Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are people who enjoy reading my work.

Kodiak Shuttle, The Atmosphere of K'Tau

Faith's POV

"There's Ferreti and SG-2," Robin said from his position in the pilot's chair.

"Any sign of the locals waiting to ambush us?" she asked as she checked to make sure her heavy pistol had a fresh thermal clip in it.

"Give me a second," Robin replied before doing what she asked. "Yep. Looks like about ten people are heading up the path leading from the town to the stargate. Assuming they don't go any faster than they are, they'll be here in five minutes."

"Then let's make this quick," she said before putting her firearm onto her hip.

"You're not actually planning on using that, are you?" B asked, sounding like she opposed such action.

"Nah. Might fire off a few warning shots to let'em know I mean business but I'm betting they're all bark and no bite," she replied, having met a few religious folk on the march back when she lived in Boston.

There were always church fans going into the rougher parts of Boston looking to 'rescue the lost sheep' and 'punish the sinners'. Some were decent enough people who just wouldn't stop preaching about the 'word of the Lord' but then there were those who thought it was their duty as believers to remove the sinners from God's green Earth. Those one's targeted any girl they thought looked too sexy or any guy who looked like he was on the hunt for some tail, making with the threatening statements before ganging up on the poor shit. She'd never been the sort to dress modestly or steer clear of things most adults would blush and gasp about, so they'd come her way often enough that she knew how to spot them on sight. If it was just one or two she stood her ground, ready to fight dirty, but if it was more than two she bolted, using her familiarity with the neighborhood streets and alleyways to lose them. When she was Called she didn't back down no matter how many came at her and the second one of them gave her an excuse that'd satisfy her Watcher and she kicked their asses. They'd be on the ground moaning about how God would punish her and how she was going straight to hell but she didn't take them seriously. She might not've been religious enough to go to church every Sunday but, as far as she was concerned, God'd have a bigger problem with his 'followers' than her. Punishing the wicked was his job, not his devotees' on Earth. Plus she'd always heard from some of the nicer priests that God was ready to forgive just about anyone as long as they were genuinely sorry and wanted to 'repent'.

That meant you pretty much had your entire life to make up for any mistakes you made and God was forgiveness, so he or she'd give their 'children' time enough to make up for past screw-ups.

Bottom line? She wasn't afraid of a bunch of self-righteous church goers doing what they thought was their God's will.

They touched down a few minutes later and the side hatch of the shuttle opened up, letting her step out while B activated her tactical cloak, falling in right behind her. SG-2 immediately appraised her, with some giving her the usual male T&A sweep but she'd expected this considering how form fitting Miranda's uniform was. Letting her Lawson side slip into place, though, she looked each soldier boy in the eye and immediately they cooled down, or at least tried to look more professional.

"Major Ferreti? Miranda Lawson of the Normandy," she said professionally, making sure that the soldiers knew she'd be keeping things formal. "I'm here to pick up the Maclarium."

"Just in time, too," Ferreti said, managing to sound friendly yet professional. "Malchus was making things pretty hot for us back in town."

"It's not over yet," she said, looking down the dirt path leading to town. "My shuttle pilot picked up a group of people heading up the path. Since it's not your team it's probably Malchus and whoever he's managed to talk into following him up."

"Shit. I really thought we'd given them the slip." Ferreti groaned, obviously not looking forward to another encounter with K'tau's religious leader.

"Do you think he might do more than preach to you?" she asked, a bit concerned for SG-2's safety if they were overcome by a mob.

It wouldn't be due to superior firepower, of course, but rather because the SG team would likely hold off opening up until they had no other choice. At that range a mob could still overpower them through sheer numbers and religious nuts tended to demand crazy things when they had hostages.

"Nah. We've seen him get angry before and he's never thrown a punch," Ferreti replied, not sounding concerned about the trouble coming up the dirt path.

It sounded like there was nothing to worry about but still…

Taking the package she put it in the shuttle and closed the hatch.

"Just the same I think I'll stick around planetside," she said before activating her com-piece. "Take the package up to the Normandy. I'm staying here to monitor things planetside with my omni-tool."

"Is that really necessary?" Robin asked, sounding a little surprised.

"Call it playing it safe if you want," she said, hoping that Robin didn't press his line of inquiry any further.

"Suit yourself," he said before the Kodiak shuttle began to lift off.

"You looking for trouble, ma'am?" Ferreti asked as her ride visually shrunk from sight as it got further and further up into the sky.

"No. However I have some experience in dealing with it," she said as she spotted the group of locals on the dirt road getting closer. "Let me handle Malchus. I've dealt with his type before."

Watching as the mob approached, she was somewhat happy to see that none of them were wielding any visible weapons. That likely meant that at worst they might have some knives or daggers hidden somewhere within arm's reach but she stopped being afraid of such things when she got Called. Stepping out in front of SG-2, she did her best to make sure that the locals identified her as the person to speak to, as well as focus their attention on.

"We have asked you repeatedly to cease your efforts yet still you seek to defy the will of Freyr!" a man, most likely Malchus, dressed entirely in black said, sounding quite put out. "Have you not brought enough woe down upon us already?!"

"We're about to save you from your doom," she said, keeping her tone polite and not inflammatory in the least. "If Freyr really wants all of you to die then nothing we do will change that. If he wants you to live, though, then maybe that's why we're here in the first place. Either way there's no need for violence or confrontation."

"Freyr teaches us to confront evil when it appears and to slay those who stand against him!" Malchus said, clearly not deterred in the least. "You will cease your efforts immediately or in Freyr's name we will strike you down!"

"Oh, really?" she said, deciding that it was time to let the little man know where he ranked. "I think you need to be shown the gap in strength between you and me."

