++++Here is the latest chapter. Sorry for the delay, but it's been a somewhat hectic week. I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for the overwhelmingly supportive feedback. It's overwhelming guys, and makes me feel great. Another chapter may be out sometime this weekend, but no promises. Enjoy the remainder of the week and have a good one!++++
Cheyenne Mountain, SGC
Lacking gate access after the Tauri replacement of the worlds of the Free Jaffa Nation's terrestrial gates with orbital models, Rak'nor's journey to Earth had taken more time than he had liked. Secreting away with a lone Al'kesh, Rak'nor had made the trip to the Tauri home world alone. Upon entry of the solar system of Earth, the Al'kesh was escorted to a safe orbit around one of the moons of Saturn while its occupant was beamed aboard a vessel of the Tauri fleet for transport to his end destination.
After many years of association with forces of the Tauri, Rak'nor had come to respect their abilities and power. They were a people he esteemed, much to the dislike of many of the more traditionalist valued Jaffa. Time and time again, these people had risked much so that his people could claim their freedom. With their assistance, he hoped that once more that freedom could be brought home for good.
Seated in the conference room above the gate room were Rak'nor and General Landry. After many hours of consultation with the White House and Home World Command it was decided to let General Landry proceed with negotiations between the Tauri and Jaffa. With his marching orders and talking points committed to memory, the General jumped right into the thick of it.
"I had assumed the negotiations were finalized with Ry'ac's visit to this world" stated Rak'nor.
"You assumed wrong. While we have agreed to assist you in bringing stability back to your people, we have a few demands in return" replied Landry.
"The people of the Jaffa are not as advanced as those of the Tauri. What could we have that your people do not already posses" inquired Rak'nor.
"While our two peoples battled the forces of the System Lords, we found one trend was constant from world to world. The System Lords employed vast numbers of human's to toil away laboring in mines, and other tasks of menial labor. Once the System Lords were defeated, nothing was ever said again about that human slave labor force. Knowing full well the raw materials the planets of the Free Jaffa Nation produce, we can only assume that those humans remain in their previous role. Yes or no" demanded Landry.
"The human populations of our worlds do conduct mining operations for us, yes" replied Rak'nor.
"Do they have their freedom? Are they accorded equal rights with Jaffa in the eyes of the government of the Free Jaffa Nation" asked Landry pointedly.
"No, they are not. As they are not Jaffa, they merit no such liberties" responded Rak'nor.
"And therein lays our problem. We have already pledged our assistance, but it will not be given to maintain a status quo we find to be unacceptable" countered Landry.
"What is it the Tauri seek in return then General" asked Rak'nor.
"I won't sit here and preach to you about our desire for freedom for these people. As you already know, those humans are descendants of those taken from this world long ago. We demand they live life without being property of any race. We ask that they be turned over into our care, along with the worlds they reside upon. Instead of demanding every planet inhabited by human life under your control, we are willing to accept relocation of multiple populations to a single world on a three to one ratio" replied Landry coolly.
"You ask that we give you planets and workers in return for your assistance in this matter? That is absurd" rebuked Rak'nor.
"Let me be very clear son; you need our help more than we need to give it. Without our help the Jaffa will spend the next fifty years tearing themselves apart, and in the end we will get what it is we seek. You demand ships, and we can provide those with ease. For every two Ha'tak's we provide, you in return will hand over a planet along with three worlds human populations" stated Landry.
"That demand is absurd" replied Rak'nor.
"No son, absurd is the Jaffa belief that you took down the System Lords on your own. Let me give you a little history lesson. Ra died at our hand. The one that replaced him was Apophis, and we brought him to his end also. After that Anubis came to power, and we defeated him and his entire fleet in orbit of our planet. Then came Ba'al, and we are all aware of how he came to his end again at our hands. These are just the major players; many of the lesser Goa'uld also fell at our hand. The last time I checked, the Jaffa hadn't managed to rid themselves of a single one. Would you agree or disagree with that" asked Landry.
"You make your point General" grudgingly admitted Rak'nor.
"The days of humanity toiling away while the Jaffa sit back and profit are at an end. One constant in the history of this galaxy seems to be humanity getting its hands dirty doing all the heavy lifting while the Jaffa reap the benefits. The arrogance of that! Many of your people seem to be of the mindset that they defeated the Goa'uld and ushered in freedom, and the Tauri were there also. That ends here" stated Landry with defiance.
"For every ten Ha'tak we are given, we will provide one world" countered Rak'nor.
