DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…
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Alpha Omega Protocol: Heh, I know the feeling. But it was either too much like VexMaster's GI, the initial version. I redid it into the Covenant, based off the Halo Covenant, and because I had this idea for a while for a original story, that I added to this!
The Hidden Sith: He is, ain't he?
Soulless Reader: I have ideas on how to make less hateable… though they would very much lessen his threat level if I do them… Eh. The Ori Battle battle took place in the chapter before the previous chapter…. Chapter 24.
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Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.
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Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!
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Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.
Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster
Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann
Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann
Also read this: The Raid of the Twelve Colonies... written by me
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Go to my Forum if you have any ideas or anything you want to say!
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I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, "Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, and break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; they will not have a fugitive who will flee, or a refugee who will escape.
Exodus 18:11
Holy Bible
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The three Jaffa Motherships traveled through Hyperspace, speeding fast through the strange and unique dimension. Bra'tac stared emotionlessly at the swirls of the Faster-Than-Light realm, manning the controls on the Pel'tac. He took deep breaths, one breath at a time. "It's kind of a skeleton crew on board," Mitchell said as he walked next to Bra'tac; hand on his Magnum strapped to his waist. "How many more Jaffa do you have on the other ships?"
"Not many," the Elder Jaffa said wearily, "Getting the Council to simply relinquish just three Ha'tak's was difficult enough. The crew, I will tell you, I had to, myself, assemble personally."
The Colonel frowned.
"So, we're outmatched in manpower, firepower, and technology. Do we have any sort of battle strategy, or are we just planning on dropping out of hyperspace and getting our asses kicked again."
He paused, noting the silence from the others on the Pel'tac and, mentally, snickered at the surprised look on Bra'tac's face. He shook his head: "Hey, I'm all about noble death. But a pointless noble death, on the other hand… now that, I have an issue with guys."
Carter frowned.
"Korolev log indicated that they were attempting to use the rings to get a nuke through the fluctuation in the Ori ship's shield that was coinciding with the firing of their main weapons."
"Great! So we'll use the other two ships to draw their fire while we sneak around the backside and jam a big old nuke up their tailpipe."
"But we don't have any nukes," Carter said.
Mitchell turned around and faced Teal'c and Bra'tac. "The two of you have any fancy Jaffa bombs lying around?"
"We have explosives that should be effective, Colonel Mitchell," The stoic Jaffa said.
Carter nodded. "All right, that's good. As soon as we drop out of hyperspace, I'll start broadcasting on all radio channels. If Daniel's still alive, hopefully he'll get the message that we're here, and he can ring aboard."
Mitchell nodded and slapped Bra'tac on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "There you go!" Covertly, however, Mitchell slipped and attached a small device onto his silver shoulder armor.
"Now we got a plan," he grinned.
Bra'tac smiled, amused.
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Daniel grunted as he slid the slightly-too small Ori Helmet over his head, and grabbed a stylized Ori Staff Weapon off one of the racks. The weapon was similar to those used by the Jaffa, but it was sleeker and had more curves. It looked somewhat similar to the weapons of the Covenant Honor Guard's, but chrome-silver plated, with a glowing ball at the rear end.
He looked around and took a deep breath.
'Great-of all the places I ring unto, I don't go to the Odyssey, I go to a damn Ori Supership!' He wondered what had made him think to warn the DSC-304 not to use nukes.
The Nukes didn't work, and the Ori Ship wasn't destroyed. And that was when the ship had lost shields too. Somehow, the Ori had detected the nuclear weapon and either destroyed it or disabled it.
Either way…
It wasn't good news.
He took another breath.
He tapped a key, and the door slid open.
'Here I go.'
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The three Ha'tak's ripped out of the Hyperspace window, and the two at the side of the flagship immediately began bombarding the three Ori Motherships in orbit around Chulak. Every bolt went and hit their mark, bombarding the pristine white ships with hundreds of energy bolts.
Several Death Gliders emerged from the Ha'tak's bays and sped toward the ships, followed by a dozen Al'kesh. But the Ori Shields repelled the bolts, and the ship's suffered no damage.
As one, they began to move away.
"It's chasing them," Carter whispered as she and Bra'tac watched one of the Ori ships race after the two Ha'tak's which had begun evasive maneuvers, crisscrossing as the ship rapidly closed the gap between them. The two other Ori Ships simply floated there, but then one of them began a slow descent down to the planet. The other made a U-turn and raced ahead towards the flagship.
