Story Title: Order of the Silver Hand
Crossover: BtVS/ Warcraft III/ Stargate/ Stargate Universe/ Multiple
Disclaimer: I do not own, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Warcraft games verse, Stargate TV verse, or any other fandoms I will be dabbling in. This is a work of fan fiction, written without profit, for the enjoyment of fans of these great fandoms.
Summary: He is the One who can Build Anything. He is the heir to Magic. Bestowed with great powers, yet at the same time crippled by it, he will change the universe.
Chapter One: To Light a Path
Present time, within The Enterprise…
Joyce felt a tingle of thrill in her stomach as she lay lunch on the large table which everyone was seated around. It was her first lunch in outer space, and even now, Joyce could hardly believe a lot of things she had been exposed to for the past two months.
“So what’s our next stop?” Giles asked as everyone tucked in to the meal which had been prepared by Joyce and Jenny.
“First, we’ll be going to check out the Accendia Semita.” Xander revealed. “In Alteran, it means To Light a Path. It was one of the Alteran’s key shipyard and space station, though what is now left is nothing but wreckage. Its location is right outside the dark space surrounding our solar system. We can reach it in minutes via hyperspace. But I am guiding the ship using its sublight engines to our destination so that we can have our lunch first. The speed for sublight to the Accendia will take close to three hours, so we can relax and have a long lunch break.”
“So we’re going to check out wreckage?” Buffy asked with interest. “Think we’ll find anything there?”
“The Alterans left the Milky Way close to 30-40 Million years ago didn’t they?” Willow asked as she looked up. “How much of the Accendia actually survived?”
“According to the database compiled by Lauger thousands of years ago, he stated that only the skeleton of the structure survived. Cosmic decay had degenerated most of its superstructure, not to mention passing meteorites and gas clouds over the millennium have destroyed much of what’s left.” Xander recited between munching his food. “The database of the station was also completely purged by the ancient Alteran when they abandoned it and fled the Milky Way during the plague.”
“Oh…” Buffy said, taken aback. “So we’re actually going there to sight see some ancient wreckage?”
Joyce saw Xander rolling his eyes. “Not exactly, I am going to repair it.”
“Re..argh frr…” Willow choked and coughed in surprise, downing a glass of water. “You are going to repair an ancient Alteran space station?”
“And shipyard.” Dawn piped up helpfully.
“Yes I am going to repair the Accendia.” Xander said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “The dimensions stated in the database placed the Accendia at 950 meters in height and depth. It might take me one or two hours to repair it, deconstruct it and construct it again.”
“Oh my…” Joyce said in the stunned silence.
“Is there any need for you to really do that?” Giles asked, looking a bit unnerved at the thought of Xander having an actual alien space station as his blueprint.
“I can’t really fight tyrannical aliens using only ships like the Enterprise.” Xander said with a sigh. “Lauger did not exactly design his ship for offensive purposes. Terin showed me visions… of humans out in space, of them living under aliens who did terrible things to them, some of which I have already identified as the Goa’ulds, worm like aliens who burrows into humans and then controlled their bodies.”
“Argh… can you like skip that part? We’re eating here.” Cordelia spoke up in disgust.
“Okay, like I was saying, I’ll need ships more offensive in nature in order to free humans and aliens who are suffering out there in the galaxy. And to do that, I’ll need to repair the Accendia and bring it under my control.” Xander explained.
“Xander… you’re only seventeen.” Joyce spoke up carefully. “You’re not responsible to save everyone in this universe.”
“I made a promise. Even if I can’t save everyone, at the very least I’ll save those that I can.” Xander said firmly.
“You wouldn’t be doing it alone Xander.” Ian spoke up. “You’ve all of us to help.”
“But repairing an ancient space station millions of years old…” Jenny cut in. “Can its technologies even stand up to ships owned by the aliens of this galaxy at this current time?”
“The Alterans and the Lanteans were one of the most technologically advanced races in the galaxy. Lauger made an assessment of the Goa’ulds’ capabilities back when they controlled Earth. Their technologies were unable to stand up to Lantean or even Alteran technologies during that period of time. They might have improved their sciences after all these thousands of years, but I believe the dated Alteran tech will still give us an edge.” Xander said. “It is better than nothing after all.”
“So how does your repair ability work exactly?” Giles asked curiously. “You just use your power on it and it’ll somehow mystically repair itself?”
“Yes, and it will repair the Accendia back to its prime condition. The memory of its history when it was at its best.” Xander said as everyone listened in. “But getting onto the space station will require some tricky manoeuvring since I need to have contact with the structure to repair it. That’s why I’ve gotten Yalen to assist me in some preparation before the trip.”
“What kind of preparation?” Willow asked with interest.
“You’ll see when we get there.” Xander said with a grin. “Our ETA is still two hours out. How about a movie after lunch?”
