Somewhere in dark space
It was peaceful and quiet in the uncharted section of the Milky Way galaxy. The stars were shining, bringing light into space but it was still dark and motionless, a perfect place to enjoy from infinity.
But the moment of silence was suddenly broken when a huge ship appeared out of nowhere, this ship was the UNSA vessel called Retribution. As soon as they dropped out of FTL, Reyes and his crew took a look at the area of space they were in.
"Where are we?" Reyes asked.
Jason checked the map on the holo table but it said 'unknown'.
"I don't know, sir. The ship's computer doesn't recognize this system," Jason said.
"But the good news is that we're still in one piece and the ship's systems and engines are intact," Jake said after checking the readings from the computer.
"That's good to hear but what is our current location?" Reyes asked.
Jason pressed a few buttons and the holo map expanded showing the map of the whole Milky Way galaxy. After the computer did its calculations, it estimated that they were currently somewhere in the Orion-Cygnus.
"The computer says that we're somewhere in the Orion-Cygnus system," Jason said.
"Meaning?" Salter asked.
"Meaning that even though we're light-years away from Earth, we're still pretty close to our solar system," Jake explained as he checked the map.
"So, we can jump back home even from here?" Reyes asked.
"If these readings are correct, yeah," Jake confirmed.
"What do you think, Ethan?" Salter asked.
"I can confirm Connor and O'Neill's claims. The calculations and the ship's condition supports it," Ethan said.
"So, we're not in any danger?" Reyes asked.
"No, at least not at the moment, sir," Ethan said.
Reyes and the others looked at the map for a moment until they decided to explore the system they were in.
"Are there any planets nearby?" Reyes asked.
Jason adjusted the map a little but it didn't show any planets near their location. But the ship's radar did pick up a faint energy signal that wasn't far away.
"The computer says that there aren't any planets nearby but the ship's radar did pick up a faint energy signal," Jason said.
"Can we trace it?" Salter asked.
"The signal is pretty weak but I think we can trace it," Jason said.
"Alright, set a course to that signal," Reyes ordered."
"Aye aye, sir," the navigator said.
When the coordinates of the signal were set into the nav computer, the Retribution began to fly towards the area of space where the signal was coming from.
Meanwhile in the Southern Water Tribe
When the morning came, the members of the water tribe woke up and began to do their morning routines. After they ate their breakfast, the people in the village began their works. All of them except Korra who was sleeping with Naga on top of the snowy hill where she watched the stars last night.
But when she woke up, she suddenly gasped.
"Oh my goodness! I slept here on the hill the whole night. My parents must be worried sick right now," Korra panicked.
She quickly woke up Naga and got on her back.
"I'm sorry, girl. But we've got to hurry," Korra said as she gently patted Naga's head.
Naga let out a happy sweet sound before running towards the Water Tribe village. Luckily it only took a few minutes until Korra and Naga reached the village and got to Korra's hut. After Korra got off of Naga and gave her a little piece of meat as breakfast, she entered the hut and went to the kitchen where her parents were waiting.
"Korra," Tonraq said.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," Korra apologized.
"What do you mean, Korra? You aren't late," Senna said with a smile.
"What?" Korra asked feeling confused now.
"I think your mother is saying that you weren't late at all. We only waited here for a minute," Tonraq said.
"Besides, you're just in time for breakfast," Senna added.
Korra let out a sigh of relief that she wasn't in trouble. Even though it's been only a few weeks since she defeated Amon and the Equalists, Korra still wanted to spend time with her parents before going back to Republic City.
"Well, in that case. Let's not let the food cool down," Korra said happily which made her parents smile.
Meanwhile in space
The Retribution has been flying in dark space for some time now and was getting closer to the signal but there wasn't any sign of what was transmitting the signal. While Reyes and his officers were looking outside from the bridge, they couldn't help but think about what they may find.
"What do you think we will find when we reach the location of the signal?" Reyes asked.
"To be honest, sir. I don't know," Jason said.
"It kind of scares me to think what we may find," Salter said.
"Well, whatever we find, I just hope that it's friendly," Jake said.
"You think what we may find is hostile?" Salter asked.
"It's a possibility," Jake said.
The team thought about it and realized that some things they'll find may not be friendly.
"Well-" Reyes tried to say before Ethan spoke.
