UNSC Victory
The transmission from the unknown vessel was audio only, the main screen remained blank and the bold UNSC crest still spun lazily in the centre. The communication was slow to come through, leaving the entire bridge crew, some thirty men and women, in complete silence as they waited. Barclay leant heavily on the brass rail that separated the command area from the crew stations, his titanium prosthetic hand tapped the brass- a steady clink of metal on metal was the only sound the cavernous bridge.
"This Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet," a voice suddenly echoed from the speakers around the command centre. The voice was monotone, serious, threatening. "You have entered a star system under the protection of the Asgard, leave now or be destroyed."
The silence on the bridge grew heavier twenty fold. Everyone turned to face him, their faces, young and fresh, most of them not long out of Officer Candidate School. In his forty years Barclay had never, never experienced something like this. It had always been 'see covenant, kill covenant.' There was nothing dictating how he should act in a situation like this. It was unprecedented. Yes, he outnumbered the alien vessel thirty four to one but more would come, he was sure and in greater numbers. Years of combat and war was screaming at him to destroy the alien ship and move towards Earth, his gut was telling him something else.
"You have ten seconds to comply." Thor, the alien named after the Old Norse god, said. Before Barclay could say anything Montgomery flashed into existence next him. Data from the Slip space jump appeared in table next to him.
"Admiral," Montgomery said. "There was an unidentified spike in the Slip space core just before we jumped, I would recommend we back off until we can examine this further." The readings showed power levels in the Slip space core during the transition, an abnormally high output, far greater than it should have been, lasted only the briefest of moments, just as they entered the eleven other dimensions that created space-time. Montgomery and his gut agreed on the subject of what to do.
"Send the order, fall back to the Eridanus System." The Admiral said, his shoulder slumped in defeat. This was beyond unusual, he needed time to analyse the situation, time the alien wasn't allowing.
Victory held its position as the frigates, cruisers and carrier fell back, the destroyers stayed, flanking the massive battleship, their guns ready but silent. As the other ships fled into swirling vortexes of the multi-dimensional plain the destroyers broke off and fled, followed by the Victory.
Thanks to advancements made after the war the fleet, the entire navy, had been refitted with faster, more accurate Slip space drives, depositing the fleet in the Eridanus System just over an hour later, moving to the planet that, once, until the waning days of the war, was home to the UNSC fleet.
Now, in this strange twisted version of reality as it seemed, it was as beautiful and full of life as Barclay could remember. There was no humans there, not yet. No intelligent life, only the native species that inhabited the planet before humans ever arrived in the system. It would be a good place to call home for now. Until they figured out what exactly was going on.
Back on Earth, under Cheyanne Mountain and home of the most secret organisation in the world, the recent events had caused a commotion like none other since the early days of the programme. The fleet, and that's what it was, a fleet like none they'd ever seen before, had entered the Solar System with the intent of moving towards Earth, only to be stopped by the timely arrival of the Asgard. The unidentified fleet hadn't spoken to Thor, only amongst themselves before retreating. To Hammond, the Major General in charge of the programme it was as though the fleet had entered the wrong system. The way they stopped, began their approach carefully and despite their numerical superiority they fell back when contested by Thor.
Sat around the large briefing table outside his office Hammond, his premier team, SG-1 and Thor discussed what happened.
"The vessels are certainly not Goa'uld, nor that of any known faction currently operating in the galaxy." Thor said from his throne like command chair. A display hung above the table, curtesy of Thor. The flagship of the fleet hung in the centre, the weapon laden bow pointed towards the General. "We began tracking their approach from this star system, twenty three light years from Earth. Upon inspection there is no civilisation in the star system." The display changed to show Earths position and the origin of the fleet and their relative positions in the local stellar cluster before it changed back to the ship.
"So they used it as a waypoint. Stopped to stretch their legs before coming here." Colonel Jack O'Neill was never considered a particularly intelligent person, usually simplifying things to an almost comedic level before understanding them. But when it came to strategy he wasn't lacking, he was smart enough to be an officer, smart enough to realise the benefits of stopping along the way, to resupply and let the crew have a brief breather before heading back into the unknown.
"Unlikely," Thor said. O'Neill raised an eyebrow, the others looked at Thor, waiting. "We would have detected them before they entered the system, but they originated in that system."
"So, they started from a planet without any civilisation on it? Maybe they left it behind? Abandoned the world to start anew." Daniel Jackson, a young man with glasses and short brown hair was an archaeologist and impromptu ambassador to the other civilisations of the galaxy, suggested, always the optimist.
