Forgive the not great format, I STILL haven't got the hang of Fanfiction uploading yet.
you can get a decent HTML version of the entire story from my website. See bio for details.
Hey, i'm only a couple of days late from my deadline. that's damn good gonig for me!
Enjoy.
Chapter 8
When playing in the snakepit…
Command Central, Fortress Palace, Sohag
Os'uk, the senior Jaffa in Command Central, listened to the fragmentary reports coming from around the Palace with increasing dismay. He (and everyone else) had thought the Alliance ground assault defeated with the Chappa'ai blocked with Bast's magic and the incoming dropships repulsed by the massed fire of the ground defenses. Now, it turned out the small but numerous sensor return his Seconds had assumed was the wreckage from destroyed dropships and corvettes were, in actual fact, their damnable armoured warriors displaying yet another example of their hellspawned abilities.
Initial counts put their number at nearly a thousand, which, compared to the twenty-five thousand Jaffa in the Palace Citadel and the surrounding city, seemed like a small number but that equation didn't take into account their superior armour and weaponry. Disregarding heavy weaponry and vehicles, he would lose three to four Jaffa for every Tau'ri soldier, an acceptable price usually, considering the vast Legions of Jaffa available - but for this fight, here, he would be completely unable to concentrate his forces enough to make any appreciable grounds against the Tau'ri forces. Reports of disaster continued to roll in. The main hanger and surrounding facilities. The primary armouries in sectors 2, 7 and 9. The pra'kash depot on the Y'tar Plains. All and more had fallen quickly to warriors dropping out of the black night and who seemed to content to hold their gains while the warriors in the palace cut their way deep towards he Chappa'ai and the here, Command Central.
"Events seemed to spiraled out of control, do they not?" Spoke the silky smooth tones of Lord Kiptakanae from behind him.
Os'uk bit back a heated reply, (this was a God, however detestable he seemed…). "My Lord, it is merely a greater challenge for the Legions to overcome. A challenge worthy of the Jaffa."
Kiptakanae smiled turned into a sneer as he waved his hand dismissively and turned back to the other Unionist System Lords. They too could feel the tension emanating from the Jaffa in Command Central and knew that the alarms sounding inside the Fortress Palace did not speak good things of the ongoing battle.
"Well, my fellow Lords and Ladies, Bast seems to have gotten us into quite a fix. A shame that she is not here to share in the danger we now face." Kiptakanae commented sarcastically. He eyed his personal guard, eight Jaffa in pale, almost white gold armour. They stood silently amost the rest of the Jaffa belonging to the other Unionists. His First Prime nodded his head a bare millimeter but Kiptakanae saw the gesture and felt heartened by it. It meant that his Jaffa had made a few conversions amongst the other Jaffa. They would be useful when he made his move.
Lady Amun'sul, long-time supporter of Bast frowned darkly at the slippery System Lord. Over the past few weeks, and especially the past few days, Kiptakanae's subtle and none-too-subtle remarks had steadily ground away the general feeling of respect for Bast amongst the other Unionist leaders. She had watched him carefully, sure that he would make a play for leadership of the Union soon, though what she hadn't realized is that he would make his move during a conflict that could conceivably bring down destruction upon their heads.
"Kiptakanae, silence your tongue for we have yet to hear anything useful from you." She demanded imperiously.
The other Goa'uld turned away from his study of his Jaffa and looked at her with mixed amusement and disdain. "Ahhh, my dear Lady Amun'sul, lap dog and general underling of our esteemed leader, Bast. Tell me, Amun'sul, does your blind unquestioning obedience make you a bootlicker or merely a fool?"
Amun'sul's anger surged and her eyes flashed with murderous intent. She took a step forward and began to raise her right hand that held her ribbon device. Though she wouldn't be able to kill him, she could put him on his ass and that was more than sufficient to the moment.
"HOLD!" A strong, clear soprano rang out across the command chamber.
All heads turned as one to see Bast stood in the doorway to Command Central, four of her Praetorian Guard flanking her. Lord Sivar, a hulk of a man stood behind her, with two of his Jaffa in red-tinted armour on either side. She was an intimidating sight and the Unionist Systems Lords who were thinking rebellious thoughts suddenly found their enthusiasm quenched as quickly as pouring water on a flame. All the Systems Lords that is, other than Kiptakanae.
He raised his chin in defiance and began to make his way to the communications console reserved for the System Lords. There, hidden under the frame, lay the first piece of the ak'ri'tar, the ribbon device enhancement that would allow him to kill Bast in a single blast, despite her personal shield.
Bast watched him as he practically slithered across the command area. "Would you challenge me for leadership of the Union, Kiptakanae?" She demanded.
The other System lord merely grinned. "What would be the point? I doubt half the Unionist System lords would follow me even if I was to defeat you in honorable challenge. What would stop the next up and coming System Lord to challenge me for leadership, and so on and so forth, until only one God remained. No, I will not challenge you." His words were placatory but inside, his symbiote twitched in anticipation as he unobtrusively removed a rectangular square of golden metal, barely two inches long, from under the frame of the console and slide it into a groove on the ribbon device on the back of his hand. The glove-like device vibrated slightly with positive feedback from the additional powerpack he had just attached.
He laid his eyes on the main holographic unit where, among the data crystals, lay hidden the focusing unit for the ak'ri'tar. He waved dismissively at Bast as he casually made his way to the main holo-display. "Our enemies noose draws ever closer, dear Bast, yet you stand here to bandy words with me?"
Unsure of his motive and unbalanced by his passive-aggressive posturing, she allowed her attention to be drawn to the display. The Alliance forces were making another push, trying to destroy as much of Hek'at's forces before Lord's Sivar's ships, that were still in orbit, could move to reinforce.
She turned to the other System Lord. "Lord Sivar, my Fist Prime could use your help."
The other Goa'uld merely smiled grimly. He was a bronze skinned giant, with long, dark black hair and in armour so dark red so as to be almost black as well. "I will destroy the Tau'ri, where your companions have so obviously failed." He replied, pointedly looking at Kiptakanae. He held the gaze for several seconds before swiftly turning in place and striding towards the still open doors. He and his two Jaffa halted in the centre of the foyer and, with no apparent command, the ring transports erupted out of the floor and swallowed them whole in a flash of quantum light.
Flag CIC, ENS Ark Royal, Grand Fleet
Admiral Kent grimaced as the sensor office reported the large hyperspace signatures from the far side of Sohag, but even he wasn't prepared for the arrival of another Dhan'hak class Commandship. His forces were having enough trouble with the 'War Hammer', the last thing they needed was another of the damn things.
"Send word to Second Fleet, I want them ready to jump to these coordinates on my command!" He ordered, punching in a series of numbers into his computer. He had been hoping to pin the enemy with the battlegroups from First and Third Fleet and using Second Fleet, as well as the Asgard Cruiser, to engage their flank and drive them off but like every military plan since day one, it collapsed completely under the weight of reality. The enemy wasn't co-operating and he was being forced to commit his reserves far earlier than he would have liked.
A groan emerged from a knot of officers near the primary display. A Sintesian heavy battleship had just exploded under the combined onslaught of two Shal'kra's class Motherships.
"Where's Admiral Serena's battlegroup now?" He demanded. He couldn't see them on the display due to all the electronic jamming everyone was putting out.
An Ensign at the Flag Plot looked up at the Admiral. "Tracking last had the Allegiance Battlegroup rounding the third moon and shaping a course to hit the Union Fleet in the rear, on the left flank from below the ecliptic."
A Lieutenant beside her frowned as she finished her report. "We're also picking up the second Commandship and escorts breaking Sohag orbit and heading our way."
O'Neill, silent till now, took a step forward, out of the shadows of the Flag deck. "Do you have an I.D on the Commandship?" He asked curiously.
The lieutenant glanced briefly at Admiral Kent before accessing his computer. "Database has an 87 match with the 'Blood Sword'." He replied.
O'Neill turned to Kent with a slight smile. "Lord Sivar." At Kent's inquisitive look, O'Neill began to explain. "Sivar is your fairly typical Goa'uld, bloodthirsty, arrogant and more than a little insane. He's also one of the top six most powerful System Lords and one of the last people I would have expected to go Unionist."
"Then why the smile?" Kent asked impatiently as the Ark Royal rocked solidly from several long-range shots impacting against the shields.
