Stargate Reopened is my take on a series reboot. The basic premise is that at some point, SG-1 went back and changed the past again, and the Stargate is discovered later by different people. It's inspired by the 2009 Star Trek reboot and I'll admit the initial plotline is awfully similar to Moebius. The exact nature of the timeline change is not terribly important- the focus is on the new team as they discover the Stargate and the galaxy beyond. It's a full AU in the sense that I may change things that cannot be fully explained by the timeline change. The format will be semi-episodic; I am writing this as a series reboot, after all.

One year ago
Antarctica

On the freezing cold desert near the South Pole, two men stood hacking away at the snow with shovels. Several digging tools, thick plastic cases, and large worklights sat on the frozen surface behind them. Their transportation, a small snowcat, was parked only a few yards away.

The taller man, wearing a thick green jacket, paused in his labors. He warned, "If we're still here when the sun goes down, we're going to be popsicles."

"I know, I know!" the other man, wearing a blue parka, replied, continuing to dig frantically in the ice. "We're almost there."

"Damn it, Taylor." He turned toward the third member of their team, a woman in a red jacket sitting on the edge of their snowcat and poking at a ruggedized tablet. "Allman, how long do we have?"

She replied, "Just under two hours, but it'll take at least one to get back to the station."

"You've got five minutes," the green-jacketed man ordered. He asked, "What are we looking for, again?"

He answered, "Well, that's the thing, we don't know, just that it was spotted poking out of the snow a few days ago."

"So it could have been one of Shackleton's tin cans," the green-jacket man remarked wryly.

"Which, could be interesting..." He stopped mid-sentence and paused his digging. "Oh my god."

"What is it?"

The man in blue was absolutely serious. "Ed, this looks like hieroglyphics... and this is in English?"

The green-clad man knelt down to take a closer look. Sure enough, the edge of a dark grey metal surface was visible poking out of the snow, inscribed with two very different but very recognizable texts. "This... has to be some kind of a joke."

"We're the first ones to ever survey this site," he stated seriously. "No humans have ever been here before."

The other man brushed the cold metal surface with a gloved finger. "What the hell have we found?"

S01E01 Uncovered, Part I

Present day
The Middle East

Like many others set up by the Americans during and after the Global War on Terror, the camp was a glum affair of tents, HESCO barriers, and prefabricated buildings. It was a veritable city, housing thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines along with the services that supported them. Several vehicles were parked at one end and a rough airstrip was set up at the other. As was usual for a summer afternoon, the sun beat down on the camp relentlessly.

A wiry man perhaps in his late twenties or early thirties sat atop a HESCO barrier, repeatedly tossing a baseball into the air and catching it. He wore sand-blasted MARPAT BDUs, and the insignia on his uniform indicated that he was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. His close-cropped brown hair was matted with sweat and dirty with sand. He tossed the ball up into the air, caught it, and glanced at it one more time before he sighed, stood up, and set off for his destination on the other side of the base.

"Captain O'Neill," a familiar voice called after he had only taken a few steps. Another Marine, a tall African-American Sergeant, waved from a nearby tent.

The Captain turned and nodded. "Yeah, what is it, Sergeant?"

Jogging to catch up with his commanding officer, the Sergeant asked, "I heard the Colonel was asking for you."

"That's right," O'Neill answered.

"He tell you what it's about?"

"Nope."

"You think it's about the last op?"

He admitted, "I don't know. I hope so."

"They were waiting for us, Captain," the Marine pointed out after a pause. "It was a trap."

"You don't have to tell me, Sergeant," O'Neill replied icily. "We were lucky to get out of there without losing any of our guys."

"Well, whatever it is, good luck, sir," the Sergeant said before jogging away.

O'Neill's destination was a nondescript prefabricated building, a drab construction of corrugated steel. He strode up to the entrance, swung the door open, and quickly shut it behind him. The inside of the building was a somewhat cramped office space, full of desks, computers, and reams of paper. It was air conditioned, at least, which was a welcome respite from the scorching heat outside.

A grey-haired Marine sat behind a desk at the back. He wore the "bird" of a Colonel on his uniform, and was currently occupied typing a report on his computer. A jagged scar cut across his face, a bad memory from a war long forgotten.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" O'Neill interrupted, hands clasped properly behind him.

