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#Daisy POV—APRIL 2000

Daisy had taken a long shower, ate her early dinner in solitude, and then headed down to Level 27 after confirming that General Hammond wasn’t there in his office. He was on Level 17, talking with Maynard in the cafeteria. Which made this easier. 

Daisy leaned on the table, pressing 1 on the speed dial on the red phone, then picked up the receiver. 

Three rings. Hopefully the President would be– 

Then someone unexpected picked up. “Grandpa?” Kayla’s voice came through the phone. 

Daisy grinned. She had not expected this, especially from General Hammond of all people, but it was still nice to speak to Kalya, “Hi, Kayla.” It’d been a while since she’d spent some time with either of his granddaughters. 

“Daisy!” The younger of General Hammond’s granddaughters exclaimed, “Hi, how are you?”

Daisy smiled, “I’m good. Are you doing your homework?” It was almost evening. “And what’s for dinner?”

“I’m doing math. And it’s broccoli with green beans and tacos for dinner.” Kayla said, “What about you?”

“Well, I wanted to talk to your grandpa. And then I’m going to have dinner.” Daisy softened, “Sandwiches, ice creams and cookies.”

Kayla laughed softly, “Ice cream’s not dinner, silly.”

“I know, but my mom’s taking me out for ice cream as a treat.” Daisy lied easily, because she wanted to have a soft night-in with her mom after… after everything. “So I’m going to have a full Banana Sundae.” She paused, lowering her voice to a whisper, “What say that next time I come by your house on Thursday, I take you and Tessa out for ice cream?”

“That’s awesome! Thank you, Daisy.” Kayla chimed, her smile audible. 

Daisy just hummed, “Now, I gotta go. You do your homework and eat all of your greens, okay? I’ll take you to get ice cream as a treat on Thursday after your ballet classes.”

“Okay, bye Daisy! Good night.” Kayla wished.

Daisy wished back, smiling. “Good night.”

She placed the receiver down. 

Daisy stared down at the red phone, then huffed. 

General Hammond, you sly old dog. 

That actually kinda made her feel better. 

At least he had his priorities right. Daisy respected that about him. 

Daisy pressed 2 on the speed dial of the red phone and picked up the receiver. She hoped this was the President.

Two rings.

“This is Julie Masterson from the President’s office.” A woman’s voice, likely his secretary. “The President’s in a meeting, General Hammond. Can you hold, or is this urgent?”

Ah, this was the right person. She had to remember that. 2 for the President. 

Daisy smiled, “Hi, Julie. I can wait. Tell Archer it’s Specialist Q.”

That caused an immediate silence over the line, for exactly eight seconds. “Um… I have notified him, Ma’am. He’s finishing up now.” Julie returned, sounding nervous. 

Daisy hummed, “So, while we’re waiting, I’m kinda curious, how much do you get paid for the Senior Secretary of the President of the United States?” Whatever it was, the woman was probably criminally underpaid for the work she was doing dealing with Archer’s bullshit all of the time. 

“Uh… 100 thousand a year, ma’am. I’m on the GS-15 payscale.” Julie answered. 

“Right.” Daisy nodded to herself. “I’ll talk to the President about a bonus for you. You should get it for dealing with Archer’s political bullshit.”

A small, strangled sound came through the line before someone cleared their throat. Then, Julie’s voice returned, this time nervous. "He’s ready to speak with you now. I’ll put you through."

Daisy smiled, “Nice talking with you, Julie.” 

A few seconds of professional hold muzak, then… Archer’s tense voice came through. “Daisy.”

"Archer," Daisy greeted coolly, because her contract with the US government was broken now. He had no leverage on her anymore, and really he couldn’t stop her from taking over the SGC without blowing the whole program wide open. “So… What’s up? General Maynard said you wanted to talk to me.”

“We need to talk about your… recent actions.” Archer said curtly, his voice frustrated and angry. “Especially that unilateral move on A53 and your extension of Level 17 authority without clearance, or prior approval.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow. “Ah, about that…” She made a thoughtful noise. “Don’t worry, Level 17 won’t be an issue anymore.” Trolling the President of the United States sounded good right about now. 

Archer was silent for a beat. “You… understand?”

“Nope.” Daisy’s tone was sharp, but matter-of-fact. “Level 17 is cutting ties with the U.S. government. The SGC is doing the same.” She ignored his shocked growl, “I’m expanding my lease to cover the entire Cheyenne Mountain complex for Stargate operations, until 2020. And you’re also going to support my general Stargate operations disclosure plan for the Millennium Summit and my proposal for a global Stargate command.”

There was a few seconds of silence, before…“What?” Archer asked sharply. “Daisy, you’re crossing lines—lines that protect national security and diplomatic relations. You don’t get to rewrite the rules on the fly!” he snapped, frustration evident, “What the hell are you thinking?!”

She was thinking of the future. 

Technically, yes, she was crossing lines, breaking rules and laws that could see her on top of every fucking watchlist across the world. But, when the old rules no longer applied, people created new rules. 

Sometimes the rules and laws were just, but when they were created out of fear, terror, helplessness, they were wrong; the Sokovia Accords were the best example for that, even if that didn’t happen here. 

And even if they claimed that the rules applied to her, why should Daisy listen to that? 

She didn’t care about ending up on watchlists, being hunted down, feared, or despised. 

She knew what she was—Inhuman. 

All of that practically came with Terrigenesis and her powers. 

Regardless of the world, the era, rules, laws or what lies people tell to make themselves feel better… At the end of the day, it was all about power. Who had it, who didn’t, who wanted it and what they were willing to do to get it. 

But power was just a tool. A brittle, if useful tool. 

And Daisy—as much as she hated it—had it. Intrinsically, due to her abilities and who she was. 

So why not make use of it? To fight the good fight. To protect the innocent. 

Daisy didn’t say any of that out loud, “I can make that into a list and send it to your email if you didn’t get all of that, don’t worry.” Daisy reassured, smirking. “I know… older men have hearing problems, sometimes.” 

“Daisy.” He growled. “What the hell are you playing at?”

Her smile turned sharper, her voice dropping low. “Unlike you, I don’t play games when it comes to the security and safety of Earth.” She continued, “Your actions almost triggered a war between Earth, Tollana, and the Asgard… All because you tried to play politics. You didn’t read the Protected Planets Treaty, you listened to the wrong people, and because you were a coward, not to stand up to our alien allies. Now, we are going to do what I say, in regards to the SGC, or I’m going to go public. About the Stargate, the SGC, your actions… everything.”

She could almost hear Archer’s choking, frustrated growl through the phone. “If you go public, we’ll charge you for treason and for disclosing classified—”

Daisy’s laugh was low and knowing. “Yeah, about that. You can’t. Not legally, anyway. I didn’t sign the NDA about the Stargate, remember? That was a point of contention when you gave me citizenship. I categorically denied signing any NDAs, and after compromising, we altered my contract, and we signed that instead.”

There was a long pause. Archer continued, sounding really frustrated this time. “That contract had a secrecy clause about not revealing anything about your powers, the SGC, the Stargate–” 

“It did, but as you very well know, the secrecy clause was tied to the contract itself.” Daisy agreed, “But if General Maynard or the others among your little party that came to watch the Tribunal didn’t tell you, I will repeat it now. Our contract was broken as of two weeks ago. And not from my side, mind you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Archer asked sharply. 

“Section A, subsection 3: The U.S. government will not, under any circumstances, block or void my citizenship, now or in the future, unless I rescind it myself.” Daisy quoted from her contract, “And… 3.1, where I put this next part in bold and capital letters to ensure that you guys don’t just brush over it: DO NOT MESS WITH MY PRIVATE LIFE.” She repeated, her voice vibrating. “What exactly would you call forcing Jack—the person I consider to be my dad—to ruin his relationship with me, other than messing with my life?”

Archer grit his teeth. “Regrettable, but necessary action.”

Daisy laughed. “Well, alright then. I can think of plenty of regrettable, but necessary things I could do in response—while keeping within the laws of proportionality—to the U.S. government.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond. “Now, I told a friend and colleague that it’s not necessary for me to… I don’t know, hijack Air Force One or break into the White House to make my point. So don’t make me a liar. Come on… it’ll be awkward as hell for both of us—”

“Daisy.” Skye interrupted from the Level 17 work-PDA on her belt. “We have a problem. Breach.”

Daisy immediately stopped, giving all of her attention to Skye. Archer immediately fell silent across the line as well, no doubt having heard that, because Breach only meant one thing. 

A valid/legitimate leak of the Stargate programme that Skye could not stop herself. 

Archer started barking orders across the line, no doubt checking for whatever had caused Skye to invoke the breach protocol. 

Skye continued after a moment, “Colson Industries released images and tracked down the ship you found anchored at Phobos and were on when you defeated Thor’s ship. Fortunately, the Biliskner seems to be visually cloaked somehow and only shows up in a few frames as a blur, but they’ve got clear images of the Phobosian ship. They’ve plotted the trajectory of the landing action you took, and estimated it to be somewhere in the mid-continental United States.”

Archer sucked in a breath, but stayed silent. 

“Colson industries has also released evidence from their various weather and deep space observation satellites of the Phobosian ship coming out of a crater in Phobos.” Skye revealed, which had both her and Archer wincing. “Another piece of good news is that they haven’t been able to get a clear cut image of the Al’kesh, but the images do record a ship-shaped blur, but it seems that he coordinated with CNSA and Roscosmos to track the ship through space, where and when it landed. Both Russia and China have also released their own statements, and have gone on heightened alert status.”

Daisy groaned. “For fucks sake.” She sighed, as her mind raced with trying to figure out a solution– “This kinda thing could have been avoided if you’d told me, you asshole.” She said into the phone. Because if he’d told her, then Thor wouldn’t have been in orbit around Earth, and Daisy wouldn’t have needed to stop in high orbit of Earth! 

Fuck. 

A few moments of frantic activity on Archer’s end, followed by whispered conversations and sharp yells, then his focused voice came back on the line. “I got the same news. While you and I have issues, we need to deal with the immediate problem: this leak and the alien ship you salvaged for Earth. We need to manage the narrative. A full cover-up is no longer possible.” Yeah, especially with Russia and fucking China knowing about it!

Daisy pushed all of her feelings, all of her tension, her anger, and everything else into boxes, focusing. Her mind shifted to combat mode. “Agreed.” She thought about it for a moment, then grinned. “Archer, go on the air and confirm it.”

“What?” Archer asked, disbelief in his voice. “Why the hell would you want me to go—”

“Because if we lie now, it’ll make things even harder when disclosure happens, and the Russians and Chinese already have evidence.” Daisy explained quickly. “If you fight this, you’ll lose public trust. The U.S. and our allies will accuse you of colluding with aliens, being compromised by aliens, or hoarding alien tech. Colson Industries, one of the largest U.S. contractors, has already leaked everything worth leaking and two different rival countries support this leak. If even Skye can’t find a way to deal with this, to say that it’s a deepfake or something else, then there is absolutely no way that you or I will be able to deal with this either. Alec Colson is an asshole, and also very inclined towards freedom of information and the public knowing what the government is doing at all times… but he isn’t stupid. Colson had to have been sitting on this for at least a day, before he reached out to the Russian and Chinese governments. And he won’t back down. His father was a journalist during the McCarthy era; he knows how to stir the pot and push the U.S government on this. And if Colson pulls out of the U.S., it’ll tank your economy.”

Archer let out a frustrated sigh. “That still doesn’t—”

“Look like you’re taking it seriously, and Colson will back off. He’ll be satisfied with himself and he’ll think that he did his patriotic duty as an American and his duty to the public by releasing this. But this will also give you cover for introducing advanced technology to the public, globally.” Daisy pressed. “Confirm that national radar detected the ship, that you were dealing with it secretly and searching for the ship. It had advanced cloaking, making it impossible to track. You know that it landed in the U.S., probably Colorado, but you didn’t want to cause a mass panic. You’ve deployed Specialist Q and the Rangers at Fort Carson to protect Earth from the possible threat and have also sent diplomats to Carson for any first contact mission. Maynard and SecDef—if the latter hasn’t left yet—can help sell the situation.”

There was a hesitation on Archer’s end, before he grumbled, “You’re suggesting disclosure during a crisis? Now is not the time for this.”

