Chapter 1
1700 Hours
September 16, 2007
Bridge, USS Odyssey
Orilla, Ida Galaxy
_
Flying through subspace at many times the speed of the light was one of Earth's BC-304s, its blocky, gray hull standing out against the blue and white color of the hyperspace tunnel.
The Odyssey was the third ship to be built in Earth's small, but capable, fleet of star ships that were used to take the fight to their enemies on more even terms as opposed to purely ground-based assaults through a Stargate. Although slightly smaller than a Ha'tak, the Odyssey and her sister ships had a huge advantage over the mainstay of the Goa'uld fleet in that most of its advanced technology came from the Asgard, atleast in regards to their defensive and hyperdrive technology.
The ship was currently on route to the Asgard homeworld at a special request of the Asgard High Council. Normally, Earth wouldn't spare any ship for a diplomatic mission to one of their allies at such a time, what with the Ori fleet being a constant threat to the security of Earth and the occasional reconnaissance mission against the Wraith ; however, the Asgard were much more than a common ally. In the words of Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet, they and Earth were true friends and had pulled SG-1's and Earth's asses out of the fire on many occasions. So when they requested that Earth send SG-1 and one of their ships to Orilla, even without giving the exact reason as to why, the IOA and President knew they couldn't refuse. And so the Odyssey had spent the last three days in hyperspace on her way to Orilla, her crew and passengers taking the time to relax until they had to drop out of hyperspace.
On deck 3 Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c were, along with several marines and airmen, in Exercise Room-B sparing with wooden staffs; mostly it was Teal'c going easy on Mitchell who, while having become a fairly skilled hand-to-hand combatant in his own right since training with the Sodan, couldn't hope to keep up with the former First Prime who'd spent over seventy years honing his combat skills. Some of the crew were watching the match while others focused on their own workouts and sparing.
Mitchell launched a series of fast paced attacks at the Jaffa Master: a heavy-handed overhead swing that came down over his right shoulder, followed by him swinging his whole body and the staff extended out to bring as much momentum as he could into a side swing, and finally finishing it off by coming back around the other way. Unfortunately for Mitchell everyone of his attacks were blocked by Teal'c who held a firm grip as he twisted the staff to intercept the incoming assaults. Backing off for a moment, Mitchell closed the distance again and thrust his staff a Teal'c's shoulder, only for it to be blocked yet again. Teal'c then rotated his wrists and staff to throw Mitchell's staff to the side while he followed up with a cross that would have landed a solid blow to the colonel's head. Mitchell managed to duck in time, however, and sent a sweeping strike that was intended to knock Teal'c to the ground; the Jaffa jumped over the strike and came down on Mitchell with an overhead strike. Mitchell only barely managed to bring his staff up to block it, then smacked Teal'c's arm away just enough to put a little distance between them again. This time both soldier and warrior moved in on each other, swinging and locking their staffs together.
"This vessel does not have a pool," Teal'c quipped while pushing Mitchell back slightly.
Mitchell put more force into his defense in an effort not to be pushed back, but knew that in a test of strength he would definitely lose to his friend.
"I was talking about the gambling variety," he explained as he brought the other end of his staff up to strike at his opponent's un guarded side.
Teal'c merely used the other end of his own staff to slap the blow away, using the momentum to bring up two consecutive blows from either end of his weapon, forcing Mitchell to back off and bring his staff up horizontally to defend. Pulling back, Teal'c sent a light swing that Mitchell smacked to the side, but he overestimated the force that Teal'c put behind the blow and managed to throw himself off balance. Capitalizing on his advantage Teal'c brought the other end of his weapon across and struck Cam on his lower back near his kidneys. The crew, both those watching and not, let out a chorus-like 'ooh' from the sound of the impact. As Mitchell recovered Teal'c spun his staff around quickly, switching hands and began walking back to his side of the training mat.
"I do not wish to speculate," he replied to the colonel's explanation.
Cam put his hand on his side as he tried to relieve the pain, though he counted himself lucky that Teal'c wasn't trying his hardest. He'd fought against Teal'c, as well as other versions of him, when it wasn't a friendly sparring match and it never ended well for the colonel when Teal'c actually tried to win a fight quickly.
"Well they said it was something important. You aren't the least bit curious?" he asked the Jaffa as he brought his staff back up and got into a defensive stance.
Teal'c, who was spinning his staff in preparation to continue, replied, "Indeed. But I would not risk a wager... hyaahhh!" he cried as he went on the offensive.
Elsewhere on deck 5 Doctor Daniel Jackson was walking to the mess hall, passing by several working crewmen, while going over his notes on the Asgardian language for their meeting with the Asgard High Council. Daniel always tried to speak to the new cultures they met if he knew the language, and always endeavored to learn new ones he didn't know. As he arrived at the officer's mess hall he hit the door control to open the reinforced trinium-alloy door, only to be startled as the whole room exploded with confetti and party blowers and yells of "surprise!" from around a dozen of the crew. Daniel looked at them in slight confusion, but soon turned to annoyance when he saw SG-1's most unconventional member, Vala Mal Doran, standing in the middle of the room on top of a table wearing a small, cone shaped birthday hat.
