Daniel looked at the lines of Ancient text on the control console with great excitement. With this information they may be able to finally destroy the Goa'uld and the Replicators once and for all.
"It says that the Ancients in the Milky Way were suffering from a plague." Read Daniel, adjusting his glasses, a look of extreme concentration etched on his face.
"When this great plague hit them they could do nothing about it. They attempted several different methods in an attempt to cure it, including experimenting with time travel but all were unsuccessful. So the Ancients packed up their entire city and left somewhere between five and ten million years ago." Daniel looked up. "The lost city of the Ancients....it's Atlantis." Daniel said in awe, eyes wide.
"In their.....flying city?" Jack asked. "Yes."
O'Neill tried to hide a smile. Daniel stared at him. "What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Flying City." O'Neill replied, smirking as the words came out of his mouth. "Well, keep in mind this is the race that built the Stargates. They did everything big." Daniel answered monotonously.
"Guys..." Carter glared at both men. "Anything else Daniel?" she asked.
"Yes. This galaxy that the ancients ventured into was known as the Pegasus galaxy. Apparently they encountered a great enemy here and were defeated and returned to earth because of that." Daniel's face was white with shock. "This repository is different than the first one we encountered. The first one predates their exodus to the Pegasus Galaxy. This one was created by the few that returned. It speaks of an enemy known as the Wraith, whom they waged a century long war with. The Lanteans as they were called were eventually defeated due to being outnumbered despite having a huge advantage technology wise. Before going they sank the city to avoid being destroyed by the massive onslaught of the wraith."
"This is interesting indeed" Thor said, engaging in the conversation for the first time. "The Ancients are by far the most advanced race we have ever come across. With your understanding of the Ancient language and our understanding of advanced technology and our history with the Ancients then we may be able to discover great new technologies."
"I agree," Carter nodded. "But getting into the city is an entirely different thing. And translating the data could take months, years."
"That is not the case Major Carter," Thor responded. " The Asgard have a small knowledge of Ancient technologies having studied it. If you remember correctly, they were also our allies. If Doctor Jackson aids with the translation then we will be able to pinpoint critical data such as power generation, weapons, shields and any more of their research. Also, if the city is big enough to transfer all of the Asgard to it then we may be able to build ships of Ancient design with help of our technologies, if the city is big enough for those purposes of course."
"If that's the case we may be able to get back to Earth in time to save it from the Goa'uld," Carter exclaimed, a look of excitement shone from ear to ear.
"This is gonna be some adventure!" O'Neill announced sarcastically laying his chin in his hands which were rested on one of the supply containers.
President Hayes stared out at the Stargate from the briefing room in the SGC. He had recently been elected President but he had never imagined anything like he had seen so far. He was not only commander –in-chief of the United States forces; he also had to make decisions on intergalactic matters which could affect both the United States and the World. And now, he was about to start a serious meeting with world leaders about the current crisis that Earth was under threat from. The imminent Goa'uld attack. And with Anubis' updated Goa'uld ships and Earth's lack of defences, their future was looking bleak.
"George," Hayes said with a smile, shaking the hand of the new arrival in the briefing room.
"Mr. President," Hammond said nodding his head. "I trust you have been given a guided tour and have been looked after?"
"Yes, yes, everything has been splendid, thank you."
"Have a seat." The General pulled out a chair for Hayes as world leaders calmly poured into the room.
"How are we going to do this?" O'Neill asked.
"First we will call by Earth to collect the expedition team. We will then return to the Asgard homeworld where we will gate to Atlantis with the team and some Asgard scientists and I will send this ship to Atlantis' co-ordinates just in case we require its assistance." Thor explained.
"Sounds like a plan," O'Neill said raising his eyebrows. "When will we be at Ear..." at that moment the transporter beams activated and the expedition team and their supplies were beamed onboard.
"This is incredible!" Rodney exclaimed. "Actually working with the Asgard and going to find a flying city. Incredible. Thor! This is an honour. To actually be working with you. It is a dream of mine."
"Pipe down Rodney," Sheppard rolled his eyes to Rodney. Ever since they met Rodney had been an annoying pest but he had also been a good friend. They had spent little over a year getting to know each other since Sheppard was assigned to Area 51.
"Sheppard, this is amazing," he argued wide-eyed. "This is what I've dreamed of, what we've talked about. Are you not excited?"
"I am Rodney, but I don't show it by acting like a five year old on Christmas Day." Sheppard responded getting agitated by his comrade's childish behaviour. He understood though. He knew how much this meant to Rodney. The first time he was on Prometheus he had acted in the exact same way.