She tapped into the biotic skills that were half Miranda memory and half private training when no one was around to watch. With an upward sweeping gesture biotic energy lifted the entire front of the mob, including Malchus, a good ten feet into the air before slamming them back to the ground. She pulled her proverbial punch, using barely a quarter of what she felt was her maximum, and it proved enough to leave those affected dazed and groaning. Those that were still standing were visibly frightened by the display and were taking more than a few steps backwards, fearful of her doing the same to them.

"I suggest you take Malchus and your friends back to town," she said, keeping things polite but with an air of threat. "They should be fine except for a few bruises but I hope this will discourage you from resorting to violence in the future. If your god Freyr truly wants to stop us, let him do it himself."

None of the others said anything but they did help those hit by her biotic slam to their feet before slowly working their way back down the path toward their town.

"Don't you think you overdid it just a little?" B asked as she deactivated her tactical cloak, causing SG-2 to be startled and reflexively reach for their weapons.

"Nope. My little magic show should be just enough to keep them from bothering SG-2 or getting in the way again," she replied, not the least bit sorry about what she did. "Hopefully when Shepard fires the torpedo into the sun it'll solve everything and we can leave."

"You think it'll work?" Major Ferreti asked, having recovered his wits.

"Major Carter is quite intelligent and her plan is sound," she replied, turning to the leader of SG-2. "Used in combination with Tali'Zorah's engineering prowess, I'd say the odds are very much in our favor."

All in all this was turning out to be a pretty simple milk run of a mission.

Normandy Cockpit, Xander's POV

Note to self: next time I send someone to pick up the mail, Faith is not up for consideration, he thought as he looked through the cockpit window seeing the sun get ever closer.

He'd already been informed by Willow that they'd loaded the payload into the torpedo and that it'd be ready to fire by the time they got within range of the sun. He wasn't worried because, as far as he was concerned, those eggheads couldn't make a mistake blindfolded, with one arm tied behind their backs. He knew Willow was super smart, his Shepard memories told him that Tali was just as smart and the brainiacs of the representative parties seemed to be worthy of being called exceptional scientists. If they said their modifications to the disruptor torpedo would enable it to deliver the payload into the sun without a problem, he had no reason not to believe them.

Not everyone was convinced, though.

Some people thought that there was no way something slapped together on the trip to K'tau could possibly hold up against the intense heat of a sun long enough for the Maclarium to be deposited inside. That was the trick, after all: you couldn't just drop it just inside of the sun's gravitational field and let it do all the work. The torpedo actually had to make it a fair ways INTO the sun before the artificial element was released into the inferno for the plan to work out as Carter had described it.

Fortunately those people weren't motivated enough by their disbelief to actually confront him on the matter or be a pain in the ass about it.

Hearing footsteps approaching on the walkway leading to the cockpit, he turned his head to see Colonel O'Neill approaching in his usual casual military clothes, letting his gaze wonder to and fro, stopping only when something managed to get his attention for a few seconds. Since his 'probation period' had begun, he had to admit that SG1 had proven to be a lot better than he'd thought when he'd come up with the idea in the first place. In the beginning he'd fully expected at least one of them to try and snoop where they weren't supposed to or turn out to be some kind of hard ass that would compel his inner slacker to covertly send some quippage their way. Instead they made him think of them as the way the Scoobies might've turned out if they'd gone military and that earned them a bit more trust than they'd otherwise have gotten. O'Neill himself had a sense of humor much like his own, much to the wincing of some of the others, and that meant that during the down time they had they could be found in the mess area talking.

He wasn't quite at the point where he'd be willing to issue them hard suits and Mass Effect weapons but it wasn't as far off as he'd previously thought.

"Everything ship-shape up here?" O'Neill asked, coming to a stop next to him.

"There's nothing wrong with the Normandy and Tali's told me that the modified torpedo is ready to fire just as soon as we get close enough to the sun," he replied, glancing out the cockpit window before turning back to the Colonel. "I'd say that this turned out to be another routine mission but then I remember how the last one went and I stop myself."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask… why'd you hook up with Cerberus?" O'Neill asked, sounding mildly interested and a bit opposed to the move.

Figures he'd be curious about that. "After the attack on the Citadel, the Normandy SR-1 got assigned to scouring the Terminus systems for any straggling Geth. It was boring as hell but it needed to be done. A little over our first month on the job and we wound up finding something, or rather it found us."

"It's never a good thing when something finds you," O'Neill commented, sounding like he'd experienced something similar.

"In this case it was especially bad. An unknown ship the size of a cruiser came at us on an intercept course, something that should've been impossible with our stealth drive engaged, but fortunately Joker had some good instincts and pulled some evasive maneuvers," he said as bits of Shepard memories of that day drifted through his mind. "I was down below near the cryo-tubes when this was going on but it didn't take long for me to figure out that we were outmatched. Less than a minute into the encounter and we had fires and sparking hardware all over the place."

"Sounds bad," O'Neill said grimly as he likely was trying to imagine how the situation must've been for someone who'd actually been there.

"Being there was worse. I ordered everyone off the ship while I prepped the distress beacon for launch. There was no way we were going to win a firefight so my priority was getting my people out of harm's way any way I could. Joker, though… he was stubborn as hell," he said, knowing that Oz could probably hear him talking. "He refused to abandon the SR-1. I guess it was kinda like being told to give up on your favorite horse. I volunteered to go up and get him into an escape pod while Liara focused on getting as much of the crew off the ship as possible. I managed to pull it off… but didn't quite make it myself."

"You floated in space for a couple of hours?" O'Neill asked, going with the logical possibility.

"Worse. I died."

"Died… but you're…" O'Neill said, obviously trying to resolve the conflict between the response and what was standing right in front of him.