Daniel rolled his eyes and put his book under his arm as the cheers died down enough for him to speak, "It's not my birthday," he stated bluntly, then turned to get away from Vala and find a place to continue his studying.
The crew ceased all noise, and there was an awkward silence as the doctor left the entrance to the mess hall. The silence was broken by Vala who gave an awkward chuckle as she leapt down from the table and chased after Daniel. The crew then began to try and ease the awkwardness by slicing up the cake they had made and trying to put off the thought that they had been tricked by Miss Mal Doran... again.
"Hey! We made a... weird, piñata thingy..." she trailed off, trying to convince him to play along with her game and come back.
Daniel looked down at the floor, sighed, and turned to face his team mate, "I told you to bring something to amuse yourself. I didn't mean me, or the crew."
"But they won't believe that it's my birthday... again," she explained, as if that somehow would convince him.
"Not my problem," was his only reply, spinning around and continuing on his walk to find a secluded place.
Vala's face had a look of anguish, as though she were in physical pain, "Being stuck on this ship is worse than being at the SGC. I-I'm telling you the last time I was this bored I took hostages," she yelled out, trying one last time to convince Daniel to stay and entertain her.
"I was there," Daniel called out as he turned a corner into the next hallway.
Several hundred meters away on the bridge General O'Neill and Colonel Carter walked onto the bridge. Although General Landry was originally intended to take the Odyssey, Jack had decided that he should go. After all, him and Thor were great friends and the Asgard tended to prefer him over any other representative that Earth could send. He walked over to the command chair as he greeted the bridge crew, Carter standing off to the side as she waited for Marks's report.
"We're approaching the coordinates sir," Marks informed the general, his hand ready to send the necessary commands to the ship's hyperdrive control.
"Finally, it's about time. Drop us out," he ordered, not noticing Carter shaking her head slightly.
Despite the fact that it had taken them only a few days to reach Orilla, something that would not have been possible without the ZPM tied into their power systems, Jack still found a way to complain about the journey. She didn't know how he survived the nearly three week trek to Atlantis when the Ancients from the Tria had been found by the Atlantis expedition. No doubt he gave Caldwell a hard time.
Suddenly the blue tunnel of hyperspace disappeared in a flash of light, the normal blackness of space appearing at break-neck speeds as the stars streaked to a halt. Ahead the blue and green orb of Orilla came into view, offering the crew of the Earth ship a perfect seat to look out at the Earth-like homeworld of the Asgard. In orbit around the planet were several O'Neill-class warships and Daniel Jackson-class science vessels. Slowly the Odyssey came to rest in the middle of the formation, the crew onboard who were looking out windows feeling slightly intimidated by the massive ships; even the science vessels were about the same size as the five hundred meter long 304.
Back on the bridge a message alert rang out on Marks's console, "Sir, the Asgard are requesting permission to beam aboard."
Jack tilted his head in confusion, then turned to share a look with Carter who was similarly confused. The Asgard typically would just beam aboard their ships without a second thought of informing the crew of the ship, and without official permission from the ship's commander. But since the Asgard were pretty much the sole reason Earth had capable starships in the first place no one really said anything. So for them to request permission was... startlingly out of character for them. Jack nodded his head at Marks, who in turn punched in the proper message granting the Asgard permission to board. At the same time the rest of SG-1 walked onto the bridge, having felt the slight shift that was associated with dropping out of hyperspace. There was a low harmonious tone that grew along with the familiar blue-white pillars that began to appear. Just as suddenly as the nearly magical transporter beam arrived on the bridge it winked out of existence, depositing the small, naked, grey form of an Asgard.
"Greetings, and welcome to Orilla," spoke the voice of Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet.
"Thor old buddy. What's new?" Jack asked as he got up out of his chair and moved to stand in front of the diminutive alien, his arms resting on his hips.
"Hello General O'Neill, Colonel Carter. It is good to see you," Thor replied as he nodded at both of the humans.
Off to the side Vala leaned into Daniel whispering, "Out of curiosity how can you tell the difference?" she asked, as most of the pictures she'd seen of different Asgard all looked the same to her.
"The voice," Daniel replied quietly, not wanting to interrupt Thor.
"It's good to see you too Thor," Carter replied before turning to SG-1, "This is Colonel Mitchell and Vala Mal Doran, the newest commander and member of SG-1."
Mitchell gave a small wave but otherwise remained stationary and serious, while Vala shyly waved her hand back and forth while offering her most sincere smile. Despite her abrasive and obnoxious personality, even she had a healthy amount of respect for the race that the even the Goa'uld feared for the majority of their then thousand year rule over the galaxy.