OoooO
Present time, darkness of space outside solar system…
Dawn watched in delight as the giant wreckage of the Accendia Semita came into view outside the cockpit. She listened as Xander began to outline what was going on even as he and Yalen each took out a small oval jewelled device from their pockets and proceed to stick it to their chests.
To the surprise of everyone, the oval devices began glowing an emerald green, remaining attached to their chest even after they took their hands away. Everyone close by was also pushed back several feet by an unseen force.
“What the hell is that?” Cordelia asked as she scrambled for footing. She stretched a hand outwards and her muscles strained, seemingly pressing against an invisible wall.
“This is the Lantean’s version of a spacesuit. The glowing green oval shaped device is actually a mobile forcefield generator which can last for a week if it is fully charged.” Xander explained taking out a second oval device from his pocket, he placed it next to the device on his chest and it began glowing a soft yellow. “For offworld protection, it can generate a forcefield slightly above skin level to protect its user from physical harm. For travelling into vacuum, the forcefield will enlarge in order to entrap air. A secondary mobile air purifier device, the yellow glowing device, is also used in conjunction in order to ensure the air is fresh.”
“You know, I think I saw those two devices back at the workshop when I was there using the database.” Willow spoke up with a frown. “I didn’t think to find out what they are, I thought they were simply ornaments since they don’t have any buttons or anything that can be pressed to activate them.”
“That’s because these two devices operate by mind waves, in other words, neural control.” Yalen took up the explanation. “They are specially synched with the higher level mind waves of the Lanteans, and a specific genetic marker that the Lanteans possessed is required to activate them. Xander tasked me and a few others to see if we can customize these devices to our needs. It took us a week to rewrite the core codes of both types of devices so that Earth humans and the rest of us in the Order could use them.”
“We’ve made enough of those devices for everyone. Ian and Tain will distribute them to all of you and teach you guys how to use them while we’re away.” Xander continued. “Better to be safe than sorry after all. But before that, there’s something I need to tell you guys, in case something happened out there… which might end up lengthening the repair and construction process for quite a while…”
OoooO
Present time, darkness of space outside solar system…
To say Giles exploded when Xander revealed that he was suffering from powerful uncontrollable visions was an understatement. The older man had given Xander a good talking to after finding out that Xander had hidden such an important thing from the group. Xander knew that Giles was only worried about him though, the man was practically a father to him with the time they had spent together.
Giles had hit the books he had brought with him after that, intent on researching Xander’s condition, even though Xander had assured him that he had every magic users in his Order looking into his condition. That gesture however warmed Xander’s heart, it had been typical Giles behaviour, even though Xander wanted to tell the older man that he was no longer the goofy boy he knew… not after all the things Xander had done, had seen and understood all these months…
He was treated to the sight of vast starry darkness as he appeared on the platform of Accendia with Yalen beside him. Giving him an understanding nod, Yalen stepped back so that Xander had room to work. Xander looked at the platform before him and let out a sigh of relief when he was not hit by a rush of visions. Bending down he lay a hand on the ground, the forcefield acting as an insulating layer between his hand and the cold vacuum frozen metal of the platform.
Tapping into his Power of Repair, Xander hammered down on the platform. He felt his magic flow into the forcefield and out into the platform itself, reaching deep into the structure to strength its history of its Prime Condition. He continued hammering more blows onto the platform, sending more magic flowing into the structure. According to his prediction, the whole repair might take close to an hour or maybe a little bit more. As his mind began to drift, Xander wondered what the Accendia would look like in her prime condition. Whatever the case, he was sure it would be impressive.
OoooO
Present time, darkness of space outside solar system…
It was an awe inspiring sight as Accendia began to be repaired as Xander worked his magic on the platform far below. The broken hull began to straighten and gleam anew. The interior of the structure began to fill itself up. The group however suffered a moment of horrifying shock as starships begun appearing on the extended platforms which had been repaired. The Paladin Tain barely had time to yank on the controls of Enterprise and guide the ship away from Accendia when a large starship appeared below them, attached to the platform Xander was standing on.
Xander must have been deep into repairing Accendia because the distant figure of the boy gave no signs that he had noticed what had happened.
Jenny laid a shaking hand on her heart. It was a good thing everyone was crowded around the cockpit to see what was going to happen. It was incredibly good luck that Tain just happened to be standing beside the controls, and was one of the two people currently on board that knew how to operate the Enterprise manually.
“What was that?” Buffy shouted in shock, looking pale at their harrowing escape. “Xander was supposed to only repair the Accendia! Where did all those starships come from?”
“I believe Xander said that his power allows him to repair structures back to prime condition.” Jenny said shakily. “Having its docks and platforms filled with ships was probably prime condition for Accendia.”
“That was quite a scare.” Tain said gravely as he guided the ship back further. He halted the Enterprise however as a golden forcefield sprung up around the space station, trapping them within. “I think Xander’s almost done with his repairs. We need to go warn Xander, with the station’s forcefield up, we might be deconstructed along with the Accendia if he proceeds with his deconstruction.”
