//------------------------------//
// (Chapter 1) Prologue 
// Story: SE-1: Awakening 
// by Metro A-5 
//------------------------------//

	"General your access code please," asked the Royal guard.
"Oh my apologies," stated the general as she punched in her code to the locked elevator doors. "Its funny to think how one of Equestria's most heavily guarded secrets are locked within the very same mountain that the royal palace rests upon. And the only way to access it is through these doors." Soon the doors opened up and the two stepped inside. The guard looked around nervously.

"Ma'm are you sure this is safe? It has been after all 15 years since this facility has been used by anypony the conditions here might not be.... secure."

The general turned. "Lieutenant. This base has been constructed by Equestria's military i'll be surprised if any work actually needs to be done," The General paused when the lights in the elevator flickered. "Well i'm sure the light bulbs need replacing."

Soon one of the lights popped and shattered glass in the cabin causing the General's escort to jump. "Ma'm how far exactly are we going?" asked the Lt. now slightly shaking.

The General turned back to the doors. "We're going down to the 25th floor."

"Um Ma'm that's the-"

"The embarkation floor. I know Lieutenant. But this time the gate needs to be fully checked."

The Lieutenant. became puzzled. "But we haven't ran a full diagnostic since the gate was first used, are you suggesting that we reopen the program?"

The General lowered her head. "No, we have the go from Princess Celestia. She just wanted to make sure nothing was broken before we start sending our teams through the gate." The elevator started to squeal and vibrate, then it soon stopped. General raised her head. "Well....End of the line, Lieutenant" She motioned her hoof allowing the guard. to pass first.

Most of the base was mostly tunnels and thin hallways. The General looked around. The opening split off into two directions one for the public access like a mess hall and sleeping quarters. The path on the right led to the armory, laboratories, and of course the gate room. She looked up and noticed something. "Lieutenant. is all power restored to the base?"

The Lt. turned around. "No Ma'm only low power settings are currently in effect. Only lights, doors and exit elevators are currently functioning." 

"Lieutenant. Radio up and have them restore full power."

The guard nodded his and moved his head to the radio pinned on his uniform. "Power department, the General requests that full power be restored to the base over. 

A voice soon came back over the radio. "We'll have 100% power activated soon, please stand by over."

The General approached the Lieutenant. "Shall we continue?" The guard shook his head and the two walked off down the corridor. Although the light was dim the guide lines on the floor still reflected the light above it. Green was to the gate room and red was connected to all the bathrooms. No one was ever sure who's idea it was but the builders decided to paint the lines anyway. Along the wall was a yellow and black stripped bar that ran along to every exit in the base, although the only easy exit was the elevator. Essentially every exit was a choke point designed to easily contain and quarantine the floor if something bad happen, and in the General's past with the program bad things usually did happen. 

"Brrrrrr!" commented the Lieutenant. "It's really getting colder Ma'm" 

The General didn't turn to look at the Lt. and continued to walk. "Were heading deeper into the mountain. Not that much heat naturally makes its way here. The heating was provided by the power systems; which are still running at minimal capacity." A buzzing soon approached  the two military personal and continued down the hall. All the lights above buzzed on all at once, hurting the Generals eyes a bit. 

The Lieutenant. Smiled. "Ah ha! The lights are all on!" 

The Lieutenant's radio buzzed. "Sir, power has been restored to all of the base. Please radio back if theirs anything else you need over."

"Will do," responded the guard. now feeling happier that all the lights were on. He was about to make a victory dance when the general spoke out. 

"We're here," noted the General as she punched in another code for a door which looked like a slab of steel. It was only labeled with white paint. In big lettering the only writing were the letters "G.R." The hallway continued forward but the General made a left turn to a staircase with the guard. following close behind. The top of the stairs revealed a conference room with a long table as the center piece. At the opposite end of the room; hung on the wall was an emblem with the letters "SGE" placed at the front in royal blue color. 

The General enter a doorway close to the staircase and into a room full of monitors which were draped by a simple white sheets. The room sat in front of the conference room. The General walked in and began pulling off the sheets of cloth with assistance from the Lieutenant. And with the sheets piled up in a corner the General turned and looked out the windows which were blocked with another slab of steel. She looked back at the corner where the sheets rested and noticed the in-room power switch. She called out to the Lieutenant. "See that lever over there?" The General motioned with her hoof. "Flip it on."