"Cerberus recovered my body and spent two years, four billion credits and lots of bleeding edge tech bringing me back to life. They were convinced that the best chance humanity had for fighting the Reapers was me being alive and doing what I do best." He closed his eyes for a moment to push away the bad memories. "When I was back on my feet I found out that both the Alliance and the Citadel Council had backslid on everything. When I'd seen them last they'd told me that they would be working to prepare for the Reapers arrival but apparently once I was gone they did a complete one eighty, calling Sovereign a 'geth construct' and painting Saren as the true mastermind."

"For cryin' out loud!" O'Neill muttered, sounding like he'd had his own problems with the bureaucracy. "Didn't take that too well, did you?"

"Not really. It'd been hard enough convincing them about Saren but getting them to realize the truth about Sovereign had been impossible until it steamrolled the Citadel defense fleet." He felt an echo of Shepard's bitterness towards the Council and the Alliance brass quite keenly. "When the Illusive Man offered to support me and my efforts to oppose the Reapers, I didn't see as I had much choice. If I was to make up for the screw ups of those in power I needed a ship, a crew and resources, none of which I would get if I just went back to the Alliance. Time was running out and there was so much to do, so when Cerberus wanted me to investigate mysterious attacks on human colonies in the Terminus Systems I took him up on his offer. Didn't mean I trusted the Illusive Man, or Cerberus for that matter, but it was a means to an end."

"How'd that work out?" O'Neill asked, sounding like he could see why things had gone that way.

"We managed to save a lot of lives and put a stop to the Collectors, who were liquefying the colonists they'd captured to use it for the construction of a human-shaped Reaper. Blew up their HQ, too," he replied with the Shepard memories echoing a sensation of slightly dimmed satisfaction. "Still wish we'd managed to get to Horizon quicker. Half the colony's population got taken away even after EDI managed to get the big guns online. Over three hundred thousand people… gone."

"You did what you could. After seeing how you run this ship and how you are in the field, I know you did everything you could to save them." O'Neill said, sounding empathetic about how it must've felt to see the Collector Ship take off with all the people on board.

"Still wasn't easy to watch," he said as he moved the story along. "Over the weeks that followed we went from one end of the galaxy to another, chasing down leads or settling certain unresolved issues that the specialists needed dealt with so they could focus on the mission. In the end we won but, after destroying the Collector base, I knew it was time to cut ties with Cerberus. The Illusive Man wanted me to just kill the Collectors but leave their tech intact so it could be studied, reverse engineered and replicated for the further advancement of humanity. I saw the place as a monument to the suffering and deaths of millions of humans, so I did the only ethical thing I could do and blew it to hell."

"Nice! Must've pissed off everyone in Cerberus, though," O'Neill said with a pleased smile.

"Probably, but I've got bigger things to worry about than a bunch of racist bigots who never met an inhuman experiment they didn't like," he said, not sounding worried about what was 'waiting' for him back home. "MUCH bigger."

They both had a bit of a chuckle at that since it was obvious he was referring to the Reapers.

"We've reached the sun, Commander." Oz said from his seat in the cockpit.

"Alright, let's get this job done," he said before opening a com-connection to Willow. "We're at the K'tau sun, Tali. Load your torpedo in and let's turn this ruby back into gold."

"It'll be ready in a minute," she said, sounding completely worried.

The connection terminated and, once a minute passed, the display showing the status of the disruptor torpedo indicated that one was in the chamber ready to go.

"Okay. Jacob? Target the center of the sun," he ordered, looking back at Robin who was sitting in front of the tactical station.

"On it," Robin said, working the holographic display for a few seconds. "Done! Ready to fire. Just give the word."

"Fire." Less than a second later he watched as mass of blue and gold light shot towards the sun.

It took almost five minutes for the torpedo to hit the sun but, given that there weren't any warning lights on the displays or anyone telling him things had gone FUBAR, he presumed everything had gone as planned. How long they'd have before they'd know if it worked… required an IQ twice what he had, so he just waited for something to happen and, if nothing did within the hour, he'd send the eggheads back to the drawing board.

Fortunately that wasn't necessary.

Two minutes later he watched as the sun began to shift in color from a light red to a more normal yellow and, by the time they passed minute three, there was no sign that there'd been anything wrong with the sun to begin with.

"EDI? How's it looking?" he asked, figuring that the A.I. could give him the truth quicker than anyone else.

"Major Carter's plan has proven successful. The Maclarium has successfully bonded to the plutonium that was inserted into the sun as a result of the stargate's wormhole pass through it," EDI replied promptly. "The sun is returning to normal operating parameters for a yellow star and there are no indications that a relapse may occur in the future."

"Good. According to Major Carter it'd take years to make another batch of Maclarium and K'tau wouldn't last that long." He turned to Oz. "Take us back to K'Tau so we can pick up Miranda and see if SG-2 wants a lift back to Earth rather than take the stargate express."

"Oh, I think they'll be interested," O'Neill said with an amused smile on his face. "It's not every day you get to fly in spaceship from a videogame."

He rolled his eyes since he knew that was the proper way to react to having your 'world' and 'life' being called a videogame.

Watching as the view in the cockpit veered away from the sun filling with stary space for a few minutes before the small marble known as K'tau slid into view.

As missions went this had been pretty easy.

Hopefully they'd get a few of these gimmes every once in a while.

Stargate Command, Lab

Samantha Carter's POV

"You do realize we're on shore leave, right?" Colonel O'Neill said from the door to her lab. "That generally means putting work on hold until it's over."

"Just transferring some information about the modifications we made to the disruptor torpedo into the SGC's database, sir." she replied as she watched the progress bar on the computer screen inch closer to one hundred percent. "Once it's done I'll be out of here. Cassie's birthday party is this afternoon and I don't plan on missing that."