"I don't think so. Let me be clear about something. You came to us, we didn't go to you. You need our assistance far more than we need to give it. In this circumstance, we set the tune to dance to. It's that simple. One planet, along with the total human populations of three worlds in exchange for every two Ha'tak we provide. That is the only offer we will accept. It's high time the Jaffa learned that an alliance is not one where only they benefit" replied Landry sternly.
"Then it seems that I have no choice but to agree to your demands. You will have your planets and humans as you wish in exchange for the vessels" replied Rak'nor.
"Very good, I thought you would come to see the light in that logic. The first five Ha'tak will be ready within seven days. I suggest you have our planets and people ready at that time" replied Landry.
"What of military assistance in the battle we find ourselves in" asked Rak'nor.
"Now you want military assistance as well. Imagine that. For that we will need much more than what we ask for the vessels we are providing" hinted Landry.
"You ask too much of us" complained Rak'nor.
"We ask what is fair and just. Before it was just ships, now you want us to help fight your battles for you. Might I remind you that our Ambassador was tortured and killed by your High Council? Commitment of military forces to this cause would require that all humans within the collected planets of the Free Jaffa Nation be placed in our care, along with their home worlds. On that point I'm afraid I have no room to bargain" said Landry.
"What you ask of us will severely diminish the sixe and standing of the Free Jaffa Nation. This is not acceptable" raged Rak'nor.
"Without our help I highly doubt a Free Jaffa Nation will ever again exist on its own" replied Landry.
"Then on behalf of my people I agree to your demands under protest" stated Rak'nor.
"Your protest is noted. Have a safe trip home" replied Landry.
Moments later Rak'nor vanished in a flash of light as he was transported to the orbiting 304. With a smile on his face Landry strolled down the stairs and into stargate operations. At a data terminal in the room a young Sergeant followed a track on his screen. Seeing the General enter, he looked towards him hoping to catch his attention.
"What is it Sergeant" asked Landry.
"Sir, we've got an unknown track in our sector. He arrived shortly after our guest did in the solar system. Currently the vessel is cloaked, but I think he may have seen activity around Arkos" stated the Sergeant.
"Arkos is heavily armed. Send word to the station. I'm sure they are tracking the target also, but lets play it safe" replied Landry.
"Target is jumping to hyperspace Sir" exclaimed the Sergeant.
Shambhala
Recent events had brought changes to the normal daily routine of the city. Disclosure of the program made possible the relocation of many academics and scientific personnel from Earth. Accompanied by their families, several thousand people had flowed in through the gate to begin making the new city their home. In this throng of newcomers was also an assortment being sent for another purpose.
In embassies around the world on Earth, many agencies maintained Attaché's for various functions. The newly assigned legal attaché of Shambhala was Special Agent Dan O'Dell, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accompanying him during his trip to the city was a forensic investigation team. Their assignment was to investigate the recent death of Chancellor Travell.
A thorough examination of the Chancellors body had revealed no signs of foul play. Further examination of her quarters had turned up nothing to suggest this was nothing more than a simple suicide. Her status as Chancellor, and the fact that she was on trial when she ended her life made a thorough examination of events surrounding her death a political necessity. Sitting in Camille Wray's office debating the investigative results uncovered so far was Wray, Doctor Bill Lee, and Special Agent O'Dell. At the moment they found themselves reviewing security feed footage of the last moments of Travell's life.
"You put a security camera in her quarters" asked O'Dell somewhat shocked.
"No Agent O'Dell, we did not" protested Wray.
"Then how did you come by this footage" demanded O'Dell.
"The city is laced with sensors. At any second the city is recording and evaluating everything that happens within it. Shambhala is sentient actually. She's watching everything and getting to know everyone. The neural interface is incredibly complex, and knows you better than you know yourself after a short time. Therein is the problem with this situation" answered Lee.
"And what problem is that Doctor" asked O'Dell.
"Shambhala has a prime directive to safeguard her inhabitants. Suicidal thoughts for example, would have been detected by the neural interface and the city would have reacted. Personnel would have been notified, and a lockdown protocol of the Chancellors quarters would have initiated, preventing her access to the balcony" replied Lee.
"Are you saying she was murdered" demanded Wray.
"Ok Doc, you lost me. I'm not a tech guy at all. Pretend for a moment that I didn't just learn about aliens and cities on other worlds" replied O'Dell.
"The Chancellor fell from her balcony, we all agree on that point. What I'm getting at is the city should have prevented her from ever getting to the balcony to jump in the first place. Once she jumped another protocol should have initiated to beam her to safety. In this case, neither of those two things happened. When I realized that I started to dig in the mainframe for answers" said Lee.
