Destiny
"Colonel Young, this is Volker. Can you come to the bridge immediately please?"
Hearing the radio call Young began moving towards the bridge.
Striding quickly onto the bridge of the ancient ship Young asked "'what have you got for me Mr. Volker?"
Volker, Eli, Brody, and Dr. Rush all hovered over their respective screens trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Destiny received a subspace signal and began transmitting massive volumes of data in return. We do not know where it's going, but we are certain it's not directed to a seed ship. Based on the data being sent we're certain of that." stated Rush.
"We're certain its maintenance logs being transmitted." said Eli.
Colonel Young pondered this for a moment. Had the blueberry aliens cracked Destiny's master code and decided to ascertain the material condition of the ship? Was this a prelude to another attack? Had the ancients come back to this plane of existence and decided they wanted their ride back?
Using the communication stones Young came to the conclusion that the situation was the result of some new discovery in the Milky Way. All that worry for nothing. Although this far out into the universe he was finding that rarely was worry ever wasted. With luck the SGC had found a way to get them home, or at the least supplies. Only time would tell.
HomeWorldCommand,threedayslater
"With the assistance of the ancient shipyard's AI we have made leaps and bounds above the current capabilities of the 304 class ship. Combining both ancient and Asgard tech we've found the best of both worlds. Unmatched firepower, unequaled defensive capabilities, and unparalleled power generation capacity. This new class of vessel represents a paradigm shift in the balance of fleet power in our corner of the universe. The compliment of X-302's carried has also risen to 60, in addition to the 12 jumpers that can be carried. Imagine if you will an aurora class ship intermixed with an O'Neill class, and a bit of X-304 thrown in for good measure." said Dr. McKay to the assembled members of the IOA, Home World Command, and the Joint Chiefs.
"Is he always such a smug bastard?" asked an IOA member in hushed tones.
"He sure is." replied General O'Neill.
Smug McKay might be, but he had delivered an amazing new design. With everything performing as promised the new vessel was easily more powerful than anything the Asgard or ancients had ever launched.
Her hull was composed of a carbon, naquadah, and trinium mix. This was the strongest blended alloy known to the Asgard. Her fire power was composed of ten Asgard beams, six galaxy class lasers, 18 photon cannons, 34 rail guns, and 2500 drone weapons she was heavily armed. The very latest in Asgard hyper drives was fitted along with Asgard shield technology. Powering all this were ten neutrino ion generators and three zpm's. Design changes had also been given to the X-302's. A naquadah generator had been added to power both shields and a cloak. The cloaking ability had also been given to the larger ship much like her older sister the Odyssey.
"Asgard ships possessed the ability to travel between galaxies in under a day. Now we too will have that same ability. These capabilities are in direct proportion to the mass increase of the ship though. This class will be roughly seven times the size of a BC-304 and roughly ten times the size of the Prometheus. After intensive simulation we have found the design to be without fault. These simulations show a single vessel could face off with four hive ships and have a high expectation of success with minimal damage. I should point out with this capability we now have the ability to reach Destiny without a stargate. Adequate power exists to bring Destiny home under tow in hyper space." said McKay before taking his seat.
The IOA members began to question how long it would take to put the design into production. They were less than pleased when informed that General O'Neill had given the green light one month ago to begin building the first two. It had been decided to put the ancient warships to use patrolling the Milky Way, freeing up the BC-304's for the Pegasus galaxy to operate with Atlantis which was slated to return shortly. The new class was destined for use outside friendly territory, and as a large capital ship in time of conflict. Nothing the Lucian Alliance had could compare in any terms. The total build number for this class was set at 18. The class's name was to be Athena.
Athena,sixtydayslater
Her shakedown cruise complete Athena was provisioning for her first official mission. During her shakedown it was decided to push the ship hard to find any potential fault. She and her crew were sent into the galactic void between Pegasus and the Milky Way to tow home the abandoned ancient warship Tria for repairs. Athena performed without fault and was declared operationally ready for service.
Her commander was Colonel Aaron Eckhart. He was a legend in the F-302 community from the Battle of Antarctica and as one of the few survivors of the Ori incursion that resulted in the destruction of the Korolev. He oozed fighter pilot machismo. For the last seventy two hours he had watched the Athena's loading of supplies and provisions for this mission carefully. Everything but the kitchen sink was going along for this ride. The reason was everything but a sink was needed at the destination. He checked and rechecked. Of course he was nervous about this one. He and his crew were going farther out than any earth vessel had gone before. This truly was one for the record books.
Her crew was an odd mix of combat troops from the SGC, scientists, engineers, and technicians. With the size of the vessel and the fact she had a matter creator onboard as standard equipment she was not without her luxuries compared to the Prometheus. Even with her once unimaginable speed this would still be a long mission. One month to the destination, two months on site, and one month on the return leg. That's why he made the big bucks the Colonel laughed acidly to himself.
