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Stargate: The Ascension of the Fifth Race
By Jayan-Phoenix
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Chapter Twenty-Five
Helping Hand
Pegasus Galaxy – Reliax System – Space
The planet of Reliax had once been a pre industrialised world, comparable to Earth in the early years of the Victorian Era, home to a dense population of humans.
Reliax had fallen many generations prior but its people had endured the devastating Wraith culling by hiding in a great cavern beneath a lake on the outskirts of the old city. The Stargate had been buried within the rubble of the old city so the people had been left for hundreds of years and had begun to rebuild.
That was until the Trinity Queen Fleet had arrived in the star system, and the humans below had been entirely wiped out, the planet bombarded and its people culled for food.
Thirteen hives and twenty cruisers now patrolled the system while the Wraith were on the planet doing who knows what, and that was why Atlantis wanted to find out what was happening and so they had sent the Daedalus and the Criselion of the Traveller Fleet to investigate.
Two hyperspace windows opened behind the Reliax Systems sun to avoid being detected and as they appeared in real space they broadened their sensor sensitivity to maximum to try and find out where all of the ships were.
Colonel Caldwell was sat in his command chair aboard Daedalus and was waiting for the outcome of the scan.
"The Wraith fleets are scattered throughout the system." The sensor operator reported. "but six of the cruisers are in a geosynchronous orbit above the planet.
"Towlan" Caldwell called opening a channel to the Criselion
"Do you have a plan?" Towlan asked "I do not want to risk the destruction of my vessel, there seem to many for us to fight."
Caldwell nodded, he knew the travellers did not like to risk their small number of ships but he did not want to risk his own ship either.
"We should make this a hit and run operation, a short jump into hyperspace into the middle of the fleet, we strike hard and fast before jumping back into hyperspace." Caldwell ordered "We can try at another run in an hour or so but we need to take a shot at them."
Towlan nodded agreeing with the plan, "You know that my ships weapons will not do much damage to the Hives, I will target only the Cruisers."
"If you can get a shot on the Hives Hyperdrives then take it." Caldwell said directly, "If we can render them useless then it will make it easier for us to come back and finish them."
Towlan reluctantly agreed and they terminated their communications and manoeuvred away from sun in order to create the room they needed for the jump to hyperspace.
Daedalus poured power into the hyperdrive and it ripped open a distortion in the fabric of the space and jumped into the breach.
The swirling blue vortex of hyperspace lasted mere seconds and then they dropped out into the very center of the system surrounded by enemy ships.
"Take evasive manoeuvres" Caldwell ordered, "Keep us moving and fire with all batteries at the closest ships and then move on."
Wraith ships were slow to respond having not detected their arrival and five shots of the Daedalus' Asgard plasma beam weapons had struck the closest hive reducing it to slag and debris before striking the next.
The Criselion had also made the jump and its red energy bolts flew out rapidly striking the cruisers and causing untold damage and they managed to destroy two before the first Wraith weapons fire hit them.
Daedalus was targeted first by the enemy ships as they knew that the small compact ship which spat deadly beams of white hot plasma that devastated the hives were the deadlier of the enemy ships and they concentrated their fire on the ship and the ships shields blossomed under the fire.
"Report." Caldwell ordered.
"Shields are holding at Ninety-One Percent Sir." The officer reported, "We are drawing on the power of the zpm now."
"Good." Caldwell said and he saw that there was an oncoming wave of darts "activate all railgun batteries, target those darts before they can begin kamikaze runs at us, and warn Criselion."
The darts pursued the Daedalus as it twisted and turned and banked around to avoid weapons fire and also gaining better angles to strike at the Wraith, but the darts were nimble and followed easily.
"Hold of all F302 launches." Caldwell ordered and he turned to the weapons officer "Launch one of the new missiles, I want to see if it works."
The new missile has been built on Atlantis, the principle of it was to combat wraith darts as they swarmed, the missile contained a large number of smaller projectiles that would break away from the main missile and home in on enemy ships, they were very small but their yield was enough to destroy a Dart.
