacked, but its only a matter of time before the hacker switches targets.”

“So, is this coming from the hijacked Ori vessel,” asked Weir, “Or somewhere else?”

“It seems to be coming from… somewhere else. We can’t quite get a lock on the location, it’s almost as if the hacker is not in this universe, but that’s crazy.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure, lieutenant, some crazy things have happened to us before, and this wouldn’t be the strangest. Keep my apprised of the situation.” Weir walked toward the conference room, and prepared for another briefing. She was getting tired of these attacks on Atlantis, it was as if someone was playing chess with their lives, and she didn’t like it.

“Dr. Weir, something’s happening with the gate, we need you up there, now!” a lieutenant hollered into the conference room. Weir immediately took off following the man. When they got back to the Command Center, McKay and Sheppard were already there, but what grabbed Weir’s attention was the Stargate. It was activated, but the wormhole was more of a vortex, a spiraling ribbon of blue and red energy.

“Why isn’t the gate shield up,” Weir hissed as she spun to look at McKay.

“Umm, well... it’s not working, doctor,” McKay grimaced as he spoke.

“Sheppard, get some soldiers down there, now!”

As Sheppard sprinted off, followed by Teyla and Ronan, Weir and McKay turned back to face the Stargate. Before Sheppard and his men could get into the gate room, the wormhole began to crackle, and spit a motorcycle out, ridden by a female in a black bomber jacket and brown hair. The wormhole closed behind her in a splash of blue, spiraling energy, and she jumped off the bike, whipping her long, brown ponytail through the air as she did. She walked toward the door to the Command Center, fiddling with a gold bracelet on her wrist as she did; before she got to the door, Sheppard’s team bolted through and grabbed her. She simply smiled and said, “Hello, my name’s Ace; I heard that you’ve got some trouble with Cybermen…”

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

General Landry’s intercom buzzed to life, shocking Landry awake. He fumbled for the button, and answered, “Sergeant, what’s happening?”

“Message just came through from Atlantis. The Ori vessel turned off its course, and SG-1 managed to get into a gate and get onto Atlantis. Commander Carter says that they managed to cripple the ships engines, so it will be a while before we hear from them again.’

“Now that’s what I call good news. Get SG-1 back here on the double, I want to know what it was that captured the ship.”




Far away, on cold, dead Telos, hundreds of partially converted humans walked with purpose through the tombs, opening the chambers that held Cyber-weapons, removing the Cybermats from hibernation, and activating the many Cyberconversion units. They all knew what their purpose was, they all knew that they must survive whatever the cost, and they knew that this time, the Doctor couldn’t’ stop them. Earth would soon fall, buzzed the collective Cyberconscious, it was only a matter of time.


_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In this story, it will be assumed that the Cybermen use nanites, like the Cybermen from Blood of the Cybermen (video game). Since those weren’t Cybus Cybermen (even though they had Cybus suits) I will assume they were Mondas Cybermen.

[The Imperator]

Chapter 5


Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

“So what you’re telling me, Doctor Jackson, is that these… robot… things are converting humans into them?” Gen. Landry queried.

“Well, actually sir, they are cyborgs, half human, half machine,” Carter added, “a robot would be a totally cybernetic creation, like those copies of us that Harlan made of us a few years ago.”

“OK, cy-borg, whatever they are. Jackson, what do we know about them?”

“Thank you Sam, yes, they are cyborgs, not robots. The Asgard database, and the Ancient database on Atlantis, has nothing on these creatures. It’s like they just popped out of the blue,” responded Jackson, “I was able to overhear, though, that these ‘Cybermen’ don’t know anything about the Ori, which means they aren’t from the Ori’s galaxy either.”

“Teal’c, Mitchell, what do you make of the ‘Cybermen?’” Landry asked as he turned toward them.

“They are most formidable opponents, General Landry, and our guns appear to be ineffective against them. However, they move extremely slowly, so it should be within our abilities to outmaneuver them in any future combat situations,” Teal’c responded in his level monotone voice.

“They pack a mean wallop,” Mitchell grimaced while rubbing the back of his neck. “I still have a tingling sensation in my spine ‘cause of that electricity blast they hit me with.”

“Alright SG-1, you’ve earned a break. Fall out, and take the next day off. I want you in tip-top shape when we gear up to go find and take down that Ori vessel, got it. Dismissed!” Landry turned and marched from the room, leaving SG-1 sitting there, contemplating what had transpired.

Vala was the first to speak up. “He didn’t ask me what I thought,” she pouted, “I’m just as much a member of this team as Teal’c or Mitchell.”

Ignoring Vala, Teal’c turned to Carter and Daniel and asked, “What did you hear from Atlantis about the visitor they received?”

“She was already in detention by the time we got there, but Dr. Weir said that she said something about Cybermen before Sheppard’s team got her,” Carter answered.

“So she knows something about these cyborg guys? We need to get back to Atlantis to see if we can get it out of her,” Mitchell suggested as he stood up. Beside him, Teal’c’s arm grabbed Mitchell’s shoulder and shoved him back into his seat.

“General Landry gave us an order, and we should follow it. We shall have time enough after tomorrow to talk with this female, and the ‘Cyberman’ vessel shall not get far with its engines destroyed,” Teal’c intoned.

“Alright, alright, we can take a break,” Mitchell chuckled as he pushed Teal’c’s arm off his shoulder and walked out of the room. The others soon followed.

As each member separated to go to their rooms, Teal’c fell into step with Jackson, and asked, “What do you make of these ‘Cybermen?’ They are formidable opponents, and they are able to capture Ori ships, a feat we have been unable to do.”

“I know what you mean, Teal’c,” Jackson answered, “Though I don’t know what to make of them. They appear to have a straightforward desire to take over the Earth for some reason, like it’s a vendetta or something. But the Asgard and Ancient databanks have no mention of these guys, which is rather unusual. I don’t know, we can think about it in the morning, I need some rest.”

In Jackson’s locker, something began to stir…

Command Center, Atlantis

“Who is she Sheppard?” Weir asked as she looked through the one way glass into the holding cell, wherein sat the mysterious woman who had come through the Stargate, mere hours before.

“We don’t know ma’am, what she says makes no sense,” Sheppard responded in a crisp military fashion. “She says she is on a mission from some former allies of the Ancients, but there is nothing on that subject located in the Ancient databanks. Believe me, Rodney has checked multiple times now.”

“Alright, keep me apprised of what you learn. Dismissed, Sheppard .”

Sheppard turned and walked from the room, heading back to the Ancient databank room where McKay was still hard at work, checking and double-checking any information that the woman had talked about. “Rodney, are you still trying to see if that lady is telling the truth? It’s obvious she is lying, why do you keep doing this?”

“Because there are too many coincidences surrounding her arrival. First, she arrived around the same time as SG-1 broke free from that captured Ori vessel. She was able to hack into the Stargate, right through my security prcoedures, I mean, how did she get through them. I worked forever on those codes. And she claims she doesn’t even know how she did it, how is that p-“

“Rodney! Get back on topic, what else was coincidental about her arrival?!” Sheppard shouted at McKay, shaking him out of his ramblings.

“Right, sorry, yeah. Well, she also knows what those cyborg creatures, which took over the Ori vessel and captured Sg-1, are called. Then there is that bracelet she is wearing, and the internal components of her bike, that don’t show up on the scanners,” McKay continued, “It’s all too strange for my liking.”

“Grow a spine Rodney,” laughed Sheppard as he patted McKay on the back, “and then go get some rest, you’ve been at this for hours.” Sheppard continued on to the holding cell, to try to get the woman to talk, again. He walked up to the door, and one of the guards posted there opened it, allowing Sheppard to walk into the dimly lit room beyond.

“Colonel, you’re back,” innocently asked the woman, “Come to ask me some more questions? How would you like me to spin it this time?”

“Yeah, exactly, that’s what I’m here for. And this time,” Sheppard hissed sarcastically, “do you think you could give me the truth.”

The woman rolled her eyes, and then glared at Sheppard, “Oi, you want to try to get it through your head, I am telling the truth.” She began to cite off the information that she had previously told Sheppard, in an annoyed monotone voice, “My name is Ace. Yes, that is my bike. Yes, I did hack into your Stargate. No, I don’t know how. No, I’m not a saboteur, I’m here to stop the Cybermen. There, is that good? Can I go now, I have work to do?” She stood up and began to walk out the door, but Sheppard grabbed her arm.

“I can’t let you do that, ma’am. Not until we find out everything about you; until then, you’re staying here.” She glared at him as he walked out. Sheppard turned to one of the door’s guards, and asked, “Where’s all the stuff we confiscated from her?”

“Sir, her equipment is in McKay’s lab.”

“Thank you soldier, as you were.” Sheppard walked towards McKay’s lab, and let himself in. Inside, he was greeted with the sight of a huge mess, all the woman (Ace, he told himself, that’s what she said her name was), all of Ace’s stuff. There were six silver thermos looking things, all taken apart with wires sticking out, connected into McKay’s computers.

Sheppard heard a noise behind him, and turned to see a sleep deprived McKay stumble into the lab. “Rodney, I thought you had spent all your time working on the Ancient database?” Sheppard smirked.

“I took a couple of minutes to check on the woman’s stuff. See these silver things here,” McKay asked while gesturing furiously at the thermos things,” theses are some kind of high powered explosive. The bike won’t show up on my scanners, so I’m just leaving it there. The rest is just miscellaneous stuff, though that baseball bat is giving off weird readings. The real prize is that golden wrist thing she was wearing.” McKay positively beamed as he mentioned the wristband.

