IMPORTANT NOTE: Just wanted to get this out before the Chapter so everyone can read it, I am leaving on a long vacation starting on the 5th of July. My friends from high school and I are going to visit some cities along the East coast of the United States, so needless to say I am not going to have much time to write. I will still be writing but it will be after a long day of seeing the sites of the cities we are visiting and hanging out with old friends. So don't expect a new chapter until after I return on the 15th of July. Sorry now enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 7 Face to Face
Space ripped open in a massive vortex as a Tau'ri battleship class vessel the TAV Minnesota exited hyperspace. At once the ships powerful scanners went to work scanning the surrounding space for any sign of an enemy ship, the only ship detected was the waiting Normandy class frigate the TAV Josephus Daniels. What was detected was a natural wonder, 6 black holes where within visual range for the ship. The six black holes where all circling each other like wolves deciding who was going to attack first. In this case since they were moving on just a flat plane but could move in all directions it formed a kind of bubble around a region of space about the size of the sole system. The rate of movement was extremely slow but inside that ring of black holes provided a natural protection for anything inside with narrow corridors in which a ship could pass without being affected by the forces of the black hole. It was a nearly perfect defensive position and that was why the Tau'ri had come.
The Minnesota moved one of the narrow corridors which would allow access to the center reign of space. Passing through the gaps as it moved into was basically as safe of a harbor as one could naturally find in space. From this position it would be impossible to come in at hyper drive without stopping outside the ring of black holes. Coming out of hyperspace near a blackhole was not recommended and if someone tried they would likely exit hyperspace right on the edge of the black hole and die. It was a perfect defensible position and the Minnesota and the other Tau'ri ships and the mission of the Minnesota was to secure and hold this position until the rest of the task force arrived. The only part of the plan which had really changed beside the stop over with the Normandy was the arrival of the Josephus Daniel with examples of different technology from this galaxy.
The process was as simple as it was routine, cargo was beamed onboard the massive battleship and brought into one of the onboard science labs. There it was sorted and cataloged, with basic scans of the items before being sent to different experts for study in their own labs across the ship. The fire arms for example where sent to be studied by engineers before being tested in the firing range. One of the first things to be processed and cataloged was the containers of Element Zero. The briefcase like item was brought to the metallurgy lab where two technicians began to study the element. The raw element zero or Zephry as they knew it was the same as they found back in the Milky Way galaxy. After finishing those tests they moved on to the refined Zephry given to the team by Aria. Both technicians' eyes widened as the test results came in and the lead on sent the report straight to the Captain who in turn sent it straight to Hackett. The report on the element zero and the discovery by the Normandy happened to arrive at the Prometheus at almost the same time.
For his part it was nearing 4 am ship time onboard the Prometheus as it neared the outer edge of the Torch galaxy at the current speed it and the massive fleet of Tau'ri ships where 6 hours away from the primary building site for the super gate. Admiral Hackett was sound asleep in his cabin onboard the shipwhen the phone began to ring beside his bed he looked up at the display in a mix of anger and frustration, he really wanted to get some sleep not deal with whatever the phone call was about. Still it was his job to deal with it and while it meant getting less sleep then he wanted, he enjoyed his job. He reached out a tapped the phone causing a holographic image of a younger officer, a Colonel to appeared. The young Colonel couldn't see him, that was a feature of the phone to avoid answering a video phone when you were in no position to appear in public.
"This is Hackett." answered Hackett as he sat up and placed both feet on the deck. Since this was the Admirals cabin, instead of a metal floor it was wood and had both a private bathroom and a study all his own.
"Sir, this is the watch officer we have just received two reports one from the Minnesota about the refined Zephry or Element Zero as the locals call it." started the watch officer as Hackett let out a sigh, yes that was important for sure but not worthy of waking him up in the middle of the night. "Sir, I wouldn't have wakened you up just for that but the Normandy has found something."
With that the image of the officer disappeared replaced with what looked to be a giant space station of some kind. It had five large arms set out from a center circle ring. Judging by the listed dimensions it was massive in size, was it the equal of Atlantis no but nothing the Tau'ri had built in space was the equal of Atlantis. Not even the Pegasus Galaxy super gate or the Torch galaxy super gate which they were coming to build was equal in size to Atlantis, the only thing was larger was the new Tau'ri Capital on Earth and that couldn't fly. Either way it was an amazing image but then the arms disappeared and what looked to be docking area around the center ring was stripped away as well to show a super gate.
"What the?" inquired Hackett
"Sir, the Citadel, that is the name of this place and for the lack of a better term the capital of Citadel Space is a super gate with a city built around it." explained the Colonel
"Alright, this changes things. Wake up Dr. McKay and Dr. Rush along with the main staff I want them in the meeting room in 30 minutes." ordered Hackett as the Colonel nodded his head.
"Sir, what orders should I send to Major Sheppard? He is asking for clarification?" inquired the Colonel as Hackett rubbed his chin, he could feel a little bit of stubble on it. He would have to shave before the meeting and the Prometheus and the rest of the fleet was still 16 hours away from the staging ground so they had some time.
