Disclaimer:
Since so many people were asking for Harry to get a better ship I decided what the hell; this is something I wanted to do anyway. Now shut up and read the damn story!
August 2, 1999: Milky Way: Some Planet
Three armed soldiers walked across a vast plain towards a landed Ancient Ship. Even from a distance Harry could see the large bits and pieces of armor that had been destroyed. He started to rush towards the warship with his two subordinates following quickly. They reached the bottom airlock and entered the damaged Destroyer. Marcus met them at the door. He looked a little worse for wear. One could see the sweat stains on his uniform and brow.
"Marcus what the hell happened here?" Harry asked as he surveyed the damage to the interior of the ship.
"We went to Chulak just like you ordered but it seems like Baal had found a way to track us," Marcus explained. "We destroyed two Hataks but three others ambushed us far faster than what we've seen of them. They must have known that we were coming. We took serious damage and I ordered a retreat. We were clear for ten minutes before four Hataks came out of Hyperspace and hit us hard."
"How the hell did you get away?" Samuel asked unable to contain himself. At those odds it was amazing that they'd gotten away at all. Harry, however, had a hunch but he wasn't sharing.
"We did a blind jump." Before the words had fully left Marcus's mouth Harry was moving. Marcus stumbled back, blood coming out of his nose.
"Are you insane?" Harry asked, seething. "You could have ended up anywhere; inside a sun, a planet. What were you thinking?"
"It was the only way that I saw that allowed us to get away without them being able to track us," Marcus defended his actions. "If I didn't do it there would be no Orion right now."
"I understand why you did it," Harry acknowledged. "It doesn't mean I have to like it. I sacrifice both the Orion and my life to save any one of yours. I'm angry because if you had jumped into a sun five deaths would have been on my conscience. This does however pose some problems for us. If the Orion's Jump Drive can be traced by Baal then he might go out of his way to target us. If he does then we'd be hard pressed to survive. We need a better ship."
"I thought that this was the best ship in the Galaxy," Taylor said from Harry's side. "Isn't that why we got it?"
"No, the Orion is most certainly not the most powerful ship in the Galaxy," Harry shook his head with a smile. "I chose the Orion because it can fight toe-to-toe with Hataks but also because it can be manned by a small crew. We only have eight people; the Orion was designed to be operated by twelve. There are much more powerful ships out there but in the past I had neither the power nor the people with which to man them."
"Colonel," Sam said, still in his rut of command from the SGC, "Didn't you use to have your own Battleship?" Harry nodded. "You managed to fly it and fight with it by yourself. Why is that?"
Harry chuckled. "The Corona was designed to be operated by a single person. While the Orion has technology millions of years old the Corona was created roughly nine thousand years ago with much more powerful technology. It was the time when most Ancients were Ascending and they didn't have the power with which to fight off their enemies. They needed powerful ships for one person to operate so they created the Corona Class. To answer your next question, no, there aren't any more in the Galaxy. They were all destroyed to keep others from taking them when their owners ascended."
"So, are there any Aurora Class Battleships lying around?" Taylor said innocently.
"As a matter of fact there are," Harry nodded. "I found one during my travels at an orbital shipyard in one of the outer regions of the Galaxy. The problem is that we don't have nearly enough people to operate it. It takes at least eighty to use all of the advanced systems."
"What do you plan to do?" It didn't matter who asked it. They were all thinking the same thing.
Harry smiled. "Have you ever heard of the Hebridan or the Serrakin?"
August 3, 1999: Milky Way: Hebridan
The Orion settled down onto the planet Hebridan with several other military ships floating around it. It had taken a full day to get to Hebridan even though it was only three systems away. Harry had taken them on an extremely roundabout route, practically leaving the Galaxy to avoid being traced. It had worked, mostly. Baal's fleet had traced them after the first jump so they knew it was worth it.
The ship powered down and the airlocks opened. Harry and his crew stepped out into the daylight weaponless. A Hebridan ship landed near them and several humans and aliens rushed forward brandishing dangerous looking rifles. Two people, a human and a Serrakin walked forward without weapons and approached Harry without hesitation. Harry smiled and walked forward. They immediately grasped hands and hit their heads together.
"Samos, Derrin, it's good to see you again," Harry said through a smile. "It's been a long time."
"Indeed it has, Harry," the human, Derrin, said.
"Five years, right?" Samos, the Serrakin, confirmed. Harry nodded, the smirk never leaving his face.
"What brings you to our fine planet?" Derrin asked. "I'm actually surprised by your means of transport. Where's the Corona?"
