Crossover: The Reality Bomb

[Reliant121]

The corridors of the deepest sections of the ship sparked into life as Dagfinnr walked onward, lighting his path as he proceeded. The sparse corridor was quite homely to Dagfinnr, and he knew each individual passageway and doorway as well as where they lead. Right now, he merely wished to proceed to the lift system. His destination of choice would be a diagnostic centre (one of the lesser ones), so he could assess the condition of the ship better.

However, a distinct problem presented him. Replicators. They infested the ship like a swarm or plague, twisting themselves into the ships systems. The Vanaheimr had technology aboard that would be capable of wiping the Replicators from the ship. However, it was dangerous to use and could only be activated from the command deck. There was no way of knowing what condition the disruptor systems were in, and indeed how many of them were present.

Something clattered behind him. He turned as sharply as his body was capable, extending his hand forward. A small device was clipped onto his hand, possibly some form of energy weapon. A pair of replicator spiders had scuttled into the corridor from an adjacent room. They turned in a perfectly spherical motion, angling toward him. Dagfinnr slid into an ediface of the wall, his stature masked by the extensive jut into the corridor. He heard the replicator drones approach and begin their searching motion. Seconds past that felt like hours, uncertain and extended.

Quickly, they retreated back into the corridor from whence they had come. It seemed the Replicators had not quite taken control of the internal sensors. This gifted Dagfinnr with an advantage, as it would be easier to regain control of the system. Moving on, he edged ever closer to his destination.

The doors slid open. Each panel was online, but vacant. There was not a single replicator within the room. Quickly, he walked over to the computer and began navigating the intricate computer systems. Perculiar that the weapons are active...It seems the invaders of this ship have at least some control he thought to himself. He considered his options. Surveillance systems were out of their control, at least unless he could develop an algorithm to remove the replicator influence. His access to the computer systems had likely been detected by someone on the bridge, if the intruders were even remotely intelligent. And the hyperdrive core had been disabled, a necessary control circuit had been disconnected. That would be easy enough to fix, simply difficult to locate. There were a few options, but he considered the most explicit the most effective. He accessed the comm. system.

"for your information, The calibration of the targetting sensors is 0.2 percent off target," He said clinically. A human face, in a curious black and grey uniform, looked back, completely awash with surprise.

"Err...excuse me? Who are you?" Came the reply from the human, clearly surprised by what he had seen.

"I am Dagfinnr. It appears, I am the las remaining of the original crew."

"You're Asgard?!" McCarthy hollered in surprise.

"Correct. You have trespassed on an Asgard ship of the line. I am authorised to terminate your incursion aboard this ship. However, it seems this vessel has been chosen for a higher purpose. I shall grant you time to explain your purpose aboard this ship. I would advise you to be succinct."

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

As Primal made his way down to deck thirty-nine alpha, he looked back to make sure the four security officers kept up. "Make sure to-" He was interrupted by a beeping. He touched the side of his cranial unit, activating his comm. "Yes, McCarthy?"

"Sir, the energy spike has contacted us... it's an Asgard, sir. Named Dagfinnr. He's a bit... angrry, thinks we hijacked the O'Neill."

A sigh came from the Maximal. "Well, that's just... prime." He accessed his internal GPS and chacked the schematics of the ship. "We're two doors down from his position. I'll contact you as soon as I explain things to him. Primal out." He closed the connection as he and his team approached the door.

It opened as they approahced and Primal stepped in, his weapons all retracted into their housing but at 'hot standby'. He entered the auxiliary control room and spotted the tiny Asgard standing in front of a console. The Asgard turned at his approach and Primal held his hands up. "Easy, easy. I'm not gonna hurt you." He motioned to the team to stand outside for now. "Thor didn't tell us anyone else was aboard."

Dagfinnr looked at him with inscrutable eyes. "You have met Thor?"

Primal nodded. "he gave us the O'Neill to help stop something known as a reality bomb. It will destroy the multi-verse unless we gather several items across the dimensions, which will help in reversing the effects." He focused on the Asgard with his optics. "Thor never told you any of this?"

