Chapter 13: Deus ex Machina
750 AD, Ida Galaxy, Planet Hel, Asgard Research Facility
Delling signed as he inspected the small, metallic blocs lying before him. He had just returned from Earth, where he had worked with Hermes and Charon on creating a swarm intelligence for the autonomous deep-sea mining probes the immortals had developed to rectify their resource problem.
Like every teacher, Delling watched with delight as his pupils' mind grew and their innovations began to work. Before coming to Earth, initially reluctant but forced by an order of the High Council to promote their alliance, a century and a half before, the Asgard had been warned by his peers in the scientific community to expect the humans to surpass any expectation he had and to overcome any obstacle he put in their way.
Intially, Thor and the other Asgard had expected their new pupils to have problems accepting the larger truths about life the Asgard had discovered over the millenia. At best, they had hoped to enable them to build some solid stone structures on their island, and maybe even find a way to get running water into each home. A hundred years later, maybe, a skilled teacher might manage to start them on a path of enlightenment, ultimately leading them to question their surroundings and maybe even begin scientific research.
Once again, the alien had greatly underestimated his new allies. Within a week, Zeus had carefully taken the Supreme Commander aside and politely asked him if he and the other volunteers could either stop treating them like children, or at least leave them alone so they could continue shaping their home to their own expectations.
Sufficiently chidden, Thor formally requested several scientists from the Sigyn to begin giving courses on the basics of their chosen fields, careful not to simply lecture their pupils, but to allow them to work things out themselves. While disgruntled at first, the aliens beaming down to the surface each day quickly began looking forward to working with their new charges as they discovered them to be extremely eager to learn and quick in their uptake.
Within half a decade, they had covered the basic education each Asgard received during their childhood and began splitting up in various groups, each one specializing in a different field of learning.
Only now did the immortals' true potential begin to shine through. Each night, when their teachers returned to their ships to retire to bed, the elders especially would make use of their mental connections to efficiently share what they had learnt that day. As a result, the various disciplines began to fuse, creating completely new fields and leading to various breakthroughs.
Within a century, the first groups began catching up with the Asgard's own knowledge as the immortals began actually building machinery as well as data processing units.
A hundred and fifty years after their first contact, humans and Asgard began working as full-fledged partners for the first time, forming joined committees to explore various phenomenon and further develop their technology. As a result, the respect the two races had for each other grew steadily, before finally evolving into a deep friendship.
When Delling finally left Earth, he was as sorry to leave as he had been to come. Not only had he found wonderful friends in both Charon and Hermes, the discussions the three had had also brought his own research centuries ahead.
Now, though, the High Council, which not only governed all Asgard, but also financed his own projects, had ordered him to the research outpost on Hel. Their archeologists had uncovered a highly-advanced, self-replicating technology that promised to revolutionize their manufacturing plants, combining mining, processing and assembly into a single unit.
After glancing at the small heap of silver blocks in the centre of the laboratory, Delling leaned down to read the summary the other scientists had written on their findings so far, as they studied the physical makeup of the blocks.
Curiously, each block seemed to made up of a different kind of material, at least slightly, leading the scientists to believe that they had been manufactured in rapid succession, but independently of each other, with whatever material was currently available, although one scientists also theorized they might be rapidly developing as they experiment with different alloys.
Skimming further down, Delling finally found what he was looking for – information on energy and data conduct between the blocks. Their scans had found a large number of keron pathways throughout each unit, which had immediately begun firing when they introduced new kerons to a single block. First scans indicated the pulsing might be some sort of binary code, although no real algorithms could be identified as of yet.
That was what Delling was here for. His work on swarm intelligence with the immortals had made him uniquely qualified to analyze the results of their next stage of tests. Since a single block was, of course, unable to function, they would reactivate multiple ones, hoping to restore function to a complete base unit.
After fitting the last of the small plastic wrappers around the block, Delling finally hurried to the other scientists in a separate room. The wrapper served as an analyzing tool, recording and transmitting the keron transmission between the blocks to their computers, as well as as an emergency shutdown, capable of blocking keron particles, thereby separating the blocks once again.
"OK. Everything is ready. Initialize the shield."
With a few taps on the console in front of him, his fellow scientist activated a pale blue energy shielding directly behind the specifically hardened wall. Their archeologists had recently found artifacts that suggested the blocks before them were not, as they had first thought, part of the legacy of the civilization on the planet, but in fact had come here with an unknown attacker, completely wiping out a post-industrialized culture in a worryingly short period of time.
