23 – Aftermath
(Stargate Command – Briefing Room - 05.05.2022, 0800)
More than a day had passed since the Terran Wars had begun. The Combat Information Center equipment had been removed, but the briefing room had not been returned to its normal layout. There were rows of chairs facing the General's office. The window to the office was covered by a screen that would be used to show tactical data.
The room was a collection of military commanders and politicians representing the allied powers of the Milky Way Galaxy. Master Bra'tac was up first, reporting the current status of the Free Jaffa Nation.
"The news is grave, I fear. Ninety percent of Free Jaffa space has been occupied," The display showed a map of the remaining space with two Stargates highlighted. "Only two key worlds remain, Dakara and Dar Eshkalon. Had it not been for the Tobin mine weapon and the aid of our Langaran friends, Dakara would have fallen also." Jonas Quinn had arrived to represent Langara yesterday. This had led to long reunion talks with SG-1, along with him meeting Vala and Mitchell for the first time. "Many of our brothers and sisters are trapped under Terran occupations. Already, resistance movements are springing up. But supplying them will not be easy."
"I hate to bring this up," President Quinn said. "But if the Terrans were to attack again, will you be able to hold the few worlds you have left, Master Bra'tac ?"
"The Terrans are still securing the worlds they have taken, it will be a considerable period of time before they can launch another attack. We believe this should provide us with the time needed to build the necessary defenses to keep them at bay." He nodded, concluding his briefing and stepped aside. "Kersey of Hawai'i."
Bra'tac sat down and Kersey sat took his place. Kersey was the ranking General representing Earth. Beyond him, the IOA Negotiators were present, as were all the SG-team leaders and the ship commanders. The last category included Brigadier John Sheppard. Completing the Tau'ri delegation was Brigadier Samantha Carter.
"I have spoken to our Engineers. They have finished their estimates. Our capital ships should be fully functional in a matter of days," The screen changed to show a diagnostic of the George Hammond, with several sections highlighted in red. "The problem is going to be replacing our F-302s. Even with all the IOA's facilities," He looked at Reginald Jones and the other Negotiators. "It will take five or six months to replace them all."
"Once we do, will we be able to go on the offensive ?" Sheppard asked.
"No, the Pentagon, the Kremlin and the Centrale Military Committee all agree that we will have barely enough resources to hold Earth. And that's presuming we can replace our losses from this battle. And that's not all. All three off-world sites have been destroyed, cutting off the Delta and Epsilon sites. And even if we had the power, I wouldn't recommend we dial them. Currently, the Terrans don't know about them."
"And dialing them might blow their cover ?" Quinn asked.
"Yes, sir."
"So, we can hold our own corner of the galaxy, but nothing more ?" Mitchell asked.
"Not exactly," Kersey began. "General Quinn ?"
"As you know, we have a Fleet of modified cargo ships. However, the Joint Ruling Council believes this will not be enough to defend the planet in the long-term. We have a Stargate Command capable of dialing the Delta Site, but no experienced people to staff it. And with the threat of the Terrans and your aid against the Lucian Alliance, public opinion has turned against our isolationist policies."
"Jonas, are you suggesting that we staff your SGC ?" Carter asked.
"That is our proposal," Quinn began. "As for our contribution, we are willing to share out upgraded staff cannons and Ori-based energy weapons with the Free Jaffa, Tok'ra and Lucian Alliance."
"We could reassign the staff from the destroyed off-world bases, sir," Kersey said. "And it would be a good first step towards balancing the scales."
"Not to mention that it's the fastest way to replace the Alpha Site," Mitchell said.
"Presidents," Kersey began. "Ambassadors ?"
Besides President Quinn, President Ingrid Morris was present to represent the Lucian Alliance. Rachel-slash-Jeny'fer and Victor had arrived from the Pentagon to represent the Tok'ra and New Asurans, while Klaus Archer had come along with Morris to represent the Colonial resistance movement. It was Archer who spoke up first.
"We can provide intelligence on the inner workings of the Empire. Codes, security protocols, service jackets of high ranking officers."
"The prefix codes you provided, put a major dent in the forces attacking Earth," Quinn said.
"Unfortunately, with the departure of the Goa'uld, the Tok'ra cannot go undercover inside occupied territory," Jeny'fer said. "There are clear DNA differences between Terrans with a controlled Goa'uld inside and a Tok'ra. Our intelligence indicates that the Empire has security scanners that can detect these in all their ships and facilities. We're working on a solution, but in the short-term, we cannot send in agents."
"But you could train them," Carter said. "Especially with the information from the Colonials. What about your homeworld ?"
"Like you, we have enough ships to secure out homeworld, but no more." She looked at Victor, who was sitting next to her. "What about the New Asurans ? What can you do ?"
"I've contacted my superiors. And I'm afraid the news is similar to yours, Jeny'fer," Victor said. "We can protect our own worlds and the planets under the Protected Planets Treaty. But a full-scale war against the Terran Empire would end badly, even for us. I and others have tried to convince our leadership to provide weapons to you, but they refused to budge. However, if the Langarans provide the blueprints for the weapon upgrades, I have friends in the right places to arrange for the equipment needed to mass produce them to be 'misplaced'. And the leadership will not ask any questions, I believe humans call it…plausible deniability ?"
"Yeah, we've been known to babble in that," Quinn said. "What about the Lucian Alliance, what can you add to this jigsaw puzzle ?"
"The Free Jaffa lost all their shipyards capable of constructing Ha'tak-class ships. We have three, but not enough people to crank out ships at any reasonable speed," Morris said. "And they lost their agricultural worlds as well. We have several abandoned factories that used to make Kassa seeds. If we could repurpose them, we could crank out enough seeds to turn several worlds into replacements."