"Moving into flanking position," Bra'tac warned.
The flagship briefly re-entered Hyperspace, and emerged a few hundred thousand miles away from where it had been before. The Ori ship ignored them and its path curved just a bit.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. Please come in," she radioed.
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~Repeat. This is Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. Please come in. ~
'My luck is not that good…'
Hiding in a room, and locking it, Daniel pulled the radio out from his armor suit and flicked it on. "Sam, it's me, Daniel," he said quietly.
~Daniel! I knew you'd made it. ~
He chuckled. "Yeah, it's good to hear you, too. Listen, can you beam me out of here soon? I can't find the ring room here anymore… every hall here looks just about the same."
~We're in orbit, trying to blow up one of the Ori ships. ~
He frowned.
"With a nuke?"
~Yeah. ~
"No, no, no, no! The Korolev tried that when the Ori Ship had lost its shields, and it didn't work. If that didn't work on an unshielded Ori ship, then I don't think it will work on a shielded one."
He heard a sigh.
~Where are you? ~
"I'm in the ship that's going to land on Chulak. I'm going to have to tell you the rest later. Requesting radio silence."
He heard the door open, and hid his radio, standing erect and holding the staff weapon in his arm as a guard would. The door opened, and two Ori soldiers walked in, and narrowed their eyes. "You, what are you doing here? Why are you not preparing for the first ground engagement in our divine crusade? We are preparing to leave soon, hurry!"
Crap.
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Sswweht!
The high-pitched whine of the Ori Main Weapon echoed briefly as the ship destroyed one of the Ha'tak's.
"I am detecting the fluctuation in their shields, almost in range."
Carter shook her head.
"Daniel say's Chekov tried that. It didn't work on an unshielded Ori ship, so it shouldn't work on a shielded one."
"What?"
Carter activated the intercom to the Ring Room. "Mitchell, Teal'c, don't activate the bomb."
~What? ~
~For what reason Samantha Carter? ~
"The plan won't work, Daniel told me. And we just lost a Ha'tak."
~…~
~Wait, Daniel? He's here? ~
"On one of the Ori Ships, Colonel," she replied.
With a grimace on both their faces, Sam and Bra'tac readied themselves as they joined the battle.
The two Ha'tak's bombarded the Ori ship with plasma bolts, slamming harmlessly into their powerful shielding. In another lifetime, an undisturbed timeline and universe, the sheer number of bolts would have caused the Ori shields to flicker, to fluctuate. But not here.
Ori were stronger.
They were not holding back.
Their engagements and counter-influence of the Covenant and Salvation had taught them much. They gave their human followers greater technology, stronger weapons and defenses. Without it, the Ori ships would have been easy kills for the Allied Fleet, and the Crusade would have ended there. But they had learned, and they had adapted to this.
BOOM!
An Ori Mothership descended vertically, and tore apart the other Ha'tak with its secondary weapons. Carter and Bra'tac flinched at the sight, and dived beneath the Ori Mothership. Behind them, Mitchell and Teal'c arrived, jogging and, for Mitchell, slightly out of breath. "We just lost our last Mothership," Carter said grimly, "we're the only ones left."
"Let's get Jackson on board and get the hell out of here."
But Bra'tac paused.
In a voice that was somber, he uttered: "Truly I am sorry, Colonel Mitchell. That is not the plan."
On their view screen, they saw an Ori ship turning their back toward them with Chulak looming behind it.
Mitchell began to panic. "Bra'tac, what are you doing?"
"I believe he intends to ram the enemy vessel."
"Yeah, I got that," he said sarcastically, "You do know that'll kill us."
"I think he knows that."
"Indeed."
"Teal'c, this is crazy, and not the good kind of crazy, you know that," Mitchell said.
The Jaffa glanced at him: "What would you have me do, Colonel Mitchell?"
Mitchell growled, furious at the nonchalant attitude. "Talk to him, stop him, do something!"
Teal'c blinked.
Then he sneered. "We will die…"
"We will die free."
Mitchell blinked and froze.
"Chances are we'll just impact the shield. We won't do any damage to them," Carter argued, "You know that!"
"What do you think; you're making some kind of a statement?" He roared to Bra'tac waving his hands, "Hey, I know this is your ship, we didn't have to come along, and maybe it is better to die in battle, I don't know. I was never really hoping to find out. But I do know one thing. There's no point in dying when you're going to lose anyway. Not when you have a choice."