“I’ll teleport over.” Ian, the Archmage said, attaching the mobile forcefield and air purifier devices onto himself before he vanished in swirls of magic.
In the meantime, Tain guided the Enterprise back to the platform Xander, Yalen and now Ian were standing on, carefully avoiding the large starships that now flank both sides of the platform. Tain suddenly let go of the ship’s controls as the Enterprise began moving on its own.
“I think Xander’s back in control.” Tain said just as the three figures on the platform vanished and reappeared outside the corridor of the cockpit.
Xander looked apologetic as he stepped into the crowded cockpit, his forcefield device apparently deactivated. “I am sorry guys, Ian told me what just happened, I never expected Accendia to contain starships in her docks back in her prime condition, though I should have considered it.”
“Don’t beat yourself over it. No one can plan for everything.” Joyce said firmly. “And we’re all fine, so let’s just be grateful for that.”
“I guess so.” Xander said hesitantly before brightening up. “You guys wouldn’t believe the amounts of technologies Accendia possesses. She even has a matter transporter! Just like those on Star Trek, though the devices are large and heavy in energy usage, and only the larger and more powerful space stations could support them. There’s also the Alteran version of the Star Trek replicator device, matter energy constructors and lots of other tech!”
“Oh transporters!” Willow said in delight. “Can you transport us right into the space station?”
“Not right now, I still don’t have direct control of the station, and I suspect that the database of the Accendia will be too massive for me to comprehend even if I link up to it. Our organic minds unfortunately have a memory retention limit, I’ve already lost most of the knowledge I got from accessing Lauger workshop’s database. I need to constantly link back to the structure to get back those knowledge.” Xander revealed. “Hero units cope much better because their memory retention ability is probably a hundred times better than me and any ordinary humans due to their high intellect.”
“So what’s the next step of the plan?” Dawn asked excitedly. “Deconstructing the Accendia?”
“Yeah, but first I need to let the Enterprise leave Accendia’s perimeters. I’ll be getting Ian to teleport me to the Accendia’s Command room, after which I’ll guide Enterprise out.” Xander explained. “All of you wait for me while I deconstruct Accendia.”
“I suppose that means Ian will be deconstructed along with the station?” Joyce asked as she looked at the Archmage.
“I will be teleporting out at the last second.” Ian replied. “And even should I be deconstructed, I know that Xander will recreate me, so there’s no need for worries.”
“Alright, just stay safe.” Joyce said to Xander and Ian. “We’ll be waiting onboard.”
Xander nodded to everyone as Ian laid a hand on him and both of them disappeared. After a few minutes, Enterprise began moving, passing through the golden forcefield which surrounded Accendia safely. They began standing by the cockpit, watching Accendia as the deconstruction takes place. However the minutes began to stretch, and by the time an hour had passed, Jenny was beginning to feel worry.
“Is it supposed to take this long?” Dawn asked as she began to fidget. “The Accendia is still whole, shouldn’t some parts of it have disappeared?”
“I’ll go over to take a look.” Yalen said as he disappeared using the teleportation spell. A few minutes passed before Yalen returned, looking grim faced. “Xander’s caught in the thrall of another vision, it will take him a while before he’s free from it.”
Joyce stepped forward, her eyes narrowing in concern. “Take us over there. We need to see what is going on.”
OoooO
Seven hours later, in Accendia…
His pale face and blank eyes would remain in Giles’ memories for quite a while. When the group had received news that Xander was caught in another vision, everyone had teleported over with Yalen’s help. Seeing Xander in an unresponsive state for close to two and a half hours had shocked everyone. Though the group was in an admittedly high tech Command room, none of them paid their surroundings any mind as they attended to Xander. In the end it was decided that Xander be brought back to the Enterprise to recover.
When Xander had awakened from his trance, the stubborn boy had insisted on returning to the Accendia to deconstruct the space station even though Giles and Joyce had tried to discourage him from it. This time the deconstruction and construction went on smoothly, with Xander guiding the Enterprise back into Accendia’s confines. Everyone had then found themselves disappearing in a shower of lights to reappear back in Accendia’s Command room.
Xander had tried giving everyone a tour of the station, but everyone could tell that the boy was noticeably wearily after his ordeal. In the end Xander was able to pass Tain, Ian and Yalen enough information to operate the systems on Accendia while he retreated into the Commander’s quarters to take a much needed rest.
Since it became apparent that they would be staying on the Accendia for sometime, the group began shifting some of their things from the Enterprise into the various living quarters near the Command room. Dinner had been an experimental affair as Tain, Ian and Yalen gave everyone a guide on how to use the Alteran’s replicator type device for food.
Ian had been able to make some modifications to the translation program he had created to interface the database of the Lantean workshop and Enterprise, and implement them into Accendia’s systems. Being able to browse through the Alteran menus in English certainly had been a big help to everyone in the group.
In the large mess area near Accendia’s Command room, Giles sat with everyone at a table while he consumed his bowl of hot mystery meat stew which tasted a lot like chicken.