On top of Daedalus' bow one of the missile silos opened and launched the black missile. It immediately targeted the Darts that were pursuing them and its afterburner accelerated it towards them, before cutting out and then the missile broke apart leaving one hundred smaller tubes in the air.
Each tube was had a small thruster which enabled it to move and they created a defensive net that was invisible in space, but as the darts closed in they moved towards them and once in range they exploded and destroyed almost half of the wave of Darts.
Daedalus was not the most manoeuvrable of ships or overly fast but it pack one hell of a punch and they had been able to destroy four hives and heavily damage two others, the Criselion had destroyed four cruisers and possible crippled one hive.
"Criselion is reporting shield strain sir." Said the navigation officer.
"Tell them to jump clear to the rendezvous point." Caldwell ordered "What our shield strength?"
"We are down to seventy percent." An officer reported "But they are concentrating on us now, we cannot survive much longer."
"Okay..." Caldwell said but was stopped as the ship shook badly "What the hell was that!"
"We have been rammed by one of the damaged cruisers, it just reduced our shield strength to fifty-one percent" the officer exclaimed "Sir what are you orders."
"get us out of here." Caldwell said, he couldn't see another way "Keep firing all batteries, we will make them regret coming to this system."
The plasma beams shot out from the ship and penetrated Hives in quick succession, but they were not at full strength as they were trying to find a way to flee, the Wraith had realised their plan and had converged on them, blocking all paths of escape.
"Sir we cannot jump to hyperspace; they are blocking us." The navigation officer said alarmed.
"Divert all available power from secondary systems to weapons and shields, we are going to need them." Caldwell said quickly, "We are going to have to clear a path out of this mess, find the path which will give us the least resistance and then we will cut our way through."
The course was set but the Wraith were not fools, they realised what they were doing and the weapons fire increased tenfold.
Sparks shot out from panels aboard the bridge from the onslaught of weapons fire and the crew were thrown around from the turbulence.
The Asgard weapons were cutting through the enemy vessels, as the rail guns spat out weapons fire cutting down the Darts, and they opened up all missile silos in order to clear the path but the darts were able to stop the missiles and the colonel began to think he had made a critical mistake,
"Sir I have just detected a hyperspace window open and I am detecting another ship in hyperspace heading towards us." Someone shouted.
Caldwell bit back a sharp remark, he had not known more Wraith Vessels had been near.
Suddenly red bolts of energy impacted the ships in Daedalus' path.
"Sir! It's the Criselion and Uonos!" said the Major who was sat to his right "They have opened fire on the ships, the fleet is dividing their attention."
"Punch us through this blockade, this is the distraction that we need." Caldwell said his mood improved.
"Sir, hyperspace window is forming above us!" the Major said "it is broadcasting IFF."
"Colonel Caldwell, this is Captain Drake of Prometheus II" came a voice over the internal communication system "We and your companions will cover you while you jump to hyperspace."
Caldwell didn't need telling twice, he had wondered where the ship had come from until he saw two bright blue lances of plasma shoot down from above and impact the Hive in front of them, they were from Earth and they were helping.
"Give me full Sublight, divert ZPM power to shields and engines and the ships reactors can power weapons." Caldwell ordered, he knew that the weapons strength would be reduced but now they needed to escape.
Pegasus Galaxy – Hyperspace – Prometheus II
Prometheus II was a small ship but she was faster than she looked, she had set out on the long voyage to the Pegasus Galaxy, she was captained by Ryan Drake, who had been a ship captain in the British Navy before being drafted into the UTAF as part of the new unified military and had been assigned to the ship for its current mission.
Drake had been picked as he had ties to the Institute, his father having worked for them before he died in the Ambush of the Elizabeth II.
They had been making good time crossing between the galaxies, but had been delayed due to a secondary mission of removing the gates from the now redundant gate bridge, it created a direct path between the galaxies and Homeworld Command wanted it removed.
