16 – Liberty For All

(USS Prometheus – Bridge – 06.02.2022, 2307)

Screen One was taking a pounding and so was the Wraith fleet. Prometheus' shields were down to ten percent and the weapons were in rough shape as well. Young was about to order Rivers to divert all remaining power to the forward weapons, when space rippled again. When it faded, there was an Ori ship between them and the Goa'uld ships. Before the Goa'uld could realize that there was a new player on the field, the Ori vessel unleashed a salvo from its main array. It was at this point that the intercom came to life.

=/\=Engine Room to Bridge, this is Doctor Obi.=/\= Doctor Samuel Obi was forty-two years old. He had been a chemistry professor at the University of Nairobi. When Young had taken command, he had recruited Obi to lead the Prometheus' science team. =/\=The scans of those Goa'uld ships are…off, sir. If that Ori ship can keep them from blowing us up for a couple more minutes, I can get you some answers.=/\=

"Make it fast, doctor."

=/\=Yes, sir.=/\=

The Ori vessel took up a position that protected the Prometheus and fired again. There were a dozen Goa'uld ships. The first salvo had damaged the shields of three of them. Those ships were now taking a pounding from the Wraith fleet. Whoever was commanding the Ori vessel had changed tactics for the second salvo. They unleashed three shots against a single vessel, destroying it. The Goa'uld ships opened fire on the Ori ship, but the Wraith had other plans. The Wraith Darts blanketed the space between the Ori and the Goa'uld, taking out all the Ancient drones they had launched.

"Divert all power to the forward weapons," Young said.

"Yes, sir," Rivers said.

Rivers diverted the power, which brought the weapons up enough to fire again. So that was exactly what she did, targeting one of the ships that the Wraith were attacking. The Pride of the Genii and the two Vanir ships joined in, while the rest of Screen One attacked the other two ships that the Wraith were already pounding. Between them, the two fleets made quick work of the three targets. While all of this had been happening, Atlantis had been firing at the two Goa'uld ships that were the closest to the planet. Those two ships had already taking considerable damage, so one shot from the Ori ship was enough to finish them off.

=/\=Obi to Bridge.=/\= The intercom said. =/\=I've figured it out, sir. Those ships are not from our universe, Colonel. I'll save you the technobabble, but there's a certain signature to this universe. And those ships don't match, sir.=/\=

"Thank you, doctor. Young out."

The Goa'uld force had been cut in half and had lost the element of surprise. Now, it was simply a matter of numbers. All six of the remaining ships were now taking heavy fire. Within minutes, they were all destroyed. As soon as the last ship exploded, Screen One reformed and faced the Wraith fleet. Young was surprised to see that while the ships of the fleet were damaged, they had not lost a single ship. But if the Wraith opened fire, that would probably change very quickly. The thing was….the Wraith fleet had been damaged as well. So they had to make a choice, attack or retreat.

"Lock weapons on the nearest Wraith ship," Young said.

"Locked, sir," Rivers said.

But the Wraith decided not to test their luck. They collected their darts and jumped into hyperspace. Young ordered Rivers and Scott to oversee the repairs, before heading for the engine room. He wanted to get a first person look at the scans they had of the Goa'uld ships. Something told him that they had just done their first dance with a new enemy.

(M3R-485 – Plain - 13.02.2022, 1056)

All three Terran Warships opened fire on the Puddle Jumper. Sheppard pushed the small craft to full speed, while climbing away from the plain. He figured at it was only a matter of time before they would get hit. ~Time to return the favor.~ The Jumper had six Ancient drones and Sheppard had only used two for their escape. He fired three of the remaining drones at the Terran ship, targeting their Glider Bays. They hit and exploded. Seconds later, the bays went up in secondary explosions.

"They're still shooting at us," Zachary said.

"I know," Sheppard said. "But we have one drone left."

