Disclaimer: Stargate is the property of Syfy. EVE Online belongs to CCP. Various Pilots names are real pilots in EVE, but I believe CCP still owns them. This story is for fun and not for profit.
Author's Note: Plots lines will not fully follow canon and the behavior of EVE Pilots will be modified so they represent space adventures more realistically then a bunch of 12 year old whining in local chat and shooting everything that moves because there aren't any repercussions in a simulation. Enjoy the story and please write some more in this genre.
Cheyenne Mountain
"Evening Major", Colonel Jack O'Neill called out from the door of Sam's lab.
"Evening, Sir," Major Samantha Carter replied without removing her eyes from the computer tablet.
Noticing the dismissive tone, and wondering if she had actually realized he was there or not and had only responded out of reflex he asked, "Ah sounds like you got something good this time." Receiving no response at all this time, he waited a moment before cupping his hands to his lips and shouting, "MAJOR!"
She stopped suddenly and snapped her heads toward him eyes wide. He had been correct, she hadn't even realized he was standing there. "S…Sir…" she stuttered out, "You are not going to believe this."
"What have we got?" Jack replied a bit curious.
"I just got done breaking into that encryption on that data crystal we got back from PRQ-234 20 minutes ago. It was using the strongest encryption we have ever countered since that dual tri-nary….," she was interrupted by a soft but scolding, "Carter…"
"Sorry Sir."
SG1 had stumbled upon what they could only determine as a Secreted Ancient Military Outpost a few days ago while investigating an unusual energy reading that was picked up by a Tok'ra agent. The Agent's cover was no longer necessary as his role as the local governor after Anubis sent his Kull Warriors to wipe out the mining operation he was lording over for Baal. At first they had decided to keep the information to themselves but when the energy reading was determined to be very similar to a ZPM, Jacob Carter and his symbiote, Selmak had demanded that they share the location with Earth.
The team fortunately had found no Ancient booby traps or any other resistance as they entered the structure which seemed to have recently risen from underground. Unfortunately they had not found a ZPM, but a rather powerful beacon that contained a data crystal surrounded by the ruins of what looked like a major computer lab.
O'Neill, whose interest was disappearing quickly, suppressed a yawn. "And…?" He looked at her again and instantly gave her his full attention when he saw that her face had turned white. "Carter, what is it?"
"I...I think you will have to hear it for yourself sir," she stammered. "I found an audio and holographic file in the…" she stopped at a rare loss of words. "You really just need to hear this."
"Okay, no problem, let me have it," he managed. Seeing Carter acting this way made his stomach knot. Something was definitely wrong.
"One second," she said softly. She turned back to her laptop and closed the file she was reading and initiated the audio portion. She then connected the data crystal to a Goa'uld Hologram projector they had captured a while back. "I was able to run it through it through that translator program Thor gave us," she explained.
The hologram flashed into existence and O'Neill found himself looking at an Ancient dressed in one of their monotone garbs with some surprising exceptions. Strange medals were on the man's uniform and some symbols along his collar. What really caught his eye was the presence of what looked like ballistic armor covering the Ancient Man's chest and shoulders. The Ancients face looked weary and sad yet even in the form of a hologram his eyes were fierce and reminded O'Neill of some of his previous Special Ops Commanders.
"This is a testament of the dark past of a race who would refuse to remember it and strive to live as it had never happened," the hologram began. "You who are reading this may share our lineage but, it no longer matters. This is a truth that must never be lost to time and ignorance. I am… was a leader of one of our great armadas but my name and title is not important though the story I tell is. Hopefully you that have discovered this…" The man hesitated. "Confession…will share the information that is trusted to you now." The hologram lowered his head and seemed to take long breath. "And if you are human and you have returned to find your brethren, then I cannot ever apologize enough in my lifetime."
O'Neill visibly perked up to that statement and went closer and pulled a chair from another desk and sat down in front of the device. The hologram flickered slightly before continuing.
"This is the true story of the origins of human kind. Many many years ago in what we thought as the golden age as our race began our march amongst the stars, we came across a planet that held a race that was similar to our own in appearance, but much more diverse in many physical attributes. We soon found that not only were they more advanced in certain respects but they had been around far longer then we. We met them on their home world of Terra Prime. They called themselves humanity…."
"Carter...what…?" O'Neill looked confused as he looked back and forth between the hologram and Carter.
