March 28, 2009
Oval office, White House, Earth.
"Mister President, we have a message." An aide said.
"What is it about?" Hayes asked.
"I do not know, but it is from Space command. Priority one." The aide said.
"Show me." Hayes said.
Hayes took the message and read it.
"Have the Joint Chiefs of Staff assemble in ten minutes in the situation room." Hayes ordered.
"Yes, sir." The aide replied.
Ten minutes later the Joint Chiefs of Staff were assembled in the situation room. As the president walked in they stood up and the president waved at them to sit down.
"As you might have heard we have a problem. General Landry if you will explain the problem please." Hayes said.
"After our victory back in July, the Jaffa have been trying to retake some important worlds like Dakarra and Chulak. Both planets have been retaken by the Jaffa. The victory over the Ori forces at those two planets were a definitely morale boost. Currently the Ori are amassing a fleet of about 25 Motherships and are preparing to retake Dakarra. The loss of Dakarra would mean a devastating blow to the Free Jaffa Nation. Teal'c has requested our help in protecting the planet." Landry explained.
"How much ground forces are we talking about?" General Millard asked.
"About two million soldiers." Landry said.
"The Jaffa can't handle that can they?" Millard asked
"No they can't, therefore they also requested some ground forces." Landry said.
"What do you intend to send?" Hayes asked.
"I think we should send the Hammond, Deadelus, Phoenix, Apollo, O'Neill, Carter, Denver and Pegasus. If the army would be so willing I also request the 1st, 4th and 5th marine divisions and the 2nd, 12th and 101st airborne divisions to be deployed to Dakarra." Landry said.
"You want to commit over half our marine and airborne corps to one planet! Are you nuts we can't do that." Millard yelled.
"I have to agree with Millard this time, we have no way of supplying that much troops." Hayes said.
"Sir, we have a way of making more stargates work on one planet, this would solve our ammo problem. And we have seven other marine divisions and 12 other paratrooper divisions currently in training. These units have already been trained in space warfare." Landry said.
"He does have a point there, but why do you want to keep the cruisers out of this battle?" Hayes said.
"In previous battles the Ancient cruisers have proven to be quite vulnerable against more than one Ori mothership. Sending them with the 304's and aurora's would be suicide." Landry said.
"All right, when do they arrive and how long does it take to transfer the troops to Dakarra?" Hayes asked.
"They will arrive on April 8th and it will take about a week to transport the troops to Dakarra." Landry said.
"Who do you want to put in command of the ground forces?" Hayes asked.
"I was thinking of general Winters of the 101st airborne, he has the experience to command multiple divisions." Landry said.
"Will General Brown be returning to active duty soon and if not who is going to replace him." Millard asked. Two months ago general Brown got severely injured when his control chair exploded.
"He will need an extra month to recover from his injuries. In the meantime General Pierce will have command of the fleet we send since she has done that since Brown was injured." Landry said.
"Will the ships be able to help the troops on the ground?" Millard asked.
"Not really, they might be able to attack things behind enemy lines but they cannot give fire support on the line. Their railguns have the tendency to miss their mark if they shoot into the atmosphere." Landry said.
"Is that also going to happen with the new LHD-311?" The Marine Corps Chief of Staff asked. The LHD-311 was going to be the new amphibious assault ship. Capable of bringing 2 marine brigades with full combat support to the battlefield.
"The LHD will not have that problem as they will get better computers and programming to compensate for a planet's Atmosphere." Landry said.
"While we are talking about the new ships what more will there be?" Hayes asked.
"We are currently starting production on seven new types of ships and one new fighter type. The first one is a heavy scout ship the HS-305. The second one is the C-306 it's a cruiser and is capable of taking more than the ancient cruisers. The third is the BB-307, a battleship but we have only just started to design it, we hope to have the first one ready in 2010. The fourth is the CV-308, a carrier capable of carrying 320 fighters, also expected in 2010. Fifth is the FFG-309, a frigate primarily used to defend larger ships from fighters, missiles and small spacecraft. Sixth is the LCS-310. The Littoral Combat ship will be used to patrol regions of space and to drop of small Special Forces units. Seventh is the LHD-311. It will be used to transport and support two marine brigades. The eight is a new fighter the F-312 Avenger. It is moving faster and is more agile. It can also fit in a gate and has a small shield; it is equipped with plasma weapons and is capable of carrying six missiles or bombs. They are going to replace the F-302." Landry said.
"When will they be ready to be sent into battle?" Hayes asked.