"Greetings," Thor replied, nodding his head in respect of the newest members of the team that had saved the Asgard race on several occasions.
"So Thor how've ya been? Haven't heard from you in a while..." Daniel trailed off, waiting for the Supreme Commander to explain his absence.
"I am sorry, I have been otherwise occupied. As mentioned in our communication, the High Council wishes to meet with you to explain in greater detail, but there is not much time," Thor told them as he turned back to Jack, "O'Neill, with your permission a number of Asgard are prepared to beam aboard and begin installing various technological upgrades to this ship."
Mitchell, with his arms folded across his chest, turned to Teal'c, "I hope it's ray guns. I got ray guns in the pool," he explained his hopes to the Jaffa and turned his attention back to Thor.
Teal'c turned slowly to stare stoically at the colonel, not quite understanding his mannerisms anymore than he did O'Neill's.
"So what are we getting this time? Better shields? Power generators? Maybe some weapons..." Jack mumbled the end, hoping that Thor would hear his complaint and help him out.
"Everything we have and know," was the Asgard's stunning reply.
The entire crew was dead silent, not sure how to react upon hearing such news. While the Asgard had given Earth several key technologies as gifts of thanks for the several times they had been saved by SG-1, they hadn't given Earth any of their most advanced toys; primarily weapons. While the Earth fleet boasted strong defensive technology and were faster than anything in the possession of the Free Jaffa or Wraith, they lacked the firepower to engage many targets and win.
"By that you mean?" Vala questioned, now very intrigued by how much such an advanced race as the Asgard was willing to give them.
"Everything. All our most current technology, all our knowledge," Thor blatantly stated.
The crew was again stunned into silence, though the bridge officers began shelling out orders across the ship to begin for the arrival of the Asgard technicians. SG-1 and General O'Neill were still too stunned to speak, as they had known the Asgard longer than anyone on Earth and had never once thought that this day would come. Every time Earth tried to negotiate for advanced technologies from off-world allies they usually ended up with Earth getting a obsolete or damaged piece of tech, if they were lucky.
Finally Daniel broke the silence, "Sorry, we're just a little stunned. I mean... why are you doing this? You've always resisted in the past, you've always said we weren't ready."
Thor nodded, "Indeed. Many Asgard still believe that."
Mitchell got a hard look on his face, knowing that something this good couldn't come without a cost, "So what's changed?"
Thor looked down at the floor for a moment, a vacant stare fixed upon his face. The members of SG-1 looked at each other with worried glances; Asgard typically never displayed such emotion, even this small amount, especially not Thor. The Supreme Commander looked back up at the bridge, the vacant look gone again and replaced by the emotionless face of the Asgard.
Raising his hand to his chest Thor spoke, "As a race we are dying. Very soon we will all be gone."
The humans all looked to each other again, this time absolute shock written on their faces as some shifted in discomfort over the information they had just received. Carter looked at Jack who had what she would akin to the 'Thousand-Yard Stare' over hearing that one of his best friends was going to die, along with his entire species.
After allowing the Asgard technicians aboard, SG-1 along with General O'Neill and the Odyssey's crew were beamed down to the surface of Orilla. Several sections of the ship's hull had to be removed so that the Asgard could change out the current power conduits that were in use by the BC-304's, and upgraded them with more sturdy and conductive ones of the latest Asgard design. Thanks to their beaming technology the process went by relatively quickly, taking only around fifteen hours to complete. The Odyssey's sensors and communications, both through subspace and not, were upgraded as well allowing the ship to contact Earth even if it was a galaxy away and detect incoming ships through hyperspace even at great distances. Their shields were also upgraded with the most advanced shield generator ever designed by the Asgard, allowing for an equal amount of punishment that their O'Neill-class warships could take while being far easier to power and at a much more compact size since the Asgard ships were nearly three times the Odyssey's size. Probably one of the most important pieces of tech given to the Taur'i were the newly developed plasma beam weapons. Unlike most of their ion-based weaponry, the plasma beam weapons used a special kind of plasma generated and collected from subspace, superheated to over fifty-thousand kelvin, roughly the surface temperature of a blue super-giant, and suspended inside a self-contained force field ; the plasma was then fired out of the cannon using electromagnetic fields to contain the beam as it reached its intended target. According to the Asgard, no shield that had been encountered to this point would be able to withstand such attacks for an extended period of time, at the very least would cause the ship to retreat or risk destruction. Hopefully they would prove effective against the Ori motherships that, barring the unstable energy vortex of a SuperGate and the Dakara super weapon, had proven resistant to every other form of weaponry.
On the planet below the crew was divided amongst various Asgard teams who were teaching them how to operate, as well as repair and maintain, the new equipment and tech that was being installed on the 304. Carter along with the more technologically minded crew were with Vasir and several other Asgard scientists learning what they could about the more advanced and delicate systems.
