Lost Brothers

Chapter Three

Authors note

Hello, thanks for the reviews. I was planning on explaining a couple of things this chapter and "wordling" has given me an excuse.

"Is English/American you native tounge?" one: YOU spelt tongue wrong and two, to answer your question, no I speak English from the wonderful northern half of England and there are subtle differences. (I also can't spell due to mild dyslexia, but never mind that.)

You also suggested that I research the history of the twelve colonies. Thank you for the advice. I did before I wrote this, being a compete geek I could quote you most of it to you. I have simply ignored the fact that:- A; Kolbol was settled by travellers from an unknown planet. B; They don't have hyperspace capability in the original show and C; Count Iblis arrived and made a mess of the whole thing for a while.

Why? Simple:- A; There is no point in including that. It will just confuse the hell out of us all. B; apparently the Galatican fleet crawled along at sub-light speeds across galaxies an made it to Earth with in 70 years, this is scientifically impossible it would take longer than that to travel to the closest star let alone galaxy. So I gave them hyperspace, but because the fleet was made form all sorts of ships each would have different speeds in hyperspace. They would have to slow down every so often so the others could catch up. And finally C; that was going to be part of the plot but I realised that Count Iblis and Lord Anubis was the same person (think about it) so I chose to forget about him.

Oh yes one final point, this is the old Battlestar Galatica (from the original,1979, show) If any one spots any more problems I will fix or explain them but for now you can read the next chapter.

Thor looked out at the space warping around him. It had taken him three months to sort through the transmissions on the new Replicator war before he came across the footnote. While the High Council might have read it as "Whenever is convenient" Thor knew that the words "just in case..." translated as "Please get here now and save us quickly" when it came to the humans, especially O'Neill.

He had scraped together three ships and headed off as soon as he could

'Supreme Commander Thor, a large unknown ship is orbiting Earth.'

'Drop out of hyper, have The Hammond and the Carter follow us'

Thor watched the light of hyperspace fade as they came across the ship. You could easily fit the O'Neill in the front section alone. His group of ships would only take up two thirds the mass of this behemoth.

As he looked at the sensors he noticed the amount of weapons and crew aboard. While there was no sign of shields it's armoured hull could probably take multiple direct hits before breaching. The sensors also showed it launching 24 long range fighters almost instantaneously as well as extra armour plaiting sliding over some of the more vulnerable sections. Whatever this thing was it had the size and the firepower to make the out come of any combat with three state of the art Asguard war ships very messy.

'Sir, we are receiving a transmission.'

'Let me hear it.'

'This is Commander Cain of the colonial Battlestar Pegasus to three approaching vessels. Stop immediately or I will have my vipers blow you out of space.'

Thor glanced at the sensor readout on the fighters, super charged laser pulse cannons on small trans-light capable ships. Even if his ships guns could track them fast enough it could only be one at a time and would leave the ships open to attack by the Battlestar. 'I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asguard. Earth is a protected planet in accordance with intergalactic treaties. Who are you and why have you attacked this world?'

'I told you who I am. We are here at the invitation of the United Earth Defence Council. As for your self, George has told me about you. I'm coming on a shuttle once there I can give you the coordinates of Colonel O'Neill. Until then I'll have my second explain the recent events.'

Standing at the door to the bay Thor ran his mind over what he was told. The lost colonies of the Ancients destroyed and the survivors finding Earth. Helping to destroy Anubis's fleet before discovering that the destroyers were trying to find Earth as well. The Earth governments reaction shocked him the most. Instead of in fighting and recriminations they welcomed their bothers from the stars, instead of blaming the survivors for leading a new enemy to them they helped and sheltered those who they could easily blame. Some countries argued and others wanted nothing to do with space but most had came together to save themselves.

Cain was looking forward to meeting the famous Thor, he had done some reading into the legends of Earth and found that Thor was called the god of thunder. He was supposedly one of the greatest warriors ever.

