August 10: A Cascade of Echoes: Try Again
Title: A Cascade of Echoes, Chapter 01: Try Again
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1,329
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: In which Egeria explains.
Author's Note: Written for Day 10 of the 2022 August Fic-A-Day.
"What Buffy attempted to say," Egeria began her explanation in the dual voice of the symbiote, "is that Ba'al had one last clone. We do not know if the one executed here tonight was the real System Lord or if it was a clone. However, we suspect it was a clone.
"Ba'al had one last failsafe; should his supposed last clone be captured then he would be notified and he would enact this plan. As Buffy attempted to explain, he either found or scavenged a time machine which he then modified for his needs. We do not know how far back he went in time, other than he had managed to acquire both Jaffa and a bomb in the Taur'ri year 1939. He had both when he gated on board the ocean freighter Achilles in his attempt to sink the Chappa'ai so the Stargate Program would not be founded."
The Tok'ra High Council and SG-1 were all listening attentively, which was more than could be said for when Buffy had been speaking. Then again, she was not so good with the complicated explanations, even after decades and many attempts by her symbiote to teach her.
"As Ba'al changed the events of the past, it caused people and buildings in the present to vanish as the two timelines merged. Vala Mal Dora disappeared first, then Teal'c. Soon after the Tok'ra began fading away as well at a much faster rate. General O'Neill made an effort to confront Ba'al about the current events. We do not have specific details of the following event, however, Ba'al managed to get loose enough from his bindings to kill General O'Neill. The three remaining members of SG-1 hurried to the Chappa'ai, dialed the Tau'ri homeworld, and entered the event horizon.
"Rather than exit where they had expected, they were on ship. A boat. Somewhere near the arctic circle as they soon realized they were in a much colder climate. We believe they were traveling inside the Chappa'ai when the timeline merge was completed."
"How is that even possible?" A curious Dr. Jackson asked. "Didn't we have counterparts there who would've been affected by our presence? Or rather vice versa?"
Egeria gave a shallow nod. "One would think so, but not such thing appears to have occurred. In fact, Dr. Jackson, you were the only one to have a living counterpart in this timeline."
"That's disturbing."
"What happened to Cam and I?", Colonel Carter asked from further down the table.
"In this timeline, you were an astronaut who had been killed four years prior. Colonel Mitchell did not exist."
"Wait! What?" Cam suddenly straightened up in his uncomfortable chair. "Why didn't I exist?"
"According to the Cameron Mitchell we spoke to, your grandfather was the Captain of the Achilles. When Ba'al sank the ship he killed everyone on board."
"Wow," Carter commented, "you were literally a grandfather complex over there."
Meanwhile, the Tok'ra around the table were getting a little restless. "How did you and Buffy meet?"
"Patience." Egeria lightly admonished the Tok'ra Elder. "It took a year after SG-1 crossed the timeline before Ba'al's attacked the Tau'ri homeworld. While SG-1 had informed their government of the Stargate Program and the threat Ba'al posed, they did not appear to consider them a reliable threat, and as such did not have adequate defenses. They also chose not to allow the three remaining members of SG-1 to help re-establish the Stargate Program in fear they would try to change the timeline back to what they remembered."
"Yes, of course, we would've tried to do that, and obviously we managed or we wouldn't've been sitting here."
"That is correct, Dr. Jackson."
"So, if we weren't allowed to help with the Stargate Program in the timeline, what happened to us?" Carter's blue eyes shone with curiosity as she was partially leaning over the table.
"The three of you we separated and sent to different parts of your country. You were also forbidden from contacting each other, applying for jobs in your specific fields, or informing anyone of where you came from. Colonel Mitchell was moved to the same city Buffy was temporarily living in, and the two became friends.
"Colonel Mitchell and Buffy were on a journey when Ba'al and his fleet surrounded the Tau'ri homeworld. Following this there was chaos, however, they were eventually informed a rival country had managed to recover the Chappa'ai from the bottom of the ocean. They did not know to operate the device. After a hazardous journey, they arrived at the facility where the Chappa'ai was studied. While there, that timeline's Teal'c arrived to complete his final mission.
"Following an armed conflict, which was temporarily halted as the facility was under attack and they needed to use the Chappa'ai, they were able to come to an agreement. Teal'c dialed the planet where the time machine was located, and Colonel Carter was able to decipher the machine.