Asgard Beaming technology was used to beam each gate aboard the ship and was then stored in a data crystal to be reconstituted at a later point in time, they had been the middle of removing the last space gate in the path of the Pegasus Galaxy when they had detected a vessel in hyperspace travelling towards another.
The ships computer recognised the ships as those that were of the Travellers, and knowing that they were a part of the Lantean society they had jumped to hyperspace to find out what they were doing.
When the ship dropped out of hyperspace they saw that one of the ships looked to have been in a battle.
They had opened a channel to the ships to begin contact and the captains reported that the Daedalus was in trouble and was in the middle of a Wraith fleet, Drake had immediately ordered that they return and help.
Both Traveller captains had been reluctant to follow his orders as they did not operate under his authority, but they had agreed as they would be acting only as a distraction.
Drake let the Generational Ships jump first, and then a few minutes later had his vessel jump to hyperspace after them.
When they arrived in the system Drake saw the peril the Daedalus was in and realised they were unable to escape so they powered their weapons and communicated to their sister ship.
It took five minutes but eventually both Earth ships had been able to create a path for the Daedalus to escape through and then were able to make the jump to hyperspace, once they were aware the generational ships also jumped away.
"Beam our horizon weapons into the centre of that fleet, burn them all." Drake ordered, "and get us out of here."
The Horizon weapon was a large package of naquadah and Naquadria war heads infused with various enhancing agents that would create an explosion that could be mistake for a second sun in the system.
The package was beamed directly into the centre of the ships they were trying to pursue them, the darts were sent to intercept as the ships began to move away but it was too late the package exploaded and slit into seven sections, each following a separate ship before detonating.
Drake did not hang around find out what damage it did and they set a course for Atlantis and jumped into hyperspace.
Pegasus Galaxy – Lantea – Atlantis
John had been in the middle of a council meeting discussing the construction proposals for the Lantean ship yard, they were currently stockpiling the necessary materials and were planning what the docks would look like and how they would work.
The doors to the council chambers swivelled open and revealed chuck standing there.
"What is it?" John asked "Has Colonel Caldwell reported back?"
"He has, and there has been a development you will want to see." Chuck said.
Bewildered the council followed Chuck up to operations where Amelia was talking with the Colonel.
"Colonel." John said seeing the commander of his Lantean Defence fleet.
"Colonel." Caldwell said respectfully.
John looked at what was happening on the bridge and it was clear to him that the battle may not have gone well.
"What do you have to report?"
"We gave a hard blow to the Wraith, both myself and Criselion were able to escape." He reported "but we owe that survival to the another."
"What other?" John asked
"It looks like Earth has sent a new ship to help us, they and Uonos arrived in the nick of time to save us from the Wraith." Caldwell said frowning, "We have had to drop out of hyperspace in order to carry out some minor repairs, but they will be heading straight for you."
"Where are you now Colonel?" John asked
"We are just outside a system with a gate, it is not one I believe we have explored but from what the sensors can tell from this far out, it is inhabited." Caldwell said as he read through a report he was given.
"Get back here as soon as you can, I will want to have a full report of this battle." John told him firmly "Who is the captain of the vessel?"
"Captain Drake." Caldwell said "and the ship is called Prometheus II."
An hour passed and the Atlantis long range sensors followed the path three ships were taking, which led them directly to the city.
Three hyperspace windows opened over the planet revealing two very different classes of ship, the Criselion descended into the atmosphere immediately while the Uonos remained in orbit along with the Prometheus II.
"Captain Drake of the Prometheus II this is High Councillor John Sheppard of Lantea." John said in a stern voice.
The screen in the control room activated bringing a visual link online.
"We receive you Atlantis." He replied, "I bring you tidings from General O'Neill and from Earth and we have come to help you here in Pegasus, do we have permission to land?"
