Universal Journey Chapter 14 Counter offensive
Yorktown orbit, Aleppo mess hall
7th day
"We're not actually leaving, right?" Lieutenant Kyle inquired. She looked across the table to Callahan.
She shook her head.
"Off course not," she replied. "Just proving a point. Bra'tac and I talked to General Warfield twenty minutes ago. The ten Jaffa we beamed up for show's back, their pilots are staying aboard the Ha'taks and our engineers have returned. They understood our point. Right now, they're thinking we might just pack up and leave if they treat us like a tool in their arsenal and not an ally."
They both know they wouldn't just leave. Not with millions of lives at stake. But right now they didn't mind if their allies thought they might.
Kyle tilted her head.
"Why'd they do that in the first place? We agreed on being allies after all," the blonde stated.
Callahan ate a fork with her mash potatoes and sipped from her glass.
"They're just desperate. Just imagine if Earth was invaded by the Goa'uld. What wouldn't we do to save it? We'd probably do something similarly if we were on the opposite sides right now."
"Can't see you doing something like that, sir," Kyle said honestly.
Callahan smiled.
"Thanks." She throw an eye over the mess hall for a moment. "Anything new in Covenant chatter?"
"Slight increase in ship to ship communication. Especially between the Super Dreadnought and the Corvettes planetside. They probably dislike that the Ha'taks hunting them down and blasting them apart. Speaking of which, one Ha'tak, combined with UNSC aero forces took down another one before we got you here. Went down near an airbase. Local army boys moving in to secure any tech that survived impact."
"Coordinating a counter," Callahan surmised. "UNSC could definitely use any Covenant tech they can get their hands on. Gotta understand your enemies technology to counter any advantages they have."
Kyle nodded.
"Scans together with UNSC transmissions show that they're starting to travel in groups of two."
Callahan smirked.
"Tired of getting picked off." She shrugged. "Still, one Ha'tak is more than a match verses two Corvettes in a plasma exchange."
Kyle raised her mug of coffee and drank from the hot liquid. She gave a satisfied sigh.
"Are you returning to the Headquarters to discuss with the local brass soon?"
Callahan shook her head.
"No."
Kyle arched an eyebrow.
"Sir? May I ask why?"
"Bra'tac and Woolsey's returning within the hour. I have something else in store for us."
The lieutenant leaned forward with interest.
"What are we doing?"
The tanned Lt. colonel smiled slightly.
"I'm working on a plan to assault the enemy fleet."
"How? We're horribly outgunned against that monster."
Callahan conceded that point.
"That's why I'm not targeting it. I'm taking out the Wraith Hive ship and both Cruisers. Hopefully a few Covenant Corvettes too."
"How?"
Gavirum system, ASF Mississippi
The ASF Mississippi arrived in the Gavirum system two hours ago together with the two Earth ships. Both just recently finished construction. The USS Trafalgar and the RSF Sevastopol. The latter was a Russian ship. It was built by the US but given top the Russians in a deal concerning offworld travel and Russian involvement in the Stargate program.
The Mississippi fell under the jurisdiction of Stargate Command, but it was a part of a new directive. A, very, new joint initiative between countries that know about the Stargate presently. It was comprised by personal from all involved nations and based offworld. Their base of operations was the Zeta site, which was established last year. The original operation was codenamed Advent, which led to the task force being named Advent Security Forces, or ASF. Zeta site was composed by approximately a personnel of three-hundred. This included F302 pilots, kitchen staff, cleaning staff, technicians and other necessary personnel. The ASF Mississippi was the only ship manned by Advent personnel.
An older man in his late fifties sat in the command chair. He was wearing a new light combat armor. It was raven black with silver junctions. He tapped his black gloved hands against the chair.
"Well, major Park, say something positive," he ordered.
He rubbed his forehead, just below his dark grey receding hair. The young Major Park turned halfway to him as he sat beside him.
"Scans coming up negative, colonel Meyrick," Park replied. "Nothing positive to report. Sorry."
