Chapter Six.
Area 51, Groom Lake.
Two weeks came and went, a few things happened in the meantime, Colonel Caldwell came by to see how the design of the 304 was going and he left shortly after a very happy man, the new fighters were ready for unveiling and were currently in a hanger above ground waiting for the pilots I was to show them off too, SG-1 was also going to be putting in an appearance at my request, I wanted to see O'niells face when he saw the new bird, and one of the things I was working on was finally complete, my new digital assistant was ready to help me out and keep my head on straight.
I was currently sitting in a chair in a hanger with an F-302 behind me and next to it was a Star-Hawk under a big white sheet just waiting to be shown to the world.
"Cortana, eta on the pilots and my guests?" The synthesized human voice of a women could be heard in my ear, I'd tailored the voice after Rebecca Shoichat who voiced Sunset Shimmer on My little pony friendship is magic/equestria girls...don't judge me I just liked the voice.
"Eta two minutes, they're all just around the corner, seems they met up and decided to come in at the same time, what wrong boss, nervous?"
"I'm not nervous Cortana, I just have a lot to get through today that's all, hows the SGC upgrades and the construction of the Red Armory going?"
"Construction of The Red Armory is well within all expected timetables boss, thirty percent of the facility is complete and personnel have already begun moving equipment to the base, also the SGC has completed their initial upgrades and have installed the DHD with no issues, Major Carter is a very talented and efficient scientist."
"Glad to hear it, Carter always was one of the better people here, now we just have to see what the SGC can make of it now."
"Your guests have arrived boss".
I turn to the entrance of the hanger just in time to see a large group of people walk in, five familiar faces in the crowd, SG-1 of course led by Colonel Jack O'niell and a group of eleven pilots led by Major Cameron Mitchell, they all came to a stop in front of me in something of organized semi-circle, O'niell at the front just couldn't wait to talk.
"So Felger, I hear you asked for SG-1 personally, that definitely tickled my curiosity bone."
"Is that anywhere near the funny bone sir?" I quipped
"More the knee area, so what are we all doing here?" answered O'niell
"Well Colonel I apologize for tickling your knees, that wasn't my intention – cue discreet chuckling and grins all round – but the reason SG-1 is here in particular is out of respect for you and Major Carter since you both flew the more recent mission against Anubis in the F-302, the pilots that are here today are to be briefed on a rather dramatic change to do with the 302 program itself." I said to the gathered group, Major Mitchell stepped forward slightly to gain my attention before he spoke.
"Doctor Felger, pleasure to meet you in person, we all heard what you've been up to not only with Prometheus but what you pulled with the Asgard, gotta say that was some sweet dealing". I shook the mans hand I could also see the group of pilots nodding their heads and smiling at me.
"Looks like you've got a fanbase boss! Don't let it go to your head now!" Quipped Cortana.
Ignoring the jesting AI in my ear I accepted the praise with humility and thanked them for their support, I hoped what I was about to show them would make me more friends amongst the pilot base.
"Thank you Major, thank you all, but we should continue with this briefing, we have a bit to get through after all, as you can see there is an F-302 behind me – I gesture to the craft – and its about our current fighter program that's the point of this briefing.
As of today, by Order of the president of the United states of America the F-302 program is being shut down, effective immediately". Well they were not taking that well, there was shouting and arguing going on, all directed at me, I held up my hands to get them to calm down, they slowly got the message but Mitchell spoke up quickly before I could.
"What the hell Doc! We've spent months training on this bird, we've got 36 pilots currently in training and your telling us it was all for nothing!?" Man he was pissed, he was an intense guy up close that's for sure. His sentiments were shared amongst the crowd, SG-1 seemed incredibly surprised by my statement, I responded to Mitchell's question hoping to alleviate some of the tension in the hanger.
"Not at all Major, everything you and the pilots in this program have learned will be put to use, it just won't be on the 302's anymore, because we have something a great deal better".
As I gestured to my left, Cortana having interfaced with a construction drone floating behind the craft pulled the tarp off the waiting fighter, I heard gasps all round.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to introduce the next stage of space fighter technology, as well as the first line of defense against any threat that may come from space, the SH-001, code name Star-Hawk!"