"The 305,306,309 and 312 will be ready this year and the rest will be ready after April 2010." Landry said.
"How far are we with those new colonies?" Hayes asked.
"We have constructed 12 mining colony's and 4 shipyard colony's, by the end of the year that will be doubled." Landry said.
"Do the Ori know about those planets?" Hayes asked.
"New Philadelphia was attacked two weeks ago but was able to defeat the two Motherships that attacked without losses or damage on their side." Landry said.
"What kind of ground support are we going to send with the marines and paratroopers?" Hayes asked.
"The marines are equipped with a modified version of the M1 called the M1A4 Abrams; it is capable of moving through a gate and has a small shield generator. It also uses a small naquadah power source. In addition there will be Bradley's and artillery available." The Chief of staff of the Marine Corps said.
"Well, I think I have heard enough, tell the divisions to prepare to move out and tell Teal'c he will have company." Hayes said.
"Yes sir." Landry said and left the room to request a beam out to the SGC.
April 4 1200 hours
Dakarra Command centre
"General Winters, it is a pleasure to meet you." Teal'c said.
"The pleasure is all mine." Winters said.
"I assume you want to take command of the ground forces." Teal'c said.
"I was hoping that would be possible. I need to be able to coordinate my troops with your forces so that we can set up a defensive perimeter around the capital and the stargate." Winters said.
"When will your fleet arrive?" Teal'c asked.
"In about two days, they carry a large amount of ammunitions and other supplies so that we can last a little bit longer." Winters said.
"I want to introduce to you the commander of the Jaffa ground forces, this is Bre'Lac. He has orders to listen to you and to follow your orders." Teal'c said.
"I understand you have ground based anti ship weapons capable of handling the Ori ships?" Winters asked.
"Yes, they will assure we have control of the space around Dakarra even if the fleet can't hold it. Thanks to some of your ZPM's they are also equipped with a strong shield." Bre'Lac said.
"I need to know where they are placed so that we can defend them. They will be a prime target for the Ori ground forces. I hope you can move them around." Winters said.
"We currently have them spread out over the whole planet to provide maximum coverage to protect the other city's as well." Bre'Lac said.
"We will have to redeploy them to the area around Dakarra, and for the citizens of those cities, they need to evacuate." Winters said.
"Why, I am sure you have a lot of good warriors under your command right, so why can't you defend the other city's as well?" Bre'Lac asked.
"We only have six divisions that is a total of about 60.000 man and women. The enemy has 2 million troops, the only way to defeat an army that large is to have them attack fortified positions which are defended by mines, artillery and other weapons. Believe me, that is the only way to properly defend this planet without bringing in hundreds of thousands of troops." Winters said.
"So you want to leave all the other citizens to their fate?" Bra'Lac asked.
"No we will evacuate them to the capital city or send them through the gate. How many troops do you have and what kind of training do they have had." Winters said.
"I have 80.000 troops, they have all been trained in the traditional ways but they have also have had some training from Tau'ri instructors. They do know how to fight a defensive war." Bra'Lac said.
"Alright, I will deploy 4 divisions, 2 airborne and 2 marines, the other 2 will function as a reserve force and some of their units will be assigned to the Jaffa forces to help them and to give them help with camouflaging their positions. We will make a protective bubble of about 90 clicks around the capital." Winters said.
"General Winters, I am sorry for interrupting, but if this will be your plan I need to inform the planet's citizens that they might need to evacuate or help the soldiers with building the fortifications." Teal'c said.
"Okay, we can use any help we can get with preparing our defenses. Teal'c are you familiar with the scorched earth strategy?" Winters asked.
"Leave nothing behind for your enemy's. I once saw a documentary on your history channel about the Second World War and the Russian campaign. "Teal'c said.
"Our plan is defensive and the fleet is supposed to stop enemy reinforcements from coming in and bringing supplies with them. Therefore we cannot leave anything for the Ori." Winters said.
"I understand I'll have the local garrisons destroy anything the Ori can use." Teal'c said.
"Unfortunately the fleet might not be able to hold the Ori off and if that happens we need those weapons of yours to protect the Capital and to prevent the enemy from getting their supplies to their frontlines immediately, if they land supplies it has to be on the other side of the planet so that it will take them a long time to get to the front." Winters said.
"If the fleet is unable to hold the enemy off, their will also be no resupplying for us is there, how do you want to get all the required supplies through the gate?" Bra'Lac asked.
