August 16: A Cascade of Echoes: Interlude
Title: A Cascade of Echoes, Chapter 05: Interlude
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 880
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & Post-Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: In which General O'Neill and Buffy converse over coffee.
Author's Note: Written for Day 16 of the 2022 August Fic-A-Day.
Previous: Back To Start . Try Again . Tok'ra . Stargate Command .
Somehow, they ended up in General O'Neill's office along with two cups and a mug of delicious coffee. Two of the Jaffa were standing guard at the doors, while the rest of their entourage were mingling with the other members of SG-1 and the visiting politicians.
"You don't seem all that fond of the military. Care to explain why?"
In an attempt to postpone answering for a little while, Buffy took another sip of her coffee. "I've had a few unfortunate run-ins with a faction of the military way back in the day before I met Cam. It didn't end well." She took another sip, then added. "Don't ask, that really is classified. NDA's and everything."
"Got it. It adds to the mystery that is you. Based on your accent, you're from California. Probably Los Angeles. Am I right?"
She couldn't help but smile, "Guilty. Born and raised, although I had been traveling all over Earth for a few years when I met Cam."
He raised an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting. Work or pleasure?"
"Both. It's complicated and probably classified. But it was fun and I got to see a lot of this world and meet many different people."
A knock on the door interrupted their little chit-chat, and a man entered with a tray of food and even more coffee. He placed everything on the General's desk, politely told them to enjoy the meal, and left the room quietly.
Buffy moved her chair closer to the desk and grabbed a sandwich. It had been a while, and all that talking had made her hungry. On the other side of the desk, O'Neill was munching on his own food. For the new few minutes, the only sound that could be heard was chewing.
Once they had gotten their fill, General O'Neill began asking more questions. "What are the Tok'ra planning? Because Coolidge was right, most of the Goa'uld are gone, and the only nuance at the moment are essentially space pirates, and they're nothing in comparison."
"Right now, we are still working on merging the two groups. After that... Well, we'll see. There is a lot of damage control to be done. Places to see, people to meet, and alliances to be made. After all, we all know it is only a matter of time before someone else takes over the power vacuum the Goa'uld left behind. Most likely there will be a power struggle between several factions, species, and even entire worlds."
O'Neill made a small grimace, then tried for levity. "Yeah, there's always someone who wants to rule the galaxy. Clearly being in charge of a small area on a single planet isn't all the rage anymore."
Buffy laughed lightly, "No, it's not."
"What about the SGC? Are you still going to just visit whatever list of planets you've got, and hope you'll get lucky and find technology you can either use or reverse engineer?"
"Of course. We have a long list, and gaining new friends is a good thing." He stayed silent for a beat, "The question is, are the Tok'ra friends of ours or not? Because the older faction doesn't really like us all that much, and even less since Jacob Carter died."
She gave him a thoughtful look. She and Egeria had discussed this many times over the years, and the answer had remained more or less the same. "Earth is in a very unique position. While you're both respected, feared, and hated, you can't ignore that most of the people on this planet don't know what's out there. They're blissfully unaware of the war raging outside of this solar system while they're playing video games and looking at cute pictures of cats."
"Interesting comparison, but if you're trying to ask if we're planning on declassifying the Program in the near future then the answer is no. We're going to keep it a secret for as long as we can."
*That is a terrible plan,* Egeria commented.
*Agreed, but it was also expected.*
"Technology has come a long way in the last few decades. It's only a matter of time before someone intercepts something, or someone manages to hack into the classified reports from Stargate Command. Because they might be safe here, but I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of people outside of this Program who regularly gets those same reports as well. And their digital lives are not as secure."
O'Neill leaned back in his office chair, "We know. There are plans and backup plans for both scenarios, but we're hoping to keep it under wraps for a while longer. Preferably another decade."
"That's pretty much not going to happen, and you know it. You might have five years if you're lucky, but not more than that. The smart money is on releasing information on the parts that aren't directly connected to something alien, and then go from there."
"Way ahead of you there. We have started very slow, but nothing that'll give anything away."
A sharp knock on the door was followed by Mr. Coolidge entering without waiting for a reply. "We're ready to resume, General O'Neill."
O'Neill gave him an annoyed look. "We'll be there in a few minutes."
