A/N Third chapter for Empires unite! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! That was some little cliffhanger wasnt it? Thank you to those who have supported the story so far.
Now without further wait, the continuation!
Planet Oasis
Stargate Site
/§\
Several, things walked through the water like pool. They were tall and wearing some black chainmail and gauntlets with claws, she could see some human like skin in places. Their heads were metallic with dark blue gem eyes, likely some kind of helmet, and shaped like a bird straight from Egyptian hieroglyphics. the one in the center was golden instead of the dark blackish grey had red jewel eyes similar to the crystals on the ring, it shifted its gaze quickly between the three and raised a strange staff. "Ke'I doo'wa Heru-ur!"
{Shit} was the only thing that crossed Shepards mind as she lifted a hand. "Calm down folks, lets not get too hasty here."
The other two raised their staffs, their bulbous tips opening up with an electrical snap, Shepard could see the golden orange energy discharge as it opened up. The Gold one stepped forward its voice harsh and angry, "Kegalo! Tal'bet Kree!"
"Look, I don't underst-" Shepard was cut off as a golden bolt of energy left the end of the staff passing so close to her head that she could feel the static around the projectile causing her to duck as all hell broke loose as soon as the golden one roared one word. "KREE!"
Ramirez fired his odd boxlike weapon the rounds hitting the armored head of one of the aliens, the rounds seemingly to do little but spark against the strange metal. She joined Ramirez her Mass Accelerator rifle slamming into the same ones chest causing the same sparks but she noticed small bits of red blood coming from small holes created by the small sand sized rounds.
Chief rushed in smacking the staff away from the other black one as the Golden one backed up to the gate and kneeled firing his staff one of the bolts hitting Chief in the shoulder causing him to step back, golden shield flaring up as he went hand to hand with the alien quickly proving to be faster. He skillfully blocked the clawing swipes from the alien and sent hooks and jabs into its head and side sparks flying as his armored fists smacked the aliens strange helmet. Shepard returned her focus to the other two as the black one she and Ramirez was targeting was weakening as it fell onto one knee while the pool in the ring disappeared with a strange woosh sound.
The Golden one put a small device on the ring and suddenly it started to spin several symbols lighting up as it continued to fire at the group one round hitting near Ramirez causing his fire to go lower on the body which seemed to bring the thing down faster. {Lower abdomen is the weakspot got it!} The black one finally died as the glow in its blue eyes fading, she turned to target the Gold one when the ring activated once more as the water splashed out violently and settled. Once it settled the Golden one threw himself through it dropping its staff in the process. The other black one attempted to disengage from the chief but was then targeted by Shepard and Ramirez their fire focused around its lower body with Chief joining in, his rifle absolutely booming compared to theirs the aliens hand went through the pool before it fell and died.
They approached the two dead aliens their rifles focused on the wormhole before it dissipated once again taking the aliens hand with it. Ramirez kicked one of the dead aliens as his weapon was pointed at its stomach. "Fuck, things as armored as a Tanker bug, shots barely scratched this helmet."
"Because the helmet is made of the same material as the wormhole generator, its incredibly strong and dense judging by my limited scanning abilities." said a curious sounding Cortana. "We definitely are a long ways from home, this material is one the rarest where we come from."
Shepard brought up her Omni-tool and scanned the helmet. "Same here, Ive only seen it in Mass Relays..." She rubbed the back of her neck as she brought up her radio. "Command this is recon team, site secured...encountered three hostiles, two eliminated one escaped. Acknowledge."
It didn't take long for the voice of Hackett to come over the channel. "Acknowledged Shepard, be advised our UNSC friends sent a ship to drop a firebase as they called it next to the site to keep it secured for the near foreseeable future." As Hackett finished this an absolutely massive ship pierced the clouds, it was huge, easily dwarfing any of their ships save the Arks and Nexus class. as it got closer several bays opened letting out massive transports that came in dropping prefabricated structurers nearby, she looked back up and saw several Kowloon class freighters come down as well to drop off their prefabs to make a research lab.
Shepard looked in awe at the massive ship moving easily through the atmosphere, on the side of the ship she could just make out its designation, CFV-88 SPIRIT OF FIRE.