"Teal'c told us Qetesh had killed Ba'al and was on her way to this particular planet. Another firefight broke out when her Jaffa ringed onto the planet. Dr. Jackson and Colonel Carter were both killed. Before Colonel Carter's murder, she was able to program the time machine to send them back to 1929. Buffy and Colonel Mitchell were able to reach the Chappa'ai safely and then went to the past, and exited in Egypt."
Carter frowned, "Why did they go to 1929? It was a decade too soon!"
"The time machine achieved time travel by using solar flares, and given the short time she had available to find a suitable one, it proved to be the best option."
"I take it Buffy and I spent a decade in the past doing something Tok'ra-related then?"
Rather than respond, Egeria bowed her head, and when her head rose the host was in charge again.
"For part of it, yes. We did spend some time on Earth though. First in Egypt and then in the US, before I managed to appeal to your inner adrenaline junkie and we went back to Egypt and then got off this marble."
Cam snorted, "That probably wasn't too hard. I can't imagine trying to live a normal life after everything I've been through. Spending a year doing nothing in suburbia before that, and then being in the past..." He shook his head.
"You were pretty bored. We traveled a lot before we settled on a planet, or more like it became our home base. Anyways, I became host to Egeria after I crashed my little aircraft on a random planet. We debated for some time whether or not to create more Tok'ra, how to get Jaffa, and all that logistical stuff. Especially since we were on a deadline and needed to be on Earth in 1939. We also had to decide if we were going to stay on Earth or just gate straight off the ship once Ba'al was finally dead."
The Tok'ra were finally getting interested in the conversation since it had derailed from the actual point. "You have created moe Tok'ra? Where are they?"
"We did. Actually, we have multiple worlds where we have humans, Jaffa, Tok'ra, and even a few Unas living together. although we're not calling ourselves Tok'ra. We needed a new name since we knew Ra was going to be killed, but also because no one could suspect who we were. We needed to be secretive, something no one would suspect.
"That said, it's imperative that those worlds remain hidden. There is too much at stake for us to tell anyone. We will arrange a meeting though." She turned to SG-1, "Not to be all rude or anything, but you are not needed for this part. I'm sure Earth wants you to return.
*Buffy!* her symbiote scolded her lightly. *Behave.*
She needn't have worried though, SG-1 was more than happy to return home, and no doubt inform their superiors of the change in the political landscape out in the galaxy.
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1,329
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & Stargate SG-1: Continuum
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: In which Egeria explains.
Author's Note: Written for Day 10 of the 2022 August Fic-A-Day.
"What Buffy attempted to say," Egeria began her explanation in the dual voice of the symbiote, "is that Ba'al had one last clone. We do not know if the one executed here tonight was the real System Lord or if it was a clone. However, we suspect it was a clone.
"Ba'al had one last failsafe; should his supposed last clone be captured then he would be notified and he would enact this plan. As Buffy attempted to explain, he either found or scavenged a time machine which he then modified for his needs. We do not know how far back he went in time, other than he had managed to acquire both Jaffa and a bomb in the Taur'ri year 1939. He had both when he gated on board the ocean freighter Achilles in his attempt to sink the Chappa'ai so the Stargate Program would not be founded."
The Tok'ra High Council and SG-1 were all listening attentively, which was more than could be said for when Buffy had been speaking. Then again, she was not so good with the complicated explanations, even after decades and many attempts by her symbiote to teach her.
"As Ba'al changed the events of the past, it caused people and buildings in the present to vanish as the two timelines merged. Vala Mal Dora disappeared first, then Teal'c. Soon after the Tok'ra began fading away as well at a much faster rate. General O'Neill made an effort to confront Ba'al about the current events. We do not have specific details of the following event, however, Ba'al managed to get loose enough from his bindings to kill General O'Neill. The three remaining members of SG-1 hurried to the Chappa'ai, dialed the Tau'ri homeworld, and entered the event horizon.
"Rather than exit where they had expected, they were on ship. A boat. Somewhere near the arctic circle as they soon realized they were in a much colder climate. We believe they were traveling inside the Chappa'ai when the timeline merge was completed."
"How is that even possible?" A curious Dr. Jackson asked. "Didn't we have counterparts there who would've been affected by our presence? Or rather vice versa?"
Egeria gave a shallow nod. "One would think so, but not such thing appears to have occurred. In fact, Dr. Jackson, you were the only one to have a living counterpart in this timeline."
"That's disturbing."
"What happened to Cam and I?", Colonel Carter asked from further down the table.
"In this timeline, you were an astronaut who had been killed four years prior. Colonel Mitchell did not exist."