“Alright, so it’s interesting stuff, found anything useful,” Sheppard responded nonchalantly.

McKay’s jaw dropped. “Aren’t you even going to ask what was so interesting about the cuff?”

Sheppard rolled his eyes, but took McKay’s bait: “Alright, I’ll bite, what’s so special about the bracelet thing?”

“Well, I’m glad you asked,” McKay began in a haughty tone, never a good sign. “First off, you’ll notice the strange circular designs on the bracelet. The Computer thinks they are letters, which means that we have found a wholly undiscovered language! And the energy readings the bracelet gives off, they are off the chart! This thing is drawing on a huge source of power, but there is nothing in it that suggests it can even use power, let alone contain and channel it. The final amazing thing about it is that it gives off the same radiation as the time looping device on P4X-639.” McKay stopped talking and positively glowed with vanity and his own knowledge.

“Oh, is that all,” Sheppard sarcastically quipped. “I need to report back to Dr. Weir, but keep up the good work Rodney.” Sheppard turned and walked out, smiling to himself.

Telos

Hundreds of partially converted humans worked tirelessly to deconstruct the many ships that had brought them there. The hyperdrives of the ships were taken, either whole or in pieces, to the many catacombs beneath the planet’s crust. Within the Tombs, drilling commenced, straight to the planet’s core, the goal being the replacement of the planets core with… something else. Across the entirety of the planet, work continued, mining continued, and the construction of the giant world engine began.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Doctor Who references – the golden cuff/wrist device is from Genesis of the Daleks, and multiple novels. This is set after the novel Set Piece for Ace’s time line. If you have any questions, please ask

[The Imperator]

This next bit is not a complete chapter, just a chunk I wanted some help on.


Cyber-Ori Vessel, in geosynchronous orbit above Telos

Myra shivered. The cargo bay of the ship was cold, crowded, and smelly. She figured that with all the people in the room, the heat would raise the temperature, but the room never got warmer. In fact, it seemed to her that it got colder as more people were shoved into the room by the metal suited beings. She was one of only 10 people to survive the attack on her planet by the metal suited beings, surviving only because her brother had taken, fully to the chest, a shot meant for her. Her 21 year existence had been peaceful, and, in fact, she had just met the perfect man. But now all that was behind her; she didn’t know what the future held, but she was scared. Without family or friends, lost and alone, her past was now gone for good, and though she did not yet realize it, her future would be very bleak indeed.

She nodded off to sleep and several hours, but was jolted awake by the deceleration of the vessel, causing her to fall onto the group of men next to her. She quickly and awkwardly jumped up, accompanied by the men’s leering grins. She hurriedly backed up, but ran directly into one of the metal suited beings, standing in front of the, newly, open door. It didn’t flinch, staring straight ahead without any hint of emotion, and began to speak:

“You will come with us. You will be processed, you will help us survive.” The being turned its head slowly, looking straight at Myra. “Please come with me, you will be improved. Emotions will be purged, you shall become better, perfect, like us. You will be first. You will be the example for the others. You will survive and be better, and you will show them the way.” The Cyberman placed its hand on Myra’s quivering shoulder, and forcibly led her out of the room.

Myra broke into shaking and sweating as terror gripped her, and spasms of fear rocked her body. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?” she whispered, unable to speak through her shaking jaw; She stumbled several times, muscles unresponsive because of dread welling up in the pit of her stomach.

“You will be improved and processed,” the the metal suited being said as it led her into a small room. Within, rows of human shaped tables lined the walls, each extruding metal arms attached to all manner of knives, and other strange devices Myra had never seen. “You will become better, you will be like us.” It pushed Myra toward a table, ripping off her clothing as he did it; as it pushed her flat onto the table metal bands clenched around her mid section, wrists, and ankles, holding her in place. “You will be upgraded. Emotions will not plague any longer.”

“No, no, stop,” she cried, “please stop, PLEAS-” But her final plea was cut off as the chemical and nanoprobe soup was injected into her brainstem, and her mind screamed. No, no, no, she thought, unable to voice the words. It hurts, it burns, makeitstop, makeitstop. HelpsomeonehelphelppleasemakeitST--. Within seconds, the first stage of processing was complete, and the next stage began. Saws whirred, and limbs and organs were removed, replaced with synthetic parts. Behind her eyes, Myra’s consciousness struggled, fighting against the coldness that was enveloping her mind, but the struggle was futile. She finally let go, falling into the cold embrace of oblivion, and emerging on the other side, different…

A cold light bit into her eyes, but the glare went away as her new optic implants refocused and dilated her pupils. Above, a Cyberman stood (that is what they, we, are called, we are the Cybermen, she thought to herself). The bands released her body, and she clumsily stood. There was no fear in her mind, no hatred, no sadness; only cold logic and duty remained, duty to her race. They must survive.

The Cyber-Controller looked intently at Myra (only, she thought to herself, my name no longer matters. All that matters is survival. I am a part of the Cybermen, I am not an individual), and said, “You now belong to us, you are like us. You will help us process the res. We will expand. The galaxy will become like us. You are the first of the new Cyber-Leaders. You will direct the processing.” The Cyber-Controller turned and left the room.

So that is what I am designated, she thought to her-, itself. I am a Cyber-Leader, and I shall serve the Controller. It turned and walked out the door, back to the room where the other weak, human stock remained. They would be processed, and they would be upgraded.




I want to make the Cybermen look evil (well, they already are), so I added a random human that gets converted. I would like some help, though, to make her more relate able in the beginning, and make the transition to Cyberman give her a totally different feel. Any input would be appreciated.

[The Imperator]

Chapter 6



Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy

“Incoming wormhole from Earth, IDC checks out,” one of the command center technicians called out to Doctor Weir.

“Lower the barrier, it’ll be SG-1; they’re here to take the prisoner off our hands,” Dr. Weir smiled. She loved that the now east communication between Earth and Atlantis made her job much easier. It was different now then it had been, in more ways than just the now easy transit and communication. As the wormhole flared to life, Weir put her poker face back on.

The first person to emerge from the Stargate was Teal’c, stoic faced as ever, followed by Jackson and Mitchell. The last person through was Vala. The door to the gate room swished open to allow Sheppard and McKay to walk through, the latter raising his eyebrows. “Where is Sam, I mean, Colonel Carter?” McKay asked, face turning slightly red, “Didn’t she want to see the prisoners, uh, er, equipment?”

“She wanted to see it alright, but we convinced her to stay back at SGC to get the labe ready,” Mitchell chuckled, aware of McKay’s uncomfortableness. “So where is this prisoner and her ‘er, equipment?’”

Sheppard responded, rather curtly, “My men are getting her, hold your horses.” Behind him, the door opened and a quartet of armed guards stepped through, encircling a young looking female. Behind them, three scientists pushed a large cart, full of something SG-1 couldn’t see, through the door. “Oh look, here they are now,” Mitchell sarcastically quipped.

“You must be my new guards,” the woman sweetly said. “My names Ace.”

“Nevermind introductions, we have a schedule to keep,” commanded Mitchell. Get her through the gate and then send her equipment behind. We’ll follow l-”

“Oh, another planet, what’s this one called? Oh, and what year is it. Time travel messes up your perception of time.” The woman asked with an incredibly innocent tone, but Mitchell could see cold steel behind her eyes. Ace pushed past the guards and walked toward the wormhole, poised like a cat ready to pounce on its prey, alert and watching for… something.

SG-1 looked at each other, then they all shrugged. Just business as usual. After the cart with Ace’s equipment rolled through, SG-1 stepped through one at a time, and then the wormhole shut off in a flash of glorious blue and white.

Cyber-Ori Vessel, in hyperspace on course for Telos

Myra shivered. The cargo bay of the ship was cold, crowded, and smelly. She figured that with all the people in the room, the heat would raise the temperature, but the room never got warmer. In fact, it seemed to her that it got colder as more people were shoved into the room by the metal suited beings. She was one of only 10 people to survive the attack on her planet by the metal suited beings, surviving only because her brother had taken, fully to the chest, a shot meant for her. Her 21 year existence had been peaceful, and, in fact, she had just met the perfect man. But now all that was behind her; she didn’t know what the future held, but she was scared. Without family or friends, lost and alone, her past was now gone for good, and though she did not yet realize it, her future would be very bleak indeed.

She nodded off to sleep and several hours, but was jolted awake by the deceleration of the vessel, causing her to fall onto the group of men next to her. She quickly and awkwardly jumped up, accompanied by the men’s leering grins. She hurriedly backed up, but ran directly into one of the metal suited beings, standing in front of the, newly, open door. It didn’t flinch, staring straight ahead without any hint of emotion, and began to speak:

“You will come with us. You will be processed, you will help us survive.” The being turned its head slowly, looking straight at Myra. “Please come with me, you will be improved. Emotions will be purged, you shall become better, perfect, like us. You will be first. You will be the example for the others. You will survive and be better, and you will show them the way.” The creature placed its hand on Myra’s quivering shoulder, and forcibly led her out of the room.

Myra broke into shaking and sweating as terror gripped her, and spasms of fear rocked her body. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?” she whispered, unable to speak through her shaking jaw; She stumbled several times, muscles unresponsive because of dread welling up in the pit of her stomach.

“You will be improved and processed,” the metal suited being said as it led her into a small room. Within, rows of human shaped tables lined the walls, each extruding metal arms attached to all manner of knives, and other strange devices Myra had never seen. “You will become better, and then you will help us.” It pushed Myra toward a table, ripping off her clothing as it did; it pushed her flat onto the table and metal bands clenched around her mid section, wrists, and ankles, holding her in place. “You will be upgraded. Emotions will plague you no longer.”