Daniel and Vala were with Odin, one of the oldest living Asgard, and several other Asgard historians who were teaching them, although it was more like teaching to Daniel and Vala being forced to sit and listen where Dr Jackson could keep an eye on her, everything they could about how to use the knowledge base that would contain their entire history and helping Daniel become much more fluent in the Asgard language with technology similar to the Ancient Repository.
Cam and Teal'c, along with the marine contingent aboard the Odyssey, were with Heimdall and what was left of the Asgard military, learning about the new weapons systems and receiving some training on old Asgard tech that was used when the Asgard still had their original forms. Teal'c personally received a great gift that would benefit all the Jaffa, a token of thanks for their efforts for helping the Taur'i in overthrowing the Goa'uld and Teal'c steadfast loyalty towards his Taur'i friends. Using their advanced knowledge of genetics, the Asgard were able to complete the genetic manipulation the Goa'uld had used on humans all those millennia ago: Teal'c now had all the benefits that a symbiote would normally provide and his physical abilities pushed to the absolute peak of Jaffa physical potential. Once they returned to the Milky Way they would be able to give all Jaffa this gift, allowing them to no longer rely on symbiotes or Tretonin.
Jack was with Thor, the two having retired to Thor's personal quarters after their meeting with the High Council. Jack sat awkwardly on the floor with his legs crosses and propped up by his arms as the Asgard had not designed any of their furniture with humans in mind.
"So... there's nothing you or anyone can do to solve this problem?" he asked his longtime alien friend, though he knew that if the Asgard said it couldn't be done then it most likely couldn't.
"I'm afraid not O'Neill. The disease we all carry will cause our bodies to begin to shut down in the coming weeks, perhaps days. Once that happens we will be unable to move or function, and we will all slowly die off. We believe that in order for Earth, as well as the known universe, to survive against the Ori you will need everything we can offer. As we cannot no longer offer our direct assistance... this seemed like the most logical course of action," Thor slowly replied.
"What about cloning new bodies? Or putting your minds inside of a machine like you did with me or like what happened to you on Anubis's ship? Or throwing your brains into jars?" Jack asked the first few possibilities he could think of, even if the last question was a bit ridiculous.
Thor sighed, "If we cloned new bodies they too would carry the disease we all carry, and most likely would never grow properly. Even if that wasn't the case it would take three of your Earth months to clone, and that is simply not enough time," Thor explained, dashing O'Neill's hopes, "And because this disease has stretched so far as to affect our neurological systems in our brains, a transfer of our consciousness into computers would be impossible as the transfer would be corrupted."
Jack stood up and looked out the window overseeing the entire Asgard city, "Not that we don't appreciate, or need, what your offering but... come Thor! You guys are the closest thing to the Ancients that anyone's ever gotten! There's got to be something you can do!" he nearly shouted, unwilling to accept this as their fate after how many times they had saved each other.
Thor shook his head, then stood up and walked over to the general. Despite the difference in height Jack never felt any bigger or equal to the Asgard, who was thousands of years older as well as the Supreme Commander of their fleet, but at this very moment, for the first time since they had met, Jack felt as though he and Thor were equals. Friends.
"I am sorry O'Neill, but this is the way things are and must be. If we thought there was any chance... we would have taken it, but it is far too late now. Our final task is to insure that you and your people have the means to fight the Ori and any future enemy you may encounter, as well as insure the protection of the human populations of your galaxy," Thor apologized before looking out the window at his people's last city.
After a moment of silence Thor turned back and offered up his hand to Jack, just as he had done all those years ago when Jack had used Ancient knowledge to travel to Ida for the first time. Jack looked down at Thor but kneeled down and took his hand to reciprocate the gesture.
"I wish you to know O'Neill... that you are my friend," the Supreme Commander simply stated, as though he needed to be sure the general was aware.
But Jack knew, words weren't needed to describe such friendships; friendships that were forged in the heat of battle and strengthened through placing one's life in the hands of another. Such friendships transcended simple words and gestures, they were defined by the two friends and the friends were defined by their friendship. Not even the threat of ever approaching extinction could stop or take that away.
"I... I know. You're... you're my friend too Thor," Jack shakily replied, his voice cracking a bit from sorrow he was experiencing, a feeling he did not often feel but had in the past.
Losing a friend was never easy, but Jack made it through the day believing that their deaths helped save others. Jack wouldn't forget this, nor would he let the people of Earth forget it. He would die before he let someone attempt to squander or sully the Asgard's memory.
Suddenly an alert rang out from Thor's palm device, signaling that the upgrades to the Odyssey were nearly complete. The two looked at each other in silence for a moment before Thor spoke up.
"Goodbye Jack, we will meet again," Thor bid farewell for the last time, knowing that the remainder of his time would be spent putting the finishing touches on the upgrades.
Jack was quiet for a moment, then he took a deep breath and said, "We'll see each other again buddy, someday."