John exchanged a look with Rodney and Teyla, "Sure, land on one of the piers, I will warn you though captain there will be security checks carried out, the last time a vessel from your nation arrived here it a member of the crew tried to kill one of the members of my expedition."
Drake looked a bit awkward for a moment and looked passed the screen to something the Atlantis personnel couldn't see "I am aware of what happened with Elizabeth II was last here, I come with news of Earth and it is about time you were brought into the loop. We will comply with any security checks you wish."
The ship began to descend into the upper atmosphere and it began a gradual decent using its anti-gravity Wave Generator which pulsed under the ship and it created no friction within the atmosphere before it was piloted towards the city.
Once the ship was on the pier the crew were detained apart from the three most superior members, Captain Ryan Drake and Frederick and Matthew Hartman who were escorted up into the city.
The twins were being stared at openly, most had known "Gordon Matthews" when he had lived in the city, but now they were two men who looked just like him.
As they arrived in the control tower they were immediately accosted by security teams with Wraith Stunners.
"What is the meaning of this?" Frederick said taking a step in front of his brother "Sheppard we are here to help."
"Gordon?" John questioned shocked.
"Ah I see why you would be confused." Matthew said shrugging off his brothers protective arm "I am Matthew Hartman, this idiot here is my twin brother Frederick who was once on this city."
John took this in his stride and gestured for them to go into the briefing room where they were settled.
"You are not Gordon?" he asked the brothers not sure which was which.
"I was the man who you came to know as Gordon Matthews." Frederick said sheepishly "I was placed here by my employers to keep an eye on you. I am Frederick Hartman but my consciousness was supressed by the imprint of my brothers mind, I meant no harm to you or the city."
"We found a photograph on the one who attacked you, a picture of you in military uniform." John pointed out, he noticed that Frederick was obviously military now, he could tell from the way he had examined the room.
"Aye, that was me, a picture from my time in the Middle East, we met once on a US-UK join operation." Frederick said smiling "I killed the assailant as he was there to kill me, I had no choice."
"Who was he?" John asked pointedly, "And how are you here now? You were Aboard the Elizabeth II and it was destroyed."
"He was a member of the Lucian Alliance sent here to kill me." Frederick said "I had made an enemy as I had been investigating the IOA for six months before I came here. The ship survived that ambush Colonel, and it because it survived that the truth was uncovered."
"Truth?" Teyla asked "What truth is that?"
The three men exchanged looks and then revealed what had happened on Earth, how the IOA had betrayed the planet and the nature of the Alliances advances. Of the new state of world defence and gate Alliance, they even told him of Torchwood.
"So is O'Neill still charge?" John asked.
"He remains in charge of Homeworld Command and is the head of the UTAF." Drake replied, "That reminds me, the General wanted me to tell you to contact the SGC when you get a moment. It is time that Atlantis opens its gate to Earth and returns the alliance between you both."
John was caught short by his words and immediately his faced hardened.
But Drake held up a hand forestalling him.
"General O'Neill has the upmost respect for what you have built here Sheppard, however this city and planet are by extension sovereign territory of Earth." Drake said delicately he then turned to Teyla and Larrin "I have not got the authority to promise you or your peoples anything, but I can say that the Athosians and Travellers will be allies of Earth and will always have a place here, Earth will not forget all you have done for us out here."
"You do realise as part of the alliance between my people and the High Councillor we were to have a shipyard." Larrin said haughtily.
Drake nodded but smiled "I do know that and that is one of the reasons that we are here."
"What do you mean?" John asked "You are here to help us with the construction of the ship yard?"
"One of the many things on our agenda." Frederick told them, "The Institute is here to help you, we can help with the construction of the shipyard here on Lantea, but we are also here to help with your ongoing efforts to repair Borealis."
"What will you need from us?" John asked "Your Institute must want something in return, your director wouldn't do this just out of the kindness of his heart."
Frederick smiled darkly "No he didn't, there of course will be political motives but no there is only one thing we will require from you Councillor. Would it be possible for the Institute to take up in one of your city towers?"