"He is cleared to inform them about us being from another galaxy but he is not to reveal the Stargate network or the super gate. Inform Earth as well, this will change things." stated Hackett, the orders from the State Department and the civilian government was to not hide as much from the races of this galaxy. Aside from setting up the super gate and establishing trade there was no interest in colonizing this galaxy. The Tau'ri had 30 percent of their own galaxy plus the Pegasus Galaxy was basically wide open if they wanted to push it. The Wraiths had done a number on the people of that galaxy, the population was less than a quarter of the Milky Way and aside from a few races most hadn't archived space flight. The Tau'ri where the only real space power left and the handful of small others where no match against the Tau'ri 9th, 11th and 17th fleets stationed there. The main issue was they didn't want another war most of all one so far away from Tau'ri space and misunderstandings causes war. One of the reasons the Colonial War happened was because the Colonials didn't understand who they were facing down, they believed they were superior to the Tau'ri or at worse equals when it was as even as putting an untrained teenager in the ring against the world champion boxer.
"Understood sir, I will send the message." confirmed the Colonel as the image disappeared and Hackett was left alone in his darkened bedroom. He thought about it for a moment before standing up, stretching as he did before heading to the bathroom to start a new day much too early and it was likely going to be a very long day.
The TAV Normandy flew just above the invisible barriers which held in the heat and air in the Citadel's arms as it flew toward the main docking ring. For Garrus Vakarian it was a heart pounding moment but he held dealt with worse in his dealings facing down the Reapers, he looked beside him to see Liara and Mordin. Like himself they had cleaned up and made sure their armor and cloths where perfectly clean for the cameras.
In truth he would rather have Tali or Grunt beside him but since this was a 1st contact situation the Council wanted to show the 3 members races of the Council and neither of them where council member races. If he came out with Thane the council would have grumbled but accepted to keep the Hanar happy but being so much in the public was not in the former assassin's nature so he was staying behind. He didn't even want to think about how load the council would yell if the Geth, Legion came out, he was only allowed on the Citadel under heavy guard because of the Geth/Reaper attack a few years back.
He rode the elevator up to the main bridge of the Normandy, it was a strange ship for sure but he kind of liked it. When he got off he found a group of three Tau'ri in ceremonial dress uniforms waiting for him. Two of them held old bolt action rifles, with the third holding a flag on a pole with what looked like some kind of flying animals on the top of the pole. The flag of the Tau'ri was a deep rich blue with a silver ring in the center along with an upside down V with a circle on top. He had no idea what it meant but he had a feeling that the Tau'ri wouldn't understand his culture right now so he didn't feel bad about not understand the Tau'ri symbols. Also waiting were Ashley Williams, Sam O'Neill and another woman they had never seen before. The woman had deep dark hair which was much longer than the other two and had what looked to be smoother skin.
"You must be Dr. Lawson." said Garrus "They said they were waiting for your arrival before we came to the Citadel."
"I am Doctor Miranda Lawson, yes." confirmed Miranda as she offered her hand which Garrus took. It was a little strange, the human hand was almost a perfect match for Asari hand but their hands was much warmer then the Asari, likely meaning they had a higher body temperature then Asari did however that was more of a question for Mordin then himself.
"A doctor of what?" inquired Mordin, what was odd by the Citadel race standards was that Dr. Lawson like so many of the Tau'ri they had meet didn't seam thrown off by them. Sure some did look at them in a questioning way but none of them seamed that afraid of them, which is almost the opposite which normally happened in first contacts.
"I specialize in computers, robotics and other technologies." explained Miranda not adding that she had become one of the leading experts on the Stargate themselves along with Ancient and Asgard technology. Even as she put on a false front of calm, her mind was racing as she tried to process how a Stargate super gate could have a city built on top of it. It made no sense, whenever the gate would open the portal opening would kill almost everyone inside thanks to rush of energy shooting forward, commonly called the splash before it settled down. So why build a city where everyone would die when the portal opened it made no sense, but her mind had only begun to study the situation.
"Where is Sheppard he is leading this delegation correct?" inquired Liara as she looked around the gathered group.
"Last minute instructions form High Command." Answered Sheppard as he stepped out of the cockpit area of the ship. The doors sealing behind him but for a quick moment Garrus could see the Normandy was pulling in toward a docking space on the Presidium. Sheppard adjusted his cap and looked at Garrus, before he did Garrus did spot an ear piece which was almost invisible if someone wasn't looking for it. It would be that and the wrist mounted computer under Sheppard and the other Tau'ri clothing that would be translating their words. He had a similar set up with an ear piece linking to his Omni-tool. The sound of the extending docking arm of the Normandy hitting metal as it met with the Citadel's own docking system caused both of them to tense a bit.
"Well here we go." said Sheppard as the airlock opened and a rush of slightly warmer air came over them all. With that he stood aside and let Garrus flanked by Aria and Mordin go forward, he waited a few moments and then followed suit with Ashely, Sam and Miranda following him. Behind them was the honor guard carrying the flag and behind them where two more marines in dress uniforms only they carried pistols on their belts. Those two had the shortest journey as they would stop at the docking bay and stand on either side of the door. They would be public facing guards even as a fully armed and ready assault team would be standing by to defend the ship if need be.
