Continuing Stargate

[Steelbox]

But since this thread is called "Continuing Stargate" its is going to be here. At least i hope.

[s09119]

it kinda makes sense to start a new one and call it "Continuing SGA"

I was planning on doing it in this one, I mean I already have the section set up under the OP.

[thekillman]

fine by me...

can't wait for Epilogue.

[SG-18]

Good news. I have the first page bookmarked and didn't want to have to add another

[s09119]

Continuing SG-1 concludes with an "Epilogue" of its own

What can I say? It's been an absolute blast writing in additional adventures and stories for the old SG-1 team, and I only hope that everyone reading this has enjoyed it as much as I have. With any luck, you laughed at the awkward moments, cried after a devastating loss or the death of a character, and wanted to cheer after every hard-won Earth victory. There were times when I wanted to give up and times when I'd gotten sick of it, but I always found myself eager to sit back down and keep going at the end of the day. So as I'm sure you can imagine, sitting here now and typing up an episode of SG-1 for the last time is... well, you know.

"Epilogue" will feature several guest stars, the likes of which would probably begin to give away plot details if revealed.

[Steelbox]

Can't wait for it, but well, good night folks 00:09 here, head full of beer, seeiyng my Grêmio being eliminated in Libertadores da América.

[Choo1701]

Continuing SG-1 concludes with an "Epilogue" of its own

Ironicly Queen's " Show Must Go On" started playing on shuffle.

*sits patiently* ... ... .... anyone want to order pizza?

[Steelbox]

Ironicly Queen's " Show Must Go On" started playing on shuffle.

*sits patiently* ... ... .... anyone want to order pizza?

I do... grab me some coke please?

[s09119]

16x20 "Epilogue" (Series finale)
Synopsis: More than half a century since the establishment of the Stargate Program, a call goes out to reunite the former members of the SG-1 team for one final mission unlike any other.

Spoiler:

((4 minute recap of Stargate SG-1))

(Scene changes in this episode are interrupted by brief news clips from the 2010s--2060s highlighting notable events in the lives of SG-1 and others.)

Heliopolis
August 17, 2063
Times have changed on Heliopolis, and the capital world of the Interstellar Alliance has grown into a stunning and prosperous hub for galactic life. Where there was once only a crumbling castle perched by the sea, there now rise dozens of gleaming towers and monuments all around the rebuilt Citadel complex. Inside the central building, an aged Dr. Samantha Carter is looking over a holographic representation of a stargate transit when the door slides open noiselessly. A woman of North African descent is standing there with a tablet computer, informing Sam that they’ve finalized the message and are ready to dispatch it whenever she’s ready. Nodding, the older woman tells her to give the go-ahead, then sits back in a chair and returns to studying the hologram with interest. Though the Alliance’s medical advances have made her the 2010s equivalent of a sixty-five year old, Sam recognizes that one day, possibly soon, she will die. She would prefer to go out knowing that she ensured this bright future will still come to pass.

Across the galaxy, Alliance Intelligence operatives briefly interrupt the lives of a few specific individuals with a critical message. Heading to Earth, a Tok’ra agent arrives at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. to request a meeting with the head of Homeworld Command. When he’s allowed into the right office, he apologizes for bothering Gen. Cameron Mitchell and carefully hands over a data crystal. Looking it over, the former head of SG-1 asks what this is about, but the agent can only further apologize for being unable to say before departing. Once he’s gone, Cameron examines the gift quizzically, picking up a phone and asking that a call be placed to the International Stargate Command.

On the Venii homeworld of V’en, Dr. Danielle Talbot is approached by an operative while on a diplomatic mission. It’s winter and the city is blanketed with snow and ice from a vicious blizzard, but Talbot was determined to seal a negotiation guaranteeing Earth a new supply line. Ever since she stepped down as administrator of the ISGC almost twenty years before, she’s been working as a diplomat for Alliance interests, Stepping into a hotel with the human agent, she asks what this is about that it requires her to call off a month-long trade mission she was about to undertake to an independent Jaffa planet. This Intelligence officer, like the one who visited Mitchell, can only say that it is of the utmost importance and will be well worth her time. Before Danielle can ask any additional questions, the operative heads back into the storm for the stargate.