Looking out at the shipyard he saw the Athena's sister ships taking shape. Colonel Sheppard and Colonel Mitchell were both present overseeing minor details during the construction process. Tria was also visible in dock being repaired after being damaged thousands of years ago in the Ancient Wraith War.
On the dock Colonel Sheppard approached the Athena's commanding officer, handing him an orange. "In case Rodney acts up, just show it to him and he'll behave" chuckled Sheppard.
"Between McKay, Dr. Lee, and the egomaniac where we're going I might switch from oranges to buckshot in all honesty" said Col. Eckhart.
Both men laughed and turned on their heals for the observation deck to have a drink. In the morning Athena would leave, and it had become custom for commanders to have a drink above the shipyard for luck.
"Just come back in one piece Ecky" suggested Sheppard.
AndromedaGalaxy
With pride Thor looked over the nearly completed Asgard fleet. With the fleet now composed of only O'Neill class ships instead of older Bilisknr class vessels it was a vastly more powerful fleet. Monitoring sensors scattered throughout the Milky Way informed Thor that the Tauri fleet was vastly increased as well. How would they react when contacted? What would change? These are the questions that troubled the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. Would the Tauri be able to handle the change Thor knew to be coming in the order of things very soon? No one knew the answer to that, least of all the Asgard.
Atlantis
With three fresh zpm's in place and more in reserve Atlantis rose from the ocean surface under cover of cloak. The Atlantis task force of X-304's was already in Pegasus awaiting their arrival. It had been decided at the highest level that now was the time to end the Wraith threat, and to humble the Genii. Richard Woolsey was still in command of the expedition, but the chief military commander was now Lt. Colonel Evan Lorne. Atlantis would return to Pegasus in the condition she had arrived there the first time. Full power, full magazines, and full of hope for a new future, Atlantis was ready. The second Athena class ship under Colonel Sheppard was due to arrive once completed. With all things considered the future did indeed look bright thought Lorne. Looking over to Woolsey the colonel pushed these thoughts to the side. With a nod of his head he signaled all was ready. With that Woolsey said "Activate the worm hole drive" and Atlantis left Earth behind.
Destiny, 22 days later
Rumors had swirled after the command group of the expedition had returned from the last session on the communication stones to Home World Command. General O'Neill normally played things very close to the chest but even this was pushing it. Young and his staff had been told to be prepared for assistance and supplies. That could only mean another planet like Icarus had been found to dial the ninth chevron from. With luck this one would not go critical and explode like the last two had. Supplies would be a god send they all agreed, but hopefully it would just be supplies pushed thru the gate instead of more people. More mouths to feed meant further rationing of what was on hand, and no one wanted that. When this help would be arriving was anyone's guess.
"Colonel Young this is Eli on the observation deck, a very large ship just dropped out of hyper space in front of us" said Mathboy.
On the bridge Brody, Volker, and Park leaped into action powering up weapons for the fight they all knew was coming. On the overhead speaker a message rang out.
"Destiny this is Athena, we bring you greetings from the SGC. Power down your weapons and shields and we'll share some of the goodies we have on board. Sound like a deal?"
Could it be? Could they finally be rescued? The vessel looked nothing like the current fleet of Earth vessels. This was a massive ship, and looked a bit like an ancient ship that was crossbred with a BC-304. After a twenty minute process in which Lt. Scott contacted Earth with the stones to verify it was indeed an Earth vessel a shuttle was deployed with Col. Young and Camille Wray to the Athena. Landing the ancient shuttle in one of the 302 bays Col. Young felt like he was dreaming. I swear to god if that damn ship is playing with my dreams again I'll scream he thought.
"Welcome aboard the Athena Colonel" said Col. Eckhart.
After taking them to the briefing room to discuss the mission objectives a schedule of events was worked out. Half of Destiny's crew would transfer to Athena now via both shuttles for a good meal. Once the first half ate the second half would transfer over. After that was accomplished engineers, more military personnel, medical personnel, plus Doctors McKay and Lee would board Destiny. From there it was simply a matter of beaming aboard the several hundred thousand pounds of supplies aboard. Col. Eckhart made sure the first real meal these people had in eighteen months was steak and lobster with fresh apple pie.
"This is not a rescue just yet, just a resupply and repair mission. I get that wont make you happy, but if it helps we brought everyone clothing, hygiene items, and every movie you could think of. Plus food wonderful food" reassured Eckhart.
Transferring all the materials and supplies from Athena to Destiny took the better part of four days. Everything needed to repair Destiny was transferred first in the shuttles, while foodstuff was moved via the Asgard beaming technology. Destiny already had two repair robots after salvaging one from the "other Destiny". Athena delivered ten more. Soon everything aboard the ancient vessel would be like new. To some this was a dream come true. To Nicolas Rush it was a major headache.