John exchanged looks with his fellow council members, and sat quietly for a moment.
"I can agree on principle." John said looking to Rodney "Any areas you can suggest Rodney."
Rodney pulled out his tablet and went through city schematics "In the outer section of the south pier, one of the towers is vacant, it has a number of labs and empty space, it also has some residential quarters but they are not overly large."
"We do not need a large space Councillor" Matthew said reassuringly "Torchwood's presence here is only to assist you where we can. Torchwood operates to protect those that fall under its protectorate mandate, many of the members of your expedition hail from those countries who we protect, we have an obligation to those people."
"My brother is right." Frederick agreed, "We are not here to interfere with your running of this city, most of the time you will not even know we are here, however we will help where we can and offer what assistance you might require."
"Very well." John said "Rodney will show you to the tower which will be yours, once your people have been cleared by my security teams they can be shown to their quarters."
"Thank you Councillor." Drake said happily "But if you do not mind I would like to begin our mission to help with Borealis as soon as possible, your teams are welcome aboard Prometheus II while we travel."
"No." John said firmly, "You may leave in two hours after your crew is checked, and I will also need to check with the SGC that your story is true."
Drake did not look happy but he understood, he left to get back to his ship while Rodney left with Matthew to show him the tower which would be theirs.
"Sheppard, you know that I was in the military, but that is in my past, I do not wish for that life any longer." Frederick said "I turned away from that life after what I saw in the middle east."
"So why were you sent here?" John asked as they walked "When you pretended to be Gordon Matthews."
"My brother is the tech genius, it comes to him naturally." Frederick explained "I was a very good soldier but something happened which changed me, I walked away from that life and went towards history and archelogy."
"So the stun weapons you were designing…" John said thinking aloud.
"That came from my brothers imprint, my subconscious was what drove me to do all the research I did while I was on the city." Frederick said shrugging "The tech we used was new still in development, I theorised that it is the fight or flight response that broke the imprint allowing my true self to break through but due to the technology I fell into a coma while the imprint reinserted itself."
"You know it's odd." John said looking at him carefully "every time look at you I remember the young kid who was once a member of my expedition, but looking at you now I cannot help but wonder just who you are."
"I am a friend Sheppard, trust in that." Frederick said and he walked away.
John watched him walk with wonder before turning to Chuck and Amelia, "Dial the SGC, I think its time to mend fences and without the threat of them being kicked down."
"Sir?" Amelia said in question.
"I will explain later, but I want to confirm some things with Earth first." John told her, "Now let's see what is happening in a galaxy far far away."
Pegasus Galaxy – Vulcia – Temple of Grace
Beth had been at the temple for seven months and she found the work so simple and the life so easy she often found herself half forgetting that she couldn't remember who she actually was.
She would remember flashes and small bits and pieces, she remembered her parents and things from when she was a child, she also remembered a man, a man she cared for and one she felt she had not seen in a long time.
The sisters were had finished their harvest as had their brothers from the second temple and it had been a bountiful harvest and one that the sisters and brothers had been happy to have as it gave them more to trade with the Pilgrims who were due to arrive that day.
"Mother Superior why are we placing the harvest here?" Beth asked as they moved the harvest in crates that the pilgrims preferred, made of metal and sealed with locks. "There are not from the Temple."
"No child, these crates were gifted to us by the Pilgrims, they are sturdier than our wooden crates." She explained "And we place them here as this is where they will be. These open plains are where we shall meet as we have for generations."
"But how, there is no water?" Beth pointed out "how will their ships dock?
"You shall see Child, sometimes things are beyond comprehension." Mother said quietly "just like your memory, all shall be revealed in time."
They continued with their work for over an hour when a loud thunderous noise echoed over the valley, and the sisters all looked up happily.
"What is that?" Beth asked startled.
"The Pilgrims have arrived." Said one of the sisters "Look they come in their ships."
