22 – The War / Dakara
(Dakara – The Dry Plains Outpost, Control Room – 05.03.2022, 1335)
The dry plains were not far from the capital city. One of the reasons the reconstruction had taken years, was because the Free Jaffa had constructed towns and structures outside the capital city of Freedom. This had included a series of subterranean outposts. Bra'tac had led the way to the nearest of these small bunkers.
Each of these bunkers had living space for twenty-four people, along with sensors and a ground-to-orbit energy cannon. The sensors were connected, which each bunker being able to access to the data from the network. As for the control room, there were two consoles. One to control the sensors and one to control the weapon. Nesa was controlling the weapon and Bra'tac was monitoring the sensors.
"The battle does not go well," Nesa said.
"Indeed." Bra'tac said.
Nesa opened fire, taking down two enemy Deathgliders. The Terrans had punched through the Free Jaffa lines and were attacking targets on the surface. But the Free Jaffa had no intention of being sitting ducks and shot down the attackers left and right. ~Once again, we are fighting for Dakara.~ Bra'tac thought. And once again, the odds were not in their favor. ~Time to pull out the…~ What had Colonel Mitchell called it again ? ~…Hail Mary.~
When the Ori had destroyed Dakara, they had gone so to take out an Ancient superweapon. The weapon itself had been destroyed. But the control panel had survived and so had some of the conduits that connected it to the weapon. With these components, Goa'uld technology and bits and pieces provided by the New Asurans and Tau'ri, they had build a weapon. It had been Mitchell who had nicknamed the weapon Hail Mary. Hail Mary was considered a last-ditch weapon. But considering how the battle was going…
"Entering activation code."
All the outposts were wired into the weapon, but only the Council had the codes to activate the weapon. The weapon finished powering up and Bra'tac's console changed. He locked the weapon onto a target and pressed the fire button.
(Dakara – Space - 05.03.2022, 1337)
The Hail Mary fired a purple beam of energy. But this was not a traditional weapon. Because the beam did not hit the Terran fleet. And even if it had, it would have done every little damage. Instead, the beam hit a target on Dakara's only moon, a lifeless rock called Zarall. Zarall lacked an atmosphere and had no naquadah deposits. So it had been ignored for a long time. But during the reconstruction, the Free Jaffa had explored it. They had discovered that there were plenty of caves inside the moon. Which was when the idea for the weapon had come about.
The Jaffa had gone to the Tobin system, which was filled with mines left behind a now extinct civilization. Those mines had been collected and relocated to the caves inside Zarall. The caves had been modified to become silos. And when the beam hit its target, those silos were told to unleash their content. Which was exactly what they did.
(TIS Hannibal – Bridge – 05.03.2022, 1340)
Admiral Elizabeth Weir had become the supreme commander of the Fourth Fleet by murdering her predecessor. She had been the one who had ordered Commodore Woolsey to attack the Lucian Alliance with Task Force Eight. She would and the remainder of the Fourth Fleet would invade Free Jaffa space. The task of invading Dakara had fallen to Weir's personal group, Task Force One. Because it was well known that Dakara was heavily defended, she had also ordered Task Force Four to join them as soon as they finished securing their targets.
Up until now, things had gone according to plan. But now, the Free Jaffa had unleashed a massive swarm of mines. The design was unknown to the Terrans and there were thousands of them. Ignoring the Free Jaffa vessels, they began hitting the Terran ships. The unshielded ships were quickly wiped out, while the rest started taking a pounding.
Each of the mine did a small amount of damage, but because of their numbers, they won out. And with the mines providing cover, the Free Jaffa were able to disengage and regroup. In a matter of minutes, the battle had turned against them. So, Weir ordered Task Force One to withdraw. They would rendezvous with Task Force Four, then return to crush the defenders and take Dakara.
(Higher Plain of Existence - 05.03.2022, 1340)
The Ori of the Terran universe had been watching battles unfold all over the Milky Way galaxy. They had seen the Battle of Earth, the Battle of Langara, the Battle of Lucia Prime and many others. Among the other battles they had seen, had been Task Force Four and its conquest of several planets. It was Task Force Four that had passed Langara shortly after they had succeeded in defending their world. And as the Ori watched, two-thirds of the Langaran Fleet was chasing them.
The problem was that Task Force Four was much faster than the Langaran fleet. Which meant that they could never catch it. All the Ori gathered at Task Force Four, then decided now was the time to interfere.
(TIS Pegasus – Bridge – 05.03.2022, 1340)
Pegasus dropped out of hyperspace. And she was not alone. All of Task Force Four came to a violent stop as their hyperdrives failed. And not every ship survived this part of the Ori interference. Their hulls buckled, power conduits exploded and crew died. Finally, their drive cores gave way and they vaporized themselves. It left Task Force Four in bad shape.
Unfortunately for them, things were about to get worse. Because six minutes after they dropped out hyperspace, the Langaran Fleet caught up to them. Determined not to lose this fight, they cut loose with every weapon they had. Within minutes, Task Force Four was cut to pieces. Then the Fleet turned around and headed home.
(TIS Hannibal – Bridge – 05.03.2022, 1722)
Hannibal was the first ship to arrive. All she found, was debris. ~No !~ Weir thought. And it was not the only bad news to go around. Word had reached them that the invasion of Earth had failed, as had the mission to seize the Lucian Alliance. The latter defeat did not surprise Weir, because Woolsey had been appointed by her predecessor. And now the attack on Dakara had been delayed. Which would not please her superiors. ~But in the end, Dakara will fall.~
With the loss of the Task Force Four, she would simply bring another task force to the planet. It was only a matter of time before they crushed the local resistance. Or so Weir thought. But once again, fate had other plans. After scuttling the invasion of Lucia Prime, the Stragoth had destroyed the force invading another Alliance system.
Then they had moved on to Free Jaffa space. Which was how it ended up meeting the survivors of Task Force One. Seven minutes later, Task Force One was reduced to debris and the Stragoth headed home.