Elsewhere, Teal’c is on Dakara to celebrate the signing of the Free Jaffa constitution when the stargate suddenly activates. A Serrakin Intelligent agent arrives and asks for a brief audience with the former Chancellor, turning down an offer to speak with the reigning executive, Ka’lel, instead. His invitation is personal, not political, and an advisor eventually finds an opening in the festivities to arrange the meeting. When the two sit down to talk, the Alliance agent hands over a data crystal like the others, telling his host to watch the message any time and consider its contents. Then the Serrakin rises to leave, but pauses when Teal’c, looking it over, asks how many years it’s been since the Tau’ri killed Ra. Confused, the operative answers honestly; over sixty. Deep in thought, Teal’c nods once and dismisses his visitor, turning the crystal over in his palm.

Watching a news feed from Dar Eshkalon, Jonas Quinn sits in his office as Director of Alliance Intelligence when there’s a knock on his door. Looking up, he sees his wife Rebbecca Eaton standing there, asking why he called and pulled her away from supervising new Alliance military personnel. Her job as commander of the Heliopolis garrison takes up a lot of her time, and she takes the duty far more seriously than is probably required. Giving her a kiss on the cheek and apologizing, Jonas asks if she can take a seat for a moment, as there’s a message going around to some of her old teammates that she needs to hear as well. Rebbecca eyes him with a smile and sits, waiting.

Somewhere in deep space, an advanced ha’tak mothership is supervising a group of construction craft zipping around it. On the Lucian Alliance warship’s bridge, Vala Mal Doran stares out the main window with a look mixing apprehension with triumph. She turns when her years-long associate Jeong steps up behind her, asking if she has a moment to speak; they’ve received a subspace message from Heliopolis. As the Lucian Alliance and the Allied government have never quite seen eye to eye, the communique is short on specifics or any substantive hints. Seeing how their current project benefitted greatly from Alliance assistance and scientific advisement, and the new generation of Seconds is open to future cooperation. This meeting could assure that. After a moment they both find themselves gazing out the main window, staring at what Vala has spent the last few decades of her life trying to complete. She nods slowly, pointing out that Allied advisement was, as Jeong said, vital in getting this far. Stepping back, she tells her assistant to have the message sent to her personal quarters, then leaves the bridge. Picking up his radio, Jeong looks out at the nearly-completed supergate, made up of the pieces gathered from the failed first attempt at Kalana (“Beachhead”). If they can find a way to get them working after all this time, they can reestablish contact with the Ori home galaxy permanently.

One by one, the old team has been notified. The mission can proceed.

Earth
Cambridge, Massachusetts
August 22, 2063
In a packed lecture hall at Harvard University, just outside of Boston, Dr. Daniel Jackson is giving a speech to a group of excited young students. Various diagrams and names are scrawled on the blackboard behind him, and the onlookers are furiously scribbling notes into their tablets. The African woman who spoke with Sam on Heliopolis enters the chamber and takes a seat at the back, folding her hands on her lap and listening. Daniel is in the middle of explaining the days before the Interstellar Alliance, a time none of the people now sitting before him have lived through. They know him only as Avi Jackson, leading member of the Avidan--the executive council of the Interstellar Alliance--until his retirement almost a decade previous. But instead of speaking on his tenure as a leader, he focuses on his first brush with the galaxy at large, before the stargate was made public on Earth (“Coming Clean”). Chuckling, he notes that he was giving a speech much like this on his theories about the Egyptian pyramids being landing pads for alien spacecraft. His colleagues had called him mad, his funding had dried up, and he was on the verge of expulsion from every academic institution in the world. But then Catherine Langford arrived one day with proof that would validate his speculation, and it was from that moment that everything else began (“Stargate,” film).