"I'm smiling because Lord Sivar got where he is by being very cautious. While all the other System Lords were grabbing up territory once Bast realized the Asgard were out of the game, he stayed in the shadows, just in case it was a trick and the Asgard returned. He hates them and is very afraid of them. More so than most System Lords and that works for us."
"Psy-Ops." Kent breathed out in sudden understanding.
O'Neill nodded. "How do you win a war without fighting a war? You make the enemy think he's already defeated."
"Sun Tzu?" Kent asked with a smile.
"Homer Simpson." O'Neill replied hurriedly, and stepped back, away from the command station.
Stifling a laugh, Kent swung round to the Flag communications station. "Tell Second Fleet to ignore the previously issued co-ordinates. Once Admiral Serena engages the Union Fleet, they're to jump in behind the Allegiance Battlegroup and engage the 'Blood Sword' at close range. And make sure our Asgard friend is very visible while their doing it!"
"Aye sir!"
Main Hanger, Fortress Palace, Sohag
"Gotcha!" One of the combat engineers announced triumphantly as the dust and rubble from the holes in far walls to either side of them had a chance to settle. He was knelt over a panel embedded in the floor that moments ago was locked down and only had a few lights to show its secure status. Now, after eight minutes of hacking and re-routing, the panel light up with power. Data displays and indicator lights blossomed to life and Major Kaggestad, stood behind the sapper watching the Spartan troopers charge through the newly created doors, smiled behind his fully deployed helmet.
"Good work, Corporal." He turned to the assembled troopers behind him. "Colonel Avon, the rings are on-line! Ready your first group. I need five minutes to charge the rings and then I can cycle twelve people to the Gate ring transport every eight seconds."
The grim faced Colonel Avon of SG-Omega, veteran of Seige of Gryphon, nodded in reply. He turned to his 2IC beside him. "Major."
Major Jonas Quinn smiled briefly before jogging towards the ring transport area. "Second Squad, with me!" The ten survivors of Second squad quickly followed the Major and they with minimal fuss, assembled themselves inside the ring transports radius, facing outwards in all directions with their weapons at the ready.
Lt Jon Harper grunted as a he stumbled over a chunk of rubble from the destroyed wall but he didn't let it affect the steady sweep of his weapon across the room. "Clear!" He called out.
A chorus of repeated 'Clears!' met his statement. A quick glance at the tactical map that was becoming more detailed by the minute showed that Command Central was three sections to their north and two floors down. "Meguel! Porter! Take point!" Harper called out.
The two men nodded and ran to the far door and disappeared into the corridor beyond. The rest of the company continued to pour through the holes in the wall and follow on their heels.
Major Kaggestad saw the green light appear on the panel, indicating a full charge. "Ready, Major?" He asked Quinn tersely.
"Do it." The Major replied and before his words had even finished, the rings erupted out of the floor beneath them, slammed into place and in a intense wash of quantum light, were swept away. The rings dropped back into the floor leaving an empty circle once more.
Kaggestad turned to Colonel Avon. "Next twelve."
Stargate Chamber, Fortress Palace, Sohag
The Jaffa guarding the Stargate were already tense and nervous from the scattered reports they were intercepting from all over the Palace. The damned Tau'ri were everywhere apparently, killing everything in sight and destroying anything remotely of value.
When the high-pitched hum of the ring transporter began, the Jaffa scattered like startled quail to find whatever cover they could around the support pillars and decorative pedestals of the chamber. The rings burst out of the floor, assembled in the air and blazed with light, reassembling the scattered molecules sent from the transmitting ring unit, numerous floors away. The rings dropped away to reveal an oversized squad of armoured Tau'ri soldiers.
In less than an heartbeat, the chamber was crisscrossed with fire from all directions. After the initial bursts of fire, Jonas and his men dived for the floor, firing as they went. Two troopers, who were slow to drop, took nearly a dozen staff blasts in quick succession which massively overloaded the absorption abilities of the crystallized trinium weave armour and they were thrown backwards over they prone comrades, their fatal wounds an unholy fusion of melted metal and burnt flesh. Three of the more thoughtful soldiers scrabbled to pull multi-spectral smoke canisters from their belts and threw them around the room, instantly blinding everyone and turning a near fatal frontal assault into total chaos.
The Jaffa knew in general terms where the Tau'ri so they continued to spray the area with staff blasts. Jonas grimaced as his suits sensor suite switched from the standard vision, ignoring the infra-red which would be blinded by the heated phosphorous in the multi-spectral smoke, and jumped straight to ultra-high-frequency echo-location, a system similar to the old mine-sweeper sonar sets. Despite giving him a near crystal clear view of the room from his position, that vision showed that the Jaffa had good defensive positions for he couldn't really see any of them. The echo location sensors were like a spotlight, it allowed you to see anything you looked at but it wasn't very good at penetrating certain materials. He could clearly see the solid white of pillars, platforms and, faintly, the walls of the room. He could even see hints of what lay beyond the walls, even at this range, for they didn't appear to be that thick but everything else seemed to be solidly, and frustratingly, opaque to the sonar. The furnishings that Goa'uld routinely added to their rooms provided no end of suitable cover for defending infantry and his men lacked the heavy weapons to punch through that cover.
They had to move before the Jaffa started to kill them with grenades and lucky shots. Plus the second batch of men would be arriving at any moment. He and two others crawled to a nearby monolith that was uniformly covered in hieroglyphics. It wasn't perfect but it shielded them from the worst of the random firestorm. The smoke was starting to thin so he grabbed two smoke canisters from his webbing, pulled the pins and threw them in opposite directions. The combat suits IFF (Identification-Friend-or-Foe) transponders allowed his to see the disposition of his men.
Two were down, dead, just outside the ring transporter radius. Three were huddled by the DHD, another four were in front of the Stargate, using its closed Iris as cover as they blasted away at anything in front of them. Then there was him and his two escorts.
A high pitched hum filled the room and the ring transporter activated once more, its scanner/emitter units levitating out of the ground, assembling in a cylindrical column and depositing another twelve troopers into a room filled with smoke and wild shots. The intensity of the fire rose rapidly as the Jaffa, prepared now, for the second wave, concentrated their fire once more at the center of the room.
Though nearly all of the second wave took one or two shots, the smoke prevented the incoming fire from being concentrated enough to penetrated the armour and all the troopers survived, though half were wounded to some extent, to drop to the floor and scramble to cover.
The gloom of the chamber, thickened by the smoke, was suddenly light up as the main doors slid open and the bright light from the corridor illuminated the smoke like a neon tube. A squad of Jaffa had arrived to bolster the defences but unfortunately, they were silhouetted in the doorway and were clearly visible on the sonar frequencies as well. Over a dozen XM-80 Widowmakers fired as one and the Jaffa were seemingly ripped apart in a storm of hyper-velocity flechettes.
The other Jaffa in the chamber were stunned by this and their fire slackened noticeably. With no orders or pre-planned co-ordination, all the SG-Omega troops in the chamber took the opportunity to hit the Jaffa positions in a storm of close range fire and hand to hand combat.
Jonas Quinn grunted as he and his escorts ran to their left, towards a marble-like plinth. His two comrades ran to either side of the massive block, swinging left and right respectively to clear the pillars to either side of the plinth. As Jonas neared the massive block of stone-like material however, he jumped up, placed a foot on the top of the plinth and launched himself higher, over the heads of the Jaffa crouching behind it.
As he went flying through the air, he peppered the Jaffa below him with flechettes and by the time he landed nimbly on his feet, a heartbeat later, there were no Jaffa left alive in their section of the chamber.
Overwhelmed by the sudden charge, when the rings activated once more, depositing a third group of SG-Omega troopers, barely a third of the Jaffa were still fighting and only two managed to get shots off at the direction of the ring transporter.
By the time the forth group arrived, the Jaffa were all dead.
Jonas, taking a deep breath in the sudden silence, stood up and looked around. The new arrivals were already taking up a position outside the chamber, securing the corridor outside. The rest were attending to their wounded friends. He stepped out from behind the marble plinth and walked up to the DHD and the Stargate, the thinning smoke swirling about his armour. He was met by one of his troopers, Sgt Kwon, who had just helped one of the wounded soldiers to a sitting position against the round pedestal.
"Major." The Sergeant greeted Quinn grimly.
Jonas nodded in reply. "How bad?"
"Lewis and Talynn are dead. Heinrich, Parker and Running Water are hurt badly; they need an evac or at least a surgical team, as quickly as possible. A few others took some light injuries, flesh wounds, some burns, they're still good to go." Kwon reported studiedly. "Not too bad all things considered."