Briefly, the High Council had debated to abort the test. In the end, though, the possible gain from understanding this technology had overweight their concerns. Instead, the small research outpost had been outfitted with energy shielding, Trinium walls and blast doors, and a powerful self-destruct. Privately, Delling thought the last one to be over the top, but as long as nobody used it, he was not going to complain.
"Release the kerons."
Immediately after his command, Delling could see the two dozen blocks on the small platform assembling, while the various screens began flashing through the data recorded by the probes. Within moments, the blocks had formed four legs and a body, allowing the machine to travel throughout the small room it was held in.
"What do you think it is doing?" Delling jumped a little when he heard the other scientists voice behind him, having been focused on observing the bug walk throughout the room.
"I am not sure. Most likely, it is scouting the area, maybe for a task, message from others or simply an exit. I don't know."
Turning to the monitor, Delling finally began working, quickly scrolling through the recorded data, while mumbling under his breath.
"Initialization. Scanning for other blocks. Connecting. This is most interesting." The alien's excitement quickly permeated the room as more and more analysts began scrolling through the code. Within moments, the attention of every single Asgard was on the various screens.
A loud clonk finally had half a dozen heads snapping up, just in time to see the little bug crashing into the reenforced walls a second time.
"What is it doing?" Delling had not even waited for the other scientists question, but had already jumped ahead in the code to the last run programs.
"It is executing various aggression subroutines. Turn of the keron field. We have what we need, for now. No need to take the risk."
As the technician accessed the laboratory's particle generator, Delling watched the strange machine finally giving up running into the walls, before coming to a stop right before their observation window.
"What is taking so long?" Annoyed, the head scientists turned back to the technician, only to find starring at his console in confusion.
"The generator is shut down, sir. It should not be working any more. I do not understand."
Delling's eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise, before he turned back to the monitor. "Amazing. It is actually capable of sustaining its own existence, once it has been initialized."
At the same time, though, a hiss drew Delling's attention back to the bug. In horror, the scientists watched as the reinforced metal barrier, one of the strongest materials they knew, simply melted under a thin spray of acid.
"Where is it getting this acid from? What acid is that? That is impossible!" Delling seemed honestly confused for a moment, before finally finding his nerves.
"Initializing emergency protocols. Blocking its pathways, now!" In the centre of the room, a large, bright yellow button clearly marked the emergency shutdown. The moment Delling hit it, the two screens showing the data currently being transmitted shut down. The bug did not stop moving, though.
"What is happening?"
The same technician was the first one to answer Delling's question. "The sensors are not transmitting anymore, sir. It would appear they have been destroyed. Probably a protection algorithm of that thing. If it can get through the wall, a bit of plastic should not be a problem."
Delling cursed out loud, before fixing the small bug with a look. In satisfaction, he realized that the wall was at least slowing that thing down, even if it would give out eventually.
"Activate the automated defence system. Sterilize the room. This thing is dangerous."
Tipping into the console before him, Delling finally turned around once again. "I need a second authorization for the weapons control."
The head scientist watched as their military observer typed in his access code. Not for the first time, he was thankful that the Asgard the High Council had sent for them was not too annoying, having worked with plenty of bureaucrats insisting on wanting to be informed about every little step. This man, on the other hand, was content to get the summary afterwards, and simply observe during any experiments, while also quick to jump in and help out.
As a small whine announced the charging of the rooms security system, Delling signed internally. While the data they had collected would be useful, and was enough to advance them significantly, he almost regretted destroying this advanced piece of technology. Most likely, they could have learnt lots more from this thing.
Asgard ion weapons were primarily used for ship to ship combat. For rare cases, though, the high council had ordered the development of a smaller version for inner-atmospheric, mobile use during their war against the Goa'uld and their armies. One such cannon had been mounted in the upper corner of the laboratory and was now targeting the bug, before spitting out three short, bright white pulses of high-energy ions.
Delling watched in horror as the energy washed over the strange creature, which seemed completely unfazed. It might have even sped up a little bit, either from the additional energy now available, or simply due to the scientists imagination.
"It is through the blast wall, approaching the energy shield now." The technician's voice sounded both amazed and panicked at the same time, which was an emotion Delling had before thought to be impossible, but now understood very well.