Everyone started moving around the craft, touching it, inspecting every inch with experienced eyes, I could hear someone say that they hadn't expected this when they woke up today, that gave me a little chuckle, I continued on, giving them the specs of their new ride.
"Refined Naquadah/Trinuim hull, aero-elastic wings for advanced atmospheric flight, powercore is a mark 2 naquadah amplification generator pumping out 30 times the power of the 302's, 4 ion pulse thrusters for maximum speed in and out of space, gravitic pulse generators for advanced space maneuverability as well as VTOL capabilities." I paused for a moment to let that sink in, I could hear some whispered cursing of "Holy shit", also some large grins coming from the pilots, I continued on.
"Defenses include the standard package of flare and chaff of course but this bird is truly special, primary defense is a regenerative shield generator capable of tanking two or three dozen Death Glider shots in a row, as well as a molecular energy field matrix that absorbs incoming energy and kinetic damage which I call Phase Shift armor , I reverse engineered that from the Anubis' Kull warrior armor". That got Carters and Teal'cs attention.
"Weapons include two plasma repeater cannons that fire seven hundred rounds per minute and has an effective range of 10,000 meters." I could hear the laughter of joy and saw a few smacks on the back some pilots were giving each other.
"A dual tumbler missile launch system – Cortana was happy to deploy the mechanism, everyone was looking at it intently – two launch bays that carry 2 of the rotating launch platforms can carry five of our new Claw class missiles a piece, essentially a shorter version of the Talons I am sure you've heard about, the craft can carry a maximum number of one hundred and fifty of these missiles – exclamations of disbelief and shock but I powered through the noise – it does this by storing the rest of the ordinance in a matter/energy storage unit that holds the weapons as energy patterns, once all the missiles are launched from the rails they are then reloaded by the storage device, you can also customize depending on mission parameters, the current talk is to have a 70/30 split of Claw and Talon missiles which the launch system can accommodate as well."
I could see them all mesmerized by the fighter, they were obviously shocked at its capabilities, just one more thing to tell them now.
"Oh and by the way, this fighter has an FTL engine as well." That did it, I was wondering what would shake them from their awed stupor, Carter came over to me with a handful of pilots including Mitchell to make sure they heard me right.
"Did I just hear you right? Did you just say this ship could use hyperspace?" Asked Carter, I responded quickly, I didn't want to get her hopes up. "Sorry Sam, but no, I could have installed the miniature hyperdrive from the 302 on the Star-Hawk and with the new power core it would have worked, but in the end I calculated that the speed we'd get out of it would be next to useless, hell it would be 15 percent slower then a Goa'uld cargo ship, and that's already pretty slow, no this, this uses an Asgard inspired Spatial Distortion drive or as we would know it colloquially as, warp drive."
Mitchell looked incredulous at that. "Wait are we talking Star Trek here Doc? I mean wouldn't that be way slower then hyperdrive?"
"Good question but the answer is kind of, you see the Asgard never leave a technology half finished, so before they all moved over to the hyperdrive they had advanced Spatial distortion FTL as far as they could, by the time they moved over to the hyperdrive their ships could travel the length of their galaxy in about 5 months or so, which is nothing to sneeze at, the warp drive in the Star-hawks are actually 10 percent faster then the Goa'uld Al'kesh bombers, but instead of traveling in a layer of subspace it travels in a subspace field in normal space, that's all." That floored them all. "So who wants to sit in the cockpit?" The answer to that, was all of them, including Jackson for some reason, good for him.
I told everyone to stand back and then I walked over to the Star-Hawk, pressing all five fingers of my right hand to the skin of the craft from underneath near the cockpit, everyone saw the place my fingertips connected to the fighter light up and the words "Recognized" appeared on the hull, all of a sudden there were gasps of shock and surprise when metal quickly folded out of the body of the space fighter and turned into a ladder, the cockpits canopy then folded backwards into the fuselage of the craft, everyone was in awe, it was good to be me I thought as I once again addressed the group.
