Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Stargate: Evangelion ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

The System Lord Baal smirked, from the bridge of his fearsome flagship. His Prime Jaffa, a tall dark man with his crest adorning his forehead, turned, urgency in his voice.

"My lord, the enemy fleet has broken through our primary defensive lines."

Baal leaned back in his chair, smirking. He would, indeed, regret having to sacrifice such large numbers of his own troops and ships to accomplish his objective. If the plan failed, the Goa’uld as a whole would now be at the mercy of the cursed Tau'ri and their allies: The treacherous Jaffa, those vile Tok'ra, and the vermin Tollan. Their dominion over this galaxy would end and his race would doubtlessly be exterminated, a lost memory in the ceaseless movements of the stars.

But... The risk was worth it.

"Signal the reserves... Prepare the operation. Ready the device," Baal ordered, leaning forward in his chair, a gleam in his eyes. This would be it. He would at last accomplish what no System Lord had done before... And he would rule the Universe.

It was only proper.

He was a God, after all...

---

"Damage report!" The Second Lieutenant at the Operations console next to General Hammond's command chair grimaced, the smell of burning circuits filling the room.

"Secondary missile batteries are inoperable. Shields at 50%. Minor casualties in the hanger bay from that Glider hit." The aging US Air Force general sighed, running a hand over his bare head. He looked to the plasma situation screen to port, below which a number of medics were treating some battered and bruised crewmen. The images of several blue icons, denoting allied ships, moved towards a CGI render of a planet, while a number of red opposing forces units moved to close in on their icons.

"General Hammond to Kel Nor Rel, do you copy, over?" The screen shifted to an image of a white-bearded Jaffa, a grey helm framing his face.

"We receive you, Hammond of Texas," Master Bre'tac responded, looking almost cheerful, even as his own crew worked behind him on a damaged control center.

"Looks like the reserve units of Baal fleet are moving to intercept." Master Bre'tac nodded, smiling grimly.

"We see them. Shall I deal with them, fleet commander?" General Hammond had often been mystified by the 130-year old warrior's hearty attitude for battle. It made him either want to rub his head in exasperation or laugh out loud. He settled for a smirk.

"Not yet... Take your wing forward and punch through the orbital defenses. The rest of us will deal with Baal’s reinforcements. However, when they close the range, come about and hit them from their flank." Master Bre'tac's smile became a full-fledged evil grin.

"Understood. Bre'tac out." Hammond allowed an evil smile of his own to form on his weathered face.

"Lieutenant? Signal our wing and the Enerina's-We're going to break their backs..."

The Allied fleet assaulting Baal’s capital world was the fruitation of a long-held dream of the freedom fighters of the galaxy against the Goa’uld. Captured Ha'tak-class motherships, under the control of Free Jaffa, Tokra, and Tau’ri forces. The Prometheus, Earth‘s first capital ship and among the strongest starships in the galaxy. New Tollan cruisers. Rel'nak-class heavy mothership s shared by all the partners in the Alliance. And hundreds of fighters, attack bombers, and other small craft. All with one goal in mind-To end the tyranny of the Goa’uld once and for all.

Baal had taken control of the majority of the System Lord's holdings in the months following Anubis's defeat at Earth. He had united their combined resources into a single, concentrated effort-To destroy the Tau’ri. The race that had launched the rebellion against them, the only race that had proven the potential to defeat them. With his first strike weapon he’d boasted about to every world in his domain, he’d caused the disaster known as Second Impact on Earth. This was to be the first blow in the final campaign to eliminate the Tau’ri and their allies, and Baal had amassed every ship and combat unit available to him at the same world his super weapon was based upon.

Knowing this, the Allies decided that this was the chance they'd been waiting for for so long. Catch the largest assembly of firepower in Goa’uld history completely by surprise. Destroy their military. And finally, establish freedom throughout the galaxy.

With this hope in mind, the largest space fleet in the history of the free peoples of the Milky Way Galaxy advanced upon Baal’s capital world. To greet them, a vast array of Goa’uld motherships and other war vessels massed. The two titanic fleet's clash would be remembered for a thousand years, no matter the outcome.

Unless it suddenly stopped for no reason… But why would it do that?

---

The Jaffa guarding their God's throne room aboard His flagship were among the best of their race of warriors. Alert, agile, tough. They scanned the dark corridors for any intruders as dutifully as gargoyles defending a church.

