Halo Gateway Chapter III Artifact
12th February 2020, Earth Calendar
Planet Hallana aka P1B-304
The first room was circular with a few computers in, but nothing else. It lighted up as Cooper stepped inside. Jhelum was behind her and Rae came last. The room had the standard architecture of any Ancient structure.
"Extraordinary," Jhelum breathed.
"Never been inside an Ancient base before?" Cooper asked.
"Apart from your, Atlantis, no. That was seven years ago," he answered.
Since Atlantis returned to Earth through hyperspace to stop a ZPM using Wraith Hive ship from culling Earth's population it hadn't left the Milky Way. Although it had been on Earth it could-if necessary-fly and be used as a warship of extraordinary power. With three ZPMs it was able to operate at full power. Before the Ancient weapons platform in Antarctica became operation 2012 it was Earth's last line of defense.
"Devoting my time to advancing technology for all races is my way of starting to make up for my atrocities in the war with the UNSC," he continued with a heavy voice. One of regret.
Cooper could understand the regret he felt. It wasn't far from the guilt some Jaffa felt. After committing genocide and atrocities for years or decades in the name of their gods, realizing that they wasn't gods and that those acts was in the service of a false faith. It was pretty similar to the Covenant races positions. Jhelum had-apparently-committed atrocities, such as slaughtering human's populations in the name of his faith in the Forerunners as gods and the Great Journey. To then found out that the Covenant's rulers had lied about so much. Causing millions of pointless deaths. Although they didn't claim godhood themselves-their actions was too close to the Goa'uld's for comfort.
Cooper approached the second door and it automatically opened and the next room lighted up. It was like the facility was coming alive after a long sleep.
The next room was bigger than the first and had a lot of consoles, some tech Cooper had never seen before and, most importantly, it was powered by a ZPM. Cooper realized that if it had truly been inactive for thousands of years-at least-it could still had a good amount of power. It might be far from depleted.
"Is…that a Zero Point Module?" Rae whispered.
"It is," Cooper confirmed.
Jhelum walked over to the console running the ZPM station and looked at it.
"Extraordinary…" he said. He clicked his mandibles in awe. "A Zero Point module."
Cooper wondered how difficult it would be to decide who could have it. Earth, Sangheili, Jaffa or UNSC. It was a Jaffa planet after all, but a Sangheili dig site. The only people using Ancient technology was hers. The UNSC would certainly love to put their scientists and ONI at work with a ZPM, hoping to implement its use somehow or just deprive Earth of them. She wouldn't put it past ONI to do something like that. It had become clear over time that a large part of ONI hated not controlling Atlantis and an Ancient weapons platform, such as the one on Earth.
Jhelum started tapping the console.
"Woah, hang on," Cooper halted him. He turned his head to her and clicked his mandibles. "Removing it would power down the facility, right. So let's not until we've cleared out Advent or have a way out of this mess."
"Do not think to order me around human," Jhelum told her with frustration and continued tapping the console. As he did, his frustration grew.
He didn't know how Ancient systems worked and it would take him a while to get the ZPM.
"Colonel, what's happing out there?" Cooper asked.
"We're falling back!" He replied. "Regrouping around the facility!" He paused. "Staff Sergeant Flannigan and Phantom is injured. Nothing fatal."
Cooper cringed when he mention her people. "Got it."
"I spoke with the Jaffa in charge, and he said his garrison Commander is sending reinforcements. But it'll take a little while."
"Let's see to it we have that long."
"Yes. You found something?" His curiosity was peeked.
"A ZPM. Don't know how much power is left though."
"Huh, cool."
She heard steps and jogged over to the door leading to the other room. It was Roark carrying a wounded Flannigan inside. He put him up against the wall and helped his sit down. Next in was a Jaffa assisting Phantom. The brunette groaned painfully. She had dirt over her face and a bleeding wound on her right arm and side.
Cooper ran up and took a knee beside them.