"Evacuate now!" As head scientist, Delling was officially in charge of the facility, and therefore responsible for the safety of the other Asgard. Even as he heard the technician initializing the alert, Delling punched in his security code for the self-destruct, suddenly a lot more thankful for the High Council's indistance. The high-yield anti-matter bomb should take care of any problem they left behind, here. With quick, trained movements, Delling finally activated the countdown, setting the timer for thirty seconds. Since he was able to simply teleport out, he did not want to give the thing a chance to get away.
"It is simply walking through the energy shielding. Oh universe, that wall is not holding out." Delling halted his hand abruptly just before activating his own transporter beacon as he heard the voice of the technician behind him, before looking around the room.
"You are supposed to have beamed out."
The young Asgard actually appeared rebuked for a moment, before visibly steeling himself.
"I just wanted to help you, sir."
"Go!" Delling shouted as he finally saw the last wall dissolving from the bugs devastating acid, leaving the strange creature standing in their small lab. For a moment, all three occupants of the room froze, before moving at the same time. While the technician finally reached for his transporter, the strange creature rapidly uncoiled its legs, launching itself towards the young Asgard.
Delling did not hesitate. For years, he had lived with the immortals of Earth, who had all sacrificed their lives to protect an innocent. Following his friends example, the head scientist used his own body to stop the bug's flight, feeling its mechanical feet digging deeply into his skin.
Before he had a chance to cry out in pain, though, the whole complex dissolved into a ball of light as the anti-matter bomb exploded.
Ten kilometres up, on the bridge of the Asgard science vessel Nerthus, Captain Rota watched the facility blink out of existence.
"Do we have everybody?"
"No ma'am. Head Scientist Delling was still in the complex. Sensor logs show he had engaged the bug in close combat and could not reach his beacon in time."
Rota closed her eyes in frustration. During a evacuation like this one, where the refugees often had to accomplish one last task, protocol prevented rescuers from initializing the transport themselves, least they prevent them from fulfilling a vital last duty. In this case, it cost an Asgard his live. With his body that throughly destroyed, they would not have a cell to scan for the cloning process, let alone a conscience they could transfer into the new body.
"Has anything survived down there? Is that damn bug dead, at least?" Rota had watched from her bridge as the experiment was conducted.
"Scans do not show any remaining alien constructs." Her science officer finally reported. "There is significant debris from the outer parts of the facility, but nothing close to the blast centre under the laboratory. Be advised, though, that the radiation from the explosion causes an unproportionally high error rate in the scanners.
Rota frowned for a moment, before sitting down in her chair.
"Very well, I will advise the High Council to sent another ship in a few days, just to make sure. For now, though, they will want out report in person, as soon as possible. Navigation, set course for Othala."
Two hours later, a small, mechanical bug reappeared on the surface of the debris field. Another day later, dozens more joined the creature exploring the surface of the planet. A week later, when an Asgard cruiser finally arrived in orbit around the planet, they were delighted to find the stations transport shuttle in orbit and did not hesitate to open their hangar to let it in, assuming its Com system to be damaged.
Once inside, the Replicators efficiently tore through the Asgard crew while taking command of the ship's systems.
.
850 AD, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth orbit
Thor stood from his chair as the Ragnarok decelerated from hyperspace. As the largest ship available, they had been running back and forth between the various planets under Asgard protection in the Milky Way Galaxy, ferrying whole villages to other planets.
The plan had originated in a late night discussion between him and Zeus, speculating what would have happened to humanity had the Asgard not arrived to contain the Wraith. From there, it went to a meteoroid crashing on Earth, wiping out the majority of the remaining free humans, those not under Goa'uld suppression in some form.
Thor had shuddered inwardly as they discussed that scenario. A natural catastrophe like that one would be hard to predict in time for the Asgard to interfere, and almost impossible for their human friends to prevent.
The next morning, Thor had all but forgotten about the talk, feeling thankful they had arrived in time and had saved humanity. Zeus, though, had approached him once again, having thought up an interesting contingency plan.
In the harsh wilderness around the Wraith ship in northern Europe, hundreds of villages fought for survival against the cold every day. Descending in a beam of white light, Thor once again employed the projection he had first met Zeus with, as he offered the humans a chance at another live.
