When Archangel abruptly ended last year, we finished in the middle of "Rebuild"'s second chapter, "Suggestions of Physics". Webber asked us if we'd write versions of the end of that chapter. I thought it would be interesting, so I did. It took a while, but here it is, for anyone who might be interested.

Note: This is a continuation of Rebuild, Chapter 2: Suggestions of Physics

Part 1

It was chaos. Greymoran hadn’t intended to engage 13 Goa’uld mother ships, also known as Ha’taks, let alone more powerful, modified versions of them. The Archangel was supposed to fly past all of them at warp speed. They were supposed to be gone before the Goa’uld had realized a thing. But it hadn’t worked. The Archangel had dropped out of warp in the midst of the Goa’uld fleet. Now they were in a fight for their lives. While only five of the Ha’taks were in the position and the condition to continue their attack on the Archangel, those five were enough. The swarming Goa’uld Death Gliders were slowly chipping the Extradimensional Control Agency starship’s shields down. Not that they were necessary since a direct shot from one of the Ha’tak’s enhanced phaser banks would likely destroy the Archangel anyway. To make matters worse, the sixth and final Ha’tak still able to fight was approaching the recently arrived, and completely defenseless, Heart of Gold.

“Hudzen, take that ship out now!” Greymoran bellowed, desperation creeping into his voice. Hudzen shook his head.

“They’re out of phaser range,” the android reported, “and torpedoes will be difficult at best. Perhaps if there was less wild maneuvering...."

“Oh, I’m sorry! I was just trying to keep us alive!” Lt. Keith Yeager snapped. Greymoran ignored his temporary helmsman’s comment.

“Can you make the shot or not?” he asked Hudzen. Hudzen was silent for half of a second.

“I can, sir,” he replied.

“When you get it, take it,” Greymoran said. It all came down to this, he thought. With the impulse drive out and only thrusters and warp drive to move the ship, the Archangel was either too fast or too slow to quickly catch the Goa’uld mother ship. The ship was technically capable of making a brief warp jump to the Heart of Gold’s location, but at that moment they didn’t have the time to figure out the necessary calculations. As Yeager continued to move the ship in every possible direction, the bridge shook as one of the naquadah-enhanced phaser beams from the Ha’taks passed nearby.

“Too close, way too close,” Yeager muttered from the helm station.

“Just continue evasive, Mr. Yeager,” Greymoran told him as he turned back to his security droid, “Hudzen?”

“Trying, Captain,” the large robot replied. His mechanized fingers flew over the tactical console, doing everything he could to get a lock on the distant Goa’uld starship.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“Can anyone actually fly this thing?” Phoebe Halliwell asked the three men standing around her on the bridge of the Heart of Gold, “Otherwise I’m gonna to have to agree with Zaphod. Getting the hell out of here is completely acceptable.”

“Glad that someone’s getting it,” Zaphod Beeblebrox commented from his “command” chair, “I haven’t lasted this long by flying into every zarking Yarpanian battle fleet that decided to show up. Running’s a healthy habit.”

“Shut up,” Phoebe snapped at him.

“I think I can do it,” Commander Jackson Dupree replied, not sounding totally convinced.

“You think you can do it?” the Wookie Benfromar grunted.

“Sure,” Dupree shrugged, “I’ve read all of the books. Seen the show, movies, listened to the audio files, how hard can it be?” Both Phoebe and Benfromar glared at him. Zaphod didn’t appear to be paying attention. Instead, he seemed to be trying hard to get drunk as quickly as possible.

“Do we have another choice?” Dupree asked.

“We could ask the computer for assistance,” Lt. Commander Sorik suggested.

“I don’t think we want to do that,” Dupree replied to the Vulcan, “The computers here aren’t the most helpful devices.”

“I resent that,” a cheery voice interrupted. Dupree groaned. “I would be happy to help you with anything that you need,” the computer continued, “I see that there’s a heavily armed starship rapidly approaching our position. If you’d like, I could turn us around and fly away from it as fast as I can. Or, if you’d like, I can take us closer so that we can have a fulfilling discussion and talk about our problems.” There was a short pause. “They do seem to be powering up their weapons, though, so they may not be in a chatting mood.”

“Fly us away you frooding metal box!” Zaphod shouted.

“Okay, okay, everybody hold on!” the computer shouted and the Heart of Gold accelerated away from the approaching Goa’uld.

__________________________________________________________

“The Heart of Gold is retreating, sir,” Hudzen reported.

“It’s about time,” Greymoran replied, feeling the smallest relief, “Nice to see someone on that ship has some sense. This should buy us some time. Keith, prepare to go to warp.” Yeager nodded, completely focused on piloting the ship. Though he’d managed to keep them alive, it was clear that he didn’t possess the piloting skills that his wife did, or those of the ship’s normal helm officer, the half-Romulan half-human Cedric Walker. Lieutenant Walker was, unfortunately, injured at that moment. Keith would have loved it if the bridge’s turbolift doors had opened and Walker came strolling out, but no such thing had happened and he very much doubted that it would. Keeping the ship in one piece was his responsibility at the moment. It was getting to be more difficult every second as the Goa’uld ships closed in on the damaged Archangel. Soon, the Ha’taks would overtake them. When that happened, it was unlikely that they would be missing their shots.