“Thinking about Xander’s condition?” Jenny asked, noticing his faraway look.
“The boy should have told me about it back when it first happened.” Giles said with a defeated sigh. “I might have been able to tap into the Council’s resources and find something that might have helped.”
“Actually Reina contacted the Watchers Council for all their books on visions and seers right after she learnt of Xander’s condition.” Yalen spoke up. “She and a group of magic users are pouring over the tomes for information back on Earth. Some of the Archmages are also liaising with the magic users of Earth to create an artefact that can block visions. Don’t worry too much about it Giles. There should be a solution to the problem soon enough.”
“I know Xander has almost limitless resources at his disposal. But at the end of it all, he’s still a teenager, he shouldn’t have the responsibilities of worlds on his shoulder, or try to take on everything by himself.” Giles said grimly. “What he’s going through is already changing him, he needs people who can help him with his burdens, and give him sound advice.”
“That’s true Giles.” Joyce said nodding from across the table. “That’s one of the reasons why I insisted on accompanying Xander on his journey.”
“If only we can help with all this starships and higher tech stuff.” Willow said looking around the sophisticated mess area they were in. “Sometimes I wish I have a direct link in with Xander so that he can just pass me all those high tech knowledge. I am starting to feel more like a tag along, it is not as if I have anything to contribute.”
“If it is Alteran sciences you are after… we might be able to pass them to you.” Tain spoke up slowly, causing everyone to pause and look at him. “Xander passed Ian, Yalen and me significant knowledge pulled from the Accendia’s database before he went to rest. But the whole database was too massive for us to even retain in our heads. In the end he extracted only the key information and split them up. Yalen received a lot of Alteran engineering knowledge, Ian got most of the key science subjects, I received most of the information on Alteran’s biological science, and how to use their medical equipment onboard Accendia. There’s one particular equipment on Accendia that falls under the Alteran’s medical department. Loosely translated, it is called the Information Transfer device.”
“Information Transfer device?” Dawn asked with interest as she stared at Tain. “You mean it transfer information into someone else? Like what Xander did with you guys?”
“Yes it operates in a similar fashion.” Tain said with a nod. “It has a direct connection back to the Accendia’s data core. The device itself will analyse the user’s brain waves and capacity, after which an operator will set the amount of information to transfer into the target’s brain via electronic waves.”
“Wow.” Buffy said sounding impressed.
“How safe exactly is this device?” Giles asked with a frown.
“A hundred percent safe for the Alterans, though adjustments will have to be made to the device to accept our body types, which might be very different from the Alterans.” Tain replied. “With the knowledge Xander had passed me, I am capable of making those adjustments and operate the device on all of you safely.”
“So we can learn everything we wanted?” Willow asked as she beamed in delight.
“Not everything, it depends on your individual mental capacity which will be measured by the device.” Tain explained to the attentive audience. “It’ll be best to pick the general Alteran science and then a specialised field of knowledge to transfer, since even the Alterans aren’t able to safely retain a hundredth of the knowledge available in Accendia’s database. Ian, Yalen and I can push that limit due to our maxed out Hero units status but normal people can’t do that.”
Dawn began bouncing excitedly on her seat much to the amusement of Joyce who shook her head at her youngest. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s try out the device!” Dawn said in excitement. “I’ve always wanted to be a scientist!”
OoooO
Two hours later, in Accendia…
Willow was the first to get under the Information Transfer device which looked very much like a dentist’s chair with a row of head drills. After getting over her horrifying first impression and the fifteen minutes of information transfer which had left her brain momentarily in a daze, Willow was more than glad that she went through with it. Her mind was now more ordered, she could even pull clear memories of events that happened from her past, memories that she did not even know she had retained. Tain had belatedly revealed that having a photographic memory was one of the side effects of using the device.
Willow however did not regret the decision, and she could tell that none in the group actually regret it. Willow now possessed knowledge of the Alteran general sciences, knowledge of how to use the common devices on Accendia, with specialized knowledge pertaining to Alteran quantum and energy generation sciences.
Everyone had decided right at the beginning to take the general sciences and knowledge of usage of common Alteran devices, with each of them specializing in a particular field, so that that could take on different roles to help out Xander.
Buffy had chosen to specialize in piloting, with in depth knowledge of the different Alteran ship controls. Joyce had chosen to specialize in horticulture and life support, Dawn had chosen to specialize in engineering and mechanical science, Jenny had chosen to specialize in navigation and computer science, Giles had chosen specialization in computing and languages, while Cordelia had chosen to focus in medical science.
The feeling Willow experienced as she tapped into the enormous amount of information now available to her was something that she did not have a word for. All she was certain of was that she was not useless now, or at the very least, not as useless as before. She might actually be able to help Xander by tapping into her new knowledge. One thing’s for certain, she would not be the shy, quiet and helpless Willow Xander used to know. She could not be, not when Xander needed someone who could be strong enough to stand beside him. For Xander, for her best childhood friend, and for someone she loved her whole life, she would change, just for him.