Thor was about to correct him, when he suddenly stopped. He looked O'Neill in the eye, something was there that, while he couldn't comprehend it, caused Jack to full believe what he had said. Deciding to take a leap of faith, something the Asgard as a whole did not do often, smiled up at O'Neill for the first time.
"...Yes, I believe we will," was all he said as the musical tone of the Asgard transport system beamed them both up the 304.
Finally, after nineteen hours of constant working the Asgard finished the upgrades to the Odyssey. On deck 4 in the engineering room the Asgard had just finished installing the last and most important piece of technology: the Asgard Computer Core. This device not only contained the entire technological database of the Asgard, but their entire recorded history as well.
"The Asgard computer core is equipped with its own power source that will not infringe on your ship's ZPM. However, when the upgrades are complete the core will be fully integrated into all the ship's systems," Thor explained to Carter, turning to her to while she sat in a chair.
Biting her lip and looking away a bit she asked, "There must be something more you can do?"
Thor stared back at her, his face like stone, "I assure you, we are providing you with all the latest Asgard technology. As well as a knowledge base including our entire recorded history."
Sam smiled a bit and shook her head; the Asgard, despite their massive intellects, seemed nearly incapable of picking up on certain human emotions such as sarcasm, or interpreting what humans meant when they asked questions that pertained to another topic.
"That's not what I was talking about," she replied, looking Thor straight in the eyes.
"Everything that can be done has been done," Thor replied, though this time his voice strained with the emotional weight of his peoples ever approaching fate and leaving those he called friends, "Our final attempt to solve our physiological degeneration, has left each of us with a rapidly progressing disease."
Meanwhile in the debriefing room on level 6, SG-1 along with General O'Neill were going over what the Asgard High Council had told Daniel and Jack in their meeting several hours before. They all sat around and listened solemnly to the news that the two brought.
"It really wasn't an option for them. They made the choice to extend their life through science generations ago. Took any natural physiological evolution necessary for Ascension out of the equation..." the doctor trailed off.
Jack was slumped back into his chair tapping the metal table over and over with his pointer finger, "Yep, and they're gona go out in one last blaze of glory..."
Mitchell turned to Daniel, as clearly the general wasn't in the mood, "Mass suicide?"
"They don't want any of their knowledge or technology falling into the wrong hands," he explained, as the catholic-side of Mitchell clearly didn't like the idea of anyone, especially one of Earth's closest allies, killing themselves.
"And they went to the trouble of asking us if we'd see them off," Jack spoke up, his eyes staring blankly at the table.
"So everything they have installed on this ship..." Teal'c began, his hands folded in across his lap.
"Is going to be their legacy," Daniel finished.
The team sat quietly as they processed the information, processed that Earth's strongest and best ally was about to be no more. Not only would they be losing a potentially crucial ally against the Ori, but they would be losing one of their oldest friends.
Back in engineering Thor activated the Asgard Core for the first time, the crystals and core lighting up and turning on as power from the power core, the latest in Asgard design that acted in a similar manner to ZPM's in that it drew its power from subspace-time and would eventually reach maximum entropy. Of course it would be potentially thousands of years before that happened.
"If you like, you'll be able to interface with the Core's AI using a holographic representation of me, or any other Asgard on record in the knowledge base," Thor explained.
Sam turned her attention away from the awe-inspiring core to Thor, "I'm sorry but that just won't be the same," she explained sadly.
"I have been working on this for the better part of a year Colonel Carter," Thor replied somewhat insulted, but understanding as well.
Sam, realizing the way she had said it, tried to recover, "And we appreciate it, really."
"Many on the Council did not believe we should be imparting such advancements," Thor informed her, having spent the other part of the year convincing them that this was the proper course of action.
Nodding in appreciation she replied, "Well I promise we will do our very best not to let you down."
"You are the Fifth Race," Thor began as Sam sat up straighter and gulped slightly, "Your role is clear: if there is any hope in preserving the future, it lies with you and your people."
Sam shook her head in shock and unease, "No pressure, huh?"
"You have all earned my respect... and my friendship," Thor told her, as well as referring to the rest of SG-1 whom he didn't get a chance to personally see off because of time constraints.
Sam nodded and closed her eyes in an effort to hold back the tears that were forming, "Well the feelings mutual," she replied with a heartrending smile.
Thor tilted his head as he looked at her, "Please do not be sad," he said as she looked away, as if not wanting to hear it, "The end of my people has been a long time coming. We have made too many irreversible mistakes in our development; hopefully you can learn something from it. My only regret... is that our physical weakness... has left us incapable of helping you further."
Sam, not knowing how else to reply as words escaped her, leaned forward and gently hugged the Asgard. Thor's first reaction was to lean back, as physical contact wasn't a normal Asgard custom, but instead wrapped his gangly arms around the colonel in his best show of providing comfort. Though the Asgard were incapable of shedding tears due to having lost their tear ducts over the generations of cloning and controlled mutation, Thor felt more anguish today than he had ever felt in his twelve thousand years of living. All because of this small group of humans who, despite all odds, managed to become some of his greatest friends in a comparatively short amount of time. Even with all the problems and pain that he had experienced over the last few years, he would never trade those years even if for the chance to save his race. These humans were his friends, and more if Thor was being honest with himself; he could only hope that they knew what they meant to him.
