17 – Weeks Later

(Stargate Command – Level 17 – 05.03.2022, 0800)

It had been several weeks since what was now known as the Ambush of the Terrans had taken place. The dead had been buried, the ships had repaired and the debris had been cleared. But that was only the beginning. Sheppard – the one from the aborted timeline – had briefed the Tau'ri and their allies on the Terran Empire. And their plans for invading the Pegasus Galaxy and Milky Way.

The Colonel had not known that much about the Terrans, but the alternate version of Guide had filled in a lot of the blanks. So now they had to prepare for the coming invasion. Which was why President Quinn and IOA had called for a meeting. And it was a big one. In fact, the group didn't fit in the briefing room down on Level 27.

Fortunately, Storage Room 12B was practically empty. Located up on level 17, it was the bigger neighbor of Storage Room 12A. Which was where the Tau'ri had negotiated their inclusion in the Protected Planets Treaty back in 1999. But now that room was filled with the stuff from 12B, while 12B itself had been turned into a briefing room. A room that was filled to the brim.

All of the SG-team leaders were there, both from Atlantis and the SGC itself. Besides them, all Tau'ri ship commanders were present. To represent the political side, the IOA had send the old F-team negotiators. There were also ambassadors to represent the Milky Way off-world allies. Completing the group were Richard Woolsey, Brigadier Kersey and the Commanders of the Milky Way off-world sites. Everybody was waiting for President Quinn, who had not yet arrived. Finally, the door opened and Quinn walked in. He sat down between Colonel Mitchell and Colonel Sheppard.

There was only one Colonel Sheppard in the room. This was the version of Sheppard that had not been to the Terran universe. After some discussion, IOA had ordered the Liberty repaired and upgraded. They had also authorized the Liberty Expedition. Led by the other Sheppard, this was a group of one-hundred military personnel and fifty scientists assigned to boost the ships crew. That Sheppard had been promoted to Brigadier-General. The resistance had also had him the CO of the Liberty, so that Tomin could focus on commanding the ground forces.

"Sorry, NCIS Europe has been chasing several African smugglers. The Secretary of the Navy needed to brief me on their progress," He turned to Kersey. "The floor is yours, Brigadier."

"Yes, sir," Kersey said, before standing behind a lectern with the Seal of the Air Force. "We have been in contact with the Wraith. After the Liberty recovered the alternate Sheppard and Banks, there was communication between them and the Grand Conqueror. The Wraith have deduced that the Terran led them into a trap with false intelligence. They have cancelled their planned attack against Atlantis and our allies in the Pegasus Galaxy." The alternate Banks had joined Brigadier Sheppard on the Liberty. "All our intelligence indicated that the Wraith are preparing for a full-scale war with the Terrans."

Quinn logged this as good news, but the look on the Brigadier's face made it clear that this was where the good news ended. "As for the ceded planets, both the Pentagon and the Kremlin have been running scenarios. The outcomes have not been good. All of the tactical and strategic analysis' come out the same. It will take ever ship in the Tau'ri fleet to defend Earth. We can't even spare ships to defend Atlantis, let alone worlds like Sateda and New Athos."

"We can't leave Pegasus undefended," Sheppard said.

"And we won't," Kersey began. "The plan is to move both Atlantis and Vanaheimr to Sateda. This will secure Atlantis and should make the Terrans think twice about attacking that world. And Atlantis will serve are the Sateda's Stargate Command. Also, with Vanaheimr on Sateda, the Vanir fleet will be free to join the defend effort. Between them, our Pegasus allies will be able to defend Sateda, the Genii Homeworld and New Athos."

"And the rest of the galaxy ?"

"We've had to evacuate both the Pegasus Alpha and Beta Sites. But in the good news column, New Athos has room for a lot for people then the number of Athosians living there. Teyla is drawing up a list of planets which have populations small enough to evacuate through the Stargate to New Athos. The Genii are also converting part of their underground bunker into an iris factory. Once it's up and running, they will able to build and install three units per week. They've also begun reconstruction several abandoned outposts as shelters, including M5V-801."

"What about the Milky Way ?" Quinn asked.