"Yes, just listen sir, it gets much worse" she responded.
"Our first contact was peaceful. Despite being an aggressive warlike race, they welcomed us with open arms. Although many members of their military leadership did not trust us, they were polite and respectful. They as a people were curiously loosely united, full of different factions who treated other factions with distrust and in some cases military action. The reason for these split alliances had always confused us and we never totally understood the causes. "
"The Terrans were heavily industrialized and had a strong economy and military, seemly able to build vast fleets in mere weeks. The surrounding systems were full of fleets and space stations owned by various factions or even personal holdings.
Immediately trade began as they learned of our Faster than Light drives. Although more advanced than our own people in many technologies, interstellar travel was not one of them. The ability to reach faster than light speeds that were useful for travel amongst the stars had forever eluded them..." The hologram raised one finger as a gesture. "But…the Terrans had found a separate means to accomplish seeking out new star systems to colonize.
The man paused with a small smile on his face and deep in thought as if recalling a fond memory. The Ancient being continued. "The Terrans then provided a technology that would shape the destiny of our race forever. The Jump Drive…Powerful engines fitted to their larger ships that would open a wormhole to a distant point and instantaneously jump to another point in space. The ranges were shorter and less efficient then our own engines but the instantaneous travel was a brilliant beginning to what we saw as truly managing traveling the stars. Using this same technology they fitted one of these engines to another technological marvel." The speaker seemed to pause for dramatic effect. "A Stargate."
Jack O'Neil could no longer contain himself, "Carter what is this all about? Are you telling me that these Terrans built the gates? Humans not Ancients thought it up?"
"Sir, please just listen, he hasn't gotten to the bad part yet," she replied.
"The Stargates were large as big as a full space station. Beautiful works of art. They had built these gates in several more star systems near their home world which had allowed them to link the gates together, providing them with instant travel for any ship to the next star system. Being one of the first of my people through the star gate, I was able to truly recognize its potential."
"It was then I noticed the large military presence in their new territories, massive numbers that spoke of fortification against mass attacks rather than simple protection. When asked about the militarization of so many systems their ambassador only explained that there were far more dangerous things in the darkness of space then we knew, ones that lived solely to do evil without logic, gain nor reason. I never learned the name of what the Terrans feared"
"Our relationship continued to go well. We traded technologies and helped each other explore our sector of the known galaxy.
"Then, suddenly it all ended abruptly. A powerful faction within the Terrans attacked and assassinated the leader of another and in doing so knowingly or unknowingly killed the family of its biggest rival. War was declared and small skirmishes grew into large engagements with hundreds of ships and thousands of souls dyeing in the black of space. In an effort to force the slaughter to stop, the Terran government chose a side and sent its military to disable the industry and destroy the security forces of the initiating faction. Outraged at the actions of the government, the rogue faction's sympathizers united, forcing the rest of the Terrans to join them or side with the government. Humanity descended into civil war. Thousands of warship mobilized, planets were wiped out and even Stargates were destroyed, scattering and isolating dozens of planets."
"After a decade of bloody fighting, and at the amount of atrocities committed by the rebel forces rising, our head council leaders decided that we needed to intervene on the side of the Terran government. They did not make the decision lightly. The Terrans were far more advanced in warfare tactics and weaponry. They were also afraid that if the rebels won, they would seek revenge against us for our interference and the rebel faction had proved more than once that they were willing to destroy entire planets to defeat their foes. The council was right."
"Despite five years of aid the government forces fell to the rebels who had coerced several loyalist factions to their side by threat of annihilation and in one final major assault over Terra Prime overwhelmed the government forces and killed it's leaders. The Civil war ended."
"The rebels continued to hunt down and murder the leaders of the loyalist forces slaughtering entire families and razing cities that refused to capitulate. Eventually all signs of resistance faded. The rebels had gained full control over what was left of humanity. They then reorganized their factions into what they called corporations who each lorded over a piece of territory. Each corporation ruled with a totalitarian form of government and began to rebuild what was destroyed."
The hologram exhaled once again. O'Neil and even Carter who knew the end of the story had their eyes glued to the man.
"They came in force eventually. We had not heard from them for several years after we pulled our forces back from the battle over Terra Prime. We knew they would come; we spent those years preparing for the worst. Still, even with their military ability depleted after over a decade of war they came in mass and routed our fleets with ease and destroyed our outer worlds."
