Everyone please pay close attention to this chapter as it could get a little confusing in places.
I dedicate this chapter to PenguinBoy for his insightful suggestion regarding character development.
September 19, 1999
Einherjar
Alloy doors opened for him as he waved his hand. 'The Colonel' entered the science lab aboard the battleship Einherjar, curious for one of the few times in his life. After several hundred Asgard-Ancients joined the 'Alliance' (nickname for Harry's organization; it doesn't have a real name yet) a portion of about thirty split off to become scientists and engineers. A group had been working on modifying different pieces of technology for a little over a month with little success until now. This was what intrigued him. He had expressed a desire to create a conventional weapon that would serve as the standard battle rifle for the Alliance but would also give his men a solid backdrop for their combat missions, something that wouldn't quit on them when they needed it the most. He had presented the design team with everything they had asked for, be it laser sights or pistols and after a month of solid research they had produced something.
A tall dark-haired A-A approached the Colonel, nodding his head. "Colonel Potter, I'm glad that you have arrived. The prototype weapon that you have ordered is almost ready. We believed that you would like to see the preliminary testing stage."
"You're right," Harry nodded. "Where is it Grid?" Grid turned around and picked up an object off a counter and presented it to the Colonel. Harry raised an eyebrow; the weapon looked like a weapon he'd seen several years ago, an HK33, albeit being modified.
"I see that you recognize it," Grid nodded. "We used the HK33 Assault Rifle you provided for us as a basis for this variant. While it looks similar it is completely different. The AGRX-1 (Advanced General Rifle eXperimental) has a thirty round magazine congruent with the 33. The rifle uses an anti-gravity propulsion system that can accelerate the bullet to an extremely high speed without jostling it as a black powder explosive would, giving it a much more even flight. The sights use modified range-finder technology that you allotted us to determine exactly what amount of power should be used to fire the weapon accurately. This combined with built-in x4, x8 and x16 magnification gives the X-1 an effective range of almost 4000 meters."
"This is fantastic," Harry gushed, absorbing the information.
"We hope to have the weapon ready for full production within two weeks, Colonel," Grid nodded in satisfaction.
"What about the other weapon variants?" Harry inquired, referring to the other designs he'd requested.
"There is a team set aside that is working on the Sniper design, sir," Grid explained. "They are working well. I received a report earlier today that said that they had a basic design prepared but are weeks away from actual testing. We have not yet been able to examine the other weapons that you wish for us to build as the rifle was top priority."
"I understand completely," Harry nodded. He activated the radio wrapped around his ear. "Samos, this Colonel. I'm down at R&D. They've just shown me the new rifle design. It's just like the HK33. Switch over the Intar designs to that configuration for me, okay? Thanks, Colonel out."
September 20, 1999
The lights, dimmed somewhat from usual, gave the room an eerie look as the eight men glanced at each other, trying to glean information. No one spoke and, no matter how much they tried, simply couldn't get the information that they wanted from one of the others. The mental battle had been waged for a half an hour without anyone else being the wiser and with no one taking an upper hand. Eventually they all looked at one man at the edge of the table, dreading his next words.
"Call…" Chips flew into the center of the table and more cards were dealt. With the river flowing, the three players turned their cards.
"Oh come on; how'd you get a straight?!" Mark cried, standing up and pointing at Nathan.
"Don't work Mark, you still won," Larry joked. The computer specialist stared at him. "A flush beats a straight. Sorry Nathan, you're out sixty bucks." He chuckled some more; he was out sixty too but no one called him on it.
"Okay, Mark's chip leader, next hand," Sam ushered them along and dealt out the next cards. Larry and Joshua folded immediately with Nathan and Harry taking some time before following them. When everyone else called Sam dealt three more cards. "Hey, Colonel, you have to head back to Earth soon, right?" Harry nodded, taking a sip of a beer that he'd bought on his last trip home. Everyone had a bottle on the table alongside the remains of a half-eaten meal. "Well, we were thinking that we'd all go back with you. What do you think?"