"Are you guys alright?"
"We'll live ma'am," Phantom responded.
Flannigan looked at Cooper and offered her a pained smile. "I've honestly been better."
"What happened to you two?"
"The, ah…" Flannigan started but was interrupted by his own grunt of pain as he shifted position to get more comfortable. "…Advent fighter made a pass and blasted our tower to bits. We barely got out, but got a few scratches." Then his gestured to his leg. "A shock trooper put one through my left. Went through and through."
Cooper put a hand on Phantom's knee.
"Don't worry. I'll get you two back to the SGC. I promise."
"I have no doubt, ma'am," Flannigan said confidently. "Me and Abby here will just sit back and chill." He nodded to Phantom.
Cooper slowly stood up. "Sounds good. Roark?"
"I'm good, sir," he assured.
Cooper turned around when a cursing Jhelum stormed past them. Apparently he hadn't had a lot of success with the ZPM. She looked through the doorway to see Rae getting to work on the console. It didn't take her longer then a moment to get it out. The ZPM appeared in the middle of the console holding it. She nodded for Roark to follow her inside. He grabbed a bag that had supplies in it.
"Nice work, Rae!" She complemented.
She blushed and smiled.
Cooper grabbed it in both her hands and Roark opened the supply pack. He had poured out the supplies first.
"We can't let Advent get this," Cooper said as he pulled the pack onto his back.
"They won't. Not as long as I breathe," he guarantied her.
Cooper's thinking was that the ZPM was safer with them then just sitting in here. If they could break out they could take it with them. The thought striked her that it also ensured the chance that she could bring it back home without an argument. It was probably opening up a political quagmire but when it was back home nobody was going to let it leave. She knew exactly what General O'Neill thought about giving away a ZPM. 'Over my dead body'.
With Rae and Roark on her heels she headed to the entrance.
"Rae, I want you to stay with Rob and Abby, okay," she requested.
Rae looked at Flannigan before nodded. He gave her a grand smirk. It actually looked kinda painful. Outside Roark and Cooper hooked up with Benjamin and the others. She counted eight Jaffa. It probably meant that the rest was dead.
"How many Advent soldiers are we dealing with, sir?" Cooper asked.
He was sitting behind some rocks and overlooking the dirt road.
"At least sixty. Plus Vanguard. Assuming they didn't pull them back," Benjamin assessed the enemy numbers. "Their fighter support left after blasting down the tower. Probably doesn't want to risk damaging this place. Hurting their price."
"Heavy weapons?"
"They would risk destroying the facility if they used them. No. they're coming on foot with small arms and Harrowers."
"Well, that's always something," Cooper mused.
"ATTENTION!" A male voice cried out.
It caught everyone's attention and Benjamin and Cooper glanced over the rocks they used with cover. Jhelum came up behind them.
"Shock troops I presume?" He said from behind them.
"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!" The man continue screaming. "HAND OVER THE ARTIFACTS! WE KNOW YOU HAVE THEM!"
Jhelum looked at Benjamin with a hardened gaze.
"You must not give it to them," he said sternly.
Benjamin turned his head to him. "Oh, give me some credits Jhelum." He leaned his head against the cover. "Why should we?!" He shouted.
"YOU ARE SURROUNDED!" The man screamed at the top of his lungs.
Cooper and Benjamin exchanged a look.
"We have you exactly where we want you!" He claimed. "Your only option is to surrender!"
There was a moment of silence before the man screamed again.
"GIVE UP OR DIE!"
Benjamin sighed. "This guy seems to be kind of a 'one note' kind of fella."
"No kidding," Cooper agreed with a smirk.
He held up a finger and simply couldn't help himself. "Idiot say what!?" Benjamin shouted.
"WHAT?"
"I didn't catch the last. Wanna say it again?"
"GIVE UP OR DIE SGC HOUND!"
"No, still didn't catch it? Care to speak clearer!?"
