Summary: The Daedalus stumbles across the Colonial fleet in the middle of a battle with the Wraith, and the Atlantis crew makes some new friends.
Crossover: Battlestar Galactica (original)
Notes: This takes place toward the end of season 2 of Atlantis, and about ten years after the end of Galactica. Galactica 1980 never happened, although I have borrowed the name Troy for Boxey.
Disclaimer: Yup, don't own none of it, wish I did. So, seein's as how I don't own none of it, and I ain't makin' any dough off of it, well then, there's no reason for one of those silly ol' lawsuits now, is there?
STARGATE - GALACTICA
By screaminheathen69
Chapter the First
"Col. Caldwell, we're getting some odd sensor readings..."
Col. Caldwell, commander of the USAF Daedalus, looked up from the staus report he was reading towards his scanning officer. "What kind of strange readings?"
"Weapons fire, I think. Some of the readings match the energy signature of Wraith weaponry, but the other reaings don't quite match anything in our database. Even Hermiad doesn't recognise it."
Caldwell glanced over at Lt. Col. John Sheppard and raised an eyebrow. Sheppard shrugged. "Seems like it might be worth a quick look. It's only a little way off our course."
Caldwell thought about it for a moment, then turned to the helmsman. "Alter course. Drop us out of hyperspace at the maximum distance our short range sensors will work. I wanna get a good look at what's going on before we get too close. Shields up, weapons systems armed, and get the 302 pilots ready to scramble." The ship became a hive of activity as it closed in on the target solar system.
Down in engineering, Hermiad and Novak were working to enhance the resolution of the long range scanners. Hermiad was grumbling in Asgard. Not that he'd admit to grumbling. Novak just rolled her eyes and kept working. "That looks like an awful lot of ships..."
"Indeed. Thirty seconds until deceleration."
The Daedalus dropped to sublight at the edge of the solar system. All short range sensors were quickly brought to bear on the battle raging in orbit of the fifth planet. Sheppard and Caldwell were leaning over the shoulder of the sensor operator. "We are insystem and secured from hyperdrive. Four Wraith cruisers confirmed. Two hundred plus darts." He adjusted his board a bit. "I count ninety-seven assorted large vessels, including two that are larger than a hive-ship. One hundred plus of what appear to be fighter craft. The two big ones seem to be protecting the rest of the unknowns. It looks like only a few of 'em are armed."
Another officer signaled for Caldwell's attention. "Sir, we're receiving a signal from one of the unknowns. The translator was able to decipher it."
"On screen." Caldwell and Sheppard both made their way over to the large screen on the port side of the bridge. A white haired man appeared there, the sounds of battle muffled over the circuit.
"This is Adama, commander of the Colonial Battlestar Galactica, calling the vessel that has just arrived insystem. We are under attack by an unknown enemy, and would be grateful for any assistance that you can give us."
Shepard and Caldwell exchanged looks. Sheppard shrugged again. "Well, they're human. Seems like helpin' 'em out'd be the neighborly thing to do."
Caldwell studied the battle on the tactical plot for a minute, then turned back to the screen, signaling for the comms officer to open the channel. "This is Col. Caldwell, commanding the United States Air Force Vessel Daedalus. We have a fair amount of experience with the Wraith, Commander. We stand ready to assist, just tell us where you want us."
Adama nodded, a smile ghosting across his face. "Thank you, Colonel. We're sending you coordinates now. If you can give the Pegasus some back up, I think we can finish this off fairly quickly." With another nod, the image faded away.
The helmsman glanced at Caldwell. "Coordinates recieved, sir." He put them up on the tactical plot. "They want us to pop out here, just above these two cruisers that are giving the Pegasus a bunch of grief."
"Okay, let's do this. Have the 302's ready to scramble as soon as we get there."
Sheppard took in the battle plan and turned to Caldwell. "Colonel, if you don't mind, I think I'll take out one of the Puddle-Jumpers. You could use every fighter pilot you've got out there."
"Go ahead. And try not to get killed. Dr. Weir would never let me hear the end of it."