The elder Jaffa had been looking at the Colonel the whole time he had spoken, but then he scowled and return to the view screen, continuing. Teal'c stepped between his former Mentor and his friends. Carter had a worried look on her face, and a look of betrayal and hurt.
As the Ha'tak increased speed, several pinpoints of light appeared not too far away, and swelled to form glowing exit windows. Bursting out of them, several Covenant Assault Carriers and the Odyssey followed them. ~Burn these heretical infidels, burn them to the Devil! ~
Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, this is Emerson, come in. What's your status? ~
"Beam us on board," Mitchell said coldly.
"Enemy ships have detected our presence," Mark said, "the Covenant flagships are moving to intercept-they're firing."
Lances of plasma raced across space and smashed on the silver shields of the Ori ship, followed by three waves of golden drones emerging from each ship. It was beautiful and deadly sight to behold. But the Ori ship returned fire, cutting away two waves of drones with its beam weapon, and cutting swathes away with its secondary beam weapons.
"You should have four beacons transmitting," Mitchell added.
"What?"
Bra'tac turned around to him.
Mitchell smirked.
"I planted one on you earlier, just in case."
Beams of light covered their bodies, and they vanished.
The Ha'tak raced forward, the Ori ship covering their entire view screen. The pyramid ship, a symbol of terror and oppression for centuries across the galaxy, crashed into the weakening Ori ship and barely caused any damage to the shield. It broke apart into tiny fragments.
Quickly, the United States starship turned tail and ran as an Ori Beam sliced through the shields of an Assault Carrier, burning through its neck and emerging through the other side. Explosions rippled from there, the head vanishing in puffs of fire within seconds whilst the rest collided with another, the shields failing, and a piece of the carrier charred.
The Odyssey fled into Hyperspace.
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"What the hell was that?"
The two Jaffa said nothing as they stood straight, cold.
Emerson and SG-1 stood opposite of them, arms crossed over their chests. They all had a hurt look on their faces. "I did what I felt was necessary-we had to prevent the fall of Chulak. To lose Chulak would have been a terrible loss to morale within the Jaffa Nation."
"Indeed," Teal'c said gravely.
"It doesn't matter," Mitchell interrupted. "Teal'c, you should have more sense in you, OK? You just lost two dozen ships trying to stop their Motherships from securing a beachhead, and at least half a dozen more over Chulak. And you just lost three more ships in a damn suicide mission, the both of you should have known wouldn't have done a god damn thing!"
"And what would you have us to Colonel Mitchell?" Teal'c demanded.
Everyone paused for a moment.
"I see," Teal'c snarled.
"What could we have done Teal'c," Emerson snapped, "those ships are a stronger than anything anyone in this galaxy has. Covenant, Asgard, Jaffa, Earth and others couldn't stop them. Chulak was lost if the Covenant hadn't arrived, and even then, they might not win."
Beep!
Without pausing, Emerson pressed a button on a built-in intercom into the wall. "Yes, what is it?"
~Subspace links from the Subspace probe. ~
"Put it on the view screen."
~Yes sir. ~
Probe?
What Probe?
Emerson saw their looks as he had them sit down in the conference room, and pressed a button on a control. A screen lowered from the low ceiling and flashed to life in front of them. "Just before we entered Hyperspace, I left behind a probe to see how the battle goes."
"You spy?"
"Intelligence," Emerson responded to Bra'tac.
An image flashed on the screen, and showed two Assault Carriers battling a single Ori Mothership. They saw a glimpse, the tail, of another move off screen where another battle, presumably, was going on. Drones and plasma beams smashed into the tiny Ori ship, but it's powerful, almost ridiculously powerful, shields brushed it off, and didn't stop firing.
One of the Assault Carriers shields flared and collapsed, and the Ori beam burrowed through the side and exploded. Tiny explosions pinpointed all of space around the two sides, fighters and bombers. Out of nowhere, another Ori ship dropped down vertically and cut apart the second Assault Carrier with a sustained barrage it commenced once it arrived.
The image cut off suddenly.
Everyone paled.
"The majority of the fleet, our fleet, managed to escape and are undergoing repairs one by one," Emerson said as he turned off the monitor. "We also got a message from Picard-four more Ori Ships just arrived and Enterprise managed to get your Jaffa and get of there with an unstable Hyperdrive before they could be destroyed. Right now, the Ori are winning this war."
"Unfortunately, right now there is no war."
Everyone looked at Mitchell, surprised and confused.
"What do you mean," Bra'tac questioned.