“That’s it,” Yeager heard Greymoran almost exclaim, “Now, Mr. Yeager!” As Greymoran gave the order, a set of coordinates showed up on the helm console. They were near the Heart of Gold’s position, between the Heart and the lone Ha’tak in pursuing them. The Goa’uld probably wouldn’t be expecting this. Yeager immediately engaged the warp engines and the stars streaked as the starship almost instantaneously hit the speed of light. The Archangel came out of warp seconds later, only a few hundred kilometers from the Heart of Gold.

“Fire!” Greymoran barked. Hudzen had been ready before they’d dropped out of warp. Out of the Archangel’s aft torpedo turret flew a full spread of photon and quantum torpedoes. They tore through space and impacted with the oncoming Ha’tak. The first few to hit caused the ship’s shields to brighten as they overloaded; the following torpedoes collided with the Ha’tak’s exposed hull, punching through and setting off a series of internal explosions. The Ha’tak began to drift before exploding in a brilliant fireball. The destruction of their comrade didn’t seem to discourage the remaining Goa’uld, as the other five Ha’taks continued to approach. It would take them some time to catch the Archangel or the Heart of Gold, though.

“Looks like we have a few minutes,” Greymoran observed, “Hudzen, hail the Heart of Gold. Hopefully, Sorik will know a way through that field.” Before Hudzen could act, Keith gave out a short, surprised yelp.

“Sir, we may have a problem,” he said nervously, “It looks like Yu’s making a run for the improbability field. Switching to visual.” The Archangel’s viewscreen changed to a view of the improbability field that surrounded one of the planets in the Centauri System. Yu’s flagship, flanked by two damaged but still operational Ha’taks, was indeed heading straight for the field.

“If they get through…” Greymoran’s voice trailed off as Yu’s ships reached the barrier and disappeared.

For a moment, a tense silence hung over the bridge. Not one person moved.

Suddenly, two ships and a quickly frozen herd of elephants were ejected from the field. Greymoran smiled, watching the elephants float away from the field.

“Please tell me those were Yu’s ship.”

“Sorry, sir,” Keith replied, “Yu’s vessel is still intact. Looks like the elephants were one of the others. I doubt the Goa’uld will be trying to get in there for a little while, though.” Greymoran sighed. They were back to where they’d started when the Archangel had first arrived, but now the Goa’uld knew they were there. They would be on the lookout.

“The Heart of Gold is hailing,” Hudzen spoke up.

“Put them through,” Greymoran ordered. Jackson Dupree’s face appeared on the screen. Phoebe stood next to him and Greymoran could see Sorik and Benfromar behind him.

“It’s good to see you again, Father,” Dupree gushed.

“You, too, Jackson,” Greymoran replied, “Is everyone all right?”
“We’re fine,” Phoebe said, “Where’s Daniel? Is he all right? Is Wyatt all right?”

“They’re fine, Phoebe,” Greymoran assured her, “Daniel just had a little bump on the head. Dr. Ssira is patching him up.” It was difficult to tell if this news relieved Phoebe, or alarmed her even more. Greymoran would worry about that later.

“Okay,” Greymoran said, “We’re sending you coordinates to the system’s outermost planet. We’ll hide there until Sorik and his people can restore the impulse drive.”

“What about Lord Yu? What if he makes it through the barrier while we’re gone?” Dupree asked.

Massaging his head, Greymoran spoke, “I don’t think we have a choice. If we stay here, the Goa’uld will destroy us. Go to the coordinates that we’re sending to you, but don’t go straight there. Take a roundabout course. I don’t want the Goa’uld following us. We’ll see you there.” Dupree acknowledged the orders and his face was replaced by the Heart of Gold. Within seconds, the Heart vanished, on its way to the edge of the system.

It took several minutes for the Archangel to reach the coordinates as Greymoran had ordered several sudden course changes, hoping to make absolutely sure that Yu’s forces were not pursuing. When they finally arrived, the Heart was already waiting for them.

“Nice to see you could make it,” Zaphod said after communications had started again.

“Were you followed?” Greymoran asked, sounding annoyed.

“No way!” Zaphod replied casually, “You really think those worms could have tracked me? On this ship?” Apparently, the very idea was blasphemous to Zaphod.

“Just send Commander Sorik over,” Greymoran growled impatiently, “We have work to do.”

Minutes later, Greymoran and Daniel Jackson, who was just out of Sickbay, waited in the Archangel’s transporter room.

"We’re ready, Captain,” Sorik’s voice came from the comm. Greymoran nodded to the transporter chief behind him. Two figures shimmered into existence on the transporter pad. As soon as she had materialized, Phoebe leapt off of the pad into Daniel’s arms. A half-smile, half-grimace crossed Daniel’s face, apparently still sore from his injury.