"New orders, Captain," the Colonel said, clearly unhappy and doing a poor job of covering it up. He paused his work, reached under his desk, and handed over a thin folder. "These come straight from the top."

O'Neill skimmed the paper, then read it again several times, his brow in frustration. "Antarctica? Sir, why the hell am I going to Antarctica?"

"They wouldn't tell me, Captain. Whatever it is, it's top secret. Technically, I shouldn't even know where you're going, but someone screwed up the paperwork."

He flipped the folder shut. "I don't like this, sir."

"There's nothing I can do, Charlie. You go to Antarctica, or you go AWOL."

Antarctica

"It's a frozen wasteland," Charlie remarked, bouncing up and down inside the helicopter as it hurtled toward their destination. He'd never really liked helicopters, and though this wasn't the worst helicopter flight he'd had, it certainly didn't rank in his top ten. So far, the trip had been uneventful, which was the way he liked it.

The only other occupant was the pilot, a man with messy hair and stubble that was almost a beard. He replied lightly, "I kind of like it here. Something about this place keeps me coming back, you know?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Well, trust me, it grows on you," he countered with a chuckle.

"How long have you been flying down here?" Charlie asked, genuinely curious.

"About a decade on and off," the pilot answered. "It's a funny story, really. I started here with the military, and not by choice, either."

The piqued the Captain's curiosity. "You were military? What did you do?"

"I flew helicopters for the Air Force. It didn't go so well. Like I said, I ended my career down here." Seeing the worried look on Charlie's face, he added, "Oh, no, I can fly just fine, it's just... something happened, and that was it."

He could tell the pilot didn't want to talk about it- he'd seen bad ops and he recognized the look and tone- so he didn't press and instead asked, "Do you have any idea what's going on down here?"

"Nope," he answered. "I know there's a lot of military people coming in and then heading out on snowcats to some other station out near the pole, so that's probably where you're headed too."

Charlie stared out the window at the frozen sheet of ice. "But what are they doing down there?"

The pilot shrugged. "Beats me. As long as they pay me, I'm not gonna ask."

Charlie stood stiffly at attention, quickly scanning the officer sitting in the desk across from him. From his uniform, nametag, and insignia, he identified the man as Major General Ferretti, United States Air Force. The Captain hadn't been told he'd be working with the Air Force. Then again, he hadn't been told he wouldn't be, either.

"Charles Tyler O'Neill, United States Marine Corps," the General read off the file in his hand. "First Recon, then MARSOC. Three tours in the Middle East. Silver Star Injured by a roadside bomb, given the option to take a medical discharge but fought to stay in. Navy Cross for... redacted. An exemplary record, Captain."

"Sir," Charlie answered, not sure how to answer.

The General snapped the folder shut and leaned back casually in his chair. "You're Jack O'Neill's son, aren't you?"

He tensed internally, but answered, "That's correct, sir."

"Relax, kid," Ferretti assured, sensing the Captain's tension. "I'm the last one who's gonna judge you for that. Your father's reputation, good or bad, had nothing to do with this assignment."

"Yes, sir," he agreed, relaxing slightly.

"I suppose you probably want to know what you're doing here," the General guessed.

"Very much, sir."

"About a year ago, a team of explorers came across a stone tablet in the ice. Oddly, it had inscriptions in a mix of ancient Egyptian, a dialect of Latin, and modern English as well as a few languages we can't identify," he explained. "When we began excavating, we found what can only be described as alien ruins. We have very little idea of who built them or what for, but we think this could be big. Very big."

Charlie had no words. "Sir..."

"Take some time to let it sink in, Captain," the General said with a thin smile. "You'll need every minute of it and it still won't be enough."

A dozen military personnel and civilian scientists gathered inside a medium-sized prefabricated shelter, waiting for the man in front of them to stop twirling his pen and start the presentation. The man in question appeared to be of East Asian or Polynesian ancestry- it was hard to tell- and wore square-rimmed glasses that matched his dark hair. The shelter was fairly warm, so he wore only a striped blue buttoned-up shirt and khaki slacks.

"I'm Doctor Matthew Chen. Since Jennifer is not on base at the moment, I will be delivering this briefing," the man began dryly. He clicked a remote, turning on a projector. "I hope you don't mind."

The woman next to Charlie- a Navy Petty Officer if he was reading her insignia right- muttered to him, "This ought to be interesting, sir."

