Chapter Nine - The Fleet
We find General Carter on Atlantis, in her office, going over the current standing of the fleet. Atlantis has landed in the Pacific Ocean to undergo the replacement of her Wormhole Drive. Since her drive burnt out trying to get to Earth, it would have to be completely replaced. Atlantis had her cloak engaged, just in case. The view was very much like that back in Pegasus and General Carter felt nostalgic for the year she spent there. Soon, she thought, and what a fight we would give them.
Thanks to the tireless work of the Replicators, four more BC-304s would join the ranks going back to Pegasus. The Chinese would be getting the Fenghuang (the Phoenix), the Russians the RFS Peter the Great, the English HMS Queen Elizabeth and the French Le Charlemagne. Four Hephaestus-class vessels would soon be complete adding the Zhang Fei, the RFS Iliya Moorometz, HMS Richard the Lionheart, aka the Lionheart, and La Baguette to the fleet that would be returning to Pegasus. In French, baguette means stick. The bread we all know and love got its name because it looks like a stick and so does the Hephaestus-class Ancient warship. All, except the French, named their Hephaestus-class vessels after great warriors from their homelands. This marked the Russian's first intergalactic vessel named after a woman.
This would bring the fleet to twenty BC-304s, five Hephaestus-class vessels and Atlantis. The USS Odyssey, the USS Apollo, the USS George Hammond, the USS Pegasus and the USS Artemis all make up TF Atlantis; the USS Avalon, the Sun Tzu, the RFS Chekov, HMS William Shakespeare and Le Plongeur make up TF Astria; the USS Hestia, the Tianxia, the RFS Catherine the Great, HMS Nottingham and La Bagnole make up TF Earth; the Fenghuang, the RFS Peter the Great, HMS Queen Elizabeth and Le Charlemagne bring up the rear.
While the Hephaestus-class vessels were being built and the fleet was undergoing refit, a massive survey mission of the Milky Way was under way. Now that they could create as many Jumpers as they wanted, they were going to use these Jumpers to catalog the planets the gate could dial. A sole Replicator pilot would undertake this task, who would be able to conduct the survey while out of phase. Fifty planets at a time would be cataloged by a veritable fleet of Jumpers.
Once they had completely catalogued a planet they would dial the next one on their list and repeat the process. Once every planet had been scanned they would return to the SGC to upload their final findings to Atlantis. While they are conducting the surveys, all that they learn will be immediately accessible to the other Replicators and the Earth fleet. It was expected to take at least three months.
To begin, five jumpers were created at a time and sent through the gate where one would start his survey of the planet while the remaining four would dial up the planet on their list. In this way, the gate on Earth was only dialed ten times to speed up deployment.
The gate was dialed first then the Jumpers were created. The Replicators were then beamed on, who then piloted them through the gate. All in all, it took a little over an hour. The gate could not, however, be dialed by a Jumper out of phase.
The first vessel would be out of phase. The other four would dial the gate before going out of phase. This might seem like a disadvantage but a vessel could phase-in, dial the gate at any distance and then phase out to go through. So long as it wouldn't take longer than thirty-eight minutes to make it through.
Since anything out of phase would easily pass through the Iris, the United States military decided that only the Replicators would have the ability to use Merlin's phasing technology. It was hoped this would ensure it would never fall into enemy hands. In case this does happen though, a Replicator will be on duty 24/7 out of phase to monitor those coming and going through the gate.
The Replicators would also take over all communications. Data and communiques would be transmitted via subspace using Replicator encryptions. The Replicators would also be in charge of distributing the data acquired by the Satellite Network.
The goal of the survey would be to learn which planets were populated and how densely, the health of the peoples and their current ability to take care of themselves, how many planets had been occupied by the Goa'uld and which planets needed immediate help.
With her refit done, the USS Hephaestus was ready to be deployed. With the only threat to the peoples of this galaxy mostly vanquished, the Tinkerer could now provide relief aid. In its three hangar bays, pallets beyond counting could be created and beamed down to any number of planets.
The Goa'uld wished to keep a significant portion of the population as a poor as possible to ensure their dominion. A way of saying their god could banish whoever to poverty just like them if they didn't obey. We would change that by giving them the things they needed: farming equipment, medical supplies, tools to help rebuild, cloth to make clothes and more. We would also help by beaming away the shanty towns of the past and in their place creating from the ground up homes fit for human beings.
As the refits of the fleet were finished, each vessel in the fleet would help in providing the former slaves, most of all, and the Jaffa the tools and material to rebuild their worlds. New worlds would be founded, as well, as the former slaves who still harbor grudges against the Jaffa seek out to find a home absent their presence. The Tau'ri fleet would help by relocating any who wished to a new world and providing them with the same tools and materials.