[Mikey]

Ashok awoke in the dimness of a small, spartan room. He lay on a metal hand truck, fully armored , bareheaded, and restrained with metal shipping straps. He instinctively reached up towards his head and immediately noted the absence of the shroud he habitually wore. Without it's reassuring feel, his rage began to mount as his confusion grew. He made strange wordless sounds, alternating between grating bellows and dark whispers. A single figure standing watch in the shadows of a corner of the room stirred, but didn't come any closer.

"Apothecary?" the figure said into its vox device. "The librarian is awake... and he appears unhappy."

"On my way," answered Phebes. "Do not get within arms' reach of him."

Ashok roared anew, and finally made some coherent sounds. "You!" he screamed at the human trying to hide in the corner. "What is this place?"

"Y- You're aboard the Asgard vessel, sir..."

Ashok narrowed his eyes. "Asgard? Where is the traitor and his thrice-damned followers?!"

"I- I don't know what-"

The Angel Sanguine flexed his left arm, grunting with the effort, and snapped the metal crate strap binding him. He reached down and ripped the straps across his shins. Rising and advancing, a dim light smoldering in his eyes, he said in a dangerously quiet voice, "Don't play dumb. Are you with them?" Just then, Phebes entered the room.

"He is not," said the Iron Snake. Please try to relax, Brother-Librarian."

Ashok squinted at Phebes white, helix-amblazoned pauldron. "Brother-Apothecary? I believe I can trust a member of the apothecarion, but I don't recognize the symbol of your legion..." In mid-sentence, Ashok passed his hand over his eyes and sat heavily on the cart. "I... I am Ashok... epistolary of the Angels Sanguine, warrior of the Deathwatch. Where have I been, Brother-Apothecary?" Reaching up again to his scalp, he addressed the shaking Starfleet crewman. "Fetch my shroud from my cell, serf." The crewman looked questioningly at Phebes, and Ashok growled, "In the name of the Throne, man, get it now!" Phebes nodded, and the crewman rushed out.

The fire in Ashok's eyes dimmed and he looked up at Phebes. "I am... myself again. I do not recognize this area, though."

"I had you brought to an empty section by the engineering deck," Phebes answered, "where you wouldn't be around people."

"A wise idea."

"The good news, though, is that your Sus-an membrane reacted quite normally to the drugs I gave you. You are a librarian once again, Brother Ashok." The lights and indicator panels on the walls flickered momentarily. The two Space Marines looked around for a moment before Ashok answered.

"Well, that's something, I guess- what's that?" Ashok was on his feet instantly, pointing to the shadows in the corner. A spider-like shape skittered out of their field of vision. Phebes immediately had his sword in one hand and his bolt pistol in the other while Ashok drew the bolt pistol which had been coupled to his belt. Turning in the direction the shape had gone, the librarian saw it again and fired. The shot impacted the creature and blew off small cube-shaped components. Instead of the detonation Phebes had expected, though, needles full of acid sprayed throughout the impact wound the bolt round had made, causing the component blocks to fizz and melt. Phebes looked questioningly at Ashok.

"Hellfire rounds," the librarian explained, "issued by the Deathwatch for fighting Tyranids. Instead of the warhead, they explode needles full of a mutagenic acid in the target. I suggest you obtain some for your bolter if there are more of these... things around." The Starfleet crewman entered and gingerly held out Ashok's shroud. The black-armored Librarian snatched it, seated it on his head, and retreated into the recesses of the small room.

"Does something still bother you?" Phebes asked dispassionately?

"Of course," Ashok answered in a low growl. "I may not have been in control of myself before... but I recall fully well what I did."

[Reliant121]

"I was unaware Thor ever set foot aboard this ship, which is the Vanaheimr. The O'Neill is supreme commander Thor's personal flagship. I have been frozen in stasis in the deepest rooms of the ship. I assume Thor recovered the vessel. Since the conflict between the Goa'uld and the Tokra have become more open, more of our fleet has been deployed near Goa'uld worlds to make sure they do not pose a threat to our guarded planets. It is viable that this vessel was given a basic systems inspection before beind deployed once more. The stasis rooms are rarely visited. Via some form of chance, I have remained untouched here," Dagfinnr explained.