Predictably, most humans were startled and sceptical at first, but Thor appeared regularly, and used his heavenly powers, or better yet the Sigyn's technological powers, to aid the villagers in their survival.
Not everybody wanted to go, but over the next century, the density of population around the Wraith decreased dramatically as the Asgard established humans on a dozen or so safe worlds throughout Milky Way. The Goa'uld protested the treaty at first, but the promise of a more lasting peace with the vastly superior Asgard easily brought them around.
The shipment he had just completed finally established a fifty kilometre quarantine radius around the Wraith ship. In the past, the relocation had already proven useful as dozens of darts had left the ship at once, temporarily overwhelming the Asgard's weaponry and secondary scanners through sheer numbers, each one placing a number of drones the moment the Asgard targeted them. By the time they had gotten to the last group, the Wraith had managed to make their wake to the small settlement closest to their Hive, which the Asgard had evacuated only moths before.
"Supreme Commander. The Sigyn reports that the rest of the High Council asks you to contact them as soon as we clear hyperspace."
Thor signed as he made his way to the holographic chamber he used for Council sessions. Actually being able to see the others as if they were in the same room was a great advantage for any kind of discussion, but the sheer amount of data needed for such a transmission meant that the chamber could not be used in hyperspace. For more pressing messages, standard screen to screen communication was therefore essential.
"Supreme Commander Thor, thank you for joining us. Have you had a chance to review the documents on the recent development of the Replicator situation yet?"
The moment the room initialized, causing the alien to appear on his seat amongst his peers, Odin, the elected chairman of the group, addressed him.
"No." Thor confessed. "My last mission had been long and exhausting. The last group of humans has been more frightened then usual and required constant supervision during transit. I used the journey back to catch up on some sleep."
Odin nodded his head, quiet aware of the strain the Council duties alone put on him. Thor, on the other hand, had opted to continue his normal duties as well, commanding his flagship, coordinating fleet movement of the Milky Way fleet and serving as ambassador to their new human allies. At least, he had left the Ida fleet to one of his Commanders to free up some time.
"Allow me to brief you, then. As you might remember, we lost contact with one of our cruisers as it examined the wreckage of the Hal research outpost. The last communication suggested that they might have encountered survivors, but no confirmation has been found at this point.
The small task force led by Commander Balder a week later found no trace of the cruiser. They noted, however, that the amount of debris on the surface does not match the scans made by the survivors of the self-destruct, or simulations of the explosion. The matter was laid to rest as a mystery shortly thereafter, however, when no suitable explanation could be found.
Two weeks ago, a small Trinium mining colony in the in the outer rim called for help, stating they were being attacked by an Asgard military cruiser not responding to their calls. The sector fleet reacted quickly and managed to confront the enemy in orbit.
IFF identified the cruiser was the one that had gone missing over Hal. When the ship failed to respond to hailing attempts and instead continued firing at the colony, killing civilians, Commander Aegir who led the fleet, ordered the ship to be destroyed.
Sensor logs indicate that the ships systems had been severely upgraded, causing the shields to easily absorb our opening volley. In return, they launched several kinetic projectiles at dozens of the ships and opened fire with the onboard weapon.
The fleet presumed the projectiles to be some kind of distraction and ignored them, instead focusing on evading their ion pulses. The missiles, however, proofed to be far more dangerous, easily passing through the ships shields and impacting the hull. From there, they reformed into dozens bug-like creatures we found on Hall, and ate through the hull, rapidly infiltrating the ships systems.
Commander Aegir managed to beat back the intruders on his ship by opening various sections of his ship to the space, creating a powerful suction. By the time he had informed the rest of the fleet, though, the enemy had already captured two more ships, completely disabling the crews control over vital systems.
The remaining ships retreated on Aegir's orders, while the Commander heroically remained behind in his ship, rescuing the survivors from the surface and out of the launched rescue pots before fleeing as well.
Since then, various convoys and transports have been waylaid between our colonies. The bugs seem to replicate rapidly, thus their name, and efficiently use our own ships against us. As emergency measures, the Council has decided to put the whole fleet on alert. Ships have been sent to every major planet, while minor outposts have been ordered to begin evacuations. Civilians have been advised not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and even then to join fleet convoys for additional protection."
Thor had listened patiently throughout the report, but now seemed to grow angry, at least for an Asgard.
