"How much farther?" Kyn asked.
"At least half an hour," The Neitzchian navagation officer responded.
"Everyone!" Kyn shouted, making sure that everyone on the bridge paid attention, "I hope you realise that revenge is needed for survival. Some of you claim that the danger is too great. However, if we allow those humans to destroy a ship from our pride, we risk appearing weak before the rest of our race. I don't need to remind you what happened to the last pride that became soft."
The other Neitzchians nodded. He was indeed the captain for good reason. His genes were the best from the entire Raptor Pride. He was an expert statesmen, and he knew the works of the philosopher better than any on the ship. It was time to avenge their pride and restore their standing.
***
"I don't think this was an accident," Harper said.
Dylan looked at him through the screen, "What?"
"These burn marks look intentional. They damaged exactly the parts needed to stop us, and none of them were damaged so much that they would break down immediately. Just enough to wear out part way through the trip."
"Do you know who did it, or when?" Dylan asked.
"No, it could have been while we were docked at the station, or it could have been someone from the planet doing repairs."
"What about Ishan?" Dylan asked.
"Maybe, but he'd have to be pretty stupid to hitch a ride on a ship he sabotaged," Harper answered.
"Good point."
Dylan turned away from the screen as Harper went back to work, "Who would want us to be stuck out here?"
"Maybe the Krisarii are hoping we'll come back for more repairs," Beka suggested.
"If I were from Raptor Pride," Tyr added, "I would have made sure the Andromeda never arrived to support my enemies."
"If they did find a way to sabotage the ship," Dylan asked, "Why didn't they destroy us?"
"Perhaps they have a plan to kill us later," Tyr replied.
"All the more reason to get slipstream online as soon as possible," Rev said.
"Dylan," Beka spoke up, "I should to take the Maru back to the planet and get some answers."
"Good," Dylan agreed, "Take Rev with you."
"If they plan on questioning Neitzchians," Tyr said, "I should go with them."
"Tyr, are you concerned about us?" Beka asked, jokingly.
"Right now, the Maru is safer than the Andromeda," Tyr told her, "I have no intention of being a sitting duck when my people arrive to finish us off."
"Fine," Dylan said, "I'm sure you'll be needed more there anyway. I'll handle the slipstream if we can get underway before you get back. Just come here, and if we're already gone, head over to the Kelmar Belt."
"Right," Beka said, already on her way to the Maru. Dylan hesitantly took her place in the slipstream chair.
"Rommie," Dylan said, "Take over sensors and fire control. Be ready for anything coming out of slipstream."
Her holographic form nodded, "What about Ishan and the others?"
"Keep a close eye on them, but right now I'm willing to risk letting them help."
"Understood," The ship answered.
***
"Look at this architecture," Daniel commented, running a hand along one of Andromeda's walls.
"Its beautiful," Sam observed.
"Yes…" Daniel responded, "But notice the way everything flows together; all the rounded edges and the curved surfaces. I wish I had a chance to study the culture that built this ship."
"I can get you some historical information on the Commonwealth if you'd like," Andromeda offered, her hologram appearing nearby.
"I'd appreciate it," Daniel said with a hopeful look on his face.
Andromeda led Daniel to a console, which immediately displayed the contents of "The Rise and Fall of the Systems Commonwealth."
Normally Sam would be studying the ship's engineering section, but slipstream was far beyond anything she could understand. Instead, she went to join Teal'c and Jack who were talking about the mission ahead.
"If these guys did invade, what are we going to do about it?" Jack asked, "Look at this technology. They could probably blow us up before we even knew they were out there."
"I doubt they would want to destroy our world," Teal'c responded, "They will probably attempt to capture it."
"Great," Jack answered, "Maybe we'll be able to haunt them after they've taken over everything."
"Perhaps we could form an alliance," Teal'c suggested, "Even the Gua'uld would join us to stop them."
"Do you think the Gua'uld would be able to stop them?" Sam asked.
"I do not know. However with the technology we are about to use, an alliance could be strong enough."
"Great," Jack said, sarcastically, "Maybe the Gua'uld will be so glad to have our help, they'll free all the people they've enslaved."