Phoebe sounded almost frantic, “Are you okay? Greymoran said you’d been hurt? Where’s Wyatt?”

“Shh, Phoebe, it’s fine. We’re both all right. Wyatt’s being watched,” he said, smiling assuredly, “I told you this ship would be all right.”

“‘All right’?! You were almost obliterated!!” Phoebe screamed as she and Daniel left the room. Phoebe’s shouts could still be heard after the door had closed. Greymoran turned to Sorik, who had quietly observed the conversation since he’d returned.

“So, Commander, how was Frogstar?” Greymoran asked with an amused tone to his voice. Sorik raised an eyebrow.

“Curious,” he paused, “Very curious. I am… eager to begin work again.” Greymoran nodded understandingly.

“I’m glad to have you back, Commander. Let’s get started.”

It did not take Sorik long to complete his assignment. Within a few hours he had figured out a safe path through the Improbability Field and had it programmed into the Archangel’s computer.

“I believe that we have an 80% chance of getting through the field without negative effect,” he reported to Daniel and most of the Archangel’s senior staff. He stood before a vidscreen with a graphic showing the field and a winding path that made its way through it.

“If we do make contact with the field, it is likely that it will only eject the ship from the field. I do not, however, recommend that we test that hypothesis.

I have also modified the ship to allow us past the remaining Goa’uld unmolested. My teams will have the impulse drive online within the hour. I suggest we depart when it is restored.”

Greymoran nodded approvingly, “Excellent, Commander. Sounds like you have everything covered.”

“Thank you, sir,” Sorik replied. Were he not a Vulcan, he probably would have been beaming.

“All right, let’s get started. Mr. Sorik will get the ship ready to go. Hudzen,” he continued as he turned to the security droid, “Prepare the ship for battle. I want all weaponry up and ready to go, including our new acquisitions since the refit. I also want all of your security on high alert. We’ll be at Code Red and I don’t know what we’ll find in that cache.”

“Understood sir,” Hudzen acknowledged in his monotonous inflection.

“Keith,” Greymoran went on, turning to his science officer, “Like I told Hudzen, we don’t know what to expect in there. Grey’s bound to have left a few nasty surprises.” Keith’s expression showed that he nervously agreed. “I know that it’s a long shot, but I want you to try and figure out what he might have. Anything, everything. Give us a few rough ideas of what we might find.”

“I’ll try, sir,” Keith replied. He didn’t look confident.

“Dr. Ssira,” Greymoran asked the Gorn doctor, “How is Lt. Walker?”

“Sssstill recovering,” Ssira answered, “He will be ready for duty when we leave.”

“Excellent,” he replied, looking at the last person at the conference table. Daniel perked up when he realized that Greymoran had finally come to him. He’d only paid mild attention to the meeting up to that point.
“I assume,” Jackson started, “that you want me around to help you deal with the Goa’uld?”

“Actually, I’d like to discuss that with you in private. So, if there’s nothing else from the rest of you…” he said, glancing at his senior staff. No one seemed to have anything to add. “All right, dismissed.” The room filled with the sound of moving chairs and quiet conversation as everyone moved off to their assignments. Only Greymoran and Daniel remained behind.

“So…?” Daniel waited for Greymoran to begin.

“Daniel, we’re taking this ship into battle. I’m not sure what we’ll find there, but I am sure that I will be putting this ship and everyone on it back into harm’s way,” he stopped, trying to read Daniel’s expression. Unable to do so, he continued, “You and your family aren’t XDCA so I can’t ask you to stay. If you don’t want Phoebe and Wyatt to be in danger again, I can leave the three of you on the Heart of Gold and pick you up when we come back. And if we don’t come back-”

“No,” Daniel interrupted, “We’re coming with you. You’re going to need all the help you can get, and Phoebe and I can provide plenty of it.”

Greymoran sighed. He already knew that this would be Daniel’s decision, but he had felt that he needed to present the option. Besides, Daniel was right. Their knowledge and abilities were invaluable.

“Is Phoebe going to be all right with this?” Greymoran asked.

“I’ll talk to her about it,” Daniel answered, sounding confident but looking a bit uncertain. Greymoran smiled. He was glad that he would not be around when they had that conversation.

______________________________________________________________

Sorik’s prediction proved to be correct as the ship was ready to go less than an hour later. There was only one thing left to do.

“There’s no zarking way,” Zaphod yelled adamantly, “I’m not going back. I’ve risked my life and ship once today. I think that fills my quota.”

“That’s a surprise,” Walker snorted. Ssira had released him minutes before and had returned to the bridge.

Suppressing a smile, Greymoran asked, “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Zaphod replied irritably. One head did anyway. The other was staring off into space.

"All right,” Greymoran sighed, “Can I get my people back?”

“Oh yeah,” Zaphod bumbled, blinking stupidly as he’d forgotten they were still on his ship, “About time. Just bleam them over.”

“Beam.”

“Whatever, just take them,” Zaphod said lazily.