"Colonel O'niell, would you do me the honor of being the first to sit inside?" O'niell looked at me, then back at the Star-Hawk, then he walked forward cautiously, grabbing the ladder which held firm under his grip and weight he climbed up and took a look inside, he commented that the avionics was very similar to the 302s package, I said that was to avoid to much transition time with the new plane, but there were plenty of advances to be learned, he climbed all the way in and sat down.
"Comfy, good lumbar support that's always crucial, the placement of the flight controls is good to, very similar to the 302's, how do I close the canopy?" I showed him the controls, the canopy quickly closed and a holographic HUD appeared in front of him, he hummed in appreciation.
"Nice" we heard from within the cockpit. "The canopies good – he turned his head around left and right - great visibility, no glare as well, is it polarized?- I nod my head – good job doc, really good job! When can I fly it?"
We all had a good laugh at his enthusiasm, the other pilots took turns sitting in the cockpit as well as the rest of SG-1, I got some good feedback about the placement of instruments as well as some ideas for changes from some which I could easily add to the next build of the craft, after everyone had a go I addressed everyone again.
"As I said before, the 302 program is ending, now begins the Star-Hawk program, there are currently 12 Star-Hawks that are built to include this one, that's 4 flights, the 12 of you pilots are to begin training on them immediately, the new flight suits are over here one size fits all, trust me I designed them that way, as well as information packets on the new birds, once you 12 are proficient in the operation of these craft you will then assist in the training of the other pilots, before the end of the year is out our entire cadre of pilots will be flying the Star-Hawks and taking on missions to travel to solar systems which are our immediate neighbors, to not only gain experience in using the warp drive but to gain confidence in its use and the Star-Hawks ability to explore away from a base or parent ship, this is a brand new day people, a brand new day, now lets get to it!"
Loud cheering and applause ensued, the pilots quickly picked up their new equipment and information packets and went to get changed, I walked over to SG-1 I wanted to see what they thought.
"So, what did you think?" A simple question I know but I just wanted an honest answer.
"You pulled off something insane here Felger and you've pulled some doozies already let me tell you, but if this bird does everything you said it does? Then you may have just given us a hell of advantage against the Goa'uld. When Carter and I flew the mission against Anubis we only had 4 missiles to work with, and we were getting hit hard by flights of Death Gliders, what I wouldn't give to of had this baby in that fight." O'niell said.
"If you did you wouldn't of been able to hit the super weapon on Anubis' ship, but I get what you were saying Colonel, those Death gliders would have been no problem for the Star-Hawk. What about you Sam, what do you think?" I asked.
"I feel like my brain's melting out of my ears, the kind of technology that's in this fighter is unreal, but at the same time its all tech that we've had some experience with, just applied in new ways and the use of a matter/energy storage unit for extra ordinance is inspired, it really is, if it works well on the Star-Hawks we could easily adapt the technology to give our battle cruisers more to work with rather then just the standard loadouts they normally carry". I gave her a cheeky smile and a wink, her eyes widened slightly and she grinned from ear to ear, nodding her head a bit she said "But of course you'd already thought of that haven't you?"
"Already installed a few units on Prometheus and its incorporated in the 304's design from the ground up, should multiply their missile carrying capacity by a factor of 3 or more." I said, Carter was always quick on the uptake.
The rest of SG-1 congratulated me on my accomplishments and the briefing came to a close, the pilots got straight into training on the Star-Hawks to the jealous gazes of the other 302 pilots who had to wait for their new planes, after two months of training and outfitting we had more then half of our cadre flying the Star-Hawks, in a few months time we should have nearly a hundred pilots and planes in active service.
In those first two months a lot had changed at the SGC itself, the entire gate and control rooms were re-organized and re-built thanks to the construction drones quick work, instead of the control and conference rooms being face on with the gate they were both now side on, the gate room proper was 5 times the size, with large blast doors at the back of the room leading to a motor pool with quick response vehicles designed to enter the gate easily, also it held weapons lockers and defensive systems in case of invasion through the gate, General Hammond could be seen walking around with a big smile on his face, a lot of stress off his shoulders thanks to Doctor Felger, the better funding they received probably helped plenty with his new mood as well.
