Akron sighed in content, his scientists had managed to create a vaccine against the plague that the Ori had unleashed upon his home galaxy and this discovery had saved millions of his people. "This has been a very good day", he muttered quietly to himself. Akron thought back to the beginning of the day before he had been told of the scientist's accomplishments.

It had started out like any other day on Atlantis; he had awoken at the hour of sunrise, as per usual, conducted an experiment into a possible new weapons technology to act as defence against orbital threats and had presented his findings to the other members of the Alteran Council. They were pleased with his findings but the council had far more pressing matters at hand. The Ori, an enemy long thought to have been forgotten, had created a plague that specifically targeted the genetic make-up of the Alterans and so far there had been no cure. The Ori had not been heard from since the Alterans had originally left from there home on Celestis and the Alteran Council were at odds as to how they had found them and why they wanted to destroy them. The plague was killing people daily and the council had every scientist on Terra and those stationed offworld working on a possible cure. Presently the council were beginning discussions regarding the evacuation of Atlantis to another galaxy away from the lingering threat of the Ori plague. They had opted not to chose Andromeda as their new home galaxy due the lack of habitable worlds from which they cold expand an empire. Nestled not too far from Avalon was a small galaxy named Pegasus, which they believed would suit their needs perfectly. The seed ships they had sent out hundreds of years ago to explore the universe had already seeded a gate network there and it was a simple matter of flying Atlantis to a specified planet from which they could set up a new, mightier empire than before.

However, just as the evacuation plans were being finalised, a senior biomedical scientist from one of the offworld colonies requested an audience with the council in regards to a breakthrough in a cure for the Ori plague. The scientists name was Hergara and she was communicating with the council via a holographic interface from Dakara; which housed one of the many research facilities scattered over the galaxy. "Greetings from above and below, councillors, I come with joyful tidings in these dark times, as we speak my students are finishing the cultivation of a vaccine that I have designed to target and destroy the micro organisms that make up the plague, we are just waiting for the strain to be mass produced before we can begin releasing it into the general population" said Hergara to a thunderstruck council. "Please forgive our lack of enthusiasm, lady Hergara" said Councillor Menia, "but you have caught us by surprise, we had began to give up hope that a vaccine could ever be developed". "Indeed it is a miracle councillors however I can assure you that the cure does indeed work, I have personally tested it on 50 plague carriers from Taonas and my scans show a 99.9% eradication of the virus from their systems, furthermore it seems that they have now developed an immunity to the virus" Hergara stated. The councillors gasped in amazement, to cure the virus was all they could've hope for but this immunity was a gift in itself. With this miracle in place it may be that they did not have to relocate after all.

The councillors bade that Hergara leave immediately to oversee the production of the vaccine and made promise that she would receive the thanks and admiration of the entire Alteran population for her tenacity and hard work. She bowed once and the holograph dissolved.

Back on Dakara, Hergara beamed with pride and beckoned one of her students over to her. "Mellwynn, my child, how soon are we able to begin spreading the vaccine amongst our people, for I am anxious to see the fruits of my labour?" she asked. "My lady, whilst you were conversing with the council we finished cultivating the stain into a workable applicator, our simulation shows that within 24 hours of inoculation, our brethren will have developed a 99.9% immunity to the plague, we have found that due to our genetic make-up we cannot develop a total 100% immunity but the 0.1% does not allow for the plague to become a threat to us anymore", replied Mellwynn. Hergara beamed down at her protégée and guided him towards the window that overlooked the city below. "This, my child, this is what we are preserving" she motioned to him, " take pride in the part you have played in this Mellwynn, your accomplishments have not been forgotten, nor shall they go without due credit", she said to him. Mellwynn smiled at his master before excusing himself to oversee the production of the vaccine.

Hergara stared at the Dakaran landscape beneath her and smiled; with this new development she could see great things ahead for her people. What she had set in motion would change the universe in ways she could have never dreamed possible.

Mellwynn walked over to his computer terminal and input his command code bringing up a map of the galaxy, he quickly mapped a route for the delivery of the vaccine and ordered the dispatching of Dakara's fastest ship to carry the precious cargo to his people. He estimated that full delivery of the vaccine would be achieved in twelve hours. He smiled, with his accomplishment and walked down the corridor to a transporter booth. Once inside he selected the booth closest to the cargo bay and was immediately transported in a flash of white light to the other side of the complex. Once there he had his assistants load the vaccine canisters onto the Verimas-Class Cruiser that he had acquisitioned for the job. Once all was loaded he signalled the pilot that he was clear for embarkation. Satisfied that he had done all that he could do, he began to return to his quarters for the evening stopping only to collect some fresh water from the spring.

Back on Atlantis, the High council had just received Intel on the vaccine distribution throughout the galaxy. They were overwhelmed by the news that in just a few more hours their people would be free from the threat of the Ori plague. Immediately they began discussions on what they should begin to do next. There were many paths that lay in front of them. Some believed that they should devote their time and energy on the path to ascension whereas others believed they should build a mighty empire all across not only the galaxy but also the entire universe. The idea of a an empire so large was an appealing prospect to the Terran Council and so they voted to send an expedition to Destiny; a ship sent out many hundreds of years ago to create a beachhead in a galaxy far from there own, in the hopes of setting up a permanent colony there.

Some thought this plan was illogical as there was no way to provide continuous assistance to the colony that was so very far away. However an idea was presented to the council that could prove a useful solution to the problem at hand. As the power requirements to reach Destiny were astronomical, a scientist named Amelius, the namesake of the original designer of the Astria Porta, came up with the idea to use artificially created black holes to power a large scale version of the Astria Porta that would be created in space. He believed that if two devices were created at either end of the galaxy, then virtual instantaneous travel between both points would be possible; allowing for the movement of materials, technology and manpower along with vessels to the other galaxy. To do this, the newly created matter conversion units would need to be taken aboard Destiny where they could begin to build the individual components that would make up the larger Astria Porta. "Once assembled on their end", he said, " we can connect the 'gates' via the same subspace signal used in our long range communication devices and we will be able to dial in, so to speak". A higher-ranking scientist confirmed the validity and reliability of the young scientists research and the council gave him permission to begin the necessary preparations.

Elsewhere in the galaxy, the inoculations against the plague were being carried out by the medical officers on each world the cruiser visited; transporting its payload into the healing centres dotted on the planets surface before jumping to hyperspace to its next designated location.

On the surface of Vis Uban, a city was being built, however construction had ground to a halt when the people were infected with the plague. Having just received the vaccine, the structural engineers were anxious to get construction started again. Thanks to the new matter conversion technology made available to them, the building of their new capital would be complete in a shorter time. Vis Uban was to be the crowning jewel in the Terran Empire and would unite the most brilliant of minds from all over the galaxy. It would be a place of learning and culture, healing and laughter and many of the offworld colonists were leaping at the chance to come here. Ultimately it was a t the discretion of the council as to who would be living here. Until then, Atlantis had always been the capital of the empire however Vis Uban was to be far greater and magnificent than any city-ship ever could be.

The council decided that ecumenopolis cities would be built to cover Terra with Atlantis at the heart of it acting as the capital city of Terra. Sky-bridges would be used to connect the city to the city-ship and would be retractable to allow Atlantis to leave the planet if necessary. "It's going to be quite magnificent" said Akron, "this is indeed a time of change and the council has decreed an age of discovery, both technological and explorative, we wish to use the time we have been given and use it to spread our empire out into the stars". Akron's message to the Alteran people was being broadcast via hologram to every colony in the galaxy and was being watched by hundreds of thousands of people.