OoooO
Six hours later, in Accendia…
“It is too early to deal with this.” Xander grumbled, his face halfway dropping into his morning pancake. He had woken to the screams of Willow being chased by two of Accendia’s servitors. The servitors were androids possessing strikingly human appearances, constructed by the Alterans to maintain the manual labours tasks around the station. Xander had to mentally disable the servitors after he discovered that someone had inputted a set of commands, using the servitors to prank Willow.
The chaos had woken everyone, and it was not very long that Xander got an update of the events that happened while he had been asleep. Apparently everyone had used Accendia’s Information Transfer device, and now the group have knowledge of certain specialized Alteran sciences as well as key station codes. Dawn in particular had used her knowledge of mechanical science to awaken two of the servitors kept in Accendia’s servitor storage to prank a terrified Willow. The end result had been a four way screaming match with Dawn against Joyce, Buffy and an irritated Willow.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have passed Dawn knowledge of higher sciences.” Tain said with a frown as he sat opposite Xander taking his breakfast. “It seems that she’s still too immature to use her knowledge wisely.”
“I think Joyce will set her straight soon enough.” Xander said, turning to the doorway of the mess area, looking on as Joyce dragged a disgruntled Dawn back to their quarters on Accendia. “But just in case, I have utilized a change of codes in Accendia’s key systems, so that the more dangerous equipment on Accendia will be unusable by Dawn. I’ll pass the information to you, Ian and Yalen. Inform Giles and the others as well. Just… don’t hand Dawn any sensitive codes to the station for the time being. Not until she proves that she’ll be responsible with them.”
“I understand Xander.” Tain said with a nod. The rest of the group was beginning to fill into the mess area as Xander rubbed sleep from his eyes. “So what will be the plan now? Do we continue on our voyage in Enterprise and leave Accendia here for the moment?”
“Well… To be honest, even though I came here with the plan to repair Accendia, I never expected her to possess so many technologies and become so impressive after her repairs. She’s virtually self-sustaining. With many features and technologies I would never have imagined.” Xander said in amazement as he linked to Accendia, sensing her many systems running smoothly in the background. “The seven micro singularities powering her, will provide her with enough power to keep on functioning at maximum output for up to two centuries in optimal situations. We can virtually use her as a base of operations and launch all of our space efforts from here.”
“That seems like a sound idea.” Tain replied in a pondering voice. “With its powerful shields, it is easily defendable. Not to mention the numerous ships docked at its platforms.”
“The ships are considered part of Accendia, same as the original Lantean Al’kesh vessel back in Lauger’s workshop at my backyard on Earth.” Xander said as he chewed on his breakfast. “It basically meant that I can send them out to battle and repair any damages right here in the safety of Accendia, or for as long as I have physical contact with any of the ships that now make up Accendia. But the flaw is that any customizations I make to any part of the station or any of the ships will be erased once I begin repairs, since they are not part of Accendia’s original prime condition template, and will instead be considered damages done to Accendia.”
“If we ever need to customize any of the vessels, you can always do the same as what you’ve done with Enterprise.” Tain commented. “Buy a new ship and customize it. Return it to the building structure and get a new blueprint out of it.”
“That’s true.” Xander said as he thought. “The technologies of Accendia might be powerful, but it doesn’t have cloaking technology, and its shield technologies are less powerful and efficient than the Lantean version that Enterprise possessed. The ships in Accendia also use a form of faster than light that is vastly different from the Lanteans’ hyperspace travel. Both have its strength and flaws. What Enterprise lacks are the offensive technologies which Accendia can provide. Similarly Accendia can be upgraded with the Lantean technologies which Enterprise possesses.”
“Well… I will suggest that a group of us work on upgrading Accendia. Once Accendia is upgraded, you can get a new upgraded blueprint of the Accendia from it, deconstruct and reconstruct it.” Tain suggested. “Enterprise in the meantime can be upgraded, and a second copy of the Accendia be created. Since Accendia comes with its own ships, and any damage the ships sustain can be instantly repaired by placing wisps or other construction units within the station, you can continue your space voyage in the second Accendia’s ships and be reassured that the ships will be hard to destroy, what with the constant repairs done by the various construction units within the second Accendia.”
“That’s a good idea.” Xander said with a nod. “Accendia and most of its larger ships have an Alteran Gateway device in each of them. The device allows wormhole travel to another similar device anywhere within this galaxy or even further. The Gateway device is closely similar to our Way Gate structure except for the fact that it is smaller in size, utilizes wormhole energies and is more compact. It can be used to travel between ship and station. Earth also supposedly has two similar devices according to Lauger’s database. One was buried and the other was deactivated. If we can build a new Gateway device on Earth, we can return to Earth through the Alteran Gateway as well.”