"Guys, it's your home planet," Harry said incredulously. "You can go back home whenever you want. You don't even have to come back, just clear it with me first. I've got more than enough replacements for all of you if you want a different team."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I said nothing about transferring," Sam said hastily, speaking the minds of everyone at the table. "I just meant that it would be nice to go back and maybe eat some non-beam-magicky-thingamagiged food for a change. Why would I give up command of the best Company on the ship?"
"You lost in desert warfare," Mark reminded. "Regardless, he's right. You've got the best chance of taking the Goa'uld down in the galaxy and I'm not giving that up." SG-13 nodded in approval.
Harry stared at the men he'd worked with for months, the men he'd been through, and won, a war with; the best soldiers in the Galaxy. "Thanks guys, that really means a lot to me." His grateful expression turned evil with a smirk. "However, Sam, for thinking that your Company could ever beat Harry's Hoplites…" he paused for dramatic effect before reaching out at taking his beer. "You have to skip this round." The others cracked up with Larry spewing half-eaten beef across Mark's laughing face. Harry just smiled and chugged the rest of Sam's beer before throwing the bottle across the room, expertly landing it in a garbage chute. Josh and Nathan cheered, slamming their beers together and taking equally impressive chugs and missing the garbage chute completely.
"New rule; you have to be drunk to shoot for the garbage chute," Larry laughed as he bent down and pulled several more bottles of beer from under the table. He cracked up as he passed them around. "Guys, hey guys; Ninety-five bottles of beer on the wall," he hurled a bottle at one of the walls, shattering it completely, "Ninety-five bottles of beer! Take one out, smash it about, three more bottles of beer on the wall!" The rest of the team joined in the drunken debauchery and partied late into the night.
Ten Years Later
2010
Harry watched the holo-screen before him, distaste evident on his face. War had done much to change him. The happy-go-lucky Lieutenant Colonel didn't exist anymore. Only the cold hearted AWOL full-bird remained; a remnant of a bloody past. The tinges of a brown and gray beard crept out of his face below his hollow decrepit eyes, bagged from lack of sleep. He scowled as he listened to 'President' Kinsey prattle about how thankful he was that SG-1 had met the Ashen and that without them the galaxy would be far different than what it was today. Ironic; he remembered a day several years ago in which Kinsey had argued that the team should be disbanded… along with every other SG-Team.
The man snorted, taking a long drink from the glass in his hand. The few people on the bridge glanced between each other warily, uncertain if their commander would explode again today as he did on several other occasions when reminders of his past came up. Of the original thousand soldiers aboard the ship a decade before only a hundred remained; people who had no where else to go. After all, the Goa'uld had been defeated along with all other enemies. No one required the elite services of the former Harry's Hoplites anymore. Harry snorted again as his old team, SG-1, were all lauded as heroes and brandished with medals for extraordinary service. He stood and walked from the bridge of the Einherjar, breath stinking of alcohol.
Marius Greene watched him go. Marius was the last of Harry's original platoon commanders left on the ship, now leader of the only company. He was also, coincidentally, the closest thing the Colonel could call a friend anymore. All of his old ones were gone or buried. From the moment Earth formed an alliance with the Ashen Harry had been against it, causing him to butt heads with his Team on many occasions. Harry ordered Guerilla Attacks against the Ashen almost weekly. There got to be a point when his team couldn't take it and disbanded, heading back to Earth. They were the ones that were gone. Nathan, Marcus and Larry were the ones who stayed. They were the ones that were buried.
So it goes…
Nathan had died in the first stages of the war, saving his company from an ambush on Chulak; a hero's death that saved hundreds of lives. It did, however, prove to be in vain as the Ashen bombarded the planet from orbit the next month, murdering millions of innocents. Harry took Nathan's death extremely hard, almost becoming a shell of a human and would have had Larry and Marcus not been there to pull him back.
Marcus, Harry's original second-in-command, died seven years ago in a Research accident. A new type of bomb the Ashen had developed to wipe out Jaffa and Goa'uld but not humans had gone critical on Dakara and would have killed millions more if Marcus hadn't been there undercover. He destroyed the bomb and his body in the process. No one gave him a medal. No one noticed he was gone… except Harry.