"We recently made some advances in stargate technology. We are now able to bring in some extra gates and with a special program, the incoming and outgoing wormholes will be divided over those stargates." Winters said.
"And with some ZPM's you will be able to maintain the wormholes indefinitely." Teal'c stated.
"How much stargates will you bring in?" Bra'Lac asked.
"The fleet has seven gates on board. We intend to use seven for incoming and one for outgoing wormholes." Winter said.
"What do you intend to send through the outgoing wormhole?" Bra'Lac asked.
"The civilians and wounded we cannot treat here or who won't recover quickly enough." Winters said.
"You said you wanted to use mines? How are you going to deploy enough of them to cover the whole area?" Bra'Lac asked.
"We have some special weapons which are capable of dropping hundreds of mines in a small area." Winters said.
"General, the council wants to meet with me and Commander Bra'Lac. I assume you will be able to begin preparing the defenses?" Teal'c asked.
"Yes, I'll have my people start on it right away." Winters said.
April 8 1354 hours
Bridge, TFS Deadelus
"General Pierce, I have General Winters on the line." The comm. Officer said.
"General Winters, what's up, any sign of the Ori?" She asked.
"Yes, General. Dakarra sensors report 26 Ori Motherships incoming in 4 minutes. The Dakarra defense force is already launching fighters and bombers and will be there in 3 minutes. The planetary defense weapons have all been powered and are now transferred to your control." Winters said.
"Thank you general." Pierce said. "Colonel Kruger message the fleet and tell them to expect company within 4 minutes and tell them to power all their weapons and shields and launch fighters as well."
"Already done sir." Colonel Kruger replies.
"Sir, sensors are detecting multiple hyperspace windows opening. It's the Ori." The sensor officer said.
As 312's leave the hanger bays of the Tau'ri ships, 26 hyperspace windows open en an equal amount of Ori Motherships drop out.
"Sir, we are receiving a hail from the lead mothership." The comm. Officer said.
"Let's hear it." Pierce said.
"This is Adria, Orici of the Ori. If you surrender now we will spare your lives and you will be allowed to worship the Ori." Adria said.
"Have all the ships and planetary cannons target the lead mothership and open fire on my command." Pierce said.
"Awaiting your order sir." The Tactical officer said.
"You are making a great mistake, I am the Orici, and I can not be killed." Adria said.
"Well, I don't think you will do well in space either." Pierce said. "Open fire."
As all the ships open fire the shields of the lead mothership hold on for far longer than any normal Motherships would do, but in the end it makes no difference. The mothership is destroyed and both fleets are engaging each other.
"Sir, we have destroyed the lead mothership and the fleet is retargeting." The tactical officer said.
"Sir, the Samantha Carter has just lost propulsion and weapons and is taking heavy damage." The comm. Officer said.
"Have them beam to the surface and tell the rest of the fleet to split up in pairs, tell the Hammond and O'Neill to pair up and make a charge through the middle of their formation." Pierce ordered.
As the fleet splits up several squadrons of Ori transports break through the fighter screen and head for the planet. As the Hammond and O'Neill storm through the Ori fleet firing drones, the Hammond's shields fail and the ship is destroyed in a huge explosion damaging the O'Neill and destroying 2 Ori Motherships.
"Sir, The Hammond has been lost with all hands and the O'Neill has suffered damage. The Denver is also evacuating and has set course for an enemy mothership." The sensor officer said.
"Damn, tell the fighters to take out the transports, the planetary cannons will target these five Motherships, we will target those four and the bombers will finish every ship with low shields." Pierce said.
As twelve more Motherships are destroyed another 304 goes up in flames taking its crew with it.
"Sir, the Pegasus has been lost and the Apollo and phoenix report that their shields are almost depleted as are ours." The sensor officer said.
"Tell the fleet to jump to Chulak for repairs and rearming. Tell the fighters and bombers to retreat to the planet to help the ground forces. Now get me General Winters." Pierce said.
"General Peirce what is happening out there?" Winters asked.
"We have lost this battle I'm afraid. We will retreat to Chulak to repair and rearm and to get some reinforcements; I am sending the fighters and bombers down to you to help you out." Pierce said.
"Roger that, see you later." Winters said.
"I hope so." Pierce said. "Major tells the fleet to get out of here and do the same." Peirce said.
"Yes sir." The nav officer said.
As some more missiles were launched the remaining 304's entered hyperspace and left the space over Dakarra for the Ori. Some Motherships tried to get closer to the planet but soon found out that it would be way to dangerous.