The Lieutenant. compiled and moved the switch. Lights from all over the room started to flash and glow. The monitors began to burn images on their screens; one of which that read "Frontal blast shield removal in progress." A motor activated somewhere above their heads and the metal began to raise itself away from their view. Revealing a large circle draped in a huge blanket. It sat in the back of a room with only a metal ramp to keep it company.

"Lieutenant, go back down stairs and follow the hallway until you reach this room." ordered the General.

The guard galloped out of the room till he was into the room. He gave a quick salute to the General. He walked up the ramp and grabbed the cloth with his teeth and yanked it down. The General stood in awe as she saw the gate for the first time in 15 years. She traced the outline of the circle with her eyes. The points that light up when another gate was establishing a connection remained dark and dormant. Memories flooded back of when she first used to command the original Stargate teams. All those close calls and triumphs of over coming great difficulties. She continued to reminiscent until an all to familiar sound came into play. The incoming portal alarm.

The General scrambled over the computers till she found the loudspeaker. "Lieutenant! Evac the room ASAP!" He didn't need telling twice, and quickly he dashed out of the room and back into the control center with the General.

"Ma'm what the hell is going on!?" Panic was written all over the Lt.'s face. He read the mission reports of all the missions but had never seen the gate been used. 

The gate started to spin and the points along the circle began to light up. The first two were already lit up. "General Ma'm what exactly happens when all the points light up?"

The third light flashed on,

"Lieutenant! Start sweeping off this front desk!" The two began sweeping all the tapes and files on to the floor.

The fourth light came on.

"Ma'm what the hell exactly am I looking for there's too many buttons and what not!"

The General looked up, the fifth light blinked on. The general began to sweat as she grew more and more panicked.

"Just sweep off the damn desk Lieutenant!" yelled the General as she continued to scan for the button to close the gate. The sixth light clicked on.

With a quick glance the General saw she had less than seconds to react. Then she spotted the door controls on the other side of the room. She ran towards it.

The last light at the top of the Stargate moved then lit up with the rest of the lights. 

"GENERAL!" screamed the Lieutenant. who eyes were now fixed on the gate.

"I'M WORKING ON IT!" the General yelled back. 

A flash of white light hit the windows followed by a blue gaze that lit up the gate room. "AH HA!!!" exclaimed the General as she slammed her hoof down on the scanner. The "iris activated" message managed to light up through the layers of dust. She fell to the ground exhausted from what could have been the end Equestria. The brightness in the gate room had dimmed a bit.

"General look!" exclaimed the Lieutenant.

She picked herself and looked out the window. The overlapping blades crossed over and sealed the gate shut. The General smiled "That could have been bad."

The Lieutenant. looked at her. "What do you mean-" The guard was interrupted by more sounds the General was all too familiar with .

THUMP!...........THUMP!..............THUMP!

A whizzing sound filled the air and the blue light that filled the gate room vanished.

"What was that noise?" asked the Lieutenant who by now was a bit calmer.

"It doesn't matter," sighed the General. "Whatever or Whoever it was, they're not coming through." She walked towards the doorway. "Lieutenant. stay here and yell for me if anymore surprises occur."

The guard saluted. "Ma'm might I ask where you will be?"

She walked out and called back. "My old office." In the conference was the entrance to her office. Her desk and chair remained here, but all her personal belongings were removed when she left so many years ago. Still on the desk was the telephone (which was what she was looking for) which still sat covered in dust as most things in the base were. She picked up the phone and dialed out. 

The tone came on the line, and someone picked up the phone. "Hello this Equestrian Royal Guard is there something I can help you with?"

The General cleared her throat. "Yes can you please connect me with Princess Celestia?"

The other end of the line asked. "May I ask who's calling?"

"Wonder-Bolt Head General Princess Luna, and also tell Princess Celestia that we have an emergency."

The other person became much more attentive. "Uh Yes Ma'm, right away Ma'm!"