“If that is the case, you should first build a second Accendia, and send a few of her ships out into space, towards the various locations you originally meant to go.” Tain commented. “Everyone can always travel onboard the departed ships through the Alteran Gateway devices. In the meantime, the knowledge you passed me of Accendia noted several large habitats in the station. We can always set up a Way Gate structure back to Earth so that we can get more people to help out. And with the Way Gate linking us back to Earth, there’s no need to build an Alteran Gateway device back on Earth.”
“We’ll have to make sure there’s sufficient security guarding the Way Gate structures linking Accendia and Earth together. And since the upgrades will be done on Accendia, we can make our home here straight away.” Xander agreed with a nod. “Other than that I see nothing wrong with your plan. Let’s work on that. I’ll tell the others later. We can begin moving our belongings into our quarters in Accendia, while I’ll contact the rest of the Order back on Earth and ask them who will be interested in helping set up the Order’s space headquarters.”
OoooO
Three hours later, in Accendia…
The commerce center of Accendia was majestic and beautiful. Filled with spiralling architectures, gardens, facilities, transport tubes leading to other parts of the station, and even an artificial sky. It was in fact a large hollowed area right in the center of Accendia where in ancient history, Alterans would gather and trade. It was also horrifyingly empty and silent, enough to send a shiver down Buffy’s spine as she walked down the silent streets of the city within Accendia.
Alteran transports of various design sat by the side of the streets as if begging to be used. With her new piloting knowledge and capabilities, Buffy was more than qualified to drive anyone of them. In fact the general knowledge of Accendia which the group had downloaded into their heads was more than enough to guide them in operating the vehicles.
For the moment though, Buffy was more than content to use her own two feet to explore the immediate surroundings of the city where she had made her residence. After Xander had revealed to the group of his intentions of staying on the station for a while, everyone had decided that it was best that they moved into the more comfortable accommodations available in Accendia’s city central. With the general knowledge of the station within their head, everyone knew Accendia’s inner structures quite well now. The station’s crew quarters were too utilitarian for prolonged usage.
The best apartments were located in the eastern part of the city, which according to Accendia’s records, were meant for usage by Alteran V.I.P.s. By an unspoken agreement, everyone moved into the same building block. Tain, Ian, Yalen and Xander had their own bachelors’ pad at the top floor of the apartment. Cordelia, Willow, and her own family took the apartment a floor below them. Jenny and Giles took the apartment unit right at the ground level.
Each of the apartment units in the block contained six living quarters, a large living room, a large storeroom and various other facilities such as the Alteran replicator unit and bathrooms, there was even a pool in each apartment. Three servitors were available in each apartment for any manual and maintenance tasks, and the first thing her mother did when they took over the apartments was to key the servitors directly to herself in order to pre-empt any mischief from Dawn in the future.
Even now, Buffy could hardly believe the knowledge, the technological powers and the luxuries that the group now possessed. Things were changing. The supernatural war between light and dark, good and evil was drawing to an end back on Earth. Pretty soon they might be launching themselves into the stars to go up against the evil in this galaxy. As Buffy wandered the empty streets lost in thoughts, she wondered… would she be ready?
OoooO
Five hours later, in Accendia…
Dawn sat beside the one of the Fountain of Mana Xander had set up around Accendia for the group’s magic users to use. This particular fountain was placed in the central park of Accendia’s city area, right where the Way Gate structure linking Accendia back to Earth was constructed.
A clan of Faerie Dragons now made the large park their home. Half the size of a human adult, they were beautiful and surprisingly lethal creatures. In a crowd, they had more than enough power to put down a few of their larger dragon cousins. The Faerie Dragons were the guardians in charge of protecting the Way Gate on Accendia. According to Xander, several Frost Wyrms guard the other side of the interlinked Way Gate back on Earth.
After Xander had told everyone of the change in plans, their belongings had been shifted from Enterprise to their new quarters on Accendia. Enterprise was sent for upgrading. A second Accendia had been constructed next to the original. A large number of the second Accendia’s Capital class ships, the largest ships attached to the station had been launched out into space, to various locations Xander meant to visit.
Only one hour ago, Tain had taken the first batch of Xander’s followers who had arrived through the Way Gate over to the eastern part of the city to settle them down. The once empty station now seemed much more lively.
Dawn in the meantime was watching the second batch of Xander’s followers coming in through the Way Gate. Most of them bore the symbol of a silver gauntlet fist, the symbol of the Order of the Silver hand. The Order was formed by Xander and all those that he created. Dawn wondered if her mom and sis were automatically considered members of the Order, or maybe they were just honoured guests.
“Hey Dawn, watching the newcomers?” Willow said as she sat down beside Dawn at the edge of the fountain. Dawn had already apologized to the red head hours ago for her prank in the morning. Willow had forgiven her, though her mother was still quite cross with her.
“Yeah and restoring my magic at the same time.” Dawn piped up excitedly. “A group of night elves just came through half an hour ago, Xander was leading them to the eastern habitat, the one that looks like a temperate forest filled with trees, I think they’re going to be settling down there.”