1422 hours
Dakarra command centre
"General, the Fleet has jumped away. The fighters and bombers are landing on our airfields. The planetary cannons are providing covering fire and the shield is active and at 99 percent." A Radar operator said.
"The president is waiting for a briefing." A lieutenant said.
"Put him on." Winters said.
"General Winters, what happened out there?" Hayes asked.
"Somehow we lost the space battle. We lost all the aurora's and two 304's. Pierce pulled the rest of the fleet out." Winters said.
"How many servicemen did we loose?" Hayes asked.
"The Hammond and the Pegasus have been lost with all hands. The O'Neill, Carter and Denver were able to send some personnel down. Total death toll is around the 700 including the pilots of the fighters and bombers." Winters said.
"General, I wish you the best of luck and may god be with you. Hold the line out there." Hayes said.
"Thank you sir, we'll do." Winters said.
1500 hours
White house press room
"Lady's and gentlemen of the press. Minister of Defense O'Neill has a statement to make. I request you to hold your questions until he is done." The white house speaker said.
"I have a statement to make of the Battle over Dakarra. Recently we got word that the Ori were going to attack the recently recaptured planet of Dakarra. In response we sent several ships and six army divisions. A little bit over an hour ago the enemy arrived in force. They took out three aurora class warships and 2 304's after the destruction of those ships the other three pulled back. The aurora Hammond and the 304 Pegasus have both been lost with all hands and the Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill and Denver were also destroyed partially with their crew. We lost a total of 700 crewmembers. Currently the enemy is attacking the capital city of Dakarra but our divisions are capable of holding them of. We also suspect that we destroyed the Ori flagship and their leader Adria." O'Neill said. as soon as O'Neill was done with his speech the reporters started to yell their questions.
"Sir, how many soldiers do we have on Dakarra?" A news reporter asked.
"We have a total of six divisions worth about 60.000 soldiers. We also have the support of the Local Jaffa Garrison counting 80.000 troops." O'Neill said.
"Was there bad leadership involved?" Another reporter asked.
"No, General Pierce only had eight ships under her command while she had 26 opposing Motherships. They were able to destroy 18 Motherships before they were forced to retreat." O'Neill said.
"You said that we have six divisions at Dakarra, can you disclose which ones?" A reporter asked.
"We have the 1st, 4th and 5th marine divisions and the 2nd, 12th and 101st airborne divisions on Dakarra." O'Neill said.
"Who is the commander of this army?" A reporter asked.
"General Winters is in total command of the Tau'ri and Jaffa forces on the planet." O'Neill said.
As a white house employee said something to O'Neill, Jack walked of the podium and the white house employee told the reporters that the conference was over.
1526 hours
White house situation room
"Mister President, if I may, what the hell is going on?" O'Neill asked the moment he stormed into the situation room.
"Good afternoon Jack. We recently got some extra information from Dakarra." Hayes explained.
"The Ori made a direct attack on the capital. They sent about 2000 landing craft, the fighters immediately engaged and destroyed quite some but some were capable of breaking through and smashed on the shield over the capital. The rest of the landing craft landed outside our lines and in the charge we killed about 90.000 soldiers. The estimated death toll on the Ori side is 400.000. We lost 400 soldiers and 27 F-312's. This counts as a total success. Immediately after the failed attack the Ori landed more troops outside our range of fire and are now preparing to attack again." Landry reported.
"Have the family's of those who we've lost been notified?" Hayes asked.
"We're working on it right now; we think we'll be done by the end of the day." Landry said.
"How are you going to replace those losses?" O'Neill asked.
"The two divisions that are in reserve will supply new squads and they will receive new squads from earth." Landry said.
"Do they already know when the next attack will take place?" O'Neill asked.
"They have no idea but there haven't been any sightings of troops landing on the other side of the planet." Landry said.
April 9 0425 hours
Easy Company 2/506 PIR 101st Airborne, Hill 209 (Curahee), south side of the Capital, Dakarra
"Lieutenant, Battalion reports that enemy landing craft have been sighted entering the atmosphere, ATA 6 minutes." The Radioman said.
"Alright. Everyone, listen up; we've got incoming ATA 6 minutes. I want all of you to get to your foxholes and prepare to fight." Lieutenant Speirs said.
As the men followed the lieutenants orders weapons were loaded and new rounds were put in. Several minutes later a buzzing sound could be heard. It indicated that enemy transports were coming down.
SSgt's Lipton, Malarkey and Guernere's foxhole
"Malarkey, you checked the Minimi?" Lipton asked.