"What kind of answers are we talking about here" asked O'Dell.
"I was under the assumption that perhaps someone found a way to override the safety protocols, but that would mean someone knew she was going to jump. Then I started looking for evidence that the security footage may have been tampered with, but found none. That really stumped me for a minute until I started walking around the city" hinted Lee.
"Please explain Doctor" urged Wray.
"I think we can all agree that she wasn't the most popular woman in the city. At first I expected a sense of outrage or paranoia since she died in the middle of a trial, but I found nothing like that. Walking around the city I noticed that the Tollan's seemed relieved she took this route out. That really didn't make any sense to me at all" replied Lee.
"Are you going somewhere with this" asked O'Dell.
"Well, yes. After I saw their reactions, I went back and started digging in the mainframe again. The AI is sentient after all, and you can query it for answers. So that's what I did. Essentially, the city judged the effect and outcome if she jumped and decided that it was in the best interests of the city's population to allow her to do so" explained Lee.
"That's preposterous Bill" argued Wray.
"Um Doc, are you saying the city helped her kill herself" asked O'Dell.
"Yes and no. Look at the facts here. Had she been found guilty certain elements of the Tollan's would have been outraged. Had she been found innocent, other elements of the Tollan's would have been equally unhappy. By ending her life before a judgment could be reached, outrage on either side was averted. It had a calming effect for the Tollan's. The city knew that since she can monitor the inhabitants with the neural interface. The city in effect found the solution to keep the peace. Shambhala didn't so much kill Travell as it prevented her from being saved. If you look at it from a clinical perspective, as a machine would, it makes perfect sense" argued Lee.
"So are you or aren't you saying the city killed her Doc" asked O'Dell.
"This is ridiculous" raged Wray.
"Why don't we activate the AI's avatar and ask then" challenged Lee.
Thinking it over for a second, Wray was unsure how to proceed. On one hand she wanted answers, and on the other she feared the answers she might find. After a brief moment of thought, Wray entered the activation code into her Ipad to bring to life the avatar of Shambhala. Seconds later, shimmering into existence before them stood the female figure of Oma Desala.
"I thank you for activating my avatar Ms. Wray. I am Gaia, how may I assist you" asked the avatar.
"Gaia as in mother earth" asked O'Dell.
"Yes Special Agent O'Dell. It is the name and image selected for me by members of Stargate Command" replied Gaia kindly.
"Gaia, we have something we wish to discuss with you and we need answers. Will you please provide the answers we seek" asked Wray.
"Of Course I will. My purpose is to assist you in any way possible" replied Gaia.
"This is just neat" beamed Lee.
"Gaia, did you have any part in the events that ended Chancellor Travell's life" asked O'Dell.
"I did" responded the avatar.
"Great, we've got a homicidal AI. That's just perfect" gasped Wray.
"After evaluating the possible outcomes any verdict of the judicial proceedings against the Chancellor may have brought about, I came to the conclusion that a guilty and a not guilty verdict would lead to calamity for my inhabitants. As you are aware, my duty is to assure the safety and welfare of my inhabitants. When the Chancellor came to the conclusion that suicide was the path she wished to follow, I recalculated the possible outcomes. It was this recalculation that showed the most promising outcome" replied Gaia.
"So you helped a woman kill herself" thundered Wray.
"No, I don't think that's it at all. Think about it for a second. On Atlantis, if a biological contaminant is detected, the city goes into a lock down protective mode for the safety of the city. If a verdict would have brought about riots, then this is a similar safety measure" explained Lee.
"The Doctor is correct. The Chancellor's death while tragic was necessary. A verdict either way would have brought about conflict among the Tollan people and that conflict would have grown to encompass all who inhabit my halls. Her death alleviated the concern entirely. I initiated a security lockdown around the Chancellor to prevent interference of her end. This brought about peace and stability to the population. It was the only way" stated Gaia.
"So, while you didn't kill her you didn't exactly stop her, right" asked O'Dell.
"That is correct Special Agent O'Dell" responded the avatar.
"Then you're a part of this woman's death" shouted Wray.
"Her death was necessary to ensure the safety of the many other lives within my halls. The safety of the many outweighed the safety of the few. While I understand your outrage, I do ask that you understand the need to safeguard those who call this city home" replied Gaia patiently.