"I'll try not to, sir." Sheppard tossed off a salute and sprinted for the hangar deck, calling for the rest of his team as he went. Never hurts to have extra eyes...
Five minutes later, a hyperspace window opened above and behind the two Wraith cruisers that were pummeling the Pegasus. The Daedalus dropped out of hyperspace, shields up, missiles and rail guns blazing, fighters pouring from the launch bays. Sheppard took off with the Jumper already cloaked, swinging around to try to take out the nearest cruiser's stardrive with his drones.
"Let's just see if we can get inside their shields before we de-cloak..." Rodney let out a terrified squeak as John threw the Jumper around wildly to avoid the hail of fire around them, not to mention the fighters caught up in viscious dogfights. John was staring at the Colonial fighter craft with undisguised lust. "Man, I have got to get me one of those."
Rodney waved a hand at the controls, wide-eyed. "Less drooling, more flying."
"Oh, for cryin' out loud, McKay, have I crashed us yet?"
Teyla, Ronon and Rodney all answered at the same time. "Yes!"
"Well, I've had a lot more practice since then," John said defensively.
"Oh, I feel so much better," snarked McKay. "Stare at the pretty ships after we don't get killed."
"Killjoy. There's a weak spot in the shields here," he pointed at the HUD. "We'll try there. Everybody strapped in? Good." The jumper bucked as it flew through the shield, jerking them around in their seats, and then they were on the other side.
John grinned an evil little grin. "Hello, boys..." He de-cloaked and cut loose with a dozen drones, which proceeded to decimate the cruiser's stardrive, taking several weapons arrays out in the process. As the ship lost power, its shields failed, allowing Vipers and 302s alike free run at the unprotected port side, while the Pegasus tore into its starboard flank. Within a minute, the cruiser exploded in a brilliant display of pyrotechnics, and the ships that had been attacking it moved on to its sister ship.
The Galactica, with the aid of the Rising Star, had managed to destroy one of the other two cruisers and severely damage the second. The Wraith, smelling defeat, sent out the recall signal to the darts and started pulling back. The Daedalus and the Pegasus swung high, the Galactica and the Rising Star low, all four ships pummeling the fleeing Wraith vessels with everything they had. Only one cruiser made it to hyperspace.
The Daedalus' communications officer had to shout to be heard over the cheering on the bridge. "Col. Caldwell, Commander Adama on the line."
"On screen, airman." Caldwell walked over to the screen, signaling for quiet. Adama's image appeared, the sound of cheering accompanying it. "Commander Adama. Congratulations."
"And to you as well, Colonel. You have my gratitude, and the gratitude of the fleet. I fear things might have gone somewhat differently had you not arrived when you did."
"Happy to be of service. I would advise you to leave this system as soon as possible, however. That Wraith ship will spread the word about you and your fleet, and it's only a matter of time before they return in force."
"That could be a bit of a problem. We stopped here to mine the fuel we need for our ships. Most of the fleet is running on fumes. We need at least three more days to mine and refine a sufficient amount of tylium to fuel the fleet."
"Three days?"
"Four would be better. That would give us a full load, plus some reserves. This planet has the largest tylium deposits we've found since we left our home galaxy eleven yahrens ago, so we had hoped to stock up. We've been searching for a planet called Earth for a long time, Colonel, and we're not sure how much longer it'll take us to find it."
Caldwell's eyebrows shot up. "Earth? You're trying to get to Earth?"
"Yes. You know of it?"
Caldwell smiled, just a bit. "You could say that. Commander, I think we need to have a long chat. Would you mind if some of my officers and I came over?"
"Not at all. I look forward to meeting you."
"We'll be there shortly." Caldwell turned to the comms officer. "Call Col. Sheppard, have him and his team head for the Galactica. Tell him I'll meet them there. Then call Atlantis and appraise them of the situation." He stood there for a second, looking out at the huge vessel he was about to board, then turned and headed for engineering. He had a few questions for Hermiad that he wanted answered first.
Well, he thought to himself, life around here certainly never gets boring...
To be continued...
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