"Yeah, the Corona was kind of destroyed in a battle with Apophis a few years ago," Harry sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "It took thirteen Hataks to destroy it, though. That's a fact I'm rather proud of." Harry sobered up. "I'm here to ask a favor. Do you remember that conversation we had a few years ago about the Goa'uld Hegemony?" Derrin and Samos glanced at each other before nodding. "It turns out that I'm doing exactly what you wanted to do before."
"You're taking the fight to the Goa'uld?" Derrin asked surprised. "That's incredible! Why didn't you call us?"
"We only started operating a few months ago," Harry shrugged. "I already have a good crew for this ship. They worked so well I didn't even think that I would need anyone else. Then we ran into a problem. The Goa'uld Baal can track our movements and the Orion doesn't have the weapons or shields to fight against large numbers of Motherships at one time."
"Why didn't you get a better ship?" Samos wondered. "That Battleship we found in the Ventris System would have been better than a midget destroyer like this." Unknown to the three old friends the rest of SG-13 looked a little peeved.
"I had enough people with my team to operate a Destroyer but not enough by a long shot to operate an Aurora Class Battleship," Harry smirked, knowing that they were catching on. "I'm here to see if we can't recruit some new crew members. After all, I know there have been a lot of people out there that have been calling for a direct attack on the Goa'uld for years. So, what do you say? Will you help me out?"
"Harry, you've got yourself your first two recruits," Samos smiled. "I'll talk to some of my old friends in the media. We could get an advertisement to play during commercials. Who knows, we might even be able to get a spot on the nightly news."
"I'm glad to see that you're into this as much as I am," Derrin laughed. "How many people do we need to operate the ship?"
"The minimal crew number would have to be around three hundred," Harry said. "An Aurora Class is a big ship. My team and I will be able to run our little side operation out of it as well." At his two friend's questioning looks he explained. "My Team is from Earth, the home world of the human race. We're on orders to retrieve technology from various Ancient Outposts scattered around the Galaxy. However what we didn't tell them was that we'd be giving them Jack Shit and that we'd be fighting against the Goa'uld in a ship that they would never be able to get their hands on. We bit off more than we could chew this time and we need a stronger ship to fight against the Goa'uld. What we also need to do is activate the ring of satellite weapons that we can use to defend our outposts. That's what we need the ship for."
The two aliens stared at Harry for a few moments before breaking out in laughter. "Buddy, the military would kill to have you on their side!" Derrin cried.
"Uh, Harry!" Harry turned around to see seven pissed off humans glaring at him surrounded by a half a dozen armed guards. "Could you get these guys to point their boom sticks a little closer to home?" Pixy asked.
Samos's Estate
Harry sat in a map room with Marcus, Larry and Samos. A holographic projector lay between two couches and displayed the galaxy and its stars. Hebridan glowed bright green while Goa'uld occupied planets glowed crimson. Unknown stars glowed white while planets under the Protected Planets Treaty of the Asgard glowed blue. Samos keyed a few buttons a key pad on the projector and the hologram zoomed in on a white star.
"This is where we found the Aurora Class Battleship," Samos explained to the unknowing humans. "Derrin and I were checking out an uncharted star when we got hit by an asteroid. Harry was passing through the system and picked us up after receiving our distress call. After Harry started towards Hebridan we noticed the shipyards and felt obligated to check them out. It turns out that the Ancients left one of their most powerful ships in dry dock there when they ascended; at least that's what Harry theorized. Apparently it missed its intended date with a junkyard and the Ancients forgot about it. Either way it's ripe for the taking." The hologram shifted to show the Aurora Class in all its glory. It was several times larger than even the Galileo Class Earth ship.
"Sheesh buddy, you've had us flying around with millions of years old tech when there are ships like that out there!" Pixy laughed. "What's the hell wrong with you? We could probably have taken on a hundred Hataks with this baby!"
"As I said, we do not have enough people to work it!" Harry defended himself. "If we had the people I would've headed straight there. However, we don't have the people yet." Before he could speak further Derrin rushed into the room.
(End Chapter)
Funny, isn't it? Sorry I couldn't write more. I'm dead tired, had no more ideas and felt I should get a chapter up before I left. I'm trying out for Varsity Soccer at my High School and the coach is a slave driver. I practically collapsed half way through practice earlier and believe me when I say that I'm no pushover. I'm the fastest kid in my grade and am in pretty good shape. His drills were just awful though. I won't have much more time to write on this in the next week so enjoy what you've got while you've got it. Later…
PS: Even when I'm done I won't be writing this for a little while. I just got a great idea that won't leave me alone. It has to do with this story specifically but it won't be added here.