"If I may, sir. We do have the first-contact protocol," Ethan said.
"We do?" Reyes asked.
"Yes, sir," Ethan confirmed.
"And what it is exactly?" Jason asked.
"Well, it's actually a long list of rules but one of them suiting this situation is that we are not to use deadly force unless the hostile intent is clear," Ethan said.
But before they could continue their conversation, one of the navigators called for them.
"Captain, there's something up ahead," the navigator said.
"What is it?" Salter asked.
"I don't know, ma'am. It's too dark out there," the navigator said.
"Turn on the lights," Reyes ordered.
The navigator did as Reyes ordered and turned on the ship's lights to get a better look at what was in front of the ship. But as soon as the lights were turned on, the crew on the bridge became horrified. In front of them was a large group of wrecks of alien ships. Some of them were different but most of them looked like pyramids (Goa'uld Ha'tak ships).
But it wasn't just the fact that the crew found proof of the existence of aliens, the officers on the bridge were very concerned right now because there were hundreds of wrecks. Some of them were blown to bits while others were intact but had some damage on them.
"My god. What could've done this?" Reyes said as he looked at the wrecks.
"There must be hundreds of them," Salter said.
"I guess we just found proof that aliens do exist," Jake said.
"But I think the biggest question is. Is whatever did this still around here?" Jason asked.
That was the question that made everyone on the bridge feel like their skin crawled or turned pale. But while they were flying past the countless wrecks, something below the ship started moving. The creature simply stayed out of sight and stalked the Retribution while it was flying.
The sudden movement didn't go unnoticed by radar and Ethan alerted Reyes and the others.
"Captain, we have a situation," Ethan said.
"What is it, Ethan?" Reyes asked.
"The radar is detecting movement near our location," Ethan said.
"Can you identify it?" Jason asked.
"Negative, sir. But there is something strange about it," Ethan said.
"What is it?" Salter asked.
"It's the signal we've been tracking," Ethan told them.
This caught the officers completely off guard. They never expected that the signal they've been tracking would be moving when they got close to it.
"What about the signal? Can identify it at least?" Jake asked.
"Negative, sir. But the signal is stronger now. Almost like it has been dormant until we showed up," Ethan said.
What Ethan told them raised more questions than answered. Why would something be out in the middle of nowhere destroying ships and for what reason? But while the crew on the bridge were trying to come up with any possible explanations and theories, whatever that just woke up was following the ship from the darkness of space.
Meanwhile with Korra and her parents
After breakfast, Korra went outside where her friends were. They arrived recently from Republic City to come to see how Korra was doing after the whole Equalist incident that occurred a few weeks ago.
"Hi everyone," Korra greeted.
"Hello Korra," Asami said.
"Good to see you again, Korra," Mako said.
"Hey, long time no see," Bolin said.
"But it has only been a few weeks," Korra said.
"Yeah, but we still missed you," Bolin said.
Korra couldn't help but smile and then pulled her friends into a group hug. She really did miss her friends even though her mind was somewhere else during these weeks she was away from the city. After the four friends broke the hug, they looked at each other with smiles on their faces.
"It's good to see you again, guys," Korra said happily.
"You too, Korra," Asami said.
"Not that I don't like you being here but why did you come?" Korra asked politely.
"We wanted to come to check how you were doing," Mako said.
"And also to make sure we didn't lose a valuable member of the Fire Ferrets," Bolin said making everyone facepalm. "What?"
"I think what Bolin is trying to say that it's not the same in the city without you. You're important to us," Asami said making Korra tear up a little.
"Thanks, guys. You're the best," Korra said as she pulled her friends into another hug they gladly returned.
Meanwhile in space
While the Retribution was flying past the wrecks of ships, the mysterious creature that was following them kept stalking it by moving quietly behind the wrecks. But the crew on the bridge were able to track the creature's movements because of the signal it was transmitting.
"Sir, the signal is still following us but it's keeping its distance," the navigator said as he was keeping an eye on the radar.
"Captain, we're picking up a sound coming from space," Ethan said.
"Connect it to the loudspeakers," Reyes ordered.
As soon as Ethan put the sound into the loudspeakers, the crew heard a strange, almost animal-like sound but it also sounded metallic or mechanic.
"What the hell is that?" Jake asked.
"I have absolutely no idea, lieutenant," Ethan said.