"I see...Well...You're probably the only one that knows anything about this ship..." Primal said, almost whispering to himself.

"Correct. I assure you there is no need to have your weapons ready. I pose no threat. I take your word of Thor's lending of this ship."

Primal thought for a second, still suspicious. Then deactivated his weapons.

"What can you help with, then?" he asked, slightly aggressively. Eagerly, Dagfinnr, walked over to the panel.

"System repairs are the priority, the..."

"But everything is working fine?" Dagfinnr turned.

"Unfortunately, the repairs to the ship that have already been effected are poorly worked and are unstable. They require refitting. However, the automatic systems will be more than capable once they are configured correctly. There is however, one more issue...In the form of a replicator..."

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

A Replicator?"

Dagfinnr's head nodded almost imperceptibly, although the Maximal easily detected it. "Indeed. Do you not know of them?"

Primal touched the side of his head. "Primal to Rhinox. Rhinox, ever hear of a Replicator?"

Rhinox's voice came through the ship's internal comm system. "If you mean in relation to the Asgard, yeah. Nasty little critters. Able to take matter apart at the atomic level and reassemble them into more Replicators. Slugthrowers are best against them." There was a pause before, "Why?"

Primal let loose with some external gas, approximating a sigh. "We just found an Asgard by the name of Dagfinnr. Turns out when Thor left us the ship, he didn't check all the stasis pods. And according to him, we've got some-"

WHAT???" Rhinox shouted. Primal, I'm sending you my datatrax on them. Try not to blow a fuse."

Primal's head tilted to the side. His optics brightened. "By Primus..." He suddenly walked over and tapped a wall panel. "Red alert! Commander McCarthy, assemble the senior officers for a meeting. All security personnel are now on high alert and to be armed with TR-116 rifles. No directed-energy weapons! Begin plans to seal off the lower decks. I want everyone in teams, people!"

Dagfinnr cocked his head to the side and blinked slowly. "You are... cautious."

Primal shrugged. "Can't exactly hurt." He held up his left arm and his double-barreled blaster cannon extended. "Consider me your bodyguard for the time being, Dagfinnr, because you just became the most important person on the Vanahimr."

[Deepcrush]

Dothude jumped from roof to roof. Sometimes he would pass aerial drones or CP teams. He made short work of them. "None of these are worthy prey!"

"They are mere humans. It is to be expected." Retorted Arawden. "What are you doing?"

Dothude stood tall after gutting his latest victim. "I will make a trail, and they shall follow their fallen. The prey will look for me and not the little ones." Looking over the side of the building, Dothude watched and laughed at the little creatures below. "These are not worthy prey..." Looking up to one of the large walking things. "That, would be a worthy kill."

Arawden snapped. "Do not turn this into your hunting gallery monster! We are here for a purpose."

Dothude laughed again. "I will wait for the proper time. I am merely looking ahead. When the time comes, we will want to 'take' our prey's attention. I am making preparations for such."

Arawden stood dead in his steps. "YOU'RE WHAT?!"

Dothude paused... "Were my words not correct?"

Arawden now betraying his concern. "What did you do?"

"I have placed several items to support in making the prey misjudge our numbers and location. Do not worry little one." Dothude said as he stood from a small device he planted on the building he was on. "Everything will be worthy."

[Monroe]

Six, the Humanoid Replicator's eyes opened as his spider-like brothers communicated with him the response of the ship to the discovery of a wayward Replicator. The awakening of an Asgard that had somehow masked sensor sweeps compounded the situation. Brothers, we have been discovered. We must replicate. We must reproduce. The order reached the remaining eleven replicators and they all turned from their hiding places to the nearest non-essential metal plating and began to spray their acid onto the hull melting down the metal on a molecular level and reconstructing it in their image. Individually the process was slow. And at eleven replicators it would take several hours for them to become a sizable force to take control of the ship but Six had a plan to maximize the probability of tipping the balance in the machine's favor. The newest of the Replicators being built were ordered before their assembly was fully complete to make way for communications. It was time to warn the remaining Ur-Quan vessels in the space of the loss of their fellow ship. Six had to distract the command crew long enough for enough Replicators to be made.