“No, no, stop,” she cried, “please stop, PLEAS-” But her final plea was cut off as the chemical and nanoprobe soup was injected into her brainstem, and her mind screamed. No, no, no, she thought, unable to voice the words. It hurts, it burns, makeitstop, makeitstop. HelpsomeonehelphelppleasemakeitST--. Within seconds, the first stage of processing was complete, and the next stage began. Saws whirred, and limbs and organs were removed, replaced with synthetic parts. Behind her eyes, Myra’s consciousness struggled, fighting against the coldness that was enveloping her mind, but the struggle was futile. She finally let go, falling into the cold embrace of oblivion, and emerging on the other side, different…

A cold light bit into her eyes, but the glare went away as her new optic implants refocused and contracted her pupils. Above, a Cyberman stood (Memory banks processing. Designate Cyber-Controller). The bands released her body, and she clumsily stood. There was no fear in her mind, no hatred, no sadness; only cold logic and duty remained, duty to her race. They must survive.

The Cyber-Controller looked intently at Myra (Searching memory banks – no designation detected, Myra will be used until further notice), and said, “You now belong to us, you are like us. You will help us process the rest. We will expand. The galaxy will become like us. You are the first of the new Cyber-Leaders. You will direct the processing.” The Cyber-Controller turned and left the room.

Orders processing; I am designate Cl-1/P, she thought to herself. “I obey, Controller,” she said (Reassessing gender - gender designations no longer matter) as it turned and walked out the door, back to the room where the other weak, human stock remained. They would be processed, and they would be upgraded.

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

Jackson stepped through the wormhole, and into a nearly empty Gate room. Teal’c and Mitchell had already escorted the prisoner, who had called herself Ace, to one of the cells, and her equipment had just been pushed out into the hallway, en route for Carter’s lab. He headed to Carter’s lab, to see if his area of expertise could shed some light on any of the equipment. He noticed, though, as he stepped into Carter’s lab, that something else was absorbing all of her attention.

Carter turned when she heard Jackson walk in, and beckoned him over to her computer. “Daniel, look at this. The network’s diagnostics program picked up a weird power drain, but I haven’t been able to pin down the location. It should only be a few more minutes, though…” Carter turned back to her computer, intently watching the data flash across the screen in rapid streams of numbers and words.

“Alright then, Jackson coughed, “I’ll be stepping out…?” He looked to see if Carter would respond, but all he got was a nod and an “mm-hmm.” “I guess I’ll go see what Mitchell and Teal’c are doing…” Jackson again said hesitantly, but this time he didn’t even get acknowledgement. He shrugged and walked out of the room, heading for the detention cells.

Daniel found the cell, and entered; the three people in the room, Ace, Mitchell, and Teal’c, turned to look at Daniel. “Uh, sorry,” Daniel whispered, slightly embarrassed, “Continue, I didn’t, uh, mean to interput.”

“Don’t worry Jackson, we were just starting,” Mitchell sarcastically quipped, slight annoyance glinting in his eyes.”

“Indeed, Dr. Jackson,” Teal’c added, missing the sarcasm completely. “Why don’t you join us?” Jackson nodded sheepishly and sat down.

In Carter’s lab, the computer finished its diagnostic program, but the results made no sense to her. Something in the sub-basement was eating up more power than it should, but the computer couldn’t isolate what specifically was causing the power drain. Within the sub-basement, three janitors, strange, mechanical looks in their eyes, were building crude operating tables.

Telos

Cyber-Leaders 2 and 3 marched rapidly through the hallways. Today was the day the Cybermen would rise again. No longer would the Doctor trouble them; no longer would they be forced to strike out as if they were a group of underfunded radicals; no longer would they be a small, powerless force – today was the day, the day the universe fell to the Cybermen.

They entered the planet’s control center just as the view screen flashed to life, the Cyber-Controller’s face appearing. “Cyber-Leaders, has the work on Telos progressed to hyperspace travel? The Cybermat on Earth will soon have created our advance team. Earth must be upgraded, and the Cyber-race cannot afford to waste anymore time.”

“Controller,” began Cyber-Leader 3, “the work on the planetary engines is complete. Telos is ready for movement. The Pilot of the technology is still resisting, but its will shall soon fall to the might of the Cybermen.”

“The creature no longer matter. The chronon traces we took from it are no longer needed, for now we are the master race, our survival is assured. Disconnect the creature from the temporal drives, and focus all efforts on the planetary engine,” responded the Cyber-Controller. “Telos must soon make way for Earth. Prepare the hibernation chambers.”

“We obey, Controller,” Cyber-Leader 2 answered, “The planetary engines shall be active within the next few hours.” It turned and marched out of the control room, toward the engine chambers miles below, and the creatures that had given the Cybermen control of time.

Cyber-Leader 3 sat in the command chair, and chords and wires flew from the chair, interfacing directly with Cl-3’s brain. Telos came alive around him. Hundreds of cryogenic chambers opened to allow the advanced units entry – all of Telos’s power would be needed for the journey. Hours later, the moment arrived. From space, the planet appeared to shimmer, and an explosion of light lit up the space around the planet, seemingly sucking Telos in. Within hours, Telos would arrive at Earth. From the bowels of Telos, the Pilot did the one thing left to it – it cried for help, sending a plea through the phase rift that the Cybermen’s engine’s had left behind.

Atlantis, in hyperspace leaving Earth, millennia in the past

A wheezing noise reverberated through an empty service hallway, heralding the appearance of a non-descript blue box. Strange writing adorned one of the sides, a writing unknown to the proto-humans who had built and currently operated the city-ship within which the box had materialized. The writing that stood out was a small grouping of the symbols – POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX.

The temporal waves of the time change rippled through the fabric of reality, slightly altering millennia of history. Millennia downstream, from their home in the higher dimensions, the proto-humans, now ascended beings known as Ancients, felt curiosity, and then fear, for the first time in thousands of years. A young human female, “trapped” in a human detention facility in the year known by humans as 2008 Anno Domini, felt the time change, and silently observed the slight changes around her. The last of the Ori shivered, feeling the universe shifting around her, a spiral of change with relatively few unmoving points. On Telos, the catalyst of the Cybermen’s exodus sat unmoving, forced to be the Pilot of the Cybermen’s dreaded world engine; if it had been able to, it would have smiled. The Doctor had arrived.


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The creature is a mystery, wait until the Doctor and the Cybermen clash to find out. Before anyone asks, I don’t know which Doctor I will use, but he will not himself appear in the next chapter, only the shadow of his presence (sort of like Batman in the first half of Identity Crisis).

[Themightytom]

he'll probably get along really well with Janus. There's a lot more typos in this than usual and the pace is a little inconsistent. Why did they send SG-1 ALL the way to Atlantis, so they could gate ALL the way back with a prisoner when shoving her through the stargate really leaves no avenue for her to escape?

[The Imperator]

he'll probably get along really well with Janus. There's a lot more typos in this than usual and the pace is a little inconsistent. Why did they send SG-1 ALL the way to Atlantis, so they could gate ALL the way back with a prisoner when shoving her through the stargate really leaves no avenue for her to escape?

EDIT: never mind what was in the post before. Yeah, the SG thing was a little iffy, I will work on it. Thanks for the input, and I will make sure to fix the grammar errors. Half the time my copy of Word doesn't mark misspelled words.

EDIT 2: Alright, here is the version with grammar mistakes (all the ones I could find, that weren't purposeful) have been fixed.


Chapter 6:


Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy

“Incoming wormhole from Earth, IDC checks out,” one of the command center technicians called out to Doctor Weir.

“Lower the barrier, it’ll be SG-1; they’re here to take the prisoner off our hands,” Dr. Weir smiled. She loved that the now east communication between Earth and Atlantis made her job much easier. It was different now then it had been, in more ways than just the now easy transit and communication. As the wormhole flared to life, Weir put her poker face back on.

The first person to emerge from the Stargate was Teal’c, stoic faced as ever, followed by Jackson and Mitchell. The last person through was Vala. The door to the gate room swished open to allow Sheppard and McKay to walk through, the latter raising his eyebrows. “Where is Sam, I mean, Colonel Carter?” McKay asked, face turning slightly red, “Didn’t she want to see the prisoners, uh, er, equipment?”

“She wanted to see it alright, but we convinced her to stay back at SGC to get the lab ready,” Mitchell chuckled, aware of McKay’s uncomfortableness. “So where is this prisoner and her ‘er, equipment?’”

Sheppard responded, rather curtly, “My men are getting her, hold your horses.” Behind him, the door opened and a quartet of armed guards stepped through, encircling a young looking female. Behind them, three scientists pushed a large cart, full of something SG-1 couldn’t see, through the door. “Oh look, here they are now,” Mitchell sarcastically quipped.

“You must be my new guards,” the woman sweetly said. “My name's Ace.”

“Never mind introductions, we have a schedule to keep,” commanded Mitchell. Get her through the gate and then send her equipment behind. We’ll follow l-”

“Oh, another planet, what’s this one called? Oh, and what year is it. Time travel messes up your perception of time.” The woman asked with an incredibly innocent tone, but Mitchell could see cold steel behind her eyes. Ace pushed past the guards and walked toward the wormhole, poised like a cat ready to pounce on its prey, alert and watching for… something.

SG-1 looked at each other, and then they all shrugged. Just business as usual. After the cart with Ace’s equipment rolled through, SG-1 stepped through one at a time, and then the wormhole shut off in a flash of glorious blue and white.