---
"Dylan, I've got a Neitzchian troop transport transiting into normal space," Andromeda called out.
"Contact them," Dylan ordered.
"They're ignoring us, and they're on an intercept course."
"Alright, if they insist," Dylan said, "Launch missles. Try to disable their engines."
"Missles away," Andromeda answered, "It's a hit, the Neitzchians have slowed by 25%. They're returning fire."
Dylan quickly moved from his seat to one of the defense stations, "Try to keep our distance from them!"
"I've been hit twice. We lost fire control, and engines are down."
"They barely scratched us!" Dylan was amazed.
"I think our saboteur did a better job than we thought," Andromeda paused, "They're docking."
"Rommie, standard security protocols," Dylan ordered.
"I can't. They…" Andromeda winced, "They're sending some kind of feedback into my system. I…" The hologram vanished.
"Rommie!"
***
"Have you seen any Neitzchians around here?" Beka asked.
"Not in six months," The stocky shop keeper answered, "They don't have much reason to be in the area. They don't even think this planet is worth conquering."
"Why not?" Tyr asked, incredulously.
"We have ten ion cannons, four banks of missle launchers, and enough flak guns to keep any ships from landing."
"And?" Tyr asked, "One dreadnought could destroy this place in a couple of hours."
"Then what? This planet has no natural resources to speak of, unless you count limestone," He smirked, "The only reason to attack us would be for slave labor or ships, both of which would be destroyed in a bombardment. You'd lose a lot more than you'd gain."
Tyr glared at him for a moment, but Rev broke in before he could respond.
"Have you heard of Miska Station?" The Magog philosopher asked.
"Of course," The merchant answered, "I know all the stops around here."
"Do Neitzchians ever go there?" Rev asked.
"Maybe they do, but I have trouble affording my medication lately. I sometimes have trouble remembering things."
Beka sighed and handed him some money.
***
"Rommie!" Trance called out as the avatar suddenly staggered.
"I'm being boarded by Neitzchians…They're…" Andromeda shut her eyes and attempted to clear her head, only to collapse a moment later.
"Oh man!" Harper said, climbing out of the service crawl space under the slipstream drive, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Trance responded apologetically, "She said something about Neitzchians boarding, then she fainted."
Harper raced over to the computer console, which had gone blank just as Daniel was about to finish the first chapter. Harper tapped the the controls furiously.
"Andromeda, respond." He ordered, but nothing happened.
Harper quickly dropped to the floor and opened the wall panel. Pulling out some cables, he prepared for a neural interface. Barely taking a moment to separate the data pipeline and the power cable, he plugged himself into the system.
Once connected, he found himself in a room. The walls swayed, nearly making him nauseous. However, he concentrated on his task, and soon saw a representation of the Andromeda's humanoid form lying on the floor.
"Rommie!" Harper called.
The figure looked up weakly, "Harper? Hurry, get out before…" Her head dropped back to the floor.
"No way am I leaving you like this!" Harper answered, but he suddenly began to hear a soft whine. Slowly, it began to grow louder. Harper collapsed to his knees, then disconnected.
"Harper?" Trance asked.
"They've got an EMP feedback loop going," Harper explained, "She'll recover, but I can't help her until we get rid of the Neitzchians."
"What's going on?" Jack asked, walking up to Trance, Harper, and Daniel.
"Appearantly, the ship is being boarded," Daniel explained.
"Boarded?" Jack asked in disbelief.
"Right, boarded," Harper answered, "You gonna give us a hand?"
"Of course we will," Ishan volunteered, "Though I really should stay here and try to repair the slipstream drive."
"Thanks," Trance said.
"Yeah, it was nice of us to volunteer," Jack said, giving Ishan an irritated look.
"We've got some spare weapons in a locker down the hall," Harper told him.
Jack took his MP5 into his hands, "We'll manage."
Harper looked at the antiquated weapon doubtfully, but decided it would be good enough, "We should head for the bridge and try to meet up with Dylan. Follow me."
Jack motioned for the SG1 team to follow Harper. Before long, Teal'c could hear footsteps ahead.
"They're probably heading for engineering," Harper noted, "We should try to take them by surprise."