A falling body's impact reached their ears, and both turned. Cautiously, they approached the source of the mishap. They found a brother Jaffa lying facedown on the deck, unconscious. One made to alert his master in the control room-

He shuddered and fell over, electricity running up and down his body. His comrade met the same fate, spasming at the blast. A certain black operations general blew imaginary smoke from the head of his nat'nik'tel.

"They never learn, do they?"

"Indeed, O'Neill." Next to him stood an imposing Jaffa, wearing the distinctive green and black BDUs of the infamous (to the Goa’uld, anyway) Stargate Command. Brigadier General Jack O'Neill smirked, heading forward.

Around the other corner, a blonde woman and a youngish-looking man with brown hair and glasses met them. The seasoned team looked at each other.

"... We got here first, sir," the blonde said with a small smile. "We win."

"We took care of the guards!" The general protested. The glasses-wearing man smirked.

"We took care of the alarms."

"We blew up the alarms!"

"After we turned them off." Jack turned to Teal’c, a pleading look in his eyes. The Jaffa shook his head with his distinctive smile.

"... Fine. Dinner's on me... Now, can we bust this guy's head open and go already? I don't know about you, but being aboard the number one target of our entire fleet's weapons fire doesn't exactly sit well with me," Jack noted. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter blinked.

"Sir, Baal’s flagship isn't the primary target. The weapon is." Dr. Daniel Jackson nodded.

"Yeah... I mean, we're just supposed to screw up Baal’s fleet action so that General Hammond can destroy the reason we're here." Jack shrugged, sighing dramatically.

"Yeah, but we're the flagship team, remember? Why can't we destroy the weapon?"

"Well yeah... But... Oh come on. How many times have we saved the galaxy?"

"... Hm... I think I lost count..."

"At least three times in my memory, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c interjected. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah... The least we can do is let General Hammond have a chance. To, you know... Save the Galaxy." Jack rolled his eyes, and let out an exaggerated breath.

"Oh all right... But, next chance we get to save the galaxy... Dibs." Carter smiled.

"No problem, sir..." With that, SG-1 walked into the control room of Baal’s, ready to knock off one more sentient parasitic snake with delusions of divinity.

Once they got in, they stopped... And blinked. Daniel cleaned his glasses, Carter's mouth dropped open, Jack's eyes went wide, and Teal’c raised an eyebrow.

Baal, the System Lord, sat there, with a small cat in his lap, that he was stroking as he looked upon SG-1 with a sinister smile.

"Hello, SG-1... Welcome to my ship. I trust your trip here was... Pleasant?" Baal held his out-stretched pinky to the side of his mouth. SG-1, as one, looked at each other.

"... Uh..."

Baal’s sinister smile grew.

"Yes, yes... I have been studying some of your... Entertainment. Quite interesting, really. This 'Dr. Evil' is particularly fascinating... A despot of unimaginable ruthlessness. I must admit, even I never thought of creating chairs that dump heretics into furnaces at the push of a button. A most ingenious idea. Be assured, once your world is conquered I will have this Dr. Evil in my employ." SG-1 collectively blinked.

"... Yeah... Um..." Baal snapped his fingers, and a Goa’uld force field shot up all around the still-stupefied team. The false god laughed merrily, his cat yawning boredly in his lap.

"Yes, yes I have been expecting you! I've been expecting your entire fleet for some time, as a matter of fact. Ever since that disaster on your homeworld you call Second Impact."

"... Which you weren't responsible for!" Carter gasped. "This was-"

"Correct! All a trap!" Baal smirked evilly. "Even as we speak, my troops are preparing to activate the time dilation device I built from Anubis's files. Your entire fleet will be trapped in time... You'll get to watch me completely annihilate it, before I take you with me to watch the destruction of your world." Baal turned back on SG-1 and his smirk became an all-out leer.

"I have always wanted a 'captive audience' at my beck and call." Baal began to cackle evilly, looking expectantly at the Jaffa at his sides. The Jaffa, smothering exasperated sighs, joined their fearsome deity in evil laughter, while SG-1 stared blankly.

"... Well... I think I can leave this particular experience out of my memoirs," Daniel noted dryly.

"No kidding..." Jack agreed.