Cyber-Ori Vessel, in hyperspace on course for Telos

Myra shivered. The cargo bay of the ship was cold, crowded, and smelly. She figured that with all the people in the room, the heat would raise the temperature, but the room never got warmer. In fact, it seemed to her that it got colder as more people were shoved into the room by the metal suited beings. She was one of only 10 people to survive the attack on her planet by the metal suited beings, surviving only because her brother had taken, fully to the chest, a shot meant for her. Her 21-year existence had been peaceful, and, in fact, she had just met the perfect man. But now all that was behind her; she didn’t know what the future held, but she was scared. Without family or friends, lost and alone, her past was now gone for good, and though she did not yet realize it, her future would be very bleak indeed.

She nodded off to sleep and several hours, but was jolted awake by the deceleration of the vessel, causing her to fall onto the group of men next to her. She quickly and awkwardly jumped up, accompanied by the men’s leering grins. She hurriedly backed up, but ran directly into one of the metal suited beings, standing in front of the, newly, open door. It didn’t flinch, staring straight ahead without any hint of emotion, and began to speak:

“You will come with us. You will be processed, you will help us survive.” The being turned its head slowly, looking straight at Myra. “Please come with me, you will be improved. Emotions will be purged, you shall become better, perfect, like us. You will be first. You will be the example for the others. You will survive and be better, and you will show them the way.” The creature placed its hand on Myra’s quivering shoulder, and forcibly led her out of the room.

Myra broke into shaking and sweating as terror gripped her, and spasms of fear rocked her body. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?” she whispered, unable to speak through her shaking jaw; She stumbled several times, muscles unresponsive because of dread welling up in the pit of her stomach.

“You will be improved and processed,” the metal suited being said as it led her into a small room. Within, rows of human shaped tables lined the walls, each extruding metal arms attached to all manner of knives, and other strange devices Myra had never seen. “You will become better, and then you will help us.” It pushed Myra toward a table, ripping off her clothing as it did; it pushed her flat onto the table and metal bands clenched around her mid section, wrists, and ankles, holding her in place. “You will be upgraded. Emotions will plague you no longer.”

“No, no, stop,” she cried, “please stop, PLEAS-” But her final plea was cut off as the chemical and nanoprobe soup was injected into her brainstem, and her mind screamed. No, no, no, she thought, unable to voice the words. It hurts, it burns, makeitstop, makeitstop. HelpsomeonehelphelppleasemakeitST--. Within seconds, the first stage of processing was complete, and the next stage began. Saws whirred, and limbs and organs were removed, replaced with synthetic parts. Behind her eyes, Myra’s consciousness struggled, fighting against the coldness that was enveloping her mind, but the struggle was futile. She finally let go, falling into the cold embrace of oblivion, and emerging on the other side, different…

A cold light bit into her eyes, but the glare went away as her new optic implants refocused and contracted her pupils. Above, a Cyberman stood (Memory banks processing. Designate Cyber-Controller). The bands released her body, and she clumsily stood. There was no fear in her mind, no hatred, no sadness; only cold logic and duty remained, duty to her race. They must survive.

The Cyber-Controller looked intently at Myra (Searching memory banks – no designation detected, Myra will be used until further notice), and said, “You now belong to us, you are like us. You will help us process the rest. We will expand. The galaxy will become like us. You are the first of the new Cyber-Leaders. You will direct the processing.” The Cyber-Controller turned and left the room.

Orders processing; I am designate Cl-1/P, she thought to herself. “I obey, Controller,” she said (Reassessing gender - gender designations no longer matter) as it turned and walked out the door, back to the room where the other weak, human stock remained. They would be processed, and they would be upgraded.

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

Jackson stepped through the wormhole, and into a nearly empty Gate room. Teal’c and Mitchell had already escorted the prisoner, who had called herself Ace, to one of the cells, and her equipment had just been pushed out into the hallway, en route for Carter’s lab. He headed to Carter’s lab, to see if his area of expertise could shed some light on any of the equipment. He noticed, though, as he stepped into Carter’s lab, that something else was absorbing all of her attention.

Carter turned when she heard Jackson walk in, and beckoned him over to her computer. “Daniel, look at this. The network’s diagnostics program picked up a weird power drain, but I haven’t been able to pin down the location. It should only be a few more minutes, though…” Carter turned back to her computer, intently watching the data flash across the screen in rapid streams of numbers and words.

“Alright then, Jackson coughed, “I’ll be stepping out…?” He looked to see if Carter would respond, but all he got was a nod and an “mm-hmm.” “I guess I’ll go see what Mitchell and Teal’c are doing…” Jackson again said hesitantly, but this time he didn’t even get acknowledgement. He shrugged and walked out of the room, heading for the detention cells.

Daniel found the cell, and entered; the three people in the room, Ace, Mitchell, and Teal’c, turned to look at Daniel. “Uh, sorry,” Daniel whispered, slightly embarrassed, “Continue, I didn’t, uh, mean to interrupt.”

“Don’t worry Jackson, we were just starting,” Mitchell sarcastically quipped, slight annoyance glinting in his eyes.”

“Indeed, Dr. Jackson,” Teal’c added, missing the sarcasm completely. “Why don’t you join us?” Jackson nodded sheepishly and sat down.

In Carter’s lab, the computer finished its diagnostic program, but the results made no sense to her. Something in the sub-basement was eating up more power than it should, but the computer couldn’t isolate what specifically was causing the power drain. Within the sub-basement, three janitors, strange, mechanical looks in their eyes, were building crude operating tables.

Telos

Cyber-Leaders 2 and 3 marched rapidly through the hallways. Today was the day the Cybermen would rise again. No longer would the Doctor trouble them; no longer would they be forced to strike out as if they were a group of underfunded radicals; no longer would they be a small, powerless force – today was the day, the day the universe fell to the Cybermen.

They entered the planet’s control center just as the view screen flashed to life, the Cyber-Controller’s face appearing. “Cyber-Leaders, has the work on Telos progressed to hyperspace travel? The Cybermat on Earth will soon have created our advance team. Earth must be upgraded, and the Cyber-race cannot afford to waste anymore time.”

“Controller,” began Cyber-Leader 3, “the work on the planetary engines is complete. Telos is ready for movement. The Pilot of the technology is still resisting, but its will shall soon fall to the might of the Cybermen.”

“The creature no longer matter. The chronon traces we took from it are no longer needed, for now we are the master race, our survival is assured. Disconnect the creature from the temporal drives, and focus all efforts on the planetary engine,” responded the Cyber-Controller. “Telos must soon make way for Earth. Prepare the hibernation chambers.”

“We obey, Controller,” Cyber-Leader 2 answered, “The planetary engines shall be active within the next few hours.” It turned and marched out of the control room, toward the engine chambers miles below, and the creatures that had given the Cybermen control of time.

Cyber-Leader 3 sat in the command chair, and chords and wires flew from the chair, interfacing directly with Cl-3’s brain. Telos came alive around him. Hundreds of cryogenic chambers opened to allow the advanced units entry – all of Telos’s power would be needed for the journey. Hours later, the moment arrived. From space, the planet appeared to shimmer, and an explosion of light lit up the space around the planet, seemingly sucking Telos in. Within hours, Telos would arrive at Earth. From the bowels of Telos, the Pilot did the one thing left to it – it cried for help, sending a plea through the phase rift that the Cybermen’s engine’s had left behind.

Atlantis, in hyperspace leaving Earth, millennia in the past

A wheezing noise reverberated through an empty service hallway, heralding the appearance of a non-descript blue box. Strange writing adorned one of the sides, a writing unknown to the proto-humans who had built and currently operated the city-ship within which the box had materialized. The writing that stood out was a small grouping of the symbols – POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX.

The temporal waves of the time change rippled through the fabric of reality, slightly altering millennia of history. Millennia downstream, from their home in the higher dimensions, the proto-humans, now ascended beings known as Ancients, felt curiosity, and then fear, for the first time in thousands of years. A young human female, “trapped” in a human detention facility in the year known by humans as 2008 Anno Domini, felt the time change, and silently observed the slight changes around her. The last of the Ori shivered, feeling the universe shifting around her, a spiral of change with relatively few unmoving points. On Telos, the catalyst of the Cybermen’s exodus sat unmoving, forced to be the Pilot of the Cybermen’s dreaded world engine; if it had been able to, it would have smiled. The Doctor had arrived.


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The creature is a mystery, wait until the Doctor and the Cybermen clash to find out. Before anyone asks, I don’t know which Doctor I will use, but he will not himself appear in the next chapter, only the shadow of his presence (sort of like Batman in the first half of Identity Crisis).

[The Imperator]

Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

“Run that by me again, please?” Mitchell sighed, holding his hand on his face, “Time… changed? What are you talking about?” He was getting tired of this questioning. It seemed to him like they were losing information the longer they interrogated her, and it was giving him a headache.

“Sure. Time just changed. Teal’c here just gained a pound or two, Jackson’s hair is shorter, and you lost a few pounds. Satisfied?” responded Ace. “And I already told you all I can tell you. The Cybermen are coming and I am here to stop them. We need to get ready for them to head here, befor-” but Ace was cut off by blaring alarms. General Landry’s voice began to speak through the intercom, in a harsh and fast tone.

“This is General Landry. All personnel must report in now. The complex is compromised. I repeat, all personnel need to check in now. SG-1, get your backsides up to me now, got it? The rest of you check into your quarters. We will find the intruders.”