"Why have I not been informed of this before? Every act of war committed against the Asgard should be immediately brought to the attention of the whole council, and especially to the Supreme Commander. That you ordered the fleet without even consulting me is outrageous."
Thor could see a few heads on the council nodding in agreement, leading him to believe the topic had been one discussed in previous sessions, before. Odin, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to the others resentment and focused on Thor.
"Your current mission has been given a high priority, as well. The Wraith situation has to be resolved before you can return to Ida galaxy to properly take command of the fleet, and the movement of the humans is important. Now that this is over, we have informed you immediately. Additionally, however, the situation has worsened progressively. Barring the initial confrontation, there has not been a single, defining moment that would have immediately justified your presence. Your Commanders are more then competent and we presumed this to be a minor inconvenience, at best."
Finally, Thor nodded his head in agreement, although he still seemed displeased.
"Very well, then. What is our current tactical situation?"
Commander Aegir stepped before the council on a wave of Odin's hand.
"Apart from their own cruiser, the Replicators managed to capture two more cruisers in the initial confrontation, and a capital ship in a subsequent raids. Furthermore, nine major civilian ships are still unaccounted for, all of them lightly armed. Smaller, personal vessels appear to be unappealing to the attackers.
Currently, the fleet is protecting the core worlds, so the situation is stable. We are, however, too far spread to hunt them down without exposing the civilian population."
"Thank you, Commander." As Thor dismissed the Commander, he began analyzing several possible responses to the new threat, before finally addressing the whole council himself.
"Since the situation is, so far, stable, leaving here too hastily seems unwise. The travel to the Ida galaxy takes three weeks, anyways, so rapid response from the Milky Way fleet is impossible. Instead, I recommend delaying our departure here for another few days until we manage to wrap up the Wraith situation. Then, this fleet can hunt down the enemy. As long as the Goa'uld do not know we are gone, there should not be a problem."
As the rest of the council gave their blessing, Odin peered at Thor intently.
"Hurry, Supreme Commander. We are currently safe, but so far, we have not won a single battle against the enemy. We desperately need a victory, not only for the people's moral, but also to proof the enemy is beatable. They are growing steadily."
Thor nodded his head in agreement, before turning to leave the chamber.
"Oh, and please sent me a copy all records we have relating to this crisis. I would like to review them, and share them with our friends here before we leave."
.
In a flash of white light, Thor appeared in the centre of the small island the immortals had chosen as their home. Without stopping to take a look around, he made his way to where he had first learnt their secret, the home of Zeus.
Many years ago, during a major remodelling of the island, the small hut had been replaced by a larger, if still somewhat spartan brick house, including a large basement filled with various experiments and innovations.
Now, though, as Thor was about to open the front door to call out to his friend, a younger immortal stopped him.
"Zeus is not in." Seeing the alien's questioning and impatient look, the youngster hurried to explain further. "He and Hades are patrolling around the Wraith ship, checking out the area and making sure the black-out probes are running as expected."
Thor nodded in understanding, before thanking the young man. Many of the immortals, especially the elder ones, would regularly travel to the crash site to service and maintain the security hardware they had installed three centuries ago, despite the Asgard's assurance they would continue to work fine no matter what.
In a way, Thor could understand their eagerness to do so. Not only could a mistake here cause severe problems, including, as a worst case scenario, a large-scale Wraith invasion into the Milky Way galaxy, it also allowed them to contribute something to the protection of their home.
Now though, it meant they were unavailable to talk, which was completely unacceptable to the alien.
"Ragnarok, this is Thor."
Immediately, a voice echoed out of the small stone Thor had spoken into as the technician replied to his call.
"This is the Ragnarok. Go ahead, Supreme Commander."
"Please locate Zeus and Hades around the Wraith ship and transport them directly to me. It's urgent."
Even as the technician confirmed the order, two white pillars of light appeared on the town square, leaving the two man in question standing slightly hunched over. Years of honed instincts and teamwork proofed to be effective, though, as they both immediately dropped and moved to cover each other, bringing up their arms to protect themselves.
The moment their shields finally flickered into existence, completing the routine, Thor could finally see their eyes clear as they took in their surroundings and saw their home, as well as him standing and watching them amusedly.
"I apologize for taking you unaware. We have a situation, though, that could not wait."
Of course, the dramatical arrival of the two eldest and arguably most important immortals had alerted the whole town, bringing many of the inhabitants out into the streets to watch the proceedings curiously.