Those who so wished could also be relocated to worlds ripe with harvest but poor in hands. A portion of the yield would go to their respective planets after they had finished and returned home. New farmlands would be founded and nurtured with the knowledge of the Ancients. Replicators would visit world after world teaching these peoples the best way to get the most out of their fields and hardwork. Technologies would be given sparingly as elements within the former Goa'uld domain have already tried to forcibly take control. It would be foolish at this stage to give any technology that could be used against us or them. We would rather show them a better way in the hopes of friendship one day.
A new type of vessel would begin construction soon. It would be based on the Ancients science vessel, three of which could land on Atlantis. The first would be named the USS Copernicus. The engine and engine room would be at the rear. Hugging the 'walls', 'ceiling' and 'floor' would be enough room for a ZPM control room with transporter booths like those on Atlantis to ease movement. They also had crawl ways with ladders to get around in case of power loss. There would be three interspersed along with control rooms, auxiliary rooms and, most of all, quarters. There would be a break in both walls for two hangar doors. She would have a complement of thirty-eight crew members and twenty-five Replicators. Her complement would increase when needed and when space allowed.
The remaining interior would be completely empty. On the outside of this 'bubble' would be a hundred and twenty-five Ancient Matter Creation Devices. These devices would be used to recreate the inside to whatever was needed. It would be able to create seven floors, ten total with the permanent floors on the top and bottom and the command floor included. The bridge with a command floor would be on the top like the Aurora-class vessels. The engine room would contain three ZPMs as well to power its Intergalactic Hyperdrive and Wormhole Drive. In the event these ZPMs are ever depleted, power would be drawn from the other nine ZPMs directly. These vessels would also be able to easily reach even Destiny.
This would be a multi-purpose vessel. It would be able to act as a science vessel, by creating floors filled with labs and offices. Or act as an aid vessel, by creating, inside its hollow interior, clothing, medicine and raw materials in massive bulk amounts. It could also help in building and rebuilding by creating gigantic sections to be assembled on site. Or it could act as an auxiliary vessel in battle, by quickly increasing our numbers of Ancient and Tau'ri drones. It could even become a hospital or a transport, cargo or evacuation vessel or even a miniature shipyard.
It would only be armed with five Ancient Drone Launcher Ports because it would only need to use these in defense against minor threats or to ensure her escape. During battle, she would be protected by the drones she would create and by the vessels she was aiding. She would still be well protected with one almost impenetrable shield powered by the ZPMs. She wasn't meant to go into battle all by herself, though she could.
Twenty-Five vessels were slated for construction and pushed to the front of the line. With their ability to create massive components and structures, they would greatly help in constructing the new City Ship. With hundreds of Replicators working around the clock, the first five were completed in about a week. With their completion, they could help build the other vessels much faster. As more vessels were completed, more vessels were completed much quicker. All in all they were finished in a little over two weeks, almost a week shy of the completion of the shipyard.
The IOA made a strong plea, though they'd call it a demand, to have another city ship built at once. Even though Homeworld Command intended to build more city ships, with the IOA's unconditional support meant they didn't have to worry about dirty tricks meant to slow down the City Ship's completion as a way to blackmail them. The IOA's ability to exert any form of control over the SGC or Homeworld Command basically evaporated with the large scale installation on our vessels and in our facilities of Ancient Matter Creation Devices. Their money was of little concern.
To build a structure capable of building a city ship would take longer than it would to complete the shipyard, using just the Replicators. In lieu of a structure, they would use the Replicators to make the Copernicus-class vessels. After the completion, the Replicators would help in assembling the replicated pieces and building it as well, especially the engines, computers and gate. They greatly speed up completion by gathering raw materials that the Replicators could mold exactly as needed. This raw material could be beamed up by a vessel in orbit then transmitted through the gate either to a vessel, the shipyard or a warehouse on the planet.
The City Ship would be built on American soil, hidden by a massive Cloak. Here, the vessel would be constructed with the help of the Copernicus-class vessels who would build the vessel with their Ancient Matter Creation Devices. Their transporters would be used to beam down resources sent through the gate and to assemble the massive city. The Replicators were confident it would be finished and operational at the same time as the rest of the fleet. Utopia would have all the same upgrades and a gate room like Atlantis.
Being such a very destructive weapon as well as a city, it was decided by all that no single nation would ever be able to call one theirs exclusively. Instead, they would each be manned and operated by all the nations of Earth. Like her sister, she would have a complement of six BC-304s and three Science Vessels, one day. As she would be going into battle, a Colonel of the United States Air Force would be her first commander. On her return to Earth, she would be under the command of a civilian. The clear choice was Colonel StevenCaldwell. At least until the war is over.