"All three of our off-world bases have been evacuated," Kersey began. "As for our allies," He gestured towards Bra'tac, who was here to represent the Free Jaffa Nation. "Master Bra'tac ?"

Kersey sat down, while Bra'tac stepped behind the lectern.

"I'm afraid the news is not well, Kersey of Hawai'i," Bra'tac began. "The Free Jaffa Fleet has enough ships to guard Dakara…," Dakara was the capital planet of the Free Jaffa Nation. It had been destroyed by the Ori during their crusade in the Milky Way. Reconstruction had begun in 2013 and had finished several weeks ago. "…and our core space. But based on our intelligence and analysis of the enemy's firepower, we will not have the numbers required to go on the offensive."

"What about the Tok'ra and the New Asurans ?"

"The Tok'ra are in the same situation as the Tau'ri. They have enough warships to defend their homeworld, but not enough to go on the offensive. And the New Asurans will need all their vessels to secure the Protected Planets. As for the Lucian Alliance, they are still reconstructing their worlds."

Before 2017, the Lucian Alliance had been a major powerhouse. Led by criminals - who ruled by fear and violence – it had been Earth's greatest enemy in the post-Goa'uld era. And then the New Asurans had relocated to the Milky Way Galaxy. The war between the New Asurans and the Alliance that had followed, had been short and intense. And when it was over, the Lucian Alliance had been reduced to eight planets. Eight planets that had been in rough shape.

For the two years, the people of the Lucian Alliance had been rebuilding alone. There had been remains of the old guard in the wrong places, blocking outside help. But in 2019, the people had been fed up and the those remains had been wiped out. After that, relief had begun slowly dripping in from both the Free Jaffa and the Tau'ri. Alas, with the Terran invasion on the horizon, that help had dried up.

But the news was not all bad. Because with the old guard gone, the new government – or Lucian Alliance 2.0, as it was being called – was slowly becoming a diplomatic government. That was presuming the Terrans didn't waltz over it. Which brought Quinn back to what Master Bra'tac was saying.

"What about their fleet, Master Bra'tac ?" He asked.

"Reconstruction has been slow due to a lack of resources. The bulk of what they have, has been needed to rebuild their cities. Worse, our sources indicate that the Terrans invasion is mere days away. The chances of securing the worlds of the Alliance are not good."

"Thank you, Master Bra'tac," Quinn turned to Kersey. "What about providing the Alliance with irises ?"

"Because of their lack of ships, the Stargate is the main supply line for their reconstruction efforts. Which makes the installation of irises far from practical, sir."

"There has to be something we…"

That was as far Quinn got before the base went to alert. Kersey made his way to a red phone mounted near the main door and picked it up. Quinn had a feeling that he knew what the general was about to say. So he simply waited for the Brigadier to finish his conversation. Kersey did so and put the phone back.

"We just ran out of time," Kersey said. "The Terrans launched their invasion. We have five hours before their fleet reaches Earth, sir."

"What about the Gate ?" Richard Woolsey asked. "Have they dialed in, like the Wraith do when they attack worlds ?"

"No. I gave the order to dial Dakara to keep them from doing so. We're using a radio signal to keep the wormhole until you arrive, Master Bra'tac. Ambassadors Rachel and Victor, I recommend you go with him. You'll be able to travel home from Dakara."

Rachel was the Tok'ra in a female host called Jeny'fer. She had been posted to Earth about two months after the Destiny Expedition had returned. She normally spent her days in the Pentagon, where she had an office near Homeworld Command. Victor was a male New Asuran, who had only arrived two weeks ago. Like Rachel, he had been given an office in the Pentagon.

"With all due respect, Brigadier," Rachel began. "I can do more good here then on the homeworld."

"She is right," Victor said. "And I'm not going anywhere either."

"I must return to Dakara," Bra'tac said.