Quinn nodded. No, not too bad at all. "Not that I'm complaining but they should have had more Jaffa here guarding the 'Gate."
The Sergeant grinned behind his helmet. "You'd think. Maybe Colonel Bannon's people have all drawn them out of position. I mean, who needs to guard a Stargate when you don't have to worry about anything coming through."
Again, Quinn nodded at Kwon's point. "Speaking of which, let's take a look at this anti-phase boondoggle."
The two men walked over to the left of the Stargate where another trooper, his weapon leaning against the gate beside him, helmet retracted and back to the approaching duo. From Quinn's viewpoint, thanks to his onboard computer and the holographic heads-up display, the trooper's name floated ghostlike in front of him.
"Corporal Chin, what have you got?" Quinn asked briskly.
The other trooper turned round, revealing a small bench with what appeared to be a standard Goa'uld naquada reactor hooked up to what was obviously the anti-phase emitter and another non-standard piece of glittering Goa'uld technology. "We gots problems, sir."
Jonas turned from the grim looking trooper to the mass of equipment before him. His eyes fell on the Goa'uld Class Nine Anti-Tampering Unit and his heart froze.
"Aw hell."
Flag CIC, ENS Ark Royal, Grand Fleet
O'Neill stood silently at the back of the Flag CIC, much like he had done for years, in countless situations but with a single, incredibly frustrating difference. He wasn't contributing anything to the fight. He glanced to his left. Carter was over there with the sensor section, trying to divine information from the storm of electronic countermeasures that was raging across the Sohag system. To his right, in a small closed off booth, Teal'c was sat beside two grim looking officers from Alliance Intelligence who were intercepting any and all Goa'uld transmissions. They were, after all, in the heart of Goa'uld territory and who knew what priceless information they could pull from the electronic ether.
He shook his head. Was he becoming obsolete? He was now too old and important to go on ground combat missions and, despite the carefully hidden astronautical degrees he held, he felt more than a little out of his depth with all the new technology he had helped to bring about. He smiled wryly at the irony. For years he had feigned ignorance in front of Carter when she began to get technical, when really he knew quite a bit about what she was trying to do. Now, he really was becoming out of his depth. Oh, he still knew more than enough to be able to understand what his people and their equipment could do, it was just that he had to lean on the technical experts a little more than he ever used to.
The ship shook once more as another plasma blast slammed against the Ark Royal's shields. The 'War Hammer' had found the range once more. O'Neill felt the ship surge forward, the massive carrier's Captain obviously trying to hide in the cloud of electronic interference once more.
"Position of the Allegiance?" Admiral Kent demanded. Admiral Serena was a fine officer but her battlegroup was vulnerable, flying around the system on its own as it was. And with Serena being the independent gung-ho officer she was, she showed no signs of rejoining the main body of Grand Fleet.
Commander Singh, the Tactical Action Officer, was stood at the Flag Plot. He looked up at the Admiral, worry in his eyes. "Clear of the third moon and entering weapons range in three minutes. The 'Blood Sword' and her group are approximately eight minutes behind them and closing."
Admiral Kent glanced at the Primary Tactical display and saw for himself the pulsing blip of the Admiral Serena's battlegroup, burning clear and bright despite the jamming.
The battle had been going on for some time now and the electronic warfare teams were getting better at defeating the jamming the Union vessels were pumping out. The squadron of Shadow-class craft that orbited the fight at nearly twenty light minutes out helped immensely. Their sensor feeds, in continuous data-link with the rest of the Fleet allowed for a composite picture of the battle to be built, according them an overview of the fight that the Union didn't, couldn't, have.
"We're getting a signal from the surface. Faint but readable." The communication officer announced. "It's from Colonel Avon. SG-Omega have secured the Stargate!"
A cheer rose up around the Flag CIC. Kent smiled briefly and nodded for the officer to continue his report.
The young man shook his head slightly. "They say the anti-phase device Bast has erected is protected by one of their anti-tampering units. Estimate at least thirty minutes to an hour before they can open the Stargate."
Kent frowned and glanced at O'Neill who merely shrugged. Good news that they controlled the Stargate but not as great as they'd hoped for since Bast was yet again, one step ahead of them. They Ground Force combat engineers had a fair amount of experience with the ATU's and though they could be defeated safely, without detonating the naquada reactor that usually accompanied them, it took time. A lot of time, and that was something they were in short supply of. With the Stargate still closed, the battalions of troops on Spearhead were still essentially useless.
"We've gotta keep pushing, Admiral." O'Neill advised.
Admiral Kent nodded grimly. He turned round to the display. Admiral Serena's battlegroup was entering firing range. "Order Second Fleet in now!"
Commandship 'Blood Sword'
Lord Sivar growled with anticipation. His fleet had almost closed in on the Alliance ships that had led them a merry chase from Sohag after dropping their warriors onto the planet from space! But now he had them! They had reached the rearmost ranks of Hek'at forces and had begun to fire upon the ships that we re trying re-orient on this new attacker that had slingshot round the third moon, using its gravity well to accelerate their ships to impressive velocities but they had to slow to truly engage the enemy and that meant he could catch them between two fires.
He had heard that this was a favorite tactic of the Tau'ri and it warmed his heart to be able to turn the tables on them so.
The forward display showed the tremendous battle in all its glory. Explosions erupted everywhere. Deathgliders, Al'kesh and their Alliance equivalents fought furiously and their numbers diminished with bloody haste. Destroyers, cruisers and battleships fought hard against Motherships of all sizes. Shields were weakened and fell, armour was melted and torn apart. Oxygen streamed everywhere, leaving glittering cloud-like trails across the battlefield. Wreckage drifted around and ships on both sides used it for cover as they hunted each other down.
It was bloody and vicious. It was glorious!
"Entering extreme weapons range!" His First Prime announced.
Sivar surprised his Jaffa, who were expecting an immediate order to open fire. "Wait until we have positive locks on the enemy. I want my first blow to kill them, not merely tickle them!"
His First Prime smiled in reply and turned back to the primary console. A sensor display beeped and a Second glanced down at his display. His eyes went wide and his face drained of all blood. "INCOMING HYPERSPACE SIGNATURES!"
Sivar half stood from his command throne. "What…"
Space rippled and twisted into knots of bright blue light, only to burst open as Second Fleet came screaming out of hyperspace beside Lord Sivar's massive Commandship and his multiple squadrons of Shal'kra Motherships.
His eyes widened as the Tau'ri battleships, Susparti dreadnoughts and their escorts shook down quickly into formation and began to close the range. But that wasn't what turned his heart to ice and filled his symbiote with fear. No, that was all because of the single Asgard Battlecruiser, prominently displayed in the lead of the formation. The first ion bolts and beams from the enemy reached out and licked at his vessel's shields.
"ASGARD!" He screamed with a mixture of rage and fear as the Blood Sword shook despite its great mass. "THAT LYING BITCH SAID THEY WERE ALL GONE!"
His First Prime, shaken by the sudden appearance of their most hated foe, turned to his God fearfully and suggested what he knew his God could not. "We must retreat, my Lord! The Demon's were obviously waiting for us!"
His eyes blazing, Sivar tried to regain some of his composure and his gaze settled on his faithful First Prime. The Jaffa was right, in more ways than one. He wave his hand, gesturing for him to go ahead.
The First Prime spun back to his console and frantically began to order his ships to retreat.
Lord Sivar would not risk the wrath of the Asgard again for he had paid terribly in the past.
Bast was on her own.
Union Commandship 'War Hammer'
"What the…?"
Hek'at watched with sick despair as the long awaited Second Fleet dropped out of hyperspace almost exactly where he had predicted earlier to Ok'ran. What they hadn't guessed was that they would bring an Asgard Battlecruiser! He studied the data as it streamed across his display and grunted with foul humor. They didn't do things by halves either. That was O'Neill Class battlecruiser as well; their latest design with state of the art shields and weapons and, combined with its escorts, more than a match for Lord Sivar's forces.
Ok'ran smashed a fist into his console. "Well that tears it. We were handling O'Neill up to this point but if he's brought an Asgard vessel to the fight…"
Hek'at nodded absently as he studied his holographic display. Lord Sivar's forces were altering course and opening the range between them and the Asgard. The First Prime tried to feel angry with the System Lord but found that he couldn't, not when faced with that concentration of potential firepower.
Ok'ran came up beside him. "It's going to take the entire Group 1 and 2 to deal with Second Fleet and that cruiser." He commented quietly.