Planet Oasis
Spirit of Fire bridge
/§\
Captain Cutter had his hands behind his back overlooking his bridge crew work. They were the best of the best in his mind, each of them going above and beyond what they needed to do. "Serina, Isabel, give me an update on the firebase." He turned to the two Holo pedestals behind him. One emitting a cool blue light, the other a warm orange as two very different AI appeared.
"Well Captain all is going according to schedule, it should be fully constructed in five hours." Serina said with her usual smugness.
Isabel gave a little eyeroll, "Yes, and that would be if we were doing a standard firebase, as Admiral Lasky requested we are deploying two bases at the same area, we have allies and they need the room, in that regard we are behind schedule by two hours." Serina glared at the younger AI.
Cutter sighed as he looked the two over while he stroked his beard. "As long as one base gets operational soon we can take our time with the other, now give me a rundown on what we have pointed at that ring." The holotable started projecting numerous units on its surface.
"We have two squads of ODSTs with four Marine squads supporting for infantry support." Isabel started as she highlighted the units. "We also have several Cyclops ready to engage with three Warthogs patrolling the site, two machine gun and one Gauss."
Serina stepped forward to finish. "We have two Scorpion tanks and one Grizzly also overseeing the object, with air support consisting of several hornets, a falcon, and a Sparrowhawk, we can also move our heavy Condor in as needed."
Isabel nodded and then tapped on a screen. "The Citadel remnant races have also sent some quick reaction forces, a group of N5 Marines, two heavy...Mako IFVs, a Hammerhead hovertank, and two Mantis gunships, they are readying more forces as we speak such as Asari Commandos, Turian Blackwatch, Several N7s and something called a Specter." she put her hands on her hips before continuing. "I also have word of Jiralhanae assets closing in, several Prowlers and Choppers...even one of their Scarabs. The...Terrans said that in the event of a major incursion they will drop troops...apparently their soldiers drop in a pod similar to ODSTs that break up after falling through the atmosphere and use jump jets in the armor to slow down."
Cutter gave a slow nod as he looked the units over. "Interesting, we got quite a range of assets here don't we ladies. I doubt anything short of a Flood swarm coming through that ring will get passed us, but just in case I want some Kodiak and Rhino artillery units placed around the Ring, and lock our archer missiles on it as well. Im not taking chances on alien tech again."
The two AI nodded and faded as Doctor Anders approached from behind, "Captain, I was just stopping by to say goodbye." The young woman extended her hand towards Cutter to which he took in a gentle grip.
"Leaving to the research post Anders?" He hated to see her go, this crew had been through so much together.
She nodded and looked down a bit. "They need all the scientific minds they can to analyze the ring and any other new tech we discover, and to try and find a way home."
Cutter nodded and gave her a soft smile. "You will be missed around here...I expect you to find a solution quickly so you can rejoin the Spirit."
"Ill do my best Captain" Anders said smiling back before turning and leaving the bridge.
{Whats this new Galaxy have in store for us I wonder} Cutter thought as he rubbed his mustache.
Deep Space
Ha'tak Class Mothership
/§\
{Translated for readers} "My Lord Heru'ur...I" The Golden helmeted Jaffa kneeled as he tried to explain what occurred to his God but was interrupted by a flash of golden eyes as the Goa'uld in front of him stood up and back handed the Golden Jaffa across the room.
The deep voice of a Goa'uld bellowed out across the room. "You dare come to me in failure First Prime! And loosing two of my finest Horus Guard!" His hand raised the hand wrapped in the golden ribbon of a Kara-kesh.
"My Lord the Tauri ambushed us right outside the Chappa'ai!" He prepared for him imminent death but the for some reason his God faltered.
"The Tauri! They dare strike at me!" Heru'ur marched angrily from his throne room to the Bridge of his Ha'tak, his First Prime close behind. "I want my army ready to attack this world...and you!" He turned and pointed to his First Prime. "Will lead them to restore my faith in you."
He bowed his head putting his fist to his chest in the traditional Jaffa salute. "Your will be done my Lord Heru'ur!" He turned quickly and marched out of the room snapping his fingers to two Jaffa Horus Guard. "JAFFA KREE!"