He nodded agreement.

Dr. Chen clicked his remote again, bringing up a picture of the outpost. "This is us, Byrd Outpost. Officially, it's a research outpost established by the United States for the purposes of studying microbial life at the South Pole."

He clicked again. A blurry grey rectangle covered in lines covered the screen. "This is a ground penetrating radar image of the area directly beneath us. Some of you can probably tell that there is something below us."

"This is a more human-readable image." A three-dimensional map showing several chambers and passages under the ice appeared on the screen. "There is no other way to put this; we are standing on top of the ruins of an alien facility that is approximately the size of a college campus."

The room broke out into noisy whispering. Chen waited for it to subside somewhat before continuing. "As you hopefully know already, the discovery of the tablet was our first clue, but since we began excavating the facility we've discovered evidence of former alien occupation."

The scientist clicked his clicker again, changing to a slide showing several samples of strange blocky text. "We've discovered several inscriptions in the facility we simply cannot read. This alphabet is something we've never seen before."

He changed slides again, showing a room with what looked like control panels and columns full of crystals. "This is unquestionably alien technology. We believe it's highly advanced- far beyond anything we've ever built. Unfortunately, we're not sure of that and we're unsure of its purpose as all attempts to activate the technology have failed. It could be keyed to alien biology, it could require a key of some sorts, the power may simply be out, or it could be a combination of factors."

Chen clicked again to an empty slide, put down the device, and took a deep breath. "I wish I could tell you more, but that's more or less all we know. We have just begun to scratch the surface of this incredible discovery- literally- and you are the ones who will contribute to this discovery. Now, any questions?"

"Doctor Chen, what led you to the conclusion that this is the work of extraterrestrials and not either the work of an ancient terrestrial civilization or simply an elaborate hoax?"

"Our biggest indicators are the presence of advanced technology and the extent of the facility. We do not know of any historical civilization that is capable of such a feat," he answered. "Additionally, the tablet specifically mentioned people from beyond the skies, which if translated correctly would imply aliens."

A redhead near the front asked, "How old is the facility?"

"Somewhere between millions and thousands of years," he replied vaguely. "Unfortunately our dating methods don't seem to be work reliably on these ruins."

From the back, a woman asked, "Did they find any bodies?"

"No," Chen answered. "If there were ever any here, they have long since decayed."

"Shouldn't the cold have preserved the bodies, prevented them from decaying?" another woman asked.

"If they died before the facility lost power, it stands to reason that it would have been warm enough for them to decompose naturally," he answered. "It's also possible that Antarctica wasn't as cold back then, depending on how old this facility really. With that being said, it is my professional speculation that whoever lived here left rather than dying out."

"When do you think they left, then?" a man with an accent queried.

The scientist chewed his lip. "Unfortunately, I have no idea. A long time ago, which is almost a meaningless statement in context."

Charlie asked, "Doctor, can you tell us any more about the tablet itself?"

"That's more Ray's department," he answered. "Archeology. It's the big dome on the other side of the facility."

The Captain nodded. "Thank you."

It was bitterly cold outside, and Charlie wasted no time in making his way to the shelter on the other side of the base. He was curious, and nobody had told him he couldn't ask. Five steps away, the side door he was heading toward opened and a woman wearing the uniform of the Air Force came out.

He came to attention. "Major."

"At ease, Captain. You must be O'Neill," she acknowledged. "Jennifer Hailey, PhD. You come down here to talk to Ray?"

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Ooh... Ray's a bit of an acquired taste. Watch your back." She smirked before continuing on her way.

"I'll do that, Major," he acknowledged politely before entering the room.

The dome was sectioned off by canvas barriers. Several scientists were working with pieces of equipment he didn't recognize. He was sure the work was important, but he had no idea what it was. The Captain quietly skirted his way around the edge of the dome before coming to a large open area that contained what he was looking for.

A young woman- perhaps in her mid twenties- of short stature was the only occupant of the section. Black pants, a spike belt, and combat boots contrasted starkly with a tight lime green shirt with a picture of a video game character on it. Her hair had three colors- natural chestnut roots, a platinum blonde body and a deep purple streak running down one side.

"Hi," Charlie greeted politely. The woman looked like she had just come from... somewhere that wasn't here. That meant she was probably brilliant, he remarked wryly to himself. "I'm looking for Ray."

