Quick note: I write slow. This is an idea I've had for a while, but this is the first chance I've had to actually write it out. However, with Real Life stuff getting in the way, I won't be able to guarantee when any updates will come, just that they will. This is the first full-length story I've attempted, as well. I'm used to writing drabbles, but I'm trying to challenge myself.
Also- this is so far only a teaser prequel, I will be editing it later. My (lame?) excuse for posting a non-final draft is, if I don't, I'll forget. It's set around Season 3, although I haven't quite decided exactly when yet, that'll be part of the edit. Transformers characters will be 2007 movie-verse style, with influences drawn from G1. AU.
When they had first discovered and explored P9X-832, it had been deemed a good world for research- a multitude of wildlife, riotous growth of brightly-colored trees, bushes, and flowers, and yet no sentient or outright hostile species that they could find, no harsh or dangerous weather patterns in the area near the Stargate that would keep them from studying the flora and fauna. It seemed like a world that had slipped under the Goa'uld radar. In fact, had it been feasible, it would have been the perfect world for a camping vacation.
Although they had been suspicious at first (in this line of work something that sounded too good to be true usually was), in the end one Colonel Jack O'Neill loved it, declaring that if he ever managed to retire again, he was building a new cabin here. One Daniel Jackson was, predictably, allergic to three kinds of pollen that they knew so far. Sam and Teal'c, for the most part, were simply enjoying the peace while it lasted. Of course, since they were SG-1, this tranquil planet was not going to be their assignment for long. And sure enough, as soon as Stargate Command received the report that nothing was trying to kill them or eat their faces, they were recalled and another team took over on P9X-832.
The scientists sent to study the planet were delighted by the sheer wealth of resources it promised. The Stargate was in the middle of a wide field carpeted by knee-high grasses and bright flowers, surrounded on all sides by forest in which the most fascinating trees and bushes grew, occasionally covered with patches of soft blue moss. The soil was rich with nutrients, unsullied by pesticides or pollution. Several of the plants they'd tested were not only edible but highly nutritious, the animals were not shy (one researcher was already halfway to domesticating one of the purple, four-winged hummingbirds that lived in the area), and one specific kind of shrub was the cause of much excitement, as its leaves apparently contained compounds usually found in antiretroviral drugs. They spent weeks studying everything within easy walking range, with still no sign of sentient inhabitants on the planet.
All in all, it seemed a utopia.
At least, until a hostile race showed up.
The exhausted, soot-smudged research team stumbled back through the Gate, immediately yelling for the control room to close the iris.
"What happened?" General Hammond bellowed, trying to snap the scientists out of their dazed condition long enough to determine how to respond to whatever had caused this.
"It, we… it was huge. Huge, metal… and then it…," The man trailed off, looking around at his companions. "Doctor Petras, she's still back there! Please, you have to help her!" The whole team was in bad shape. Most were already being loaded onto stretchers for transport to the infirmary; a couple with burns, one with a large gash down his thigh. The man speaking seemed one step away from hysteria.
"It was huge. What, a pyramid ship?" Hammond was already planning, strategizing. Of course they would try to get her back, leaving people in the hands of the Goa'uld was never an option.
"No, it." He paused, shuddering. "It was alive. I know it sounds like something straight out of sci-fi, but it was a giant, living robot! Its eyes glowed, and it looked right at us and said something and then… another one showed up. And then they started fighting."
Dr. Fraiser interrupted. "If you'll excuse me, General, I need to get him calmed down and checked out." She moved a needle towards the man's arm.
"Wait." Hammond stopped her with a gesture. "I need to know exactly what happened, first. We'll get Doctor Petras back, son, don't worry. But you need to tell me, as clearly as possible."
He took a deep breath, visibly steeling himself. "Doctor Petras and I were collecting samples, when she looked up and said there was something in the sky. At first it looked like a small meteor or something as it fell, and it landed about a mile away from the clearing around the 'Gate. We were trying to decide whether we should go investigate or send a report back and wait for orders, when the ground started shaking and we could hear it, walking towards us. It was huge."
Hammond nodded. "How big, can you give us an estimate?"
"Ah, maybe twenty feet tall, we would only have come up to its knees. But it looked at us, and its eyes were glowing. It said something, I think, but it wasn't like any language I've ever heard. It sounded metallic, I guess that makes sense because it was made of metal but it looked human-ish, I mean it had a face and two hands and legs but…" He paused and took another deep breath. "Anyway. It took another step towards us, when another one came out of the sky- this one had wings, and it jumped on the other one and screamed something and they started fighting. We ran, but one of them shot this… laser gun, or something, and Doctor Petras was behind us. She'd tried to grab some of our equipment, see, and she was back a ways. The laser hit near us and destroyed a bunch of trees, and that was when the others were injured. I looked back but I couldn't see her, and I couldn't go find her, and we made it to the Gate and dialed out as quickly as we could."
Dr. Fraiser brandished the syringe, looking impatient. "If I may, General…?"
He nodded. "Thank you, Doctor Kelman. Don't worry, you did the best thing you could. Rest and recover, we'll find her."
Like it? Hate it? Let me know, please! Concrit is greatly appreciated, especially as I'm using Wikipedia for most of my research. (And everyone knows how accurate that is.)
--Illogically