"Sounds like we have a treaty to negotiate," Jones said.
So they got to work.
(Chulak – Palace, Throne Room - 05.09.2022, 1935)
Grand Admiral Apophis was still alive. Which was more then could be said for the fifty people that Emperor Sheppard had just ordered executed. Some had been servants who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, others were intelligence operatives and the rest were naval officers. But all had been shot to quench the Emperor's bloodlust and temper. There had been several failed invasions, which had left the Emperor furious.
"General," He said. "Arrange for these…," He signaled towards the bodies. "..to be removed and have this room cleaned."
"Yes, sire."
Apophis walked out of the room to get the servants. He could have used his radio to summon them, but he wanted to get away from the Emperor before the man changed his mind about shooting him. It was this decision that saved his life. Because three seconds after he left the place, the doors slammed down and the room was sealed. Next, there was the sound of gas flooding the room. It was a security measure that had been installed long ago by his counterpart.
The system pumped the room full of poison gas in seconds. His radio began to beep with an emergency signal, triggered by the Emperor himself. Apophis knew this because it had an unique beep. ~No.~ He deactivated the noise and waited for the screams to stop. Eventually, they did. The doors opened seconds later, allowing him to walk back inside. As expected, everybody inside was dead. This included both Emperor Sheppard and Empress Banks.
He had barely found the corpses when Governor Robert Kinsey came in, with several soldiers behind him. It was crystal clear that the governor was the one behind this coup. While the soldiers began dragging out the dead, Kinsey threw Sheppard's body off the throne and sat down.
"Grand Admiral Apophis, I need…"
That was as far as Kinsey got before somebody drove a sword through both the throne and him. Whoever had done it, had done so from behind the throne, so Apophis could not see who had done the deed. Then the new Emperor stepped into the light.
(Stargate Command – General's Office – 05.09.2022, 1935)
Carter was still getting used to being charge of Stargate Command. Her previous commands had been field commands, while running the SGC was a staff position. ~Well, most of the time.~ General Hammond and Landry had gone off-world on occasion, but those had been few and far between. So it was a radical shift from her previous command. She was reading an update on the repairs to the Spera when somebody knocked on the door to her office.
"Come in," John Sheppard walked into her office. He was wearing a George Hammond uniform. "John, have a seat."
"So," Sheppard said as he sat down. "Gotten used to the new assignment yet ?"
"I'm getting there. How are things going on the Hammond ?"
"You put together a good crew. The Hammond is fully functional and we've fought several skirmishes with small Terran forces trying to poke their noses into our solar system. So, how are the negotiations going ?"
"They're done, the treaty was signed yesterday," Carter leaned back. "Did you read the latest dispatch from the Tok'ra ?"
"Yes, I did," Sheppard said. "So, we have two enemies to worry about."
The Tok'ra had tracked the aliens that had saved Lucia Prime back to P3X-118. This had led to President Quinn lowering the classification of the data on the Mimetic Aliens. Besides Earth's allies, everybody with the rank of Full-Bird Colonel and above had been briefed on the threat. Before Carter could reply, Yorrick Anders knocked on the open door and entered her office. He offered her a folder.
"The latest intelligence report, ma'am."
"Thank you, Sergeant," Carter said as she took the file.
Anders left and Carter and Sheppard exchanged looks. With the transfer of Walter Davis to the Pentagon, the SGC had been a replacement. It had not been easy, but Kersey had picked Anders in the end. Carter opened the file and scanned through it. When she was done, the look on the face made it clear that the news was not good.
"How bad is it ?"
"Twenty-seven more systems have fallen to the Terrans."
"They're not attacking us again because there are softer targets out there," Sheppard began. "And we can't stop them."
Because if the Tau'ri Fleet left Earth, it would leave the planet wide open for attack. And their allies were in the same situation, meaning that there was nothing to stop the Terran onslaught. They had already conquered fifty-one additional systems in the days before. The Pentagon estimated that it would only be a matter of days before they launched attacks against the Pegasus Galaxy as well. And the Milky Way be conquered by the time Earth finished replacing its F-302s. In an odd way, Stargate Command had come full circle. And the road ahead would be far from easy.
(Stargate Command – Mess Hall – 05.09.2022, 1940)
While Sheppard and Carter were getting along, Vale and Mitchell were having a heated discussion. At least, that much was clear to Daniel Jackson as they entered the Mess Hall. But what exactly they were arguing about, was kind of vague.
"And I'm telling you, you're wrong," Mitchell was saying.
"We'll see. But I'm telling you, Jackson is going to back his fellow archeologist ?"
"Hi guys, what's up ?" Jackson asked.
"So, Jackson," Vale began. "The great question of the twenty-first century…Tali Zorah or Liara T'Soni ? Who do you romance ?"
"Jack ?"
"Really ?" Vale and Mitchell said in unison.
What neither had seen, because their backs had been towards the door, was that Jack O'Neill had entered the mess hall behind them. What was extra surprising, was the fact that he was wearing civilian clothes and not a uniform or BDU.
"Hi, guys," O'Neill began. "I'm back."
"I thought you were retired ?" Jackson said.
"Yeah, they keep trying that," O'Neill said. "Doesn't seem to want to stick. The President brought me back as a "consultant'." He made air quotes at the last word. "So, I heard a rumor that Jonas is back in town ?"
"Yes, he is."
The two of them kept talking as they headed towards the door, leaving Mitchell and Vale surprised by this twist. But just before they walked out, O'Neill stopped and turned back to the two Colonels. Unknown to them, he had overheard a chunk of their conversation.
"Oh, and based on her voice, I suspect Admiral Daro'Xan is really hot," He looked at Jackson. "No Mass Effect, really ?"
Daniel shrugged and the two of them walked out.