"The question is, old friend, can the rest of the Fleet hold the line against the forces we already face while we take a full third of our numbers and nearly half of our total strength to do it?" Hek'at replied.
The other Jaffa shrugged helplessly. "I see no alternative."
Hek'at shook his head. "Neither do I. Send the orders. Pass command of this fight Second Bra'nac on the 'Knife of Revenge'. Tell him to simply hold the line against Kent while we take groups 1 and 2 and try to kill Second Fleet and that thrice-damned Asgard ship."
Flag CIC, ENS Ark Royal, Grand Fleet
Once again, a cheer broke out among the battle staff briefly when the Second Fleet dropped out of hyperspace. Kent smiled with satisfaction when, instead of holding and waiting for Hek'at to reinforce, Lord Sivar began to run. O'Neill had analyzed Lord Sivar's response to perfection.
Even as the 'Blood Sword' and his escorts flew clear of Sohag's gravity well and began to jump into hyperspace, the core of Hek'at's forces were beginning to rearrange themselves and head towards Second Fleet.
He smiled. Hek'at had done tremendously well and held his forces together admirably. His Union Fleet commanders had performed almost as well as the far more disciplined Alliance Fleet but now, with so many axis of attack to deal with, Hek'at was finally being force to split his forces. "And about bloody time." Kent murmured. He glanced over at O'Neill, smiled briefly, and returned his attention to the fight. "Alright, launch the reserve fighters and send every bomber we have against that left flank! Now that Hek'at's core force is reorienting to the rear, the forces facing us have been thinned considerably and have little in the way of support. Those Jaffa commanders should be getting nervous right about now and I don't want to give them time to realize they still have more than enough forces to settle our hash if they simply keep their heads. Oh, and inform Admiral Serena that she'd better turn about once more and form up with Second Fleet. She's right in the path of Hek'at's forces."
The battle staff began to pass out the relevant orders as Commander Singh passed a datapad to the admiral. Kent studied it quickly, his confident smile faltering slightly. The datapad gave an update on ship and personnel losses, as well as expended munitions to date. The battle so far had been costly for little gain other than a toehold on Sohag that still had every chance of being overwhelmed. This final attack had to push the Union Fleet to collapse or he would have to abandon the troops on the planet and retreat, salvaging what ships and crews he could.
Fortress Palace, Sohag
They were only about five hundred meters or so from Command Central, or so his inertial navigation system told him. Coming to a sharp turn, Sgt Porter leaned out carefully to see what was down the corridor.
He jerked back around the corner almost spastically as a half dozen staff blasts slammed against far wall. "Shit!" He cursed breathlessly. Only his lightning reactions had saved him from taking a hit. PFC Meguel saw that his friend was okay, pulled two fragmentation grenades from his webbing, pulling their pins as he did so.
Porter saw this and nodded. Sliding to the edge of the corner once more, he swung his rifle out and, using his gunsight connected to his holographic heads-up-display, began to fire down the corridor. "Eight Jaffa, manning a barricade." A snort. "Looks like a table." He reported. With barely a pause, Meguel moved to the opposite wall, careful not to expose himself to the Jaffa. Aiming for a spot against the corridor wall, he threw the first and then the second grenade, both of which bounced off the wall and fell in front of the Jaffa positions. They dropped back from the corner and waited for the explosion. Two seconds later, a clearly muffled thud could be felt through the floor. Looking at each other in confusion, Porter slid back to the corner and carefully pointed his weapon around the corner once more. Through the haze, he could clearly see the mangled body of a Jaffa where the grenades had landed. He had obviously jumped on the grenades to prevent them from clearing the blockade.
He turned to his partner. "Okaaay. So they're fanatics as well."
The rest of the Spartans appeared behind the two point men and Lt Harper made his way to the front. "What's the problem?"
Sgt Porter turned to his commander. "Barricade, sir. We tried grenades but the Jaffa simply jumped on them, absorbing the blast."
Harper nodded. "We're close to Command Central and that means we're close to Bast. They're probably Praetorian Guard."
The two point men frowned. "So whadda we do?" PFC Meguel asked plaintively.
Harper turned to the men behind him. "The Goins have just the thing for these guys." He replied wryly.
The two brothers had been silently listening to the conversation like everyone else but once they heard their names mentioned they smiled and moved forward. They had been waiting to hit some hard resistance because they would have hated to haul their load all the way down here for nothing. With the ease born of mind-numbing repetition, the quickly set up the heavy crew served weapon they operated between them. The XM-405 Plasma cannon was a relatively light weapon albeit quite bulky. In less than a minute, the two brothers had the cannon deployed and hooked it up to the backpack fuel cell David carried. Mickey lay down on the floor, his feet facing in the same orientation as the corridor, towards the Jaffa. He hefted the weapon between his legs and nodded to Lt Harper. The First Lieutenant snapped his fingers at Sgt Porter who pulled his last two remaining grenades from his webbing and stood against the far wall once more. Master Sergeant D'evilenger stood in the background with another squad of troopers, ready to rush down the corridor once it was clear.
With everyone in position, Harper counted down. "Three…two…one…NOW!"
Porter hurled his grenades against the wall once more. They bounced off and fell in front of the barricade, against the bloody mess that was previously a Jaffa. Waiting for several heartbeats for the Jaffa to take cover and allow one of their number to sacrifice themselves again, David pushed his brother along the floor, into the corridor.
Sighting the length of his body, Mickey's eyes met those of the Jaffa trying to climb on top of the grenades. "Surprise." He murmured, and pulled the trigger.
Six high intensity lasers hit a uranium pellet that was loaded into the center of the focusing chamber of the plasma cannon. These lasers ignited the fusion process within the pellet and the resulting eruption of intense energy that rivaled the core of a star was channeled down the stubby barrel and blasted down the corridor.
Actinic silver light flared and intense heat washed over the Spartan troopers, even through their armor.
When Lt Harper looked up, Mickey was pushed up against the wall behind him, the modest recoil having made him slide backwards. He leaned out into the corridor and winced as he saw the scorched and melted walls. Of the barricade, barely anything remained, the star-like plasma having washed everything away.
"I'd say you killed that puppy, Corporal." Harper commented mildly.
The other man grinned behind his faceplate. "Peace through superior firepower, sir."
Command Central, Fortress Palace, Sohag
A loud explosion, muffled by the thick doors to the command center, could be heard somewhere nearby in the Palace. A little dust fell from the ceiling but Bast ignored it. After Sivar's retreat, her anger was becoming all consuming.
O'Neill's forces were swarming through her fortress palace, cutting through her defenses like a knife through butter. There was still some good news. They had taken the Chappa'ai Chamber but they had not yet managed to work past the anti-tamper device her people had placed there. If she could concentrate her defenders inside the Palace and hold the enemy where they were, she could regroup her forces from outside the Palace and counter-attack. First she needed to…
"Things are looking grim, are they not?" Kiptakanae's silky smooth tones a stark contrast to the harsh, clipped orders passed from Jaffa to Jaffa as they tried to direct both the fight in orbit and the defense of the Palace and at the moment, neither was going very well.
"I will not tell you again, Kiptakanae. Unless you have something constructive to say or you wish to challenge me, remain quiet!" Bast replied heatedly.
Kiptakanae's carefully crafted mask slipped momentarily to reveal the simmering hatred beneath but he quickly schooled his features back into a studied display of nonchalance. He was going to wait a little while longer to strike but her sudden command snapped something deep inside him. For almost ten years he had listened to her orders. Ten years he had plotted. Ten years he had waited for the right time to strike. He smiled internally. Lord Yu had spent much time and resources preparing for this moment, promising much if he would only kill Bast for him…as if he were no more than an Ash'rak assassin! Well, Lord Yu could join Sokar in Hell because he had every intention of taking the Union and everything in it for himself. He glanced at his Jaffa once more. His eyes met the Second there and silently the signal to move passed between them.
The Jaffa of Kiptakanae, and those of other System Lords allied with him, leapt into action, their staff weapons slammed into the other Jaffa still Loyal to the Union.
Bast turned in amazement at the sudden commotion as, predictably, her Praetorian Guard placed themselves between her and the fight. Unfortunately, that left her wide open to Kiptakanae who smoothly placed a small naquada ring, two inches wide, over the crystal emitter embedded in the palm of his ribbon device. The ring was a focusing enhancement and the last piece of equipment he had hidden in Command Central that turned a standard ribbon device into the far more lethal ak'ri'tar. As the final piece slid into place, the crystal glowed an intense white and among all the Jaffa in the hall whose helmets were deployed around their heads, they simultaneously received an urgent warning from the weapon detectors built into Command Central's fixtures.