So it goes…
By this time the Tauri and the Ashen had been fighting the Goa'uld for years and were winning. Harry's faction was caught in the middle, fighting against both sides as best he could until only one System Lord was left, Anubis. The Einherjar took part in the final battle that day, fighting more to the aid of the Tauri than to the Goa'uld. That day cost almost a billion lives all told when Anubis unveiled his new super-weapon. The WMD tore the Ashen and Tauri fleets apart at the core. They were only able to stop it thanks to one noble sacrifice.
Larry Folk commanded the Orion, resurrected for a few battles in the war on that day. After watching his own planet's people slaughtered by the evil Goa'uld Larry had initiated a command decision. He rammed the Orion into Anubis's Mothership. The resulting explosion wiped out a third of Anubis's remaining fleet and saved Earth from annihilation. He did not receive a medal or a commendation as no one from Earth knew it was him.
So it goes…
If anything had remained of Harry's heart before that day none remained anymore. The Colonel drifted into a cold, harsh shell that only his teammates had been able to break him of. His harsh exterior drove hundreds to abandon his organization. He continually ordered stronger and riskier attacks against the Ashen Confederation wherever possible. Marius figured that they might have turned out better if Harry didn't order so many attacks against them.
And thus the Hoplites found themselves out of spirit and out of work, drifting through the vastness of space.
Earth
2010
Several hundred million miles away a group met in secret, constantly looking over their shoulders. The last remnants of SG-1, Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson and Janet Frasier talked heatedly. "We can't let them get away with this," Sam Carter urged upon her discovery of the Ashen infertile disease.
"What can we do?" Daniel inquired, not being pessimistic but rather realistic. "Sam, even if every army left on Earth mobilized what could we possible do about it?" She hastily spoke of her desire to fight back. "The Ashen have weapons capable of wiping us off the face of the Earth. There's nothing we can do about it."
"What about the Tokra? There must be some of them left!" She was starting to sound desperate as she herself was infertile and couldn't have children. Thus she missed the surprised look on Daniel's face.
"Harry," he said softly, catching Sam's and Janet's attention. He looked between them quickly. "We can find Harry. He's the only one in the galaxy that could possibly fight the Ashen. He's been doing it for years!"
"Even then what could we do?" Sam wondered, taking Daniel's train of thought and turning it pessimistic. "The damage is already done."
"Sam, don't you remember how the Gate sent us back to 1969?" Daniel urged. "Can we calculate a way to repeat it? Maybe we can send a note through the Gate and keep us from ever meeting the Ashen!"
"Wouldn't the Iris just destroy it even if we did find a way to send it back?" Janet interrupted, digesting the plan. "We would need a GDO and the only one left in existence is sitting on President Kinsey's desk in the Oval Office."
"That's it," Daniel insisted. "Harry never came back to the SGC. He should still have SG-13's GDO! That coupled with his advanced weapons should be enough for us to send a message through the Gate and hopefully stop this from ever happening!"
"I've found a problem with this plan," Janet said raising her hand. "Do we even have a way of contacting Harry? Even if we did could we get him to help? You guys said that he was extremely bitter when you guys met again a few years ago on Vorash. We have nothing to prove that Harry will help or that this plan will even work!"
"No, he'll do it," Daniel shook his head. "We've seen all of those battles that Harry's fought against the Ashen. His ship's been battered pretty badly. It doesn't seem that he has any soldiers left. Otherwise he would have cleared out a few planets by now. We all know that he had that capability a couple of years ago. If there's a chance that he can stop the Ashen from ever taking power I'm sure that he'll take it."
"Okay then, how do we get into contact with him?" Janet continued. "Do either of you have a plan?" Sam looked up and snapped her fingers once.
"We don't but I know someone who might," she said slowly. She whispered her plan to the other two with them nodding in agreement. The group split off, heading for different parts of the world.
Silas Gorton sighed heavily, staring out at the sunset over the lakefront property that was his home. His dirty blonde hair was already beginning to gray. He could feel the tinges of arthritis harassing his body even now despite being only forty two. Of all the former members of SG-13 he regretted his decision to leave the most. He's had no family left on Earth and no wife to go back to. He just didn't want to have to fight against the people of his home world as Harry's policy dictated. The Ashen didn't even have qualms about destroying entire planets if it suited their needs. Since he couldn't fight with his Colonel and he couldn't fight with the Ashen he just decided to sit back and watch from a distance, maybe even settle down and start a family.