Both Hades and Zeus nodded in understanding, their faces going from blank – an usual side effect of connecting to an infinite void – to curious and serious, as Thor began to brief them on the situation in his home galaxy.
"You see, we need to deal with Wraith. My people desperately need these ships, but I gave you my word, the Wraith are a priority of ours as well."
Zeus nodded in understanding. "Very well, but we will need a plan. Do you have ideas?"
"One." Thor admitted. "Before transporting down, I took the liberty to review our latest sensor data from the Hive ship. It would appear they are starting to have energy problems, and have therefore shut down half of their shield. Only the parts of the ship above ground is still protected."
"So bombardment from space and aerial assault are still discouraged, but we might be able to dig out way to the hull." Hades remarked.
"Yes, but digging would take too much time and might alert them, even if we use technology." Thor replied immediately. "Instead, I propose we use the small lake the ship has originally watered in, diving into the ship. The starboard hangar appears to open to the water and should provide us with a perfect access route."
Nodding, Zeus inspected the plans the alien had once again holographically provided for them. "Very well, that might just work. What do we do once we are inside?"
"Blow it up, of course." Ares' suggestion, thrown in from the sideline, was as simple as it was violent. Hades dismissed it instantly, though.
"We had already discussed that, at the very beginning. If we simply blow it up, we risk transforming northern Europe into a new Ocean."
"If you managed to deactivate their shields, and maybe their main generators, as well, the Ragnarok should be able to use a concentrated burst of her primary weapon to breach the hull. Then, her anti-infantry weapons should be able to disintegrate the ship."
"That's a lot of shoulds and ifs. Are you sure it will work." Zeus frowned.
Thor stopped for a moment, mentally analyzing the plan once again, before nodding his head. "Without the shields, the atmosphere has recovered enough for us to breach the hull. Once we are in, reaching the individual drones should not be a problem. Worst case, we can not disintegrate the hull completely, and leave behind an empty husk."
"I'd not even consider that bad," Zeus grinned, "if that hull is really that sturdy, we might even learn from it. So we go in and blow up a few key elements. How do we do that, and do we know where they are?"
At the last point, Thor grimaced. "Our secondary scanners, those able to penetrate the black-out field, can not penetrate their hull. We will have to rescan once we are inside. The explosives are easy, however. I already asked my engineers to whip together a dozen small anti-matter charges. In the yield we are looking for here, they are hardly bigger then a fist and should be easy enough to carry."
Zeus nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Do we need anything else?"
At that moment, Demeter stepped through the crowd, carrying a small box. "Zeus, I've got one more thing. For the past few years, I have been thinking about the Wraith, and possible solutions. This is what I have come up with."
Zeus glanced down at the box in his friends hand. It was about as a hand high and wide, and twice as long, with small slits on two of the sides. "So, what is it?"
"I have not tested it yet," Demeter explained, "but I researched the frequency of the shield the Wraith use. I believe this should resonate in the exact counter frequency, opening a small hole in the shield."
"How small, exactly?" Hades asked sceptically.
"About door sized." the inventor replied. "But thats easily enough to fit people through."
"It would enable us to stage a two-fronted attack. Do we have a second point of entrance through the hull?" Poseidon requested.
Thor began to rotate the diagram and zoomed in on various spots he or others pointed out, but in the end shook his head. "The most perfect spot would be the other hangar, but it is on the very top of the ship. Getting there is impractical. I do not believe so."
"What about that bulkhead?" Demeter pointed to a small section on the projection. "It is closed, but surly it is a weak point. A few charges, or a plasma torch, and we should make it through quickly."
Zeus stared at the hologram for another dew moments, before finally looking up. "It might work, let's try it. Hades, put a team together to join Demeter through the bulkhead tomorrow. The other half goes with me. Get a good night's sleep tonight, I'd like to hit them early tomorrow."
Thor frowned briefly. "Tomorrow will not be enough time to get the bulk of our infiltration experts here. We only have a squad of pioneers, and a few demolition experts on board."
Zeus smiled at the alien kindly, if a bit disapproving. "Thor, my friend, we are thankful for any assistance you are willing to give us, but the mission itself is one we should do on our own. That way, we have little to no risks, and this is our planet. Additionally, you will need every Asgard in Ida to fight these Replicators."