Daniel, Mitchell, and Teal’c all looked at one another and stood up. As they left the room, Ace called after them, with a slight hint of worry in her voice, “This here is your typical military bunker. Whatever’s in here knows how to get its way around, probably just as well as you to. Watch out.”

The three of them strode to the conference room, arriving after Vala and Carter. General Landry turned and looked at the team. “Carter, would you like to explain your results to these men. And then let them know what the Sun Tzu picked up on its long range sensors.”

“Yes sir,” Carter said as she stood and walked to the screen, on which was displayed the results of some kind of computer program. “A few hours ago, our network’s diagnostic program identified some kind of power drain, though where the drain was couldn’t be pinpointed till a couple of minutes ago. The results suggested that something, unknown to our database, was draining power and building something in the sub-basement. Landry gave the order for check in as soon as I told him to, and that section of the base was locked down.

He was planning on sending us in, until Sgt. Harriman got word from the Sun Tzu that something massive, at least as large as Earth, is hurtling toward us in Hyperspace. We are scrambling all of our defenses, and Russia and China have already been alerted. The Sun Tzu, Daedalus, and Odyssey are all on their way to Earth to defend it, but we don’t know what they can do against a planet sized missile.”

A muffled explosion shook the room, knocking the occupants to the ground. “What the hell was that?” yelled Landry. “Get security down to wherever that came from, now!”

“Sir,” called out Sgt. Harriman, “it came from the sub-basement. Whatever is down there is loose now.”

“Mitchell, Teal’c,” Landry shouted, spinning to face them, “get a team together and down there now! I want whatever that was contained and out of the way.”

Another blast was heard, and Harriman called to the team and Landry: “Gas attack, sir. Whoever it is just gassed the gate room, and they’re on their way up to this level.”

“Pull back to the secondary control room, now!” Landry hollered, “Mitchell, Teal’c, forget my previous instructions. Just get the scientists and staff out of this level now!” Mitchell and Teal’c shot out of the room, grabbing weapons from two waiting soldiers and training them on the stairs that descended into the gate room. Through the gas, that was drifting up from below, Mitchell could just make out five shambling figures. Mitchell waited to fire until he could make out the figures more clearly; when he finely got sight of them, he was shocked. 3 of them wore janitor outfits, but the other two were in air force uniforms. The real shock was seeing their faces, or rather, the lack thereof. Metallic Cybermen heads adorned each persons body, though each person’s former features stood out through the mask. Their hands were also metallic, crackling slightly with electricity.

“Open fire!” Mitchell commanded, unleashing a salvo of bullets on the nearest two, and the bodies were shredded like ragdolls. However, the twitching remains began to crawl towards the soldiers, and several soldiers were hit with blasts of electrical energy, collapsing onto the floor.

“Colonel Mitchell, I suggest pulling back. These things are still moving and able to kill, even when we have emptied entire magazines into them,” Teal’c said, in between salvos. “We need to pull back and seal these doors. Sgt. Harriman has already locked down the Iris override controls, so they will not be able to escape.”

“Alright Teal’c, tell the men to fall back,” responded Mitchell as he emptied another magazine into a fourth Cyber-person that shambled up the stairs, “I’ll cover for you. Go, go!” Teal’c turned and gave the retreat order to the men, and they sprinted for the stairs. Mitchell grabbed one of the guns off a dead soldier, trained both of his weapons on the stairs that unloaded as he sprinted backwards, dodging to blasts of electrical energy. He managed to jump through the doors of the elevator just in time, colliding with the legs of the other soldiers. “Alright, does anyone know what the heck just happened,” Mitchell asked, voice hoarse from shouting. “How the heck did those Cyber-things get into the SGC?”

“I do not know Colonel Mitchell, but perhaps Daniel Jackson or Colonel Carter will know the answer when we find them.”

“I sure hope so, Teal’c, cause we still have that giant planet moving through hyperspace directly toward us,” Mitchell retorted, then continued under his breath as he got off the elevator, “Could this day get any worse?”

The first thing Mitchell saw when he got off the elevator was Carter’s face, worry creasing her features. "Mitchell, we have more problems. The Cyber-things were able to access the gate, and they’ve sent off some kind of subspace pulse in the direction of the planetoid object that we were tracking.”

“Oh, this day keeps getting better and better,” Mitchell grumbled under his breath. “Let’s get to work on locking down the lower levels. We can deal with those things after we’ve saved ourselves from the certain death of the planet collision that’s about to happen.”

Telos, planetary command room

“Cyber-Controller,” began CL-3, “We have just received word from the Cybermat on Earth. It has successfully used Cyberslaves to capture the Stargate of the human military complex. However, it has discovered something troubling.”

“Continue, Cyber-Leader, what could the humans possess that could defeat us? They would have used it by now if they were able to.”

“Controller, it is not a weapon. It is… a … companion… of the… Doctor…”

“WHAT?!” the Cyber-Controller exploded, but quickly collected himself. “A companion of the Doctor, how is this possible? We have taken every precaution. The Doctor could not have followed us.”

“Nevertheless, Controller, it is a companion of the Doctor, designated ‘Ace.’ We have encountered her multiple times, most notably during the events on Earth referred as ‘World War II,’ and during the attempted acquisition of the Validium.”

“We will have to act quickly. Instruct the Cyberslaves to destroy the Doctor on sight, and instruct all Cybermen the same. We will not let him foil our plans again. The Cybermen will survive. We will rule. We shall turn Earth into the new Mondas.”

“I shall obey, Controller. We will not allow anything to come between us and our goals.” The screen shut off, and CL-3 was left alone in the control, mentally directing Telos toward its ultimate destination. Within Telos, the creature that was the Pilot languished in pain, disconnected from all outside stimuli, its only joy being the knowing of what was coming.

Secondary Control Room, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

After the evacuation, SG-1 had gone with Sgt. Harriman and General Landry to the secondary control room, so that they would be able to monitor both the incoming planetoid and the now sealed lower levels. The data coming in was glum. Thirty soldiers had vanished in the hasty retreat, and another 10 had been killed. To top that off, computer firewalls began to fall as the Cyber-things hacked into the SGC mainframe like a hot knife through butter.

“This is weird,” Carter mumbled, and she began to type. “The Cyber-things down there are searching our database, and the Asgard database, for the term, ‘the Doctor.’”

“What, like a doctor? Why would they search for a doctor?” Daniel asked, curiosity evident in his features.

“No, like a name, or a title. Wait, they found something.” Carter began to furiously type, and on one of the large monitors, a file appeared. Carter scrolled slowly through it as she spoke: “They chose one of our Atlantis files; one about dimensional transcendence and a blue… box?” Carter furiously began to type again, but she didn’t put anything else on screen. “That’s, that’s it… They aren’t looking for anymore files. And they just sent out another subspace pulse from the Stargate, again in the direction of the planetoid. “

“Hold on, hold on, what ‘blue box’ thing are we talking about?” Mitchell asked, gears almost audibly turning in his head. “What’s so special about this thing that Atlantis would send the file to us?”

Before Carter could speak, Jackson cut in, “It’s some kind of discovery the Ancients made. The most we could get from the data was stuff about engineering pocket dimensions, and something about a ‘tempore Dominus,’ but we could never make sense of it. ‘Lord of Time’ made little sense, even though now we know that the Ancients experimented with time travel.”

“Lord of Time? That sounds, mysterious…” Vala smiled, the familiar gleam coming back to her eyes.

“Not that this isn’t interesting or anything,” cut in Mitchell, “but we still have hostiles in the lower levels, a prisoner in the cells, and a load of futuristic tech lying in Sam’s lab. Let’s get moving people.”

Telos

The view screen clicked on again, and the Controller’s helmeted head filled it. “What has occurred that you would open communication with me yet again?”

“Controller, we have obtained all knowledge that the humans possess of the Doctor,” CL-3 responded.

“What have the Cyberslaves discovered?”

“The humans know nothing of the Doctor, and his only reported sighting was several millennia ago. He will not trouble us.”

“Excellent. Prepare to move Telos a safe distance from Earrth once it arrives. We need to human population alive for conversion. Prepare the power draining equipment, our soldiers will need the extra power.”

“I obey, Controller.” A flash of light lit of the monitors within seconds of CL-3’s response to the Controller. Telos had arrived in the Sol System, just outside of the orbit of Pluto. The sublight drives kicked on, and the planet began to move through the system, slowly avoiding close proximity with any of the other planets, Earth in its sights. If the Cyberslaves had been paying attention, they would have noticed a whirring, wheezing noise within the sealed off buffer zone of SGC level 26. A blue box materialized in the stairwell, and the door creaked open.

[The Imperator]

Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy

Telos slowly rolled forward, closing on Earth. Already, the many people on Earth were beginning to notice the power drain beginning, though none knew from where it came. Within Telos’s many catacombs, the power began to flow into the hibernation chambers, awaking the heavy soldier Cybermen, 7 feet and nearly half a ton of organic and cybernetic parts, encased in armor that resembled the normal pressure suits of other Cybermen. As they awoke, they marched toward the transmit units, and around them computer systems began to flare to life, and Telos awoke…

Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

“Lock and load people, we need to make sure that the advance of those Cyber-things stops here. They can’t be allowed to get any higher,” Mitchell barked. “Teal’c, lead the teams to the stairwell and position them on and around it. I’m going to get that prisoner. She obviously knows something, and those weapons we got with her could be a big help if this comes down to a fire fight.”