Planet Earth
Stargate Command
/§\
Deep beneath a mountain in Colorado a top secret facility was actively getting ready for another mission. This facility was one of the best kept secrets in the world, this facility is where the most advanced piece of technology the Planet Earth had, this was Stargate Command.
Around an oblong table sat five individuals, this people were the forefront of homeworld defense, General Hammond and the members of SG-1.
"Well, we are still unsure about what happened after the Quantum Mirror was destroyed a week ago but since the world hasn't ended I assume that we didn't rip a hole through the fabric of reality so my original assumption of us destroying every mirror in the multiverse is looking much more likely, and since we are still getting reports from the Tok'ra subspace wasn't damaged either." Carter told Hammond as he read through her report.
General Hammond nodded putting the report down. "That's good, thank you Major...now about you're next mission. Intelligence from the Tok'ra says that the System Lord Heru-ur is sending his First Prime Karrok to attack us because we killed some of his elite Horus Guard."
This caused Colonel Jack O'Neill to sit up from his usual slouched position. "Uh General...not to uh be a downer on this...but we haven't encountered any of Bird brains minions since P8X-873 when we tried to rescue the Abydonians and..." He looked over to Daniel with a sad look. "And Amaunet was killed, that was months ago and Ra's son isn't known for his patience."
Jackson fiddled with his pen. "No...no he is not, I'm wondering if they encountered another human civilization with ballistic weaponry similar to ours and they are just blaming us."
"Very few worlds have gotten to the point of the Earths Doctor Jackson, but it is a safe assumption. It may be beneficial to seek out this world and seek an alliance." Teal'c had his hands clasped together his gaze going to the general.
Hammond nodded and leaned back in his chair. "I happen to agree Teal'c...Issue is we don't have a gate address for the planet they are on, which comes to your next mission." He slid some folders to SG-1. "I am sending you to P4X-251, its one of Heru-ur's outposts close to the border of Sokars domain, I want you to see if you can get any information about this world...and only use Jaffa weapons lets make it look like Sokar attacked."
"Got it General, when do we leave." Jack said as he stood up and cracked his back by stretching.
Hammond stood up looking at the four of them. "You leave in one hour."
Planet Oasis
Temporary Military Command
/§\
Lasky overlooked the Military base that had grown around the Stargate as the discovered it was called thanks to the A.I. of the Fleet. "To think all of this was possible...if I said this level of cooperation between governments was possible before we left I would have been called crazy." He said to Roland who was overlooking the progress of the colony, while Lasky looked at a Jiralhanae, Krogan, Sangheili, and Human playing a card game.
"Well Admiral, Im just glad we didn't have many issues figuring things out, the separating of the districts definitely helped." The A.I. said turning to Lasky who turned back.
Lasky took a step towards the Holotable and saw how the colony was taking place, four districts were made surrounding a central point that would be neutral ground almost. To the North East was the Citadel remnant, their district was the largest and best built at the moment due to the vast amount of modular prefabricated structures they had. To the North West was the Terran Federation, their district was being built around a Roger Young class Frigate that the Jiralhanae Dreadcarrier helped land, their silver and chrome prefabs shone in the midday sun. To the South West was the Jiralhanae, two SDV class Heavy Corvettes made up their main living area, that coupled with their dark grey and red blocky prefabs, he could see the tall tower that made up their HQ, the House of Reckoning. Finally to the South East was the Conclave and UNSC, they were close allies so they didn't mind sharing an area, covenant style prefabs mixed with the much more utilitarian UNSC ones.
"Looks like the colony is coming along nicely." He crossed his arms looking at the other notable locations. To the South was where he was, the Military base and Stargate site, a majority of each groups military was based here and worked together, it was still a bit rough getting them to work together seamlessly. To the East was the Research and Development laboratory, this is where the greatest mind of each faction worked together to make their lives better, and maybe...one day...find a way home. To the North was where the Spaceport was going to be located, right now it was an air traffic control tower and a dirt runway. The plan was for farmers or miners from distant areas could use a shuttle to transport their goods hear, hell maybe one day it would be the main hub for travel between cities. To the West was the small industrial complex, there more prefabs were being constructed. In the future that area may one day produce ship parts to send up to the Shipyards. {Speaking of Shipyards.}
"Roland how goes the Shipyard construction?" The holotable switched to the a real time view of construction. The Massive form of the Anchor mobile repair yard being connected to the Jiralhanae repair ships, Terran federation Fleet tenders, they were all being attached to the Nexus class station that the Citadel remnant had, it easily dwarfed the others. He could see the small dots that represented the Geth platforms and CHAS units welding on pieces to connect them all. Citadel transports brought over Prefabs to make a living quarters section.