“Well, thanks for all your help here. If we’re not back in six hours-”

“I’m gone either way,” Zaphod interrupted, “You think I’d stick around with those Gold guys around? Belgium that. When you get back, I’ll be gone.”

Greymoran stared Zaphod down, all amusement that had been present a moment before had evaporated. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything better from you.”

“No,” Zaphod agreed matter-of-factly, “You really shouldn’t have.” With that, Zaphod ended the transmission. Greymoran shook his head. He’d never understand why the XDCA brass had decided Zaphod would make a good agent. Or an adequate one. He’d have to remember to ask them about that.

“Captain!” Keith interrupted his thoughts, “Yu’s making another run for the field!” The viewscreen changed to a graphic of the improbability field and the Goa’uld fleet. Three red triangles represented Yu’s ship and its two escorts. Greymoran could feel his heart pounding as they approached the blue line that stood in for the edge of the Improbability Field. The triangles drew closer and closer to the line. After what seemed like hours, they hit the line and disappeared. Greymoran gasped.

“Report!” he bellowed.

“I think they made it,” a shocked Keith answered, “They’re in.” Greymoran felt as if a stone slab had just settled into his stomach. He whipped around to face his Vulcan engineer.

“Sorik, are you sure you can get through that thing?” he asked urgently.

“Quite sure, Captain,” Sorik calmly replied, “We have a very good chance of navigating the field. I have selected an entry point there.” The viewscreen zoomed in on one section of field’s edge. A short, highlighted section of the line was flashing. Greymoran nodded.

“Right. Mr. Walker, calculate a short warp jump to those coordinates,” he ordered, “I want to be just outside of it. Engage on my mark. Greymoran to transporter room.”

“Transporter room here,” the operator’s voice replied.

“Did we get our people back?”

“Yes sir, we did,” the voice answered, “Commander Dupree and Officer Benfromar are both onboard. They’re on their way to the bridge.”

“Very good, Greymoran out,” Greymoran glanced at the back of Lt. Walker’s head. “Are you ready, Lieutenant?”

“Ready, sir,” Walker replied.

“Engage.”

The stars whipped by as the Archangel entered warp. Only seconds later the ship dropped out of warp exactly where they’d hoped to be. The Improbability Field stretched out before them, red, orange, and gold swirling together.

“Transferring the necessary data to the helm,” Sorik stated, “I will update any needed course changes as we make our way through the Improbability Field.”

“Have the Goa’uld detected us, yet?” Greymoran inquired.

“If they have, they’re not giving any indication,” Keith replied, “The field may be interfering with their sensors. Or they just might not be looking here.”

“Good,” Greymoran said with a smile, “Are you ready, Mr. Walker?”

“Yes sir,” Cedric affirmed.
“
Take us in, one quarter impulse.” The Archangel moved forward and quickly reached the edge of the field.

“We’ve entered the field,” Keith reported, “Nothing unusual detected so far.” Greymoran silently waited. The Archangel had just had a similar experience less than a week before when they had had to pass through an energy barrier to get to what had awaited inside. The anomaly had been quite smaller than this field, though.

“Change course to 341 mark 012,” Sorik interrupted Greymoran’s thoughts, “Now.” Walker complied. This went on for several moments, Walker slowly piloting the Archangel through the field and Sorik updating his course. After several minutes, some of the crew was getting restless.

“I thought we’d be through by now,” Dupree remarked. He’d returned to the bridge shortly after they’d entered the field. No one replied, though many were thinking the same thing. Dupree’s comment seemed to do the trick, however, and the colorful cloud that was the Improbability Field dissipated into a gigantic clearing. Far away in the clearing was a small, dark dot.

“We made it. We’re through,” Keith reported. As the Archangel continued on, the dot grew larger. The distant sphere turned out to be a small, blue planet. It was almost completely covered by misty clouds.

“That’s it,” Greymoran said, “Grey’s cache must be there. Are you getting anything, Keith?” Keith, back at the science console, checked his readings.

“Yes sir, I’m reading all sorts of materials down there. Quite a few ships, too. Looks like we hit pay dirt.”

“Life signs?” Greymoran inquired. Keith leaned in closer to his console, as if doing so would produce the results he wanted.

“It’s hard to pinpoint, but I’d estimate no more than 20 humanoid life forms down there.” Greymoran raised an eyebrow.

“Give or take…?”

“Give or take, 10?” he guessed.

“And the Brinoks?” Greymoran asked. Keith shook his head.

“I’m not finding any… ah, there they are,” tension crept into this voice,

“Three of them, in orbit. They’re approaching from the other side of the planet. It looks like they’re unmanned. My guess is that they’re being remotely controlled from the surface.”

“Have they spotted us?” Greymoran asked.

“It doesn’t look like it. If they have, then they haven’t made any sign of it. It’s possible that the field is shielding us from detection.” Greymoran nodded and turned to Hudzen behind him. “We have surprise on our side. What are our chances of taking out all three?”