Ironically his simple association with the Hoplites had driven any that took an interest in him away despite his strong feelings against Harry's methods of war. Perhaps it was penance for his (Silas) bombing of an ashen summit meeting with the people from Earth. His own bombs had killed a hundred innocent people in attendance and four hostile men. Of all the members of SG-13 only Harry, Silas and, by proxy, Larry could be convicted of war crimes. Larry, he knew, was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to save a million others. He had paid for his sins and allowed to go blissfully into death. Silas, however, found a rather fitting phrase that would sum up his position.
"It's hard for bad guys like us to die. The heroes always manage to die first. But guys like Gorton, him and me; we live the rest of our lives in hell. But, then again, being alive is proof that we were good." It was Larry Folk that said those words years ago, referring to Harry and Silas. It was true 2/3s of the time.
"Am I disturbing you?" Silas winced sharply as the voice entered his ears. There had been a time when he would have heard an intruder a half a mile away. He turned his head to look his guest, causing his eyes to widen. Samantha Carter of SG-1 stood just off of his porch.
"What do you want?" Silas asked coldly. If a war hero was at his door then it couldn't be good.
"I need your help," Carter said bluntly. Silas raised and eyebrow in confusion. What would an infamous soldier like herself want his help for? He asked as much of her. "I need to get it contact with Harry Potter, your old Team Leader. I need his help." Silas's eyes widened before narrowing dangerously.
"Do you honestly think I'll fall for that?" he asked colder than before. "You want me to tell you where he is so that your precious ashen friends can kill him. I may not be his subordinate anymore but you can count on it that I'll die before I tell you anything about him." Carter's own eyes widened; she had no idea Harry's men were so loyal to him even after years of separation.
"I don't want to hurt him," Carter shook her head. "We've found a problem with the Ashen. Their long-life vaccine causes humans to become infertile. 93 percent of the population of Earth can't have children anymore. The only thing that we can do is to try and stop this from happening and I need Harry's help to do it."
Silas watched her warily. Harry had taught him to trust his instincts if the situation called for it but also to think every action through and never favor one trait over the other. Right now his instinct was to punch Carter in the face for her incompetence. His mind was telling him not to and that she might be right. He still kept in contact with several old friends, namely Samuel Black, father of two. Neither of Samuel's children could reproduce, meaning that he would never be a grandfather. His story corresponded with Carter's. He respected the woman and trusted the man. He'd hear her out.
"What do you want me to do?"
"You worked with Harry for years," Sam explained. "You would theoretically know how to contact him if there were any chance of doing so." Silas's harsh look descended into one of depression.
"Yeah, I might know how to contact him but I can't promise that he'd help you," he said slowly. "Harry is just as likely to let you rot and wallow in your own self pity. He's pretty harsh on the few occasions that he's held a grudge against someone." Silas stood up and opened the door to his log cabin house. Carter waited patiently for Silas to return. He did, carrying a small black sphere. "This is an Ancient Long-Range Communications Device. It can send a distress signal across the galaxy in a matter of seconds." He noted how Sam's eyes widened. "Yeah, we've had this technology for a decade and we never shared it with Earth. Not even the Ashen can send transmissions that quickly. Now you know why Harry and I worked outside the SGC. Otherwise pathetic humans like you would be ruling the Galaxy right now and no one would be the better for it."
To her credit Sam look affronted, not sure whether his statement was against her gender or her mindset. She reminded him that they were the same species.
"Actually, we aren't the same species entirely," Silas shook his had as he started spinning the sphere around on an axis, activating the message. "I actually have a genome of which only half corresponds with humans. The rest is Ancient DNA. You know them as the Gate Builders. That means that I can make any jibes about the idiocy of the Tauri with immunity since I'm not even really one of them." He sat back down in his recently vacated chair to wait. If Harry had gotten his message then it wouldn't be long.