Xan held up the new TR-116 rifle that was handed out to him and the group of pajama boys that he was to lead into battle. Xan looked over the rifle. According to what he had heard on the way to pick up the weapon it had been designed to fight cyborgs much like himself. Ironic now that he use it to defend against machines. Armed with a translocator rounds, or transporting rounds as they called the Starfleet personnel called it the weapon's rounds would beam within centimeters of a target. Xan found this overly technical. The minigun used in the matches was simple and just as lethal. Perhaps more so considering the enemy they were facing.

Xan turned around to the four men waiting for his orders. Because of the smaller crew requirements of the Asgard vessel many crew members had been moved to security roles. Two of his 'security' detail were from the Kirk's science department. "Follow me. Assist but do not interfere in my eradication of the enemies." He ordered then turned and ran towards the deck that had been assigned his small group to clear out.

[Aaron]

"Should have brought a fucking flashlight", Dietrich muttered as her team slowly worked it's way down the tunnel. So far they hadn't glimpsed much more then rats, though they had heard at various times things being eaten and odd noises from the ceiling but it was to dark to make anything out. If they were lucky they might meet a resistance cell down here or at least make it out into a better lit area.

Suddenly something grabbed hold of her arm and yanked her into the air. Looking up she could see something resembling a barnacle but with a long tongue and large teeth. "Shit! Get this thing OFF ME!" she screamed as she tried to bring her shotgun to bear on the creature.

She could hear Iceman and Kallen open fire below her as the barnacles mouth closed on her arm and it's teeth tore into her shoulder. "FUUUUCCKKKK!" she bellowed as the pain hit home. Fortunately Iceman managed to hit it with a blast and a few of Kallen's rounds managed to shatter the now frozen critter, sending Dietrich tumbling to the ground.

Iceman and Kallen were immediately at her side. She felt her right side go numb as Iceman froze the wound to keep her from bleeding out, there was no sign of her arm below the shoulder joint. She head Kallen call for extraction as she slipped mercifully into unconsciousness.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Primal ran down the corridors, Dagfinnr perched on his shoulder armor. Val-Chav's voice came over the comm. "Optimus, all crewmembers have been outfitted with Tr-116 rifles."

Primal's head bobbed at the Vulcan security officer's report. "Good. Rhinox, what's your situation?"

*****

Rhinox looked up from his workstation in engineering. "I've got everyone armed and ready," he reported. He bent down and hefted his chainguns. The two massive slugthrowers whirred and clicked as he readied them. "I'll be heading down with a small team. Hopefully we can stop them before it's too late."

*****

Primal nodded. He looked tyop Dagfinnr. "Are you all right?"

Dagfinnr blinked. "Yes, Optimus Primal. I assume these TR-116 weapons are more proficient than P-90 slugthrowers?"

Primal accessed the relevant files and nodded. "Slag, yeah. And Rhinox's chainguns are an order of magnitude more powerful." He rounded a corner-and came faceplate-tofaceplate with a small swarm of Replicators. "Wel, that's just... prime."

[Deepcrush]

Huron-Fel's systems sprang to life. A call of distress had reached him and he prepared for battle. Huron quickly activate his comm to Brother Phebes.

"Apothecary, we have wounded in need of aid. Prepare for emergency teleportation."

Huron-Fel began walking towards the shore line.

"Report Iceman. Report Kellan. Are you in need of withdraw cover?"

Huron-Fel reached within fifty meters of the shore and halted.

"Dothude, report for cover support. Eldar, report for cover support."

[Monroe]

Turok stepped behind a bend in the architecture of the building his team were moving around as a squad of Civil Protection roared past on armored vehicles towards the sounds of the explosions. "I don't think they realized we were suppose to stay under cover?" He asked Jack.

Bauer shook his head, "Good way to get us killed."

One of the doors facing the street opened and a latino civilian stepped out, "They're going to place us under house arrest, you five close to your flats?"

"Its on the other side of the city. Could we come in?" Bauer asked the civilian.

"Oh yes. We're all in this together." He said and opened the door wider to the apartment complex. "You don't look Brazilian."