“If they are standard Brinok-class vessels, then their weaponry will be equal to our own. Their shielding is not as powerful, but their remote-controlled missiles more than make up for that. I would not advise being hit by even one.” It was clear that Greymoran was not enjoying this news. Hudzen continued, “That may not be an issue, though. Brinoks are far less maneuverable than the Archangel during normal conditions. Considering that these are also unmanned, that advantage should increase. I believe that we can destroy or disable one ship before they even realize what’s happening. Two would be difficult, but possible. After that, Lieutenant Walker will need to keep them from getting a missile lock on us long enough to destroy the final vessels.”

“So you think we can do it?” Greymoran pressed, starting to smile. Hudzen nodded.

“This is, however, assuming that they don’t cloak.” Greymoran’s faced dropped. He looked like he was ready to say something foul, when Keith interrupted.

“We may not have to worry about that,” he said, staring at his blinking, beeping console, “Yu just showed up. He must’ve taken a longer route.” The viewscreen switched from a view of the planet to a shot of two large Goa’uld Mother ships just inside of the clearing’s perimeter. The Brinoks ignored them for a few seconds, but all three then altered their courses to intercept. Greymoran smiled as he watched.

“It seems that our problems may be solved for us. Code Red. All hands to battle stations. Arm weapons. Whoever survives this fight, we’ll mop up, understood?” Greymoran received several acknowledgements from his bridge crew. They watched as the distance separating the Cardassian Brinoks and the Goa’uld Ha’taks dwindled. Death Gliders poured out of both Goa’uld ships, making a beeline for the oncoming Brinoks. Finally, space was lit up as the Ha’taks opened fire, both ships concentrating their overpowered phasers on the lead Brinok. The small vessel listed, seemingly crippled, while the remaining Brinoks returned fire, shooting off a pair of Dreadnought missiles each complemented by a flurry of phaser and torpedo fire. Yu’s ship managed to take out the missiles before impact, but the escorting Ha’tak wasn’t so lucky. The Dreadnoughts impacted the already damaged mother ship, tearing the hull and interior apart with their massive releases of energy.

Even as the fellow Ha’tak broke apart, Yu’s ship and fighters continued to engage the Brinoks, hitting one with several direct phaser shots. A series of small explosions on Yu’s ship signified an overload of its phaser banks, but the damage was done as the second Brinok became nothing but expanding gas. Hudzen’s prediction about the slow reaction of the automated Brinok was proving to be true. Even as its allies were taken out of the fight, the final Brinok was slow to continue its battle with Yu’s Ha’tak. The Brinok was being swarmed by the remaining Death Gliders and bombarded the Ha’tak’s weaker, but nevertheless effective, Goa’uld weaponry. Whoever was controlling the Brinok seemed to realize that the ship was in its final seconds and was completely ignoring the Goa’uld fighters. They had also ceased firing any conventional weaponry and had apparently elected to launch every remaining Dreadnought missile in the Brinok’s arsenal. As the Brinok detonated seconds later, both the Ha’tak and the Death Gliders frantically attempted to destroy the missiles before they could reach the mother ship. Greymoran knew an opportunity when he saw it.

“Mr. Walker, engage engines. Hudzen, when we get in range, open up on Yu’s ship. Concentrate your fire on the areas that Dr. Jackson pointed out. Let’s make him regret coming in here.” The Archangel moved to the remnants of the short battle, quickly entering weapons range. The Defiant-Class starship’s pulse phasers came to life, blowing through the damaged Ha’tak’s hull. The Goa’uld had managed to destroy the Dreadnoughts, but even with their full attention on the Archangel, they were no match for an XDCA warship.

“Yu is attempting to retreat,” Hudzen reported at tactical, “His Death Gliders are trying to cover his escape, but they’re causing minimal damage. Shall we pursue, sir?” Greymoran shook his head.

“No, he’ll be back in the field in a few seconds. Even if he survives that, none of his remaining fleet will be much of a threat. Besides, by the time they get back through, we should be long done. Finish up the rest of the Death Gliders. Mr. Walker,” he said, turning to his helmsman, “As soon as Hudzen has eliminated the remaining Goa’uld threat-”

“It is done. The final Glider is destroyed,” Hudzen interrupted.

“-take us to the planet.” Greymoran finished, smiling. Things were finally improving. The Goa’uld seemed to be out of the way and the cache’s main defenses were either passed or destroyed. It appeared that little stood between them and Grey’s weapons.

“Jackson, are you reading anything down there?” Dupree nodded.

“Oh yeah. I’m reading several structures above ground. It looks like one main facility surrounded by a number of warehouses. They’re in the middle of one of the planet’s jungles, but other than that, they’re pretty exposed. No energy shielding or anything. There is some kind of energy field down there though. From what I can tell, its sole purpose is to interfere with transporters so it will prevent us from beaming right into the base. It extends less than a half of a kilometer outside of the complex, though, so we should be able to beam in pretty close.”

“The field won’t interfere with a shuttlecraft, but there are a number of anti-air emplacements on those structures,” Hudzen added.
Dupree nodded before continuing. “Sensors are having trouble penetrating the surface, but it looks like there are several chambers underground. I’d guess that’s where Grey kept whatever didn’t fit into the storage buildings. Or what he wanted really to keep hidden.” Greymoran nodded and turned to Hudzen.