Her Praetorian Guard, realizing the source of the danger, tried to turn around in time but Kiptakanae gave them no chance. He smoothly raised his hand and, his eyes flashing in satisfaction, sent and concentrated pulse of energy at Bast. The bolt slammed into her shields, slowing somewhat at the shield perimeter but punching through never the less and slamming into her chest. She flew backwards, over the heads of her guard and fell to the floor like a broken toy.
Enraged the Praetorian Guard opened fire at Kiptakanae and everyone else. As Command Central dissolved into blood and chaos, Kiptakane simply stood there, staff blasts bouncing off his shields while he looked at Bast's body and laughed.
Union Commandship 'War Hammer'
"We just lost the 'Knife of Revenge' and the 'Hammer's Song'." Ok'ran reported to Hek'at despairingly. "Kent slipped a fresh bomber strike past Bra'nac's defenses and he paid the price."
The First Prime slammed a fist down upon the arm of his command throne. "Every time a mothership tries to regain control of the fleet, Kent pounds it to scrap. We've lost most of the senior sub-commanders and the formation's falling apart!" He forced out through clenched teeth. The fight had started with at least a two to one advantage in the Union's favor. Kent had hit them so hard, the numbers were now about even. Oh how Hek'at wished he had wiped the face of the Tau'ri homeworld clean when he had the chance.
Reining in his anger, Hek'at took a deep breath and faced Ok'ran soberly. "The bastards are simply too damned good at war, old friend."
The First Prime had pulled his ships together into a tight, bastion-like formation that had worked for the Union Fleet on numerous occasions but that Asgard battlecruiser kept leading flanking attacks that would carve a squadron or two from his formation and allow Kent to pummel them into submission.
A Jaffa looked up from his console. "First Prime. Lord Uthwe sends his apologies but wishes to inform you that he is taking his ships and falling back to his territory."
"What?!" Ok'ran replied frantically. On the tactical display, seven Motherships could be seen falling out of formation and making a run for it. Kent's forces appeared to ignore them and continued to pound the main group. "Order him back into position!"
The Jaffa manipulated his console. Several seconds passed and the Jaffa shook his head. "No response."
Ok'ran shook his head in disbelief as the fleet's defensive formation fell utterly apart.
Hek'at watched the display and sighed with resignation as even Lady Asphe'kaht, one of Bast's staunchest supporters, now began to retreat from the advancing Tau'ri fleet and the feared Asgard cruiser. One by one, her already battered ships spun around and leapt blindly into hyperspace. A soft series of moans rippled amongst the Jaffa on the bridge as they watched their Union fall apart. The other Unionist System Lords, seeing their alliance collapse around them, decided to cut their losses. Steadily, they all began to recover their udajeets and leave the battlefield.
The First Prime's jaw dropped in amazement as he saw the Motherships of two different System Lords actually exchange weapons fire, causing even more damage to each other before they too jumped to hyperspace in opposite directions.
Even as Hek'at thought things couldn't get much worse, Ok'ran cursed suddenly from his station and looked up at Hek'at with panic in his eyes. "I'm getting reports of weapon's fire in Command Central. The fek'shoa damned Tau'ri must have made it past our Jaffa!"
"Like hell they have!" Hek'at spat in reply. He knew it wasn't the Tau'ri, for even they wouldn't have been able to make it past the Praetorian Guard this quickly. It was Kiptakanae. "Get this ship and whatever vessels still remain loyal to us back to Sohag, best speed!"
Flag CIC, ENS Ark Royal, Grand Fleet
"Finally." Admiral Kent whispered as the Union Fleet crumbled.
The massive formation of golden pyramids was breaking up into much smaller groups, each running in different directions for the limit of Sohag's gravity well so as to be able to jump to hyperspace. The 'War Hammer', still escorted by two Shal'kras and three Hat'ak's, began to move towards the nearby planet.
'Hek'at must be hoping to regroup in orbit and try to hold us off using the planetary defense grid.' Kent thought furiously. 'Well, we'll get back to him soon enough but I want to keep the others running!' He turned to Commander Singh. "Pass the word to all Battlegroups; the leashes are off! Pursue and engage!"
In an almost mirror-like fashion, the Alliance Grand Fleet dissolved into its constituent battlegroups and began to spread out in pursuit of the retreating Motherships. However, whereas the Union break-up was chaotic and obviously panic stricken, the Alliance evolution was organized and a thing of beauty. Destroyer and cruiser squadrons, previously restrained to screening duties for the big guns were now allowed to do what they did best, run down the enemy.
Drives lit off and were pushed to full power, pushing tons of armour and weaponry at steadily increasing speeds. There was no chance of forcing a decisive engagement in this situation, the Motherships had too much of a head start and, as weapons opened up, reaching for the enemy, the damage done to the escaping ships was but a tithe compared that already inflicted during the battle. But Admiral Kent was thinking in terms of more than just physical damage.
The sight of Union Motherships being chased out of their own capital system was awe-inspiring and uplifting to the men and women crewing the Alliance ships despite the losses taken to get to this point. And if it had so positive an effect on the Alliance, the effect upon the Goa'uld and Jaffa morale was twice as devastating. Those fleeing vessels were full of enemy soldiers who had been handed a defeat they had not been given in a very, very long time. Word would spread, despite the System Lords efforts at suppression of such information. Word would spread. People would hear. Slaves would whisper to each other of an Alliance of races that would come to free them. They would look into the eyes of their captors and see fear!
The Alliance was coming!
Kent watched euphorically as the last Motherships, not including Hek'at's small force, flickered in a blur of pseudomotion and disappeared into hyperspace. The Admiral turned back to his staff and smiled. "Commander Singh, have the battlegroups reform into their usual taskforce assignments. Assign planetary blockade positions for each taskforce with the exception of ours."
"And the Asgard vessel?" Singh inquired almost breathlessly. The embers of battle still smoking in his eyes.
"Will join on the Ark Royal. Once the blockade is in place, we will move in and eliminate the 'War Hammer' and it's escorts. Our remaining fighter and bombers groups can keep the defense grid occupied while we settle Hek'at's hash." The Admiral replied firmly.
Union Commandship 'War Hammer'
"I'm not coming with you." Ok'ran announced as he stepped next to Hek'at, glancing at the ring transporter embedded into the floor nearby.
Hek'at nodded, already knowing what Ok'ran was thinking. "You won't stand a chance."
His friend smiled wryly. "Bast awaits you, Hek'at. Take her and escape. Her Jaffa will cover your departure."
"At the expense of your lives!" Hek'at thundered, raging against the waste. Years he had spent, trying to train the Jaffa Legions out of simply charging at their foes. Was that all for naught?
Ok'ran, sensing the path of Hek'at's thoughts, smiled. "We are Jaffa."
The First Prime sighed in resignation and more than a little respect for his friend. "So be it. Die well, Ok'ran." Hek'at replied, using the old Jaffa form of farewell.
"Live happily, my friend." The old Second replied warmly.
"We're in transport range of the Palace!" A Jaffa announced from behind them.
Hek'at bounced a fist of the shoulder of Ok'ran and spun round. He stepped into the perimeter of the ring device with six of his best Jaffa.
"Jaffa, KREE!" He shouted as the rings erupted from the deck.
"KREE!" Ok'ran and the others replied and Hek'at vanished in a blaze of light.
Ok'ran stood watching the empty space when his oldest friend once stood. Several moments passed before and turned round, the expression on his face terrible to behold.
"Bring this ship around! Set a course for the enemy flagship, maximum thrust!" He ordered harshly.
The other Jaffa jumped to obey, many of them actually wearing small quiet smiles as they did so. They were Jaffa. They had lived as Jaffa and they would die like Jaffa!
Corridor Aleph-Kappa 221-07, Fortress Palace, Sohag
As the forward elements of the Spartan company engaged yet another Jaffa corridor blockade, Master Sergeant D'evilenger took the opportunity to confer with the other senior sergeants in the various Companies, spread around the Palace. The solid construction of the Fortress Palace made transmission difficult but with a bit of careful routing through dedicated 'radiomen' within each company, he managed to get a near complete situation report from the entire regiment. He was about to report his findings to Lt Harper when his suit computer demanded his attention. A blip appeared on his map and text began to scroll across his field of view. "Lieutenant!" He called out.