"That won't work," Trance replied firmly, "We should hide until they go past."
"Wait a minute," Jack argued.
"We don't have time for this," Harper said, "Just do what the purple kid tells you."
"They know our enemies better than we do," Teal'c reminded him.
"Fine," Jack accented, "Let's duck into a side room."
The six of them quickly hid in a nearby room. The Neitzchians marched past, they weren't speaking to each other.
"What are we going to do about Ishan?" Trance whispered, "And Andromeda?"
"We'll have to follow them back to engineering," Harper answered.
"What if they aren't headed for engineering?" Sam asked.
"Then we head up to the bridge like we planned," Harper explained.
It didn't take much time for them to get back to the engine room. Trance cautiously edged out onto a catwalk above the Neitzchians. They were already confronting Ishan when she got into position.
"We don't need you to get slipstream running again."
"Perhaps not," Ishan smiled at him, "But I assure you…"
"Stop smiling or I'll kill you," The hulking male Neitzchian threatened.
"Now, I don't appreciate your tone," The man scolded.
The Neitzchian growled, seething with rage, "I…"
"Mal, one of their females is unconscious on the floor," Another of the invaders shouted from behind the drive system.
The first Neitzchian sneered, "I'm sure she'll be more fun when she wakes up. Just carry her back to the ship."
'Rommie,' Trance thought, terrified.
"Now see here," Ishan spoke up.
Mal grabbed by the collar and hoisted him into the air, "What are you going to do about it?"
Ishan looked down, "I really didn't want to do this… But if that is the way you want to do things, so be it. Personal defense code Lashak Beras Porgah!"
Trance watched in amazement as energy began to flow through the Neitzchian, in seconds, he fell to the floor. Ishan landed on his feet unharmed.
One of the other Neitzchians gave a shout, and the remaining fourteen commandos began to fire at him. However, the shots impacted on his personal energy shield, leaving him unharmed. Ishan pointed to each of them in turn, and a bolt of energy shot from the tip of his finger, rendering them all unconscious. When it was over, SG1, Trance, and Harper ran down to talk to him.
"Why didn't you tell us you could do that?" Jack asked.
"It didn't seem important," Ishan explained.
"Why would it?" Jack asked rhetorically.
"Could you give me one of whatever you used to do that?" Harper wondered.
"Sorry," Ishan responded, "It only works for me."
"Is Rommie ok?" Trance asked, quickly walking over to where she now lay. Harper immediately ran over to join them.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't let anyone harm her."
"We could use your help getting to the bridge," Jack said.
"There are going to be plenty of them coming to take over the engine room," Ishan reminded him, "I'm sure you'll be able to handle yourselves."
"We should have someone down here," Daniel said.
"And he is our best chance for holding engineering," Sam added.
Jack nodded, "Lets get going. The longer we wait, the better prepared they're going to be."
Harper finished looking Rommie over, and went back over to the SG team, with Trance close behind. After only a few words were exchanged, the group once again headed for the bridge.
---
"Its empty," Kifar noted.
"They probably have a trap ready," Sima answered.
"Of course they do," Kifar smiled, "That's the fun part."
"High Guard," Sima called out, "We know you're around here somewhere. Why don't you come out and spring your trap on us now and save yourself some time?"
'Not yet,' Dylan thought, 'No point wasting it on two of them.'
It didn't take the Neitzchians long to settle at the controls. After a moment, they decided that any trap would have gone off, and more Neitzchians entered and began taking up positions around the bridge. Once every post had been taken, Dylan reasoned that it would be a good time to make his move.
Pressing a key on a portable control pad, he sealed the doors to the bridge. The three Neitzchians nearest the primary entrance ran to force them open. Immediately, Dylan pressed the other button.
"Gas!" Kifar shouted.
"We can't…" One of them trailed off, as he slumped to the floor. In moments, they were all asleep. Dylan smiled as he thought about the time two weeks ago when Harper suggested the system.
Dylan crawled out of his hiding place, and dropped into the hallway just outside the bridge. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"Don't move," The steely voice warned him, "You should be more careful. This ship has become a very dangerous place for people like you."