"They gave you data on their torpedoes? We still have a couple of weeks before the probation period runs out," Jack said, sounding surprised at the unexpected act.

"Tali didn't give me enough information for us to build our own disruptor torpedoes, even said it'd be impossible without a supply of what she called Element Zero, just data focusing on how we modified it as well as what she had on Goa'uld shields," she replied, quick to put down the idea that the SGC could have Mass Effect weaponry sometime soon. "It's not much but it's given me ideas on how we can give the X-303 shields on the same level as the Goa'uld."

"Always a good thing," Jack said with a smile at the idea of increasing their odds against the Goa'uld.

Hearing a beep that signified the completion of the data transfer, she logged out of the computer and shut it down before grabbing her jacket off the back of the chair.

"So… get anything interesting for Cassie?" Jack asked casually as they both made their way to the elevator.

"I got a shirt I think she'll like," she replied with a small grin. "A little expensive but she's worth it. How about you?"

"Who knows what a teenage girl wants? I know it isn't me," Jack replied, sounding like he didn't have a clue. "Just got her a birthday card gift certificate for a store I know she goes to. Figure she can pick out something nice for herself."

Not the most heartwarming gift but she was pretty sure that most of the Colonel's ideas would only work for preteen girls. If he tried getting Cassie a present like that she'd probably be embarrassed to be seen with it and he knew it so it probably was best just to go with a gift certificate. Sure, he could've asked her for ideas and she'd have been able to toss a few ideas his way that Cassie would've liked. Still, it was a little too late to get anything now.

As they made their way out of the mountain they chatted about everything they'd experienced the last few weeks and it made for interesting conversation. Even though they'd talked aboard the Normandy between missions, there were still so many things to be said. Ever since assuming their positions as SGC representatives aboard the Normandy, she'd seen things, learned things, which only served to heighten her scientific curiosity. The technology based on mass effect science introduced her to a brand new way of looking at the problems facing the X-303 as well as a few other issues the SGC was usually forced to accept due to the current limits of Earth technology.

Daniel, of course, had focused entirely on what information they were allowed access to with regards to the various races that existed in the Normandy's native dimension, their history and culture, and, according to him, the videogame only scratched the surface of what existed. When the archeologist wasn't glued to the chair in front of the computer screen reading the files, he could usually be found speaking to one of the alien crew members of the Normandy trying to learn more about their race. It was understandable since it was often more informative to learn from someone who'd actually experienced what you wanted to know rather than just read about it from a stale file. Dawn and Tali were receptive enough to this but Grunt didn't seem to like inquisitive people and the only reason the Krogan gave was that that sort of person reminded him too much of the Salarians. Based on what she'd read it was understandable that any Krogan would be less than warm towards a scientist of any sort, even if that person had nothing to do with genetics or virus creation. Nevertheless Daniel always went to bed with his notepad, scribbling notes as fast as his pen would let him, and often they'd wake up to find out that he'd fallen asleep with it in his arms.

As for Jack… predictably Jack had spent his spare time walked about the ship, poking his nose into anything that caught his interest but a lot of his time was split between talking to Commander Shepard or Jacob Taylor. The former was a target apparently because the Colonel wanted to get a better understanding of the commanding officer of the Normandy. According to him they'd come across people who seemed like just the sort of people the SGC wanted as allies only to find out that they had some kind of dark secrets that got them crossed off the list. While there certainly hadn't been anything in the videogame to imply that the Normandy and her crew were anything but trustworthy, she silently agreed that the truth about this Normandy could be quite different. Still, not once during their entire time on board did Jack come back to their quarters with a look on his face that implied concern or wariness. Even once they came back to the SGC, the leader of SG-1 hadn't said anything to any of them or General Hammond that indicated they shouldn't trust their potential allies.

As for Jacob Taylor… Jack could never turn down a chance to look at impressive firearms.

Taylor never told the Colonel any specifics, as Tali hadn't, but it'd still been enough to satisfy curiosity for the time being until the probation period ended. Once that happened hopefully their level of access aboard the Normandy would go up substantially and she'd be able to find out just how many ways really existed for improving circumstances here on Earth. She wasn't just talking about new weapons or technology that could help defend the planet against the Goa'uld but also the possible medical advances. It was in fact one of the things she'd be talking to Janet about after Cassie's birthday party because the effectiveness of the Medi-Gel compound alone was impressive to say the least. If they could find a way to introduce it into the public without raising any red flags about where it came from, it could save a lot of lives.

The only bad thing about the rest was that most of it depended on mass effect science to work and that meant finding a source of Element Zero to mine and then refine.

According to Tali, refining Element Zero was expensive to the point where it was something of a risk unless you already had a wealthy customer base to work with. Still, she had a few ideas of how they could get around that issue but she'd deal with that after she got back to the SGC later.

It was a relatively short drive to the Frasier household and she could already see the vehicles belonging to Daniel and General Hammond, so Teal'c would likely be about somewhere himself. The adults would of course stay on the periphery of the party so Cassie could enjoy spending time with her friends from school but they'd still celebrate her birthday with her.

That reminds me: make sure Jack doesn't do anything to embarrass Cassie in front of her friends, she thought as she turned off her car and got out of it. He claims he knows better but I know him and he'll definitely try something if a good enough opportunity pops up.

Jack would probably get at least one good embarrassing moment in, regardless of what anyone did, but to make it up to Cassie she'd help plan a little revenge later on.

KNOCK!KNOCK!

She waited for Janet or someone else on the inside to answer the door to let them in but, when nothing happened after a minute, she with rang the doorbell hoping it'd get the required attention.

CCCRRAAAAASSSHH!