Lt Harper held up his hand. "I'm picking it up as well, Top. Someone's activated the ring transporter near command central."
"Do you think Bast is evacuating?" The Master Sergeant suggested grimly. "That's the second ring transport there in the past hour." The silence from the rest of the company was telling. One of their primary objectives was the capture of Bast.
Harper shook his head. "There's not a lot we can do if it is Bast making a run for it. And capturing her is only one of our objectives. We still have to secure Command Central, whether Bast is there or not."
He turned back to the firefight with the Jaffa blockade at the other end of the corridor and shook his head. Whatever was going on in Command Central, his Spartans weren't going to be able to effect things one-way or another.
Command Central, Fortress Palace, Sohag
Shattered consoles sparked, displays flickered and wounded Jaffa groaned as the last remaining Jaffa, one of Bast's Praetorian Guard, ceased firing.
The Praetorian Guard, a old veteran called Chu'suk, stood up warily from the console he had been using for cover. Dead Jaffa from every System Lord in the Union lay sprawled across the chamber floor. His eyes fell on the inert form of Bast and he gripped his staff weapon tightly. He spitted Kiptakanae with a hate filled stare but the System Lord just chuckled and shook his head.
"You cannot kill me, Jaffa." Kiptakanae said confidently. "Your previous God is dead. You will now serve me."
"Never." Chu'suk spat in reply.
Kiptakanae's eyes flashed dangerously. "You will serve me…now!" He raised his ak'ri'tar-modified ribbon device and sent a continuous stream of energy at the Jaffa that forced the Praetorian Guard to his knees.
Teeth gritted with effort, Chu'suk shook his head and lifted his staff weapon, aiming it at the System Lord. "Never!"
A single staff blast flew out and slammed uselessly into Kiptakanae's personal shield. Kiptakanae laughed maliciously. "You lack the power to challenge me!"
"Maybe he doesn't, but we do!" A voice called out firmly from the entrance to Command Central.
Kiptakanae swung round, eyes wide, just in time to see Hek'at and six Jaffa fire a volley of lightning from their zat'nik'atel's. The white energy coruscated over his personal shield that began to flicker with sudden destabilization.
"No…" The traitorous System Lord whispered in sudden fear.
"Yes." Hek'at replied fiercely as he the other Jaffa lowered their staff weapons and fired as one.
The staff blasts blew through the flickering shields and slammed into Kiptakanae with deadly force. He flew backwards and slammed into a console, his shattered corpse slowly slumping to the ground.
Hek'at studied the shattered body of the System Lord Kiptakanae for a second longer, savouring his revenge before he passed his staff weapon over to one of his Jaffa and ran over the fallen form of Bast. Gingerly, he turned her over, sure that she was dead from Kiptakanae's treachery. Instead she moaned weakly and his heart leapt. She was alive!
"My love…" He spoke softly. The concentrated energy blast had caught her in the upper chest, near to her shoulder but far too close to her heart.
Her eyes opened slowly and she looked up into the face of her forbidden lover, the warrior Jaffa, First Prime to her armies and protector of her domain. "The dream has ended, Hek'at."
Hek'at nodded despairingly as he tended to her shoulder. He couldn't meet her eyes for he felt the failure was his.
She lifted her good arm and caressed his cheek. "It is I who failed, Hek'at." She said, reading his thoughts even as her heart wrenched with the admission. "I thought I could forge a Union, I thought we could build a new empire out of our squabbling civilization of deluded fools but I realize now that it was a pipe dream. I was building the Union upon a foundation of sand…and it was not meant to be."
Hek'at opened his mouth to deny her words but it wasn't in his nature to lie to himself. He knew all too well the self-serving nature of the Goa'uld. Thanks to a fortuitous blending of host and symbiote, Bast was more mature and stable than nearly all other Goa'uld but that focus and maturity wasn't enough to overcome the basic nature of the other System Lords.
Bast laughed painfully. "It is ironic, Hek'at, for Lord Yu and his Separatists were right after all. Goa'uld were born to rule as individuals, not as allies. It is not our way and the Union was something that could never have held together. I see that now."
Hek'at shook his head. "You were right to try, my love. The Tau'ri and their Alliance will topple each of Lord Yu's Separatists one after the other until the System Lords are nothing but memories and dust."
"I'm tired, Hek'at, so very tired." Bast replied softly, the symbiote was trying its best but the wound was serious.
Growling, Hek'at picked Bast up in his arms and started walking purposefully towards the door. Several muted explosions could be heard as Alliance troops fought their way deeper into the Palace. The surviving Praetorian Guard led the other Jaffa as he covered Hek'at and Bast out of Command Central and towards the ring transporter in the chamber outside. "Then we shall leave this place, leave the Tau'ri and the System Lords to their destinies and you and I shall find somewhere far away where we will be alone."
Bast smiled dreamily. "I'd like that very much, my love…"
Flag CIC, ENS Ark Royal, Grand Fleet
"It's still closing, Admiral!" Commander Singh reported in wonder.
Admiral Kent shook his head in amazement as the 'War Hammer' continued to close on his vessel despite the grievous damage it had sustained. "Bring us about! Try and open the range!" He ordered, still trying to figure out how things could go so out of control in less than five minutes when he thought he had everything in hand.
The Ark Royal battlegroup was still forming up and had been taken by surprise when, with the other battlegroups out of position thanks to his order to blockade the planet, the massive Commandship and its escorts turned from the planet and began to charge straight at his flagship.
The storm of fire his ships had put out had killed the smaller Hat'ak's fairly quickly, their remains forming a trail behind the remaining three ships.
"Got another one!" The gunnery officer reported.
In his display, Kent saw one of the two Shal'kra's break apart under the onslaught. The Commandship was getting too close though! The return fire found and exploded a nearby Alliance cruiser. The shockwave from the core detonation rocked the carrier hard.
Another concentrated volley exploded the last Shal'kra a mere ten light seconds from the retreating carrier and Kent was starting to get nervous.
Commander Singh shook his head. "The Commandship has ceased all offensive fire! I think his diverted all his power to engines and forward shields!"
"Good Lord, he's going to kamikaze us with a 6km warship!" The Admiral whispered wonderingly.
"We'll be like a bug on his windshield." Singh commented wryly. It was all too unreal for him. Merely moments ago, the battlefield was theirs; the momentum had been theirs. The Fleet had been taking its time to prepare a properly weighted blow against Hek'at when, against all reason, the remaining Union ships turned around and made this suicide charge. It was unreal. This was old-school Jaffa tactics. Something they hadn't seen for nearly a decade and it just might very well kill them.
"Admiral, the Asgard!" An officer called out, pointing to the forward display.
Kent turned to the display and eyes widened as he saw the massive battlecruiser slow in their attempt to open the range and instead, slide into a blocking position between the Commandship and the carrier. The gesture was clear but Kent was afraid that that's all it would be.
"Intensify forward firepower, we have to kill that Commandship!"
Ion bolts, particle beams, plasma lances, neutron emitters and a dozen more, different types of offensive weaponry lashed at the oncoming juggernaught. It's tremendously powerful shields held back the storm for a moment but their power levels dropped rapidly and with nary a warning, they collapsed and the hellfire lashed against the now naked hull. Armour didn't shatter. It didn't melt and run. It simply vaporized. The entire face of the massive vessel seemed to disappear in a wall of plasma. The momentum of the massive vessel was, however, too great and the still considerable mass of the ship continued forward, plasma and wreckage streaming from its shattered face.
The 'War Hammer' streaked past the five light second point, almost point blank range, and his ships fired once more. This time, they punched through the wrecked front and hit it's vital innards. Something flared deep inside the wreckage and there seemed to be a moment of total silence before the massive Dhan'hak Commandship exploded in a blinding light.
Wreckage flew in all directions and a particularly large piece slammed into the Asgard ship. The silver vessel rocked under the impact but managed to hold their position.
"All stations, report!" Kent demanded.
"We're good, Admiral." Commander Singh, after all departments reported in okay.
"And the Asgard?"
A brief flash of light and Thor, sat in his chair, appeared in a space in front of the forward display. "We are fine, Admiral. Auto-repair systems are already fixing the damage we received. Our sensors have scanned out to a range of eight hundred light years. The retreating Goa'uld ships continue to run and we can see no sign of the enemy regrouping for a counterstrike. I believe we are now clear."
Kent nodded in relief. "Many thanks, Thor."