Daisy shot back, “It’s the perfect time! Where else are you going to get confirmation of alien life and tech, all at once? We have an opportunity here to turn this around in our favor.”

“Like what?” Archer asked, sounding confused.

“This ship is made of Titanium-Aluminum alloy. It has inertial dampers, energy weapons, gravity control systems, and other advanced technology that could instantly jump start our global technological level to another level.” Daisy revealed. “After we find the ship, give me the ship. Level 17 and I will study it, and cooperate with other nations to reverse-engineer the tech. You’ll look like a hero, and the world will be grateful for it. Plus, this introduces Naquadah and Trinium to the general public, AND confirms alien life.”

Archer sighed again. “This could severely backfire in our faces, Daisy.” But that wasn’t a denial. 

Daisy’s voice softened, because right now he wasn’t the enemy. “I know. But despite our differences, you know that all I seek to do is protect Earth.” She heard him grunt but didn’t contradict her. “I wouldn’t suggest this if I hadn’t thought it through. I will help you with this coverup and stand by you for dealing with the fallout. You have my word.”

There was a pause before Archer sighed, resigned. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“Go to DEFCON 3 immediately,” Daisy suggested. “Let the world know you’re taking this seriously. Contact Russia and China and let them know that you had already known about this and that you were trying to not cause a panic, so you kept it secret. In fourteen hours, go to DEFCON 4 and announce that you found the ship near Colorado Springs. You’ve identified it as a single, cloaked alien spaceship, and the situation is under control. Specialist Q and the Ranger regiment at Fort Carson found no survivors on the ship once they breached the ship.” She offered, “On my part, I’ll get the ship there and make sure it’s not seen by anyone else, before I join the Rangers and break in, reinforcing our cover story.” 

Archer stayed silent a moment longer. “Alright. We’ll do this your way.”

Daisy mentally pumped her fist in the air. 

He hesitated, before revealing. “Before the breach, I authorized General Maynard to resolve things with you and Level 17 and A53, on behalf of the United States government. He’s still in the SGC right?” 

“He is. I’ll hash things out with him.” Daisy confirmed, then paused. Because… despite everything, despite the whole clusterfuck of a situation, they were still on the same side, and he understood that. “And Mr. President? Thank you for listening.” 

She knew that he hadn’t missed the fact that she’d just called him by his title and given him the respect that his position was due. Especially when he knew what it meant to have her, of all people, call him Mr. President and not Archer. His voice softened a bit, “Daisy, you know the discussion about your overreach—”

“Not over, I know.” Daisy acknowledged, just as softly. “And I’m pissed off at you too, but my first and foremost instinct is to protect Earth. If I reveal the secret of the Stargate right now, it’ll just make things worse for the both of us.” She let out a sigh, “We’ll talk later, once this whole situation has calmed down.”

Archer hummed. “We’ll definitely talk later. Get the ship there, Daisy. You’ll be in temporary consultant command of the Rangers when you reach Carson.” Archer said finally, then cut the line. 

Daisy breathed out, running a hand through her hair. 

For fucks sake. “Skye. Find me a large, unpopulated plot of land near the outskirts of Colorado Springs that’s not close to any population centers, farms, or houses.” Daisy requested.

“Searching. Will let you know.” Skye returned. 

The DEFCON counter on the wall went from 5 to 3, as a klaxon blared. Everyone around the SGC jumped, then scrambled. 

Fuck this whole week, honestly. 

Daisy went down to the gate control room… which was in a state of controlled chaos. 

Daisy immediately went to the P.A system. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Everyone in the command center stopped, glancing over to her, as her voice echoed through the P.A system. “Daisy here. The DEFCON change is in response to a leak of an alien spaceship supposedly landing on Earth, near or around Colorado Springs. We already have the ship in question in our hangar. The President and I have talked, and he has a plan for dealing with this situation, which is under control. Get back to work. General Hammond and Maynard, I’ll come down to 17 and brief you about everything that the President and I talked about. Please stay where you are.”

“Daisy, what happened?” Both of them asked as soon as she entered. 

Daisy glanced up, “Skye.”

Skye got the prompt as she displayed the video/images that Colson Industries had just exploded across the entire internet. 

It showed detailed satellite and deep space observation images of the Phobosian ship rising from the crater out of Phobos, and a slow trajectory of the ship coming to Earth, which had been cross checked/verified with Roscosmos and CNSA. Fortunately, there weren’t any images of her attack on the Biliskner… despite Daisy having seen the Biliskner in high orbit, it had somehow cloaked/fooled the satellites by only showing a dark blur that blended in with space so that you could only see a faint silhouette– so faint that it was practically unnoticeable unless you knew the shape of the Biliskner. 

Around 32 minutes later, according to the time stamps, Colson Industries satellites caught sight of the Phobosian ship entering Earth’s atmosphere and plotted out the trajectory to the mid-Continental US… but didn’t actually know that it was Colorado Springs or Denver… which, thank the universe, allowed her to choose the place where she parked the ship. 

She told them everything—what she and Archer had discussed, the plan they’d made—watching both men gradually relax. “Your President and I agreed to a plan about the Phobosian ship. We’re all going to have our hands full for the foreseeable future,” Daisy said, glancing at Maynard. “Especially since Level 17 and I will be taking a more active role in global affairs.”

The two men, both looking like they were upright only through the power of coffee, nodded. “Yeah. We will,” Maynard agreed. He hesitated, then added, “But we still need to speak about the SGC, Daisy. Before all this, the President gave me orders to resolve the situation with you. Those orders still stand.”

And just like that, the anger, the hurt, the betrayal—everything she’d shoved aside while dealing with the Colson Industries leak—came rushing back.

But more than anything else, it just brought back the tension that had faded from her shoulders. A lot of the tension between them and her was because of her—because she hadn’t seen it, because they hadn’t told her about the undercover mission, because she’d misread things… and it… 

“Before we start,” Daisy said, turning to General Hammond first, because this mattered, “I want you to know that I don’t want you leaving the SGC. I never wanted to remove you. The only reason I even considered it was because I thought you were compromised—acting against Earth’s best interests. And I only took command of the SGC to gain leverage with the President after the U.S. government broke my contract.”

She held his gaze despite the tightness in her chest. “I’m angry at you. I won’t deny that. I’m hurt. And it’s going to take time before I fully trust you again.” Her voice softened, fingers threading through her hair. “But personal feelings aside, you’re still the best person to lead the SGC. So… if it were up to me”—and it very much would be, given everything that was coming—“I’d want you to stay on as commander of the SGC.”

For a long moment, Hammond didn’t move. Then the tension drained from his shoulders, and a flicker of relief crossed his face. “Thank you, Daisy.” He looked down at his coffee, then back up. “I hope I can regain your trust someday. But more than that—I’m glad you made the choice you did. Because if I had been compromised… then I’m glad the SGC had you to protect it.”

Daisy let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and gave him a small, genuine smile. “Thank you, sir.” His acknowledgement meant more than he knew. She nodded to herself, then turned to Maynard. “Okay. Whatever your orders are—start there.”

Maynard placed his coffee mug down and opened a briefcase at his side. “The President has agreed to provide you a pardon for your… actions on A53. He acknowledges that you were dealing with a clear and present threat to the security of the United States and Earth. Despite it being offworld, despite the murky legality of the rogue NID agents, and the fact that you weren’t acting on behalf of the United States, the President is offering you a pardon.”

Daisy hummed as she took the file, flipping through it. She’d hoped for retroactive immunity, but a pardon would work. She skimmed the document—yep, signed this morning.

Maynard brought out a second file, holding it out for her. “This is for A53. The President will allow you to recategorize A53 as an offworld black operations division under your command… but not without caveats. And it will be tied to Level 17, but A53’s agents are restricted to the SGC only and cannot be armed on US–”

Daisy took the file, placed it to the side. “I’ll look it over, but I will need to speak to the President himself about it, because I have a few plans for that base… and I don’t want the US implicated in A53’s actions. So I’ll talk to him once this whole situation is over.” General Maynard blinked, then nodded. Daisy paused, because… “You know, I wanted to actually talk to him about A53 and a few more things, but we got interrupted by the breach. Given time and my… anger cooling off, I’ve come to realize that the leak happening now, as it did, was actually a good thing in the long run. President Archer is dealing with that right now, so I can’t really talk things over with him… so you, General Maynard, will be my messenger.” 

Maynard frowned, “About what, Daisy?”

Daisy smiled, “Well… a proposal, of sorts, to change the… status quo. You were there when the Tribunal recognized that the US cannot take unilateral decisions for Earth.” She held up a hand at his immediate protest, “And our alien allies will not cooperate or help you anymore because of the simple fact that you’re hiding the Stargate from the rest of the world. And because the UN does not know of the Stargate, so actual global representation falls to me and Level 17… and those alien allies will either interact with me—which is not altruistic or voluntary since I’m forcing them into this—or they will not interact with Earth and the SGC at all.” 

Both of them frowned at that, but nodded. Daisy/Level 17 was actually the only global representation possible that could be talked over/reasoned with to support them. 

Which Daisy would have done before, but not anymore. 

Not since that clusterfuck of a situation. 

Because the status quo needed to change. “As for Colonel Makepeace’s case, it will be prosecuted by the D.C JAG branch with Commander Rabb and Lt. Colonel Mackenzie taking the lead, but the others’ identities are gone now, so… they technically aren’t US citizens, are they?” Daisy asked, leaving it in their court. 

“No.” Maynard confirmed, “What do you intend to do with them?”

She looked at General Hammond, “I don’t know yet. I’m thinking about internal review panels, or maybe giving them up to the various governments or planets they’ve wronged.”

Maynard and Hammond glanced at each other, “We would prefer the internal review panels, especially considering the classified nature of A53. After that, you’ll have to build a prison of sorts offworld, since we cannot be seen holding them.” He paused, “I would suggest Solace, if it didn’t already have Jaffa kids.”

Daisy shot him a look, “Solace is not an option. I’ll think of something else. Now, to the next order of business." She turned her attention to General Hammond. “First of all, I want you to know that I’m sorry for ambushing you like this. And that everything we discuss today has nothing to do with your record. I still believe you’re the best person to lead the SGC, but like I said, things are going to change around her… drastically.”

Hammond’s brow furrowed, a flash of confusion passing through his eyes. “Change how, exactly?”

Daisy didn’t hesitate. “One month from today, the SGC will become operationally, jurisdictionally, legally, and otherwise independent from the United States.” She held up a hand, “Let me explain. I will be expanding the same lease agreement and Level 17 global organization agreement with the US government for the SGC as well, by leasing out the entirety of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex for us to work out of until 2020. Everyone currently part of the SGC will transition under a new, unified global contract—identical to Level 17’s. From here on, Stargate operations will be managed from a global perspective, not just American.”

She watched their faces shift from shock, disbelief to anger– but Daisy didn’t let the interrupt as she continued, “All recovered alien technology, resources, and materials through the Stargate will be the property of the now combined Level 17 and the SGC entity—no exceptions. Nothing will go to other U.S. installations, including Area 51 from now on. Naquadah, Trinium, and other non-terrestrial elements will be returned to the combined Level 17-SGC entity as quickly as possible, alongside all alien technology you have.”

Maynard’s eyes darkened, tension rising. “Daisy, you don’t have the authority to make that call. You—”

Daisy raised an eyebrow and met his gaze head-on. “I don’t?” she asked calmly. “Don’t mistake restraint for inability, General. If I deem it necessary, I could claim that authority—by force. I’m no longer bound by my US contract. I could tell the world what’s been happening under Cheyenne Mountain. I’m pretty sure they’d believe me, or my friend, Skyenet. Imagine the fallout when every SGC mission report goes public, or I walked out with the Stargate after neutralizing the military personnel here.”

General Hammond stiffened, his eyes wide with alarm, staring at her as if she’d betrayed him. “You wouldn’t—”  

But Daisy was just protecting them. From the future, from all of this going wrong, from the chaos that could come from disclosure. 

Daisy shook her head easily, softening her tone, “No. I’m not here to threaten. I’m here to protect. From the chaos that will come when this program is revealed to the rest of the world… because right now, as it is, the world won’t survive without this program changing.” She exhaled, the tension in her voice easing. “Before the breach, I might have acted differently. The US and I were at odds. But your President—even if he’s difficult—knows where his priorities are. So we’re working together. Again. Because of that and because I’m… less angry now when compared to before, I’m willing to take the slow approach to execute my plan.”

