The Age of Conflict.
Chapter 1: First Contact.
The blue liquid-like event horizon of the Stargate looked as calm as always, that is until four shapes emerged from it. These four shapes quickly started exploring the nearby surroundings for any signs of troubles, but as there was no visible trouble they quickly relaxed.
"Are clear, let's move out" said Colonel Jack O'Neill as he straightened himself and prepared to move.
"You know Jack you don't need to say that every single time, you could change the phrase from time to time" said Doctor Daniel Jackson in his always cheerful voice.
"Well Daniel, when the regulations change I will" replied Jack O'Neill very calmly.
"Indeed" mentioned Teal'c as the whole team moved out to explore the new world ahead of them.
While Jack O'Neill and Teal'c moved ahead of the team to explore the nearby wilderness Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson remained with the M.A.L.P. and studied its contents. Deciding that the M.A.L.P. possessed no significant data the two geniuses quickly moved to rejoin their comrades.
After several hours of walking in the wilderness without any significant findings the small group decided to return to the Stargate. As the team neared the D.H.D. several fast slicing-like noises where heard, followed by the familiar sploosh-like sound of the staff weapons of the Jaffa.
"!Carter dial Earth Now!" yelled Jack O'Neill as he and Teal'c positioned themselves to defend the group from the oncoming fire.
As the seconds raced everything appeared to be almost in slow motion for the four man team. Carter quickly got to the get and started dialing the seven symbols that led to Earth at a frantic pace.
As Carter dialed the symbols 7 figures al wearing a green type of armor that looked like some kind of futuristic battle-armor, appeared from the nearby bushes and stopped as they found SG1 waiting at the gate. The 7 figures all whore a circular type of helmet with two visors at one side of the semi-circular helmet, all of them but one possessed a large type of rifle, while the last one possessed what looked like a smaller version of the same rifle with a square like attachment under the main weapon
When the 7 figures appeared Jack O'Neill looked confused, for he had never seen any warrior like that and Teal'c didn't react at all. The apparent leader of the 7 figures raised his weapon at the newcomer and as he did so 3 more of the figures turned to face the strange beings and started to talk "you there who are you?" sounded the mechanical sound of what was obviously a translator.
Jack O'Neill seemed stupefied for a few seconds before recomposing himself. "Tell us who you are first" replied Jack O'Neill just as the weapons fire of the Jaffa reached the strangers and in a second 3 of the strangers fell to the ground.
Jack saw how the 3 strangers fell and knew that the Jaffa had arrived. Without wasting a moment the remaining 4 strangers turned their backs on SG1 and opened fire with their rifles, but just as the battle restarted the Stargate opened.
"Get out of the way!" yelled Jack O'Neill giving the strange figures just enough time to move out of the way as both Jack and Teal'c opened fire to where they suspected the Jaffa to be. When Jack and Teal'c finished firing they stopped hearing the fire from the Jaffa, only for it to resume just a few seconds later "hey you guys move it!" yelled once again Jack O'Neill to the strangers, who immediately retreated to the Stargate just behind SG-1.
XOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXO
When General George Hammond heard the whale of the siren that announced an unauthorized opening of the gate he immediately left his seat, even as the words sounded over the inter-communications network announcing what the General already knew. As usual he arrived behind Lieutenant Tyler, who was as usual checking his instruments.
"Status report!" said General Hammond as he finally neared the main control panel.
"General. Sir, the Stargate just connected the wormhole" said Tyler as he continued to check his screens. The seconds passed very slowly and all where very worried, not knowing what was going on. Suddenly however "Sir, where receiving an I.D.C., it's SG-1"
"Open the iris!" ordered General Hammond, and so the main iris opened, from it sprang first doctor Jackson, followed by Major Carter a few seconds later. A few seconds later Jack O'Neill and Teal'c left the event horizon. However though the wormhole didn't disappear as it usually did. Eventually four more figures emerged, dressed in a dark green colored futuristic looking armor, with very long rifles and semicircular helmets.
As the four figures emerged all of the soldiers in the gate room immediately drew their weapons, followed immediately by the four figures raising their own rifles into firing positions.
As the soldiers in the room faced each other, the tension increased and all of the armed men started twitching their fingers on their respective triggers, expecting the fight to start at any second. "Stop, don't shoot" said Jack O'Neill getting between the firing lines of the presently armed men.
All of the military men of earth looked at each other once, but resumed their firing positions almost immediately. 'Colonel, are you sure?' sounded the voice of George Hammond over the intercom.
"Yes, General I am sure" answered Jack O'Neill.
'Very well Jack. Men stand down' ordered the General and all of the men in the room retreated from their firing positions followed soon after by the four figures on the gate access pad. 'SG-1, get your new friends to the meeting room' said ultimately George Hammond before turning towards the stairs at the back of the room.