"Sure did Lip, it's ready to go." Malarkey replied.
"That's good to know as we've got company." Guernere said.
Easy company CP
"Sir, we've got incoming, they are at 700 meters from our forward posts." The radioman said.
"Tell Lipton to look for an enemy commander and shoot him after that the rest is allowed to fire at will." Spiers said.
SSgt's Lipton, Malarkey and Guernere's foxhole
"Lipton, get your sniper rifle and take out their commander." The radioman said over the radio.
As Lipton grabbed his M95 he put it on the edge of the foxhole and scouted the area for a commander. The moment he found one he squeezed the trigger and the .50 round destroyed the man's head. Before the body hit the ground a dozen other Soldiers were killed by a wall of fire from Easy Company.
"CURAHEE." Lipton yelled.
Easy company CP
"Sir, the enemy is pushing forwards, the forward posts request some support." The radioman said.
"What do we have available?" Spiers asked.
"We only have the company mortars; the rest is tied up elsewhere." The operations officer said.
"Put them on it." Spiers ordered.
As the radioman relayed the orders to the mortar teams several mortars were fired and exploded in the ranks of the Ori killing dozens and injuring even more.
"Sir, Lipton reports that the mortars killed about 100 enemy soldiers and wounded another 200, we've got 600 man incoming and it is getting close now." The radioman said.
"Have the mortars keep firing." Spiers ordered.
SSgt's Lipton, Malarkey and Guernere's foxhole
"Looks like this fight is over Lip. any of you hit?" Guernere asked.
"Nope, just shooting the last Ori suckers." Lipton replied.
"No wounds here Bill." Malarkey said.
"Alright, contact Spiers and tell him this fight is over." Malarkey said to Lipton.
Easy company CP
"Sir, Lipton reports that the enemy has been defeated." The radioman said.
"Any losses?" Spiers asked.
"Loraine and Hall have been killed by an Ori grenade, we also have some wounded but nothing serious, Doc Roe is patching them up as we speak." The radioman said.
"Have first and second platoon clear the enemy's and make sure they are all dead. Have them gather their weapons and make a big pile of the enemy dead and then burn them. Third platoon will provide cover with stingers." Spiers said.
Dakarra command centre
"General, Curahee reports that they have killed about six thousand enemy soldiers and they are now clearing the battlefield." The Comm. officer said.
"General, I have a present of the Tok'ra, these are tunneling crystals, but they have been modified for your use in the field." Bra'Lac said.
"That's very nice of them, we'll first deploy them at hill Curahee, the enemy seems to be massing the bulk of their attacks on that hill." Winters said.
"General, we just received word from Stargate command. The Nox homeworld and the hebridians have just been attacked by a massive Ori fleet. The Nox have suffered heavy losses but were able to fend the Ori off. The Hebridians had more luck, as there was a coalition fleet in orbit." The comm. Officer said. The Hebridian homeworld has huge shipyards which are used to build many coalition warships. The Nox did not want to get involved in a war but were kind enough to provide medicines and other peaceful technology.
"That means there won't be any rescue fleet coming." Winters said.
"Correct sir, The SGC also says that you are to report to Washington and have a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the president." The comm. Officer said.
"Sir, I have Colonel Sink on the line." The radioman said.
"Curahee, Colonel, what's up?" Winters asked.
"Curahee to you sir. When we cleared the battlefield we found some top secret documents, they are already on their way." Sink said.
"Alright, thank you colonel. Curahee." Winters said.
"Nice to know you still know the Motto of your old regiment sir. Curahee." Sink said.
April 9 1345 hours
White House situation room
"General Winters come in, we've been waiting for you, take a seat." Hayes said.
"Sorry sir, I got caught up in traffic, hundreds of Jaffa are evacuating Dakarra after the initial attacks." Winters said.
"General, I heard you had some top secret information?" Landry asked.
"Yes, we found it after an attack. In the map we found plans and schedules for supply and attacks on our troops throughout the galaxy." Winters said.
"That sounds great." Landry said.
"It is. Now, what we've actually called you about is this. We are going to replace the airborne and marine divisions by several infantry and armor divisions. This discussion was made as the troops we have on Dakarra were only a temporarily solution. Marines and Para's aren't meant for defense but for Offensive actions. O'Neill said.
"You're units will be training other units to help them fight the Ori. After that they will be assigned to the first amphibious space assault army. You will be in command of it." Hayes said.
"Thank you sir." Winters said.