She met their gaze evenly, reading confusion, concern, consideration and slight frustration, but they didn’t say anything. “So don’t push me on this—not when the future of Earth and everyone in it depends on it. Because if my proposal works, it means that we protect our future, despite disclosure.”

Because whether she liked it or not, she was a global actor. She did have influence, she did have strings to pull, she did have authority and moral lines and a reputation for fighting the good fight, across the entire fucking world… and if Daisy was the one to introduce and endorse the Stargate Programme when disclosure did happen, it would reduce the chaos by a lot. 

Sure, a lot of nations would be saber-rattling about control over the program and technology and what not, but not if she did this right. 

But before she could think of endorsing the Stargate Programme globally, a lot of changes needed to be made. 

Changes that would help in preparing for the future. 

The room went still. Hammond and Maynard exchanged an unreadable glance, but still they must have heard or understood something of her thoughts, because they both calmed down a bit, staring at her curiously. "Why?" Maynard finally asked, his voice quieter, filled with both curiosity and concern. “Why make the SGC global? And why do you think that the US government would ever agree to your proposal?”

Yeah, there it was. 

Daisy met his gaze, “After everything that happened in the past two weeks, I realized that this…” She gestured to their surroundings, “everything that we’re doing at the SGC, isn’t going to work out. Not in the long term. If the Stargate program and Earth is going to survive past disclosure, it really needs some serious changes.”

She leaned forward, “It’s working now, yes. I’m not denying that. But it won’t work forever. And the SGC has to go global/international to ensure that our alien allies don’t just cut ties with us, or the U.S doesn’t inflame geopolitical tensions by trying to keep this secret even when it’s logistically and morally unfeasible to do so. There will come a day when we have defeated the Goa’uld– what then? Disclosing then, or after that will lead to war, seeing that the US has been secretly developing military hardware which radically changes the balance of power on this planet.” She shook her head, “If you don’t start building up to disclosure from now on, it’ll be even harder by then. And global participation shares both support—and blame.”

Both men looked at her, initial shock and anger fading into thoughtful consideration.

Maynard broke the tension with a sigh, “You haven’t given us any explanations, Ms. Mayson.” Maynard prodded, but then softened after a moment. “All three of us here know that Level 17 is one of the best R&D organizations across the globe. In time, I have no doubt that the same will be said for… Shadow Arm, with you at its head, however you go about it. You said you want me to be the messenger for a global SGC proposal. This overview seems promising… but I need the details. Details I know you have; otherwise you wouldn’t be pitching this.”

He looked at her expectantly. “So… tell us.”

Daisy frowned, that last sentence feeling weird to her, “Why are you so…” 

Maynard raised an eyebrow, a dry smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Acquiescing?”

She rolled her eyes, but didn’t hold back her own sarcastic grin. “If you want to call it that.” Though, other words came to mind—bootlicking, asskissing, etc., but she held her tongue. It was the meaning that mattered, not the word choice.

Maynard met her gaze evenly, his voice steady. “Because, as much as your powers terrify me, I’m inclined to believe Major Carter’s claim that all you want to do is help. And nothing I’ve seen from you contradicts that.” He hesitated, his voice softening, “In fact, it seems to support it. Even with your globalist stance, you’re doing it because you want to protect Earth from disclosure and the war that will probably follow. I’m not–” He paused, “I didn’t see it before.”

Daisy felt her heartbeat slow, her powers automatically reading his vibrations and his body language… and there were no signs of dishonesty that she could see—he believed what he was saying. 

She didn’t know how to respond, so instead, Daisy simply asked, “And what does that change for you?”

Maynard seemed to struggle with his words before speaking again, his voice quiet but measured. “Officially, not much. Not yet, at least. But personally... a lot.” He paused. “I’m sorry for how I and the US government treated you, Daisy. It was the President’s decision to not approve Colonel O’Neill’s request to bring you in on this operation, but I did support it. Colonel O’Neill begged me to let him tell you, but we didn’t listen. We thought it was too risky, too dangerous for Earth… because we didn’t want to push Asgard or risk Earth with the threats they were putting down. But we were wrong.” 

Daisy went still, her fists clenching at her sides. She’d known this, but… hearing it out loud was different. That Jack had truly tried to avoid what he’d done… and it wasn’t a lie, so… 

Jack had wanted to tell her. He’d fought for it.

But ultimately failed. 

General Hammond nodded somberly, “He didn’t want to do it, Daisy. He threatened to quit too. But after talking to him, Jack realized he didn’t have a choice.”

Daisy gulped, looking away. Something echoed in her mind, some memory or feeling or whatever, and she couldn’t stop the words that came out of her mouth, “We all have choices,” She whispered to herself, then swallowed hard. “Sometimes it’s easier to pretend we don’t.”

She didn’t know where those words came from, whether it was from her old life, or if it was instinct, or if it was something else… 

But it was true. In the end. 

The room fell silent. 

General Hammond and Maynard exchanged a look of shared regret, guilt etched in both their faces. Daisy pushed her feelings aside, “I understand, y’know? Why you did what you did... I just don’t like it. But I do understand.”

The only thing that she hated… the only thing that she held against them for this undercover mission, was that when things were getting serious, that when Jack was breaking things with her and Sam and everyone else– that they didn’t tell her even then, or try to reduce the damage by faking some medical reason for it. 

If she’d known the truth or thought that this wasn’t his true self… then things would have been so different.

Daisy breathed out slowly, “And I can’t disagree with it, even if I think that there was a better way to deal with the situation.” 

General Hammond and Maynard exchanged a long, uneasy glance. Hammond broke the silence first, his voice quiet but edged with an undercurrent of frustration. “What better way, Daisy? What would you have done differently?”

Daisy shook her head, letting out a sharp huff. “You should’ve let the Nox, Tok'ra, Tollan, and the Asgard cut ties with us,” she said, the words sharp with conviction. “Earth doesn’t need them—not really. Not when we’re already part of the Protected Planets Treaty. And frankly, none of those species—except maybe the Asgard—have done a damn thing to help us defend ourselves.”

Maynard and Hammond exchanged shocked glances, mouths agape. "What?" Hammond finally managed, his voice tight. “You just argued with all of them and struck a deal for them to help us—”

“Forced  them to,” Daisy cut in, her eyes narrowing. “There’s a difference. They’re not helping us willingly. They’re not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re doing it because I’m making them.” Her voice dropped, and she leaned forward, her powers making the air in the room feel heavier, “Yes, I made the deal look as palatable as possible for them, but it doesn’t change the fact that they don’t want to help. And I’m not giving them a choice.”

Maynard shook his head slowly, digesting what she’d said. “That may be, but we need the Protected Planets Treaty, Daisy. The Asgard were threatening to pull us out of it—”

Daisy rolled her eyes, cutting him off. “They were lying.” She turned to Hammond, “I told you this on Thor’s ship, sir… but you didn’t believe me back then so I’m repeating it now: They can’t do that.” She let out a brief, dry laugh, the sound tinged with exasperation. “It’s a clever bluff, sure. But it’s borderline callous, and that’s why I can’t fully respect it, even if I understand why Thor did it.”

Hammond and Maynard exchanged another glance, their expressions flickering with disbelief, confusion, and then to a subtle, shared frustration. Hammond, looking increasingly pained, spoke up again. “What do you mean, they can’t?”

Daisy leaned back in her chair, her gaze meeting Hammond’s. “It’s in the Protected Planets treaty,” She explained, her voice steady. “Rule 2. There are three ways a planet can lose its Protected status. First, if the Goa’uld figure out the planet’s natives have breached the treaty’s threat definition.” She paused for a moment, letting that sink in. “Second, if the Asgard give the natives their technology, or help them understand, replicate, or recreate Asgard technology specifically. And third, if all the native species are dead or have left the planet.”

Maynard’s brow furrowed as the pieces began to fall into place. Daisy could see the gears turning in his mind as he absorbed the new information. She pressed on, her voice taking on a more explanatory tone. “The Asgard– Thor, specifically, was bluffing. They’ve done it before, even with the Goa’uld.”

She shook her head, her lips curling into a half-smile. “The truth is, the Asgard never gave us that shielding technology. We—or more specifically, Colonel Makepeace—stole it. But legally, Earth didn’t breach Rule 2 because it wasn’t an Asgardian gift of technological kindness. It was taken, and they didn’t authorize it, nor were they helping us with that technology. And even if the Goa’uld had detected it, the shielding technology wouldn’t have breached the threat definition. So, technically and legally, the rule’s still intact.”

Maynard’s expression shifted through several emotions—anger, regret, and finally, reluctant acceptance. He rubbed his forehead as if trying to stave off the headache Daisy had inadvertently caused.

Nice to know that she was still capable of that.

Daisy’s lips curved into a smirk, “So, all of you got conned… very artfully, I might add. But for a good reason.” She glanced at General Hammond. “Did they actually tell you they were going to remove Earth from the treaty?”

Hammond’s eyes flickered with a flash of betrayal before he answered, his voice tight. “No. Thor showed us the document and pointed to Rule 2. He said they detected Asgard tech on Earth, which might have breached the treaty. He warned that if we had violated it, it would be grounds for removal.”

Daisy nodded, her expression softening just slightly. “Which is technically true. But not in this case.”

Hammond let out a sharp exhale, looking away from her as if the weight of everything had just crashed down on him. “I convinced them it was a rogue faction. High Chancellor Travel insisted we handle it ourselves. That’s why they pulled Jack for the mission—and why we had to make sure no one knew about it. The mission had to look genuine to everyone.” 

Daisy clenched her fist at that, because… everything with Jack still stung, and she’d rather not be reminded of it again and again. 

Hammond continued, glancing back at her with an apologetic expression on his face, “Thor said that if Jack didn’t participate, then it meant that there wasn’t going to be an operation.”

General Maynard’s anger was palpable now, his frustration no longer hidden behind the veil of professionalism. Daisy could feel it radiating off him, and she knew it couldn’t be allowed to fester… not in someone like the CoJC. 

“You’re angry. I get it,” she said, her voice firm but understanding. “And honestly, I am too. But look at it from their perspective. The Asgard helped save our planet from the Goa’uld. Then they detect some of their own tech here that they didn’t give us. They must’ve thought it was stolen—because, well, it was. And they wanted to figure out if it was truly stolen, or if there was some kind of mistake. Maybe an Asgard ship crashed, or a satellite around the moon fell into orbit accidentally. They had to find out.”

Maynard’s gaze softened, his anger replaced by resignation. He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. “I can’t believe I missed it.”

“Don’t worry, sir.” Daisy gave his shoulder a brief, reassuring pat. “It happens to the best of us.”

Maynard’s eyes narrowed, as he sighed. But then he shook his head, muttering, “Not you, though.”

Daisy shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, I’m not human.”

Hammond shot her a sideways glance, but she did want to remind them that she was an Inhuman. 

That she didn’t play by their rules. She followed her own morals.

Maynard raised an eyebrow, the calculation still present in his gaze. “No, you’re not. You’re apparently a genetic cousin of a species called Inhomo Alteri.”

Daisy’s lips curved into a smile, tinged with pride. “Yep. Inhomo Alteri Extremis.” The name had grown on her, though it was still a bit of a mouthful. She wasn’t quite Inhomo Supremis or Inhomo Alteri, but something between the two, with an extra EXTREMIS upgrade. “I came up with it myself. After all, I’m the only one of my kind… at least, as far as I know.”

It still stung, that there was no one else like her, but… given everything that happened in this reality regarding inhumans or people who were sort of inhuman like her, maybe that was for the best. 

Maynard regarded her for a long moment, his expression cold but sharp, as if trying to figure her out. Finally, he spoke, his voice quiet but heavy with a question that had clearly been lingering in his mind. “And… is what Thor told the rest of us in the briefing room true?”

Daisy shrugged. “I wasn’t there, so I don’t know.” She tilted her head, thinking for a moment. “But I can guess what Thor told you—the same thing the Nox told me.”

Maynard exchanged a glance with General Hammond, then turned back to her, his gaze unwavering. “That you’re capable of destruction on a galaxy-level scale?”