Kersey and Bra'tac left, while Quinn talked to Colonel Yin. Lieutenant-Colonel Yin had been the commanding officer of the Sun Tzu when it had fought a supercharged Wraith Hive with the USS Apollo. When the Tria had been repaired by the New Asurans and donated to Earth, Yin had been promoted to Full-Bird Colonel and put in charge of the Aurora-class warship. He was also the ranking officer of the Russian-Chinese fleet element. Which was the Tria, Sun Tzu and Korolev. Yin took out his radio and gave several orders. Seconds later, the Sun Tzu's Asgard transporter engaged, beaming Rachel and Victor to the Pentagon.

"Mister President, if you wish, we can beam you to the White House," Yin said.

"Not yet, Colonel, there is a major issue we must resolve."

Yin nodded. They both knew what that issue was. And that resolving this issue would be far from easy.

(Lucia, Lucian Alliance Homeworld – Government Hall – 05.03.2022, 0807)

The building known as Government Hall had begun life as the Hall of the Council. It had been from here that the Commanders had ruled the Alliance with an iron fist. After the war with the New Asurans, it had become a hospital. But in 2020, a brand-new hospital had been opened and the building had been emptied. But the new government of the Alliance had been needed a central hub. And building one from scratch would take years. So instead, the old Hall had been converted and upgraded.

At the top of this new and improved version, was President Ingrid Morris' office. ~It's been a wild ride.~ She looked out the window. The Hall was in the middle of the city of Lucia, which was the capital of the planet. Originally, the planet had also been called Lucia. But to prevent confusion, the new government had renamed it Lucia Prime. So now most people used Lucia for the city and Prime for the planet. As for the status of both, things had been improving. ~And then this happens.~

Before the war – with exception of a few buildings like the Hall – Lucia had been a giant slum. But as the city had been rebuild, it had changed for the better. At the same time, improvements had been made the rest of the planet as well. But now the Terran invasion was threatening all that. ~Talk about irony.~

"Are you okay, Madam President ?" A male voice asked.

The voice belonged to Klaus Archer. An unofficial ambassador, Archer represented a group of Terrans calling themselves the Colonials. The Colonials were to the Terrans what the Tok'ra were to the Goa'uld, an underground resistance movement. As things had gone down hill in their home universe, the Colonials had been looking for refuge. And they had found it by crossing over to the Lucian Alliance. When they had arrived in 2019, the remains of the old guard had been trying to take back power. The Colonials had provided the new order with the back-up they needed.

In return, the Alliance had helped many Colonials escape the grasp of the Terrans. And so, the two sides of this small pacts had protected one another from their enemies. As for Ingrid Morris, she had begun as the Mayor of Lucia. She had held that post until her term had run out at the start of this year. Her replacement was a man called Ryder Zeus. It had been Zeus who had to the Senate of Alliance and recommended Morris. Established a mere two weeks into the new year, it was the newly elected top of the new government. With one exception, the Alliance needed a Head of State. The Senate had decided that job would be the President of Alliance. And that Ingrid Morris would be the first person to hold that office.

"I'm okay, Ambassador."

"The Admirals want you to come down to The Cave, ma'am," Archer began. "But they're too busy panicking to ask."

"Right, lead the way."

Morris followed Archer out of her office and a spiral staircase. It led directly to the sub-basement, which was the most reinforced room in the building. The room had a security checkpoint and an elevator that went down further into the planet. Morris had never been to The Cave, so she had no idea how far the elevator went down. It turned out to be about three hundred meters. They reached The Cave, which was not really a cave.

Instead, it was a bunker that served as Alliance's counterpart to Homeworld Command. There were two Admirals, each overseeing the ships defending four of the solar systems that made up the Alliance. ~It's not a lot.~ Only five Ha'tak-class ships had survived the war with the New Asurans, with three more ships rolling off the assembly line since. So each solar system was defended by one Ha'tak-class ship, backed up with Death Gliders, Tel'tac's – also known as Cargo Ships - and Al'kesh bombers. It was enough to keep any smugglers or pirates at bay. ~Talk about irony.~ But against a full-scale invasion, it would not be anyway near enough.

All of the ships were visible on large displays, represented by green dots. At the edge of the displays, red dots represented the incoming Terran forces. Now it was only a matter of waiting until the dots met.