Back on the bridge, General O'Neill had just opened the door when an alarm rang out over the ship's speakers. Knowing that it was the alert system for unknown contacts dropping out of hyperspace, he quickly made his way over to the command chair.
"Sir, three Ori motherships just dropped out of hyperspace and are approaching the planet," Marks informed his commanding officer.
Just as he finished his sentence, however, the ship rocked and rumbled as the shield grid of the Odyssey absorbed and dissipated the energy from the one of the Or ships. The bridge lit up in blue light as the Asgard shield glowed from the incoming assault, slowly fading away until the last of the energy was gone. Jack reached over to the controls on the right armrest, activating the PA that connected him to the engineering room.
"Carter, we got trouble. Looks like the Ori found our little... going away party. We're gona need the hyperdrive," he calmly stated, despite the fact that three, four kilometer long ships were headed their way.
In the engineering room Carter quickly moved over to the ship's diagnostic console, checking over the readings and seeing that the hyperdrive was currently shut down so as not to overload when its power wasn't being regulated by the Core.
"Sir the hyperdrive is still offline, I'm diverting power to the shield," she replied, performing the necessary power adjustments and rerouting power from the ship's ZPM to the shield matrix.
"You must go," Thor solemnly told her.
Sam turned around just in time to see the grey form of the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet disappear in the magical light of a transporter beam for the last time. Once the light had faded, showing Thor was no longer on the Odyssey, Sam turned back to the console.
"Sir the Asgard just disembarked, it'll take a few minutes to get the hyperdrive back online," she reported into the com as she turned to the Asgard Core in order to reactivate the hyperdrive.
On the bridge, General O'Neill cursed silently under his breath. Even with the ZPM boosting the Odyssey's shields to their max capacity, one 304 against three Ori motherships was pretty much a no-win-scenario. Even if they could hold out, the Asgard were about to enact their final task before they were all gone, and Jack really didn't want to be around when that happened.
"Full sublight, get us clear of the planet," he ordered Marks.
"Full sublight," Marks nodded in acknowledgement.
The powerful engines sprang to life in an instant, accelerating the Odyssey out of Orilla's orbit and away from the planet at one-hundred thousand kilometers per second. The three Ori ships quickly moved in, two descending on the planet below in order to finally put an end to the one race that presented the greatest threat to their crusade, and secure whatever technology they could while the third was pursuing to attack the Odyssey.
The ship rocked as the shield grid absorbed and dissipated the sun-yellow energy from the Ori particle cannon, the newer shields doing a much better job of repelling the massive amount of fire power than the previous models had done. Mitchell and Teal'c were about to enter the bridge when they were unbalanced slightly by the continuous energy blasts.
"Shields down to 86%" Major Marks reported as he attempted to make minor course adjustments, though he was unable to make any type of actual evasive maneuver since doing so would allow the Ori ship to close the distance and have a better line of fire.
Mitchell grabbed the back of Captain Santiago's weapons station for support to prevent himself from being knocked over, "How the hell did they find us?"
Again the ship thundered as it was hammered by the powerful energy weapon, the crew all grabbing what they could to keep themselves on their feet.
"Some reason we're not jumping to hyperspace?" the colonel asked.
"Carter's working on it," Jack replied, his hands gripping the arm rests of his command chair rather tightly.
An alert pinged out from Marks's navigation console, "Sir, sensors are detecting a massive build up of energy coming from the planet."
Jack, realizing what was about to happened, hit the button to the ship-wide com, "All hands brace for impact!"
All crewman on the ship immediately grabbed whatever they could for support, bracing themselves for the inevitable shockwave that was about to hit their ship. As the Odyssey and Ori ship accelerated away from the planet, their sensors read massive spikes in energy coming from Orilla as a result from the activation of the Asgard subspace fusion bomb, the most powerful weapon ever conceived by the old race.
Bomb was a misnomer, rather it was a series of devices that collected energy from subspace, similar to a Zero Point Module, and then directed that energy downwards towards the planet's core. That energy squeezed and compressed the planet's neutronium core, to the point where the individual molecules overcame the magnetic force between their nuclei and fused. It only took three seconds for the entire core to fuse into what was essentially a neutronium fusion bomb, and after those three seconds it reached critical mass. The results were rather spectacular: All over the planet's surface colossal explosions shot out from the core, obliterating entire continents and evaporating oceans in a matter of microseconds, and taking out the two Ori warships that had attempted to land on the planet. Then, as quickly as it began, it was over: the whole sphere of what was once the Asgard's final home detonated, the area that it occupied as well as the surrounding space replaced by a second sun in the solar system. The final act of one of the last of the Alliance of the Four Great Races was complete, managing to go out on their own terms without compromising their honor, dignity, and spirit; joining the Ancients and other races by passing into legend as one of the noblest and most intelligent forms of life to ever exist.