Out of nowhere came an explosion of some sort from inside that blew out the windows and it was so powerful that it could be felt under her feet outside the house.

Worried that something serious might have happened, she disregarded manners and barged into the house, looking everywhere for both the source of the explosion as well as anyone who might've been injured in the blast. It was in the living room that they hit pay dirt for both but what she saw had her turn to Jack just in time to see him pull his cell phone out to dial nine one one. Scattered about the room were various party guests, some of whom she recognized while others she did not, looking like they'd gotten knocked back to varying degrees by the blast. Some looked as though they'd been launched airborne by the blast only to hit a nearby wall and then the floor while others appeared as though they'd just been knocked hard onto their backs. Most were unconscious but others were as dazed and disoriented as she'd ever seen a person.

At the center of it all was Cassandra Frasier, unconscious on the ground, indicating that she might have been next to the source of the explosion or had BEEN the source of the explosion.

Moving quickly to Cassie's side she immediately began to assess the teenage girl's vitals to see if she was okay and thankfully, aside from signs significant physical exertion, she was fine. She was just about to turn to Jack and let him know that Cassie was alright when she spotted something coming out from beneath the teenager's eyelids. It was energy of some kind but very weak so as to be almost imperceptible, but her experience off world with SG-1 had given her eyes that noticed such things. However it was when she tried to match the energy she was seeing against past experience that she got a hit she hadn't been expecting.

The energy was the same color and even sort of looked the same as something she'd seen when they'd raided that secret Goa'uld R&D compound.

Biotic energy.

Kodiak Shuttle Descending to Earth

Xander's POV

We have a biotic.

Even almost twenty minutes after hearing those words from Major Carter he still couldn't quite believe it but a part of his mind thought that if it was true then… things were going to get busy.

Looking over at Faith, the best person to accompany him in a situation like this, he knew that a lot of the others wanted to dismiss this as either a mistake or a one in a million thing that wouldn't happen again. Him, on the other hand… his gut was telling him that this was only the tip of the iceberg and that things were going to get crazier before they calmed down any. The odds of them being lucky enough that Cassie Frasier was the only new biotic on the entire planet Earth weren't even worth betting on. In his long years with the Organization, he'd clued in that anytime something interesting popped up that would complicate matters rarely began or ended with just one person.

Still, until Faith manages a scan of Miss Frasier with her Omni-tool and confirms that she's a biotic, best to keep a leash on my paranoia.

All possible precautions had been taken in order to ensure that as few people noticed, much less saw, the Kodiak shuttle coming down but the light given off by its thrusters it was impossible to render completely invisible. Hopefully Lady Luck would cut them at least SOME slack and make sure any casual passersby were looking in another direction. Sure, it was nighttime and a moonless night but some might say that'd just make it all the easier to spot a white shuttle with four neon blue plumes of energy at each of its corners easier to see. Still there was nothing he could do about it so he had to have faith that the SGC's ability to keep a secret.

"Head back up to the Normandy as soon as we're clear," he told Robin as he stood up from his seat. "Tell them to keep track of the signals from our Omni-tools. Unless I contact you on an Alliance encrypted channel telling you that we'll be heading out of Colorado Springs, assume that leaving the city means trouble."

"We'll come down guns locked and loaded," Robin said with much certainty in his voice. "See you later, Commander."

Grabbing the small case he'd brought from the infirmary, he exited the shuttle with Faith and began to make for the car parked a short distance away with Colonel O'Neill leaning against it. Not even looking back he could hear the shuttle lifting off the ground before shooting off into space for the Normandy. He knew he could just have it wait there but he didn't want to leave such a tempting target for any less than honorable people looking to score some mass effect technology. It wouldn't be at SG-1's hands or even the SGC's, but everything he knew told him that there'd be other government agencies, organizations and even a few civilian groups who'd have ears in the right places. Ears to hear, eyes to see and, if a good enough opportunity comes along, arms to reach out and take what they wanted whether it was legal for them to do so or not. It was also why both he and Faith had come down in armor and with a heavy pistol at their side.

Even if he wasn't expecting a fight, he wanted them to be able to protect themselves long enough to fire off an S.O.S. to the Normandy.

"Expecting trouble?" O'Neill asked as he stood up straight.

"Not really but I've learned to be ready for anything," he replied, arriving next to the car. "The enemy won't wait until you're ready for them, won't restrict their attacks only to the battlefield, so it's smart to live with a certain amount of caution."

Seeing Jack nod he was glad that the man seemed to understand the message between the lines. No security was total and there were bound to be people who'd want to get their hands on new, shiny tech without caring about what methods they employed.

Once they were in the car with O'Neill they drove off heading for the SGC located far below Cheyenne Mountain, where SG-1 had taken Miss Frasier after making sure it was safe to do so.

"Anything new since you contacted us?" he asked casually, looking to see if they were being followed or if there was any suspicious car movement ahead of them.

"Not really. None of the people at the party were seriously hurt," O'Neill replied briefly, looking in the rearview mirror. "We're lucky that whatever happened did so in a flash. None of the guests not connected with the SGC think Cassie had anything to do with them getting knocked out."

"Your bosses think up a cover story yet?" he asked, figuring that it'd be an automatic thing for the military.

"Not yet but they will. Probably write it off as a freak gas leak that spontaneously ignited or something believable like that," O'Neill replied without taking his eyes off the road ahead. "They always do."

He had to agree to that since he'd been present when governments that had treaties worked out with the Organization came up with cover stories when an episode of slayage left noticeable battle damage. Some cover stories were rather clever while others would require that those that heard it be intoxicated or sorely lacking in the education department in order for it to work. His Shepard memories also had instances in which certain events were covered up and fabricated stories fed to the media to keep the truth from getting out. Sometimes both he and Shepard agreed with this course of action while at other times their honor screamed that the public had a right to know what happened. Most of the time the only thing either of them could do was grind their teeth, vent their anger in the gym and, if an opportunity presented itself in the future, try to slip the truth out in secret.