He walked out the door into the small bay, with the ability to instantaneously transport they would have no need for shuttles. Then he saw the three non-humans. They were short, almost child like. Their grey and green mottled skin was almost featureless save for two over sized black eyes that seemed to blink at odd times.

'I am Thor.'

'Commander Cain.' He offered his hand and Thor took it. His hand was partly webbed and very small. 'I was expecting some one different. I sent a transmission to George from the shuttle to Io, he's on his way.'

'Io?'

'One of the moons orbiting the larger gas giant, he'll be here soon.'

Thor escorted his guest to the bridge after his shuttle left. When they got there the ship had detected another fighter, it was a bit bigger than the others and sensors showed that it had two pilots in contrast to the one man fighters that were landing on the Battlestar.

After the "Viper" as commander Cain called it had landed Thor had general Hammond transported to the bridge. It only took a moment for him to confirm what the Colonial commander had told Thor and then he went on to explain O'Neill's situation. 'We're sorry to impose on you but with a Cylon fleet on its way and the SGC being our only hope of finding something more useful than the burnt out shipyard we need Jack back.'

'Of course General. I was wondering, why have your people not removed the knowledge from O'Neill?' Thor addressed Cain

'While we understand the sleep tube he used we have no idea how to extract thought patterns from the human mind. The thirteenth tribe was always more advanced than our ancestors. While we made one step they made three or even four more.' Cain looked slightly bored. It was obvious that he was more of a warrior than a politician.

It didn't take very long to extract the knowledge from the colonels mind. The suspended animation made it easier and faster. After a few minuets O'Neill woke up.

'Damn it, oww. Why did I think that was a good idea. Morning General, thanks Thor.'

'It was no problem O'Neill. Not many outside the inner council have ever had access to the Ancients knowledge and most of that was lost before the war with the Replicators. Now with the Replicators escaping from their prison we need all the help we can get.'

'For crying out loud Thor! Haven't you guys figured it out yet?'

Thor blinked rapidly

'Simple, those satanic Lego bricks are held together by magnets right? Just drop an electro-magnetic pulse on them. The blocks fall apart and you win. Bang. Just like that. Anything else?' O'Neill stood up and looked around as General Hammond and several of Thor's crew tried not to laugh.

'How did you "figure" it out?'

General Hammond stopped chuckling long enough to explain. 'Twenty years ago Jack left special ops went undercover as part of a government think tank. He was able to make a lot more powerful enemies as "Macgyver" so went back into military service. If anyone at the NID or any number of criminal organisation found out that "Macgyver" was still alive Jack would be dead inside a week.'

'Yes well,' although he would never admit it Thor was a trifle a embarrassed, he knew that O'Neill was a far more complex human than he wanted people to believe but that he was able to come up with a solution that was radical, easy to do and, in theory, effective showed that humans were more of a riddle than anyone believed. 'Thank you O'Neill. Your plan might work.'

'If you want to thank me just don't tell Carter, or Danny. I've been dumb old Jack O'Neill for so long I'd hate to embarrass them. Speaking of?'

'Jack.. While you and SG1 were down under Antarctica we got some visitors. The colonial refugees needed our help and we are giving it. most of the solar system is littered with artefacts most don't work and haven't for a long time but there is one or two bits we can use. With that and what we can understand of that outpost down there we can upgrade the Galatica and Pegasus. Lieutenant Colonel Carter is heading up the research team that's looking into merging Earth, Ancient and Colonial technology for the next generation of Battlestar. Teal'c is heading up the tactical pilot training in Canada and Doctor Jackson is the cultural liaison and Earths representative on the council.'

'SG1 is no more then. What can I do?'

'Well first of all, you can accept the promotion to General and then take charge of the SGC. We still need to find the lost city. There is a muti cultural team ready to depart to an address we found in the outpost.'

'General! Sweet. Carter know about this.'

'She knows you were promoted, not that your awake.'

'Lets' tell her then. Thanks again Thor.'