Although they were now about a million and a half kilometers out from the explosion, the shockwave managed to reach both ships and slam into their advanced shields. They flared bright blue and white respectively as the blast wave passed over the ships, shaking the occupants of both.
"Goodbye Thor..." O'Neill whispered quietly, only Teal'c could hear him thanks to his enhanced senses.
Marks grit his teeth as the whole bridge shook but returned to his monitoring as it calmed down, "Shields are down to 50%."
"Carter?" the general asked into the com, hoping for good news since the shield wouldn't be able to take much more.
"Sir the hyperdrive is now online but we have to get clear of the radiation caused by the explosion before we can make the jump safely," she replied, going over the sensor data that indicated the entire area that was previously occupied by Orilla was now saturated in an unknown form of radiation and gravitational distortions from the sudden missing body of mass.
Just as Jack was about to reply when the ship was struck again by the main weapon of the Ori vessel, sending several consoles into overload and shooting sparks out over the bridge. The emergency halon systems kicked in, shorting out the overloading systems and putting out any potential fire.
"Shields are down to 23%, at maximum sublight we're still forty seconds to get clear," Marks somewhat worriedly informed the bridge.
Mitchell shook his head, "We're not gona make it."
"Carter, we need to engage the hyperdrive now, we have no time!" Jack half yelled into the com.
Suddenly the ship rocked again, sparks flying out all over the bridge filling the air with the putrid smell of burnt electronics. Everyone quickly latched onto something to keep themselves up, all except Teal'c who wasn't as easily moved thanks to his large size and graceful balance. In engineering, Carter barely managed to keep from falling by grabbing the back of the Core's main console. Once she steadied herself she looked at the shield diagnostic, seeing that the shields wouldn't be able to take another blast. Quickly she brought up the hyperdrive controls and initiated the power up sequence, a low hum was audible from the engine coming online.
"Jumping in three, two, one," she reported back into the com, alerting the general of the imminent jump into hyperspace.
As the Odyssey sped away from the pursuing Ori ship, a blue tear in space suddenly appeared in front of the smaller vessel. Almost immediately the ship accelerated into the hyperspace window, then vanishing from normal space as the window closed behind it once it had completely entered subspace. Expectedly, the Ori ship also engaged its hyperdrive engine, accelerating into their own hyperspace window in order to continue the chase. Unfortunately, neither ship took into account what effects the radiation and subspace distortions that the destruction of Orilla would have on hyperspace windows. On the bridge of the Earth vessel the crew relaxed as the calming blue waves of their hyperspace tunnel passed by, signaling that they were safe again, for the moment.
Jack slowly stood up from his command chair and took a moment to catch his breath, which he had been unconsciously holding while they had been running from the Ori. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the bridge to see most of the airmen already working to fix and replace damaged consoles and power conduits. No doubt the rest of the ship was in a similar state of damage, and probably would need time at Earth's dry dock to get fully repaired. Still, for the moment they were safe and that was good enough for him.
"Alright, good work people. Its gona take a few hours to get back to Earth, so let's get started on whatever repairs need to be done so that we make it back home, then I want-" he began to order his people when Marks suddenly cut him off.
"Sir? Ship sensors are detecting some... fluctuations in the hyperspace window," the major informed.
SG-1 looked at each other in worry, hoping that this wouldn't cause a problem for them. But knowing their luck, it probably would since it seemed a new problem arose to derail them from their missions whenever things seemed to get easy. Jack quickly walked over to the chair and hit the com link to engineering.
"Carter? What's going on?" he asked, sighing as he expected Carter to reply with some sort of doomed-filled warning that the universe was going to end or something.
Before she even had the chance to respond, the blue hyperspace tunnel they were traveling suddenly shifted to a ruby red, along with red bolts of energy that danced back and forth across the tunnel and over the ship. Suddenly the tunnel vanished from sight, the normal light-dotted, blackness of space coming into view quickly as the Odyssey decelerated from traveling in subspace. The crew and SG-1 looked at each other in confusion, while Jack turned to Major Marks for an explanation.
"Major?" he asked in his usual confused, aggravated, and worrying tone.
Marks shook his head while he went over the hyperdrive diagnostics, "No idea what happened sir. We dropped out of hyperspace after the ship's systems detected the hyperspace tunnel destabilize."
"Sir I can confirm that, preliminary analysis shows a spike in the EM field just as we entered subspace. I'm also reading large gravitational distortions and high levels of hard radiation that were detected, most likely caused by the destruction of Orilla," Carter agreed with Marks from engineering.
"Where are we?" Daniel asked as he stepped up to look out the window, noting nothing peculiar or out of the ordinary now that they were back in real space/time.