“We’re going to have to send a squad down to take the facility. Hudzen, assemble a team to assault that base. I want you ready to head down within a half hour.” Hudzen nodded and left the bridge without a word. “Lt. Walker, standard orbit. And let’s keep our eyes open for any change in activity down there.” With that, the bridge crew went about their duties, some doing little besides waiting and watching.

___________________________________________________________________

Minutes later, Hudzen briefed his assembled commando squad. His team comprised of Benfromar, Sebacean Ensign Cesha Teshin, Ensign Kevin Durrough, Bajoran Ensign Vynarin Tural, Reltka, a Twi’lek, and himself. As Hudzen spoke, the team members were outfitting themselves with the weaponry, equipment, and armor needed for the operation. Reltka even had a helmet specially designed to fit her long head tails.

“Commander Dupree believes that there are about a dozen humanoid individuals in the base. Our primary objective is to capture or incapacitate the base personnel and secure the facility. Remember, the individuals we encounter down there are almost certainly still loyal to Grey. They may believe that the war continues and that he is still alive, so be on your guard.”

Soon, Hudzen’s briefing was complete and the team made for the transporter room. Hudzen could not help but wonder if this was a situation when time felt "longer" to his squadmates, if the minutes were "stretched out". It was a concept he'd never understood, would likely never understand, yet it intrigued him. He could see it in his companions' faces, but he would never know it himself. Greymoran's voice broke entered his thoughts.

“Greymoran to Hudzen, are you ready for transport?”

“Yes, sir,” Hudzen replied, looking over his chosen team. They looked impatient and eager.

“Very good, be careful down there,” Greymoran said, pausing, “And good luck, Hudzen.”

“Thank you, Captain. Hudzen out.” He turned to the transporter chief. “Energize.”

Hudzen crouched low in the jungle’s vegetation, staring at one of the complex’s outer buildings, less than 100 meters away. The team was approaching from the northwest, heading for a way in that Benfromar had spotted from the tree canopy. If the base had detected their transport, they had so far shown no indication. Hudzen looked back at the officers following him. Just behind him were Teshin and Durrough. Vynarin and Reltka were further back with Benfromar bringing up the rear. He signaled to the others and began to move toward the complex, going quickly yet surprisingly quietly for the sizeable android that he was.

They soon reached the warehouse wall, well inside the building complex, spotting and eliminating security cameras and other detection equipment as they progressed. Finally, they reached the base’s door and Teshin began working on the controls. It didn’t take her long to bypass them, and the door opened. As soon as they’d entered, alarms started blaring.

“That’s that. Let’s move in, keep an eye out for any security measures. We’ll move toward the control room. Go.” Hudzen silently led his team through the corridor. Not far into the corridor, they came across a computer panel.

“Cesha, see if you can get any information out of that,” Hudzen ordered, indicating the panel. Teshin moved to the panel and began working on the computer while the other members stood guard. Within a minute, information was rapidly scrolling on the screen.

“I’ve located the command center,” Teshin reported in her thick Peacekeeper accent. She’d brought up a graphic of the facility’s layout.

“This is us,” she pointed to a small blue area on the screen, “and this is where we need to go.” Now she indicated a flashing, orange area in the upper right section of the building’s layout. There appeared to be two distinct ways to get there.

“Good work, Ensign. See if you can learn anything else. Benfromar-.” Before Hudzen could continue, the graphic on the screen disappeared, replaced by the face of, interestingly enough, an ape.

“Who the hell are you?” the ape asked in perfect English. Hudzen was silent for a moment, taking in the fact that he was looking at a talking gorilla. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised, since they tended to be quite common in PAUs and DCUs, but it was still unexpected.

“I am Chief Hudzen of the XDCA starship Archangel. You are ordered to stand down and surrender this facility.” The ape looked both surprised and amused.

“XDCA? You guys are still around?” Hudzen ignored the ape’s question.
“If you do not comply, then we will take this base by force.” The gorilla’s expression soured, but still had an underlying arrogance.

“Try it. Even if you take this base, Lord Grey will make you regret it a thousand times over.”

“‘Lord’ Grey is dead,” Hudzen replied, sounding a little arrogant himself, “No one’s coming. You’re all alone.”

“Lies,” the ape spat, “You will not take this facility without a fight.” With that, the ape cut the transmission and the map screen reappeared.
“That went well,” Benfromar growled. Hudzen shot the Wookie a look before turning back to Teshin. She now had a small, rectangular device plugged into the console.

“Cesha? How are you progressing?” he asked.

“Their computer system wasn’t any match for the slicer,” she replied, smirking, “It seems that it’s a bit outdated. I’ve gone over the two routes to the base’s control center. Looks like they had a few defensive systems installed. However, I’ve deactivated the base’s entire internal defensive network. Unfortunately, I can’t do much else with the system at the moment. We will only have to worry about personnel, though.” Hudzen almost seemed to smile.