The Red Armory, Mars.
The Red Armory on Mars was complete, currently it held slightly over one thousand personnel, the man in charge a General Mathias Shaw who was a gruff man, but sharp and ran a tight ship, first thing he did when building his command staff for the base was to demand I be made lead scientist for the whole facility, putting me square at the top of the totem pole, at least for the civilian side of things, I had people working on all sorts of things, from new ground based weapons and combat wear for our troops, to new sensor drones to replace the old MALP rovers that the SGC used.
The facility housed a squadron of 24 Star-Hawks that remained on hot stand-by at all times for defensive purposes, as well as ground to space weapons, powerful shield generators, over a hundred heavy plasma repeater cannons as well as several batteries of Talon missile pods that would pop out of the ground, right now a dozen of so Star-Hawks based on Earth would be training over the martian soil or heading out in wings of three to star systems nearby to see what was out there, as for me? Well I was getting comfortable in my new digs.
The thing about designing a whole facility is, I could put in what ever I wanted, so I designed my lab to my exacting specifications with all the equipment I would need to create new and powerful things for Earth and our militaries use, of course that was just a front, what I allowed others to see, no my true workshop was hidden behind a secret door built behind two shelves made from a naquadah/trinium carbon blend, that everyone simply thought to be simple steel, the door only opened for me and my biometric signature, and within held, the Forge.
The room was massive, easily over a kilometer squared, had every piece of equipment I needed to build anything I wanted, but wanted to keep to myself alone, totally hidden from the base' and ship' sensors, with this exclusion technology I could hide all of my personal inventions, a good example of this was the amplification generator technology, current amp settings that were known by Homeworld and Stargate command was about a thirty times multiplier, when in fact I had perfected a hundred times multiplier for the technology already, but I decided to keep that to myself just yet, especially since I had designed a generator that could fit into something that could go into, lets say a suit of armor.
Yes i was wholeheartedly embracing the Tony Stark trope right now, but I wasn't going to go around flying in an iron-man armor and be a super hero, no this technology was for my personal protection alone, and it wouldn't be ready for some time, sure I could easily build one, in fact I did, I built an advanced version of the mark 7 used in the avengers movie, with the most advanced weapons and defensive systems I could put into it, regenerative shielding, Molecular Phase shift armor, advanced life-support systems for space flight, a plasma based thruster system that could create super high energy beams of plasma as weapons out of the hands, inertial dampers, hell I even figured out a way to go to warp if I needed too, I even tested the suit in the lab, I did have a big ass lab and it was incredible and gave me some experience flying around, zipping from left to right, but, it wasn't yet where I wanted it, no, the technology was only in the beginning stages yet, I was missing a few massive pieces of the puzzle, and that would come in a few years time, and by then I could carry my suit around with me where ever I went but that was for later, until then I'll keep advancing the suit technology, continue to add things, until all of it was ready.
Currently today found me in my public, front lab looking over the designs for our ground combat operators new battle wear, I had given the design teams a few sketches of ideas I thought were good, but they actually did a very good job.
Coombs was thrilled with being in charge of his own team and with the tech I had mastered they already had a viable and easy to wear design.
After reverse engineering the Kull warrior fabric for the armor and a small molecular phase shift generator about the size of a matchbox, all but the head would be as well protected as the Kulls would be themselves without any of the heavy gear the enemy would wear, they even came in standard camo or fatigue colors so as to not change to much for current operations, but there was one more addition.
Using reverse engineered goa'uld metal folding tech like I had used in the Star-Hawk and just like in the new pilots flight suits there was a small attachment to the cuff of the combat suit, when you pressed the controls, a comabt helmet folded out around the wearers head and displayed a combat HUD for the user with useful battlefield information and secure communication network, this technology should supply a greater survivability percentage to all SG teams if the shit hit the fan while they were out exploring the galaxy.