"In a war, you've got two sides fighting. All we have is a lot of winning by the religious fanatical bad guys. They have troops and ships in our territory, and a Supergate to bring in more any time they need them. And none of the most advanced technology in the galaxy can stop them."
"Are you saying we should give up," Emerson demanded.
"I remember when we first opened the gate. The Goa'uld had total domination over the galaxy. They had massive superiority over us. A lot of people didn't think we had a chance."
"True," Daniel muttered.
"I'm not saying we should give up," Mitchell went on, "I'll fight to my dying breath, there's no arguing with that. I won't allow the Ori to rampage across the galaxy and become another Goa'uld Empire, not while we have to protect everything that we've accomplish."
He paused.
"I just think we need a new plan."
Teal'c nodded grimly.
"And a damn good one."
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A week later…
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Vala and Carter joined Mitchell at the base of the ramp as the wormhole activated with a flourish. Dressed in High Council robes, simple yet empowering, Teal'c came through with a grave look on his face. Mitchell stared back at Teal'c, arms crossed over his chest.
"Six more worlds have fallen to the Ori," Teal'c said somberly. "Two are…. Were Jaffa Strongholds, each of them with a fleet of Ha'tak's and many Jaffa defending them. They attempted to resist, but they were overwhelmed within a matter of hours. Reports indicate that there was only one Ori Ship."
Everyone grimaced.
The four of them walked down the hallway, quiet. "Six planets in eight days, and they don't even have their full team in the field yet," Mitchell muttered. "Actually, make that nine since we've just heard that three Covenant worlds were just slugged to death by the Ori."
He shook his head. "No survivors."
"Why haven't they made a move against Earth?"
"In all probability, the Ancient device in Antarctica is most likely giving them pause," the Jaffa said, "neither Covenant nor Jaffa possesses such a powerful weapon. And the Ori must first cement their hold around their Supergate, for fear of it being destroyed and they being stranded."
Carter shook her head. "I doubt that. I mean, Covenant Assault Carriers have hundreds of drones and the Ori shields just deflect them. I don't think that that is the reason Cam. I think that they're toying with us. They're saving the best for last… until the rest of their fleet gets here."
Vala was about to say something when they heard someone shout: "I GOT IT, GUYS, I GOT IT!"
Out of nowhere, Daniel ran around the corner, carrying an old and heavy book with dust covering the cover. He was breathless: "Guys, I got it! I made the connection, Sir Gawain to Gwalchmei, Culwhch and Olwen, Verus Gen Bree!" He had an excited look, which differed from the confused and wary look on everyone else's faces. 'What is he talking about,' they all thought.
"And you say I'm hard to understand," Sam muttered to Mitchell.
Daniel grinned sheepishly, "Oh-oh…its—its, ah, uh, Vagonbrei. One of the planets Arthur and his knights went to in their quest for the Holy Grail.
"I got the gate address."
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Taking a deep breath, the General of SGC took a seat as SG-1 took seats around him, opposite of each other. Daniel walked over with a file in his hand, taking a seat between Mitchell and Vala.
"While on PX1-767," he said, "we got the names of three planets: Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei, three possible destinations for Arthur and his knights in their quest for the Holy Grail, what we know to be Merlin's weapon. Unfortunately, what we didn't get were any corresponding gate addresses, and the process of going through that library page by page looking for clues could have potentially taken years. So, I knew we were going to have to narrow the search parameters a little. That's when it hit me: Sir Gawain."
Smiling, Vala opened a book to a marked pace (a page which was bent,) and handed it over. The archeologist handled it carefully and held it up to show everyone the slightly blurred picture. "Wasn't he one of the Knights who say "Ni"?" Mitchell asked, frowning playfully.
"He was a Knight of the Round Table," Daniel said.
"In one of his earliest incarnations, an old Welsh tale," he continued, "he went on a quest to help rescue a lost love. The legend says that Sir Gawain, AKA Gwalchmei, visited several lands over the course of his adventure, including a place called Gwlad Gan Brenhinol Gwir, which is Welsh for "Land of Royal Truth". Translate that into Ancient, and you get "Verus Gen Bree"—Vagonbrei.
"So, how does that get us a gate address?" Carter asked.
Vala opened another book and handed it over-smiling.
"Uh, it doesn't," Jackson said slowly, "But it did give me something very specific to look for in Merlin's library, namely references to Gawain," he said, catching speed, "Now, based on this information, I started scanning through the titles, and I found this. Now, the entire volume is dedicated to Gawain's adventures and includes several very interesting illustrations, including a depiction of a sword he once carried. Note the symbols engraved on the blade.