Coolidge left and they got up. "Once more into the breach."
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 880
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & Post-Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: In which General O'Neill and Buffy converse over coffee.
Author's Note: Written for Day 16 of the 2022 August Fic-A-Day.
Previous: Back To Start . Try Again . Tok'ra . Stargate Command .
Somehow, they ended up in General O'Neill's office along with two cups and a mug of delicious coffee. Two of the Jaffa were standing guard at the doors, while the rest of their entourage were mingling with the other members of SG-1 and the visiting politicians.
"You don't seem all that fond of the military. Care to explain why?"
In an attempt to postpone answering for a little while, Buffy took another sip of her coffee. "I've had a few unfortunate run-ins with a faction of the military way back in the day before I met Cam. It didn't end well." She took another sip, then added. "Don't ask, that really is classified. NDA's and everything."
"Got it. It adds to the mystery that is you. Based on your accent, you're from California. Probably Los Angeles. Am I right?"
She couldn't help but smile, "Guilty. Born and raised, although I had been traveling all over Earth for a few years when I met Cam."
He raised an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting. Work or pleasure?"
"Both. It's complicated and probably classified. But it was fun and I got to see a lot of this world and meet many different people."
A knock on the door interrupted their little chit-chat, and a man entered with a tray of food and even more coffee. He placed everything on the General's desk, politely told them to enjoy the meal, and left the room quietly.
Buffy moved her chair closer to the desk and grabbed a sandwich. It had been a while, and all that talking had made her hungry. On the other side of the desk, O'Neill was munching on his own food. For the new few minutes, the only sound that could be heard was chewing.
Once they had gotten their fill, General O'Neill began asking more questions. "What are the Tok'ra planning? Because Coolidge was right, most of the Goa'uld are gone, and the only nuance at the moment are essentially space pirates, and they're nothing in comparison."
"Right now, we are still working on merging the two groups. After that... Well, we'll see. There is a lot of damage control to be done. Places to see, people to meet, and alliances to be made. After all, we all know it is only a matter of time before someone else takes over the power vacuum the Goa'uld left behind. Most likely there will be a power struggle between several factions, species, and even entire worlds."
O'Neill made a small grimace, then tried for levity. "Yeah, there's always someone who wants to rule the galaxy. Clearly being in charge of a small area on a single planet isn't all the rage anymore."
Buffy laughed lightly, "No, it's not."
"What about the SGC? Are you still going to just visit whatever list of planets you've got, and hope you'll get lucky and find technology you can either use or reverse engineer?"
"Of course. We have a long list, and gaining new friends is a good thing." He stayed silent for a beat, "The question is, are the Tok'ra friends of ours or not? Because the older faction doesn't really like us all that much, and even less since Jacob Carter died."
She gave him a thoughtful look. She and Egeria had discussed this many times over the years, and the answer had remained more or less the same. "Earth is in a very unique position. While you're both respected, feared, and hated, you can't ignore that most of the people on this planet don't know what's out there. They're blissfully unaware of the war raging outside of this solar system while they're playing video games and looking at cute pictures of cats."
"Interesting comparison, but if you're trying to ask if we're planning on declassifying the Program in the near future then the answer is no. We're going to keep it a secret for as long as we can."
*That is a terrible plan,* Egeria commented.
*Agreed, but it was also expected.*
"Technology has come a long way in the last few decades. It's only a matter of time before someone intercepts something, or someone manages to hack into the classified reports from Stargate Command. Because they might be safe here, but I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of people outside of this Program who regularly gets those same reports as well. And their digital lives are not as secure."
O'Neill leaned back in his office chair, "We know. There are plans and backup plans for both scenarios, but we're hoping to keep it under wraps for a while longer. Preferably another decade."
"That's pretty much not going to happen, and you know it. You might have five years if you're lucky, but not more than that. The smart money is on releasing information on the parts that aren't directly connected to something alien, and then go from there."
"Way ahead of you there. We have started very slow, but nothing that'll give anything away."
A sharp knock on the door was followed by Mr. Coolidge entering without waiting for a reply. "We're ready to resume, General O'Neill."
O'Neill gave him an annoyed look. "We'll be there in a few minutes."
Coolidge left and they got up. "Once more into the breach."