"Is it necessary to antagonize them?" Jhelum asked annoyed.
Cooper just shook her head. Suppose it was good he was buying them time. Benjamin looked at him with a serious look on his face.
"Yes."
"LAST CHANCE TO SURRENDER THE ARTIFACT OR DIE!" His voice was filled with anger this time.
"We'll take option number three!" Benjamin decided to make his own.
This time the answer was bullets and advancing troops. Benjamin was the first to return fire.
"Nice try Colonel," Jhelum scoffed.
"Like you could do better!" Benjamin proclaimed over his own weapons fire.
Cooper fired a burst and ducked down.
12th February 2566 UNSC Calendar
UNSC territory, Planet Tusken Orion, Indignity Tower
Office of Naval Intelligence Colonel Jan Wadsworth was sitting behind his desk in his office, reading up on the Prowler Santino's mission from across the galaxy. Thanks to their friends on Earth granting them hyperdrive technology some years back, that journey didn't take centuries, but a week. It was an amazing change from Slipspace technology.
The Santino's mission had been to gather intelligence on Jaffa activities by any means necessary. ONI had seen the cracks in the Jaffa High Council years ago and decided to use this to their advantage by putting a Jaffa who was pro-UNSC and loyal in charge. It would off course mean that the High Council had to be dissolved and all power placed in one individual. Doing that would mean that their candidate had to had support from the majority of the Jaffa military body. The idea for the last few years had been to put their faith in a Councilor named Ry'banuc. Unfortunately he was the only obvious choice-but he didn't have the most military backing. That fell to others such as Teal'c, Bra'tac, Mun'ano and Amenset. Neither of them could be manipulated to be loyal to UNSC or ONI.
The door panel chimed.
"Enter," he acknowledged.
The door slid open and Krishna Ivanovna came inside. She was head of ONI on Tusken Orion and Junior Director, answering directly to Director Albert Forsberg. Like him and Wadsworth, she was of the old order. Chances as being pushed down from the top, ordering all ONI operations approved by a chosen outside committee, being the biggest. Many at ONI hadn't agreed with it at all, resulting in some resigning to join Advent, and some ignoring the new regulations degreed by the President, Lord Hood and the Security Committee. They ran secret operations and ignoring the Presidential office and Security Committee.
"Ma'am," Wadsworth greeted.
"Colonel," she gave him a nod. She stopped in front of his desk. "I understand the Santino returned."
"They did. I'll have the report sent to you shortly," he assured her. Since the mission hadn't been sanctioned it would be an unofficial report. "Anything I can do for you?"
"Yes. You're leaving for the conference on Erudas soon, yes?"
He nodded.
She dropped a datapad on his desk.
"Your fellow delegates are Admiral Petra Hammond and Ambassador Tillers." She leaned over his desk. "Junior Director Hargrove arrives in a few hours. Keep all unsanctioned operations under the radar."
Wadsworth nodded understandingly. Hargrove had been assigned by President Francisca Redfield. He had a very different opinion on how ONI should operate and believed in the sanctions, which made him a threat and a liability. But his assassination would incriminate ONI-evidence or no evidence-and could bring the Director ONI brass down.
"The President picked Hammond?" Wadsworth questioned.
"Makes sense doesn't it?" Ivanovna answered flatly. "She's loyal, popular in the public eye and is a veteran of the Covenant war, and hero from the Goa'uld and Ori conflicts."
"And Ambassador Tillers brokered the original alliance with Earth and the Jaffa," Wadsworth remembered. He sighed. Wasn't it time for the old hag to retire? Admiral Hammond was a thorn in their side and they just wanted her gone. Since the Director ordered them not to assassinate her or other prominent military figures-claiming her death would be a blow for UNSC security-which Wadsworth scoffed at.