The holographic man's face became angry." We knew we had to do something, we had to think in the terms they did and we took a fresh look at our military systems. Our friends were gone and these people were just an evil shadow of what was once the greatest civilization we ever encountered and would kill us all. A group of our people, more outraged then I ever thought members of our race could be, at the Terrans assault quickly weaponized projects intended for other uses and in the final hour, came up with the drone weapons. Using this destructive weapon the last of our fleets engaged their forward Navies and forced them to retreat."
The Ancient's faced lost some of its anger. "The war dragged on for another hundred years in stalemate. Mainly skirmishes along the stabilized lines of our borders. In that time our warships grew in number and power, our technology advanced fast." The man let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately as we fought this war many noticed a change in some our people. They became colder, angrier and more willing to initiate battle. We could sense a divide in our people growing. The others became even angrier and blamed the Terrans for that very fracturing. Then the others decided that it was time we took down the Terrans once and for all."
"They added our phase shifting capability designed to explore hostile environments to our drones. We then took three quarters of our fleet and attacked the main lines of the Terrans defeating each fleet we met with minimum losses. We pushed them back through their empire in the next ten years until we arrived in the orbit of Terra Prime."
"Now there were those of us that wanted piece with the Terrans. We were a tired people weary from war. Then there were those that did not. The others who we called the Ori took control of the fleet and attacked the Terran's home world with a new weapon that was originally designed to terra form lifeless worlds into habitable paradises. This caused the tectonic plates to shift and affected the magnetic fields of the planet. The Terran's world destroyed them with itself as it was transformed into a primordial environment." The man looked sad.
"Still some of the Terrans survived and tried to re-occupy their home world so the Ori used a newly developed genetically engineered virus to literally de evolve the Terrans to primate like creatures. Then they pushed on in an attempt to exterminate the last few worlds the Terrans had."
"But humanity was not helpless. Using a technology unknown to us they opened a massive wormhole to another galaxy years before the attack on their home world that was supposedly teeming with life bearing worlds. They sent all of their survivors through except for a small war fleet through the wormhole to start anew. They stripped themselves of every possible resource and sent it to the other side in support of the escaping colony ships till they ran out of time and the Ori fleet closed in."
"We had been pleading with the Ori to stop the fighting but were unable to halt their aggression. Even the Terrans had asked for peace but the Ori would not listen. They now fully believed that the Terrans had given up their right to exist the minute they had assaulted our worlds. What was left of humanity in this galaxy behind used the last ships they had left and threw themselves against the Ori fleet. Several Terran warships jumped out of the system while others lured the Ori fleet towards the massive station holding open the wormhole and then destroyed it. The wormhole violently collapsed sending out an immense shockwave that crippled or destroyed every ship in the system. Not one terran ship survived.
"The Terran ships that had jumped out ships launched a weapon at each of their remaining worlds that contained a virus of their own design. It was a plague that would make their worlds inhabitable to us. It was the Terrans last attempt to win the war even though they may never know if they had. We were unprepared, the Terrans had never shown the ability nor the concept of biological warfare. Something it seems, that we unwittingly taught them with our own plague. We could not stop it, even with all of our advanced medical technologies and our natural abilities to heal ourselves, the plague wrought a bloody path through our population causing much of our society to scatter."
"We waited millennia before we returned to that region of space. We rebuilt and we settled. We met other races of equal attitude and joined an alliance of these races. We never told them of the Terrans. We were embarrassed at the attempt of genocide by the Ori. The Ori during the plague had destroyed every world the Terrans ever set foot upon and ground any signs of their very existence to dust for revenge. We saved the designs of the stargates and improved upon them with time then eventually taking credit for their very existence. Our race was indeed guilty of genocide. Something we never imagined we were capable of." The Ancient shook his head in shame.
"But now we were at peace and had found new allies. Time passed and the Terrans were forgotten."
The man brightened. "Then we discovered that on their home world the victims of the de-evolution virus had themselves begun to evolve back to their previous form. The Terrans had indeed survived in a manner. The Ori after finding this out wanted to destroy them but this time we would not allow it. For reason we did not understand, the Ori took many of them off the planet and left the galaxy forever separating all ties with us. We decided to stay and guide them and give them a chance to return some day to their former glory. We even named ourselves, those who stayed here on Terra in memory of the old alliance with humanity."