Once the tension was gone Jack O'Neill turned to look at the group of aliens, whose helmets looked ominously at him. "Sorry about that fellows. We're not used to having friends introduced in this manner".
The four figures looked at each other warily and nodded amongst themselves. In a mechanical voice one of the aliens answered in perfect English "It is alright Colonel, where we in your position we would have done the same".
"That's good enough, please come with us, I believe we have much to discuss" said Jack O'Neill leading the group to the exit, where the aliens left their weapons with the guards.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXO
Later in the conference room General Hammond, all of SG-1 and the four aliens sat looking at each other. "My apologies for our treatment, you took us by surprise" said George Hammond in a calmed and sorry tone.
One of the aliens spoke once again in a cold metallic voice "It is alright General, we understand the circumstances, there is nothing to apologize for".
"That is good to hear, now that we have amended any misunderstandings let us introduce ourselves. I am General George Hammond of the United States Air Force commanding officer of this facility. The one on my right is Colonel Jack O'Neill, the commanding officer of the group that brought you here and to his left is Teal'c. To my left is Major Samantha Carter, and to her left is Doctor Daniel Jackson" as the General made the introductions all of them moved their hand to make sure that the newcomers knew who the General was talking about.
The group of aliens looked at each of the introduced people but stopped longer when Tealc'c was introduced. Though it didn't seem like much everyone noticed this, but didn't make any comments. "Now that we have introduced ourselves, why don't you introduce yourselves?" said George Hammond in a conversational tone. But before the aliens could answer back he asked again "I do not wish to sound disrespectful, but could you please remove your helmets?" asked again George Hammond.
The aliens looked at each other and one of the aliens who had markings on his head spoke. "Unfortunately we cannot remove our helmets, other wise we would not be able to understand each other".
George Hammond sighed at the realization, but continued nonetheless "I see, please continue I was just curious" stated George Hammond and allowed to continue.
"It is understandable" said the alien with the markings on his helmet and indicated one of his companions and the immediately started to introduce themselves, starting with the one closest to Teal'c. "I am Shas'la Sa'cea R'pent" said one of the alien. The next one was the one on his right "I am Shas'la Sa'cea Ax'zon". The next one was the one right in front of him "My name is Shas'la Sa'cea Cri'ex". Finally the one in the middle spoke "I am known as Shas'ui Sa'cea K'ndar Okvest" said the alien in his metallic voice and continued "I am the leader of our Shas team" finished the Alien.
Everyone in the room was somewhat confused, not because the aliens had not introduced themselves, but because their names where extremely similar. "Excuse, but are all of you related?" said Jack O'Neill putting everyone's thoughts into words.
All the aliens looked at each other almost confused before they spoke. "I am afraid that we do not understand what you mean?" said the alien in the middle.
"What Jack was asking is why did you all introduced yourselves with the same first name?" spoke Daniel Jackson trying to explain somehow with his hands as he spoke.
"Indeed" said Teal'c who looked at all the aliens warily.
For a few seconds the aliens discussed the situation amongst themselves in a language that none of the present understood even though Daniel Jackson was able to understand a few of the words spoken, but still was unable to make sense of the whole conversation. Finally the leader of the alien group spoke "I am afraid that I do not understand the meaning of your question Colonel Jack O'Neill?" said the lead alien.
"What we mean is, that you all started your name with the words Shash'la Sa'cea, so we are somewhat confused about your names" explained Daniel Jackson and all of the present Humans nodded.
The lead Alien assumed a thoughtful look for a few seconds analyzing the situation before he spoke. "Where we hail from we are all known first by our caste name. In our case is Shas that in your tongue translates as Fire I believe. Our second name denominates our position, that is why all of my brothers except for me have the name of la after our caste name, for they are still regular members of our society who have yet to prove themselves. As for me I am an Ui, the second rank in our society, not necessarily more important than any La, yet I have been designated as so. Then after that comes the place of our birth, for we all hail from the Sa'cea sept further uniting us. Finally is our personal name, given to us by our comrades for values that identify us and make us unique. In this instance I myself am known as K'ndar Okvest, for which the closest translation would be "patient scholar" a rare trait amongst my caste" explained K'ndar in a calm and peaceful tone, that was destroyed by the metallic voice of his helmet speaker.
Though all of them where amazed it was Daniel Jackson who was the most interested in their explanation, having given great attention to the short yet well made explanation of what he had concluded was a far more complicated system of naming and at the same time fascinated by what it meant. "Thank you very much for that explanation. Now why don't you explain to us more about yourselves, your race?" asked General Hammond attempting to open the communication.