Moments later both Carter and Silas felt the sharp cold points of knifes on the back of their necks. Neither noticed until the weapon was upon them but Carter was much more scared about it than Silas. A figure stepped out of the shadows of the growing dusk. Silas recognized the figure of his old Colonel immediately. He gasped, however, when he saw the distraught look on Harry's face. The man had never seemed so… old before.
"What do you want, Silas?" Harry sighed as he looked at his old friend. As soon as the distress message had come Harry had bee lined for Earth. He never thought that such a message would come but he definitely wouldn't abandon whoever sent it. Silas stood up, the assassin behind him letting him, and walked forward to stand in front of Harry. They stared at each other for only a moment before Silas reached out and… hugged the other. Harry winced before returning the embrace. Sam almost felt that he was intruding on something.
"I'm sorry, Sir," Silas said quickly, his breathing ragged. "I never thought that I'd be able to say it." The explosives expert was actually sobbing. The only woman there felt more than inclined to leave right now. "After Nathan died I just couldn't keep going. I couldn't keep fighting."
"Its fine, Silas," Harry insisted, releasing the distraught man. Though he hid it well Harry wanted to cry himself. "Do you remember what we called ourselves all those years ago?" Silas nodded.
"We were the Band of Brothers," he breathed out.
"That's right," Harry nodded the first tinges of a smile on his face. "Brothers never stop being brothers. Remember that. If you ever need anything just call me." Silas nodded. Harry turned to look at Carter, his eyes narrowing. "And you? What do you want?"
Earth, Stargate Terminal
2010
Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter looked down at the Stargate. All around it were automated defense systems that would activate in the event of an attack. The Gate activated at the appropriate time for travelers from Chulak to come through. However the two war heroes knew otherwise. They readied their stolen Zats and prepared for what was to come. Four men exited the Gate each carrying an AER-7, a replica-super-rifle based off of the G3 that fired energy bolts to either stun or kill. The Gate attendant gasped at the sight of the well armed men before falling down to the ground, a hole in his chest. Red bolts shot out from the automated defense system. Harry stood in the center of it all and released an EMP Bomb.
All present saw the shockwave the erupted from the small spherical device as it rendered the defenses inert. Sam and Daniel quickly rushed down to the terminal, notes in both of their hands. Daniel went for the DHD and started dialing an address.
"You know what's going to happen, right," Sam said as Daniel stared at his watch. Harry nodded and punched a code into his GDO. The screen blinked green, signifying that the Iris was open.
"If there's any chance of getting my friends back I am going to take it," Harry nodded, taking a note from Sam's hand. He'd written the note but needed a bit more confirmation. Taking a small knife from his belt he cut his finger and smeared blood over the bottom of the note near his signature. With the Gate active Harry walked up and tossed the note through.
Einherjar
1999
"63 bottles of beer on the wall, 63 bottles of beer!" SG-13 roared. "Take one out, smash it about," Larry threw a bottle at the wall. "62 bottles of beer on the wall!"
Marius Greene rubbed his eyes at the sight to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Finding that he wasn't he turned and walked from the rec. room mumbling about dinner. He had no idea that his own history had just been changed so drastically.
So it goes…
(End Chapter)
Well, that was one of my longer chapters, totaling around 4000 words. As I said before PenguinBoy is responsible for some of the inspiration of this chapter. He suggested that I write a chapter that dealt almost entirely with character development since Emancipation is dominated by battles. I liked the idea so much that I did it right away. Thank you PB.
Everyone please note that that was actually an episode that I wrote. 2010 happened in Season Three I think and it seemed so perfect to write about for this chapter. Also, with Silas and Harry hugging in the chapter; that is perfectly conceivable without bringing sexuality into the equation. They are both entirely straight and I did mention that they thought of each other as brothers. When I write, I base characters off of people that I know. Harry is based mostly off of me and Silas is based a lot on my older brother. They share the same name, too. They're brothers, not lovers. The same goes for everyone on SG-13. They are a Band of Brothers.
I know I said that the war would start this chapter. So I lied, get over it. The War WILL happen in the next chapter beginning with the assassination of a lower Goa'uld under the command of Baal. Be sure to enjoy it.
Anywho everybody, please review.
Later,
Atrum