Daisy blinked, surprised by the bluntness of his question. If the Asgard truly believed that, then it explained their extreme caution, their terror of her, and their immediate agreement to her terms. “I don’t know about galaxy-level destruction,” Daisy said slowly. “But my powers are definitely planetary and solar-system level. Though I’m still working on the solar-system part.” She shrugged again, leaning back in her chair, trying to gauge their reactions.

Because Daisy had felt the entire solar system while she was in hyperspace, so… maybe? But before this, she hadn’t thought that her powers could even reach that far… so… 

It… 

Her powers... She didn’t know their limits. Simple as that. 

And Daisy accepted that. 

She glanced at General Hammond, “General Hammond knows some stuff. Ferretti regularly updates him on my training sessions.” She said, trying to ease the tension. General Hammond looked shocked, and Daisy huffed, shaking her head. “What, you thought I didn’t know?”

General Hammond’s eyes widened. “How did you—” His gaze flickered to recognition. “You knew he was reporting to me about you and Level 17... and you let it happen?”

Daisy nodded. “Yeah. Saves me time and energy. And it keeps you in the loop.” If she was being honest, then she didn’t have a problem with Ferretti. 

He was just following orders. He’d been assigned to oversee Level 17 because Hammond wanted someone with experience to check her power. It wasn’t framed as spying, but that’s essentially what it was. Still, Ferretti was a good man, and Daisy had earned his respect. He worked with her honestly, which was all she needed.

General Hammond just stared at her in shock, “I do want you in the loop, y’know?” Daisy asked, when General Hammond said nothing. She sighed, “If I really wanted to, then I could have made sure that he wasn’t in a position to be reporting back to you, or I could have fed him, and consequently you, false intel. But I didn’t, because I want you to be informed.” 

Daisy turned toward Maynard, “As for you, General… you're a smart guy," She began, voice low and deliberate. "I can create earthquakes. What do you think would happen if I triggered a magnitude 9 quake near the San Andreas Fault, the Ring of Fire, or one of the tectonic plates?" Devastation on a scale hitherto undreamt of by the others, but she’d be doing just as much damage as AlternateReality Daisy had, when she was under the control of whatever black shadow had taken control of her. 

Horror flickered across Maynard and Hammond’s faces, their heartbeats spiking in their chests, but Daisy met their eyes without flinching, “Yeah," She said softly, acknowledging their fears. “And that’s not even considering all the other things I can do. Bending and absorbing light, controlling temperature, manipulating sound, near-instantaneous biological regeneration… and whatever other powers I will evolve after the EXTREMIS part of my DNA activates fully.”

The eyes were a nice development, but she couldn’t yet will  her hand to glow fully, or rise in temperature, so she had the distinct feeling that some parts of EXTREMIS were still deactivated for now. 

She wondered just how much of EXTREMIS still slumbered inside her, waiting for the right moment to awaken.

Maynard took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure, “Daisy, why are you telling us all of this?”

The corner of Daisy’s mouth twitched into a smirk. “Because you need to understand what I’m capable of. I can destroy Earth—or any other planet out there in the galaxy." She made a sweeping gesture toward the far wall, “Though, I don’t want to. I don’t want to have that kind of power, but it’s mine. For better or worse, these are my abilities.”

Her gaze never wavered from Maynard’s. “I can either destroy or help. And I'd much rather help. All I want, is to make a difference." She let her words settle between them, “Every professional goal I have, has been towards that goal—to help, to protect. Not just Earth, but everyone."

Maynard’s face softened imperceptibly, though the hardness in his eyes never quite disappeared. He pursed his lips, studying her, as if weighing her sincerity. 

“Believe me or don’t,” Daisy continued, shrugging slightly, “I don’t really care. But you need to know this. What I’ve done, what I’m doing, and what I will do in the future is all for Earth’s safety. For the 7 billion  people on this planet and for probably millions, or billions of humans across the galaxy.” Her voice softened further, almost quiet, yet resolute. “I want to defeat the Goa’uld. For good. And I want Earth to be safe—not just from outside threats, but from the inside as well.”

Daisy hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I think I’ve found a way to do that." 

General Hammond blinked, confused and shocked. Maynard’s face broke into disbelief. “You’re telling me you found a way to end wars on Earth?” His tone dripped with skepticism.

Daisy’s smile didn’t falter. “Yeah... more or less. Or rather… get us to focus on a single goal."

Maynard stared at her as if she had just grown an extra head, but after a long sigh, he conceded. “I'll humor you," He said, his voice tired and disbelieving, but still carrying an edge of respect. “because I know that you are more than intelligent enough to actually think up a solution for this, especially considering all of the plans that you’ve made for the upcoming PES-RED missions and with leading Level 17. So, what’s this solution?" His gaze sharpened, “Some kind of alien technology?"

Daisy’s grin grew wider, “Well yeah. It’s currently sitting 11 levels below us.”

It took a moment for them to understand, but within a second, she saw the spark of recognition in their eyes. Then consideration. Then shock. “You can’t be serious!” Maynard exclaimed, shaking his head, “Telling the world will–”

“Do you take me for an idiot?” Daisy cut in sharply, giving him a half-glare, “I’m not suggesting we tell everyone. That would be chaos. People would panic. They’d riot, and wars would break out. No, I’m not talking about everyone. I’m talking about the UN… some of them, for the initial stage where we integrate their command into the global SGC.”

Hammond’s voice was cautious. “The UN?”

She nodded. “The UNSC, plus a couple of countries specifically.”

Maynard paused, a mix of disappointment and wariness in his eyes. “Daisy... the UN is a bureaucratic mess. They take forever to act on anything. I’m not just talking about the General Assembly. The Security Council isn’t much better—they’re always pointing fingers and never solving anything. If we put the SGC under the UN, then it’ll just make things even more complicated when fighting the Goa’uld, because of the red tape that you will have to wade through.”

“I know,” Daisy replied honestly, surprising them both. “But that’s not what I’m suggesting or proposing.”

Maynard blinked, confused. “Then what are you proposing?”

Daisy’s gaze hardened. “We don’t put it under the UN. And we don’t tell everyone—not yet. We need to control the information, but we also need to force the world leaders to start acting like adults. So, we tell the UNSC and a few countries I have in mind. Bring them as equal partners for the new global SGC and force them to start doing things the right way.” Daisy stressed heavily, “Start conducting Stargate operations properly. We can’t keep delaying this. We’re running out of time.” 

She saw the skepticism in Maynard’s eyes and the wariness in General Hammond’s.

And yeah, maybe she had a more… liberalist, socialist and globalist mindset rather than a nationalistic mindset when compared to the people around her, but that was because she genuinely believed that this would really work to bring them all together (not without a series of kicks in their pants, general prudent restrictions, and guiding them towards actually uniting… but Daisy was ready to do that) and it was also because she knew how this secret would be received if they kept it for any longer. 

Maynard’s eyes narrowed. “Delaying what? Disclosure? And how does your proposal of involving the UNSC and a few other countries as equal partners in the global SGC help here?”

Daisy nodded, her tone softening. “The Stargate is a dangerous secret—probably the most dangerous out there. The truth that we’re not alone will be mind-shattering for many… and then the fact that there are aliens with powerful warships that are capable of wiping us out, and want to actively dominate and enslave all of us… that’ll leave all of them shaking and sobbing in a dark corner, praying to whatever god they believe in.” Daisy paused intently, “Add in the various religious crises that could come about because the Goa’uld are impersonating gods from Earth. It will be chaos. Total and utter chaos.”

“That is why I advised the President to do a partial disclosure using the Phobosian ship… because you have an actual source of galactic information without revealing the Stargate Programme as it is now.” She revealed with a smile, “So that when the actual disclosure of the Stargate happens, it won’t cause chaos… the awareness of the galaxy will be common knowledge then, and the Stargate will just be treated as another classified project coming to light.”

Maynard blinked, his face tightening, but his eyes widened as the implications hit home. He nodded slowly, before staring at her in disbelief. "Even despite the partial disclosure that can come with the Phobosian ship, you still  think we should tell them?"

Daisy let out an amused sigh, meeting his gaze directly. “Yes, because we’re winning against the Goa’uld,” She declared firmly, “If we were losing—if Earth were in real danger—then I wouldn’t be suggesting this. But we’re pushing them back. We’re winning.” She took a breath, “And partial disclosure doesn’t allow for participation in the Stargate Programme, it only allows the world to know what the hell is going on outside of Sol… and be afraid enough that they will put aside old rivalries and actually decide to do something about it, collectively.”

She pressed on before they could interject. “Earth is protected under the Protected Planets Treaty. The Goa’uld can’t touch us without provoking the Asgard. With Asgardian hostages here at the SGC, their best ships will come to our aid. And I want to tell them because the SGC has been carrying out PES-RED missions, bringing back technology—military assets—that could shift the balance of power on Earth. And that power will scare the hell out of every nation. They’ll resent the US, fear it, and there’s a real risk that a more aggressive government could take control.”

Maynard closed his mouth, concern burning in his eyes, but there was grudging, sort of reluctant acknowledgement there.

General Hammond sighed. “Daisy, that’s not—”

“The first fear or hate-monger who gets elected will take advantage of that,” Daisy interrupted, her tone sharp. “One thing that politicians all have in common is their hunger for power. You can’t deny that." She turned to Maynard, her gaze hardening. “And can you look me in the eyes and tell me honestly you trust any politician to handle the Goa’uld threat? To protect Earth?”

General Hammond exhaled, lips tight, but remained silent.

Maynard’s voice was firm. “No, I don’t,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t trust them to win this war. This is a clear cut military threat to Earth, and it needs a military response– not a political one.” He locked eyes with her. “But that doesn’t change the fact that whoever our commander-in-chief is, their orders will be constitutional, Daisy.”

Daisy nodded. “I know. Even if the US is one part of what is considered as the world’s police, the US President isn’t the President of Earth, General. Not everyone on Earth voted for the President of the United States. Their orders won’t mean anything to the rest of the world. If they’re a fear-monger, or worse, that’s a problem. A big one.” She paused, her eyes now locked with Hammond’s. “And if it comes to that, I won’t let the world suffer because of one person’s whims.”

There was too much at stake for that.

Maynard’s eyes grew hard at the implied threat, while Hammond’s frown deepened. 

“I don’t want it to come to that,” she added softly, though her resolve never wavered. “I want to nip this in the bud so that scenario never happens– If you have a shared responsibility, then one person won’t be able to control the Stargate program or Earth’s participation with respect to the rest of the galaxy. No matter the bureaucratic and political mess it will be, I think having the entire world  protecting the entire world  is the only way to go. This way the leader of the global SGC will be elected/chosen by the various nation leaders.”

Maynard shook his head. “And you think making a global SGC out of a few UN countries will solve the problem? Come on, Daisy, even I know that you’re not this naive.”

She just huffed, “As you saw during the Tribunal, we need a single entity capable that, is, and does not fall under any national command, to be able to deal with the wider universe. The SGC, as an organization and military command which falls under the U.S. does not fit that particular condition. But the SGC, with Level 17 merging with it once we establish it as a global command?” She asked intently, “That will work. The US can still be a primary partner for the global command… one nation among a few other primary nations—I’m thinking 20 as of now—who will be in charge of protecting the world.”

“We can’t–” Daisy paused, correcting herself, “I won’t  let one nation hold all the power over the Stargate and its technology. It’s too dangerous. If I let you—as in the US—try to hang onto the secret of the Stargate programme or alien technology… That will lead to war. No question about it.” 

Maynard shook his head, looking doubtful, as if her words were getting to him. “We could try to–”

“Alliances, trade deals, and the like will only work for a few years, maybe even a decade, if you’re lucky.” She guessed out loud, “No deal is permanent– no alliance, no partnership, no mutual understanding is permanent. Someone, sooner or later, who will have been biding their time waiting for you guys to screw up, will strike when they feel the moment is right. They’ll rally all of the other nations against you, saying that you’re responsible for whatever tragedy happened, and that if they were in charge of the Stargate Programme it never would have happened, and the best thing for the US to do would be to give up the gate fully so that they could be in charge.” Daisy had gamed all of this out in her mind, especially this conversation and the actual scenarios when she was taking down the garrison on Red-9. “Of course, you’ll deny it, and then… things go from bad to worse, and before you know it, nukes will be flying.”