I signed off on the design, giving Coombs permission to begin building some prototypes for testing, I then moved onto the new weapons our ground forces would use in battle, it was quite simply a bull-pup style version of the plasma repeater, compact, lightweight, well balanced and made from a trinium and ceramic composite alloy, three modes of fire, auto, semi-auto and single fire, powered by a replaceable micro liquid naquadah fuel cell that would give the weapon enough power to fire two thousand rounds, the fuel cells small nature allowed anyone to carry a dozen into battle easily.
The side arm was a reverse engineered Zatnikatel, it was in the shape one would normally associate earth based side arms with, made from similar materials as the hand held repeater and also using a liquid naquadah fuel cell of the same type used by the larger weapon as well to make things more user friendly, there were two firing modes stun and kill, no disintegration sorry, but instead of an electric discharge the weapon fired fast bolts of white blue energy, very similar to another weapon found in a different galaxy, seen being used by a very rough and tumble sort of guy, with dreadlocks, give it a minute you'll figure it out.
The military personnel loved the new weapons and I'd always see the soldiers training with them, giving me little critiqs here and there which I would use to make the weapons better, I also decided to get my certification on both weapons while I had the time, thanks to my quantum brain I had insane hand eye co-ordination so my accuracy level was very high, I got my certification quickly.
In other news the BC-304 design is ready for construction, but I was holding it back, hell we could probably launch 3 or 4 in a several weeks but what would Anubis do if that happened? If he started seeing advanced and powerful Earth ships causing him problems? He'd attack as quickly as possible, and although we would maybe be able to beat him back, Earth would suffer greatly before we did, so I was trying to keep the timeline of events as close to canon as I could, at least then I might know what is coming and when.
Luckily for me everyone trusted my assessment about the designs not being ready yet, plus they accepted and agreed with my decision about disclosing the stargate to a select few allies to get some personnel assistance from them and launching all the ships together would be symbolic of the ties that bind us together in common cause.
I was laying it on thick for them I knew but they lapped it up like a chocolate eclair, although there were some grumbling from Colonels Caldwell and Pandergast about wanting to get out there asap, but they accepted their orders with a minimum of fuss, lucky for me, although a slight change I would be making would be a full and complete upgrade to Prometheus before Anubis came to include all new computer technology, new sublight engines and hanger bays that were the same design as the 304's, enhancements to the shields, hyperdrive and weapons systems and finally a prototype for a new weapon design, the one I designed for the BC-304's, those cannon mounts I told the president about on the model I gave him? Ya those ones, a little party favor for Anubis.
Speaking of Anubis I had a preliminary design in the Forge specifically for him. It, like the Anti-replicator weapon, targeted sub-atomic frequencies of energetic particle fields, although I needed a specific frequency for it to work and to get that I'd have to be at the SGC at the right time, and I will, I wasn't screwing around I had big plans for this Earth, I wanted to help create and intergalactic civilization, and I was not gonna let some jumped up half ascended Goa'uld screw it up!
Though on another note, how crazy was this targeted energy field technology, right now it works on sub-atomic energy, but what if I added a subspace emitter to the device, could I target specific subspace frequencies?...And now I have another insane idea, I told Cortana to open a new file to the Forge and dictated the idea to her.
"Cortana save and close all active files, I'm heading off to lunch." I told my digital assistant, I left my lab and began walking to the commissary.
"Done. Looking at all you've accomplished here boss , do you really think they'll thank you for all you've done for them if they find out about you one day?" The AI asked.
"Maybe, maybe not who knows, I'll just try to help as much as I can as I can and leave the rest up to the future. On another topic is everything ready with the house?"
"Yes actually, escro closed and now you are the proud owner of a 4 bedroom townhouse in Colorado Springs, the car will also be waiting for you when you get there"
The car would be a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 426 hemi fully restored by myself right here in the Red Armory, no way i was driving that Ford p.o.s anymore, Felger really had no self worth at all before I took over his life, always looked down on by his siblings, a mommies boy and his old man was disappointed with him, thinking he was in a dead end job, insane that Felger said he worked as tech support so he wouldn't over shadow his older brother and get beat up, seriously bullied by your brother? What a pussy! In the two months I was in the Red Armory I had joined the special forces personnel in training, they were so happy with my progress they even taught me some hand to hand, and with my brain I learned real quick, kind felt like The dude from the TV series Chuck, hehe.