12th February 2020 Earth Calendar
Planet Earth
Continent North America, Cheyenne Mountain, Stargate Command
Jack O'Neill had his hands shoved into his pockets and overlooked the Stargate from the position by the briefing room's large window. The Stargate was in the midst of being activated. Colonel Gate was overdo to report back from P1B-304 by twenty minutes. He could have made it back to the gate by now. He wasn't the guy to forget it either, even if he did Cooper would have reminded him. He was getting a bad feeling for this.
To his right was Doctor Daniel Jackson. The archeologist was looking a lot older than the young made he had gone to Abydos with the first time, so long ago. Not that he wasn't older himself. Heck, it probably showed more on him then Daniel. The though made him smile.
"Don't you ever get tired on conferences and meetings?" He asked his old friend.
Daniel was wearing a clean black suit and a blue shirt underneath with a black and dark blue striped tie. His suit jacket was open and he had his fingers fiddling behind his back.
"Not really," he answered rather casually.
"Huh, go figure." He turned his head to look at Daniel. "How's Atlantis treatin' ya?"
"Good, it's good. I could spend forever looking over all the data." He looked back at Jack. "Hopefully I'll get the chance."
"Well, the city's not going anywhere," O'Neill shrugged.
Daniel looked down at the embarkation room. Specifically the team standing all geared up at the foot of the ramp. There was a MALP in front of them.
"Where's Mitchell going?"
"Hopefully nowhere, but Colonel Gate is twenty minutes late from dialing in from P1B-304. I have him and SG4 on standby."
Daniel frowned slightly. "Isn't that the planet with the Ancient facility that was locked down?"
"Yes. Which is one of the reasons I have a bad feeling about this. A lot of people would love to get their hands on whatever is inside. There's a Platoon of marines ready to gear up when I give the order."
"Let's hope it's nothing."
"Chevron six encoded," Sergeant Harriman said through the intercom in the embarkation room.
"Excuse me," O'Neill said and walked to the spiral staircase down to the control room.
"Chevron seven…locked."
He came up behind Harriman just as the Stargate opened. He leaned in towards the radio.
"Colonel Gate, this is Stargate Command, do you read," he said into it. "Colonel Gate, do you read, this is Stargate Command."
Benjamin's voiced carried through with gunfire in the background. "Yes General! God I'm glad you called!"
"What's the situation Colonel?"
"Under Advent assault! We've withdrawn to the Ancient facility entrance and we're outnumbered and outgunned. Request immediate reinforcements!"
"Do you control the gate?"
"Negative, Vanguard overran us in the opening phase!" There was an explosion in the background. Perhaps a grenade.
O'Neill turned to Harriman. "Send that MALP through and order the marine Platoon to gear up and have their asses here as soon as possible."
"Yes sir," Harriman acknowledged.
"Reinforcements on the way Colonel. Just hold out."
"Yes sir, holding out!"
"O'Neill out." He turned to the screen showing the feed from the MALP.
The MALP entered the event horizon and in a second appeared on the other side. The first O'Neill saw was black armored soldiers. Advent Vanguard. Seven of them at the foot of the gate. Within three seconds the MALP stopped transmitting. It wasn't hard figuring out it had been destroyed.
"Prepare to send A UAV through, I want the bird's eye view."
UAV stood for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and was used for scouting for the air.
"Yes General."
"Colonel," O'Neill said into the intercom connected to the embarkation room. Mitchell turned around. "At least seven Advent soldiers at the foot of the Stargate. Send a few grenades through first, then you have a go. A UEAF Platoon will follow you through shortly."
"Got it, sir," Colonel Cameron Mitchell acknowledged and turned to SG4s team leader. A Chinese gentlemen by the name Takada, rank Major. "Let's go."
They made their way up the ramp and Mitchell and three of SG4 prepared a grenade. On Mitchell's command they lobbed the grenades through and gave it a good five second count before Mitchell and a man with a K13 Harrower stepped through, with the rest of the Chinese team following.