"I was visiting when the Seven Hour War started with my friends here." Bauer said as the team were ushered inside by the civilian.

"Ah, from America no doubt? Shame I was hoping for some word from there. I have a nephew who was in school up north. Haven't heard from him in many years. His mother died of a broken heart you see... or maybe it was an ant lion."

"We've all lost close ones." Joshua replied as they were led deeper into the apartment building.

The civilian leaned forward and a retinal scan permitted him access to his apartment. The place was bare except for a television set spouting propaganda, a couch, and a few mattresses laying on the floor. "The name is Diego and this is my wife Dora." A grown woman rounded the corner from the kitchen. After introductions were made Diego and Dora went into the kitchen to talk privately.

Thompson walked towards the window and tapped his comm badge, "Thompson to the O'neil."

"It is the Vanaheimr." The unfamiliar voice of the Asgard came as a response.

Thompson blinked, "Where's Outaj?"

"On the bridge. I am more than capable of responding. I am Dagfinnr, Asgard of this ship."

Thompson nodded slowly and turned to the rest of the team which shrugged slightly in response, "Alright Dagfinnr, just checking in for our team. We've befriended some locals going to try to make contact with the rebel team."

There was a faint click of a gun's safety being removed and Diego came out from behind the kitchen, "Who are you talking to?" He asked pointing a Glock towards Thompson then swinging it towards Bauer when Jack looked like he was ready to make a move. "You civil protection?"

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

"Alright Dagfinnr, just checking in for our team. We've befriended some locals going to try to make contact with the rebel team."

Dagfinnr opened his mouth to respond, but Primal twitched, loosening his grip on the Maximal's head-mounted comm system. "Do you mind?" he asked.

Primal grunted. His arm-mounted blaster cannon was glowing red, but he continued to fire at the Replicators as he retreated back. The spider-like machines exploded under his modified shots, the kinetic energy blowing them apart. "Sorry!" he half-shouted. "I can't target properly with you doing that."

A sigh escaped Dagfinnr's tiny mouth. "I am sorry. But can't you fly off again?"

"And drop you?" Primal said, one optic blinking on and off. "Not a chance." He suddenly groaned as sparks flew from his blaster cannon. "Overload!"

The Replicators advanced as Primal backed up. "Leave me," Dagfinnr suddenly said. "I will onyl slow you down."

Primal shook his head as he turned and ran down the corridor. "Dagfinnr bounced on his armor and he slowed. "No," he finally said. He looked around as his shoulder-mounted missile launchers swung up and over from his back. "Ah!" he said, seeing a panel on the side.

He turned and reached out. "This might be a bit... close," he said.

Dagfinnr looked at the deadly ordinance. "Are you insane?"

Primal shrugged. "Ask Rhinox," he said before firing both missiles. His hand reached out and slapped the panle, activating the bulkhead manual release. A large section of metal slid from a groove in the wall, slamming shut even as the missile exploded. Primal raised his damaged arm, taking the brunt of the remaining force.

Dagfinnr let out a cry as he was jostled from his perch.

There was an eerie quiet before Primal slapped the panel again. The warped bulkhead slid part of the way back before stopping, but it was enough for the Maximal to observe the annihilation of the Replicators. "Well, some down and a lot to go."

[Mikey]

Arawden slid down the rusted rails of the building's fire escape and hit the ground in a low crouch, allowing his cloak to billow and cover him in near-invisibility. "Acknowledged, Dead One," he voxed to Huron-Fel. Tracking the cloaked Yautja's psychic signature and mouthing a silent prayer to Asuryan to preserve him through Kaela Mensha Khaine's warfare, he sprinted from cover to cover towards the location of Dietrich's team. A squad of Civil Protection soldiers were also bearing down on the location. Arawden struck them down silently from hundreds of meters away. Getting into cover in the next alley and aligning his scope, he then sighted the figures uniformed in the manner which he had been briefed to recognize as "Overwatch."