All three of the aliens looked at each other. For a dew seconds there was a strange silence in the room, and the SG-1 team along with General Hammond for a moment only saw a hard to follow series of yes and no being given with the head of the aliens.
Just as fast as the silence had began it had ended and once again Okvest spoke "Before I speak of myself and my companions, we would like to know if we will be allowed to return to our world?".
For a few seconds the SG-1 team and General Hammond where all taken aback by the sudden question, but quickly regained their composure "Of course you will be allowed to return at any point you want. All we ask is that you first tell us who you are. One of the mandates of this institution is to meet new people" said George Hammond in a controlled voice.
"We would like you to prove us that you will honor your word first" spoke once again Okvesh, in a more serious tone this time, a fact that was not lost on any of the SG-1 members or General Hammond.
"Very well, if it will calm you down, please follow us" said George Hammond as he got up from his seat and together with SG-1 told the aliens to follow them to the dialing room.
Once on the Dialing room General Hammond spoke again "As you remember, when you came back through the gate you where being followed by several Jaffa warriors, so if you have the coordinates for another world, please give them to us and we will allow you to leave" said George Hammond showing them the main dialing computer.
For a second the aliens where hesitant and looked at each other, but with a nod K'ndar looked at his wrist and soon started to type a few commands from where a small holographic screen appeared with a number of different symbols on them, that soon changed themselves into the shape of 7 gate symbols.
As the small display occurred Daniel Jackson looked at the symbols and using all the knowledge he possessed attempted to interpret them, for they looked remarkably similar to Ancient writing, yet he was unable to decipher them. And for her part Samantha Carter was amazed by the level of technology just shown. Though the technology in itself was not new to the Samantha Carte the way in which it had been used was and she was itching to learn of it.
"Very well, Tyler dial those symbols please" ordered Gorge Hammond to Lieutenant Tyler, who immediately locked in the seven symbols and the gate opened with it's usual sploosh, yet none of the present where fazed by the spectacle. "You can go now if you want" said George Hammond as he showed them the way to the Gate Room.
As the group entered the Gate Room the aliens looked at General George Hammond. "You are men of honor and before we leave.." said the alien as he unfazed his helmet and as he expected got a shock from everyone present.
Looking at SG-1, General George Hammond and all the personnel present the blue/white and grey where revealed. Everyone in the room was surprised at the look of the aliens who presented themselves to them in an entrancing show of their alien complexions before they once again donned their helmets. "We are Shas'la team Im'dert of the Hunter Cadre Hierto hailing from the Sa'Cea Sept of the Tau Empire" said Okvest through the translator.
To say that everyone in the room was shocked was an understatement of epic proportions, everyone already knew that they where not Human because of several physical characteristics that they had all noted, namely their feet and their four fingered hands, but seeing it was an entirely different story. The first to regain speech was Daniel Jackson "I..It is a-a-a p-pl-pleasure" said Daniel Jackson who was the first to regain from the shock "I hope that in the future we can get to know each other better" said Daniel Jackson as he extended one hand to Okvest.
"I feel the same way Daniel Jackson" said Okvest as he extended his hand to Daniel and both of them shook hands.
Immediately afterwards the four of them made their way to the Stargate. However they where soon interrupted "please wait a second" said George Hammond in a very talkative tone. "Tyler, please fetch me a GDO" ordered George Hammond looking at Tyler who simply saluted and left. "Before you leave I would like you to have a present" said George Hammond with a smile on his face.
A few minutes later Lieutenant Tyler returned with a small black box in his hand and offered it to Okvest, who looked curious about the device even though his face was covered with his helmet. "What is this General Hammond?" asked Okvest curiosity clearly discernible from his speech pattern even despite the translator.
"This is a GDO, or Garage Door Opener, is a device that allows us to know who is coming through the Stargate and if we can allow them to come in or not" explained Samantha Carter as she closed in with the General.
"What for? The gates cannot be closed" spoke Okvest more as a statement. But right behind him the Iris closed and Okvest looked both impressed and frightened.
"That is the Iris, it is just a few millimeters from the event horizon of the Gate, even if the gate opens nothing can get through it at such a short distance" explained Samantha Carter and the Iris once again opened. "Without the signal of the GDO we will not open the iris and anyone you send through the gate will die without even noticing it"
"I see" said Okvest inspecting the device in his hand "Thank you very much for all of your help. I will inform my superiors of what you did to us here and hope that we will meet again" finished Okvest and he immediately bowed down in a way that reminded everyone at the SGC of Japanese traditional culture, to which George Hammond and all of SG-1 returned a similar bow just before they left through the gate.
"Now that was interesting" commented Jack O'Neill and all of them agreed just as each left to continue their own unfinished business each thinking what the ramifications of this new encounter would bring.