The Ancient stood up straight, face becoming fierce with a sense of pride. "Alteran memories are short and those that remembered the origins of the Terrans moved on from this plane of existence, but a very few of us kept this dark secret hidden till the time was right that the Terrans, the Humans of Earth, are ready to take their place amongst the stars once again."
The hologram faded out of existence.
O'Neill was completely shocked. He was at a loss of words. He looked at Carter finally who was simply staring at the empty space where the hologram of the Ancient once stood.
"For crying out loud!"
Unknown System outside of Baal's territory
Immense light and color reflected on the gold metal armor of the two Ha'taks holding stationary off of the unknown event taking place before them. The large ripple effect of the wormhole distorted all space for 40 straight kilometers in each direction from the center of the anomaly and gave the effect of clouds flowing into a dark black hole that was 10 kilometers in diameter in the center.
"Jaffa, report!" Baal commanded.
He had come himself with only one escort not wanting to risk taking anymore ships off the front line. His victory was almost complete and he did not want to offer the others any reprieve.
"My Lord, none of our sensors can identify it," the Jaffa at the console told him after bowing his head. "It reads similar to the hole we open to hyperspace but it's much more powerful and partially reads like a chappai'ai"
"Curious," Baal said to himself. Then he noticed the "wormhole" flash suddenly but only just slightly. "Jaffa! What do your sensors show you now?
The Jaffa had seen the flash too. "Nothing…" he began. "My lord!" He shouted. "Sensors are now showing fifteen vessels de-cloaking all around the singularity."
Baal caught a glimpse of small moving dots on his screen. "Zoom in on those ships now," he ordered.
As his screen zoomed in on one of the smaller vessels, he noticed that the ship was gold colored and looked a little like a Tel'tak except for it being slightly larger. The hulls of the ship were splashed with a dark red with several visible weapons emplacements. He counted ten of them.
The Jaffa switched the view to a much larger vessel. This one looked like a cylinder with part of the bottom cut out of the middle. Again the ship had large splashes of red paint covering its gold hull. Five of them were scattered amongst the smaller ones.
Baal smiled, the ships were unfamiliar in design so perhaps he had found a new source of slaves. Such small vessels would be no threat, but their designs were pleasing enough that he would have to capture one as well as find out where their home planet was located. "Hail those ships. I wish for them to meet their new God" His First Prime did as ordered and sent the signal.
"My lord, they have answered with audio only." The First Prime replied after establishing contact.
Baal listened as a slow rough breathing sounded over the communication console intermittent with static.
"I am your God Baal. Surrender your ships and I may spare your lives for violating my territory without permission." He thundered as imposingly as he could.
"thhhhssss, ssshhhiiii hiiiiii tahhhhh mooooorrrr." The console crackled.
"My Lord the smaller ships are approaching at speed and the larger ones are targeting us." The Pilot Jaffa hurriedly told him.
Baal again smiled. "You dare attack your God? Then I will smite you and cast your souls in oblivion!" He announced very loudly.
The First Prime turned to Baal. "My lord our translators have solved the enemy ship's language," he explained with a bow.
"Good, I want to know who has dared to oppose me." Baal replied.
"The smaller ships have entered weapons range." Another Jaffa reported from his console.
"Turn them to ash Jaffa." He said smugly. "What did their response say?"
"Repeating transmission Lord Baal." The First Prime responded.
The communication console once again assaulted his ears with the rough breathing, and then the hissing snakelike voice spoke in Goa'uld. "Weeee the Blloood Raidderrs will anoint our hulls in yourrrrr blloooddd."
"We shall see." Baal exclaimed angrily. His eyes flashed and narrowed at the view outside as the wormhole flashed again.
"First Prime? Send a transmission to the fleet assaulting the borders of Yu. I want 10 more Ha'tak headed here right now," he commanded.
"Yes my lord," the First Prime replied as he set about his order.
"And launch all Death glider wings with the Al'kesh. We will welcome these Blood Raiders properly and show them what it means to disobey their god." Baal smiled arrogantly.
As the two Ha'taks capital staff cannons began to fire on the Blood Raider ships moving in to weapons range and the death gliders began to launch, thirty more ships of varying sizes de-cloaked around the wormhole and immediately began to target and approach the two pyramid like ships. A new evil had come to the milkyway, one who's race had not seen it for millions of years.