“I am on my way,” Teal’c responded in his monotone, then turned to the squads around Mitchell. “Follow me to the stairwells, we will not allow the Cybermen to pass.” Teal’c headed off with the groups, leaving Mitchell alone by the elevator. Mitchell turned and stepped in, and the doors closed behind him.

Level 26, Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, and surveyed the room within which he had appeared. “Interesting, an Earth style military base, but I’m not familiar with this one.” He spun around, and whipped his sonic screwdriver out, playing the green light around the room. “So, this Earth. Quantum signatures all off though, must be an alternate time line. Well,” the Doctor smiled as he strolled to the stairs, “Nothing like the present.”

Below him, a door shattered. Clanking footsteps pounded up the stairs, and a muted command of “Delete” drifted through the air. The Doctor’s eyes widened in shock, and he began to mumble as he fiddled with the door in the stairwell, “Oh this is bad, bad, not very good at all bad. Open open open openopenope-” the Doctor’s frantic speaking was cut off as he tumbled through the door, right into the legs of a squad of military personnel. “Oh, hello. I’m the Doctor, who are you?”

“On your feet, now!’ one of the soldiers barked. The man activated his walkie-talkie, and then continued speaking: “Teal’c, we just had someone come out of the stairwell, and he appears clean. No idea where he came from.”

“Understood. Bring him to Gen. Landry, and keep watch on that stairwell,” came the response from the walkie-talkie. The soldier with the walkie-talkie shot a glare at the Doctor, and then barked out to the nearest two troops to take the Doctor up to Landry. The Doctor smiled in an innocent fashion as he followed then, though he shook their restraining grip off his arms.
The soldiers faced the stairwell again, slamming the door shut when they heard the pounding of metal feet from within. The soldiers grimaced, but tightened up their ranks. All were ready to fight back against these monsters that used to be there friends. The door shook as something pounded it. Electricity crackled over the edges of the door, and it exploded outward. The Cybermen had breached the containment.

Level 16, Stargate Command

Gen. Landry turned from the monitors in front of him to the door of the command room. Two soldiers stood behind a skinny, blonde haired man with a tweed jacket and a bow tie and, surprisingly enough, a Stetson. “Who is this?” he jabbed, already frustrated at the growing battle in the lower levels. “Where did this man come from?”

“He came out of the lower levels sir, right in front of the Cybermen,” responded the soldier on the left. The soldier, who Landry recognized as Lt Carl Grogan, one of the members of SG-9, Grogan continued, “We don’t know anything about him, but Teal’c ordered us to hand him over to you.”

“Thank you Lt, I will take it from here,” Landry replied, and then turned his head to look at the stranger. He wasn’t tall, but he wasn’t short. He had shaggy dirty blonde hair, and a half cocked grin that oozed confidence. “Who are you, and how did you get into the lower levels? Grogan, did we check him for those Cyber-men nanites?”

Before Grogan could answer, the man began to speak “Oh, sorry, no nanites on me. They don’t really agree with my biological system. You said this was amilitary base right? Right, good, I’m here to answer a distress call, and to check out whatever got in before me, seemed to be Time Lord, but no matter. I am here! Actually,” he continued in his rapid fire manner as he looked around, “Where is here? I don’t recognize the smell. Seems to be American, but I haven’t seen this one before. What did you say your name was?”

“General Landry of the SGC. Now, what is your business here and who the hell are you?”

“I’m the Doctor, nice to meet you,” the Doctor responded, grabbing Landry’s hand and shaking it furiously. He stepped into the room, and Landry was momentarily stunned by his brazen attitude, but Landry quickly refocused.

“Don’t touch anything!” Landry gruffly barked, then he turned to Grogan and ordered, “Escort this man to the brig. I will speak with him once we have this Cyber-man mess figured out.” Landry turned back to the monitors to watch the fighting in the lower levels. So, the Cybermen were being held off, but they hadn’t actually had any definite kills yet, which worried Landry.

The Doctor was grabbed and pulled roughly from the room. Grogan led him down hallway to the brig, roughly forcing him to march rapidly. As the Doctor stumbled into the brig, his eyes lit up at the sight of the current occupant of the brig. “Ace, Ace, what are you doing here?”

“Who are… Doctor? Is that you?!” Ace shouted as she jumped toward the door of her cell. “What happened to your face? What happened to your body? What are you wearing?”

The Doctor’s face lit up in a smile, and ran to the bars. “Ace, how’ve you been? Where are we in your time line? Wait; don’t tell me, best not knowing. Oh, and this is the new me, you like it?” The Doctor spun around once, laughing while doing it. However, Grogan grabbed him, and shoved him into the cell adjacent to Ace.

“We will come back to question you two later,” Grogan said as he turned to go, and he muttered under his breath, “Huh, weird, those two know each other. I’ll have to let Landry know.”

The Doctor watched Grogan go, before turning back to Ace. “How did you get here? Distress call get to you too? And ooh, aren’t these nice bars. Tough, well-built steel. I th-”

“Doctor, shut up,” Ace cut in, glaring at him, “I can get us out of her, I was just waiting for a distraction.” Ace tugged at her shirt collar, and began picking at the skin between her breasts.

“Umm, Ace, what are you doing? Should I turn around or…?” The Doctor began to ask, but Ace responded quickly with a shout, “I’ve got it!” She held up a thin silver disk, no larger than her fingertip, slightly wet with blood. She turned to the Doctor and smiled, “I figured that after going to the trouble to put that ident chip there back before Arcadia that I’d keep something of value their.” She winked at the Doctor, and depressed a protrusion on the small disk. Three levels below, the golden cuff shimmered and vanished, reappearing in Ace’s hand.

“Happy Doctor?” she joked as she put on the bracelet. She vanished in a flash of light, reappearing next to the Doctor in the other cell.

“Where did you get one of those?” the Doctor nearly shouted, “I’ve always wanted one. I mean, come on, you think THEY would have let me have one, but nooo. Alright, Ace, let’s get out of here, we have some Cybermen to ‘delete.’” The Doctor stopped for a second, dead pan grin on his face. “You get it, Ace, ‘delete’ the Cybermen?”

“Yes Doctor, I get it, now let’s get out of her.” Ace grabbed the Doctor’s arm and they vanished.

Level 26, Stargate Command

The doors to the stairwells lay in shards on the ground, broken by the force of the Cybermen’s attack. The guards were fighting a losing battle, ammo running out and the Cybermen slowly learning and changing their tactics.

“Fall back, pull back up another level!” shouted one of the commanders to the men nearest him, just before a blue arc of electricity slammed into his chest and dropped him. The soldiers ran, firing off occasional shots to slow the encroaching Cybermen. But, the Cybermen’s numbers swelled with every stunned soldier, and the SGC was soon going to run out of defensible positions.

[The Imperator]

Chapter 9

Telos, Sol System

Blue flashes of light illuminated the interior of a large domed chamber. The members of the SGC strike team glance around at the room around them, absorbing the scenery as best they can in the dim lighting. The walls are a slick grey metal, covered with a thin layer of frost; across the ceiling run multiple rows of thin blue light strands, just enough to give a grey ambient background glow to the room. Rows of human shaped operating tables fill the center of the room, and as the SGC teams watch, they begin to activate, mechanical operating arms moving in activation sequences. The lights in the room explode on, temporarily blinding the strike squad.

"Alright, let's get out here. We have a lot of ground to cover," Mitchell whispered. "Radio silence at all times, unless you run into unavoidable trouble. Daniel and Sam, you're with me. We'll be heading toward the energy source coming from deeper within the planet." Mitchell paused and looked and each group member, a resolute expression coming to his face. "We have a tough job ahead of us. These things are resistant to most of our arms so don't waste shots firing at them unless you have a clear kill shot." Mitchell paused, and then cracked a smile: "Alright, let's save the Earth." He turned toward the door and beckoned to Jackson and Carter to follow. They headed out quickly and quietly, into the murky blue darkness beyond the chamber's doors.

Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

The Doctor and Ace shimmered into existence in Carter's lab, surrounded by armed soldiers. "Hello, I'm the Doctor, an this is my friend Ace. What seems to be the trouble?" He strode through the soldiers up to Gen. Landry, and then glared right into his face. "General, I think we've been through this once before. Also," the Doctor huffed, "I don't like guns, so please put them down. Oh, and where are those Cybermen? I am here to help you put a stop to them, or at least that's what the message said. I assume you sent the message?" He turned suddenly, spinning to look at Ace, "Or was it you that sent me the distress call?"

"It wasn't me Professor," Ace frowned as she pushed aside the guns pointed at her.

"I don't even know who you are, why should I trust you to help me deal with this Cyber-man problem, when you could very well be related to the cause?" Landry barked out, causing the Doctor to jump slightly.

"Because you don't really have a choice," Ace cut in, snidely. "We know how to deal with them." She snarkily smiled.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you are mistaken. We currently have multiple ways of taking down the Cybermen, and we have ships assaulting the surface of their planet now. What do we need you for?"

Ace's face rapidly deflated, but she covered it up quickly, not letting it show. The Doctor, however, had a puzzled expression on his face. He mumbled to himself under his breath, "If Ace didn't call me… And these humans didn't call me… Then who called me?" He paced forward, nearly running into Landry and several other soldiers. "I've got it!" he suddenly shouted, beaming. "That must be how the Cybermen got here in the first place. They have some kind of time sensitive creature on their, what did you say?" The Doctor spun around again, this time peering at Landry. "What did you say your ships were attacking?"

"A planet, but what do you meant 'time sensitive?'" Landry responded, but the Doctor kept right on going as soon as he heard the answer.