“It will do, Ensign, excellent work. You and Durrough are with me. We’ll take this path.” He indicated the route they would take. “Benfromar: you, Vynarin, and, Reltka will take the other path. We’ll meet here.” He pointed to the area of the map indicating the door of the control room. “There are only a dozen sentients to deal with, but do not take them lightly. A phaser shot from a novice can be just as deadly as one from an expert gunman. Understood?”

Though they had heard this from Hudzen many times before, all five of his team indicated their assent.

“Keep your comms open. We will see you there.” With that, Hudzen’s group moved off in one direction, Benfromar’s in another. They quickly moved through the bright, clean corridors, turning left and right, easily navigating the labyrinth of rooms and halls. Along the way, they faced very little resistance, coming across only three of the base’s staff.

Clearly, the base’s staff members were not soldiers as they were easily defeated. Soon, Hudzen found himself cautiously approaching the door to the control center. Outside stood three more guards.

“Do not move!” Hudzen ordered. The guards, predictably, did not listen, immediately firing on Hudzen and his companions. One was quickly felled by Durrough, and another by Hudzen. The third was able to find cover, returning fire. Hudzen could hear him reporting into his own comm unit.

“This is Larenz. They’re outside the control room! I could use some help out here!” Hudzen could tell that no one was responding. It was possible that they were going to leave him out here to fend for himself. Hudzen didn’t get long to speculate as he saw another beam emit from the other side of the hallway, behind the man Hudzen now knew as Larenz. The beam hit Larenz in the back, who immediately stood erect, his eyes as wide as saucers. He collapsed to the ground, stunned and unconscious. Benfromar, Vynarin, and Reltka emerged from the other end of the corridor. Vynarin looked down at Larenz’s sleeping form with a smile on his face.

“How many did you encounter?” Hudzen asked Benfromar.

“Two before we arrived here,” Benfromar roared, “They offered little challenge.”

“That leaves no more than four individuals inside that room,” Hudzen continued, “Possibly trying to get the base up and running again.”

“Or getting ready to ambush us,” Benfromar suggested, scratching his hairy grey and brown head, “They know we’re out here. And this is the only door leading into that room that we can access.”

“The only door,” Hudzen repeated, looking to the ceiling, “Cesha, are you sure you deactivated all of the base’s security?”

“Positive, sir,” she responded, sounding a little hurt that Hudzen would even suggest that she could make such a mistake.

“And you still have the layout of this building, correct?” Teshin nodded.

“Yes sir, downloaded it from the terminal back there,” she said, holding up a PADD.

“Does that lead anywhere?” Hudzen asked, indicating the air vent above them. Cesha looked up at the vent then at her PADD. After a few seconds of working, she nodded.

“Yeah, you can get right in through there. A little crawling leads to a vent on the far side of the room, among others.” She showed Hudzen the image, and the new set of potential ways in.

“Reltka?” Hudzen turned to the Twi’lek, the team’s smallest member.

“I’m ready,” she responded. Hudzen helped her up and watched her disappear into the ventilation system.

“And now we wait,” Durrough said.

______________________________________________________________

It was only a few minutes before they received Reltka’s message. In it contained a layout of the control room and the positions of the people inside.

“Two sniping from above, two from the far side of the room,” Benfromar moaned, “It is unfortunate we did not bring Saiyetta.”

“We’ll be fine,” Hudzen said, “Reltka can take out this sniper.” Hudzen indicated one of the high positions. “I will go in first and get the other one. I should be able to withstand any rifle fire.”

“What if they don’t have blasters? What if they have something more powerful?” Vynarin asked.

“I will take that chance,” Hudzen replied before continuing, “After I eliminate the sniper, Benfromar will cover your entries and we’ll take out the other two. Understood?” After receiving confirmations, Hudzen contacted Reltka to fill her in on the plan. That conversation finished and Hudzen turned to the rest of his team.

“Go,” Hudzen said, turning toward the door and transmitting the execute signal to Reltka. Hudzen charged toward the doors, plowing through them as Reltka took her shot. Hudzen saw a blaster bolt fly by his head before firing at its owner, his intended target. Hudzen’s shot hit home, causing the man to lose his balance and tumble off of the catwalk where he’d been standing. He fell the twenty-five feet, hitting the hard floor with a thud, as his two companions, a Cardassian and the ape with whom Hudzen had spoken, fired from the other side of the room. By then, the rest of the team had moved into the control center, catching the two remaining conscious individuals in crossfire between the five commandos on the ground and Reltka, now out of the vent and firing from above. One of Reltka’s shots hit the Cardassian’s trigger hand, causing him to drop his rifle. He tumbled behind his cover, bawling in pain.

“Fall back!” the gorilla yelled to him, “I’ll take care of them!” Firing two pistols, the gorilla tried to cover his ally as the Cardassian stumbled to a doorway behind them, scampering away from the firefight.