"I think it's coming from the wrecks around us," Salter said.
"Is it just me or is it getting louder?" Jason asked.
Everyone on the bridge stood quietly while listening to the strange sound until it suddenly disappeared. The crew tried to find out what just happened but all they heard now was nothing but the silence of space.
"It's gone," Salter said.
"Sir, the signal is right in front of us," Ethan said.
"What? Take evasive action and-"
Reyes couldn't finish when something hit the front side of the ship, knocking it off course. The pilots and navigators tried to regain control of the ship but whatever hit them hit them again knocking them further away. When Reyes and others looked outside, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Some distance away from the ship was a huge lobster-like mechanical creature with two red eyes (Leviathan from Atlantis the Lost Empire). The crew was so shocked and frightened by what they were seeing but didn't have time to get used to it when the creature started attacking again.
"What the hell is that?!" Jake asked.
"I don't know but I think we have time to find out!" Jason said.
"It's gonna tear this ship apart, captain!" Salter said.
But they were suddenly knocked on the floor when the Leviathan hit the ship again with its gigantic pincer. Reyes had enough of them being kicked around like a football and gave the crew the order to get into battle stations.
"That's it! Sound the alarm and get to battle stations!" Reyes ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Salter said.
While Salter was helping the technicians to activate the ship's shields and weapons, Reyes turned to Jason and Jake.
"Connor, O'Neill! Take the squadron of Jackals and hit that thing with everything you got!" Reyes ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Jason and Jake said before heading to the hangar.
When they got to the hangar, they ordered all available pilots to get to their fighter jets. They also instructed the aircraft handlers to arm the jackals with missiles and energy weapons they thought would be effective against the Leviathan.
When Jason and Jake put on their SCAR space suits (the same ones with US flags that Reyes uses except Jason and Jake wear a balaclava under their helmets), they ran toward their Jackals while the aircraft handlers were arming them with weapons they requested.
"So, what's the plan? Other than hitting that thing with everything we got," Jake asked.
"I got a good look at that thing. It has some sort of heavy armor so our main option is to focus fire," Jason said.
"What about weaknesses? Does it have any of those?" Jake asked.
"I'm not sure but the only weakness I can guess is its eyes," Jason said.
"I think I know what you're trying to say. If we focus fire on the creature's eyes, we might blow up its head in the process," Jake said.
"That's the idea," Jason confirmed.
But when Jason and Jake got to their Jackals along with other pilots, the Leviathan grabbed the Retribution with its giant pincer. As the crew on the bridge was getting on their feet, they suddenly froze in fear as a huge red mechanical eye was watching them through the window. No one said anything until Ethan spoke.
"Well, I guess this confirms that this thing is actually a huge machine," Ethan said.
"This is really not the time, Ethan," Salter said.
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted when Reyes received a radio call from Jason.
"Captain, we're in our Jackals and ready for launch," Jason said.
"Understood, stand by," Reyes said.
After he closed the radio, he turned to Salter who was sitting in front of the control panel waiting for Reyes's orders.
"Launch the Jackals," Reyes ordered.
"Yes, captain," Salter said.
She pressed a button and opened the launch doors. When the doors were open and the engines charged, the Jackals were launched from the Retribution into space. The Jackals flew a little distance away from the ship and made a circle before turning and flying towards the Leviathan. When they were close enough, the fighters' weapons were locked on Leviathan.
"We have a lock," Jake said.
"Fire at will," Jason ordered.
After Jason gave the order to fire, the Jackels fired their missiles at the Leviathan. When the missiles hit and exploded on the Leviathan's back, it released the Retribution. When their ship was free, the Jackals switched from missiles to their energy guns and cannons and started firing at the leviathan.
"We're free, sir," Salter said.
"Connor and the fighters are luring the creature away from us," Ethan said.
"They need our help. Full speed ahead and ready weapons," Reyes ordered.
"Aye aye, sir," the technician said.
While the Retribution was coming to help them, the Jackals had a hard time dealing with the Leviathan. The energy turrets and cannons were doing some damage but Leviathan's armor so thick that a couple of shots weren't doing much good to the pilots.
They were able to dodge the giant machine's attacks and fire back but the more they tried to destroy it, the angrier the Leviathan became. Jason and the others kept fighting until they received a radio call from Reyes.