Glancing at his watch, Jackson apologizes that he seems to have run out of time, and the class groans in disappointment. He promises to go into greater detail on the Stargate Program’s founding the next week, and dismisses the class for lunch. As the students file out, the young woman who entered late navigates her way down to the speaker’s podium and waits patiently for Daniel to look up from his briefcase. When he does, he looks her over curiously, adjusts his glasses, and asks what someone from Alliance Intelligence is doing here in the United States. She grins at him, teasing that the old man still has some wits about him, and presses a wrist gauntlet on her right arm. A small hologram flashes into existence above her palm, giving her name as Naya Kasem, a Tunisian recruited by Intelligence after completing her studies in Britain. She explains that she’s from the organization’s Continuity Division, a special task force with a fancy name that monitors inconsistencies in the timeline and works to prevent the occurrence of things like solar-flare induced time traveling. Nodding, Daniel says that he’s heard of the department but wasn’t aware that it did much besides monitor solar activity as best it can and issue travel advisories for wormhole transit.

Naya says that’s only part of the story, and a tricky one at that, since no one without clearance knows why they can’t go through a stargate when there’s an active star between them and their destination. The rest of their work is highly classified, but this assignment has been in the works for decades, ever since AI got access to the Stargate Program’s files. Leading Jackson out of the lecture hall and onto Harvard Yard, the operate requests his company for one last mission with his old team. As she said, this has been in the works for years, and the United Nations, U.S. President, and current Avidan have all signed off on the operation. It should only take a day before they can all go back to their lives, but this isn’t something that can be put off or postponed. His presence isn’t necessary by any means, making this more of a courtesy call than anything else. But given what it is they’re about to do, everyone who was a part of the planning believes that he and the rest of SG-1 should be present. Looking down at a folder full of essays to grade, Daniel asks if he can at least get a hint about what’s going on, though he doesn’t look surprised when Naya shakes his head. The young woman can only smile and ask that he try and figure it out himself, gesturing nearby to where a puddle jumper is landing for them, prompting a good number of students to pull out their phones for pictures. Smiling in return, Daniel says he’d be a hypocrite if he gave a lecture on the possibilities of taking up strange women on their offers and then turned her down, and the two of them head towards the Ancient craft to depart.

Walking outside to get some fresh air, Samantha Carter looks out over the pond in the back yard of her late husband’s cabin. Spied from the bedroom, a framed picture of Jack O’Neill can be seen on the bedside table, along with a collection of extremely high-tech gadgets common in modern homes. Sam bends down to the water’s edge and runs a hand through, letting it slip past her fingers and startling a pair of fish nearby. Suddenly she thinks back to the day that O’Neill took her and the rest of her old team out here, when they found that the pool contained a few fish as a result of changing the timeline (“Moebius, Part 2”) She smiles faintly and straightens, looking up just in time to see a human version of a puddle jumper fly overhead. The prototype craft is already slowing, preparing to land in the clearing nearby, and Carter watches it for long moment. Taking one last look over the pond, Sam pulls a jacket on and heads back inside the cabin.

(Beginning of "Epilogue," see next three posts for more.)

[s09119]

(More of "Epilogue," see previous post for beginning and next two posts for conclusion.)

Spoiler:

Waiting for her in the living room, her husband Narim kisses her on the cheek, telling her that it would appear they have guests. She says that she saw the jumper land, and then surprises herself by admitting she’s a little scared. They’ve all been waiting for this day for years, but it’s still strange to think that it’s finally arrived. Narim takes her hand in his, fingering their wedding rings, and tells her that he has every confidence that things will work out as planned. That settled, he hands over her bag and suggests she gets going before they’re late. Carter insists that they have more than enough time, but finally relents when he begins to practically push her out the door. He would have preferred she extended her stay at home before returning to her work on Heliopolis, but he understands. Laughing, Sam kisses him goodbye and heads toward the clearing, flipping through pages on a computer pad in her bag. There are diagrams of stargates and hastily typed notes, but what stands out most is the seal of Alliance Intelligence’s Continuity Department in the upper right corner. Ever since her retirement from command of Earth’s fleet, she’s been working to perfect this plan down to the last detail. She just can’t believe it’s time to put it into action.

