A/N: Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, the reaction to the story thus far has been amazing. the naxt chapter should be up sometime next week. Enjoy!
Onboard the Victory:
Cameron Mitchell sat in the captains chair of his Prometheus 2 class ship, after the assault on the shipyards and defenses orbiting Earth he and his crew had been forced to return to the outer reaches of UEA territory. As they exited from another hyperspace jump, they came upon the ruins of a transport ship. These unarmed vessels bore the brunt of the galaxy wide economy of the UEA. One had not been attacked, never mind destroyed since the Lucian Alliance was driven out of the majority of the galaxy. The ship slowed to a stop next to the wreckage, Mitchell was beginning to bark out orders when the first missiles from the previously hidden battlestars struck his shields.
Onboard the Pegasus:
Supreme Commander Tigh was pleased, his plan had worked perfectly, after the attack on the civilian ship a military one had indeed come to investigate. With the new warheads in his launch tubes, he would be able to cripple this ship as well, and expand his arsenal.
Onboard the Victory:
"Hard to starboard, launch fighters!" Mitchell barked as his ship shook as a result of another explosion. "Forward batteries, fire!". The front of the Victory lit up with the muzzle flashes of the big forward guns. Bolts of energy lanced out towards the two ships, one of which jumped out of the way, reappearing an the other side of the wreckage. The fighters from the Victory moved to intercept the ship, as neither of the colonial vessels had launched any fighters of their own. The small shielding units on the fighters were not enough to pierce the flak barrier that the battlestar, now successfully identified as the Pegasus put up in defense. The colonial ships launched more missiles, only to see the majority of them intercepted by the missile defense guns that every UEA ship was equipped with. Those that got through shattered on the shields on the tough ship.
"Sir, shields are failing!" a tech officer yelled over the sound of the explosions that blossomed over the ship.
"Return the fighters to their bays, and prepare to jump out of here!" Mitchell answered back. As the last of the fighters returned, the ship lurched forward into hyperspace, leaving the next wave of enemy missiles to close on empty space.
Onboard the United States:
General Jack O'Neill sat at his desk, empty bowl of fruit loops beside him, looking over reports. His communicator screen started flashing just as he picked up another one of the boring papers. Grinning internally at the interruption, Jack pushed the button and met the gaze of Cameron Mitchell.
"Jack, we were just attacked by those two colonial ships." he said.
"Did you manage to destroy them?" Jack asked in response.
"No sir, they were significantly more powerful than we were led to believe, we were just able to escape before the shields failed.".
"That is disturbing, report to the nearest shipyard for repairs, and grab some escorts while you are there. You are now in charge of the hunt for Supreme Commander Tigh and his men." Jack said. Flipping off the screen, he sat back in his chair, things were defiantly spiraling out of control. If reports were to be believed, then the Lucian Alliance may enter the fray as well. Something no one in the UEA wanted.
New Atlantis:
John Sheppard, new bandages and all, strolled through the main streets of what had been the bustling center of trade on the continent. It had been completely evacuated when it became obvious that the wraith were heading towards it. Fortunately, they had almost two full weeks to prepare for the inevitable assault. Help had been promised by Landry, but with the size of the force, the logistics were slowing the process down. John realized that their best hope would be the Jaffa that Teal'c had managed to gather from Chulak. Turning to his left, he saw the last pieces of the large gate being lifted into place by the borrowed construction equipment, this city was looking more and more like a medieval fortress with each passing hour. Because the original defense strategy had failed, the tactic wizards back on Earth had decided to force the wraith to put the city to siege, much like they had to do to Atlantis a millennia ago, that would buy time for the reinforcements to arrive. Honestly, Sheppard didn't understand why they couldn't abandon the city and wait for the relief force behind the massive shields of Atlantis, he supposed that it had something to do with the morale of the civilian population. Hopefully, public relations wouldn't be the cause of his death.
Onboard a Jaffa Mothership:
Teal'c sat in the throne-like captains chair on the bridge of the ancient ship, he had six thousand warriors ready to fight the wraith, and he was happy to see that the fighting spirit of his people had not been diluted in this next generation of Jaffa. Truthfully, he had not expected such a large or enthusiastic turnout to help the UEA, he had hoped perhaps to be able to field a hundred warriors, to make a difference in the fight. But with the numbers he now had, he could open his own campaign, and throw the wraith back across the Pegasus galaxy. Soon, the Jaffa would be feared by a new enemy.
Unknown Planet:
Starbuck and Apollo sat in a dirty cell far underground on the backwater planet that they were currently marooned on. The original attackers had returned to the ambush sight and were not happy to find more intruders. They became further enraged when the crew of the Ark Royal put up what could only be described as a spirited defense, killing a score of their attackers and wounding many more. The position fell only when the UEA crewmen had run out of ammunition, and even then it took hand to hand fighting to capture the remainder of the crash survivors. So far, their captors had left them alone, the guards that passed were all in uniform so that ruled out any type of militia. Plus, their equipment far outstripped anything they had seen on the surface prior to the soldiers arrival. The question was, who were they, and why did they need to hide themselves so thoroughly.
The Alpha Site:
General Hank Landry was upset, mostly with the politicians who refused to let his split up his division. He had wanted to send the majority of his soldiers through the gate to Atlantis, and use them to hold New Atlantis, which was currently the last occupied stronghold on the continent. But the 'powers that be' would hear nothing of it, the 1st space marine division of the UEA army would arrive in one piece, even if it was too late to save the defenders on the continent. Landry was happy to see that his old friend Jack had thought ahead, the Jaffa Teal'c had gathered would go along way to driving back the desperate wraith. If they got lucky, they would buy enough time for the reinforcements to arrive and effectively destroy the survivors of the space battle that had taken place weeks before.
Onboard the Pegasus:
Supreme Commander Tigh was more upset than he had ever been, at least in recent times. The failed attack on the Victory had yielded nothing, unless you counted the wasted ammunition and the damage to both ships of his small fleet. Perhaps the attack had been premature, they did not have enough of the stolen missiles to take down the enemy shields all the way. More attacks on the civilian shipping industry were needed, thankfully for Tigh, the schedule provided by the Lucian Alliance as an act of good faith was correct. All he had to do now was wait.
A/N: If you are going to criticize, please keep it constructive, I am a new author and need all the tips I can get. Also, if you are interested in becoming a beta reader, please email me. Thanks.