Maynard gritted his teeth. “You’ve got quite the imagination, Daisy,” he said, his voice dripping with reluctant acknowledgment. “But I can’t deny it. This is one of the worst-case scenarios we predicted for when disclosure happens.”

Daisy didn’t smile, because it was good that they knew of this scenario, but them knowing about it was different than it actually happening. One was academic, the other was in real-time. “Ultimately it will devolve into World War-III or the closest there is to it, and no one wins then… Earth will be a radioactive wasteland, and billions will die. And the Goa’uld will be free to prey on other human societies and continue their reign of terror–” She met their gaze steadily. “I won’t let that happen. In five to ten years, I will bring the Goa’uld Empire down… you have my word on that.” 

Maynard’s eyes were full of doubt. “Five to ten years? The Goa’uld empire’s lasted over ten thousand years—”

“True,” Daisy interrupted, accepting the statement. “But, from the memories that I’ve gotten back of… who I was, before, trust me when I say that dismantling the Goa’uld empire will be a piece of cake for me.” She had more than enough memories of her time in space, taking down Kree ships, planets, garrisons and what not. It would take a while for her plans to be effective, but she was trained in it. Well enough to bring an intergalactic empire down to its knees. “I promise you that I will break the Goa’uld Empire in ten years, provided there are no new urgent threats to Earth. BUT I need Earth safe, alive, well and flourishing to do it.” Daisy stressed at the end. 

While she could do it without the resources of Earth, she’d rather not. It would go much faster if she had support from Earth… and she was doing all of this to protect Earth after all. 

“Which is why I have a plan—sort of—to unite the world… or the major 20 countries of the world, towards a common goal. It’s not foolproof, and it’s barely a half plan—maybe 38% of a plan? Which probably can’t even be called a plan, maybe just an idea or a goal with steps on how to achieve the goal—but… it’s something.” Daisy rambled, trying to make them understand, “I will do this either way, but I want your, as in the US government’s, help with this. I need partners with my proposal or plan—so I’m asking, help me."

General Hammond and Maynard glanced at each other, then… Maynard sighed, “Go ahead, Daisy.”

She let out a soft sigh of relief, then looked at both of them seriously, “We call a classified security summit for 8 select countries at first, and brief them about the Goa’uld… and force them to participate in the Stargate programme. They’ll be the first of the primary nations.” Daisy said first, then added before either of them could say anything. “Equal participation. Equal responsibility. Of course, I will be there to shoot down or override any stupid ass decisions, and basically keep all of you on track… but this is necessary.” 

“And how are you  going to do that?” General Hammond asked, quietly, staring at her as if he was seeing her for the first time, “Once you reveal the Stargate and everything else, they aren’t going to listen to us–”

Daisy turned to Maynard, her gaze sharp. “How did you stop the Cold War from going hot? Nukes. How are you planning on doing it in the future, then? Nukes or other SGC-derived technology, right? Tell me honestly.” 

Maynard let out a weary sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly. He gave a silent nod, resigned.

And yeah, Daisy wasn’t done. “They’re a deterrent. An effective one… but they can fail. That’s why you have nuclear submarines in the oceans, so even if your land-based nukes fail, you still have a military strike capability against aggressors.” Her voice was calm. General Hammond and Maynard both nodded slowly– Daisy pointed at herself, “So… instead of using nukes or Stargate or alien technology, I offer you a compromise and a new deterrent.” 

Maynard narrowed his eyes on her, “What deterrent?”

Daisy’s smirk was cold. “The more effective, more powerful, basically unbribable, and mostly unkillable, deterrent… who is sitting here right in front of you.”

Maynard’s heart rate spiked, looking confused, “You?” He asked, his voice thick with disbelief. It quickly shifted to realization. “Your powers—”

“Yep,” She said simply. “I’m capable of a lot. And I’ve been trained in… well, let’s just say things you don’t want to know about, unless you enjoy nightmares. But trust me when I say, I can destabilize an entire nation without even using my powers.” She let that hang in the air for a moment, before adding with a wicked grin, “Not to mention the reputations of both Skyenet and Specialist Q.”

Maynard blinked, mouth working in disbelief. “I…”

General Hammond, who knew what she was truly capable of, recovered first. “How will you ensure that these… eight countries, don’t just go public with everything that you’ve told them?”

“Because I’m not planning on briefing them in some SCIF.” Daisy revealed, because that wouldn’t work. “No, I’ll be taking them on a field trip.”

“Field trip?” Hammond echoed, sounding confused. 

“To a Goa’uld slave-breeding world. I’ll explain to them everything about the Stargate, the Goa’uld Empire, Ha’taks, human slaves, etc… and let them see the truth.” She paused, letting her words linger for a moment, “First impressions are everything. I want them terrified—disgusted, enraged, and scared of the Goa’uld. I need them to know that they’re facing something far worse than anything Earth has ever seen.”

General Maynard and Hammond exchanged a look, clearly considering her words. Maynard gestured for her to continue.

Daisy leaned forward, “After that, I’ll take them to one of the Goa’uld garrisons, then to a Jaffa world. There I’ll explain the organizational structure of the Goa’uld, show them the might and power of the Goa’uld Empire, and show them the Jaffa population and strength… Fear’s a great motivator.”

Because yes, if the Goa’uld really put aside all of their differences and actually came for Earth in force, then they’d be able to field a standing army that could completely overwhelm Earth’s militaries by sheer force of numbers alone. 

From the Tok’ra, Teal’c and the ex-NID agents from A53, she’d learned that there were 82 Jaffa worlds in total. Of them, there were 23 worlds with a Jaffa population of above 5 million.

If even a quarter of the force from those 23 worlds came for them, they’d easily match Earth’s combined military strength.

No, Earth couldn’t rely on sheer numbers or technology—those were already stacked against them. They’d have to use strategy, training, skill, and precision to outmaneuver the Goa’uld and win. 

And Daisy knew how to fight that battle—she’d done it before, against the Kree.

Maynard’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Is that all, Daisy?” 

Daisy snapped back to attention, her smile returning. “Sorry. Got lost in thought. No, that’s not the end of it. After showing them the Jaffa worlds, I’ll take them to a planet where the 75th and 10th are running a PES-RED mission. I’ll show them that we can  win against the Jaffa. It just takes skill, resources, and cooperation.”

General Maynard and Hammond exchanged another look, silently communicating. 

“I want to paint the Goa’uld as the enemy,” Daisy started, pulling their focus back to her, “The one that will destroy Earth, the one coming to raze our homes, to steal our children and make slaves of us all… and the only way we survive is if we band together and fight as one.” Her voice was firm, unwavering. “If we lose, there’s no coming back. We either die, get enslaved, or win. Those are the only options, and I want us to win.”

Maynard studied her for a long moment before sighing softly. “Your words are… convincing, Daisy. But I’m not sure they’ll believe it—believe you. Not without further proof of your powers or the truth of the universe.”

“Fair enough.” She’d much rather preferred blunt honesty to sweet lies. “But I’m taking them on that field trip because I don’t just want to tell them the truth, I want to show them. So, they’ll believe. If not, then I’ll leave them on a Goa’uld planet and we’ll see how they survive amongst what they believe to be impossible.” Of course, she won’t actually let them be in danger, but it was the principle of it.

Maynard huffed softly, while General Hammond gave Daisy a quelling look. “Even if they do believe,” Maynard pressed on, “what happens after that? The eight countries you brief are going to demand control of the Gate. Some of them won’t accept a global SGC. They’ll want the Stargate itself, and we can’t give it to them. You know that as well as I do.”

Daisy nodded, “I know. But they’ll argue that the US can’t be trusted with the Stargate. After all, the US was the one that made an enemy of the Goa’uld.” Daisy paused, “And that’s not entirely true. Jack killed Ra because he was planning on attacking Earth with a Naquadah-enhanced nuke, all because we existed. Apophis attacked the SGC, killing US servicemen and kidnapping Airman Carol Weterlings. Regardless, Earth making an enemy of the Goa’uld was inevitable. Sooner or later, either now or in a hundred years when we reached out into the stars, we would’ve crossed paths with them… and we would’ve become their enemies.” 

Her gaze locked onto Maynard. “And as for the Gate… I’m not asking you to hand it to them. I’m asking you to hand it to me.”

Maynard blinked, taken aback by the boldness of her request. Before he could recover, she continued. “I’m asking you to trust me, because… after showing them the PES-RED mission, I’ll take them to meet the Nox. We’ll hammer out a treaty that the first eight major powers—and future primary signatories—can accept. We rebuild the SGC as a true global command, expand its mandate, and restructure it so the first eight, then eventually twenty nations, can operate side by side to defend Earth.”

Hammond’s forehead creased. “Which eight are you talking about?”

Daisy smiled, “I want the five permanent members of the UNSC—China, Russia, France, the UK, and the US—and then I also want to add Canada, India, and Germany to the first nations who will be informed about the Stargate programme.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “Canada’s proximity to the SGC and its educated military and technical base make them a natural early partner. India, because of its population, economic potential, a massive workforce… and because we need to solve the geopolitical tension between Pakistan, China and India. Germany has been stable and responsible since World War II, it’s active in the UN and NATO, has a capable army, and it’s one of Europe’s major economic powers.”

Sure, India would probably need a lot of work since it was still a developing country, but they were resourceful with what they had and they had the second largest population on Earth. 

Maynard listened intently. “Interesting choices.” His tone was neutral, but Daisy could tell he was considering her words.

“Within a few years, the first eight will figure out how to work together. Once they do, I bring in the next wave: Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Turkey, and finally Egypt,” Daisy finished, “That gets us twenty primary partner nations, spread out globally, all strategically located to defend Earth if we have to build any land or sea-based planetary defense installations.”

“In time, all of the 20 countries will figure out how to work together… and if that takes less than 10 years or the Goa’uld aren’t defeated yet, then we focus on defeating the Goa’uld and creating enough ships to protect Earth.” Daisy explained intently. “Every one of those military spaceships will fall under a global SGC command, not national control. Civilian ships can sit under national flags, as long as they accept a strict framework of conditions, which will probably be integrated with the inevitable reform that the Outer Space Treaty is going to undergo, due to the Phobosian ship landing.” 

“And how are you going to do that, Daisy?” Hammond asked warily. 

“What would be our incentive?” Maynard asked warily. “Why would the US, or any other country, settle for not building their own military spaceships once technology from the Phobosian ship is spread–”

Daisy rolled her eyes, “I’m not saying you can’t build ships at all. I’m not stopping them from building their own civilian deep-space ships, low atmo and orbital ships, or anything like that… but any military ship building will be banned, because I don’t want to instigate or inadvertently trigger a war amongst member nations in deep space. So anything outside of Earth and Luna’s orbit will have to fall under the global SGC command. Plus, R&D of military ships, building a national space navy takes money, time, manpower and a lot of resources… wouldn’t those resources be better suited towards actually doing something useful for their country?” She paused, “If someone does build some kind of military ship, then I want it written in the proposal/treaty document that they forfeit any rights to said ship if it leaves Earth and Luna orbit, but as long as it is used in protection of Earth, they can keep it.”

Hammond and Maynard blinked, then… “I suppose that makes sense, but what would be our incentive?”

Daisy met their gazes. “Technology and resources. Anything and everything to make life better for Earth’s citizens—civilian AND military. Civilian tech is shared globally, while military tech is restricted to 20 primary nations. I intend to use the Tollan technologies for this. I want the Tollan to help us fix the problems on Earth– not just for the US or one country. For the entire planet.” She paused, thinking about the talk that she’d need to have with Thor and Travell, “I’m pretty sure that both the Tollan and the Asgard would be… more forthcoming with any technology if they know they’re sharing their technology with a global coalition instead of a single faction or country.”

Maynard frowned, no doubt thinking about the economy breaking if they started to release advanced tech into the market. 

Daisy smiled knowingly, “And you don’t have to worry, we’re going to do the technology sharing slowly, so as to not crash the global economy, but we already have better processor designs than most of the world does.” Daisy pointed out, “We have a cure for Alzheimer’s. We have better solar panels. We have holographic technology… and a lot of stuff.” There were 822 patents on Level 17 last she’d counted. “What’s the plan to share all of this? Is there even a plan? If we just keep all of this to ourselves, it won’t be fair to everyone else… and, it just hurts us when disclosure does  happen. It’s morally and ethically wrong to keep this from the rest of the public when we can do so much to help everyone.”

