The Meaning Of Command
Author: Chaoseternus
Chapter 12: Treaties and Protection
The room was solemn and quiet in the minutes following Thor's announcement. It was to be expected really, what with the successful defence of Earth by Earth naval forces, and the fact that for the first time ever, the space forces of the Tau'ri had gone on the offensive, throwing a Goa'uld out of a system he controlled, destroying his mothership in the process, but it was still a hard pill to swallow. The system lords had taken a vote and the result was unanimous, and their was nothing the Asgard could do about it. Earth was no longer a protected planet, they had proven they had the capability to defend themselves, and either the Asgard accepted that, or the entire treaty would be considered null and void by the Goa'uld. The Asgard had made the only decision they could, and removed Earth from the list of officially protected worlds.
Earth could now legitimately be attacked by the Goa'ulds at any time; the war had just taken a dangerous step forward. Not that the Asgard were abandoning Earth totally, not with the latest gift the Tau'ri had for the Asgard. Whilst Thompson was being up to speed by Captain Peters, the Asgard healing devices Thor had used on Thompson as usual had proven remarkably effective, dealing with the damage the poisons had caused in a minute without the assistance having even been asked for, Dodge had mentioned to Thor about the Asgard derelict found within the Alpha Centauri system and the largely mummified crew within, their bodies preserved by the cold of space ready for burial according to Asgard customs. But the real gift was not the knowledge of what happened to the ship, nor the bodies ready for burial, no, the real gift was the 34 operational and occupied stasis chambers buried within the holds. 34 Asgard, ready to rejoin a depleted race, 34 Asgard who would forever remember who found them, who moved their stasis chambers to a safe location, and who arranged extra power when their own started to run out. And a hull that might be in good enough condition to be refitted and returned to the overstretched Asgard fleet. No, for that and a thousand other reasons the Asgard were not going to be abandoning Earth soon, especially not with what they owed SG-1. But the nature of their relationship would have to change, the Asgard could no longer treat the Tau'ri as an inferior species in need of protection, even in the eyes of the Asgard they had proved that wasn't the case, no they would have to become allies, of a sort. The Asgard were talking a mutual defence pact. The RSS and SGC commanders weren't talking, they were just catching flies.Alpha Centauri
General O'Neill grinned with pleasure as the characteristic glow of Asgard transporters filled his office; he quickly abandoned his paperwork and rose from the desk.
"Thor, me old buddy, how's it going?"
"O'Neill, it is good to see you, however I believe you have several 'gifts' for me"
"Yesureyoubetcha" O'Neill grinned, "the ship is in one of the Ha'tak sized bays, the one we haven't started work on yet, your friends are… oh about ten feet to your right"
"You might want to inform your security…"
O'Neill interrupted, "No need, already told them, soon as I heard you were in the area, so how is things with you?"
"Getting better, have you heard about the new treaty yet?"
"No, new treaty? I'm all ears…"