For some reason the sound of camera clicking actually amazed Sheppard the most as he stepped out into what looked to be some kind of public park. It wasn't actually and he knew that, this was a VIP docking area. All around him where multiple different aliens, Asari, Salarians and Turians mostly but he saw others who looked like floating jellyfish, giant four legged ones which seamed to lack any arms and others as well. Floating drones with what had to be cameras were buzzing around like giant insects as the crowd broke out into cheers and a round of applause.
"Well we are already popular." Said Ash as they stood still for a moment by the docking arm for the Normandy as news crews took multiple photos of them.
"In a way, yes." Confirmed Liara as they moved through where the security checkpoint would have been. Only two guards with pistols at their side remained, they waved them through a scanner. The computer beeped when it ID the old fashion firearms and the sword hanging from "It is been a very long time since a first contact, well a first contact that has gone well."
The cheers mixed in with the yelling of questions from what had to be reporters, even multiple galaxies away from Tau'ri space reporters where the same. The area around them reminded the Tau'ri of some of the public new parks in the upgraded cities of the Tau'ri. After the stargate program was reveal a massive public works program was started to upgrade the cities of Earth and later once they joined Lanagara with the technology from the gate. The results where similar to what he saw now, the amount of shinny metal, white stonework with large amount of perfectly manicured plant life. They moved along what for the lack of a better term was a small very slow-moving river. There was fountains in the river or was it better to think of it as a lake either way it didn't matter to Sheppard.
"Nice place." observed Sheppard as he moved up to stand beside Garrus, Liara moving back a bit to allow him up. The image of this strange new alien pushing up to move beside those standing for the Citadel Council member races was a powerful image. It was a beautiful image to some while some saw it as unjustifiable arrogance by these Tau'ri to consider themselves the equal of the council races. These Tau'ri where a new race and not the equal to the council races, it was up to the council to guild them into becoming a civilized member of the galactic community and one must be humble to learn those lessons.
"It is." confirmed Liara as they moved past a stone statue of a Krogan. Flying cars zipped by over their heads as they moved under what looked to be a series of massive proctors which simulated sunlight and likely allowed this part of the station at least to have a day night cycle. "This is the beating heart of Citadel space, the center for government and culture, where all the races come together as equals to share ideas and work together."
"Races coming together as equals to work together for the common good." rephrased Sheppard as he remembered his own history classes back in Atlantis, the classes where tiny because their where few children in Atlantis at first. Sam had been in his class until her family moved to Vahalla when that was founded. The part of the history lessons that came back was the alliance of the 4 great races, the alliance of the Ancients, Asgard, Nox and the Furlings to form the alliance of four races. It was no longer the alliance of four races, the 5th race had risen and confirmed by the Asgard and the Nox the only two living races in the Alliance. The Asgard giving them the title before handing the Tau'ri their legacy before they ended their lives in mass suicide before the sickness caused by countless cloning of themselves killed them.
"All for the common good and your ideas with shape them here." said Liara
"One can hope, however I have a feeling thing are about to change for the people of this galaxy." said Sheppard
Behind him Sam, Ashley and Miranda walked all three of them studying everything they could but each focusing on different things. Being the doctor she was Sam was focusing on the different people around them, spotting some key similarities between the races she knew from her time back home and what she could spot here. Ash for her part being a combat marine was studying everything through a soldier's point of view, she looked for positions in which if they had to they could fall back to defend themselves. Not that they could really do more than call for a beam out, even the bolt action rifles carried by the two guards behind them had firing pins removed. They had the bayonets and a sword but all of them where blunted and where as sharp as a letter opener. Miranda was studying the Citadel itself trying to figure out where they were on the super gate, it was hard because it almost looked as if judging from their location they had to be within the gate itself. That was an interesting question which required a much deeper dive into this space station.
"So where are we going?" inquired Ash
"See that tower?" inquired Mordin as Ash looked at a nearby tower which moved up into the center of the ring.
"That is the Citadel tower and where the council will officially welcome you." explained Garrus as they kept walking as the people of the Citadel flanked their path as they got their first view of these Tau'ri. It was a rather boring trip to the Tau'ri as they walked the nearly mile distance between the docking port where the Normandy was and the tower. It was beautiful scenery and would have been a very enjoyable walk however being basically in a tiny mini parade was not something any of them wanted. Even Garrus, Mordin and Liara was getting tired of this show and the questions being yelled by reporters were getting annoying. Then a couple of Barartians pushed through the crowd only to be stopped by a team of S-sec officers holding back the angry Barartians.
"Murder! Murder!" yelled a couple of them as Garrus let out a sigh.
"Not fans of yours?" inquired Sheppard
"I kind of destroyed a Mass Relay to stop the Reapers and there was a Barartian colony nearby." Explained Garrus in just above a whisper before lowering his head in shame. "Destroyed the whole system, killing the whole colony but it bought us time. Time to prepare for the Reapers."
"I understand." confirmed Sheppard as they moved forward and pass rows of perfectly trimmed trees as they entered the main entrees to the Citadel. Everyone knew this was just the show entrees, there was in fact a much faster route to the Council Chamber but this route was more showy then riding in a transport up to a station only a few rooms over from the council chamber.