A pair of U.N. soldiers salute as she steps into the transport, and the pilot comes back to meet the great Admiral Carter herself. Laughing, she says that she hasn’t held that rank in years, not since she turned over command of the fleet to now-Admiral Via Sanders. She shakes his hand and greets him warmly, then spots Daniel sitting a few seats in and rushes over. He barely manages to get on his feet before she embraces him, asking him how he’s been since they last spoke. Jackson says he’s been well, still teaching at Harvard and occasionally Oxford and working on a new book in his spare time. He’s more interested in what Sam’s been doing though, noting that she’s been offworld more often than not for the past few years. Before she can answer, the pilot announces that they’re about to take off for the flight to New York. Carter manages to steer the interrupted conversation away from the impending “mission” after that, not willing to go into it quite yet.

Light years away, Naya has returned via stargate to Heliopolis, making her way through the crowded streets to the Citadel looming in the distance. She heads through security and takes a lift down to the Alliance Intelligence offices beneath the surface. The Continuity Division takes up a relatively small number of offices, but their presence on the agency's server is massive. Years of research and countless articles from scientific centers around the galaxy make up the bulk of their data, but it's a surprisingly slim majority. Thousands of tests and simulations are also stored on the network, all dealing with one specific phenomenon. Turning on her own computer, Naya activates the hologram that Carter had been analyzing earlier. The projector hums to life, raising an image of a transit between two stargates. But this time it's allowed to run further than seen before, and a new feature appears; the wormhole intersects a gravity well and passes a star at the exact moment of a solar flare. The tunnel immediately turns back on itself and attaches to the first gate, and the Intelligence operative nods at the successful simulation. Her monitor, in addition to an onscreen version of the hologram, displays only a countdown timer and two dates, one of which is blocked from view. The other, though equally difficult to read, can be seen to end with March 9, 1999.

Later on, the prototype puddle jumper flashes by on its approach the Manhattan, the island barely visible through the thick cloud cover. Calling Sam and Daniel into the cockpit, the pilot tells them to take a good look as he dips down under the clouds and shoots toward the Statue of Liberty. Massive skyscrapers, many larger than anything built during the 2010s, cover most of New York City, stretching out even toward the edges of the outer boroughs. Memorials of all shapes and sizes dot the cityscape, many commemorating victories in wars waged by SG-1 themselves, and an elegant monument in the center of Central Park pays tribute to those that died during the Fall of Earth. The United Nations complex has grown to three times its original size, spilling out onto a floating pier and sporting a trio of towers that combine both stunning aesthetics and practicality. Setting in the course for landing, the jumper turns to the southern tip of the island, heading for the familiar O’Neill Stargate Terminal. As they curve around the Freedom Tower on their final approach to the landing zone out front, Daniel can’t help but notice how dwarfed the ISGC has become in the years since it was rebuilt (“The Parting of Ways, Part 1”). Maybe there’s some metaphor in there, since use of the Ancient portal itself has steadily declined with the expansion of Earth’s military and civilian fleet. But no matter the times or how they change, she’s certain that it will always have a place in the galaxy.

After disembarking, Jackson and Carter head into the terminal to see what’s changed. Somewhat surprisingly, not much has; it looks almost identical to when it was first opened, a thought Mitchell is quick to echo. Daniel and Sam are delighted to see Cameron, Teal’c, Talbot, and Eaton all waiting a ways down the concourse, and the group exchanges greetings with excitement. Many of them have been out of contact for years, and this chance to get together again comes as a welcome reprieve from their daily lives. Carter suggests they all grab something to eat in the commissary, smiling as she sidesteps a question from Rebbecca about what they’re all here for. It’s still not the time to reveal the event that’s about to take place, not yet.