"Wait! What?" Cam suddenly straightened up in his uncomfortable chair. "Why didn't I exist?"
"According to the Cameron Mitchell we spoke to, your grandfather was the Captain of the Achilles. When Ba'al sank the ship he killed everyone on board."
"Wow," Carter commented, "you were literally a grandfather complex over there."
Meanwhile, the Tok'ra around the table were getting a little restless. "How did you and Buffy meet?"
"Patience." Egeria lightly admonished the Tok'ra Elder. "It took a year after SG-1 crossed the timeline before Ba'al's attacked the Tau'ri homeworld. While SG-1 had informed their government of the Stargate Program and the threat Ba'al posed, they did not appear to consider them a reliable threat, and as such did not have adequate defenses. They also chose not to allow the three remaining members of SG-1 to help re-establish the Stargate Program in fear they would try to change the timeline back to what they remembered."
"Yes, of course, we would've tried to do that, and obviously we managed or we wouldn't've been sitting here."
"That is correct, Dr. Jackson."
"So, if we weren't allowed to help with the Stargate Program in the timeline, what happened to us?" Carter's blue eyes shone with curiosity as she was partially leaning over the table.
"The three of you we separated and sent to different parts of your country. You were also forbidden from contacting each other, applying for jobs in your specific fields, or informing anyone of where you came from. Colonel Mitchell was moved to the same city Buffy was temporarily living in, and the two became friends.
"Colonel Mitchell and Buffy were on a journey when Ba'al and his fleet surrounded the Tau'ri homeworld. Following this there was chaos, however, they were eventually informed a rival country had managed to recover the Chappa'ai from the bottom of the ocean. They did not know to operate the device. After a hazardous journey, they arrived at the facility where the Chappa'ai was studied. While there, that timeline's Teal'c arrived to complete his final mission.
"Following an armed conflict, which was temporarily halted as the facility was under attack and they needed to use the Chappa'ai, they were able to come to an agreement. Teal'c dialed the planet where the time machine was located, and Colonel Carter was able to decipher the machine.
"Teal'c told us Qetesh had killed Ba'al and was on her way to this particular planet. Another firefight broke out when her Jaffa ringed onto the planet. Dr. Jackson and Colonel Carter were both killed. Before Colonel Carter's murder, she was able to program the time machine to send them back to 1929. Buffy and Colonel Mitchell were able to reach the Chappa'ai safely and then went to the past, and exited in Egypt."
Carter frowned, "Why did they go to 1929? It was a decade too soon!"
"The time machine achieved time travel by using solar flares, and given the short time she had available to find a suitable one, it proved to be the best option."
"I take it Buffy and I spent a decade in the past doing something Tok'ra-related then?"
Rather than respond, Egeria bowed her head, and when her head rose the host was in charge again.
"For part of it, yes. We did spend some time on Earth though. First in Egypt and then in the US, before I managed to appeal to your inner adrenaline junkie and we went back to Egypt and then got off this marble."
Cam snorted, "That probably wasn't too hard. I can't imagine trying to live a normal life after everything I've been through. Spending a year doing nothing in suburbia before that, and then being in the past..." He shook his head.
"You were pretty bored. We traveled a lot before we settled on a planet, or more like it became our home base. Anyways, I became host to Egeria after I crashed my little aircraft on a random planet. We debated for some time whether or not to create more Tok'ra, how to get Jaffa, and all that logistical stuff. Especially since we were on a deadline and needed to be on Earth in 1939. We also had to decide if we were going to stay on Earth or just gate straight off the ship once Ba'al was finally dead."
The Tok'ra were finally getting interested in the conversation since it had derailed from the actual point. "You have created moe Tok'ra? Where are they?"
"We did. Actually, we have multiple worlds where we have humans, Jaffa, Tok'ra, and even a few Unas living together. although we're not calling ourselves Tok'ra. We needed a new name since we knew Ra was going to be killed, but also because no one could suspect who we were. We needed to be secretive, something no one would suspect.
"That said, it's imperative that those worlds remain hidden. There is too much at stake for us to tell anyone. We will arrange a meeting though." She turned to SG-1, "Not to be all rude or anything, but you are not needed for this part. I'm sure Earth wants you to return.
*Buffy!* her symbiote scolded her lightly. *Behave.*
She needn't have worried though, SG-1 was more than happy to return home, and no doubt inform their superiors of the change in the political landscape out in the galaxy.