As I was sitting in the commissary wearing my new computer interface shades that connected to my supercomputer in the Forge, I was going over designs for things with Cortana, things like a new transporter system that uses the ancient ring matter energy buffer system but without the need for rings, since the system was faster with re-integration then the Asgard one, I wanted earth to have its own design using elements of both technology sources, things were going well, I would have a prototype in a week or so.
It was now February, Anubis was bound to come for us soon and I had everything ready, I just hoped my plan to not build and launch any of the 304's was the correct one, it should be as close to canon as possible the only difference will be the state of the Prometheus and the Star-Hawk fighters instead of the F-302s.
"Boss! You're receiving a transmission from Stargate command, patching it through" said Cortana in my ear.
"Doctor Felger? This is Sgt Harriman, do you read me" Must be important I thought to my self, I swallowed my sandwich and tapped my ear mic to respond to the man.
"I'm here Sargent, is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes sir, we need you to come to Earth immediately a situation has come up and you have been recalled" said the Sgt. Recalled? What was so important to have me come running home so soon- Oh...OOOHHH, well shit.
"On my way Sgt, Felger out" I made my way to my lab quickly and picked up my custom tablet which had all my designs for the enhancements to Prometheus and made my way to the gate.
Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado.
A minute later had me coming down the ramp and the SGC where I saw Daniel Jackson and a woman waiting for me, I instantly recognized the women but was able to put a curious and confused expression on my face before they saw any kind of recognition, lucky for me since I was looking at Doctor Elizabeth Weir, the brunette not the blond.
I stopped at the bottom of the ramp and greeted Daniel with a handshake and a smile, and received one in turn, I decided to open my mouth and speak to be introduced to the newest important member to Earth.
"Alright I'm here Daniel, so where's the fire? Walter made it sound like the world was ending or something". Of course I received a pair of grimaces for my words, Daniel responded.
"Actually you're not far off Jay – gestures to Weir – this is Doctor Elizabeth Weir – I began shaking her hand with a smile, wanted to play my part right here – she is the new commander of this base – I stilled in my hand shaking and looked up at Daniel in surprise.
"Is General Hammond alright?" I asked with some trepidation in my voice and on my face, damn I should have been an actor.
"Oh hes fine!" Said Weir, I gave her my attention as well as a searching look. "Its just that President Hayes, well he needed to change some things around, plus he wanted to speak with you personally as well, he has heard a great deal about you Doctor and quite frankly even I am amazed by all the things I have read you doing and creating."
"I see, and your appointment to this position is what? Political? Only reason a stellar diplomat with your credentials would be placed in charge of the SGC, to soften the diplomatic blow, as it were." I said, I wanted to give the impression that was I observant as well as savvy in political climates as well, it seemed to do the trick.
"Yes, well that's how I saw it and how it was sold to me, I do hope we can get along Doctor, I'm sure being surrounded by military personnel is a bit daunting, having a civilian in charge might just focus this command into a different path, not simply military applications." I think she was still trying to sell this job to herself from the sound of things.
"Yes well, military or not you're replacing a good man, uniform not withstanding." Weir froze for a moment and turned slightly to Daniel, he just looked at her a grinned slightly, ah I had forgotten Daniel had said almost the exact same thing to her before.
"Yes, so I've been told, but as I said before the president really does need to see you, there is a plane on the tarmac ready to take you to Washington, if you would come this way?" she tried to lead me to door at the side of the room, I just waved her off there was no need for such pedestrian travel methods.
"No need Doctor Weir I have my own ride." I took out an Asgard communication stone and activated the device. "Vizeer I need a transport to the Oval office but first a quick stop over at your lab, I'm calling in that favor the Asgard owe me." It didn't take long for me to hear the tell tale hum of the transporter and before I disappeared I gave both a jaunty wave, Weirs expression was priceless and Daniel looked like he was going to laugh his face off.