"Connor, are you there?" Reyes asked.
"I'm a little busy now, sir," Jason said.
"Withdraw immediately. We're preparing to fire," Reyes said.
"Yes, sir. We're on it," Jason said.
After he told the pilots their new orders, the Jackals got out of the way leaving the Leviathan for Retribution. When the ship's weapons were ready and aimed at the charging Leviathan, the Retribution fired its plasma beam weapons (the Asgard plasma beam weapons from the Stargate series).
The plasma beams hit the Leviathan causing huge damage to its armor leaving a huge scratch that was sparking with electricity. Now that it was really pissed off, the Leviathan fired an electrical energy beam that impacted the Retribution's shields (the Asgard shields from the Stargate series).
The shield withstood the beam but many systems onboard the ship short-circuited and started sparking.
"What's happening?!" Reyes asked.
"Many of the ship's systems short-circuited, sir. Most of our systems are down," Ethan said.
"Can we fire again?" Reyes asked.
"Negative, we lost our weapons," Ethan said.
Jason and the others saw what situation Reyes and the others were in and what made things worse was that the Leviathan was preparing to use its energy weapons again.
"Jason, that thing is preparing to fire again at the Retribution," Jake said.
"We'll have to stop it," Jason said.
"How? Our weapons didn't even leave a scratch on that thing," one of the pilots said.
Jason was thinking about their options but it didn't look good. He thought about what they should do to prevent the Leviathan from destroying the Retribution until he got an idea.
"I got it!" Jason said.
"What? You got what?" Jake asked.
"We'll use that thing's weapon against it," Jason said.
"How?" One of the pilots asked.
"We'll fly close to that thing without its noticing. Then we ready our energy cannons and when the creature's energy weapon is fully charged, we'll fire our weapons at it," Jason explained.
"And our energy blasts would overload and detonate the creature's energy weapon before it can fire," Jake explained the rest realizing Jason's plan.
"Exactly," Jason confirmed.
"But if this works, the explosion could be huge," one of the pilots said.
"Retribution's shields will withstand it," Jason said.
"What about us?" Another pilot asked.
"We'll fire from the safe distance," Jake said.
"I'm not saying that this plan isn't risky but it's the only way to take down that thing and save the Retribution," Jason said.
The pilots knew that there was no other way so they nodded and began flying towards the Leviathan. Luckily it was focused on the Retribution at the moment so it didn't saw them coming.
While the Leviathan was preparing to fire, Jason and the others were almost in their positions.
"Remember, fire only when I give the order," Jason said.
"Yes, sir," the pilots said.
Jason and the others aimed their energy cannons (GAMP .385 Anvil) at the Leviathan's wires on its face and waited for it to fire. It didn't take long until it decided to fire and the Leviathan charged its energy weapon. But when it was fully charged, Jason gave the order to fire.
"Fire!" Jason yelled.
All Jackals fired their energy cannons at the energy ball that was forming at the Leviathan's mouth and when the blasts hit it, the worst happened. The energy ball at the Leviathan's mouth exploded which also blew up the Leviathan's head to pieces, but it didn't end there. After the head exploded, the rest of the Leviathan's body began to explode as well. It didn't take long until the Leviathan's whole body blew up and the shock wave pushed the Jackals away, knocking out the pilots.
Later after the battle
Jason felt like he had just died after he lost consciousness but he didn't see any light so he assumed that he wasn't dead. After what like a century, Jason began to wake up but he still felt pretty weak. When he slowly opened his eyes, he carefully got up and took a look around.
He noticed that he was in the Retribution's infirmary which meant that the ship and its crew survived the battle with the Leviathan. Jason also noticed that he wasn't alone in the infirmary. He saw other patients he recognized as Jackal pilots he commanded in the battle and luckily they were still alive and none of the pilots from the squadron were missing which meant that there were no casualties from the squadron either.
Jason was about to get on his feet until a woman named Dr. Janet Fraiser (from Stargate SG-1) walked to him.
"Easy now, lieutenant. You and your pilots have been unconscious for three hours now," Janet said.
"Three hours? What about the others, are they alright?" Jason asked.
"Don't worry, lieutenant. Everyone is alright and recovering. They'll be back in action in no time," Janet said.