He fired the last drone, which hit one of the ships. There was a beep as the ship's shields came down. The bad news was that they were now out of ammo. Fortunately, Sheppard had a plan. He put the Jumper on a course straight for the now unshielded ship. As soon as they cleared the atmosphere, he engaged the cloak. Then he swung the Jumper to a new course. The Terrans put down a carpet of energy bolts to find the Jumper. Some of their shots hit the planet, while others sailed off into space. But the bulk of the bolts were the Terran ships hitting one another.

"Why aren't they using their own drones ?" Banks asked.

"I don't…," Sheppard began, before the sensors beeped. "What in the…"

An Ori vessel had appeared out of nowhere. And it was firing on the Terran warship. It killed the unshielded ship with a single shot, before hitting the remaining two ships with two shots each. Now, the Terrans DID fire their Ancient drones. And when they did, Sheppard realized the answer to Banks' question was because they couldn't. The drone launchers was not that far from the Glider Bay. When it had exploded, the launchers had been knocked off-line. But now they were apparently back in working condition. The drones raced towards their target…

(Hive Ship Grand Conqueror – Command Center - 13.02.2022, 1101)

Guide watched as the Ancient drones heading towards the alien vessel were shot down. After leaving Atlantis behind, the Wraith had done two things. The first thing had been to repair their ships and deal with the dead. Then they had set about checking the intelligence that had led to launching their attack against the Tau'ri. It had taken several days, but they had found several Terran agents. Getting the truth of them out them had been…messy. But they had succeeded in the end.

They had also captured several Terran dimension drives. One had been installed aboard the Grand Conqueror, while the rest were being taken apart for research and development. That done, they had taken up a position near the Terran Atlantis and bided their time. And when Sheppard had escaped through the spacegate, they had followed the wormhole to its destination. But apparently, they were not the only ones to have done so.

"Commander," Bonewhite began. "It is the same vessel from the Battle at Atlantis."

"Is this the Ori resistance vessel ?" The source that had led them here, had also told them about a resistance group called the Ori. They had provided them a description of the last Ori vessel.

"Yes, Commander."

The Ori vessel fired again, destroying one of the Terran warships. As soon as it exploded, the last Terran vessel engaged its hyperdrive and bolted from the scene. This left the Grand Conqueror alone with the Ori vessel. With the Puddle Jumper right in the middle…

(Jumper One – Cockpit – 13.02.2022, 1103)

Sheppard looked at the sensors. ~Stuck between a rock and a hard place.~ Both of the ships were possible traps. The Ori had not returned to the Milky Way since the end of their crusade. And if these Wraith were not from this universe, landing on the Hive might result in getting fed upon. But the choice had to be made, so Sheppard set a course for his pick.

Which was the Ori vessel. They might end up getting throw in jail, but at least they would not get eaten. As they approached, the Ori vessel opened a door to what was clearly a landing bay. He took the Jumper inside and landed it. There was a rumble as the outer door closed. Then there was an awkward silence.

"So," Guide said. "What do we do now ?"

"We get out," Sheppard said.

He stood up and looked around the Jumper. The idea of walking out unarmed, did not make him happy. But there were no weapons in the rear section, but there were several suitcases. Sheppard grabbed one and opened it. Inside was a flare gun, along with three flares. ~Better than nothing.~ He loaded the flare gun and took the two spares.

"Let's go."

Banks opened the rear hatch and they left the Jumper. The bay was empty. As they approached the exit, the doors opened and another Sheppard walked in. Like the Sheppard from the Jumper, this one was a Colonel. Still, Jumper-Sheppard aimed his flare gun at him. The other Sheppard smiled at the kids.

"Who are you ?"

"I'm you. From the fixed time line."

"How did you know we would be here ? In fact, how did you even know that stuff went bad."

"Zachary," The other Sheppard said. "And SG-1 might also have shown up to do some timey-wimey stuff."

The one Sheppard nodded at the other. He had a feeling that this was going to be one very lengthy and interesting debriefing. And then there was the issue of the Wraith Hive that was hovering nearby. ~This is going to a long day.~ So he led the group out of the landing bay. They had work to do.