As they neared the main entrees members of S-sec the Citadel police force came to attention with their hands behind their back. They walked through the door and into an elevator. Once in it was the first time that all of them had been alone as the elevator lifted off the ground and headed into the tower itself.
"Kind of funny if you think about it." stated Ashley out of the blue as everyone looked at her. "First contact we have to have an O'Neill or a Sheppard, it is basically a Tau'ri requirement and we have both."
"That is true." confirmed Miranda with a slight smile, as both Sam and Torren rolled their eyes as the honor guard chuckled.
"I don't follow?" inquired Liara
"Well, Sam's grandfather is the greatest hero among our people he and his team saved Earth more times than can be counted and Torren's stepfather did the same with Atlantis with his team." explained Miranda "I think together they must have made contact with what had to be over 200 different worlds and people. More if you count the worlds which where unpopulated."
"Well they where exploring what 4 planets every 7 days." added Sam as she tried to remember the stories from her father and grandfather, SG1was the flag ship team so they where the first to explore many worlds however there were other teams who would generally come after SG1 and the other recon teams to study the planets in more detail. "At least I think that was their average."
That got the attention of the Citadel races and judging from looks being shared by the Tau'ri humans in the room it was clear that they weren't lying. Before anymore could be said the elevator, door opened to the council chamber. Before them was a short hallway with a short staircase that lead up into a larger chamber. They returned to their old positions as they entered to find high government officials standing along a back wall clapping and welcoming them as they made their way around a large fountain in the center of the room. They had to climb another set of staircases passing into what looked to be a kind of indoor park with bronze red leaf trees providing a shade of nature to the room around them. In this larger area was more governmental and other officials along with the press. They pressed forward until they reached yet another set of stairs and headed up it. Finally, they reached what had to be the council chamber room, it was set back in a semi-circle area of this massive room with large windows behind where three figures stood. One was a Turian, one was an Asari and the other was a Salarian, those three stood in the center of a raised section. On either side where representatives from the other races along with the highest officials of them all. In between the council and them was a massive gap over what looked to be another park full of those bronze leaf trees. A platform shot out into the gap about a third of the way into the gap, it was there that Garrus guested him.
"Wish me luck." Whispered Torren as he moved onto the platform, with Ash, Sam and Miranda behind him and the honor guard with the flag behind them near the start of the platform. From this position, the council and those in the upper gallery could look down at him. It wasn't much of a difference in height between his and the council's position, but it was noticeable.
"Welcome Major Torren Sheppard of the Tau'ri, it is with great honor that we welcome you, your people and your race to the larger galactic community." Started the female Asari in the middle of the group of three. "I am council woman Tevos of the Asari, while this is only the start of our formal meetings I hope that it is also the start of a great relationship between the Tau'ri and the rest of the races of the galaxy."
"Madam, Council woman on behalf of President Samantha Carter and the Congress of the Tau'ri it is my great honor to be here and to make first contact with the people of your galaxy." started Torren "When we left home on our mission of exploration and discovery we didn't know what we would find and so far it hasn't disappointed us."
For a moment nothing happened as they tried to understand the wording of his opening phase. Most chalked up the strange phrase about your galaxy to be a culture difference, but it was still strange.
"We are pleased to hear this, we the member of Races of the Citadel Council have come together in the spirit of friendship and cooperation." said Tevos
"One part of being within Citadel Space is to share with those members of the council." said the Turian member of the council as he crossed his arms over his chest. By his stance he wasn't in a good mood and seamed angry. "So I must inquire what brings you to our space?"
"We are a race of explorer." explained Torren "Humanity is always reaching for the next horizon whether it be discovering new worlds or new fields of technology we are always pushing the limit to see how far we can go."
"I see, sounds to me like you are a race always on the move and while that can be good it can also lead to many mistakes." countered the Salarian council member, Valern.
"We are a young race and as the Nox are fond of saying "the very young do not always do as they are told" we have much to learn for sure but we have already learned a lot." admitted Torren "We stand on the shoulder of giants, of the great races who came before us and who have entrusted us with their legacy. We have come here in the spirits of exploration and discovery and we hope to form a bond with your people."
"Your goals are honorable however inside Citadel Space you will follow our laws." explained Tevos
"And if you prove yourself worthily of an Embassy on the Citadel you will have to meet certain requirements as well." added Sparatus "Every member is required to fund their own embassy's and take up the credit as their form of currency, I will have the Volus Ambassador discuss that with you later, they are the ones who handle economic issues and of course meet the requirements of the Treaty of Farixen which limits the number of Dreadnoughts you are allowed to have.
"Yes, the arrival of this Dreadnought is concerning." Admitted Tevos "But that is something we can discuss later."
"Excuses me, clarification please Dreadnought what are you talking about?" inquired Sheppard
"Dreadnought is basically a type of battleship." explained Sam before the council could explain. "At least on Earth they are."
"This Minnesota Dreadnought." Explained Sparatus as Sheppard let out a sigh.