Lantea,PegasusGalaxy
Life was slowly returning to normal for Atlantis. The city ship was home again on the planet it had slumbered upon for so many years. Off world teams were reestablishing contact with allies after a month's long absence. Tauri battle cruisers had been fighting the Wraith during that time, but the population appreciated that Atlantis had returned. A one hundred and eighty man contingent of Army Rangers and Special Forces was along this time with the sole purpose of reconnaissance and strike against the Wraith and Genii. Tauri kindness would no longer be mistaken for weakness in Pegasus.
On entry into the Lantean system Atlantis began the deployment of duplicates of the satellite weapons the ancients had once used, and on which Peter Grodin was killed. Daedalus, Apollo, Odyssey, Hammond, and Sun Tzu were also in the galaxy: under cloak and equipped with zpm's.
The enemies of the Tauri in Pegasus were in for a large surprise.
Minnesota
Still no fish in my pond? Well why ruin a good thing thought General O'Neill. Taking a sip of his beer while sitting on his dock and lazily eyeing his bobber. In a bright white flash he suddenly found himself elsewhere. This looks strangely like an Asgard ship he thought for a moment.
"Greetings O'Neill" said Thor.
"And who might you be?" asked the General.
"O'Neill, I am Thor and I have much to explain."
Along Destiny's previous path
They had watched Destiny's crew enjoy the planet created for other purposes. The crew members were so much like the ancients; several even had the ancient gene used in ancient technology. Could the time have arrived? Could they have progressed so far so fast? If it was so then truly they were the fifth race as the Asgard had professed. It was agreed that the Destiny must be observed, its crew studied without becoming aware of the observation. Unknown to Destiny several ships had been shadowing the ancient vessel, even monitoring communications on the ancient stones. More and more everyday it seemed that the Asgard were correct. Soon they would have their answer.
Ares
Col. John Sheppard sat in the captain's chair of his new command. Ares was the newest Athena Class vessel. Assigned to the Pegasus galaxy she was meant to be the cornerstone of the fleet there. Sheppard could not have asked for a more perfect posting. Dropping out of hyper space the cloak was engaged. The long range sensors aboard Ares began searching for any trace of the Wraith in this system. Luck was on their side and they did not have to wait long.
Detecting three cruisers and a hive ship entering the system the Ares lay in wait. From the Wraith approach profile it looked as if they were preparing for a culling. Once the sensors detected a stargate energy signature on the both the hive ship and the forth planet from the sun it became clear that yes this was a culling in progress.
Dropping the cloak and powering shields they were now detectable to the Wraith fleet. Six drones sprang towards the hive ship while Ares engaged the cruisers with the Asgard beam weapons. The cruisers disintegrated on impact. The hive faired little better. With drones closing on the hive little could be done in the Wraith command center. Savagely tearing threw the hull the drone weapons sliced cleanly thru the ship only to reenter and do it all over again. Aboard the Ares explosive decompression of the hive was clearly seen on the view screen. The battle was over in less than a minute. With a few shots thousands of Wraith perished. Across the galaxy the Tauri fleet would repeat this same procedure. For the first time in ten thousand years the Wraith felt fear. The Tauri were coming.
Garina
Loka was a proud commander of the Genii. Having served his people for his entire adult life without fail he was rewarded with command of an elite training center of Genii light infantry. It was he who had rallied so heavily for a force to strike out at Atlantis. It was also he who had pulled the political strings so heavily to have troops he trained used for the mission. Kolya had been a fool to allow such a small group of people defeat him so easily. Loka intended to go back to Atlantis in the future, capture it, and put his people on the pedestal they so rightly deserved.
Each day he watched the training of his recruit's progress. He kept the pressure intense, pushing them harder and harder until they were ready to face the enemy. A second failure could not be allowed to happen. Atlantis must be taken with all the military supplies it held. Loka was a man driven by nothing more than sheer hate. What Loka didn't realize was that Atlantis knew very well who he was and the role he played in the deaths of its expedition members. Those murders in cold blood had not been forgotten.
Climbing the stairs of the speaking platform of the training camp, Loka prepared to give his daily address to his recruits while they stood in formation. Grabbing the microphone and clearing his throat he was just about to speak when his chest tore open. Loka fell like a heap of twisted limbs and torn flesh. Twelve hundred yards away the Special Forces sniper smiled inwardly. Toggling his radio beneath his ghillie suit the sniper breathed "ready to beam". With a white flash he was whisked to safety before he could be detected by the now panicked Genii forces on the ground. On twelve other planets the same scenario played out with shooters being whisked away by Jumper. The most reliable of the Genii field grade commanders went down without ever knowing they were targets in one day