Elijah groaned with frustration. Still nothing. Every attempt had come up negative. There was still no sign of the USS Aleppo or the five Ha'taks. The Jaffa on the planet didn't have a lot of information. It seems the ships had been here, but then wasn't. they had simply disappeared from all sensors. There had been strange readings picked up at the same time, as they disappeared. Unfortunately it disappeared with them.
"What happened to your ship, Adriana?" Meyrick mumbled. "Six ships doesn't just disappear."
"Except when they do," Park said.
Meyrick glanced at him.
"Except when they do. Correct major."
They were currently working under the idea that the unknown anomaly could have transported them somewhere. It was also possible it disintegrated them, but the SGC-and Meyrick himself-preferred the first one. The question was where they could have ended up. after seven day, any damage must have been repaired and communications back online. Where had they ended up, given that they hadn't contacted the SGC yet. Could it be another galaxy entirely? Possible. Question was which galaxy, assuming that was true. Also, they could have crashed and was stranded somewhere, with no stargate nearby. That would explain the failure in communications.
"Get in touch with the George Hammond, I wanna know when Colonel Carter gets here. Maybe her brilliance can give us a breakthrough."
"Copy that," Park affirmed.
Yorktown surface, Dagger base, the Vault
7th day
Gate was on point, with Phoenix to his left and Wolf and Rodney bringing up the right flank. Pierre was in the back and secured their rear. He aimed his BR55 down a dark corridor as they walked through a junction. He was concerned where everyone was. There was supposed to be scientists and ONI security teams down here. Yet no one responded to communications attempts and they hadn't heard or seen anyone. After an hour they hadn't seen anything. Apart from nothing and nobody.
"Where the hell is everybody?" Wolf muttered.
"Maybe they're fighting the Covenant," Rodney offered an idea.
"The scientists too?"
"Well…Look, I don't know, I don't know more than you."
Gate rounded a corner and unsurprisingly-it was empty. He noticed a door and waved the others to move towards it. Phoenix and Wolf assumed positions on opposite sides of the door, along the wall. Gate stood in front of it with Rodney and Pierre covering both dies of the corridor they stood in.
Gate nodded to Wolf. She touched the panel and the door opened.
Gate marched in with his P90 aimed and trigger ready. He scouted out the immediate area, as Wolf and Phoenix came behind him. Pierre gestured for Rodney to follow.
"Clear," Gate called. He lowered his rifle. "Looks like an Ancient lab."
Rodney looked at the consoles set up. One was clearly not ancient, but a regular console. It had certainly been set up by scientists. It was hooked into one of the ancient consoles. He walked over towards it. Phoenix looked suspiciously at him.
Rodney stopped when he reached the console.
"Wow, major!"
Gate spun around to him and jogged over.
"What-what?!"
"Blood, check it out," Rodney pointed at a puddle of blood. It had dripped off the consoles side to the floor. It wasn't enough. Whoever bleed had definitely survived it, without a problem. But, he or she would have needed stitches. He noted some instruments on the ground.
"Something happened here," Gate alerted. "There was a struggle of some kind." He reached for his earpiece. "Commander."
"I copy, major," Becky answered.
"We found blood in a lab. Someone was injured, for unknown reasons. Got some instruments on the ground. Looks like a fight," Gate explained.
"Understood. We haven't found anything this far. It's too quiet for my taste."
"I agree there," Gate smirked lightly. "I'll be in touch if I find anything else, Gate out."
Aleppo bridge
Callahan sat in her command chair, with Marks and Kyle at her sides. Aleppo was currently cloaked and heading towards the hostile forces.
"Are they withdrawing?" Callahan asked.
"Yes, colonel," Mark said. "Admiral McKenzie is withdrawing his fighters from combat. Darts returning to the Hive ship."
That was a good start. The Joint chiefs hadn't been happy to withdraw and give any ground to the enemy, but agreed to give her plan a shot. The first step was to get all hostile fighters back in their hangars, ensuring they were destroyed with their mothership. Right now the entire plan hitched on that the Super Dreadnought couldn't detect cloaks ship. It was very advanced. Everything was hanging on stealth.
"Hive ships hangars have closed," Mark informed. "All fighters inside."