"Ah…the Minnesota is a Missouri class battleships." explained Sheppard
"Different name same thing, how many Dreadnoughts do you have? Judging from the class name I assume you have a second one of these battleships you call them. So answer me this how many do you have?" inquired Sparatus as Sheppard looked at him in amazement, like he would tell him how many battleships they had. In truth on top of his head Sheppard didn't have an answer for him, the Prometheus expedition had left with only 16 battleships and 12 carries but each Tau'ri fleet normally had 24 battleships along with an almost equal number carries spread out across their area of operations. With an estimated 100,000 Ha'tak class ship spread out across the Milky Way with more being built and the threat that some group might finally be able to reorganize the warring Ori galaxy to launch an attack the shipyards of Vahalla had yet to stop building the large ships. Then there was the new flagship of the Tau'ri being built on Vahalla as well. The Tau'ri battleship was the heart of the space battle doctrine, task forces always had one battleships and larger groups had at least a single battleship escorting a carrier. For the Tau'ri and with hundreds of thousands of Ha'tak class ships, which one on one was no match for a single Battleship but in large groups where they had never stopped making the ships.
"Councilman Sparatus, this isn't the time to talk about that, time like that will come but it isn't here it isn't now." Countered Tevos as Sparatus let out a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Since the Turian Hierarchy is the military strength of Citadel space is it amazing that the sudden appearance of a dreadnought would be of great concern to us." explained Sparatus talking to each other like it didn't matter that the Tau'ri where there.
"While I agree with Councilman Sparatus that this is an important issue, this isn't the time or place to discuss the situation involving the Tau'ri Dreadnought Minnesota it is a time to welcome them to the greater galaxy." said Valern before turning toward Sheppard. "So Major welcome to the Citadel, please forgive Council man Sparatus, Turians have a strong military tradition and they find a new dreadnought in Council space worry some. We don't know how much of space you claim and how much overlapping claims there will be there to deal with."
"We understand, there is a race of people we call Jaffa who have a strong military tradition as well. In their multiple nations one can find our best friends and allies and our worse enemies." Explained Sheppard
"Yes, where is home?" inquired Tevos as the Salarian kept going after information.
"The Tau'ri Alliance home world is Earth in the sol system." explained Sheppard "May I hand Spectre Vakarian a data card containing some holographic images of Earth and Tau'ri culture and Space?"
"You may." confirmed Tevos with a smile as Sheppard pulled out a data card and handed it back to Garrus. In truth it wasn't a data card more of a link between Sheppard's own computer and Garrus's omni-tool. This would allow Garrus to scan any item Sheppard would send and allow Garrus to upload the images to the nearby Council computer terminal.
It took a few moments, but a holographic image of a blue and green world appeared in the center of the room in the gap between the Council and Sheppard. It was a fairly normal world by the standards of the Citadel Council, maybe more water than most and the large single moon was odd. Overall it looked like a good enough world. What followed was a short video showing some Tau'ri art, culture and history. Each of the council members took something different from the video. For Council Man Valern it showed a species which had made an incredible jump in a short period of time, a song was playing in the back ground but they paid it little mind. For Sparatus his eyes narrowed when he saw a brief five second scene showing some of the Tau'ri fleet including what he believed to be three dreadnoughts, in truth there were only two battleships and a single carrier, but his eyes narrowed anyhow. For Tevos she enjoyed and was interested in some of the older buildings she saw on Earth as well as the architecture of Tau'ri cities most of all Atlantis.
Sheppard and the other Tau'ri stood back and watched as images of their nation was played to this Council members. Everything meant so much to them, it was images of home of their worlds, their people and everything they believed in. Over it all an instrumental version of the Tau'ri national anthem was being played. Ash found herself mouthing the words along with the music until finally it came to an end with an image of the flag with the Stargate on it and the home symbol for Earth.
On board the Prometheus the Senior Staff where for the most part half asleep or more then half had finally assembled. Only five officers, mostly those who drew night duty that night where fully awake. Large amount of hot fresh coffee and after a quick call to the mess hall fresh bread was also brought up to the meeting room.
"A super gate? How is this possible?" inquired a Captain as a holographic image of the Citadel floated over the meeting table. It main section of focus, the gate itself was glowing yellow while the rest was a duel blue. "We dialed hundreds of gate addresses before we launched this expedition, none connected how can a super gate be here."
"We aren't sure but a theory given to us by Major Sheppard he believes that these Mass Relays are made from harvest Stargates by these Reapers." Explained a Colonel of intelligence as a second image of a Mass Effect Relay appeared. Moments later a third image, one of a cuttlefish looking ship with a label saying Reaper below it appeared on the table.
"Any proof?" inquired Rush his eyes still focus on the Citadel and the Super gate.
"No, but we are missing Stargates and according to local intelligence sources the only sources of Naquadah is in this Citadel which seems to be a super gate and in the relays." Explained the intelligence officer.
"Even so we can't take this on blind faith we need…" started Rush
"While we don't have any hard proof to support this theory it makes logical sense based off the limited evidence we have so far." countered Doctor McKay as he cut off Dr. Rush to defend the man who called him, Uncle Mckay.