Dar Eshkalon
The planet known as Dar Eshkalon was a long time hub for the Jaffa resistance. During their rebellion, the Jaffa used the planet as a central meeting place and command post for operations around the planets of the System Lords. While the planet still rested in Jaffa hands, it was now the staging point for traditionalist forces in the ongoing Jaffa civil war.
Upon learning the fate that had befallen Yat'Yir, his underlings had gathered their followers and waged a war of attrition against progressive followers that supported Teal'c and his kind. As the battle raged on and grew to encompass other planets within the Jaffa sphere of influence, these underlings had retreated to the safety of Dar Eshkalon. Unknown to them upon their arrival, a small group of progressive followers also called the planet home. These progressives had waged a guerilla campaign against the traditionalists, but their numbers were beginning to dwindle.
The bulk of what remained of the traditionalist fleet sat on the open planes of the planet. Around these ships grew encampments of Jaffa. From within these encampments strategy on how to wage the ongoing civil war was formulated. It was also from these camps that orders were disseminated to traditionalist forces around the scattered planets of the war torn nation.
Ry'ac, on his clandestine visit to Earth, had informed the Tauri of the location of traditionalist leaders. With this location in hand, the Tauri decided to seek out more intelligence on what they faced on their own, without informing the progressives of this. To that end, a craft life few others had been deployed. Recently built, and of a new design, this craft was a similar in size to an Al'kesh. Looking much like an arrowhead, this craft was filled with the latest in signals intercept gear the Tauri and Asgard had at their disposal.
Belonging to the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, this craft was known as the Rivet Joint. Much like her predecessors used during the Cold War, this iteration of the Rivet Joint was designed to ferret out any and all signals for study and analysis. The equipment onboard was capable of capturing any and all electromagnetic transmissions, subspace broadcasts, and possessed the ability to monitor and interpret the minuet traces of radiation that emanated from a display screens buffer. This last capability made possible the interception of data being viewed within the encampment below, without the need to place monitoring devices on the data terminals themselves.
Inside the Rivet Joint were two pilots and ten signals intercept officers. These officers had cut their teeth at their chosen profession by monitoring the signals traffic of many nations on Earth. Now they were being put to their first real off world challenge. The information they succeeded or failed in generating would help determine fleet and ground force actions for Tauri forces. The ten intercept officers knew that national policy and military service members lives hung on the outcome of their mission.
Upon exiting hyperspace near Dar Eshkalon two days before, with their cloak engaged, the Rivet Joint had silently sat in orbit. Her ultra sensitive monitoring gear searching out any and all traces of generated signal, but finding few compared to what one might find off the coast of China for example. To the dismay of the radio intercept officers, the Jaffa made no use at all of radio signals unlike the Tauri. The subspace monitoring specialists though soon found themselves afloat in a sea of unencrypted video traffic. This traffic was recorded and cataloged in the massive data storage banks of the craft.
Deciding that the take of thus far intercepted traffic was simply not enough, the Rivet Joint descended into the atmosphere of Dar Eshkalon. Settling into a stable hover over the dense forest one mile from the edges of the traditionalist encampment, the "take" soon skyrocketed. As data terminals within the camp and aboard the vessels on the ground were used, intercept officers detected and recorded the unique radiation signals from the data screens buffers. Later, elements of the National Security Agency with experience in matters of Goa'uld technology, would reconstruct these recorded signatures into readable screens of data.
The intercept officers were not the only ones busy during this time. The pilots had standing mission objectives of their own, beyond simply flying the craft. Using the same sensors found on ancient designed puddle jumpers, the two pilots began to map out the camps, weapons present, and number of individuals calling this camp home. Along with these readings, a complex biometric scan was also taking place. This scan would provide detailed DNA evaluation of all those present within the encampment. This data would later be cross-referenced with DNA findings taken during the Lucian Alliance plague attack upon the Free Jaffa Nation. Identities of those at this camp would soon be known, and shared with the progressive Jaffa forces. While these scans were conducted, the two pilots chatted away in the cockpit of the Rivet Joint.
"Figure we'll be done in another twenty four hours" said the pilot in command.
"That works for me. I've got a date with that hot checkout girl from the commissary" said the copilot with a wide grin.
"Oh she's hot! Nicely done" said the pilot with a laugh.
"You flew F-16's before this right" asked the copilot.
"Yeah, I came up in the Falcon. Nice bird to fly" replied the pilot.
"Ever miss it" asked the copilot.
"I used to. Now, I'm sitting in a space ship, reading some guys DNA signature while guys in the back read his email. This is much cooler" answered the pilot with a laugh.
"Beats flying for United any day" agreed the copilot.