“She has a point there, sir.” General Hammond acknowledged with a nod. “If we have the resources and manpower from all of these countries, then we could exploit our gains even more. We can actually fight the Goa’uld at a much even parity, perhaps even take out or take over some of their industrialized worlds to learn more about their technology.”

Maynard barely nodded at General Hammond’s reasoning, but his gaze remained locked on Daisy. "And... assuming you negotiate, somehow convince them, and they agree to join the global SGC command, what then?" His voice was cool, but still concerned, "What if one of them breaks the rules? What if someone tries to force disclosure—"

"Then... I deal with it," Daisy responded slowly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she focused on the stars on his shoulder. "I show them what happens when someone steps out of line. Including the US."

There was no immediate response. Maynard didn’t flinch at her unspoken threat, but General Hammond stiffened, "And how exactly would you do that?" Maynard asked carefully.

Daisy’s smile was slow, calculating. “To be effective as a deterrent, I need to be exempted from certain… laws and rules, and I will be authorized by the treaty and the global SGC to act as a… guarantor of planetary defense. If someone tries forcing disclosure, blackmail, and... any other ‘misunderstandings’, then I will be authorized to take any necessary… corrective action against the treaty member in question, with my actions subject to a review at the end of it." She airquoted with a smile, “And I’m not going to be waiting for a supermajority vote among the primary nation council or anything like that, because alliances and politics will hamstring me from doing what I need to do. So, if I’m going to be the deterrent, they need to know that I can and will  act—no matter the laws they think bind me. Because I’m the only one with the power to do what needs to be done... and the impartiality to do it without any biases."

To her surprise, Maynard blinked once before nodding slowly. “Alright," He muttered, apparently coming to terms with it. “What happens after you show them the Goa’uld? How are you going to take them to those planets?”

Daisy smiled, “I was thinking of asking Thor and the Asgard High Council for a favor. If the Asgard know it’ll help them get more human DNA samples, they’ll agree to it." A pause. “Then we spend four months making the framework function, followed by a year of joint operations to protect Earth, then another, and another—until the Goa’uld Empire collapses.” Daisy revealed, because the Goa’uld empire was huge, in terms of galactic distances. It would take time to train nations to fight as one, to protect Earth as a united force. “Once we start building real starships, we begin with national crews for about a year, drawing personnel from navies and air forces around the world. Then we transition to integrated crews via exchange programs and build larger vessels staffed by mixed teams.” She shrugged. “We’ve done it before. RIMPAC, CARAT, REFORGER, Cobra Gold… joint operations aren’t new. This is just the next step—upwards.”

Maynard blinked a few times at the list, then a faint smile tugged at his mouth.

Hammond nodded, but he was still frowning, “And… what about all of the resources we gain from the Stargate?” Hammond asked further, “What about our Naquadah or Trinium Mining sites, Daisy? We need all of those resources to build weapons and ships– we can’t just give the other countries–”

Daisy’s expression tightened, frustration bleeding through. “With respect, sir, you’re missing the point.” She cut cleanly across his objection. “Once the SGC becomes a global command instead of an American one, the resource structure has to change too. Every mined, recovered, or salvaged asset is shared among the participant nations on a mission—combat or mining—on a fixed formula. The largest share goes to the global SGC to build ships, planetary bases, and orbital defenses. The rest is divided equally between the nations that contributed forces.”

Maynard’s brows rose. “So if the French Foreign Legion deploys on a PES-RED mission alongside our Rangers, we split the take three ways? Between the US, the French, and the global SGC command?”

“Exactly.” Daisy nodded. “In that example, I’d push for a 40–30–30 or 50–25–25 split. The largest portion goes to the global SGC for shared defense infrastructure—ships, satellites, ground-to-orbit weapons. The remaining shares go to the US and France equally. Neither the US or France will be able to use said resources to build military ships, but they can use it to build better infrastructure for their cities on Earth, to build and research civilian technologies, to build civilian ships to mine asteroids in the belt, and there are literally hundreds of other uses. But any military ship with a hyperdrive, FTL system, or extra-solar travel capability will have to fall under the global SGC organization's command. Because I don’t want a gold rush in outerspace.” She looked at Maynard, “And also to ensure that someone doesn’t accidentally spark a war with any other society.”

Maynard considered that in silence, jaw working once before he inclined his head, grudging but sincere. “I suppose that’s a good point.” 

Daisy smiled, “And like I said before, we’re going to shift all of the alien tech research to another planet… and I already have a planet in mind for that.”

Once she killed all of the bugs on BP6-3Q1 (the planet where Teal’c had gotten stung by one of those alien mosquito-type bugs), it would be a treasure trove of alien tech and an ideal place to actually start building research labs, ship manufacturing bays, etc. The first unified Earth colony.

Moving alien tech research to that planet just made sense, to pool resources.

Maynard’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why?" He asked, though there was no anger in his voice, just curiosity. “We already have Area 51—"

“We do," Daisy said, cutting him off. “But Area 51 is a U.S facility." Both of them winced. “If the U.S is doing independent alien tech research at their own base, then the other powers will also start demanding the same. That’s when we risk information leaks. Now I suppose I could allow you or other countries to continue your independent alien research on the condition of constant monitoring to ensure that the technology is safe and won’t cause a leak, but that is something that I know no country, even the US, would agree to. 

Maynard immediately nodded to that, confirming her thoughts. 

She held their gazes firmly. “If we do it off-world, we control the information since they’re on a whole other planet. There’s no risk of leaks, and every country involved will have no choice but to work together." Daisy leaned in slightly, meeting their gaze coolly. “And, more importantly, we can give them the resources and technology they need to reverse-engineer alien tech without any political interference or budget restrictions. They can focus  on developing the technology we need to defend Earth."

Maynard nodded slowly, his intelligent eyes studying her. “And what about the military ships? Building them, manning them, using them to protect Earth? The civilian ships and orbital military ships can probably be created at national shipyards, but for the actual Earth fleet? We will specifically need a shared command/global shipyard on Earth for that."

Daisy took the point, but she already had a reasoning against that point and had already found/thought about a solution for it. “We can’t  build the Earth fleet on Earth… because the ships we build here will have to be too weak.”

“Too weak?" Maynard asked, his voice tight with skepticism.

Daisy nodded, “Any ships we build in the Sol System will have to follow the current threat definition as stated by the Goa’uld, which won’t let our ships do anything but be slaughtered if it faces a Ha’tak. I mean, orbital ships, low atmo fighters, and the like can probably be used to protect against Al’kesh, death gliders and troop carriers, but fighting against the big boys is just not in any one nation’s capability. And if we try to make the ships more powerful, then we get taken out of the Protected Planets treaty.” Daisy revealed slowly, as Maynard’s vibrations spiked with anger, as he grit his teeth, “It’s a Catch-22. Ask General Hammond—Thor told us about it."

General Hammond face grimaced in acknowledgment. “She’s right, sir."

“So we need  other planets," Daisy pressed. “And it’s easier to source Naquadah, Trinium, and other essential materials out there in the galaxy. And it also protects the secrecy of the SGC, the new Coalition, and the Stargate. We can build orbital shipyards and large manufacturing plants… without raising a single eyebrow on Earth. Because of the simple fact that it won’t be  on Earth.”

Maynard shook his head, disbelief in his eyes. “What’s the point of having shipyards on other worlds if the ships can’t get here in time to protect us? The territories of the Goa’uld are vast, and they have at least one planet at the extremity of each territory. We’re just one world, Daisy."

Daisy gave him a pointed look. “I’m not talking about military shipyards on the other side of the galaxy," She said, her voice flat. “There are twelve star systems within 15 light years of Earth. With the current hyperdrive speed of the SCS-class ships—0.015 light years per second—a ship launched from the edge of that radius could be in Earth’s orbit in 15 minutes. The closest system, Alpha Centauri, is only 4.37 light years away. A ship stationed there could be in Earth’s orbit in five minutes."

Maynard blinked as if he hadn’t thought of that, and that seemed to convince him, but only partially, because he asked again, “But that’s still five  minutes, Daisy. In combat, that’s a long time.”

Yeah. It was. 

Sometimes five minutes was all that it took for a fight to start and finish. 

“I know… and that’s why along with my proposal of the global SGC, I’m also adding the Seeker II project, which I’m actually going to propose to the various nations across the world and buy a few islands across the world to use for launches.” Daisy explained, “An autonomous satellite swarm network seeded in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that can work as both a hyperspace interdictor for any ships within a certain set radius, and as long range subspace sensors so that we’ll be able to detect any ships on trajectory to the Sol System.”

If they couldn’t get reinforcements to Earth within five minutes, then the only thing that they could do was to delay the fight as much as possible.

In the threat definition, there was no restriction on the number  of satellites, just the power output of it. She’d make any Goa’uld that tried to attack Earth regret that. 

The threat definition also didn’t say anything about mines in space. 

Sure, she didn’t know how to bring the idea of space mines to life, but the potential of it was undeniable, especially if they could use the mines to supplement the interdictor network. 

She saw the question on his face, “A few months ago, when the SCS and Al’kesh were stuck in that hyperspace transit anomaly near the moon, we discovered something really important.” She saw his curiosity, “A ship in hyperspace can be forcibly ejected from it if we nullify the hyperspace frequency it's using to travel/access hyperspace. That’s how Teal’c and my Jaffa friend managed to save both the SCS and the Al’kesh. That concept… sparked an idea."

Maynard looked actually interested now, while General Hammond looked like he was recalling that mission report. 

“If a normal hyperspace generator is capable of nullifying the hyperspace channel of a ship… thus forcibly ejecting it, then we could create hyperspace interdictors using the same technology.” Daisy suggested. She had literally spent weeks  mulling this over, connecting the dots, and now she felt confident this could work—given what she knew about Goa'uld hyperdrives.

Maynard blinked, “How?" His voice betrayed the hint of excitement. He saw the potential, and it wasn’t lost on him how much of a game changer this could be.

Daisy just smiled in return, “Teal’c and my friend inverted the cargo ship's hyperspace generators and activated them, causing both the Al’kesh and the cargo ship's hyperspace frequencies to merge and cancel each other out, ejecting both ships from hyperspace.” She glanced at the two men, gauging their reactions. “We could adapt that same principle. If we create satellites with modified hyperspace generators that can generate a counter frequency to the Goa’uld Ha’tak’s hyperspace frequency, then we can create a network of satellites in the asteroid belt—an entire hyperspace nullification field."

It was basically a large Area Denial weapon. But Maynard frowned, his thoughts clearly racing. “That would disrupt our own ships too, Daisy.”

Daisy shook her head, already anticipating this concern. “No, not our  ships. The SCS class ship uses a different, higher hyperspace channel, which is why it can travel faster. If we design our ships to access that higher hyperspace channel, then they’ll still be able to function within the nullification field. The same goes for ships from other advanced species—Tollan, Asgard, or Nox ships—as long as they don’t use the Goa’uld's hyperspace frequency.”

She paused, watching their faces as they processed this. “The Goa’uld would have to continue on sublight to reach Earth if they wanted to attack.” She pointed out. 

General Hammond’s voice was calm, but firm. "If their sublight drives still function, they’ll still make it to Earth."

Daisy nodded, acknowledging the point. “I know. But the goal of the interdictor satellites isn’t to defeat the Goa’uld. It’s to trap them, to prevent them from escaping using hyperspace—and mostly, to buy time for our ships to get here. Once the satellites are in place, we can link them into a network, broadcasting the counter-hyperspace frequency toward the Sun. The Goa’uld won’t know what’s happening until they’re already in the trap… and they won’t be coming out of a normal hyperspace window with their inertia bleeding off… No, they’ll be hitting a dimensional wall and crash-transiting back into real space. That’s like hitting the brakes on something like 2700 Gs, despite inertial damping.”

Both of their faces transformed into shock and horror—they were both military, they knew the seriousness of what she’d just said. 

No one would be able to survive, and… “There’s good odds that the Ha’tak might actually tear itself apart.” Daisy pushed on, “Even if they survive the crash-transit, once they’re forced out of hyperspace, they’ll be severely damaged, enough that they’d be easy picking for any ships. Even if they try to continue, they’ll have to use sublight. It’ll take them 28 minutes to reach Earth from the edge of the Asteroid belt. That’s more than enough time for reinforcements to arrive.” 