“There are four habitats in Accendia aren’t there?” Willow asked, pausing as she seemingly sorts through her memories. “Ah… I have found the info. We are now in Accendia’s city and commerce area which is close to 560 meters in width and length. Four large habitats surrounded the city from four different directions, each measuring around 120 meters, connected to each other via the transport tubes.”
“I know that Willow. We all have the general info in our heads.” Dawn said rolling her eyes before continuing with a grin. “And before the night elves came through, a clan of Pandaren Brewmasters came through. Ian brought them to the northern habitat, the one that looks like a large green plain with ponds and stone gardens, and let them set up their homes there.” Dawn said in a scandalized tone of voice. “I didn’t even know Xander had created so many non-human units in our world.”
“Xander’s followers, they are all people, genuine living beings.” Willow said, suddenly sounding stern. “Whether they are humans or non-humans shouldn’t matter understand Dawn? We should respect them. They are all loyal to Xander, that’s all that matters.”
“Ah… okay.” Dawn said, a bit cowed by the fierce glare Willow gave her.
Apparently seeing that Dawn understood what she meant, Willow relaxed as she smiled. “But Pandaren Brewmasters… If I remember correctly, they are the panda type Hero units from Warcraft III. They are very strong and versatile melee fighters. Xander probably needed their help when the Alliance was being set up.” Willow guessed as her lips curved into a smile. “Well… with all the different races in Accendia, life will certainly be different around here. I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next few days.”
The Way Gate before them suddenly activated as a large purple portal appeared at the top of the structure. Dawn sucked in her breath sharply as a group of creatures with a human top body, while the lower half looks like giant snakes slithered through.
“Naga Sea Witches.” Willow said, her eyes widening. “They are very powerful mystical Heroes with ranged abilities. But why did Xander need their help… of course, not all demons on Earth live on land… some made their homes in the oceans…”
“Teriánghan and clan.” Yalen said as he stepped into the park, stepping up to the Way Gate as the Naga Sea witches slithered down the stairs, each of them carrying bundles of belongings. A few in the group visibly possessed male bodies, and they carried most of the group’s load.
“Yalen.” The auburn haired female naga who was leading the group replied with a nod. “We have responded to the summons and came. I believe there’s an area where we can make our new home? The western habitat is it not? Xander had cluttered our heads with impossible sciences and technologies but he must have forgotten to pass us directions to our quarters itself. My head is so full of impossible things that I feel more like a goblin then a naga.”
“You will get used to it in time Teriánghan.” Yalen said with a laugh. “Xander meant to make the Naga clan scientists and engineers so you got most of the Alteran engineering and quantum sciences.”
Dawn felt her mouth dropped open as she watched Yalen led the nagas away, leaving behind two frozen girls.
“Well…” Willow seemed stunned as she got up from the fountain, breaking the silence after a few long minutes. “I should probably go and stake out one of the labs in Accendia. With the way things are going, this place might be filled before long.”
It took Dawn a few moments before her shocked mind processed Willow’s words. Then Dawn leapt from the edge of the fountain, running after Willow. “Wait Willow! I need to book my own lab too!”
OoooO
Four hours later, in Accendia…
The past few hours had whizzed by at a hectic run. With the formation of a new plan that was more in depth and solid then his previous idea of just blindly waltzing into space, Xander had sent out a call to see who among his Order wished to live in space for the next few months and contribute to setting up the Order’s base in space.
Within hours he had gotten numerous responses, and now twelve hours later, since the start of his new plans, he had more than two hundred people onboard Accendia, each with their own speciality in Alteran disciplines. A large part of Accendia’s engineer, medical and science teams are made up of the coalition of Human Archmages and Paladins, the Night Elves clan of Keepers of the Grove, Priestesses of the Moon, Wardens and Demon Hunters, the High Elves’ group of Blood Elves, the Orc clan of Blademasters and Far Seer, the Troll Shadow Hunters, the Goblin Tinkers and Alchemists, as well as the delegation of Naga Sea Witches.
The rest of the disciplines such as piloting, navigation, security, life support, etc. are handled by the Pandaren Brewmasters, Beastmasters, Tauren Chieftains, Mountain Kings and the various normal units of the Order. Though Xander pretty much leave the choice of what his followers will specialize in the future open, he had a sinking feeling that most would continue to stick to the disciplines that he had assigned them. He had spent a lot of time trying to break them of their blind loyalty to him, but so far he had only managed to get through to a handful of them. And even then, those rare few still treated him with the outmost respect.
Of course, with the formation of a new space base, Xander was able to shift a lot of his non-human followers away from Earth, where they would not have to spend their lives in hiding. He had needed a lot of their help during the setting up of the Alliance. Now at the very least, he could begin making things better for them. Of course, there were already plans back on Earth to create secret enclaves where his followers could live in peace, but he had a feeling some of his followers would still prefer the option of not hiding in a single location in a large world.