(Stargate Command – Level 17, Storage Room 12 B – 05.03.2022, 0815)

Brigadier Kersey had returned to the storage room. All the ship commander's had left, except for Samantha Carter and Colonel Yin. As for the SG-team leaders, only Colonel Sheppard remained. On the political side, there was Richard Woolsey and Vincent Quinn. The IOA team completed the group. As soon as Kersey sat down, Quinn got to the point.

"We need a new head of Homeworld Command," He began. "Brigadier Kersey, I have decided that will be you."

"With all due respect, sir. Stargate Command…"

"…Will be under the command of Brigadier General Carter, Brigadier Kersey," Quinn said, getting him a look from Colonel Carter.

"And the George Hammond, sir ?" Colonel Yin. "We need somebody to command the fleet, Mister President."

Quinn and Yin looked at the group of IOA representatives. Yesterday, the Negotiator Team had spent several hours preparing scenarios for fast-tracking. ~Glad to know that their promotions have not gone to their head.~ After all, the reason these people had been promoted, had been their level of common sense. They had clearly done their homework. ~Let's see what they were thinking.~ He nodded to the group and Henry Valluy spoke up.

"The Pentagon, Kremlin and Central Committee have agreed that the First Fleet should consist of the Apollo, Daedalus, George Hammond, Odyssey and Prometheus. All the remaining ships would be part of the Second Fleet. The George Hammond would be the flagship of First Fleet and the Tria would lead the Second Fleet. Colonel Yin, you would be the commanding officer of the Second Fleet. As for the CO of the George Hammond…," Valluy looked at Qui Han, the Chinese representatives, who took over.

"…That person will command the ship, the First Fleet and the fleet in general. When the commander of the George Hammond is not available, Colonel Yin would be the Acting General Commander. The military brass also recommends that the Spera should be given clearance to leave the solar system for Special Operations."

"Sounds excellent," Quinn began. "Except for the key question. Who do you recommend for command of the George Hammond ?"

"That's where Colonel Sheppard comes in," The British Representative Reginald Jones said. "Or should we say, Brigadier Sheppard ?"

"Me ? You want me to become a Brigadier ?" Sheppard began. "That's a good one..," Jones gave the Colonel a look that made it clear that he was not joking. "What about my team ? I can't just leave them, Mister President. Who would take command of AR-1 ?"

"Teyla," Henry Valluy said. "And yes, I know that she is currently a civilian and that the US Air Force does not have the procedures to give her a rank. Fortunately, the French Foreign Legion's recruitment policy is for flexible," Valluy picked up his suitcase and opened it. He took out a folder and handed it to Quinn. "So, one of the consistency plans we came up, is the creation of the Detachment of Pegasus. Once her training is complete, Teyla would be granted the rank of Full-Bird Colonel."

"How many people are would there be in this detachment ?"

"It wasn't easy," Valluy said. "But we managed to scrape together enough of a budget for thirty-seven military personnel, including Teyla. If you approve, Colonel Emmegan would be in charge of AR-1. The remaining thirty-six would be three teams with twelve members, each led by a Major. Legion brass recommended that one should be posted on Atlantis, one on New Athos and one on M7G-677."

"M7G-677 ? Isn't that the planet with the children ?"

"Yes, we believe that it would make for a good choice as a second planet for the Evacuation Program."

"That would make the planet a target for a Terran attack," Sheppard said.

"Not if the Genii provide them an iris and the New Asurans refresh the ZPM powering their EM-field device," Boris Grankin said. "And with the Legion team there and a stockpile of weapons not effected by the field, they could train a sizable militia. Which would only leave the issue of defending the planet against ships. Fortunately, we should be able to place ground-to-orbit outside the EM-field to deal with that."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Quinn said.

Of course, it would leave AR-1 one person short. But he had read Teyla's file and figured that she would make an excellent commander for the team. He also believed that she would have no trouble finding a smart and capable person to fill the slot. ~Of course, none of this matters if Sheppard turns down the job.~ Quinn gave Sheppard a look.

"Okay, Brigadier Sheppard it is," Sheppard said.

But the look on his face made it clear that he was far from happy about leaving his team. ~Alas, this is war.~ And war meant making sacrifices. Now all they had to do, was push the paperwork through before all hell broke loose.