"Planet, planet, planet, that means that they're going to be draining power off the Earth to keep up with the growth of infrastructure that a full scale invasion requires. All right, next… Wait, did you say you already had sent men to the planet? Yes, of course you did, good, now all we need to do is get rid of the Cybermen here. By the way, where is your reactor core for this base? I assume you use a self-contained reactor, correct?"

"Well, I.." Landry began, but the Doctor cut him off before he could continue.

"Yes, yes, just take me there, I need to get an oscillating frequency going to block out their transmats." The Doctor stood expectantly looking at Landry, who shrugged his shoulders and glared at the Doctor.

"Alright, you can go 'oscillate the whatever,' but there'll be a guard on you at all times. Your friend over here-"

"I have a name, you know," Ace grumbled.

"-Your friend over here will accompany my men back to the cells so that you don't try anything."

"Oh no, I've had enough of this, I have some Cybermen to destroy, that's why I came here." Ace snapped her fingers and one of her smart bombs hovered up into the air. She grabbed it and one of her pistols still lying on the table, and vanished. All the soldiers spun their weapons toward the Doctor, who sheepishly held his hands up in the air.

Level 26, SGC, Cheyenne Mountain

The soldiers had pulled back into hallways, after using grenades to take out the connecting stairwells, effectively trapping themselves in the level if they couldn't get the elevators to work. However, Teal'c wasn't worried yet, and simply kept fighting, hitting another Cyberman in the chest with his staff weapon. He stood up and shouted, "Now!" and jumped backwards, as the floor around the Cybermen exploded, sending them crashing into the level below. "Keep firing, we need to push them back!" Teal'c shouted as he shot another Cyberman's chest out. "We will win this day!" With a renewed sense of determination, the soldiers pushed forward, pushing the Cybermen back.

In the ground in front of Teal'c, there was a flash and a woman whom Teal'c recognized as the prisoner appeared. She whipped up a pistol and fired some energy blasts at the Cybermen, blowing holes through two Cybermen's helmets, and burning several others. She jumped back to Teal'c and cover, and rolled to a stop beside him.

She looked at him and smiled, "The name's Ace, nice to meet you." She looked over the barricade and fired off a couple more shots at the Cybermen. Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement, more preoccupied with the fight than with questioning the escaped prisoner, who for now appeared to be on Stargate Command's side.

Telos, Solar System

Low blue light cast a shroud over the murky mist that seemed to hang in the corridors, forcing SG-1 to proceed at a slower than normal pace. The hallways seemed endless, branching out on either side of the hallway through which they stalked at regular intervals. Every once in a while, noises of machinery would echo down the metallic corridors, almost causing them to jump out of their skin.

"Sam, Jackson, does this feel wrong to you? I mean, there aren't any of those Cybermen around, and we're in their giant planet," Mitchell whispered.

Carter glanced behind them, then ahead. "In don't see anything, but you're right, this doesn't feel right. Jackson, what does the scanner say?"

Jackons glanced at the scanner in his hand, then whispered back, "Ten life forms directly ahead, cybernetic."

They stepped into a large room, and immediately quit talking. The ceiling shot upwards, into a neat point. Suspended about 30 feet down from the point, but still at least 50 feet above the ground, was a silver orb, looking to have a radius of about 8 feet. It hung from thick, grey metal chains, and a stream of energy flowed from around it straight down into a mass of things that looked like Tesla coils and circuits, set directly beneath the sphere. The energy around the sphere pulsed blue, with the occasional red, spiral convulsion.

Around the machinery at the base were about ten Cybermen, heavily armored, and slowly deactivating the machinery on the floor.

"Process almost complete. The pilot will be deactivated and deleted within 10 minutes," one of the Cybermen stated.

Another one this one in more streamlined armor, and less bulky, straightened up. "Sensors detect life forms in the room. Delete them; they must not free the pilot."

Three of the large, armored Cybermen stood up, and turned towards the entrance of the room, where Mitchell, Jackson, and Carter stood. All three pulled out their Zats, blasting the Cybermen, full on in the chest. The three Cybermen moved jerkily, slowing but not actually stopping. Mitchell let out another shot, this one actually driving home and stopping a Cyberman, but the Cyberman's weapon arm still functioned, and it was able to get off a blast. The blast went wide, but the members of SG-1 still took that moment to dive for cover behind some machinery at the edges of the room. They hit the other two Cybermen, stunning them, then moved forward, ducking from blasts as they picked off the others. They cornered the smoother, more streamlined looking Cyberman in the center of the room, held at Zat point.

"Alright, tin can, what is this thing," Mitchell barked, gesturing at the metal sphere.

"That information is classified," the Cyberman intoned, "You must be deleted." Its eyes started to flash green, and its limbs began to seize up.

Jackson, the closest, was momentarily shocked, but managed to kick the Cyberman into the stream of energy coming from the sphere, grunting as he almost couldn't get the massive metal carcass to move. A massive wave of energy flew up toward the sphere, hitting it. One of the chains snapped, and the sphere plunged toward the ground, falling open as it did. Mitchell grabbed Carter out of the way and dived to the ground, barely dodging a metal box that flew out of the sphere, which hit the ground and skid to a stop. The box cracked open, and a pale, thin human hand reached out and grabbed the side. A sickly woman emerged, hair matted with dust and grime, a single golden crown adorning her head. As she collapsed on the floor, Jackson and Carter were able electrical wires jutting out from her spine, trailing back into the box.

Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

General Landry glared at the Doctor, almost as if he was willing the man to break. But, to Landry's chagrin, the Doctor just stared back, smiling a cocky, self-assured grin, legs crossed and hand resting on one of his knees.

"You realize that the longer you keep me down here, the more Cybermen are just going to transmit down, right?"

"Stop talking, prisoner," Landry barked out, but for some reason he felt uncomfortable shouting at this man. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, but Landry found himself almost wanting to trust the man.

Landry's comm buzzed, and Teal'c voice crackled, "The woman prisoner is with me and the other SG teams, helping to fight off the Cybermen. She says to trust the Doctor. She seems willing to put her neck on the line to help us, and I am inclined to trust her."

Understood, Teal'c, I will take that into consideration. Thank you for the input," Landry curtly responded.

"Indeed."

The Doctor stood up and smiled. "Now, where's that reactor room. We have some Cybermen to stop." Before the Doctor could turn to the Door, though, two blue flashes of light lit the room, and two Cybermen, heavily armored and armed, appeared. Landry immediately dropped to the floor, as the Doctor whipped out a long white and gold wand like device, with a glowing green tip. He aimed it at the Cybermen, and pushed a button on it, and the Cybermen collapsed. The Doctor strode over to Landry and offered him a hand.

Landry gritted his teeth, pushed down his pride and suspicion, and took the Doctor's hand. As he got to his feet, he rushed to the door, dragging the Doctor behind him. "The reactor is down in the lower levels, but I don't see how you're going to get down there." Landry shoved the Doctor down and whipped out his pistol, sending several shots right into the faceplate of a newly appeared Cyberman. He pistol-whipped the Cyberman in the head, buying time to pull himself and the Doctor back to the other soldiers on that level.

The Doctor stood up and brushed himself off. "I can oscillate the reactors frequency from any major power relay station. Where's the nearest one on-" but the Doctor was cut off as a blast from a Cyber-weapon nearly hit him, forcing him to dive for cover. "As I was saying," the Doctor continued, unperturbed by the firefight around him, "where is the nearest power relay station?"

"Down the hall," Landry barked, "but how are you going to.. Doctor, STOP!" Landry barked as the Doctor sprinted out from behind cover, weaving through the rows of Cybermen.

On every level of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, soldiers fought for their lives against the slowly appearing Cybermen.

Above Earth, the B304s continued to pound the surface of Telos, inhibiting complete re-thawing of the Cybermen.

Within Telos, Jackson and Carter knelt over the injured woman, who continually mumbled the words "Time Vortex."



Chapter 10
Telos, Sol System

"Are you all right?" Mitchell asked the woman, rapidly glancing from her to the door, and back again. "Can you understand me?"

She coughed again, hacking up blood and bile. She remained silent, though.

"Sam, Daniel, what can you tell me about her," Mitchell asked. He stood up and trained his gun on the door, the sound of stomping feet coming from the hall.

"She's human," Carter answered, "but I can't tell much else. Daniel, does that capsule thing she was in have any writing on it?"

Jackson jumped up and walked around the metal looking sphere and box, studying designs in it. "Nothing here appears to be any form of meaningful writing," he called, "just some really intricate spiral patterns." The box was covered in swirls that looked like trees, each different from any other on the box. "I can't make heads or tales of it, I'll need more time."

"They're heading this way," Mitchell barked at Carter, "We have inbound Cybermen. Get that woman and let get out of here!" Mitchell sent off two shots with his Zat at the first Cyberman to enter the room, its metal body casing sparkling blue for half a second before it stumbled to the ground. Mitchell sent off two more shots, knocking the Cyberman flat and frying the next one that walked into the room. The lingering sent of ozone drifted through the room, evidence of the fight.

Jackson rushed over to Carter and helped her heave the woman over their shoulders, and they sprinted over to Mitchell. "So, back where we arrived, or do we want to leave this woman somewhere and finish the mission?" Daniel asked with concern etched on his face.

"I say we find a spot to hide her, and then continue with the mission. Landry is counting on us," Carter whispered as she followed Mitchell out the door. She had to turn sideways so Daniel was able to keep holding the woman with her.