Baal turned and continued cackling, his Jaffa sighing under their collective breath at having to put up with this for their god. The display screen before them showed the Allied fleet and Baal’s fleet engaging each other at point-blank range.

Tau’ri F-302 fighters blew through Death Gliders, their ability to make micro-hyperspace jumps granting them a clear advantage over their Goa’uld opponents. The Allied Death Gliders worked extremely well together, vanquishing enemy squadrons in furious hails of concentrated fire. Alkesh-class attack bombers of both sides engaged each other viciously, tearing into each other with energy bombs and staff cannon fire, though here, too, the Allies showed their greater training and more motivated personnel. The Prometheus pounded the Goa’uld ships from long range with her advanced, Asgard-based weapons and home-built missiles, while allied Ha'taks and Rel'naks provided fire support. The few Tollan cruisers were cutting through enemy Ha'taks one by one with ease, their small size and superior technology allowing them to strike like small daggers, inflicting grievous destruction upon their foes.

The only real advantage Baal’s fleet had was numbers, and this was obviously not going to be a factor for long.

"Activate the-"

A small burst of automatic weapons fire drew Baal’s attention from the battle to SG-1. A no longer captive SG-1, the forcefield generators above them destroyed by weapons fire. His Jaffa fell around him, until the four infamous warriors from Earth surrounded him, their weapons up and ready to end his life. Baal grinned anyway.

"It's too late anyway, foolish Tau’ri! The device is on a timer! Your fleet is doomed, doomed! As is your world-" Jack cut him off with a burst of machine gun fire, and the would-be destroyer of Earth fell to the deck, silent. His cat meowed pitifully and hid under it's master's throne, as SG-1 raced to the control board in front of them.

"Can you shut it down?" Jack asked his 2IC. Carter grimaced, typing frantically at the Goa’uld computer.

"I'm trying sir! It looks like it's a nearly-completely manual control system!"

"Manual, as in...?"

"A mechanical control device, O'Neill, that is not triggered by computer," Teal’c interjected. "Though crude, it ensures that a timed device will go off without electronic interference."

"Where is it?" Jack demanded. Daniel and Carter looked frantically through the lines of computer data streaming in front of them, before the blonde nodded in confirmation.

"The hanger bay, ten levels below us." The general nodded, hefting his weapon as he ran for the door. The rest of his team followed.

"How long?"

"One minute, sir!"

"GO GO GO GO GO!"

They rushed to a lift, willing the doors to close and the vehicle to move. And move it did... Slowly...

"Time?"

"Forty-five seconds!"

The team finally reached the indicated deck, and ran as though possessed by wind demons, following Carter as she headed for the device. They came upon it-Tall, imposing, and colored gold. Carter rushed to a side panel, while the other team members began looking about the device.

"Carter?"

"Hold on sir..." Carter's fingers were flying over the control board. O'Neill looked over at Daniel, who gulped.

"Thirty seconds..." Only a rhythmic bong... bong... bong filled the chamber, as Carter's hands flew over the controls.

"Carter?"

"I know, sir, I know..."

"Fifteen seconds!"

"Carter!"

"Almost... There..."

"Ten," warned Daniel. "Nine... Eight... Seven... Six..."

"CARTER!"

"SIR!"

"Five... Four... Three... Two...-"

"HANG ON!" Carter slammed a large button, just as a green light exploded on the side of the device... And everything stopped.

The Death Gliders and F-302s, engaged in pitched combat, froze in mid-flight. The capital ships, all of them, paused and stayed that way. The planet below stopped rotating, children frozen in play, women stuck on the last piece of laundry, slaves holding up plates, Jaffa in mid-march, Goa’uld trapped in their luxurious surroundings.

Everything around Baal’s capital world, quite simply, suspended it‘s motion.

Aboard Baal’s flagship, Jack O'Neill's face stared at his 21C, concern and anger and frustration and love a still painting in his eyes. Carter had her lower lip bit, hoping against hope. Daniel was near her, the same potent mixture of emotion as in Jack's eyes also directed towards the blonde astrophysicist. And Teal'c stood salient, a look of acceptance and pride in his gaze as he surveyed his teammates, his friends...

And thus they stayed... For ten revolutions of Earth around it's sun...

BEGIN STARGATE: EVANGELION