To help maintain and increase the fleet of Earth, Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, would be hollowed out and fitted to aid in repair and construction. The moon would split open on one side with the use of two massive doors while the interior atmosphere would be maintained by a shield. Though, vessels would enter and exit mainly by phasing out. The shipyard would be built in a natural celestial body so as to remain hidden in plain sight. Everything the Ancients knew about keeping a place hidden were employed, especially maintaining its mass artificially so its orbit wouldn't be affected. With the help of hundreds of Ancient Matter Creation Devices and Replicators, our fleet would be able to expand at a greater rate.
Since TF Earth remained behind after their refits, they were sent to take on this massive undertaking. So long as Earth had enemies, TF Earth would remain in its own solar system. They would work together to beam out, little by little, the interior while beaming in the shipyard piece by piece at the same time. It would require a few weeks work, around the clock, to get the shipyard operational.
By the time the shipyard would be operational, it was hoped that its first customer would be the mostly buried city ship in the Pegasus galaxy. TF Atlantis was ordered to negotiate the trade of the city ship. The USS Artemis was tasked with dropping off our negotiator before moving on to deploy the satellite network.
The negotiator would have the authority to offer anything for the exchange of the vessel. Well. almost anything - they wouldn't be giving weapons or ships. It was assumed they would want a replacement for their home so many different cities had been planned out by the Replicators. Once an agreement has been reached, the Tinkerer would be sent to fulfill it and help repair the ship to make it able to fly.
During negotiations, a team of forty Replicators in five Jumpers would tag along out of phase and start a complete scan so that those on Earth could begin replicating replacements. After the agreement is reached, the Replicators would also start repairing her to be able to fly. Her support structure, engine and shields would have to be repaired before she could make the voyage home. She would just barely be repaired enough to fly herself to Ganymede.
To increase our knowledge of the Wraith, fifteen Replicators would be dropped off to board Wraith vessels during a cull. The Hammond would drop off the spies at the first opportunity, until then it would be deploying the satellite network with the others. Entirely while out of phase, Fifteen Puddle Jumpers would be created in the hangar bays where they also made the components for the satellites. Fifteen extra Replicators had boarded the vessel and would disembark to learn everything about the Wraith and their technology once they could be located.
All in all, Atlantis would be returning to Pegasus with five BC-304s, five Hephaestus-class vessels, five Copernicus-class vessels, three hundred and fifty Battle Jumpers, several hundreds of thousands of Ancient Drones and the capability to create hundreds of thousands more, the ability to create a drone army of hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands and one of the strongest shields in existence. Traveling on her would be her five Copernicus-class vessels as well as her five BC-304 escort. She would be accompanied by two more City Ships, Utopia and Olympus.
After the war, Utopia would return to the Milky Way and act as the new Stargate Command as well as become every scientist's playground. The City Ships would be uploaded with everything on Atlantis. They would act as back-ups for everything the Ancients had learned and allow more people the opportunity to study it.
She would need all of this just to combat the Wraith from what the Replicators report. Knowing that our planet numbered in the billions, the Wraith First thought nothing of creating millions of Wraith drones. Todd wasn't the only one to steal ZPMs from the Replicator world. The planet had boasted of hundreds all over its surface. A small handful of Wraith loyal to the Queen had found their way onto to Todd's ship and while the rest were worried about the battle, a group of twenty piloted their three vessels away from the action and towards calmer waters.
On the other side of the planet they were lucky enough to find one of their new labs meant to create dozens of ZPMs at a time. The lab, ironically enough, had been created to help power the fleet that would eradicate the human race living in Pegasus. They were able to steal thirty of these devices.
Nine were immediately put to use creating drones while nine were used to grow more ships. Nine would be used to make nine Superhives and the remaining three would go to the First's own Mega Hive, making hers the strongest in the galaxy. She was well guarded by her honor guard and twelve regular Hive Ships. She was further protected by twenty-five cruisers.
She had spent the last two years increasing the size of her fleet and by bringing more and more Wraith to her side. Her vessels now numbered over a thousand with more still to be found. She assumes she has won since Atlantis has not returned to Pegasus but she would not be caught unaware. She would rather have her troops feeding on each other than be outnumbered by the enemy.
The rest of her fleet traveled in packs anywhere from twenty-five to fifty hive ships with three times as many Cruisers. Out of the thousand habitable worlds, hundreds had been completely culled. Not one life was left, only abandoned villages and cities.
Hundreds of planets still boasted of life with many allies on them.