"You miss understand Daniel Jackson, there are no habitable planets in that star system. It is impossible for them to have originated there." Thor replied.
"What about another universe? We know those exist, could they be from one of those?" Carter, the blonde Major that had organised the control room when the ships first appeared on sensors, said. She would be the one to offer the craziest ideas to the group.
"Possible, but unlikely." Thor said.
"Okay, so we don't know who they are or where they're from." George Hammond spoke up, tired of speculation. It wasn't getting them anywhere. "What do we know about them?"
"They're fast." O'Neill said, referencing how quickly they'd moved through normal space.
"Scans indicated the flagship possessed powerful ship-to-ship weapons and shields, capable of resisting the primary weapons aboard my vessels for some time. It is possible they didn't intend to intrude upon the Sol System. Hence their reluctance to attack." Thor stated.
"What type of weapons did they have?" Jack and Sam asked at the same time, for different reasons. Jack was only interested in the use of these weapons to defend earth, nothing more, nothing less. Sam, on the other hand, was intrigued, if the Asgard considered them 'powerful', just what were they capable of?
"They appeared to be a mixture of high intensity, concentrated plasma batteries and solidified photon projectors." Thor said, highlighting parts of the vessel to show the weapons in question. "There is also four particle cannons, capable of destroying a Goa'uld mother ship with relative ease, although, that is purely speculation garnered from the scans of the vessel. Attempts to access the on board systems were countered by an on board Intelligence."
"You mean they have hard-light weapons? Hard-light is just a theory, even the Ancients, as far as we know didn't use it." Carter asked, astounded that these people made use of such technology.
"Indeed. It appears as though this group as managed to manufacture the technology. Including in their armour."
"What's hardlight?" Jack asked, looking more confused than ever.
"It's exactly what it sounds like, sir," Carter replied. "Solid light."
"Okay, that's pretty cool." O'Neill said with a slight nod. Even he could appreciate the science behind such technology.
"Our own attempts at creating such technology has only ended in failure thus far. It is impressive, if not worrisome." Thor stated.
"So where have they gone? And when can we go talk to them?" Jack asked, looking to Thor, then Hammond.
"It would be unwise to do so at the moment O'Neill. The presence of an Asgard ship in the system they have retreated to might provoke them into action before a dialogue can be opened between us and them." Thor said, facing the aging Colonel with his large, black eyes. "It would be more beneficial to wait. They will make contact again, in their own time. I am sure."
UNSC Victory
Admiral John Barclay wasn't one to shout orders but the worried hushed conversations and lack of concentration mixed with his own fears and frustration led him to bark at his crew.
"Monty," he said, using a shortened version of the AIs name. "Co-ordinate with the other AI's in the fleet and find out what happened. Lieutenant Mann, contact ship captains, I want them in my ready room now." He almost shouted. "I don't know what happened," he addressed his crew. "But I will do my best to find out and get each and every one of you home." Barclay said. He left, heading to his ready room to wait for the ship captains to arrive.
It didn't take too long. The captains and commanders all entered one at a time, quickly filling the room.
"Okay people," Barclay said. Looking each and every one of them in the eye. "I don't know what happened, we were there, you all saw it. But that wasn't the Sol System we left before the trial runs. There wasn't any UNSC assets there, not a single base, ship or even debris. I want answers and suggestions on what to do."
They spoke amongst themselves. Older veterans formulated theories while younger commanders offered wild new ideas.
"Time travel," a young looking commander offered with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "You saw the power readings of the drive core. We know Slip space can have temporal effects on ships, usually only by a few hours or days at most. But this could explain it." She said.
"Time travel?" a captain, several years her senior replied in disbelief. "Even if that ludicrous idea was true how do explain the alien ship in our home system? They claimed to be protecting the system. Where were they when the Covenant showed up?"
The debate raged on. For close to an hour they argued and dithered on what happened and what to do.
"I think," Captain Vanesa Hardy, captain of the Valliant, a brilliant new destroyer, interjected through the murmurings of senior officers. "We should stay put. Build defences and maintain our position. At least until we finally solve the mystery of what happened. Build a settlement on Reach."
There were muffled sounds of agreement, and disagreement, throughout the crowd. It would take a great deal of effort but a small settlement could be formed, a base of operations. It would take longer for defences. But that too was doable.
The road ahead was long, shrouded in mystery and twist and turns the fleet had never imagined. It would be a long road home.