"Its going well Admiral, those Citadel types were smart making their prefabs able to double as station parts, it should be fully up and running in three months." The Bomber styled A.I. replied giving Lasky a look to which Lasky nodded.
He turned away from the holotable as a woman in black and red armor walked in giving him a salute. "You wanted to see me Admiral Lasky?" Commander Alexia Shepard asked lower the salute when he returned it.
"Yes Commander, I wanted to let you know that using the facilities we have at the moment we were able to give the Normandy the upgrades for your exploration into this Galaxy...we already have one enemy out there...we need to make sure not to piss anyone else off until the countermeasures for the Gate can be made." Lasky nodded at Roland who brought up a schematic for the SSV NORMANDY.
Roland took over from here to explain the new upgrades to the Commanders ship. "Well Commander we upgraded her GUARDIAN laser grid, they are now more akin to the pulse lasers of the Conclave and Banished, we did put a few more powerful M8 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle Cannons on her these are ship grade versions of the Spartan Laser our special forces use." The holotable highlighted these areas on the ship, before highlighting a new section in the engine room. "We have added several of our smaller Fusion generators to help power these upgrades as well, the Federation also supplied their primary weapon system, a High Density Laser Cannon, we had to replace one of the barrels of your THANIX to add it but we believe the weapon will be useful.
Shepard looked at the schematics thoughtfully, taking in the ships new capabilities. "A new shielding system was also added on to your Cyclonic barriers to allow energy shielding, the shields overlap and actually support each other so you will be equally protected from energy and kinetic weaponry."
"Good, considering those bird heads that came from the gate had hand held energy weapons its probably safe to assume their ships have them as well." Alexia said approvingly, she would hate for her ship to be taken out with one lucky shot, again.
"Glad you approve Commander, we also added a layer of prowler stealth coating to the Normandy, this will increase your ships effectiveness during stealth operations...unfortunately without reconfiguring the entire power grid...we cannot add an active camouflage generator, this is going to be taken into account with the purpose built exploration ship." Roland crossed his arms looking at Shepard with a small smug look, he was proud of what he and the other AI were able to accomplish.
Lasky shook his head as he swiped his hand across the holotable showing a variety of missiles and torpedoes. "Now we were able to reconfigure one of the Normandys torpedo launchers to fire UNSC and Federation warheads, it was pretty easy since they are quite similar. In addition to your Javelin and Disruptor torpedoes, you have a new UNSC missile called the Xiphos, these are a new type of penetrator missile we have come up with, just prior to impact a secondary plasma charge is launched forward to weaken either shields or armor while the high explosive will hit after to maximize the damage. The Federation has supplied a number of Tactical Oxygen Nukes, or TONS, these clean nukes should come in handy."
"Nukes? I hope those wont be necessary." Shepard said as she crossed her arms looking a little less pleased.
Lasky gave a little sigh and nodded. "Yes, I know the Citadel Conventions prohibits the use of nuclear weapons on garden worlds, but the Citadel never had to deal with a threat like the flood, the closest would be the Rachni, which was similar to the threat the Terrans use these weapons for, plus they are 100 % clean nukes, no radiation."
Roland looked between the two before speaking up. "Think of them as a last resort weapon not an initial weapon, you detonated a similar yield weapon in your mission to eliminate Saren, the difference is that with that weapon there was Eezo fallout."
Shepard gave Roland a side eye before she nodded in agreement. "Last resort against a threat like the Flood...nothing else." She turned back to Lasky standing at full attention. "When will the Normandy be ready to launch?"
"Upgrades will finish installing the day after tomorrow, the amount of engineers and Huragok that we have at our disposal makes the task much easier to complete." Roland said proudly, he had taken up the Normandys upgrades personally.