Seeing a collection of the galaxy’s greatest heroes, the other personnel in the mess hall quickly leave, insisting that the group deserves some time alone. They share a dinner filled with laughter and storytelling, and everyone has something to share. Mitchell recounts an offworld mission where he accompanied Eaton, just weeks after his resignation from SG-1 and her promotion to its leader. It went horribly awry, ending with a horde of angry Unas chasing them back through the stargate, but it gave Rebbecca the determination to redefine the team’s mission in a post-Der’kal galaxy. For her part, the New Zealander thinks she was a far superior leader to Mitchell; she didn’t have a single interstellar war crop up while she ran the team. The whole group laughs at that, then sobers at the memory of the conflicts they faced and the losses they suffered.

While the others return to catching up, Teal’c pulls Sam into the hallway and grows very serious. Truth be told, he received the Alliance transmission on the gathering and recognized almost immediately what it must be regarding. Daniel might have pulled his political strings from the Avidan and put it together, had he not been brought in at the last possible second. Smiling, Teal’c asks if that’s why he was brought in so late relative to the rest of them, but it doesn’t really matter. He spent a good deal of time speaking with his own top scientists and advisors, and he thinks he’s figured out exactly how Carter plans to make this work. Even so, he has reservations about any idea in which a single slip-up could irrevocably alter time and their very lives. Everything they fought so long and hard for could be rewritten in an instant, and he can’t imagine being even distantly responsible for letting that come to pass. But Samantha swears that everything has been precisely planned by the brightest minds in the Milky Way, and besides, the fact that they’re having a conversation about it then and there proves that it should work. Putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder, she promises that nothing will go wrong. She wouldn’t risk all their successes any more than he would.

They rejoin the others just as Daniel gets up to take a walk around the ISGC, wanting to stretch his legs and see what’s been made of his old lab. Heading out, he quickly finds that everyone who sees him feels the need to salute or otherwise honor him, and he’s never been one for that sort of thing. He ducks down side corridors to keep such encounters to a minimum, and eventually winds his way to where his office once was. It looks to have been inherited by a biologist, and there are a number of alien plant samples lining the walls. There’s nothing left of his belongings or artifacts, but that doesn’t really surprise him; the majority were transferred to other researchers when he left, and are either in museums or at his home. Smiling to himself, he takes one last look before walking back the way he came. On an impulse, though, he decides to take a detour up to the main level, and stands looking down at the stargate for a long moment, lost in thought. When he turns around to leave, he meets the eyes of someone entering the terminal and freezes, suddenly surprised.

Vala doesn’t quite know what to do, caught out in the open with no one else around. She quickly tries to duck away, but realizes that the only accessible exit further into the complex is just past where Daniel’s standing. Seeing she has no choice but to interact, she awkwardly asks how her old teammate has been in the years they haven’t seen one another. Jackson doesn’t appear to be as willing to make small talk, pointedly clarifying that she means the years since she packed up and left one day. He’s still trying to understand why she stayed away for years after leaving SG-1, only to come back, ask him to marry her, live a happy life together until ten years ago, and then suddenly run back to the Lucian Alliance and disappear.

She tries to insist that she had commitments to attend to, but Jackson abruptly grows furious, shouting that she had a commitment here on Earth, too. One that she made to him, broke, and ran away from for as long as she could. She had told him that her feelings for Tomin had been buried, and if she thinks he’s forgotten how badly it hurt to have her choose another the first time around (“Desperate Times”), he hasn’t. Somewhat reeling from the uncharacteristic anger, Vala grasps for words and stands there uselessly for a few seconds before recovering. Rather than respond, however, she merely rushes past him down the hall, leaving Daniel to follow after to the lower levels.

When Vala comes into the commissary, Mitchell and Sam go to greet her, but she gives them only an absent-minded “Hello” before taking a seat at the back. Daniel is right behind her, still furious, but decides to give up the argument for now and take a seat at the table. Clearing her throat, Carter tries to ease some tension by asking for everyone’s attention. For those who weren’t aware before, she was the one who sent the message for them all to gather back at the ISGC, and she has good reason that she’ll address when she can. Truly sorry for having to string them along like this, Sam explains that what they’re here to observe has implications beyond anything else they’ve ever encountered. Every enemy they defeated, every new world they discovered... none of that matters in the slightest compared to what she will soon ask them to watch. As they were told, nothing will be required of them but to bear witness, and she assures them that they will want to see what she’s offering.