Thor simply nodded and disappeared in another flash of light.
"Admiral, we have a medium sized vessel leaving the surface. Unknown configuration." The sensor officer called out shakily. "It launched from the far side of the planet, sir!"
"Intercept." Kent ordered tersely, swinging back to the tactical hologram. An unknown vessel? Faster than anything they had seen from the Goa'uld before? Somebody was making their escape and he had the darkest feeling that it was Bast.
Seconds ticked past and the Flight ops officer shook her head. "Fighters are en-route but Admiral, the blockade hadn't finished deploying…I don't think they'll make it, the geometry's wrong and the target is still accelerating."
The computer beeped twice and the point of light that represented the fast moving target pulsed white and disappeared.
"Target cleared the grav-well of Sohag and jumped to hyperspace, sir. We got a good reading of its trajectory, heading towards the Rim, sir. Do we pursue?" Flight Ops asked.
Kent shook his head tiredly. She had gotten away. "Recall your fighters."
"Yes, sir." She replied.
The Admiral took a deep breath before turning to O'Neill and, very formally, began to speak. "General O'Neill, I beg to report that Grand Fleet has taken control of Sohag system."
O'Neill nodded, his throat suddenly feel more than a little tight. "Good job, Admiral. All of you…you did great." He paused not knowing how to express what couldn't be put into words.
Kent smiled slightly. "Thank you, sir. With your permission, we'll continue with the plan and proceed against the planet. I believe we're safe here for a day or two but once we've secured the Palace and repaired our damage, we should be heading back to Alliance territory."
August 21st , 2010
Chamber of Light, Sintesia
Zuuth Maal hissed with sibilant pleasure as the status reports of Grand Fleet's victory at Sohag filtered through. "Weee have done theee imposssssible…." Staff members around the Chamber slapped each others backs, hugged and cried with euphoria.
Councilor M'Thul nodded wearily as he scrolled down the listings of Fleet losses. "But the price…"
Kutsov scowled at the Sintesian head of state but softened her gaze slightly as she saw his troubled features. "The price is always high, my friend. Always."
The massive bear-like alien shook his head in disgust, his features surprisingly mobile. In his youth, he had been a soldier in the Sintesian Ground Forces and had fought against the Jaffa on numerous occasions. "I just wish for once that doing the right thing did involve sending our young off to fight and die in far away places."
The Susparti Councilor gave a hiss-like sigh. "The price of freeeedom isn't jussst eternal vigilance, it is about oppossssing evil in all forms, no matter where you fffind it."
Kutsov nodded. "To stand back, secure within your own borders and let other people suffer when you can make a difference is the ultimate evil." She waved at the massive holographic display in front of them. "Bast's armies are on the run. The Union has collapsed and reverted into essentially Separatist enclaves once more. Individually, they are no threat to us and we can take them down one at a time."
She pressed a signal on her computer display before her. "I've sent a signal to the other Councilors. We have certain decisions to make now and we need to inform the rest of the Alliance of the tremendous victory we have been given here today."
Fortress Palace, Sohag
Colonel Bannon stood on a balcony on one of the highest points of the Palace and sighed wearily. Smoke drifted lazily into the afternoon sky around the Palace. The occasional explosion could be seen in the distance as the fresh troops, brought in through the finally open Stargate, discouraged the Jaffa from further attacks upon the taken Fortress Palace while Fleet and Ground Force technicians basically stripped the place of anything of interest.
Apparently, Bast had left quite a few interesting 'toys' behind,
Colonel Avon, who was sat at the small table behind her, glanced over at Major Lyman at the other and of the balcony and raised an eyebrow.
Lyman shrugged and winced slightly and the movement aggravated a badly twisted shoulder, something he received in the hand-to-hand fighting in and around the later stages of the battle for Sohag. "Something wrong, Rachel?" He asked, managing to hide his sudden pain.
Bannon turned away from the view of the battlefield and over at her two friends. "Just thinking of where we are." And how many people aren't here to see it. She finished silently.
Lyman heard her unspoken words anyway. "It's been a long road, more so for you than any of us." He finished, gesturing to himself and Avon.
Bannon nodded tiredly. She had been fighting ever since day one of Spearhead operations. She thought back to those long ago days. Colonel Lewis, her first CO. Dead, leading a charge to open a hole in the Jaffa lines the rest of the unit could escape through on some pathetic planet not worth the blood spilt there.
So many others along the way. Until, one day, she found herself in charge of SG-Alpha. Now she was the 'Old Lady' and goddamn was she tired.
She had been fighting this damn war almost as long as O'Neill had and now, she found that the storehouse of hate and anger she had fed on during the battles over the years was no longer there. The battle for Sohag had finally emptied her cup of rage.
"I hear the Asgard vessel left a couple a hours ago." Avon commented, trying to change the subject.
Lyman nodded. "Rumor Central says they had to go back to their home Galaxy and it's the last we'll see of them for a long while now."
A squadron of Orca dropships flew slowly past them and arced around to land in the main hanger bay, far below their position on the Palace. A flight of escorting Sabres streaked overhead and blazed away, into the horizon.
Bannon grunted distantly and dropped heavily into a chair at the small table. "I'm thinking of hanging up my gun."
The other two men's eyes widened. That was the last thing they expected to hear from a warhorse like her.
She felt their amazement and looked up at them both sadly. "I've been on combat ops too long. I need…distance from all this." She added, waving her hand vaguely.
"We win and you're gonna leave!" Lyman replied with sudden anger, surprising them and himself.
Bannon winced at the hurt she heard in his voice and she knew the source of his anger. They had danced around each other for a long time now.
Colonel Avon, no fool, saw the unspoken words between them. He faked a yawn. "I'm tired and I reckon you both are too." He stood up and looked at Bannon. "Get some rest. Don't make any hasty decisions." He laid a hand on Lyman's should and then turned around, leaving them alone on the balcony.
They were silent for several minutes.
"Why?" Lyman asked softly, a little hurt seeping into his voice.
Bannon smiled. "I would of thought you'd prefer me to be safe, away from the fighting."
Lyman shook his head. "You can take care of yourself. If you retired, you'd be miserable." He frowned. "Is this because of the Spartans? I know we haven't seen a lot of each other cause the Regiment keeps getting punished but…"
She held up her hands to forestall Lyman's rambling. "It's not that, Lyman, it's….it's…I don't what 'it' is but I know I need a break from simply killing and destroying."
Lyman watched her steadily for several moments. "I have a fair amount of leave accumulated. We don't get out much in Siberia…" He began.
Bannon smiled gently. "What are you suggesting?"
The other man shrugged. "We both take a break. Just a break. We can take a tour of the Alliance worlds. See just what it is we've been fighting for all these years. With a little perspective…"
Bannon's face softened and she reached out across the table to lay her hand upon his. "That sounds perfect."
He smiled back and they both relaxed. They had all the time in the world.
Lt Harper grunted with effort as he carried the last mil-spec container to the ring transport radius and put it on top of the pile. "Send it up, Corporal."
Corporal David Goins nodded and remotely activated the ring tranport controls, sending the pile of salavaged Goa'uld computer cores to the main hangerbay, where it would be loaded onto the transports for dispatch to Alliance Intelligence. Who knew what goldmine of information they could glean from the computers of Command Central.
"That was the last load." Master Sergeant D'evilenger reported with satisfaction. "The General has ordered the Spartans to report to the main hanger. Everyone's being sent to the surface or the Stargate. Grand Fleet is pulling out."
Harper nodded. The bodies of the Jaffa had been taken away and the damaged computers and displays of Command Central had been universally stripped. The entire Chamber was now a skeleton of its former self. The three men stood silently amongst the empty room.
"Wish we could have gotten Bast." He murmured quietly.
The Master Sergeant grunted as they all stepped over to the ring transport radius. "Plenty more snakes in the Galaxy, sir."
Lt Harper smiled as he vanished in a wave of quantum light.
Flag CIC, ENS Ark Royal, Grand Fleet
"The last dropships are aboard, Admiral." Commander Singh reported cheerfully.
Admiral Kent nodded and looked over at the Flight Ops. "All fighters and bombers accounted for." She replied.
He turned to General Roberts, the Gryphonese command and now Alliance Ground Force Marshall, who had arrived from Sintesia via Stargate to take direct command of ground ops during the past couple of days.
"All troops are off the surface, via Stargate or aboard the Fleet transports." He replied warmly. "We're packed to ceiling with stuff from the planet."