"Alright we will consider that a working theory for the moment." stated Hackett as he took a drink from his coffee, it would wake him up and he needed it. "My question is how could a super gate be there? There is no sign of a black hole nearby, even the Ori used black holes to power their gates when they destroyed planets and whole systems to make them. So where is this one getting power?"
"Could it not be?" inquired McKay "Maybe the Ancients built a super gate in this galaxy, just like they built one near where Destiny currently is. This could be a test gate and then some other civilization found it and built this Citadel on it?"
"These arms do look like they could have been added onto the main Stargate ring." offered an engineer "It would be a monster of a task to do so but it could be done."
"So this Stargate doesn't work?" inquired a Military intelligence officer.
"I am not so sure about that." countered Rush as he picked up his computer pad and made a few moves highlighting the naquadah beams which came out of the side of the Stargate and went down the center of each of the arms of the Citadel. Like bones in an arm the beams of Naquadah ran from the very tip of each arm back to the ring. "What if these are power conduits?"
"They are labeled that." stated the engineer before rechecking his pad. "Looks like these…Salarain engineers proved that when they got to the Citadel after the Asari arrived. There are parts un mapped which is concerning, we need to look at this in greater detail."
"The ancients where always good at hiding stuff but the power supply for a super gate that would be too large to hide." stated McKay "So where is the power source, there has to be something power it."
"But what if…this Super gate is powered similar to Destiny." inquired Rush as he looked at the system which the Citadel called home, it was in a nebula but some of the light came from a few small distant stars.
"A solar powered super gate?" inquired the Military Adviser "Is such a thing even possible?"
"Theatrically yes." confirmed McKay "It wouldn't have the range of a Super gate powered by a black hole and the charge time needed to collect enough power to reach another galaxy would be in the hundreds of thousands of years but yes it is possible."
"And what if the gate's target wasn't another galaxy?" inquired Hackett as he placed his hand behind his back. "According to the intelligence gathered by the Garrus Vakarian about the threat of these Reapers they come every 50,000 years from the void between galaxies. Could they have a second super gate out there?"
"That would be a good place to hide a fleet." noted the Military Advisor as she looked at the massive void between galaxies.
"If they did, it would have to be at a point far enough away from the Torch Galaxy that it would fall into the address range for a neighboring galaxy." stated McKay as he ran a few numbers in his head and on his computer pad. "Similar to the old McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge only with Super gates and no gates in between."
The image of the Citadel on the table disappeared being replaced with an image of the Torch galaxy, seconds later a circle of red appeared around the galaxy.
"Somewhere past that line any Gate would fall into the address network the next galaxy over." explained McKay before tapping again on his datapad. Part of that circle disappeared but only a small selection. "There, that is taking away the path we took here and the sensor sweeps by our drones and ships."
"Still a lot of room for a Stargate to hid and it doesn't even have to be on that line only past it." stated the Military Advisor "So our search area is massive, too big to search with any speed."
"It is on or maybe just past that line." countered Rush "50 thousand years would be about the time required to do a get enough power for gate activation but not enough to reach another galaxy. If you are intent on finding this rogue gate, look for any black holes in the void between galaxies, it would be needed to power the gate on that side."
"We have to find this Super gate, why wouldn't we?" inquired McKay
"Is there really a reason? Once we build our own super gate it would be the more advanced one and it would supersede this older Super gate just like Atlantis Stargates being newer supersede Milky Way galaxy gates if they are brought together." Explained Rush
"Does that work with super gates?" inquired Hackett
"No one really knows, we never tried this. If we tried to build our own super gate back home the free Jaffa and Lucian alliance nations wouldn't be happy for sure and they may actually go to war for us to prevent us from having total control over the Milky Way Super gate. We are just able to convince them to keep the ORI one up and going but…it is likely. This gate appears to be much older, so in theory it should work." admitted McKay "We could also disable this gate somehow and make our super gate the only one that would work in this galaxy."
"Alright for the moment we will keep carrying out our mission." stated Hackett "We will arrive and assemble our super gate, we already have the parts and like Dr. Mckay said we can always disable the Citadel gate."
"Why not use the Citadel gate and modify it for our uses?" inquired the Intelligence officer.
"I wouldn't want to be in a city when a Super gate opens up in the heart of the city." countered the engineer officer "We would also have to move the Citadel on top of modifying it. It would be easier to just assembly our gate and disable that gate."
"Very well. Dr. McKay and Dr. Rush I want you and your teams to keep looking into this." said Hackett before turning toward a military advisor. "I want your team to look into these Reapers according to intelligence from the Citadel Races they could show up at any time and we need to be ready if we have to be."
"Yes, sir." confirmed the Officer as the two doctors nodded their heads in agreement.
"Dismissed." stated Hackett as the meeting began to break up. Hackett knew what would happen for most of the officers, they would now wake up those staff under them and give them the task he had assigned them while they went back to bed. They would get a few more hours of sleep before waking up and joining the tired but younger staff to carry on the work. That was how it always worked, it was what Staff and younger staff at that was used for. For him however he headed back to his bridge side office, he wasn't the type of person who could fall asleep once he had his coffee so he would relax a bit and read some reports while the people under him did their jobs.