[s09119]

Spoiler:

Leaning forward curiously, Talbot asks why there's a need for such secrecy. After all, each one of them has the highest security clearance in Alliance space and it’s not as if any of them would jeopardize anything that she could be planning. Carter smiles, having known someone would say that eventually, and insists that it’s not a matter of trust. They’ll understand soon enough why she’s too cautious to so much as broach the subject in a venue where other people are in and out. Aware that Teal'c is looking at her knowingly, she asks if they can set the issue aside for now. The others agree to let her do this her way, and, sighing, Samantha whispers to herself that everything will work out somehow.

Meanwhile, Jonas has joined Naya and her colleagues in the Continuity Division of Alliance Intelligence. He asks if everyone is in position and if all their assets are prepared to make the move. She nods and brings up a dossier of persons vital to this operation’s success. Admiral Sanders is in orbit standing by on the MBP-305 Aurora, and Ms. Frasier should be coming in at any time now. Nodding, Jonas looks over at the hologram projector, staring at the countdown timer and watching its color switch from green to orange. It’s almost time.

Checking her watch, Sam bites her lower lip and decides that they can’t afford to wait any longer. She knows the exact millisecond that everything will need to be in place, and they still have plenty of time to make that deadline, but she’d prefer not to take any chances. Besides, the longer they sit here, the more time everyone has to reach out to their contacts and piece together what’s happening. Even then, Talbot is reading through a report just sent to her mobile with interest, occasionally looking up at Carter admirably. Standing, Sam asks if everyone can come with her back to the gate room for one last little trip before they can get down to business. Mitchell and Eaton are the first ones out the door, still caught up in story-swapping, followed by Talbot and Teal’c, who have turned to a discussion on Jaffa foreign policy. Somewhat reluctantly, Daniel and Vala follow up together, giving one another looks that suggest each of them would very much like to apologize when the other isn’t looking.

It’s now past midnight, and the terminal is practically deserted. Security guards remain at their posts, and a handful of travelers are waiting around for a scheduled dial-in or dial-out, but the ISGC remains mostly empty. Downstairs, of course, work continues as usual for the scientists and technicians, but that could be classified as its own separate world. With no one else around, the group makes their way up the staircase from the lower levels and gathers around the stargate, looking around with curiosity. Confused, Cameron asks why they had to move, guessing only that Sam has a surprise party planned for them or something of that nature. Laughing, Carter assures him that it’ll be a surprise, but not like that. As if to prove her point, she toggles her radio and tells someone on the other end to proceed with the next stage as soon as they’re ready. Then, quite unexpectedly, an Asgard transport beam engulfs them and the stargate, whisking them out of the ISGC with a flash. The waiting travelers look absolute astonished, though the guards, informed ahead of time, merely chuckle.

Illuminating an otherwise darkened room, a second transport beam deposits the group and gate at another location. From what the dim light reveals, the former SG-1 team is standing on a metal grate, and there are objects covered in plastic slipcovers nearby. Other than that, however, there’s absolutely nothing that would indicate where they are or why Earth’s most precious asset has suddenly been moved here. Looking over, Sam sees that Teal'c is smiling and nodding to himself, suddenly realizing that his suspicions were correct. Likewise, Daniel appears to figure out where they've been taken and reacts with a chuckle. Talbot, upon seeing the oldest three SG-1 members so assured, double-checks the report on her mobile before grinning broadly. For their part, though, Cameron and Rebbecca seem very much lost and confused.