Above them two bright fireballs began to appear through the clouds, the sight of them made Beth fear for her life for a moment before she looked at them carefully, she noticed that the fireballs were slowing down and the flames dissipated and revealed two large metal constructs.
"Ships." Beth whispered "Space ships."
"These are the pilgrim's child." The Mother said, beckoning, "Come you should see."
The ships descended gradually and landed on the plains and the air vibrated from the power of engines and it was almost deafening before the power was cut. Once they had landed bulkheads were opened and out stepped their people who were welcomed by the sisters and brothers, some of them even seemed to know each other.
"Mother Superior, you have a bountiful harvest" said a woman who looked at the crates around them "Your yield is even better than last year."
"Litilia, it is always good to see you." Mother superior said happily but she looked at the ships in confusion "Why so few of you this year, have some of you fallen?"
"Fear not Mother" she replied placing a hand of comfort on her arm "Some of my people have found a place they can call home, we can still take your harvest and we have the medical supplies for your payment, my people will be happy to have the extra fresh food."
"Why did you not stay with your people?" the Mother asked surprised "You always seemed to close."
"We did not want to settle; we prefer to travel the stars." Litilia said sadly "it is all that we know."
Beth came forward "You travel the stars?" she asked with interest.
"Yes." Litilia said and she pointed at the ships "These ships do not travel the oceans they travel between stars and planets."
"Star travel?" Beth said in wonder stepping passed them and looking at the ships "You travel throughout Pegasus?"
"Pegasus?" Mother Superior asked not understanding the word.
"We do." Blinked Litilia surprised by her knowledge "How do you know the name of this galaxy, most do not."
"I don't know, it just came to me." She replied helplessly.
"Beth here was sent to us, she does not remember who she once was." The Mother explained "Do you know of the Pilgrims ways and you one of them"
"No" Beth said without thinking "No I am not of their people." She wans't sure how she knew but they were not her people."
"What is this Pegasus?" the Mother asked "I have not heard of this before, is it a place?"
"No" Litlia said looking at Beth "Do you know?"
"Its…" Beth said but she couldn't recall what it was, she just knew the name. "I do not know, I just know it is the right word."
"Interesting, Mother you have told me stories of these occurrences here" Litilia said frowning "I always thought they were stories that you told travellers to make this place mysterious."
"No child, they are all true." The Mother told her and she frowned looking at her critically "What have you got to trade for our food this year?"
"Medicines and other things you might have need of." She said and she turned and summoned one of her crew over with a case "These medicines are far more potent than the ones we usually trade with you, I will leave you with strict instructions for their use."
She handed over a small cardboard box "This box alone contains a small pill that is capable of fending of illness and infection."
Beth took the box and across the front was a word "Amoxicillin?" she said looking at it.
"You read Lantean?" Litilia said surprised.
"What is Lantean?" she asked handing the box to the Mother Superior.
"It is the language of the people who we obtained our medicine from. Litilia said and she pulled out a bottle from within the case, "Can you read this?"
"Morphine?" Beth asked unsure if she was correct.
"Your knowledge is interesting. Tell me what do you know of Atlantis or Earth?" Litilia asked directly "You have knowledge that many do not, and I only know of one people that can read Lantean."
"Do you know me?" Beth asked in wonder. "I don't know of these places, where are they?"
Litilia looked at her carefully and then smirked "Tell you what, my ship has a few more stops on our travels but eventually we are bound for Lantea to see my others of my people, and I think you might find answers there. For now, you can help my crew with some of things we need translated, Phelan, my ships doctor will have use for you too."
"But I..." Beth hesitated not knowing what to say.
"I told you once the stories of those that fell before you, those cast from the heavens to the Temples of Grace and Light, I told you that some stayed but most left to go on their own crusades." The Mother superior said stepping away "You should go, a path has appeared for you to take, now go, you will find your answers, but first you must take the first step on that journey."
"I will go Mother and I must thank you for all you have done." Beth said sincerely.
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