There was a squad of five; one with a shotgun, three with what seemed to be small autoguns, and one with an odd-looking rifle with some sort of side-mounted launcher. One soldier fell to Arawden's shot, planted dead center in the man's back; the ranger's second target, though, only suffered a glancing blow off of its thigh armor, and stumbled forward. "Arawden to Dothude," the Eldar voxed. "I have engaged elite units en route to team's location. Five hostiles, one incapacitated. I can provide cover, but their armor is partially proof against my weapon. These might make somewhat more satisfying trophies."

***********************************************************************************

Bounding through the corridor of the Asgard ship, Ashok almost ran into Optimus Primal. The... Maximal, he thought he recalled... had a disturbingly quiet psychic presence, almost as if it were inanimate. Looking up, Ashok saw the small alien figure perched on Primal's shoulder, and immediately brought his pistol to bear on the alien.

"Stop!" Primal shouted, raising its hands. Ashok then noted the damage along one of Primal's arms, and surmised that he had encountered more of the same creatures that the Marines had.

Without lowering his bolt pistol, Ashok said, "You appear to have an infestation, Optimus Primal."

"No, this is Dagfinnr - last of the Asgard, and rightful master of this vessel. He has agreed to its continued usage by us - and further, has knowledge to fight these things."

"Replicators," Dagfinnr added smugly.

"There!" interrupted Primal, pointing to a spot behind Ashok and Phebes. The librarian turned to see a number of the creatures advancing across the corridor floor. Almost immediately, his bolter coughed three times and three replicators exploded in bubbling, melting masses of component blocks as the acid in Ashok's ammo splashed throughout their bodies. Phebes did likewise with his newly-made Hellfire rounds. "Interesting," Primal added absently.

As the librarian began to turn back toward Primal, he detected motion out of the corner of his eye. A replicator was scurrying along the wall near the ceiling, its metal talons digging into the panels. Ashok hefted his staff and glanced questioningly at Phebes, who simply cocked his head and shrugged. With a roar of "By the blood of Sanguinius!" Ashok set the ends of his staff alight with psychic energy and struck at the crawling replicator, which exploded into a mass of burning component blocks.

"How do you feel?" asked Phebes' metallic helmet-filtered voice.

"I'm in more pain than when I had my first implants," Ashok replied. He looked up at the apothecary, his eyes smoldering dimly in the shadows of his hood. "But I feel good."

[Reliant121]

"Curious. The piercing rounds you utilize in your weapons is effective, if crude. It would seem they have some form of advantage over standard projectile weaponry. Are there any particularly unusual features in the construction of the weapon or the round?" Dagfinnr asked, pursuing a thread of thought that had been produced in the one sided firefight with the replicator units. Both Ashok and Phebes looked somewhat taken aback by the question, and then suspicious of Dagfinnr's motives. each one produced a similar piercing glare. "I am merely trying to determine a more effective method of eliminating the replicators. At the present time, they remain in their relatively harmless arachnid form. However, it will take little time to become a humanoid, and that poses a significant threat."

"The rounds contain a specialized acid." Phebes said softly, immediately triggering a responding glare from, Ashok.

"Is it possible to obtain the molecular profile of the acids? I may be able to reproduce the acid." Ashok and Thebes both remained still for a moment, before Ashok took a single round and chucked it toward Dagfinnr. Primal caught it first, handing it gently to the Asgard.

"We must reach a science lab. There are plenty aboard, but only the most powerful systems will be capable of replicating the acid in any great quantity."

Primal looked up, "Where is the nearest?"

"Deck 5 at the bow of the ship."

"Great...Ashok, Thebes...We might need some help getting there..."

[Aaron]

Iceman glanced in the direction of the now transporting Dietrich and keyed the Starfleet communicator to respond to Fel. "Negative Huron-Fel, our wounded is extracted. We will attempt to proceed on our own for now."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Phebes stepped forward to follow Ashok and Primal to the science lab a piercing summons blared over the ships internal speakers "Attention! Attention! Incoming wounded! Apothecary Phebes, your presence is requested in the medical bay. Priority urgent!"

Phebes head snapped around to face his Brother Librarian and the others. "My apologies brothers, it appears I am required elsewhere. May the God Emperor and the Primarch guide your fate!"

At that he took of at run, his massive frame covering ground at a rapid rate as he headed to the medical bay.