"And Miss Frasier?" he asked, wondering how the young woman was doing.

"She woke up once we got to the Mountain," O'Neill replied as the vehicle stopped at a red light. "Exhausted but nothing worse than that."

"Miss Frasier is something of a rarity," Faith said, slipping into her Miranda personae even though she found it uncomfortable. "Most human biotics aren't able to do more than manifest a visible biotic field. In order to do anything useful they need to have a biotic amp in them. A rare human biotic can manage a pull or push technique without the amp but it drains them. Odds are that's what happened with Miss Frasier."

"So she's gonna be alright?" O'Neill asked, perking up at the new knowledge.

"She'll need to rest and probably eat something high in calories to replace the ones she's burned, but otherwise she should be fine." Faith replied, sounding confident and certain with her facts.

"I know two ladies who'll be VERY happy to hear that," O'Neill said, sounding quite happy himself.

"Don't be too happy," Faith said with a tone of warning in her voice. "Assuming this wasn't a one-time event she'll need to fitted with an amp and a port. Otherwise she'll be a risk to herself and others, whether she likes it or not."

"Sounds complicated," O'Neill said with a neutral tone that was likely a cover for not knowing what they're talking about.

"We've brought the necessary medical information for implanting an amp port as well as two biotic amp models," Faith said, retaining control of the conversation. "One is basic model, pretty much the cheapest you could get in Alliance space, while the other is a top of the line military amp used by Alliance Special Forces operatives."

"Whoa! Isn't that overkill? Cassie's just a high school student!" O'Neill exclaimed, obviously shocked at the idea of bringing in sci-fi military hardware.

"She's also connected with several important members of the SGC, Colonel," Faith pointed out in Miranda's usual pointed manner. "That makes her a potential target either as leverage or retaliation. With the military grade amp and enough instruction in her powers, I'd pity the fools that threaten her."

"She'd really be that good?" O'Neill asked, sounding like he was still on the fence about the idea.

"Human biotics might not be as powerful as, say, an Asari Justicar or Matriarch, Colonel, not without… questionable treatments, but against a non-biotic human surprise would be the only way to beat them." Faith replied, showing… discomfort… at recalling what'd been done to Subject Zero, aka Jack.

"Cool," O'Neill stated as the light turned green. "Still, it'll be up to her mother whether anything gets done at all and what specifically gets done."

"Of course," he said, taking control of the conversation. "It's pretty much a constant both in our dimension and here that, until Miss Frasier's eighteen, her mother has final say on any medical procedures like this. Plus we don't have a doctor on the Normandy who could perform the procedure in the first place, so we'd have to see if your docs would be up to the challenge."

"Good, 'cause Janet's both Cassie's mom and head of SGC infirmary, so she'll be the one you'll want to talk to. Convenient, huh?"

"Very," he replied, glad that everyone he'd need to talk to would be 'in the know' rather than an ignorant civilian.

He was always shit when it came to coming up with cover stories.

Cheyenne Mountain Elevator, Faith's POV

Well, this is sucks, she thought as she stepped out into their destination far below Cheyenne Mountain. I know the G.I. Joes aren't big on anything but the absolute necessities but they could've at least made the place look a little more homey.

Hell, going at least as far as your average hospital did in making themselves more inviting would've been better than this.

Still she wasn't about to start spouting off home decorating tips to the ground pounders and flyboys both because she needed to keep up her 'Miranda' appearance and because it wouldn't do any good.

She could feel eyes on her from everyone they came across and it took her letting her 'Miranda' side have more reign over her than she was usually comfortable with to ignore them. This was one of those times where you couldn't let anyone see how uncomfortable you were and had to project an appearance of being right in your element. If they saw uncertainty, weakness, they'd be less likely to believe that you knew what you were talking about and wouldn't take any recommendations you provided seriously. Considering they had a young woman's life on the line, she felt motivated to do the best she could to convince them to take the best option her mind could come up with.

Several twists and turns later they arrived at the infirmary and, since only one of the beds was occupied, it didn't take any time at all for her to identify Cassandra Frasier. The young woman looked like she was coming off a marathon but they were at least keeping the fluids flowing as well as putting something that looked like a chocolate bar from one of the base vending machines on her bedside table. Both would help restore her strength and replace whatever calories she'd lost with her biotic discharge.

"Got your specialists here, Doc!" O'Neill said, announcing their arrival to the entire infirmary.

Definitely someone who doesn't know the meaning of the word subtle, she thought with a mental smile. I wonder if Xander and O'Neill are related.

An older woman with brown hair and green eyes approached with a doctor's lab coat, looking all business as well as very sharp, so treating her like an idiot would not go over well.

"Good. I need to know what I'm dealing with if I'm going to help Cassie." Doc Frasier said, sounding quite driven to accomplish this task.

"We'll first need to confirm the presence of Element Zero nodules in her body tissues," she said, barely restraining the Miranda-like urge to just walk past Frasier to Cassie's bed. "Then, presuming we do get confirmation, we'll have to decide about whether or not she'll undergo implantation."

"What sort of implantation?" Doc Frasier asked, sounding concerned and… defensive?

"All biotics who want to use their abilities on a controllable level need to be fitted with an electronic brain implant. This usually is done during puberty and after it's in generally inadvisable to 'upgrade' or have the implant removed since it involves dangerous brain surgery," she replied professionally, giving the medical practitioner a summary response.

"And if she doesn't want to use these abilities?" Doc Frasier asked, sounding opposed to any kind of surgery that involved the brain.