Stepping a few feet away from the stargate, Mitchell looks down to see that he's on a slope, not a platform. As his eyes adjust to the dark, he realizes that he actually remembers the contours of this particular room. And with good reason, seeing as they're standing in the gate room of the old Stargate Command at Cheyenne Mountain. Once he says it out loud, recognition also dawns on Eaton, but it doesn't quite make sense to her. This whole area was leveled by the Der'kal decades ago ("Star By Star"), and the original SGC was buried in the remnants of the collapsed mountain ("Earthfall"). Carter admits that it wasn't easy, but over the years they've managed to excavate and clear what was left of Cheyenne. Most of the complex is still nothing but a ruin, full of caved-in ceilings and crumbled walls and the leftovers from years of use. None of that really concerned her or those working on the project, though, since they only needed Sublevel 28 for their purposes. Once this business is finished, Sam believes that the U.N. wants to restore the rest of the structure and open a museum.

In the meantime, Cameron would finally like to know what this is all about. Glancing at the others, he admits that he can't think of any practical reason why they'd all need to be brought down here. But as Carter explains, it's just as she told them from the start; their being here was never about doing anything. She asked them all here because she wanted them to see something that's truly a once-in-a-lifetime event. Something that is without a doubt required to ensure that their destinies play out the way they have thus far. And something that has been in the works for--depending on how you look at it--over a century now. When Rebbecca asks what she means by that, Samantha says that there's an atomic clock on Heliopolis counting down the minutes and seconds to a very specific time. When it hits zero, a wormhole will connect to the Earth stargate, a connection that has been expected for quite some time.

They are on the verge of witnessing SG-1 arrive from 1969, having traveled back in time by a freak accident and now desperate to return to home ("1969"). From that day on, Sam has known that the time would come to send their past selves back, but she never expected to be alive when it happened. She assumed that another generation would plan the event, but thanks to the Alliance's advancements, they're all here to see it today. In just under twenty minutes, to be exact.

The interlude is full of shock and expectation, and the group spends the time in reflection. Carter waits patiently on the ramp for Cassandra Frasier to gate in from her offworld duties, embracing her old friend when she arrives. Eaton stands nearby, smiling and introducing herself to the woman who will make certain that SG-1's mission succeeds. Climbing up the control room stairs, Talbot opens the door to her old office, brushing the dust from her broken desk. The embarkation room has been restored perfectly, to avoid alerting the visitors from the past as to future events. The briefing room and control room were also repaired, but it looks that the remainder of the facility will stay in disrepair for some time. Several meters away, Cameron picks up the torn American flag on the ground, trying not to think about all the dead bodies that construction crews must have had to remove for this occasion. He puts the thought from his mind and drapes the flag on the cracked conference table before turning away. Downstairs, Daniel is in the control room looking down at the rubble-strewn hallway to the rest of the base. Despite herself, Vala comes up next to him and slips her hand inside his, then leans into him comfortingly. And for his part, Jackson holds her in return, only then noticing that a wedding ring has returned to her hand.

But inevitably the twenty minutes come to a close, and Carter asks everyone to join her in the briefing room. It is imperative that nothing of the future be given away in this, not when so much depends on events playing out exactly as the original SG-1 experienced them. If even a seemingly trivial detail were to change, they could alter the course of history and erase everything they've done. That's why it was an absolute necessity for this to take place in the old SGC and for it to be repaired to its original condition. It must look as if the lights could come on, the tarps could be removed, and the complex would be identical to the one the time travelers are returning to. Alliance Intelligence has been working on this for decades, and with Samantha's assistance, she thinks they've plotted it out perfectly. The one difficult piece of the puzzle was creating a handheld dialing device for Cassandra to use, and that was the only part that truly made Sam doubt they could pull it off. But three years ago, the ISGC made a breakthrough prototype that was exactly what she remembered from that fateful day. Everything was in place, and from that moment on not a day has gone by where she hasn't ran through the plan in her head. It will be over in mere seconds, but it's occupied at least a part of her thoughts each waking moment since 1969.

On Heliopolis, Naya watches as the countdown on the hologram hits the 30 second mark. Jonas is bending over her shoulder, equally enthralled, and the timer flashes red as it reaches its end. And in the bowels of Cheyenne Mountain, the stargate suddenly lights up, its inner ring spinning...