"It's Rae, with an e, actually," she corrected, pronouncing the name the exact same way. "And you've found her. Because that's me, that's my name, if you- I'm assuming you're looking for-"

"I'm looking for the chief archaeologist," he clarified, doubting that the young woman before him was actually the person he was looking for.

"Okay, good. That's me. Rae." She picked up a ruggedized Dell tablet, put it down, then picked it up again.

"So... what's that?" Charlie asked, motioning to the large stone slab laid out in the middle of the room. "Is that-"

"This is what the explorers found sticking out of the ice," Rae answered. "They were only able to excavate it fully this spring, and... well, just wow."

"It's a tablet," Charlie observed. He stayed back, afraid that touching it would be breaking some unspoken rule. "Right?"

Rae had no such thoughts. She drummed her fingers on it idly, muttering, "A very large tablet, in fact."

"So... you can read this?" he asked. "What's on it?"

She half-answered, "The problem is, it's written in a mix of an old dialect of Ancient Egyptian, an unidentified Romance language, and modern English along with a few I've never seen before."

So the General wasn't joking. "Modern English? I thought you said this thing is thousands of years old?"

"It is." Rae stated it like a mundane fact. "That's what makes this so weird."

"You sure your carbon dating or whatever isn't wrong?"

"I know Matthew probably told you our dating methods aren't reliable, which is not wrong, but this is definitely old," she replied, rolling her eyes. "It's not like someone buried it five years ago as a joke."

And the alien ruins would probably work as a good counterargument. He asked lamely, "Shouldn't the fact that it's partially written in English make things easier?"

"No, because it's mixed in with the other two, and nothing makes any sense in context," Rae explained glumly. "From what I've translated so far, it's an epic of sorts, serving as an instruction and a warning."

"What kind of warning? Monsters from the id?" Charlie joked.

Rae swiped twice and handed him her tablet computer. "I'm sure you can read this."

"Do not under any circumstances attempt to restore the timeline," he read slowly, the weight of the words slowly dawning on him. "Holy shit."

She snatched the tablet away. "Yeah. Heavy stuff. Now go away. I have work to do."

Charlie couldn't contain his curiosity as he quietly entered the room. It was in was octagonal in shape and about the size of two trailers pushed together. An ornate chair sat in the center, surrounded by strange columns filled with crystal or glass cards and what looked to be control consoles. Two walls were connected to passageways and four had iced-over windows. Despite the heaters they had brought in, the room was cold. Several scientists were studying the equipment, though he had no idea what they were doing.

"What are you doing here?" Dr. Chen asked, noticing his arrival. His tone was not hostile, but irritated.

"General Ferretti ordered me to report here yesterday evening," Charlie replied. He shrugged. "He didn't tell me why, but here I am."

"He probably wants you to try sitting in the chair and powering up the facility," one of the other scientists said.

"I thought you said this place was dead?" Charlie asked Chen.

"The facility may still have some residual power left- we think we've detected it on our instruments," the scientist explained. "Which is incredible, by the way, if you understand how long this place has existed. The problem is that nothing is powered up and we have no idea how to do so. So effectively, it is dead."

He still didn't follow. "So what does me sitting in the chair have to do with it?"

"According to Rae's translation of the tablet, a very small group of people can use this technology because of what I'm assuming is a certain genetic component," Chen told him. "Also according to the translation, the chair is a control device- either that or the throne of their ruler. It's possible that the facility will detect someone with that gene and power up. Of course, it's just a hypothesis."

"And you think I'm one of those people?" Charlie asked skeptically.

He shook his head. "I seriously doubt it, but we're trying everyone just in case."

"Guess I can't argue with that." Charlie strode four paces to the chair and gingerly sat down in it. As soon as he did so, the back tilted down and the arms lit up a brilliant blue. Across the room, the control consoles and open crystals began powering up with a dull glow and audible hum.

"Damn," Chen breathed, a rare outburst from his usually controller manner. "I suppose this confirms it."

"Confirms what?" Charlie asked the scientist, still confused by what was happening.

"Everything. This confirms everything."

STARGATE: REOPENED

Please tell me what you think, even if you hated it! I can't guarantee updates, but I want to get this out there and get some feedback on it. I've been trying a lot of different fics lately and I'm still not sure which ones I'll continue.