Maynard considered the proposal, his expression hardening as he processed the reality of it. “Even so… we can’t afford this Seeker II plan, Daisy.” His voice was quieter now, “You’re talking about a swarm of satellites. And considering the area we’d need to cover… we’ll need at least a few thousand to a few hundred thousand satellites. We don’t have a multistage delivery system capable of reaching the asteroid belt… or carrying that many satellites at once. And with the new Phobosian ship, there will be a lot of scrutiny on outer space.”

Daisy let a knowing smile tug at the corners of her lips. “Well, I have two ideas about that. Tell me, what’s the most expensive part of launching any satellite, aside from the satellite itself?"

Both of them seemed surprised at her question. But General Hammond answered promptly. “The rocket.”

Daisy feigned a thoughtful frown. “Hmm… and how much do you think it will cost? For all of it?”

“Hundreds of Billions,” Maynard replied flatly. “Nearly a trillion if we want to keep it secret. We can’t do this, Daisy. Not now. Not until we can develop our own indigenous spaceships… which could very well be reverse engineered from the Phobosian ship that you’re going to be dealing with in a few hours, but even then, it’ll take at least a decade before we can even consider something as extensive as this network you’re suggesting.”

Daisy grinned in amusement, taking both of them by surprise, “Then I’m happy to announce that we won’t need to field the cost of anything other than actually building the satellites. I’ll take care of launch, positioning and seeding the satellites across the belt.” 

For a brief moment, Maynard just stared at her in disbelief. “What?" He asked, clearly struggling to process the offer. Hammond stared at her as if he was seeing her for the first time.

“If we build the satellites, then I’ll take care of the deployment and positioning by myself.” Daisy offered confidently. “That’s why I’m thinking of outright buying islands. To create a launch system and underground hangar for ships.”

Maynard shook his head, “Explain.” 

Daisy nodded, “Well, the HCR design is… really just a mass driver on steroids. If you swap out the projectiles, scale the entire design up, and add a lot of safeguards, then it can also be used as an electromagnetic satellite launch system.”

Both of their jaws dropped, staring at her in barely concealed surprise, “The second idea I have is to take the SCS class ship. Take a crate of Tok’ra tunneling crystals to dig holes in the asteroids, so we can hide the satellites when we start deployment.” Daisy answered easily, “If the Goa’uld find our satellites, they’ll figure out the trap and blast those satellites to smithereens and the hyperspace nullification field will fail… and I have to ensure that the satellites are well hidden, even from Earth.”

Sure, these satellites could only probably work for a few years, considering the power sources available right now… but she or someone else would figure out a solution to this problem before they started manufacturing the satellites in earnest. Maybe a miniature long-term nuclear reactor or some kind of active or passive power generation system built onto the satellites themselves, or maybe build an asteroid around the satellite itself so that it was easier for maintenance? 

Hmm… the first three were plausible and probable, the fourth she’d have to think about more. She’d note some of these points in this project later. “Given the SCS plan, how are you going to transport the satellites themselves?” General Maynard asked. “Are you planning on building the satellites on the private islands you’re going to be buying?” 

She grinned. “No, for that plan, it’s an easy answer. The Stargate.” Daisy hoped that the longer explanation wasn’t necessary and they could understand.

Both men blinked in confusion. Apparently that explanation was necessary.

“What?” General Maynard asked, completely thrown off by her answer.

Daisy was sure that her mom would have gotten it, even without explaining this much… but everyone couldn’t be as smart as Sam. 

Which was both relieving and slightly frustrating? Whatever. 

“We have two  working Stargates on Earth… and the Siberian gate is actually damaged, so I’m not counting that, and the Yucatan gate… I don’t know what, but there’s an error and I don’t want to connect to that until I figure it out.” She explained first, then continued. “Anyway, here’s my plan… I take the SCS class ship, cloak it, take a Stargate from one of the planets surrounding Earth, maybe even Red-1’s, and we install it in the SCS class ship’s cargo hold and go to the target site. While building the satellites, we just have to make sure that the… interdictor or other satellites can fit within the inner diameter of the Stargate… because then all we have to do is transport these satellites to some other planet… Heliopolis, or A53, or some other secure base. Then when dialing back to Earth, we target the Space Gate, rather than one at the SGC or Fort Carson… which can be done. I’ve done it for the Sureetan salvage ops mission.” Daisy revealed. 

Both of them blinked a few times, frozen in shock and surprise and disbelief. “We send the satellites through the wormhole… and tada!” Daisy made jazz hands, “The SCS receives the satellites, where the engineers and technicians install the satellites in the asteroids, then once they run out of satellites, they dial back and let the other base know that they need more.”

The disbelief, shock and surprise faded to appreciation, happiness and interest, on both General Maynard and Hammond’s faces. Though General Hammond had a touch of pride on his face too, and… it was aimed at her. As if he was proud of her?

Daisy swallowed whatever feelings that evoked. 

“I… I hadn’t thought of that.” Maynard stammered out after a moment, then looked at her seriously. “Are you sure that this can work? This whole plan of yours?”

Daisy shrugged, “The satellite transportation part, definitely. The HCR would need a redesign. The installation of the satellites probably needs some more workshopping on how to secure something inside an asteroid. As for the interdictors, 70-30, based on the evidence.” She saw the question on his face, “The last 30% is because we haven’t really tested it with a Ha’tak and an Asgard ship or some other ship, but the science of it should work. But even a 70% chance of knocking out a Goa’uld Ha’tak or any other ship out of hyperspace is still a very good thing, don’t you agree?”

Maynard nodded intently, his eyes sharp with focus, and General Hammond mirrored the gesture. “It is," Maynard affirmed, his voice thoughtful. He paused, considering something, “If the cloaking generators can be miniaturized enough to mount them onto the satellites themselves… we could start building weapons satellites. SHARD cannons, HCRs scaled up, and the staff cannon—"

Daisy shook her head immediately, already having thought about it. “No. We can’t have any of that without figuring out a better power source or an active generation system capable of powering those weapons in space." She leaned forward, “Otherwise, we'd either have to build disposable one-shot satellites, which do have their uses but aren’t sustainable long-term, or we’d need to perform regular maintenance on thousands of satellites every single year. That's a logistical nightmare." 

Daisy paused, her mind running through possibilities. “Maybe we could do something like those bomb-pumped X-ray lasers from the SDI you proposed in the '80s. But since the HCR is my design..." Her voice tightened. “I won’t allow any HCRs in space as weapons satellites."

Maynard's frown deepened. “Why not? It could be a really effective weapon, Daisy—"

Daisy met his gaze seriously. "For an HCR to be effective in space, especially against something like a Ha’tak, you’d need a large projectile and a platform capable of withstanding the recoil. As much as the recoil-dampening system helps, the recoil isn’t  zero.” Daisy revealed intently, because she and Sam had made the primary design for the HCR coil-rails, and she knew what it was truly capable of and what it would need to be able to hit/pierce and be effective against Ha’tak shields. “And at the speeds that you’d need to fire this projectile for it to be effective… you’d need the projectile to be at least 50 meters long and wide, fired at near Mach 50, and probably made of Naquadah/Uranium with a bit of Potassium for reactivity."

General Hammond blinked, his face going pale as his heartbeat quickened— clearly remembering the Naquadah/Potassium bomb attached to Cassie’s heart when she’d first come to Earth. But General Maynard either didn’t know or didn’t remember, “How does that…”

“The projectile might work. The HCR could work. But that’s not the issue." She paused, “The real issue is what happens if we miss." Her voice grew sharper. “If you miss with energy weapons, at least in space, it’s easier to deal with. Energy disperses or can be intercepted by shields. It can be deflected, bent with magnetic fields, or even reflected with mirrors. Worst case, the energy usually dissipates when entering Earth's atmosphere."

She was quiet for a moment, letting the weight of her words sink in. “But if a Naquadah/Uranium round doped with Potassium misses its target—fired at Mach 50 or faster—it could be on a trajectory to hit Luna, a satellite in high Earth orbit, or the ISS. And none of those have shielding." Daisy explained, then looked at both of them intently, “If it strikes even one satellite, it could cause a chain reaction. The micro-fragments from one satellite hitting another, then another… until everything in orbit is just debris."

She shook her head slowly. “We can’t intercept it with a ship’s shields, because I don’t want to get hit by our own weapons fire. It’s a solid object, not energy. If we try to deflect it, we risk fracturing it into smaller pieces, which creates even more problems." Daisy explained slowly, “It can’t easily be bent with magnetic fields. It can’t be reflected with mirrors. It could even alter its trajectory using gravity assists from nearby astronomical objects and end up on a collision course with Earth." She paused again, her mind spinning through the catastrophic scenarios. “Sure, maybe it’ll burn up in the atmosphere. But what if it doesn’t? It will hit the ground and will be effective as a fucking nuke, and I’m not joking or exaggerating.”

General Maynard looked at her, his expression shifting from confusion to realization, horror creeping into his features. He breathed out after a moment, nodding. “Your point is well made, Daisy.”

"Thank you." Daisy’s tone was dry but not unkind, then she offered an olive branch. “Now, as for our ships, that’s a different story. If you want to add an extra-large spinal-mounted HCR on an orbital ship, or some kind of 12 inch turret like on battleships or destroyers, then I could support that.” Daisy explained… then paused, oh if they figured out how to make turrets, then once they brought in the various countries, she could make sure that each naval ship had at least one HCR-turret that could reach orbit and would only be used for… orbital defensive purposes. A mobile naval battery that could hit Ha’taks or other ships from the seas. Something to think about later. “The Naquadah/Uranium projectile doped with Potassium could really  mess up the day of whoever is on the business end of our guns, and it gives us a good striking power.”

Maynard chuckled softly, his smile returning. “You’re right. It could."

Daisy returned the smile, “Look, I see the merit in weaponized satellites. But the technology’s just not feasible right now—not for SHARD cannons, Ma’tok cannons, or lasers. Maybe in the future, though. I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know if anything changes."

Both men nodded, Hammond with an unreadable expression, Maynard with clear agreement. “And what about the Seeker Satellites? Is that technologically feasible right now?” Maynard questioned, “Don’t they have the same power generation problem?”

Daisy’s grin grew wider, “The design and everything else would need a bit of work, but otherwise, it should be feasible. Comparatively, the Seeker II project will be relatively low powered. The subspace sensors are going to be running on passive, not really consuming that much energy, probably running on solar or some other kind of internal low power generation capability. When it detects a ship within 10 light years of its network, it’ll activate its hyperspace interdictors and internal reactor. That way, we don’t waste power—or the satellites."

Maynard hummed thoughtfully. “You’ve really thought this through."

Daisy shrugged, "Of course. I’ve been thinking about this on and off since December, sir. That’s more than enough time to work some stuff out."

Maynard nodded slowly, staring at her in interest and respect. 

Daisy came back to the topic, “We have the tools to protect our world.” Daisy pointed out, looking at both of them, wondering how long it was going to take for them to understand. “We just need to use them together. Otherwise, those tools will just become weapons, and the nations of our planet will turn on others and use it on each other.”

Both Maynard and Hammond glanced at each other again, something in their eyes that Daisy couldn’t decipher. “I don’t want that.” Daisy paused, “Look… I’m going to be honest with you. Completely honest. I want to create a global organization with members from all eight powers—eventually from all nations. The best and brightest will come to the SGC to research, learn, and develop technologies to defend Earth against the Goa'uld… and other unforeseen aggressors.” 

Daisy’s voice grew more resolute. "I want Fort Carson to become home to a multinational army, one that reports directly to the SGC—or whatever the new organization is called. And I want such bases to have wings of interceptor planes ready to take down any Al’kesh, glider or troop carrier that tries to land on Earth. I want to build ground-to-orbit cannons capable of one-shotting a Ha’tak. I want it to have global power receiver stations to receive power from solar satellites in orbit. And I want to build those bases around the world, to protect every corner of the world, not just the US."

Maynard blinked at that one, staring at her in shock, then nodded slowly as if it somehow made sense for him. General Hammond just observed her silently, “Last, but not least, I want to defeat the Goa’uld. This is my long term plan. The ten year plan that I want to achieve while I’m getting rid of the Goa’uld, and making life better on Earth.”