Mitchell had a tight grip of his weapon. By refers engineering Ronon's Particle Magnum-an energy weapon he had picked up from a Pegasus group called the Travelers-scientists had finally managed to create their own version. Though they had performed well in controlled environments, Mitchell was going to give one of them a field test. Specifically a Particle Rifle. A larger version of the Particle Magnum.
When Mitchell materialized on the other side he aimed for the Vanguard soldier in front of him and squeezed the trigger on his Particle Rifle. A rapid succession of two bolts hit the man dead center and he collapsed backwards.
There was two more Vanguards, both getting up after having thrown themselves to avoid the grenades. The rest were dead. He quickly counted-including the two living-nine.
The Harrower carrying marine brought one of them both in a barrage of led.
Mitchell killed the last himself with a bolt from the Particle Rifle into his visor. Like the original, it had three settings, stun, kill, incinerate. He had it sent to kill.
He looked around. It felt strange to only leave nine men to guard the Stargate. Maybe they had needed the rest to fight the others, or they expected to be gone by the time anyone arrived. Clearly a miscalculation.
"Stargate cleared, sir," Mitchell informed O'Neill.
"Nice work Mitchell. Backup is five minutes away. O'Neill out."
The Stargate shut down. In five minutes the United Earth Armed Forces Platoon would storm through they the General would launch an UAV to get a clear overlook of the battlefield.
"Sir, look!" Major Takada pointed up.
Mitchell looked up to see Advent Fighters engaged with Death Gliders over a Km away, give or take. He assumed that was the Jaffa Garrison responded to the attack. Then ground troops would be incoming soon too.
"Colonel Gate, this is Colonel Mitchell," he said.
"Nice to hear from you Colonel," Benjamin responded cheerfully.
"Right back at ya, Benjamin. I got SG4 and we've secured the Stargate. More backup should arrive in five," he informed him. "Wanna get me up to speed?"
"Happy too Cameron. The remaining ODSTs linked up with us our position is holding and a Squadron of Death Gliders just swooped in and started taking out fighters and a few dropships. It'll take another half an hour or so before ground troops arrive. There was some kind of delay at the fortress, but Zolana had some more happy news for us."
Mitchell and SG4 started jogging. "Yeah, what's that?"
"She says a couple of Motherships dropped out of hyperspace and engaged Advents ships. A Cruiser and four Corvettes."
Mitchell frowned inquisitively. "Can two Motherships beat a Cruiser plus Corvette escort?"
"I don't know, but one of them got heavily damaged and rammed the Cruiser. They laid down their lives, and ripped the damn Cruiser almost in two. Zolana's keeping me updated with what's going on. Cam, if we don't beat these guys that sacrifice will have been for nothing."
"Then we better win. We're heading towards your location as we speak."
"Colonel!" One of SG4s men alerted.
A three Vanguard stormed out of the forest ten meters away and made a crazy dash towards them.
"Take 'em out!"
The one of the left was quick to go down, but not before getting a deadly hit on one of the marines. A combined burst from Major Takada, one of his men and Mitchell eliminated the third six meters away. The third and last almost ignored the bullets the Harrower filled him with. They ripped through armor and body. He screamed in a blood rage and charged on. He threw him weapon away and drew a Sangheili energy sword. Mitchell didn't have time to question by he had it and fired two bolts into his chest. He immediately switched the setting ot incinerate and put a bolt in his head. The helmet and head incinerated, allowing the body to fall to the grass with a loud thud.
Mitchell walked over to them with SG4 behind him.
"I really hate these guys," Mitchell breathed.
His eye caught a pistol attached to the man's waist. He picked it up. It looked like a Covenant Plasma pistol, but blue and silver colored. It had been modified and had a slightly different design.
"The hell? Check if the other two had these things."
It didn't take the marines long.
"Both do sir," Major Takada said. "What is it?"
Mitchell stood up from his kneeling position. "Well…it sure as hell looks like Advent has managed to reverse engineer the Covenant Plasma pistol. Nothing about that can be good for us."