Shepard gave a nod before saluting and leaving, Lasky could tell she didn't like being stuck ground side. Neither did he if he was being honest. He gave a sigh and turned back to the holotable.
Planet Oasis
Research and Development Lab
/§\
A woman in a full surgical gown and mask walked into a cold room containing two bodies on metal tables. She pulled a pair of gloves over her hands as she turned on a scanner attached to the table while activating a recording device. "Doctor Catherine Halsey, day nine since universal transfer shift, autopsy and examination of hostile aliens that utilized the Stargate."
Halsey looked at the scanner results that showed some kind of button on the helmet. "Attempting to open the helmet of the unknown aliens as the mineral that makes up the helmet is reflecting all scans." Her finger slid across the helmet till part of it depressed slightly causing the whole helmet to shift and slide into the neck armor leaving no evidence of a helmet at all.
"Fascinating, the helmet shows similarities to Forerunner technology, one I unfortunately haven't quite figured out. The Alien appears to be a Human of middle-eastern decent, with a golden tattoo," she touched the symbol on his forehead, "Correction...a golden piece of jewelry imbedded into his forehead in the shape of some kind of bird."
She used the bio-beds medical arms to remove the beings armor leaving it completely naked. "For all intents and purposes this being appears entirely human except for what looks to be a pouch in the lower abdomen, from the after action reports received this area of the body is extremely vulnerable, perhaps this alien is dependent on what is inside the pouch...the first Aliens pouch is completely shredded, no chance of discovering what may have been inside." She looked over at the other one, its abdomen was even more shredded than this one. "John helped in that one I'm sure."
She looked back at the scanner showing the alien had higher muscle and bone density than a normal human. "Judging by scans, these aliens are genetically enhanced humans...likely naturally overtime with the introduction of whatever is in the pouch. There are no surgical marks, very little scarring shows that these beings have a heightened healing factor, they are nowhere near the levels of my Spartans...more like the IVs in terms of strength. There is little evidence that would point to these being standard soldiers, I am guessing from the report that these two were guarding some HVT if the golden armor is anything to go by."
Halsey shook her head and turned towards the armor it was a dark grey and black with gilded accents, the entire thing was almost medieval in design, chainmail under thick metal plates attached to a gorget like piece. All of it made out of the same mineral as the helmet and the gate. "Use of this material in such...crudely, designed armor...could mean an abundance of this mineral here...evidence shown in our home universes show that our stock of it was used by the Forerunners and Reapers...the Terrans have encountered natural deposits on arachnid worlds but mining it is near impossible."
Drawing an M6D pistol from inside her scrubs she aimed at the armor and fired, the round piercing the gorget and the mail. "Luckily it seems to not be immune to our firearms, but it takes sustained firepower or semi-armor piercing high explosive rounds. My personal threat assessment is that while these beings seem...outdated, they are not to be underestimated...if our standard infantry encounter these they will likely be overmatched in a one on one."
Removing the gloves as she left the room heading towards the weapons lab where the rest of the science team was examining the staff weapons recovered. As she entered the lab she removed the surgical gown walking over to the table that held the three staffs. two of them were taken apart while the other was still whole.
Ander looked up from examining the power cell for the staff and smiled at her as she approached. "Doctor Halsey, I figured out what is inside the cell, it is the same material the gate is made of, just in liquid form. It seems whatever race made this and the gate are dependent on this mineral for their technology."
"Indeed, their armor is completely made of it as well, they appear to be some form of modified humans, though they differ enough to be considered a new species." She looked at a datapad Anders handed her looking over the energy readouts for the power cell.
A Turian engineer gave a scoff at the staff. "These weapons are incredibly impractical, from our tests they are inaccurate at...any...range, possess no sights, no internal computer at all other than the power cell and firing mechanism. They are unwieldy and useless in close quarters." He walked away from the table. "A Vorcha could make a better gun."
"Remember Decimus, these beings were guarding a golden one, these may be some form of honor guard weapon and not a weapon of war. We know nothing of these species culture, beliefs...anything. Its like the beginning of the Human Covenant war all over again." Halsey grabbed her coffee cup and grimaced as the liquid entered her mouth. "Cold..."