"Are the UNSC nukes ready?" Callahan asked.
"Yes, sir."
"And our Naquadah enhanced nukes?"
"All ready."
Callahan looked out the viewport. She saw the Hive ship approach. Two Corvettes was acting as the defensive screen. She would have loved to beam her nukes aboard the Super Dreadnought, but any transport attempt was scrambled by interference from the monster warship itself. But Rodney had-before leaving-managed to cut through the Wraith's attempts to prevent their beam-ins.
They saw five large transport ships leaving the Super Dreadnoughts hangars, heading towards the planet. If possible, they would have to deal with that.
"Do it," Callahan said firmly.
"Engaging Asgard transporters," Kyle confirmed.
Three seconds went by before the Hive ship, Flowerbed of mercy, was utterly annihilated. Rubble from the explosion of the Naquadah enhanced nuke was scattered in all directions. Bridge crew members cheered and Callahan smiled slightly at their jubilance.
"It's nowhere near over yet," she reminded curtly. She looked at Marks. "Beam one UNSC nuke into the bridge of those two Corvettes and prepared another Naquadah enhanced nuke for beaming."
Mark obliged.
"Ready to beam, sir."
"Do it."
Within five seconds the first Corvettes was torn apart inside out. The shockwave rocked the other Corvette before it exploded. The shockwave struck against a Heavy wraith Cruisers shields. Both Cruisers managed to activate their shields in time.
Aleppo turned towards the Cruisers.
"They'll pinpoint us any moment now," Callahan said. "Drop cloak and activate shields."
Just before the dropped the cloak the two Cruisers, plus the Super Dreadnought opened fire. The shields activated just in time.
Callahan looked at one of the Cruisers and smiled.
"They think their shields are gonna protect them. How adorable." She turned her head to Marks as she bridge shook slightly.
"Minimal damage to shields," he informed her.
"Beam a Naquadah nuke aboard that Cruiser."
"Gladly, sir."
Aleppo's size made it easier to maneuver to avoid enemy fire. They were hit by three direct blasts from the Heavy Cruiser Feast of glory before the nuke detonated. It ripped the Cruiser apart completely. The shockwave drastically damaged the other Heavy Cruiser, bringing the shields down. The ship had been too close when it detonated.
Kyle smirked.
"Finally some progress," she said.
"Make way for the last Cruiser," Callahan said. The ship shook when it was hit by fire from the Super Dreadnought. "And please avoid getting hit."
"Doing my best," Marks said apologetically. "We're in range and the nukes ready."
They beamed a UNSC nuke into the hangar. The following explosion ripped the ship to pieces. The pieces scattered with the shockwave. An already damaged Corvette was obliterated by the shockwave as a bonus.
The bridge crew was thrilled over the success. All wraith ships had been destroyed. This should show the Covenant and whomever was in charge of the forces they were allied with that they weren't going to sit on the defensive. No, they were going on the offensive.
"Get us away from the Super Dreadnought," Callahan ordered.
"Yes, sir," Marks affirmed.
"Straight towards those transports. How many troops onboard?"
Mark keyed his console.
"Four-hundred, sir. One-hundred each."
She turned to him.
"What about the fifth? Nothing?"
He shook his head.
"No. Might be vehicles, supplies or those droids," he suggested.
As Aleppo headed straight towards the transports, two Corvettes tried to intercept them. Malevolence started moving after them at sublight. It wasn't moving fast at all. At its size, it took time to maneuver correctly and pursue. They, instead, launched fighters. Both Darts and Covenant fighters to intercept instead.
"We're entering range," Marks informed.
"Carve them up, major."
The Asgard beams easily and very quickly carved through the large transport vessels like knives through butter. If Aleppo could continue raiding transports, they could cut off resupply and reinforcements to the planet and slow down the Covenant invasion. They had already carved through three transports and turned on the fourth and fifth. Both was easily destroyed.
"Alright, major. Cloak and lets return to the UNSC fleet," Callahan said. "Let's not try our luck."
"Yes, sir."
Alright, Aleppo's making some progress against the enemy finally! But, look like the luck is turning, hopefully.