"At least half an hour," The Neitzchian navagation officer responded.
"Everyone!" Kyn shouted, making sure that everyone on the bridge paid attention, "I hope you realise that revenge is needed for survival. Some of you claim that the danger is too great. However, if we allow those humans to destroy a ship from our pride, we risk appearing weak before the rest of our race. I don't need to remind you what happened to the last pride that became soft."
The other Neitzchians nodded. He was indeed the captain for good reason. His genes were the best from the entire Raptor Pride. He was an expert statesmen, and he knew the works of the philosopher better than any on the ship. It was time to avenge their pride and restore their standing.
***
"I don't think this was an accident," Harper said.
Dylan looked at him through the screen, "What?"
"These burn marks look intentional. They damaged exactly the parts needed to stop us, and none of them were damaged so much that they would break down immediately. Just enough to wear out part way through the trip."
"Do you know who did it, or when?" Dylan asked.
"No, it could have been while we were docked at the station, or it could have been someone from the planet doing repairs."
"What about Ishan?" Dylan asked.
"Maybe, but he'd have to be pretty stupid to hitch a ride on a ship he sabotaged," Harper answered.
"Good point."
Dylan turned away from the screen as Harper went back to work, "Who would want us to be stuck out here?"
"Maybe the Krisarii are hoping we'll come back for more repairs," Beka suggested.
"If I were from Raptor Pride," Tyr added, "I would have made sure the Andromeda never arrived to support my enemies."
"If they did find a way to sabotage the ship," Dylan asked, "Why didn't they destroy us?"
"Perhaps they have a plan to kill us later," Tyr replied.
"All the more reason to get slipstream online as soon as possible," Rev said.
"Dylan," Beka spoke up, "I should to take the Maru back to the planet and get some answers."
"Good," Dylan agreed, "Take Rev with you."
"If they plan on questioning Neitzchians," Tyr said, "I should go with them."
"Tyr, are you concerned about us?" Beka asked, jokingly.
"Right now, the Maru is safer than the Andromeda," Tyr told her, "I have no intention of being a sitting duck when my people arrive to finish us off."
"Fine," Dylan said, "I'm sure you'll be needed more there anyway. I'll handle the slipstream if we can get underway before you get back. Just come here, and if we're already gone, head over to the Kelmar Belt."
"Right," Beka said, already on her way to the Maru. Dylan hesitantly took her place in the slipstream chair.
"Rommie," Dylan said, "Take over sensors and fire control. Be ready for anything coming out of slipstream."
Her holographic form nodded, "What about Ishan and the others?"
"Keep a close eye on them, but right now I'm willing to risk letting them help."
"Understood," The ship answered.
***
"Look at this architecture," Daniel commented, running a hand along one of Andromeda's walls.
"Its beautiful," Sam observed.
"Yes…" Daniel responded, "But notice the way everything flows together; all the rounded edges and the curved surfaces. I wish I had a chance to study the culture that built this ship."
"I can get you some historical information on the Commonwealth if you'd like," Andromeda offered, her hologram appearing nearby.
"I'd appreciate it," Daniel said with a hopeful look on his face.
Andromeda led Daniel to a console, which immediately displayed the contents of "The Rise and Fall of the Systems Commonwealth."
Normally Sam would be studying the ship's engineering section, but slipstream was far beyond anything she could understand. Instead, she went to join Teal'c and Jack who were talking about the mission ahead.
"If these guys did invade, what are we going to do about it?" Jack asked, "Look at this technology. They could probably blow us up before we even knew they were out there."
"I doubt they would want to destroy our world," Teal'c responded, "They will probably attempt to capture it."
"Great," Jack answered, "Maybe we'll be able to haunt them after they've taken over everything."
"Perhaps we could form an alliance," Teal'c suggested, "Even the Gua'uld would join us to stop them."
"Do you think the Gua'uld would be able to stop them?" Sam asked.
"I do not know. However with the technology we are about to use, an alliance could be strong enough."
"Great," Jack said, sarcastically, "Maybe the Gua'uld will be so glad to have our help, they'll free all the people they've enslaved."