"She won't be hurt by having the biological potential if that's what you're worried about," she replied, looking over at Cassie, who looked to be catching every other word, "however she'll likely have biotic episodes similar to the one that caused you to contact us. Short of keeping her on medication that'll make it impossible for her to be startled or surprised, implanting a biotic amp would be the only way to ensure both her safety as well as the safety of those around her."

She was perhaps been a bit cool with her delivery of the facts, the look on X's face implied that he would've gone with a softer touch, but she didn't believe in sugarcoating things or shitting people. To her, being straight with someone was a sign of respect, her version of politeness, and the doctor in front of her hadn't done anything yet to deserve her disrespect or any impolite behavior.

"Let's get this started then." Doc Frasier said as she led the way over to her daughter's bed.

As soon as she was within range she activated her Omni-tool and initiated a scan that'd specifically look for Element Zero as well as the associated nodules. Miss Frasier flinched a bit when the curtain of amber light that was the scanning field reached her head but otherwise was brave throughout the examination. Once the scan was complete she displayed the results on a holo-screen so that Doc Frasier could see them. Two windows side by side, with the one on the left being a holographic representation of Cassie's body with special focus on her organs and nervous system and the one on the right being medical jargon words scrolling down at a reasonable pace.

"Amazing," Doc Frasier gasped even as her eyes went back and forth taking in all the information.

"This is nothing, Doctor Frasier," she said with an amused smile. "This is just a general scan using a fairly simplistic app. It's pretty much standard for field medics so you can imagine what must be available for people such as yourself and a facility centered on medicine like a hospital."

She almost chuckled as she watched the woman's mind spin as her imagination tried to envision something more impressive or sophisticated than what was right in front of her. She could tell that Xander was getting a bit of a kick out of it as well but he was doing worse at concealing his amusement.

"According to the scans, your daughter definitely has Element Zero nodules in her body and there are traces of eezo throughout her bloodstream," she said, evaluating the readings herself before telling the others present. "The nodules are a bit larger than the norm for human biotics but nothing to worry about. We have extensive files on the various afflictions and abnormalities that can occur with them and what Miss Frasier has doesn't match any of them."

Doc Frasier, Cassie and O'Neill let out a sigh of relief at that news but it was understandable since they seemed closer than military regs normally allowed.

"Now, I understand you'll want to know more about the procedure that'd be involved in implanting a biotic amp before you decide anything," she said before shutting down her Omni-tool. "So if you'll take me to a computer with ten gigabytes of free space and no connection to a network, I'll download it for your review."

"Why no network connection?" O'Neill asked out of curiosity.

"You might believe that the SGC is mole free, Colonel, however I do not," she replied with a slight edge to her voice. "Top secret projects always have someone who can be bought or blackmailed into getting classified secrets to people who shouldn't have them. I should know."

They looked at Xander obviously hoping for elaboration.

"The organization she used to be a part of had a knack for finding the weak links in just about any government branch they had an interest in, no matter the race involved," Xander explained, managing to keep the fact that he was winging it himself. "Considering some of the files were two levels above an Admiral's pay grade and I'd trust her on this."

"Okay. I think I know just the one," Doc Frasier said, evidently choosing to play along for the time being. "Follow me."

With that she followed the experienced military doctor and wondered every step of the way if current Earth medicine would be up to the task or if it'd take leading them up the rocky path of educational evolution to get the results she desired.

It'd be interesting to watch one way or another.

SGC Briefing Room, The Next Day

Xander's POV

They'd stayed overnight at the SGC and into the next day a fair bit before General Hammond called them to the briefing room overlooking the Gate Room but he'd expected this.

Doctor Frasier had been given a ten gigabyte download of data comprised of video files of people performing the procedure from beginning to end, along with various documents containing other details he'd thought were relevant to the situation. As a result the woman had had spent every hour since the download, probably to the detriment of sleep or food, pouring over it all trying to understand it completely. He was no doctor so he didn't know if the procedure was within reach of Doc Frasier to perform herself, if she'd have to call in specialists to help or if it was completely beyond Earth medicine, but he believed it was worth a shot.

Besides, if his instincts were right, the crew of the Normandy were going to be passing on quite a bit of information to the people of Earth, for better or worse.

"What's your evaluation of the information Miss Lawson has provided?" General Hammond asked from his position at the head of the table.

"Honestly, General, I can't help but feel like I'm a little over my head," Frasier replied, looking amazed but not baffled by what she'd learned. "The sophistication of the implants, the delicacy of the operation… I'm going to need to call in an experienced neurosurgeon to assist. I'd recommend Doctor Van Densen."

"I can have her here within twelve hours," Hammond said without any hesitation or reluctance.

"Good. Between the two of us and the information Miss Lawson provided, I'm confident that we can do this without complications." Doc Frasier said, looking reassured about the odds of resolving the situation.

"Have you talked things over with your daughter?" he asked, deciding to bring up a little detail. "I mean, I know you're her mother and so you're legally entitled to make medical decisions like this for her, but she should still have a say in this."

"I talked to her before coming to the meeting and explained the procedure as best I could, given her lack of a medical PhD," Doc Frasier replied, thankfully not offended by what he'd said. "She understands and she's chosen to go ahead with the procedure. According to her, if she wants to have friends and any kind of a social life, it'd help if she didn't blast them through windows by accident."

That sounded teenagery enough that he could believe that the doctor had actually spoken to Cassie and not simply made it up to satisfy him.

"Yep. I hear that be quite the turnoff for potential boyfriends," he said with a smile and a bit of humor.

General Hammond looked to be about to say something more when a phone began to ring and it sounded like it was coming from the office behind where the SGC's commanding officer was sitting.