"Thor, there's been a change in plan regarding one of your ships that you have offered to us. They have all arrived at Earth but one of them is going to be used to transport our top engineers and scientists along with raw materials. We have instructions to build three new ships once we reach Atlantis. I have the designs here." Colonel Caldwell explained, holding up a tablet.
"You may also use this ship for any excess raw materials that you may require. We will be transporting hoards of neutronium. We have seen the designs of the warships the Ancients used. We estimate that with our technology it may take two months to construct these. Let me see your designs," Thor asked as he motioned for Caldwell to hand him the device. He looked at the designs. These ships would be stronger then the Prometheus as they would have Asgard and Ancient technology onboard.
"Interesting. With the help of our scientists and your engineers these should not take long to create at all. They should be done in a matter of weeks." Thor explained as he handed the tablet back to Caldwell.
"Shall we be on our way" he said as the ship jumped into hyperspace.
"The Atlantis Expedition has just left with the Asgard and they are on their way to the Asgard homeworld. From there, they will proceed to gate to Atlantis." Hammond informed all of the world leaders present at the SGC. He knew that SG-1 would be their best hope. He also knew that Atlantis could prove to be the most valuable discovery since the Stargate itself.
"We hope to have three ships built and ready for action in roughly 3 months." Hammond paused. Some of the leaders did not look happy whatsoever.
"Three months?!" emphasised one. "Yes sir. It's the best we can do for now."
"The Goa'uld are not going to wait for our pretty little spaceships to be finished until they attack us. According to our Jaffa allies they will be departing Anubis' home world in seven days." The leader from Great Britain was clearly agitated but extremely worried. He was a tall man with longish brown hair cut just above his shoulders and deep brown eyes. He was very outspoken. His name was David Bellefield and he had been Prime Minister of Great Britain for two years now.
"Prime minister, you will just have to wait. We will all just have to wait. We will do our best to defend this planet while the expedition is trying to secure new technologies. The current goal is to try and bring Atlantis back to Earth. If they manage to succeed in doing this then I'm sure it will be more than a match for the Goa'uld. And we have one of the most intelligent races known to man working with us." Hammond argued, silencing the Prime Minister.
"I'm pretty confident in SG-1's abilities." Hammond knew that they had the best team in the world working on it, and with the help of the Asgard he was sure they would be able to get this flying city back to Earth. When SG-1 had relayed the information back to the SGC it surprised a lot of people, but these were the gate builders he thought to himself.
"We've got our best men and women on the case Prime Minister. I'm pretty confident they'll succeed in their quest." Hayes said reassuringly.
"For all our sakes, I certainly hope so."
Daniel sat alone in a room in the ship away from the others. The information the Ancients had left behind was incredible. Weaponry, shielding, medical care. A wealth of information. For whatever reason, the Ancients thought that their second evolution would need this information. The discovery of this city could change humanity forever, but they would be heavily reliant on the Asgard to help with the technology.
At the moment Thor was currently working on creating a power source the ancients called Potentia, which Rodney had coined as a Zero Point Module. The Ancients had given the Asgard a ZPM many years ago to study but the Asgard had never found a way to replicate it. Now, with the information in the repository they would finally be able to create an incredibly powerful power source, one which Atlantis may be dependent on.
"Daniel?" Sam called. "Daniel?"
Daniel stood up. "Yes?"
"We're about to drop out of hyperspace. Thor is still working on the ZPM creation but hopes he'll finish the first one by the time we're ready to dial Atlantis."
2 Hours Later
"We can't get a lock." Carter sighed, disappointed.
"Perhaps the cities shields have failed?" Daniel inquired.
"I do not believe so Dr. Jackson. I am pretty sure Atlantis will be powered by ZPM's and if that is the case, it would take thousands of years for them to deplete. There must be another explanation." Replied Thor. For the first time ever Daniel could see that he was agitated. The Asgard wanted to discover the city of the Ancients as much as they did.
"Wait a minute. The Ancients left from Earth right? Well, maybe they wanted a one way system between Earth and Atlantis only, in case of any unwanted visitors from different galaxies."
"I agree. That's ingenious Daniel." Carter said, her face lighting up once again.
"So, what now?" O'Neill enquired.
"Well sir...Dial Earth. We can bring the ZPM's with us, hook it up to the gate and dial in from there. The ships can go from here. I'm pretty sure Rodney will be able to configure a system."
"Oh sure, let me do the dirty work" Rodney complained. He was becoming impatient. He had sat on a ship for a journey to a different galaxy and had watched as they failed to establish a connection for an hour. He was not in the mood for this.
Sheppard rolled his eyes. This was gonna be one heck of an adventure.