---
"Dylan, I've got a Neitzchian troop transport transiting into normal space," Andromeda called out.
"Contact them," Dylan ordered.
"They're ignoring us, and they're on an intercept course."
"Alright, if they insist," Dylan said, "Launch missles. Try to disable their engines."
"Missles away," Andromeda answered, "It's a hit, the Neitzchians have slowed by 25%. They're returning fire."
Dylan quickly moved from his seat to one of the defense stations, "Try to keep our distance from them!"
"I've been hit twice. We lost fire control, and engines are down."
"They barely scratched us!" Dylan was amazed.
"I think our saboteur did a better job than we thought," Andromeda paused, "They're docking."
"Rommie, standard security protocols," Dylan ordered.
"I can't. They…" Andromeda winced, "They're sending some kind of feedback into my system. I…" The hologram vanished.
"Rommie!"
***
"Have you seen any Neitzchians around here?" Beka asked.
"Not in six months," The stocky shop keeper answered, "They don't have much reason to be in the area. They don't even think this planet is worth conquering."
"Why not?" Tyr asked, incredulously.
"We have ten ion cannons, four banks of missle launchers, and enough flak guns to keep any ships from landing."
"And?" Tyr asked, "One dreadnought could destroy this place in a couple of hours."
"Then what? This planet has no natural resources to speak of, unless you count limestone," He smirked, "The only reason to attack us would be for slave labor or ships, both of which would be destroyed in a bombardment. You'd lose a lot more than you'd gain."
Tyr glared at him for a moment, but Rev broke in before he could respond.
"Have you heard of Miska Station?" The Magog philosopher asked.
"Of course," The merchant answered, "I know all the stops around here."
"Do Neitzchians ever go there?" Rev asked.
"Maybe they do, but I have trouble affording my medication lately. I sometimes have trouble remembering things."
Beka sighed and handed him some money.
***
"Rommie!" Trance called out as the avatar suddenly staggered.
"I'm being boarded by Neitzchians…They're…" Andromeda shut her eyes and attempted to clear her head, only to collapse a moment later.
"Oh man!" Harper said, climbing out of the service crawl space under the slipstream drive, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Trance responded apologetically, "She said something about Neitzchians boarding, then she fainted."
Harper raced over to the computer console, which had gone blank just as Daniel was about to finish the first chapter. Harper tapped the the controls furiously.
"Andromeda, respond." He ordered, but nothing happened.
Harper quickly dropped to the floor and opened the wall panel. Pulling out some cables, he prepared for a neural interface. Barely taking a moment to separate the data pipeline and the power cable, he plugged himself into the system.
Once connected, he found himself in a room. The walls swayed, nearly making him nauseous. However, he concentrated on his task, and soon saw a representation of the Andromeda's humanoid form lying on the floor.
"Rommie!" Harper called.
The figure looked up weakly, "Harper? Hurry, get out before…" Her head dropped back to the floor.
"No way am I leaving you like this!" Harper answered, but he suddenly began to hear a soft whine. Slowly, it began to grow louder. Harper collapsed to his knees, then disconnected.
"Harper?" Trance asked.
"They've got an EMP feedback loop going," Harper explained, "She'll recover, but I can't help her until we get rid of the Neitzchians."
"What's going on?" Jack asked, walking up to Trance, Harper, and Daniel.
"Appearantly, the ship is being boarded," Daniel explained.
"Boarded?" Jack asked in disbelief.
"Right, boarded," Harper answered, "You gonna give us a hand?"
"Of course we will," Ishan volunteered, "Though I really should stay here and try to repair the slipstream drive."
"Thanks," Trance said.
"Yeah, it was nice of us to volunteer," Jack said, giving Ishan an irritated look.
"We've got some spare weapons in a locker down the hall," Harper told him.
Jack took his MP5 into his hands, "We'll manage."
Harper looked at the antiquated weapon doubtfully, but decided it would be good enough, "We should head for the bridge and try to meet up with Dylan. Follow me."
Jack motioned for the SG1 team to follow Harper. Before long, Teal'c could hear footsteps ahead.
"They're probably heading for engineering," Harper noted, "We should try to take them by surprise."