Quickly, he passed the book over to Landry, who traced his finger down the illustration of the blade. His eyes recognized the symbols, having seen them for a year already every day. "A gate address."
"Vagonbrei," Mitchell muttered.
Daniel smiled, obviously pleased: "Well, we won't know until we check it out."
"Well done, Doctor. Colonel Carter, what's the status of the Ori Supergate?"
"Any attempts we've made to dial out to the Ori galaxy has failed. It looks like they're blocking us from their end."
"There is a Mothership in the area that will alert us to the arrival of any other ships," Teal'c said, bowing his head a bit. "So far, they report that other than the four other Ori Ships that arrived when Enterprise was there, no more Ori Ships or any sorts have emerged through."
"More ships," Landry said, standing up. "We can hardly deal with the ones that are already here! You have a go. Find that weapon."
"Yes, sir," Carter saluted.
Vala smiled: "Will do."
They stood up to leave when the Stargate began to activate. The first Chevron lit up and glowed a bright orange. "What the hell…" Landry didn't even finish as he and SG-1 rushed down to the Gate Oversight Control room. "Walter, close the Iris," he demanded quickly.
"Yes sir."
The Titanium-Trinium alloy Iris slid over the Stargate, pausing for a brief second as it sealed shut. The final Chevron lit up and the wormhole activated just behind the Iris with a hiss.
Already, twenty armed guards are at the Gate room, P90's raised and two guards' manning the Staff Cannon's and 50 cal's at the edges of the room. A guard even hefted a bazooka.
For a moment, nothing happened.
"Sir, we're receiving a video message on the other side."
Landry glanced at the SG- members around him. "Put them on."
An image appeared on one of the many screen hanging above their heads, and all of their eyes widened as the image of a Covenant soldier, the reptilian one with the four mandibles wearing golden armor, appeared. He beat a fist on his armored chest, and lowered it. "Heed my words, Tau'ri, for I am Highest Commander Ripa' Morama'ee, requesting permission-" the way he said it, he sounded forced, "-to come upon your soil. Respond."
"He asked politely," Mitchell said sarcastically.
"Why would the Covenant want to contact us… especially through a Stargate when they have their ships…" Daniel muttered.
Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps they have lost many ships attacking the Ori. That is always a possibility." He paused and added, "And yet, they had a thousand or more ships when they invaded the other galaxy, the one Picard emerged from. They have sheer number on their side."
"So let them in?"
"They are Covenant,' Teal'c growled.
Landry shook his head.
After Teal'c and Bra'tac's stunt, which would have cost their lives and the lives of SG-1, he couldn't trust Teal'c too much anymore. He sighed. "Open the Iris, and let them in," he ordered. Teal'c stared at him, but knew that he deserved this. He did not know what had come over him before.
The Iris swirled open, and as soon as it did, the alien emerged at full height, towering over the tallest Marine. The US soldier's took a step back from the Reptilian alien as two more aliens, both reptilian but with black armor, emerged behind him, the wormhole closing behind them. The alien looked up into the eyes of General Landry, "We have much to speak."
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"We have located the world, holy one," a Sangheili bowed.
The Hierarch nodded in approval as the Lucifer glided above Kamino. "You have found Geonosis-excellent. I presume that you found the sites that are required to crush the heretical forces here?"
He hoped they did.
It would make the initial assault much easier, and would cost him less valuable forces. He felt satisfied with the Sangheili gave the correct reply, and dismissed the Fleet Master.
Already, he had two billion Battle Droids constructed, and a hundred ships supplementing his forces. The superior labor technology of the Covenant had greatly enhanced construction efforts here, and the more streamlined and less-bulky designs were smoothed down.
He had changed his priorities a bit, however. The main forces of his Droid Army would be the B2-class 'Super Battle Droids,' with Trinium-Durasteel armor plating. Durasteel was a thousand times stronger than Trinium, which had surprised him and made him wary.
As such, he had to also armor his Centurions and his ground forces, armor and organic, with Durasteel armor.
He had not anticipated that.
Ah well.
He stood up and beamed himself down to Kamino, to the cloning labs. Cloning procedures were much faster a hundred years after the Old Republic era. A million clones could be produced every half-year, if rushed. Initially, he had declared cloning to be against the laws of the Covenant….
But he had to change things.
He sighed.
Things were changing a lot.