Jack looked out of the shuttle window. It had taken an amazingly shot time to get from Earth orbit to Jupiter's moon. Far below a web of bridges and boxes were wrapped around a BIG ship, that side of him that was a scientist boggled at the amount of thrust and power that it must use. The side that was the eternal child just found one word and stuck with it, "Cool"

The pilot weaved around a couple pylons and landed in one of the large pontoons ether side of the main hull. After George and the grey haired Cain got out Jack asked the pilot to show him to Carter's office. It took almost as long as the trip to get there. When they did they were told she had got to see Doctor Willker, another walk and they found the Doctors office.

Jack waited a moment in the drab grey hall listening at the door

'No, No, No. the is no way to stabilise an energy field to deflect laser bursts.'

'Yes there is, you use a series of emitters to bounce the energy around and...'

'Look you stupid woman this all might work in that pretty little head of yours but in the real world we have physics and reality not pixy dust.' Jack bit his lip, trying to tell Carter about physics is like trying to tell earth how to orbit the sun.

'You, talking about technology! Your still using printed mother boards and wires. You still use two tone monitors! If Bill Gates came here he'd be able to sell you Dos!'

'That's it I've listened to you twaddle on long enough. Out. I'm advising Adama not to use these "shields" and to have all you primitives thrown of this ship with all your Gates things, "fruit Macs" and infantile ideas.' Jack dragged the warrior round the corner as a thin man in a cream lab coat marched out of the room followed by a blond woman muttering curses.

Jack followed them both. This was not the best time to say hello. Eventually the staggered group reached the commanders quarters. The two scientists barged in while Jack held back for a moment.

'Adama, I demand you remove this, woman,' the was a distinct tone with the word "woman" 'and her toys from the Galatica immediately. If she is the brightest Earth had to offer then I am afraid we are certainly doomed.'

Carter cut in 'Sorry for the intrusion sirs, our discussion got out of hand. If I may be so bold as to ask whether this gentleman's credentials are indeed actuate as Colonel O'Neill had' she stopped, 'has a better grasp of technology than this moron.' Jack smiled and walked in

'Wow. Thanks Carter. Was that a compliment?' she span around, open mouthed, Jack could see her seconds away from jumping at him. She was speechless for a moment

Unfortunately the pompous doctor ceased the chance. 'Commander I will not pamper to this idiotic girl. I remind you that she suggested that we convert the Galatica to run on stones.'

This time the white haired commander answered 'And we agreed to install the naquada generator on a shuttle instead. I have the flight report here. As well as a power boost of over five hundred percent the fuel requirements were more than halved and the mass of the shuttle was reduced considerably. According to the engineers three such power cores could run the Galatica itself. Their calculations show that our power requirements could treble and we would only need to replace the first energiser. Despite this evidence I will here out my three associates, Cain?'

'Do it and fire this fool, preferably via a launch tube. George?'

'For more than seven years I've trusted Colonel Carter and the earth is still spinning. Jack?'

He walked up next to the other three. It felt like those war films when the allies leaders met an decided the fate of the world. 'Carter's right the shields will work, and you're an ass.'

The eldest of the four stood up 'I agree. Doctor Willker if you would be so kind as to vacate your lab as soon as you can, I am sure that Colonel Carter would appreciate the space.'

'You can't do that...'

'Doctor, your lack of ethics has seriously undermined your position and your views appear to have coloured your over hyped abilities. I suggest you leave before I take Commander Cain's suggestion literally.'

'I'll take this before the council!'

'Until then the Colonel is in command of research and development. Jack, Colonel Carter, I believe you would like to talk to each other. I suggest you head to the officers mess. Doctor Jackson is supposed to be there researching our warrior culture.'

'Sweet. You coming Carter?'

'Yes sir.'

'Good, of to find the wizard... linguist.' They walked out almost, but not quite, touching

'I see what you mean George. So on to business what do we call these new Battlestar's?'