"That won't work," Trance replied firmly, "We should hide until they go past."
"Wait a minute," Jack argued.
"We don't have time for this," Harper said, "Just do what the purple kid tells you."
"They know our enemies better than we do," Teal'c reminded him.
"Fine," Jack accented, "Let's duck into a side room."
The six of them quickly hid in a nearby room. The Neitzchians marched past, they weren't speaking to each other.
"What are we going to do about Ishan?" Trance whispered, "And Andromeda?"
"We'll have to follow them back to engineering," Harper answered.
"What if they aren't headed for engineering?" Sam asked.
"Then we head up to the bridge like we planned," Harper explained.
It didn't take much time for them to get back to the engine room. Trance cautiously edged out onto a catwalk above the Neitzchians. They were already confronting Ishan when she got into position.
"We don't need you to get slipstream running again."
"Perhaps not," Ishan smiled at him, "But I assure you…"
"Stop smiling or I'll kill you," The hulking male Neitzchian threatened.
"Now, I don't appreciate your tone," The man scolded.
The Neitzchian growled, seething with rage, "I…"
"Mal, one of their females is unconscious on the floor," Another of the invaders shouted from behind the drive system.
The first Neitzchian sneered, "I'm sure she'll be more fun when she wakes up. Just carry her back to the ship."
'Rommie,' Trance thought, terrified.
"Now see here," Ishan spoke up.
Mal grabbed by the collar and hoisted him into the air, "What are you going to do about it?"
Ishan looked down, "I really didn't want to do this… But if that is the way you want to do things, so be it. Personal defense code Lashak Beras Porgah!"
Trance watched in amazement as energy began to flow through the Neitzchian, in seconds, he fell to the floor. Ishan landed on his feet unharmed.
One of the other Neitzchians gave a shout, and the remaining fourteen commandos began to fire at him. However, the shots impacted on his personal energy shield, leaving him unharmed. Ishan pointed to each of them in turn, and a bolt of energy shot from the tip of his finger, rendering them all unconscious. When it was over, SG1, Trance, and Harper ran down to talk to him.
"Why didn't you tell us you could do that?" Jack asked.
"It didn't seem important," Ishan explained.
"Why would it?" Jack asked rhetorically.
"Could you give me one of whatever you used to do that?" Harper wondered.
"Sorry," Ishan responded, "It only works for me."
"Is Rommie ok?" Trance asked, quickly walking over to where she now lay. Harper immediately ran over to join them.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't let anyone harm her."
"We could use your help getting to the bridge," Jack said.
"There are going to be plenty of them coming to take over the engine room," Ishan reminded him, "I'm sure you'll be able to handle yourselves."
"We should have someone down here," Daniel said.
"And he is our best chance for holding engineering," Sam added.
Jack nodded, "Lets get going. The longer we wait, the better prepared they're going to be."
Harper finished looking Rommie over, and went back over to the SG team, with Trance close behind. After only a few words were exchanged, the group once again headed for the bridge.
---
"Its empty," Kifar noted.
"They probably have a trap ready," Sima answered.
"Of course they do," Kifar smiled, "That's the fun part."
"High Guard," Sima called out, "We know you're around here somewhere. Why don't you come out and spring your trap on us now and save yourself some time?"
'Not yet,' Dylan thought, 'No point wasting it on two of them.'
It didn't take the Neitzchians long to settle at the controls. After a moment, they decided that any trap would have gone off, and more Neitzchians entered and began taking up positions around the bridge. Once every post had been taken, Dylan reasoned that it would be a good time to make his move.
Pressing a key on a portable control pad, he sealed the doors to the bridge. The three Neitzchians nearest the primary entrance ran to force them open. Immediately, Dylan pressed the other button.
"Gas!" Kifar shouted.
"We can't…" One of them trailed off, as he slumped to the floor. In moments, they were all asleep. Dylan smiled as he thought about the time two weeks ago when Harper suggested the system.
Dylan crawled out of his hiding place, and dropped into the hallway just outside the bridge. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"Don't move," The steely voice warned him, "You should be more careful. This ship has become a very dangerous place for people like you."