After the short video giving a broad overview there came a longer video explaining more in detail the history of the Tau'ri including voice over. It covered the basics, like the Goa'uld taking early humans from Earth using them as slave labor. Earth rebelling and then once space travel was reached, odmitted the parts about the Stargate the people of Earth began to fight the Goa'uld. It showed some of their allies and the enemies of the Tau'ri, the Asgard, Jaffa, Tok'ra the Nox and without visually showing them the Ancients where all shown. While the Goa'uld, the Wraith, the Ori and the Replicators all made a brief appearance. When the video stopped everyone was still for a moment then Valern cleared his voice.
"Excuses me but I take issue with this you claim to be explores but yet you have not made contact with any member of the Citadel before now. The Goa'uld, Wraith and others have made contact with us either. This leads me to fear that you are not good explores or you are just lying to us." Stated Valern
Torren grinned a little as he took a deep breath.
"Council man Valern, show respect to our guests." ordered Tevos, this was getting out of control, it didn't help that the Tau'ri where not acting like any other race had done since arriving at the Citadel. They didn't seem blown away by the Citadel, they didn't come before the Council as if they where second class civilizations looking to join. No they acted like they were equals to the Council of the great races. Even in the Council's desperate hours in the Krogran Rebellion the Turians who first arrived at the Citadel where amazed by it and those who already called it home, the Tau'ri weren't impressed. Tevos could already see that was going to be trouble with the other races of the galaxy.
"That is very alright, I understand your confusion about where our people come from and why you haven't heard of us before." explained Torren "Before we share with you that we wish to settle a border issue."
"How can we agree to any border when we don't know the military importance of said area." stated Sparatus
"Believe me the Tau'ri have no interest in your military or interfering with your affairs, we only want to establish a base and trading outpost in one of a couple systems." stated Miranda
"We will even let you decide which one is acceptable." added Torren "We do have a favorite but we will move if it helps you."
"Only a single system? You only care about a single system of space?" inquired Tevos as she found that amazing.
"I assume that the rest of your claimed space is far away from Citadel space and you confirmed this by overlaying our space with your own claims." stated Valern as this meeting was heading in almost the opposite direction that was planned. It didn't help that the Tau'ri didn't seam as amazed by the Citadel and the Council, they were acting as if they were the equal to the council and that the Citadel while impressive wasn't the most amazing thing in the galaxy.
"Yes." Confirmed Sheppard as he tapped on his computer as the holographic display changed. Within moments a display of the galaxy appeared including the borders of each civilization and the unexplored areas of the galaxy. Within that space at least a dozen spots became highlighted in different colors. They where spread out all over the galaxy with the only thing in common being that it was near either a large black hole or multiple smaller ones.
"Either of these systems will be acceptable to the Tau'ri however this one here is the one we would prefer." explained Sheppard as one of them zoomed in to show the area the Tau'ri wanted. It was a single star system with a barren almost lifeless world with a couple small gas giants around it and going off the council's own mineralogical information it had no maternal of any great worth. What was strange was instead of centering the circle of space they wanted around this system it extended out to a nearby reign of space which had multiple black holes. It was Sparatus who spoke up first.
"None of these systems have anything of worth why would your people want them?" inquired Sparatus
"Or better yet why only one?" inquired Valern "It holds nothing that will gain you of anything, it is worthless. It is even too far away from a relay to be of any worth."
"Then you will not miss it." added Ashley as the council members looked at her and then at each other.
"We will take this under advisement, in the mean time we have prepared a welcoming meal with examples of food from across the Citadel Space." stated Teves "However before we do that there is one thing that must be done."
With that a small pillar about waist high came out of the flooring in front of Sheppard, it was about a foot square with a sloped front with a pad on it. Once it reached its max height it began to glow blue, as the Tau'ri eyes widened. Along the sides and the top was a design know very well by most Tau'ri and by both Torren and Sam, having seen it almost everywhere in Atlantis.
"This is a DNA scanner." explained Valern "It will update the Citadel's computer with your species DNA allowing the Keepers to better prepare living quarters for your people when they come to the Citadel, there is nothing to fear from the scan."
The Tau'ri shared a look between each other, they where trapped and they knew it. Slowly Sheppard walked up and placed his hand on the panel, it glowed a bit brighter which caused Liara and a few others to noticed this after a while the when the glow died and Sheppard pulled his hand back. They felt everything was done.
"Please the more samples the better the Keepers will get your living areas just the way you want them." stated Tevos as Ash moved forward, it glowed a bit as well but died away. Followed by Miranda which was a repeat of the process and then all eyes fell on Sam. She let out a sigh and moved toward the pillar.
"Be ready for anything." whispered Sam to Torren as she put her hand on the pillar, suddenly the blue light coming from the panels became intense, so intense that it actually caused people in the crowd to shield their eyes. Then the light faded and for a second nothing happened, then out of the ceiling dropped five rings which was about the size of a single person. The rings dropped down at an extremely high rate of speed surrounding same. Seconds after they did another blinding flash of light as she disappeared leaving the rings hovering in the air for a few seconds before they shot back up into the ceiling.