The Staff was then picked up by a Sangheili examining it closely. "We may be able to modify this weapon to make a powerful honor guard weapon of our own, add a targeting system to link with our HUDs and an energy blade on the end." His eyes looked over at Halsey, "With your permission of course Doctor Halsey."
Halsey gave him a nod which he responded with the Sangheili salute taking the staff away, likely to the sangheili weapon masters. "Ok, now that we have a brief understanding of our enemy let us figure out the riddles of the gate, we want to be able to send teams as soon as poss-" She was cut off as alarms went off all across the colony, they were under attack.
Planet Oasis
Stargate Site
/§\
The Marines at the gate were bored, they doubted anything was going to come out of the gate. One leaned on a M247 GPMG with a cigarette between her lips laughing at a joke. Another was sitting in a razorback adjusting the radio to get some good tunes on. The ODSTs were in the middle of a pushup contest to see who was the best in the two squads. It was because of this relaxation that losses were more than they should have been when the gate activating.
The female marine with the cigarette turned raising her rifle but was hit in the throat by a golden energy bolt as dozens of humans in dark chainmail with odd tattoos on their forehead rushed through the gate firing their staffs at anything that moved. Most of the Marines were either killed or wounded before they got a shot off. The ODSTs faired better due to their armor but they sheer number that was rushing from the gate was staggering.
Three ODSTs threw grenades into the enemy lines the fragmentation grenades shredding groups while one screamed being too close to a white phosphorus grenade. "Come on Troopers! Show these what Helldropp-" The ODST Lieutenant didnt get to finish as one in Golden armor fired a massive version from the hip ripping the poor man in half before tossing it to two of his lessers and pointing towards the rest.
"SHIT!" The ODST Sergeant slammed herself into a piece of cover as a corporal took one of those golden bolts to the head causing it to snap back the visor shattering. "WHERE IS THE QUICK REACTION FORCE!" She fired a burst from her MA5K blindly not risking popping her head out and was about to grab a grenade off her belt when she snapped her head to the left and saw one of the tall ones with a bird helmet, the head of the bird turned to the side before she felt the golden bolt rip through her chest.
Tauri Planet
Stargate
/§\
{Translate for easer reading}
Heru-ur would be please, the First Prime looked around as his forces mopped up the rest of the forces around the gate, his detachment of Horus Guard proving more than a match for them, he then frowned. They had built up quickly but it mattered not, he would destroy them all. "Quickly set up the staff Cannons" He heard an odd growling sound and looked up to see several wheeled vehicles on the way and scoffed while relaying ordered to fire upon them.
His Jaffa were about to fire when a strange stomping distracted him causing him to turn around. What he saw made his blood cold, a large army was approaching and at the front of it were massive machines that were WALKING. On their right arm was a massive cannon which fired causing one of his Horus Guard to turn into a red mist. A shadow crept over him which caused him to look up at the Massive ship going over them, he understood a little of the Tauri tongue, many planets used similar dialects, on the side of the ship was giant white letters that read. SPIRIT OF FIRE.
{These are not the Tauri...} He thought while watching several objects fly from the ship towards him and his Jaffa, this was a quicker death than what Heru-ur would give him should he be defeated again. He walked towards the enemy watching the missiles come in, giving a sigh as he closed his eyes taking the explosion in earnest, dyeing as a Jaffa should.
I do not know what the piece around the neck of Jaffa armor is called but it is similar to a Gorget which is what I will call it
Translations
Ke'I doo'wa Heru-ur! Kneel the God Heru-ur has come!
Kegalo! Tal'bet Kree!" Silence! Surrender Now!
Jaffa Ranks
Jaffa Regulars (Jondi) - Naquadah Chainmail Armor and a staff weapon
Jaffa Corporal ('arif)- Naquadah Chainmail armor with Gorget and a staff weapon
Jaffa Sergeant (Raqib) - Naquadah Chainmail armor with Gorget and abdominal armor wields staff weapon
Jaffa Elite (Medjay) - Full Naquadah Armor with Animal motif helmet and staff weapon
First Prime - Full gilded Naquadah armor