Jason sighed in relief that no one from the crew or his squadron was killed in the battle with the Leviathan. He was about to ask another question regarding his teammates until First Officer Salter along with Staff Sergeant Sean Brooks arrived in the infirmary.
"Hey, doc. How are our patients?" Salter asked.
"Connor and O'Neill are awake and seem to be well but the rest of the pilots still need rest," Janet said.
"Hold on a second. Jake woke up before me?" Jason asked.
"Yes, he's on the bridge with the captain and others on the bridge," Salter told Jason.
"I can't believe it. Does it have anything to do with the fact that he's a year younger than me?" Jason asked.
"Well, everyone has a different level of resistance. Some wake up early and some later," Brooks said.
"Uh, I don't think we have met. Who are you?" Jason asked politely.
"This is Staff Sergeant Sean Brooks, the commander of the SATO marines of Retribution. He's also one of the four survivors along with me who survived the attack on the SDF shipyard," Salter said introducing Brooks to Jason.
"It's an honor to meet you, sergeant," Jason said as he and Brooks shook hands.
"Likewise, sir," Brooks said.
"I hate to break the moment but the captain is waiting for us," Salter said.
Both men nodded and left the infirmary heading towards the bridge. But while they were walking there, they came across Erwin Kloos who was the chief engineer and aircraft handler. He was also another survivor along with Salter and Brooks.
"Oh, Lieutenant Connor. I have some good news for you, sir," Erwin said.
"Really? What?" Jason asked.
"Although the blast short-circuited some of the Jackals' system after the explosion, they're still in one piece. And with luck, they'll be fixed and operational in a few days," Erwin said as he showed the results of the repairs from his tablet.
"That's good to hear. Keep up the good work," Jason said.
"Aye aye, sir," Erwin said before going back to the hangar.
It didn't take long until Jason and the others arrived at the bridge Reyes and the others were waiting.
"Ah, Connor. It's good to see you back on your feet," Reyes said.
"Likewise, sir," Jason said.
"I just didn't think that I'd wake up before you," Jake said with a smirk.
"Shut up," Jason said.
The crew on the bridge couldn't help but laugh a little at Jake's joke. After they got over it, they got back to the serious matter.
"So, what's the status of the ship?" Reyes asked.
"The ship is intact but several of our systems are still down," Jake said.
"But you can fix them, right?" Reyes asked.
"Yes, but not here," Jake said.
"What do you mean?" Jason asked.
"If we want to fully repair the ship and its systems, we'll have to land the ship," Jake said.
"But I thought we can't land the Retribution," Salter said.
"Not during the war with the SDF. But we can land it now because the landing capability was one of the upgrades it received during the repairs," Jake explained.
The team looked at each other for a moment and agreed with Jake's proposal.
"Alright, but where do we land this thing?" Reyes asked.
"Well, the good place would a habitable planet," Jake said.
"But are there any near our location?" Jason asked.
"The sensors indicate that there is at least one planet near our location," Ethan said.
"Is it habitable one?" Salter asked.
"Unknown," Ethan said.
"But can't we go back to Earth?" Brooks asked.
"Unfortunately, we can't because the systems we need to activate the FTL drive are still down," Jake said.
"So, the only way to survive this is to get to that planet and land the ship so we can repair it," Jason said.
"Exactly," Jake confirmed.
The team now had a solution to their current problem but there still one question, how long was it gonna take for them to reach the planet where they can conduct the full repairs of the ship.
"Ethan, how long is it gonna take until we reach the planet you talked about?" Reyes asked.
"According to my calculations, three days without the FTL," Ethan said.
Reyes and the others weren't sure if it was a good idea to adrift in space for three days until they reach the planet near them. The other problem was that they didn't know if the planet the sensors detected was a habitable one.
But they didn't have much of a choice. If they wanted to fully repair their ship, they had to go to the planet in range, it was the only way for them to survive. After Reyes thought about it long enough, he decided to go with Jake and Ethan's suggestion.
"Alright, get us there," Reyes said.
"Yes, sir," Jake and Ethan said before walking to the navigation computer to set a new course.
While the crew was doing their duties, Reyes looked outside into space and wondered what they were getting themselves into. He and the rest of the crew volunteered for this mission to explore the galaxy and knew that it wasn't gonna be easy but this was something they never expected, not even in million years.
"Just what we are getting ourselves into?" Reyes thought.