Marks quickly pulled up the navigational charts and their relative position, but quickly became confused by what he found, "Sir? Our coordinates indicate that we're back inside the Milky Way."
Teal'c, standing tall and his arms folded behind his back, raised his eyebrow, "Even with the upgrades provided by the Asgard should this ship not have taken several hours to return to our galaxy."
"Ya it should have. Are our sensors working right?" Mitchell asked as he stepped behind Marks to go over the information himself.
"Yes our sensors are functioning properly, but there's something else, something definitely wrong. Our star charts and the current alignment of the stars aren't synced up," Carter reported, going over the real-time information being collected from their long range sensors.
"What you mean like when I have to update my Ibox-music-thingy so I can get all those new songs I downloaded?" Vala asked, failing to mention that she had stolen Daniel's credit card to buy the two hundred dollars worth of music.
There was a full minute long pause before the colonel replied, "... Actually that's not too far off. Based on the current position of the stars, the only possible explanation is that a considerable amount of time has passed to account for the stellar drift; roughly one hundred and seventy years give or take."
The entire bridge was stunned into silence, as though they had just been told the Asgard were dying and giving them all their technology again. How had they travelled forward in time? While the Taur'i, or more specifically SG-1, were no strangers to time travel there was usually a Stargate or some sort of time machine involved, as far as they knew all they had done was jump to hyperspace.
Vala suddenly broke the silence with a nervous laugh, "That's funny, I could have sworn you said we-"
"-Traveled into the future?" Daniel finished her sentence.
"I know, I don't understand how it happened either, but it's the only explanation for the change in position. Luckily the drift isn't much, relatively speaking, so we won't have a problem going places. It's also how the ship's computers were able to show our location, and our star charts have just updated with the input of the new data. As for how we ended up back in the Milky Way, I don't know. I can only guess that entering hyperspace before we cleared the radiation from Orilla is what caused it, but I need more time to determine a definite answer," Carter explained, shutting off the com while she went back to her work.
"What about contacting our allies? Or Earth?" asked Mitchell, hoping they could get some intel on what exactly the state of the galaxy was.
There was a pause as Lieutenant Ryans, the communication and sensors officer, attempted to contact the SGC, Homeworld Command, the Free Jaffa, and every other Earth ally that had subspace communications. After a few minutes of silence, the communications officer shook his head.
Again the bridge was quiet, only the soft hum of the ship's power core and the occasional alerts and pings from the control consoles helped alleviate the silence. What were they to do? If that much time had passed what had become of Earth? Had the Ori managed to concur this galaxy long ago, was there anyone left in this galaxy? What of the Free Jaffa and their other allies, what of Atlantis? These questions and many more plagued the minds of the crew and SG-1 as they tried to come to grips with their current situation.
Finally they were broken from their thoughts by Lieutenant Ryans who stood toward to front of the bridge off to the right manning the communications/sensor console, "Sir? Long range sensors are detecting a series of radio waves and microwave emissions fifty six light years from our current position."
"Can you pick up on who is sending them? Is it a message?" asked Vala, anxious to figure out something that could help them right now.
Ryans shook his head, "Negative, they're too faint to get any type of detailed reading."
"Well it's a start, let's check it out. Set course and take us into hyperspace," Jack ordered, but tilted his head in slight worry then clicked the com, "Assuming of course that the hyperdrive is ok to use?"
"Yes sir, our hyperdrive is fine; I'm not detecting any fluctuations or damage. Like I said it was the explosion of Orilla that caused the destabilization... I think," Carter replied with a small amount of hesitation in her voice.
Daniel shared a worried glance with the members of his team at Carter's reassurance that did not inspire confidence in them, while Jack shook his head and gave Marks the go ahead to take the ship into hyperspace.
"Wait, what about heading to Earth? Shouldn't we go and see what's happened?" asked Mitchell, worried for the safety of his world and their people, the thought that Earth was a graveyard sending shivers down his spine.
"We can't risk going to Earth or any major populated friendly system until we know what the galactic situation is. Especially with the damage we've taken I'd rather not take on any more Ori ships," Jack explained, but in truth he wanted to do just that and head to Earth.
But he had a responsibility to keep this ship and its crew alive; if the Ori did indeed conquer the galaxy then they needed to come up with plans to liberate it, or atleast find a way back to their own time. The Odyssey began to accelerate forward as the familiar blue cloud-like tear in space appeared, allowing the 304 to accelerate to extreme velocities before it entered the hyperspace window. Once it cleared the event horizon the tear shut just as quickly as it appeared. The trip would only take a few minutes thanks to the new Asgard upgrades, then the crew and SG-1 would see what sort of mess they had gotten themselves into this time.
_
Sorry I've been gone for so long. Things to do, but I decided to redo this story. Hopefully this version is a little better. I'll probably include a codex or something to explain everything's general strength as I see it. Also if you couldn't tell a lot of these early chapters will be inspired from Craxy-88's The First Movement of the Odyssey.