“Commander,” Teshin yelled to Hudzen, “That hallway leads to the lower levels. He’s going for the cache!” This was not what Hudzen had wanted to hear. If the Cardassian reached the weapons that the base stored, who knew what he could do? With the right ones, he could destroy the base. Without speaking, Hudzen leaped over his cover and charged the gorilla. The ape fired at the oncoming robot, but none of his shots hit. As Hudzen closed, the ape threw down his pistols and began to charge himself, rumbling his massive form toward the android. Just as he was going to hit, though, Hudzen dodged to his right, and the ape charged past.

Hudzen hurdled over the boxes the ape had used for cover and ran into the doorway, coming to face a pair of doors. Hudzen broke through them as if they weren’t there and found himself at the end of a long hallway. At the far end, Hudzen could see the Cardassian entering another room, a room that appeared to be about the size of a small walk-in closet. As Hudzen realized that the Cardassian was entering a lift, the Cardassian noticed Hudzen. He raised his pistol with his good arm and fired. The distance of the corridor, however, did not help his aim in the least and it sailed well high of Hudzen’s head. Unfortunately for the Cardassian, the distance had no effect on Hudzen’s visual sensory equipment. He raised his own rifle and fired, hitting the Cardassian in the chest as the lift doors closed. That will keep him unconscious for retrieval, Hudzen thought.
Behind him, Hudzen could detect the ape coming at him. In spite of all of the hits the ape had taken, he still seemed unfazed. Enhanced by Jake Grey’s experiments, no doubt, Hudzen thought. Hudzen’s team was now scattered throughout the control room, probably from having to dodge the ape’s attacks. Hudzen turned as the ape entered the hallway. Pure rage was on his face. Hudzen could see smoke rising from several wounds as well as several spots of charred hair, undoubtedly from the shots Hudzen’s team had taken at the ape.

“It is over,” Hudzen told him, “Grey is dead. He has been dead for months. This fight is done. Surrender and you will not be further harmed.”

“This battle may be over,” the ape responded, “but you will not live see the end of this day, robot. You will not see Lord Grey’s final destruction of your antiquated organization.”

“I’ve seen it,” Hudzen replied, bringing his rifle up and turning it to its highest setting. He fired as the ape charged again, hitting the gorilla in his stomach. The shot ripped open the ape’s skin, but he did not slow down. Hudzen dropped his rifle as the ape attempted to tackle the android. Hudzen was ready, however, and used the ape’s momentum to flip the ape over and slam him into the ground. With the gorilla down, Hudzen grabbed his head, lifting it then smashing it into the ground. The gorilla stopped moving, though he did appear to be breathing.

Hudzen pulled a device out of his armor, placed it onto the ape, and pressed a button to activate it. An orange light washed over the ape’s body before disappearing. The small, portable stasis unit had the benefit of easily securing a prisoner and keeping someone with critical injuries alive until they could be treated. Hudzen often found multidimensional technology to be quite useful.

“Are you okay, Hudzen?” Benfromar asked from behind the android. Hudzen turned to see the old Wookie standing in the doorway of the hall, looking a little tattered but otherwise fine. Hudzen nodded.
“Yes,” he murmured, then raised his voice, “Cesha!” Teshin looked up from the other room.

“Contact Captain Greymoran. Inform him we have secured the facility.”

Three days later, the Archangel and half a dozen XDCA starships orbited the planet. The small fleet had arrived a day after the base had been taken and had easily driven of the Goa’uld that had remained outside of the Improbability Field. Many of the ships’ agents were now down on the planet, slowly and carefully recovering the contents of weapons cache.

On the Archangel’s bridge, Greymoran, Dupree, Cedric, Dr. Ssira, Keith, Hudzen, Sorik, Phoebe, and Daniel holding Wyatt, watched the viewscreen and the misty planet below.

“I hear they’re finding some pretty interesting things down there,” Keith said, sitting at his console, “All sorts of nasty stuff, fitting for a guy like Grey.”

“It’s classified,” Greymoran responded in a mock serious tone, “If I told you, I’d have to tell everyone. Then no one could leave this room alive.” Dupree and Daniel snickered, while Sorik arched an eyebrow.

“You did an outstanding job, Hudzen,” Greymoran added, sincerely. Much of the bridge crew nodded their agreement.

“Thank you, sir,” Hudzen replied. Greymoran had already said this to him many times, but it was always welcome. Greymoran turned back to the viewscreen.

“It’s about time we headed out,” he said, “President Redding contacted me this morning with our next assignment.”

"Calls from the President?" Daniel joked, hugging Phoebe close to him, "Well, aren't you important?"

"You would know," Greymoran responded, "It's a job perk of always saving the day."

“No rest for the good guys, then?” Keith chimed in.

“Of course not, Lieutenant. We are, after all, the flagship of the XDCA. We have set the example.” Keith rolled his eyes and turned back to his console. Smiling, Grey looked ahead again before speaking.

“Mr. Walker, set a course for BAU-6. Take us out.”

In front of the Archangel, a swirling, purple vortex formed. The Archangel flew into its center and both winked out.


THE END