“And in the short term?” Maynard asked softly, respect and gratitude and concern in his eyes. 

Daisy answered it, “In the short term, as in the immediate stuff that I can do within the next month or two, I want to protect the SG team members, the 75th Regiment, the 10th SFG, and others who are going out there risking life and limb, working for the benefit of the planet. I want to make sure that we won’t start World War III over the Phobosian ship. I want to make sure that the US doesn’t restart the cold war with Russia over the Siberian Stargate.” Both Hammond and Maynard blinked, glancing at each other. “Then I want to fix the Averium. I want the Tollan, Asgard and Nox to start respecting us more, while the Tollan and Asgard actually help us in the day-to-day of the SGC, even if it’s only on Level 17. ”

She let the silence hang for a moment before finishing, her voice resolute. “That’s everything I want to do." Daisy crossed her heart intently. “Honest.”

The room fell into a heavy silence. 

General Maynard looked stunned, staring at her silently, while General Hammond appeared to be processing everything she had said. Finally, Maynard broke the quiet, his voice soft with respect and… happiness, maybe? “…When are you thinking of this, Daisy? This controlled disclosure?” 

If this meant that she’d convinced him, then this was a great use of her time! 

“September.” Daisy answered easily. 

General Hammond frowned. “Why then?”

“The Millennium Summit," Maynard said, catching on. 

Daisy smiled, nodding to that answer. “That’s one reason. It’s one of the largest meetings of nations on the planet. The President wanted to discuss all of the future stuff based on the intel I gave him—especially the disasters that can be avoided. We all know that there’s going to be a discussion on global security from extraterrestrial invasions and alien life, so considering that it’s going to be a week-long event, I plan to quietly take control on the last day and present my plan to the eight countries and the Secretary General of the UN."

Maynard seemed skeptical. “And there’s nothing I can say to make you reconsider?" 

Daisy smiled a bit, because she wasn’t a dictator or monarch by any means, and she would always welcome dissenting opinions or constructive criticism… as long as it was actually reasonable and logical, “You can always try. If you genuinely think you have an idea that could keep Earth safe even after disclosure or leaks like this one, then I’m all ears. I don’t care if we have to argue for days or weeks, or hell, even months. As long as it’s relevant, I can promise you that I will listen.” Maynard softened, smiling at her, “You’ve got six months to change my mind—if you’ve got an idea that you think can beat mine, then I’m ready to listen. Without that, I’m moving forward with my plan for a global SGC command.”

She met his gaze without flinching, “But, I want us to work together. Can we do that? Please?” She added at the end, because please and thank you never hurt anyone. 

Maynard didn’t immediately respond, his gaze locked on hers, just studying and observing her, then took a long breath, “A lot of people in the government aren’t going to be happy with you, Daisy. Some of them might even try to stop you if this gets out–”

“Are you?” Daisy cut in, her voice sharp, a challenge in the single question. She met his gaze head-on, daring him to answer.

General Maynard’s eyes flickered to the floor for a moment, processing her challenge, before looking back up to her. “No,” He said at last, his voice calm but resolute. “Crazy as this plan sounds, your reasoning holds up, your arguments are solid, and your plans are well-thought-out. If I’m ordered to stop you, I’ll follow the orders. But personally? I’d advocate for your plan.”

Daisy’s heart skipped a beat, and an involuntary rush of triumph coursed through her veins.

YES! 

She’d done it. 

Daisy hid her excitement and joy, instead she turned to General Hammond. “What about you, sir? Will you support this plan of mine as well?” She paused, “Even with the global SGC command, you’re going to be in charge of the SGC. I’m just going to be in charge of the overall Stargate operations of Earth.”

General Hammond exhaled a soft sigh, rubbing his chin, “I’m not sure if we should do this right now, Daisy… maybe in a few years, but we do need resources and manpower, and I agree with you that we would have to reveal this to the world’s nations sooner or later. Especially with the leak, so, yes… You have my support Daisy.”

Relief flooded through her, the tension in her shoulders melting away.

If she could manage to convince them, then… she’d be able to convince others too, maybe not the politicians, but the military and the intelligence agencies… and maybe, just maybe, they would actually listen to her and follow her plan. “Good,” Daisy said, her tone softening with genuine gratitude. “I know I’ll have my mom’s support. Jack’s too. And most of the SGC. That’s what matters to me. I can convince other people that this is the right thing to do, and I don’t care about those that stick to power plays and political games, who are stuck in the past and don’t understand what’s coming.”

Maynard just hummed. 

Daisy looked between them, “Maybe there’s a better way—I'll talk to Lya, Thor, and the others—but I’m confident this is the best way to keep the world from plunging into World War III when the truth comes out. There’ll be chaos, panic, rioting, sure. But at least governments will know... And we’ll be able to show we’ve been protecting Earth, together. And I, as Specialist Q and Skyenet, will endorse the SGC and the Stargate programme globally when disclosure does happen… If it doesn’t work out, we’ll face the consequences together.”

General Hammond nodded slowly, his brow furrowing, “What will be the… organizational structure of this… new organization?”

Daisy had thought about this, but just the basic stuff.

“Not entirely sure yet,” She admitted. Most of the structure was inspired by SHIELD and other alien societies, but she hadn’t really worked out all of the details yet. “Since I was thinking that this is going to integrate with the UN, sort of… but not really?, and answering to the Primary Nation Coalition Council, which is going to be made up of world leaders of those eight or twenty respective nations.” And the veto power was either going to be removed or reformed. “With them, there will be a top-level director for the organization in question, who will have final veto power regarding Stargate Operations and Planetary Security from outside, then two sub-directors beneath them, each overseeing a different aspect of Earth’s defense: Internal and External. I, as the deterrent, will only be stepping in when there’s something I feel is going wrong, or I need to break a tie.”

She looked at them, gauging their reactions. “The sub-directors will be responsible for their own domains—Internal will deal with geopolitical strife on Earth, working with UNHCR, WHO, etc., solving internal Earth problems, making sure we don’t start World War III, while also preparing for full disclosure and slow-trickling alien tech down to other countries. External will handle everything that threatens Earth from outside… the Goa’uld, Stragoth, Reetou, and other unforeseen aggressors. They’ll also be making diplomatic decisions, forge alliances, fight the war, etc.”

Both of them seemed thoughtful, their expressions neutral but clearly processing the proposal. It wasn’t conventional, but it wasn’t entirely alien or unfamiliar either. 

Daisy continued, “Then, one step lower, some kind of democratic specialist council that can work on their own domains—Medicine, R&D, Manufacturing, Education, etc.—selected based on merit, experience, and creativity.” Daisy reasoned, “A number of possible members will be selected for a specific position, from around the world. Everyone working for this organization will be given a chance to vote for them, whoever wins gets appointed to that position for five years. I’m not sure about the exact positions yet, but this specialist council will probably have anywhere from 12 to 20 members, based on requirements. They’ll be the ones creating/writing most of the policies, changes, developments, etc.”

Maynard’s brow furrowed. “That’s actually a good idea, but what about the military?”

She knew why he was asking that– What would happen to the military forces we pledge to this organization? Whose command would they be under? 

So she answered his actual question. “Any military assets will fall under the External director. I’m not going to allow any military assets to be deployed on Earth without unanimous approval from the director and their two sub-directors. I’d rather have the Internal deal with any problems on Earth, through negotiators and other options, before the director needs to authorize military assets deployment on Earth for pacification efforts, and that too only if I, as the deterrent, can’t see another way.” She looked at Maynard intently, “And the External Director will be military as long as Earth is under threat. I don’t know which  military, but they will be selected based on experience, skill and merit.” 

General Hammond gave a small, approving nod, while General Maynard still seemed somewhat skeptical. 

Daisy offered a wry smile. “I’m not going to give any civilian, or civilian organization command of the military.” Then she grew serious, “Both sub-directors will take their orders from the director. And of course, the sub-directors will have the power to remove the director from office if the director is compromised or doesn’t have the Earth’s best interest at heart. The director will be suspended, pending investigation from an independent third party… which will probably be me, Thor, or Lya maybe. The specialist council will also have the same ability for the director or any of the sub-directors.” 

Checks and balances were necessary for any powerful position.

Daisy’s gaze moved to General Hammond, “The SGC will fall under the External Director… with you in charge of the SGC, General Hammond. The rest of the departments can be sorted out after that.”

Daisy took a breath, “We can refine this into an actual treaty document, something like… the Terran Coalition, maybe? I don’t know. But yeah, it’ll need work.” She looked back at Maynard and Hammond, adding, “And I’ll be dealing with the Phobosian ship by tonight.” 

A brief silence followed before Maynard shifted, his tone turning serious again. “About Colonel Maybourne—”

Daisy’s eyes narrowed, “He’s with me now and he’s my responsibility. I’ll deal with him. End of story.” Daisy finished, then looked at them, “So… about my proposal?”

General Maynard studied her for a long moment, then nodded with a smile, “I’ll take this to the President and I’ll endorse your plan, Daisy.” He stood, straightening his uniform. “You have a lot of work to do now, and I won’t get in the way of that, but I’ll be at Carson’s HQ if you need me.”

“Okay,” Daisy replied, watching him stand. But then, a thought struck her. “Actually… wait a minute.” She glanced up at the ceiling, where the camera was. “Skye?”

Skye answered immediately. “Yes Daisy?” 

Maynard jolted in his seat, then relaxed consciously. “I’d heard you had perfected the voice recognition system of your user interface.” 

Daisy smirked, giving him a sideways glance. “Skye’s much more than that.” Maybe Skye had started out as a user interface, but she’d oh so quickly become more than that. Skye was on the way to becoming a true A.I. She turned back to the camera. “You recorded this conversation, right Skye?”

“Recorded and transcribed,” Skye confirmed.

Daisy nodded. “Good. Send copies to General Maynard, General Hammond, Merrin, SG-1, SG-9, Gilbert, Spencer, Thor, Travell, Peter, and Louis. Also, give yourself access and add any suggestions you think might help. I’ll review everything once I’m free.”

A soft chime confirmed Skye’s task was done. “Done,” Skye chirped. “Anything else, Daisy?”

Daisy paused, then asked, “What about the conversation in the briefing room? The one where Thor apparently explained some stuff? Do you have that recorded too?”

“I do.” Skye responded.

Daisy hummed thoughtfully. “Pin it to my desktop. I’ll listen when I get a chance.” Whatever Thor had said, it was clearly important. 

“When did you keep a recording device in the briefing room?” General Hammond asked, pulling her focus back, and… he didn’t sound angry, just curious. 

“Oh.” Daisy winced, feeling a flicker of guilt, before she extinguished it and she explained, “Sorry, sir. But I didn’t quite trust you then, so… I placed a few bugs around the base that filtered back to Level 17. Most of the time it was off, but I gave control of the system to Skye, so she’d be able to listen in and tell me if there was something important.” Daisy shrugged, “The spying was for a good reason, I promise.” 

Hammond blinked in surprise, but his face remained neutral. “Okay?”

Daisy took a breath. “I’ll remove them soon—” Because Daisy didn’t really need it anymore.

“No,” Hammond interrupted her, his voice steady. “Can Skye’s capabilities be expanded to the entire SGC?”

Daisy blinked, a bit surprised, but then she nodded slowly, “Uh… yeah, they can be. That was always the plan anyway. That Skye would be able to help around the SGC– the entire SGC, not just Level 17.” 

General Hammond nodded with a smile, “Alright. Clearly this is very useful for you, so get your teams to place the necessary sensors and mics around the SGC.” He suggested/ordered softly. “I’ll need confirmation from you, Peter, Major Carter and Skye herself, once things are done and to make sure that things go smoothly.”

Maynard nodded along, “And it’s better to have evidence of our work and deeds as well, when we do reveal the secret of the Stargate in September. This will help.”

“Yeah… sure. I’ll work on that, after like… dealing with everything else,” Daisy checked her watch, “Especially considering I still need to deal with Thor and Travell. I’ll keep you in the loop about my decisions about them.” She looked at Maynard, “I guess I’ll see you when I see you, sir. Give my regards to POTUS.” 

Daisy gave a small tip of her head to General Hammond, “General Hammond, I’ll see you later.”

Well, that was a huge problem off her shoulders. 

Now she had to deal with another one.