Daniel was in the corner, lost in his notes. The first few minutes had been difficult, lots of Colonial warriors seemed to glance at him and then strike up conversation with their companions about him.

Off to his right a door opened and someone else came in. He was thinking of looking up when he heard Sam voice 'There he is.'

'Hey Danny boy, Find any good rocks lately?'

Daniel almost knocked the table over 'Jack, your back! Sit down, I'll get you a drink.' It only took a minute to get two more metal tankards filled with "ambrosia" and to sit down. 'So Jack what do you think of the colonial flag ship.'

'Big, old and grey. A bit like my hair.' He put the tankard to his lips.

Both Sam and Daniel watched with barely concealed smiles.

'God, what the hell is this?!' Jack was looking at the silver and gold cup like the bird emblem on the side had bit him.

'They call it "ambrosia" sir, Daniel thinks it's some form of fermented honey.'

'Mead?' he drank some more. 'yep just got to give it time to settle.'

'Jack what do you know about ancient beers?' Daniel asked, Jack just smirked as an answer.

The three former team mates laughed and talked for a while much to the interest of the other warriors. One of them looked to their wing man and long time friend, 'They don't seem that different Apollo, think we should go and talk with them.'

'Good idea Starbuck, but I'd bet the real reason you want to talk has something to do with short blond hair.'

'No bet here.' The long haired man got up

'Just don't let Cassiopeia find out, she'll get me just for being with you.' Apollo laughed back.

'I know,' Starbuck chomped down on his half cigar and picked up his tankard. With a roughish grin he headed to the table and introduced him self.

Reluctantly Jack said his goodbyes, they had spent the last few hours catching up and talking with the two colonials. It was amazing that the colonials could go through so much and still be able to smile. Looking back on his life Jack found the same question hovering in the background. Shaking off the sadness of the dark memories he looked out of the Vipers cockpit. Starbuck had offered to show him the ropes of the small fighter on his trip to back earth.

He wasn't that shocked to find that there were two models of the Mk II viper. The standard type was the smaller, one man craft, while the other was known as the "Probe type". It was longer and supported a second pilot as well as having larger fuel and life support cells it also had a short range hyperspace generator. It wasn't as fast or as agile as the smaller version but perfect for recon or officer transport.

Jack glanced at the unfamiliar controls, to his left were three buttons marked in sequence, "turbo one", "two" and "three". His feet rested on pedals that rolled the fighter port and starboard. The control stick was mounted on a short pedestal in front of him, three buttons marked "Fire", "Turbo" and "Midi" were at his thumb while the accelerator was a cream trigger at his index finger. Several screens were mounted in the seat in front of him one churned out text and data that he guessed was the sensor information the second had a slightly grainy picture of space while the third had some sort of weapons HUD.

Starbuck gave him control when they were safely out of the shipyard. The greatest problem with death gliders was the drag that the wings produced. It interfered with just about everything. This fighter used much smaller wings to stabilise itself and an anti-gravity field to maintain flight in atmosphere. The effect was a faster, stronger and more manageable fighting vehicle. Even in space Jack had felt the resistance that the death glider design, this dart like Viper had very little resistance. It almost danced through space. Rolls and dives flowed from one another, Jack reasoned that in a dog fight this thing would just disappear and like the harrier jump jet drop down on some ones tail.

He was reluctant to give the controls back to the warrior pilot but having no idea how to land would have proved to be a problem. They landed inside Canada, what was left of the United Kingdoms Commonwealth had taken up the job of providing pilots, crews and a modification of the Recon type Viper. In with all this Teal'c had been drafted as the expert in Goa'uld tactics and death gilders. He was also in training to become a captain in one of the new viper squadrons that being made in Europe under colonial supervision. Non of this was enough to cushion the shock Jack felt when he found him in a Viper simulator.

'T! You've got hair!!!'

Thus ends the chapter. Next chapter you get the Cylons arriving around one and a half years later what happens during that time gap?

I put a lot of clues but some ideas are going to be a surprise.