"Excuse me but that's the presidential line," Hammond said before getting up out of his seat and going into the office.

As he watched the bald General through the window, he wondered what might have happened to give the President of the United States reason enough to call the SGC. It was possible that it wasn't related to the Normandy or her crew in any way but somehow he doubted that was the case. His talks with O'Neill had told him that, for the last five years, the SGC had been tasked with doing recon on the Goa'uld, studying whatever ancient Earth cultures had been transplanted by the Goa'uld and looking for anything that could help defend the planet from orbital assault. To have the Normandy pop up literally out of thin or non-existent air must feel like a godsend to the SGC and everyone else who knew what they did each day. Now that he knew that reversing Posey's spell wasn't an option anymore and that working with the SGC was necessary, he'd begun trying to convince the senior staff of the Normandy to agree to slowly filter in tech and medicine from ship to Earth. Obviously anything that was dependent on Element Zero would have to be excluded until a refinery could be made and a decent enough deposit of the stuff could be found but the rest… the rest might very well be doable.

Seeing the call with the President end and Hammond come out of his office, he became concerned when he spotted the troubled look on the man's face. He'd seen expressions like that from Giles and from certain government officials and it never boded well for anyone. Usually it meant that a new problem had popped up to make an already unusual situation worse and that led to a rewriting of more than a few plans to accommodate the new problem's resolution. His Shepard memories also contained moments when Captain Anderson or Admiral Hackett had approached him with the expression General Hammond now wore.

This would not be good.

"I'm afraid that we have a bigger problem than we originally thought," Hammond said, leaning forward on the table, both hands planted on its edge. "The President has been receiving reports for the last week from various sources both in country as well agents in other countries of numerous paranormal phenomenon involving people generating blue energy fields. Now usually this would be dismissed as a hoax, even with knowledge of the SGC, but after reading the reports of the Normandy's missions to date as well as the… game, the President came to a different conclusion."

"Biotics," he said as he realized the global implications.

Even if only one out of every one hundred potential biotics turned out to be as powerful as Cassie, that still meant quite a few people drawing attention to themselves. Once certain governments or organizations made the connection with the Mass Effect videogame, every person who showed even a speck of biotic potential was going to be scooped up for utilization of some kind. Granted, without the biotic amp implants they wouldn't be able to do much, even the one in one hundred exceptional ones, but it'd still shake things up on the Earth. Those wanting to turn the potential biotics into soldiers or enforcers would likely try to create amps of their own and, given the current level of Earth tech, a lot of 'recruits' would wind up dead before a safe working prototype was made.

Basically he either withheld the amps and watch a lot of people die needlessly or find a way to distribute the plans to everyone to keep one nation from dominating the others.

Some might argue that the plans should only be provided to nations that could be 'trusted' and that those nations could be made responsible for policing the new biotic population of Earth. The problem with that was that the Earth wasn't the unified Systems Alliance and every country had history with every other country on the planet. If he kept the amp plans exclusive to the United States and its allies, that might put too much pressure on America's enemies, causing them to react in extremes that'd have consequences for all.

If everyone got it, though, it'd hopefully result in a stalemate for everyone, keeping the power balance more or less intact.

Hopefully.

"Yes. I informed him of what you told me regard biotics and the implants and he wanted me to ask you if you'd consider forwarding the blueprints for the implants to us." Hammond said, sounding as though he realized the potential shitstorm on the horizon. "There are going to be a lot of afraid people out there as well as no small number of people who're going to look to profit from it all. We're going to need people ready to handle both and that's going to mean having trained biotics ready to step up."

"Considering the situation and the possible FUBAR situations, I'm afraid I'd have to insist that the plans for the amps as well as the specifics of the implantation procedure be available to every nation possessing a significant biotic population," he said firmly, not letting them think he was open for debate. "Only allowing America and her allies to benefit from the technology as well as the abilities associated with the biotics would upset the current power balance on Earth. It could lead to some… explosive… acts by those who believe they have no other choice."

"I'll… forward that recommendation to the President after this meeting," Hammond said, sounding like he understood but didn't think it'd be followed. "Honestly, though, I can't see anyone in the current administration who'd approve of giving revolutionary technology to 'unfriendly' countries."

"Then tell them that either they do it privately or I'll make sure that the data 'leaks' into the public eye where they won't have any control over it at all," he said, raising the bar a bit on the amount of strength he was putting behind his position. "I understand that I'm used to Earth being united under the Systems Alliance and that things on your Earth run a little differently, General Hammond, but neither the Goa'uld or any other threat not of this world are going to care about lines on a map. To them we are all Earthlings, ALL Tau'ri, and to our enemies all targets of equal value. The developing biotic situation could be used as a first step in bringing the nations of the world together and laying the groundwork for your own variation of the Systems Alliance."

He knew he was throwing a lot of weight around, enough perhaps to provoke certain parties into TAKING what they wanted rather than WAITING for it to be handed to them, but history was filled with examples of what nations did when they gained a strategic advantage over their neighbors. Until the people of Earth stopped defining themselves by the countries they lived in or religions they believed in and started viewing themselves as inhabitants of the same planet, it would be too risky to give anyone an advantage as big as biotics.

"I won't promise that there won't be serious debate over this issue, Commander Shepard, but I will promise that I will do everything I can to be the voice of reason in that debate." Hammond said, sounding like he was beginning to agree with what he'd just been told. "For now, though, let's focus on ensuring that Cassie won't have to worry about explosively damaging any room she walks into."

From there the meeting went into discussions about the procedure itself, recovery time post operation and who would wind up training Cassie to use her abilities.

Considering that only Faith, Robin or Dawn could be considered knowledgeable enough about the topic to teach anyone, he already had a candidate in mind.

He hoped he'd survive the reaction.