Close to ninety percent of the Order was still on Earth, maintaining the peace established by the Alliance, but the eleven percent of his followers on Accendia was more than enough to get him started on his plans.
The Order had helped him accomplish his goals, and thus he would fulfil his responsibilities to them, by one day locating and giving the human and non-human members of the Order a planet where they could call home. As for the protection of Earth and the Alliance, maybe in future he could make it a rotation duty among the members of the Order, with those fulfilling the duties being heavily compensated for them.
Even as he started planning, Xander had a feeling that not all in the Order would want to move away from Earth. Quite a lot of his human followers like living in the modern cities of Earth. Perhaps through them, he could further his plans for the supernatural world on Earth.
In the meantime, there was a station to upgrade, and more ancient Alteran sites from Lauger’s database to locate and explore… and hopefully, maybe even repair.
OoooO
Present time, in Accendia…
Matthew Scott looked through the windows of his new quarters in awe, seeing a view of a beautiful spawning city spread before him. As the first and most possibly only Earth human Hero unit within the Order, Matt always felt a sense of dislocation from most members of the Order. He did made several good friends within the Order, most belonging to the Los Angeles branch of the Order, but none of them had answered Xander’s call to venture out into space, to help in the construction of the Order’s space station base.
As a Hero Unit, Matt’s maxed out intellect scores was slightly below that of a Paladin, with much better agility stats. Running as fast as a speeding bullet was a fact of life to him now, if he was to push his speed to his limit, he could even break the sound barrier.
Perhaps it was the guilt he always felt Xander had towards him, but Matt was actually allowed a great deal of customization in the information he wanted Xander to transfer into his mind. Alteran piloting, navigation, and computational disciplines were now right at his fingertips.
The Paladin Tain, known in the Order as Xander’s right hand man, had been the one who guided Matt to his apartment, which was actually share by Xander, Tain, Ian and Yalen.
Accendia’s time zone had been set to match that of Earth’s Pacific time, marking the present time as an hour passed midnight. Having spent the whole day up, Matt was beginning to feel the weariness settling in. But the excitement of being out in space in a real space station filled with out of the world technologies was keeping Matt awake. Deciding at last to leave his room, he stepped into the living area of the apartment where he was surprised to find Xander decorating the area with pots of plants. Matt had not seen Xander much, aside from the few times back in the beginning after he was deconstructed and recreated by the teenager.
“Beautiful aren’t they?” Xander asked with a grin as he placed a glowing purple flowered plant on a glass table. “I got them off the replicator, though if we were to directly translate the Alteran name for the device, it’s called the Duplicator. But it sounds a bit weird, so everyone decided to stick with Star Trek naming conventions.”
“Patronis Blossoms.” Matt said as he eyed the plants, the general Alteran information Xander had given him instantly allows him to identify what they are. “They are a breed of plants brought by the Alterans from their original home galaxy into the Milky Way.”
“Yeah, I just thought this place needs some decorating, since I might end up staying here for quite a while.” Xander said before looking at Matt with a sigh. “I want to apologise to you Matt…”
“Stop.” Matt said holding up a hand. “After I was deconstructed and recreated by you, I met you for a total of four times before you went on your crusade against the supernatural world. And each of those four times you kept apologizing to me. I get it that you’re sorry for what happened, for taking away my free will, but there’s a limit as to how long you’ll keep feeling guilty over it when I already told you I’ve forgiven you.”
“Well, but…” Xander began but was quickly cut off by Matt.
“Yes my life changed from that moment on… but it was a good change, at the very least it was much better than the future which my ordinary self might have faced. I have powers now, incredible abilities, I am actually out in space here, with knowledge of alien sciences inside my head. I have to say that I’ve gotten the good end of the stick so far.” Matt said firmly. “So quit feeling sorry about the whole thing. It is starting to get old.”
Xander’s mouth opened and closed for a few times, as if he was lost for words. Then he began laughing. “I guess I needed that. Very well let me try again. I am Xander Harris, magical vampire extraordinaire, I’d like to be your friend instead of being your head honcho.”
“Deal.” Matt said with a smile as he shook hands with Xander. “And don’t be surprised if I give you a good hard rap to the head if you try to act emotional again.”
“Fine.” Xander said rolling his eyes. “By the way, I do have something to discuss with you and a few others. Maybe I’ll brief you now since you’re awake… I’ve been toying with plans to set up exploration teams. I’d like you to head one of those teams…”
OoooO
Ps. I am aware that in the shows, Stargates cannot open in close proximity of each other. That the Stargates/ Gateways can do otherwise in my story is due to Xander and group having direct access to Alteran knowledge. In the story, Xander’s group will have access to special access codes allowing Stargates to connect to each other even within planetary distances.
Matthew Scott is a character from Stargate Universe. Book 2 will utilize Alteran tech, as such it makes sense to me at least, to begin the Stargate cross with Stargate Universe… Remember that old rickety starship?
Wraithrune's Den of Words 