Earth
Washington, D.C.
September 19, 1969
Shouting at Col. O’Neill that they can’t leave yet, Cpt. Carter looks frantically at her watch and realizes that their attempt to get back to 1999 is going to come down to mere seconds. After becoming stranded in the past, they’ve finally managed to locate the facility housing the stargate. Now the only thing preventing them from returning to the present is the shootout that’s erupted thanks to government security personnel. The team’s become pinned down under cover, but Jack thinks that they need to go now before reinforcements arrive. Behind them, the active gate’s puddle flashes intermittently, and Sam worries that the connection is unstable. If a solar flare can really warp a wormhole to travel through time, who knows where they could end up if something were to go wrong?

Finally, though, Jack orders his team to move out. He’s not going to risk their being trapped in the late sixties, and their position is untenable. Running when they can, Carter, Jackson, and Teal’c disappear into the event horizon, with O’Neill remaining behind to provide covering fire for as long as he can. When a bullet strikes near his head, he decides that he can’t afford to wait any longer. He leaps onto the ramp and plunges headlong through the puddle, praying that Sam was right on her timing--and then tumbles out into a darkened room filled with cloth-covered equipment. His teammates look around, not understanding, then notice an older woman in white standing nearby. She looks calm, as if having expected them, and Jack asks who she is and where they are.

(More of "Epilogue," see previous two posts for beginning and next post for conclusion.)

[s09119]

(Conclusion of "Epilogue," see previous three posts for beginning.)

Spoiler:

Earth
Colorado Springs, Colorado
August 23, 2063
Watching from above, Samantha tries not to cry as she looks down on their younger selves and a still-living Jack O’Neill. Talbot whispers that she can hardly believe her eyes, a sentiment Mitchell and Eaton echo. Now they understand what Carter meant when she said that this project would ensure that the future played out as it has; if they failed to send the team from the past to their proper time, they would never have toppled the Goa’uld, fought the Replicators, destroyed the Ori, or turned back the Der’kal. Everything they’ve accomplished hinged on this moment, a duty that Sam has carried with her since the day she realized that it would fall to her to make it happen. It seems that no one has dry eyes as the SG-1 of decades ago speaks with Cassandra. Not only for the weight of what is taking place, but also for the knowledge of the tragedies they have yet to face.

Seeing what this moment means to the original three team members, Danielle taps Rebbecca on the shoulder and nods toward the hallway. They and Cameron give a combination of warm looks and shoulder taps to the others, then quietly retreat out into the corridor to allow their friends some time alone. Vala is the last to go, giving Daniel a tender kiss on the cheek before joining them. Watching their former selves prepare to step through the wormhole to the past, the surviving members of SG-1’s early days stand in silence. None of them know what to say, but all of them think back on the sixteen years of adventures that have shaped and changed their lives. A journey that the young people down below are just beginning to explore.

Carter goes to wipe a tear from her eye, unable to stop thinking of what she and Jack could have had if she could go tell them to be together then and there. But she finds that a sudden breeze inside the room has dried it before she can do anything. Daniel notices, too, and looks to where the American flag Mitchell laid on the table is billowing slightly before coming to rest. Teal’c begins to ask a question, remembering a similar occurrence within the SGC years before (“Meridian”), but never finishes the thought. Whatever the cause, Samantha puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes tightly. For just a split second, it feels as though another hand is clasped there, too. And then the moment passes, the breeze subsides, and the SG-1 of past, present, and future part ways. Just before the later disappear through the puddle, Cassandra looks after them fondly--letting her eyes dart up to the control room for only a moment--and whispers, "I will tell you this... your journey is just beginning."

The stargate shuts down, and darkness again fills the room.

THE END

[ussrelativity]

11/10!

Years in the making, since the first new 'episode'.

This was quite a ride, and very memorable.

[Lt. Col. Mcoy]

That was ... amazing.

I must confess, I suspected this would be the plot of the episode. Especially after your hint -- it practically had to be. But this was fantastically done.

If only I could green you!

[Commander Thor]

Very, very very nice. It's now 3:48 am for me, glad I stayed awake for that. Now, night night.