Mitchell spun around in the hallway; alternating which direction he faced, he trained his Zat on both ends of the corridors. "I agree with Sam, stow this woman somewhere safe and let's finish this mission." Mitchell crept forward, turning his back to Carter and Jackson, eyes and ears searching for any sign of Cybermen. "Nothing coming this way yet, get that woman moved to one of the side rooms near where we beamed in. I got this covered."

Jackson and Carter picked up the woman and turned, trudging back toward the storeroom where they had beamed in. "I forgot to take pictures of those symbols!" Daniel shouted, nearly throwing the woman off his shoulders. He fumbled, and caught the woman before her weight pulled Carter to the ground with her. "I need to get back to take pictures before-"

"Daniel, we need to put this woman somewhere safe first, and then we have a mission to accomplish. The pictures will have to wait."

"That pod thing is probably going to be gone by the time we finish the mission, and I won't have another chance," Daniel retorted.

"Daniel, we can talk about this after we, *urrggh*," Carter heaved as she set the woman down on the floor of the storeroom the SG teams had arrived in. The temperature had risen slightly since they had arrived, and the frost was starting to melt on the crates and metal piping. "-after we finish finding a way to stop this planet." Carter stopped and smiled to herself. "You know how crazy this sounds, us trying to actually stop a planet from moving. But hey, you're mister "I've died and come back twice," so this is probably nothing." Carter smiled, and pulled out her Zat. "Let's meet up with Mitchell, we have work to do."

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Earth

The Doctor weaved through the appearing Cybermen, ducking under energy blasts and dodging physical blows. He leapt and tumbled on the floor, rolling into the door to the electrical room. He fumbled with the door handle, opening it just as a Cyberman shot at him. The blast grazed his shoulder, but he dived through the door and swung it shut behind him, locking it with his sonic screwdriver, before any more shots could hit him. "Whew, that was close," he mused aloud. "Alright, now where's that power relay station?" He looked around the room, settling his eyes on the giant metal doors built into the far side. He smiled, "that must be it," and trained his sonic screwdriver on it.

The effects were instantaneous. All around the complex transmat beams collided with themselves and other already materialized Cybermen, throwing the invading force into disarray. Landry seized the moment to fire a shot directly into the neck joint of the Cyberman nearest him, managing to punch a hole into its insides. He let loose several more shots, dropping it. "Now, while we have the chance, hit 'em with all we've got," Landry shouted, empty another pistol into a half-materialized Cyberman further down the corridor. He kicked open the stairwell door, and dropped several more, before he ran out of ammo and guns. He bent down and grabbed one of the guns the Cybermen had been carrying. He aimed it at the stairwell wall and fired, releasing a blue ring of energy the hit the wall and left burn marks and an ozone smell in the air. "Let's see what this thing can do," he chuckled, and slowly walked down the stairs, allowing his men to catch up.

Levels below Landry, Teal'c's team was fighting back, using the confusion to their advantage. "Left flank, pull ahead, scan those office rooms," Teal'c barked, "right flank, check that hallway and storage rooms. The rest of you, follow me." Teal'c marched forward, Zat out and ready to shoot anything that moved.

Ace followed, quickly falling into step with Teal'c, and then pulling ahead. "I got it from here," she barked, irritation clearly evidenced in her voice, "I didn't come all this way to let a bunch of soldier grunts do my job for me." She jumped through the hole they had blown in the floor, landing in a crouch in the level below. She whipped out her gun, blasting three Cybermen through the head, dropping them all cleanly.

"Try to keep up," she smirked under her breath, and she strode off into the Cybermen infested hallways below.

Teal'c did not follow, instead directing his team to clear out the rooms immediately surrounding the stairwell. He moved toward the hole in the floor, and shot a still moving, partially materialized Cyberman in the chest, twice. It ceased moving.

"All clear here," one of Teal'c's squad called out, and those in the other rooms near Teal'c echoed his shout. Teal'c's walkie-talkie buzzed, and he received confirmation from the two other teams that their areas were clear as well.

"Alright, we clear out, and move down to the lower levels, but slowly, we don't want to miss any Cybermen." Teal'c moved forward, down the broken and mangled chunks of construction material and into the level below.

Several Levels above

The Doctor smiled as he heard the sound of misfiring transmats. He flipped his sonic screwdriver into the air, and turned to walk out. He froze, though, as a large metal arm was pointing a wrist-mounted blaster at the back of his head.

"You will come with us, Doctor, the Controller will have need of your services," the Cyberman barked, priming the wrist weapon.

"I will not," the Doctor retorted, "I have a planet to save. Two planets actually, though with yours I'm planning on sending it somewhere where it won't cause a problem. How 'bout the year one hundred eleven billion, one hundred eleven million, one hundred eleven thousand, one hundred eleven? I love all the ones it, it's so much fun to say, it just rolls right off the tongue."

"You will cease your prattle, Doctor, and come with me," the Cyberman intoned. It grabbed the Doctor's shoulder, gripping tightly, and pushed him into the hallway, toward the stairwell.

"Get your hand off of me," the Doctor spluttered out, but the Cyberman did not relent. It shoved him into the stairwell, and plodded after him. However, the Doctor managed to catch himself, and he swung his leg back and hit the Cyberman's knee, tripping it down the stairs. "Well, now that that's done," the Doctor smiled as he wiped his hands on his jacket, "where did that general get off to?" He turned to look over his should up the stairs, but heard the Cyberman's footsteps below. With a yelp, he hurried up the stairs and slammed the door shut.

He jogged through the hallways, and flinched as he heard the door shatter behind him. He turned into a dead end, and skidded to a stop. He rubbed his fingers on his temples, and sighed. "Why do I always have to stop running these days?" He turned and whipped his Sonic Screwdriver out, seizing up the pursuing Cyberman.

He looked at its crippled form, then stalked off, still looking for the general.

Several Levels Below

Ace dodged another Cyberman blast and shot it through the head, dropping it. She paused her charge, surveying the wreckage around her. "That was easier than expected," Ace mused, staring at the dead Cybermen around her. She glanced at the LCD display on the back of her gun, noted the flashing red light, and holstered it. She quickly looked around the room, and grabbed the closest Cybermen weapon she saw. The floor creaked behind her, just out of sight behind a doorway. She spun around and trained the weapon on the door. Teal'c stepped out cautiously, followed by several soldiers.

"You are an excellent warrior, 'Ace,' although you missed two Cybermen just several rooms back. My men and I took them out."

"Thanks," Ace coldly responder, "but I would have gotten them eventually." She turned, and moved on toward the stairwell, to finish what she had come here for.

Teal'c watched her stalk off and then motioned for several of his squad to come with him and follow her.

"Sir, why are we watching her back? She obviously doesn't care, and we don't even know if we can trust her."

That is precisely why we are going to watch her back," Teal'c responded. He grabbed one of Cybermen's weapons and slung it over his shoulder, and strode to the stairs. He pushed the door open cautiously, and crept in, Zat and Cyberman weapon trained ahead of him.

Telos, Sol System

Mitchell crept forward, flinching and aiming his gun at every sound. He wiped sweat from his brow and turned to see Carter and Jackson jogging up the hallway toward him. "Is it just me, or did it suddenly get really warm in here?"

"No, the temperature has risen," Jackson answered, "Though I don't know why it would be. Unless something is going wrong with their systems."

"Or maybe it's me," Mitchell quipped. He turned around, and stealthily moved down the hallway, inspecting each door and opening that he passed. Behind him, Jackson and Carter followed, weapons held at the ready. The hall was silent save for their breathing.

After several minutes, they came to a large row of immense elevators, each big enough to hold several dozen large human. The elevators stood towering over an immense cavern, the top too high for the SG team to make out. The sides of the cavern were perfectly curved, and inlayed with a glyph-like Cyberman head every couple feet. The stench of burnt metal and ozone filled the air, and the whirring of many machines was a cacophony that shook the room to its artificial rhythm.

"Guys, how did we miss this sound?" Jackson asked, slack jawed. He stepped out the room, then stepped back in, then stepped out again. He broke into laughter. "There's some kind of sound blocking field that keeps sound from being heard outside this room from this room." He laughed again, and stepped in and out of the room one more time. Mitchell followed, and he cracked a smile after he did it a couple times.

Carter, though, had run up to the elevators and was checking over their control mechanisms. "If you boys are quite finished, I think I know how to operate these. Mitchell, set the charges on the bases of the others, and I'll get this one ready to use."

"Wait, charges?" Jackson asked, spinning around to face Carter. "I need to get pictures of those symbols, and we need to get the woman to safety."

"We can beam her out, I left a RFID tag on her," Carter responded, "and shutting down all this stuff matters more than a bunch of symbols, at the moment."

"But, I ne-," Jackson began, but was cut off by Mitchell. "We have more pressing concerns Daniel, and Sam's right. If we have a chance we can come back."

"Let me just run back and get them," Jackson began, and jogged back, leaving the room and heading down the hallway. He sprinted the second he got out of the doorway.

"Daniel," Mitchell shouted, but it was pointless. Jackson wouldn't hear him. Mitchell, grubbled, and turned to start laying the charges, but a rumbling nearly knocked him off his feet. One of the elevators was descending. Mitchell and Carter grabbed the charges and pulled back into the shadows.

The elevator stopped with a resounding thud, echoing through the chamber. Three tall, and heavily armed and amored, Cyberman stepped out, silver and chrome armor shining in the light of the room. They marched toward the door, and exited.


Does it seem like I gave Jackson the idiot ball? I thought it felt in character for him, but what do you think?

[Themightytom]

Do you realize you have General Landry "barking" like every time he speaks?

[The Imperator]

Thanks, will fix that.