"Damn thing had to be testing for the ATA gene, I have the artificial version and I bet so do you two." stated Miranda as she looked at Ashley and Torren. "You saw how it reacted to us, it glowed but not as much as Sam."
"I don't." admitted Torren, he had gotten the Wraith gene from his mother. In his sister Elizabeth, she had a strong ATA gene from her father which had overpowered whatever Wraith DNA she had picked up from their mother. They had tried to give him the ATA gene artificially with gene theory but the Wraith DNA in his body from one of ancestor being experiment one by the Wraith had prevented the therapy from working. It may not have been totally the wraith gene, there was about 10% rejection rate for the theory but it was still likely the Wraith gene within him because his mother Teyla had a failed therapy as well.
"Sir!" stated one of the honor guard as Torren looked over his shoulder toward the crowd, he could see a lot of very stunned faces and a few of those faces belonged to officers rushing forward with rifles in their hands.
"Shit." cursed Torren as multiple rifles and pistols where leveled at them.
For Dr. Samantha O'Neill the flash of blinding light began to fade she found herself in a pitch-black room. The air was still and stale like a room that had been sealed off for far too long, a long pause passed and then the room began to fill with light. Lights built into the wall running around the sides began to turn on. Some of the lights where out but still more then enough for her to see what was around her, for a second she thought she was a child again being shoed out of Atlantis's control room by either one of her parents or Torren's parents and their team whenever they ran in while playing. The room had a very similiter set up with multiple control panels and computer terminals covered with a plastic covering to avoid dust.
"Teach me for having the ATA gene." complained Sam as she looked at where it had brought her. Among the Tau'ri being born with the ATA gene or the Ancient Gene was seen as a great gift and a massive leg up in the new system. With the ATA gene most of all one as strong as the one she had gotten from her father, she could run ancient technology with ease and the Tau'ri technology based off those designs where cake for her as well. They had gene therapy to give people the ATA gene but it was never as strong as a natural gene. Some of the most advanced and deadly Ancient Technology wouldn't work right without a strong ATA gene and she had among the strongest natural gene.
She moved toward one pulling on a quick release panel as the plastic fell away. The computer before her looked similar to the ones she had seen in Atlantis but much older, the first thing that jumped out was that the keys where old fashion press down keys not touch keys like Atlantis or holographic ones.
Even the screens where built in place monitors not holographic displays, everything was in Ancient and another she had never seen before. This was an Ancient computer for sure, she looked around to see four more computers and what looked to be an interface chair sitting in the center of the room. At the far end of the room was a short hallway with a door at the end.
"Well, lets see where I am." stated Sam to herself as she walked forward and ran her hand over the door scanner. It opened with a snap to show another hallway, this one long and pitch black as well. Seconds after the door opened the lights turned on to show a bug like figure at the far end of the hall, one of the Citadel Keepers. It passed by without noticing her but moments later a second one appeared and it's head turned toward her and it stopped and looked at her. For a moment nothing happened and then it rushed forward at lightning speed. A scream filled the air as it came forward only to have multiple tubes along the wall open up as glowing mini drones fired out tearing the Keeper apart. Sam jumped back as the door began to close as another Keeper charged forward only to be cut down by the drones.
"Defense program activated." said a computer voice from behind her as Sam turned and headed back into the control room. A slight hum filling the air as she did so, she knew that humming sound, that was a shield going up.
"Ok can you hear me?" inquired Sam
"I can, yes." confirmed the voice
"Are you an AI left by the Ancients." inquired Sam
"No, I was not built by the Ancients as you call them but once I read your DNA I knew you were descended from them and the video showed you made contact with the great races of the Asgard and the Nox." Explained the AI "Sorry my name is hard to translate into your language however most of the other races in the different cycles of this galaxy I have observed since I was installed have called me the Catalysis."
"Catalysis?" inquired Sam as she moved back into the center of the room.
"Yes, they believed that I was the last piece in a project that could stop the Reapers the Crucible they called it." stated the Catalysis "Foolish, the Reapers had started the designs of the Crucible as a false hope so that the species they where harvesting would focus on that instead of other better weapons. My designers placed me here to make sure that the Reapers could never get full control over this Stargate and expand outside the galaxy. That is my goal and my mission."
"Where am I and who built you?" inquired Sam as suddenly the back wall became illumined as a window appeared. It looked out into a larger control room similar to the set up of the old and current Stargate command with a second level which had more controls.
"You are in the main control room for this super gate located deep inside the Citadel itself. As for who built me. I was built in a joint effort by the Ancients and the race you know as the Keepers. They are the one who I just killed to make sure they didn't get into this room and carry out the will of their new masters." stated the AI "You may know them better as the Furlings."
Well I hope you liked this chapter and the little twist I put in, I know this is a slightly shorter then normal chapter but it was either have a shorter chapter and get it done and out to you or wait till after I get back from vacation. Also I really wanted to end it with the reveal of the Keepers and the Furlings being one and the same, now I know some may wonder how the Keepers can be the Furlings and I will explain that in time. Now until next time, Wilkins75.