M3S-419
In the Borealis database, the planet was known as M3S-419. Having a toxic atmosphere incapable of supporting even the most basic forms of life, the planet was uninhabited and singularly lacking in life. For this reason, the ancients chose this planet to build the underground facility that Janus had clued the Borealis expedition in on.
After verifying the facility was intact and free of danger by Lieutenant Scott's team, Daniel Jackson had ordered other teams through the stargate to scout the sprawling complex. Wishing to join in on the discovery, Daniel had selected a few expedition members to accompany him to the newly discovered prize that awaited. Recognizing her genius from the moment they met, Chloe was an obvious choice for Jackson. After receiving word from one of the scouting teams that the data found in the facility appeared to be medical in nature, TJ was soon invited along.
With TJ firmly ensconced at a data terminal, Daniel and Chloe began to wonder the empty halls of the facility. For many hours the duo explored the in and outs of the rooms they encountered. Sadly, none of the rooms lent any evidence as to the purpose of the facility. The mystery began to deepen to untold and frustrating heights as the radio sounded.
"Doctor Jackson, this is TJ. Can you come to my location? I may have found something but it doesn't make any sense" TJ said over the radio.
"We're on the way. What did you find" asked Daniel.
"I've found an entire section within the database on chromatin proteins and histones reorganization" replied TJ.
"TJ, I'm a doctor, but not that kind of doctor. I'm going to need you to explain that a bit" replied Daniel.
"Basically, this deals with DNA structures" replied TJ.
"OK, we're coming to you. Be there in a few minutes" said Daniel quickly.
Daniel excitedly motioned for Chloe to follow him. As the two quickly retraced their path through the complex, Daniel began to mutter quietly to himself. Not knowing what was happening, Chloe began to worry slightly.
"Are you ok" she asked.
"Yeah, great in fact. Why do you ask" asked Daniel in return.
"Well, you are talking to yourself" Chloe explained.
"Sorry, I do that when I'm thinking sometimes. I think I might know what this place is" replied Daniel.
"Care to fill me in" asked Chloe.
"Did you watch the tapes I made for new SGC members" asked Daniel.
"Oh, those. Um, yeah" she responded somewhat uncomfortably.
"You thought they were bad too. And no, that isn't a question. Didn't anyone like those things" Daniel asked more to himself than anything.
"They were informative though" answered Chloe with an awkward smile.
"Yeah, right" replied Daniel skeptically.
"No really, they were. So what am I missing" asked Chloe.
"Ok, in the Milky Way the ancients after suffering a great plague used a device to reseed the galaxy with life. That device we found on Dakara, and it came in handy a number of times before it was destroyed. When the ancients arrived in Pegasus, they seeded the galaxy with life. So we always knew that a device like the one in the Milky Way was here somewhere, we just didn't know where to look. We didn't even find a reference to it in the Atlantis database, and trust me we looked. I think we're standing in the facility where that device is" excitedly explained Daniel.
"Um, neat I guess" replied Chloe.
"Try not to get too excited" replied Daniel while rolling his eyes.
Several moments later, the two arrived at TJ's location. Standing beside TJ was Master Sergeant Ronald Greer. The two were chatting and laughing about something when they noticed Jackson and Chloe's arrival.
"TJ, search the database for pulse wave transmission and tell me what you come up with" ordered Jackson.
With a few quick keystrokes TJ began her search. Within second's page after page of ancient text appeared on the screen. Along with the text came diagrams of a large wave emitter, and other technical specifications.
"I knew it! I was right, and that's so nice when it works out that way" exclaimed Daniel.
"Right about what Doctor Jackson" asked Greer.
"This facility is what the ancients used to seed life throughout the galaxy" explained Daniel.
"That's better than a boom box" commented Greer offhandedly.
"So let me get this right. This facility spread life throughout Pegasus" asked TJ.
"Yep, pretty much" replied Daniel while looked at the pages of data.
"How sure are you of that" asked TJ.
"Oh he's pretty sure" replied Chloe.
"Yep, what she said" said Daniel rapidly.
"It was in the tapes" added Chloe.
"Oh, the tapes" said TJ grimacing.
"The tapes, great" added Greer with a forced smile.
"Really guys? Were the tapes that bad" demanded Daniel.
"Um, well, uh" could be heard from the group.
"Oh come on! Were they that bad" again demanded Daniel.
"Yes" came the reply in unison.
"You know what; I don't even want to talk to any of you right now. Dial the gate, I'm going home" ordered Daniel with a somewhat dejected tone.
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