Kent smiled and turned to O'Neill. "We're ready to depart, General."
O'Neill nodded. "Take us home, Admiral."
"Yes, sir!" Kent replied with enthusiasm. "Fleet orders! Bring us about, course 221 mark 005, half speed."
"Course 221 mark 005, half speed." The Flag helm officer confirmed. "Hyperspace destination?"
Kent smiled. "The Alliance, Lieutenant. The Alliance."
The massive bulk of the Ark Royal swung out of orbit around Sohag and began to speed outsystem. The rest of Grand Fleet took up position around her. Carriers joined up with dreadnoughts; battleships were escorted by cruisers and screened by destroyers, frigates patrolled the periphery while corvettes and fighters swarmed everywhere.
Ships of all sizes, from a dozen different cultures assembled in perfect accord and one by one, began to jump into hyperspace. When the last frigate jumped into hyperspace, silence fell once more in the Sohag system.
A place that would be forever known where a dream of union was destroyed and one of unity had been built.
Nothing, however, lasts forever.
In time, that unity would face many challenges. It would be tested many times. It would buckle and it would even bend but it would hold long enough.
Just long enough for something new…
Epilogue
A few days later…
O'Neill breathed deeply of the cold, crisp Colorado air, as he lay on his back, staring up at the stars. The party was still ongoing, down in the mountain and all over the Alliance, but had become weary from the celebrations and needed a break. He found this spot, high up near the summit of Cheyenne Mountain, early on at his days at the SGC, when he was merely the CO of a four-person SG team. It all seemed so long ago. He'd lost so many friends along the way. And family. His son. Ferretti. Hammond. Daniel.
God, he missed them all.
I wish Feretti had lived to see the Alliance. That man had been the most fearless trooper he had ever met but damn, did the Goa'uld ever scare the bejeezus out of him. They had seemed so powerful and untouchable back then.
Now…
The Union, massive as it used to be, was still self-destructing. Bast was still alive, he was positive of that. She was almost definitely on that ship that had lifted off from the Palace and shot out of the system like a bat out of hell. Regardless of her current status, however, she had seemingly abandoned the Union completely. The System Lords, both ex-Union and Separatist were busy fighting each other for a slice of the now lifeless Union pie.
Once they had secured the Sohag system and the Fortress Palace, the Alliance troops had stripped the place of anything that looked interesting, mined and booby trapped practically every room, and left as quickly as they had arrived.
He chuckled to himself. First Fleet had returned to defend Alliance territory, Second had gone to hold the line against Yu and the Separatists and Third…well, Kent had managed to persuade O'Neill to let him go out one last time, him and Third Fleet, harassing various System Lords while they were all distracted with fighting each other, before returning to Earth and assuming the full duties of Admiral of the Fleet. It was what made the Union so dangerous, the fact that numerous System Lords fought together under one banner. It had allowed Ra to reign supreme for ten thousand years but Bast, though far smarted than Ra ever was, simply couldn't get ahead of the curve thanks to the Separatists and, of course, the Alliance.
A bright star arced slowly, but with visible motion, across the heavens.
Freedom.
The station built as a testament to Earth's sacrifice, no, the sacrifices of thousands and not just Terrans, as they fought against the tyranny of the System Lords.
Barring the unforeseeable, the days of the Goa'uld were numbered. The Alliance had faced its first test and had held. They had gone against the largest concentration of Goa'uld ships and men since the days of Ra and they had been victorious. Though it would take many years, the Alliance would hunt down each and every System Lord and put paid to their reign of terror. It was only a matter of time and he could trust those running the Alliance and the Fleet to finish the job thoroughly.
As the bright star of the space station dipped below the horizon, O'Neill's thoughts turned dark.
Yes, they had defeated the Goa'uld, but what else was out there?
The Galaxy was a big place and they had barely scratched the surface. And that was still thinking locally. The early reports from the Atlantis project in the Pegasus Galaxy spoke of a new danger, one that might threaten the Alliance eventually.
How many other dangers might they face in all the countless worlds and Galaxies that awaited them? Would the Alliance survive? Would there ever be peace?
O'Neill shook his head. His was tired and Daniel would have kicked his butt if he knew the path his thoughts had taken after finally defeating Bast and the Union.
"General? Are you out here?" Carter's voice rang out in the crisp, Colorado air.
"Over here, Sam." O'Neill replied, standing up but not taking his eyes off the stars. Seconds later, he felt her familiar presence beside him.
"Whatchya doing, sir?" She asked curiously. All through the past day's celebrations, she had watched him become more and more withdrawn. It was so like him, in these later years, to become introspective after a big event. To second-guess his decisions and to overanalyze everything that had led up to this point.
"You know, the usual. Thinking the big thoughts." He replied casually. "State of the Alliance. Peace in our time. Who's gonna win the Superbowl this year."
"Packers." Carter replied straight facedly.
As expected, Jack immediately winced. "Aw jezus Carter, haven't you learned anything from over the years! Trust in the Raiders!"
Sam chuckled and then fell quiet. "Come back inside, Jack. Its not the same without you." He could hear the sudden smile in her voice. "And besides, Teal'c and Master Sergeant Booth are about to start one of their arguments over the comparative abilities of the staff weapon and the bayonet equipped rifle. We need you to referee."
O'Neill smiled silently as a shooting star arced across the sky. I got the message, Daniel.
He turned, met Carter's smile and put an arm around her, leading her back towards the mountainside entrance. "Alright, Sam, but you gotta come and rescue me if it starts to get violent."
"Always, Jack."
The End.
Damn.
It's finished.
(throat's getting tight.)
I really hope you all enjoyed Spearhead. It has been the most frustrating, back-breaking, brain-draining thing I have done so far in my relatively short life but also the most rewarding. I always thought it a little trite when people always said that they wouldn't have been able to do this without the help of so-and-so but, now, at the end, I find the truth in those statements.
I really wouldn't have been able to do this without the input, reviews (both good and bad), the comments, the queries, the jokes, the advice, the flames and the requests.
You guys and girls (I don't want to list everyone's names for fear of offending someone's privacy, but you all know who you are), you people are the greatest I have ever had cause to hear from.
You didn't have to reply. You didn't have to say the things you did. But for those of you that did, I am truly greatful.
Do you know that this has been ongoing for over 2 years now?
22nd May, 2002.
That was when I created my first word document on Spearhead. I've never put that much effort into something so long in my life. I am sure I would have given up on the story a long time ago if it hadn't been for the mails I received. And at the end, I find myself thankful that I didn't stop.
And you know what?
I'm not gonna stop. There are things I wanna write. Things I didn't have space to write. Places I wanna take things but also, try my hand at new things.
I mean, who would like to read about General McAuley and how his team of military advisors helped the Asgard defeat the Replicators? (Spearhead: Price of Freedom)
How about Jonas Quinn's task to develop and test the 'combat armor' suit? (Spearhead: The Emperor's New Clothes)
What about an adventure that sees the citizens of the Alliance mourn the death of O'Neill? (Spearhead: Full Circle)
Who would like to see the fate of the Alliance, ten thousand years into the future? (Spearhead: The Fifth Race)
These should keep me busy for some time to come. If anybody out there wants to write something set in the Spearhead Universe, go for it. I don't mind, I just ask you let me know so I can read it. :) (I like to read new stuff too, especially about characters I've created.)
If you notice, I tried a new style of writing with each trilogy I produced. The first three stories were standard Stargate fare, go to another world, kick a little butt, only I did what everyone was apparently wanting for a long time, I did it with more than just four or five guys.
The second trilogy dealt with things closer to home. I tried to move away from the whole offworld aspect and deal with events on Earth. I think it came off well and it was certainly different at any rate.
The third trilogy was terrifying at first. It jumped a number of years forward and dealt with the big pictures. Large fleets slugging it out, toe to toe, worlds on the edge of annihilation. Who knew that this would prove to be the most popular part of it all?
Well, I think I've rambled on enough as it is.
Time to pick up my next project.
Once upon a time…
J
Spearhead will return, with help from a friend, in
When Hope's Lost…
A Spearhead/Battlestar Galactica 2004 Crossover
Some of you have wondered why I'm using the new BSG instead of the classic series since the original had a far more obvious Egyptian connect.
My words to you are a paraphrase from a guy I admired for certain things, American President John F Kennedy.
'We do this thing, not because it is easy, but because it is hard…'
Andrew Seivewright
Leicester, England
2nd January 2005