Thor seemed to disagree, but finally nodded his head in acceptance. "Very well then. I will have the charges transferred down as soon as they are prepared, and if you need anything else, you need but to ask."
As the alien moved to leave the group and call in a transport, Hades stopped him. "Wait! Zeus, we should probably have a bit more of a plan then go in and blast the thing, and Thor, your counsel is always greatly appreciated."
Zeus turned to his friend curiously. "Two teams, two entrances on two opposite ends of the ship, tomorrow morning. What more do you want? We don't know anything else"
Hades frowned at his only elder. "What kind of weapons do we use, for example. We developed quiet a few over the years. Additionally, what tactics might be most useful. How will we communicate and how will we operate?"
"Until the black-out field can be lifted once communications are destroyed, subspace-based systems will be useless within the ship." Thor threw in.
"So we use mental communication, " Zeus suggested, "it can not be detected, and should easily last throughout the whole ship, at least for those of us trained well."
Poseidon shook his head, though. "Even for us elders, mental communication takes focus. In the heat of a battle, I would rather not have to rely on it."
"Do we have a viable alternative, though?" Zeus questioned.
"Well, electro-magnetic emissions should not be disrupted. They probably won't penetrate the whole ship, but for the communications within the teams, it should be enough. Zeus and I can do the overall coordination mentally every once in a while." Hades proposed after a moment of thought.
"So, weapons was your next point, right? I was going to go with the zat'ni'katel again. They are simple and reliable."
Hades frowned. "When I hit the Wraith with my zat'ni'katel years ago, they got back up almost immediately. A second shot did not really bother them, either."
"The data Thor gave us suggests the Wraith physiology differs from our own significantly." Poseidon, who researched Biology most of the time, confirmed, "it is likely the zat'ni'katel's effect on their nervous system is almost non-existent, as Hades described."
"So what else do you propose?" Zeus questioned. "What would be most effective?"
"Of what we have, " Poseidon replied, "I would suggest direct damage weaponry. Those anti-matter guns would be perfect, but from the last report Hades gave, they are still somewhat ... temperamental, so I would suggest simply plasma rifles – flexible, lasting and sturdy."
"Tactics was the last one, right?" Zeus questioned Hades. "Given my own experience with the Wraith, I would suggest not to let one feed on one of us under any circumstance. Should it happen, best feed him an anti-matter charge immediately."
"It is therefore probably best if we stayed together as much as possible." Ares analyzed. "That way, we can simply outgun any Wraith who broke through, and have the numbers to block even larger attacks."
"Maybe we could prohibit feeding, also." Poseidon mused.
When all heads turned to him, clearly curious, he laid out his idea. "I was just remembering how the Jaffa used to wear those silver armours. Of course, they did not protect them much from their own weapons, or our powers, but if we can make them sturdy, should something like that not prevent the Wraith from injecting their enzyme?"
"It would severely limit our movement, " Hades frowned. "Admittedly, we would be better protected in hand to hand combat, but in a firefight, we would likely be to to slow to doge, and take more severe losses. Once we are stunned, our armour will do us little good."
"Only if it is too heavy," Zeus remarked. "If we can make it light, but sturdy, we might have a significant advantage. How are our Trinium reserves fairing?"
Persephone, who oversaw their stock, frowned in concern. "Not that much. Our recent series of experiments with anti-gravity drives used up a lot of our depots."
"The Ragnarok should carry a bit, as well, though." Thor piqued in. "And if that is still not enough,we can synthesize more through energy-to-matter conversion or simply substitute some magnesium."
Zeus had frowned at the first idea, but brightened up at the second one. Matter creation was costly due to the high energy required. If at all possible, they tried to avoid it to spare their reactors.
"I like the idea, a lot, actually, but I would prefer us to have a good night's sleep, and do not really want to stall your fleet any more then necessary. The Replicators and their tactics are, after all, still largely unknown to us. Do you think your engineers would mind terribly if we burdened them with the creation of these, Thor?"
"They can relax during our flight home," the Supreme Commander answered with a dismissive wave of his hand. "The armour will be ready by tomorrow."
"Thank you," Zeus beamed at his friend. "If you need anything, do not hesitate to call on me, either tonight, or anytime in the future."
"Our scanners should be precise enough to tailor the equipment to your needs," the alien commented dryly. "You just make sure you are ready for tomorrow."