Author's Note #1: While the name Dovahkiin is borrowed from the game Elder's Scrolls, the appearance of that race is only based off the Daemonfeuers from Grimm (heavily) with some additions from stone gargoyles found on medieval cathedrals and from the characters in the cartoon, Gargoyles.
The 8th of Vlopa, 6545 A.S. (April 1999)
Military Headquarters, Uslisgas
"Where's the Commander?" Daniel asked to no one in particular and everyone in general. It was just past the 10th hour of the morning, and he had just returned to Uslisgas from visiting Sha're in the prison where she was still confined until she could be freed from Amaunet's control. He had expected to find Sujanha in her office, but she was strangely absent.
"She had to go up to the shipyards on Ocelum," Asik replied, appearing from the hallway with one long-fingered, pale hand wrapped around a steaming mug of tea, "The Dovahkiin contingent just arrived and has updates for the Valhalla."
After a long moment's thought—he had stayed up much too late the previous night reading—Daniel finally managed to drudge up the memory that the Valhalla was Sujanha's flagship; Ocelum was a planet, not a city; and the Dovahkiin, a much-talked about race of craftsmen and engineers, whom he had never met, were supposed to have arrived days ago.
"I thought the Dovahkiin were supposed to arrive days ago," Daniel asked quizzically, speaking his thoughts aloud.
Asik, who had just taken a drink of tea, nearly choked, "You've never met them, have you?" He asked, a smile lighting up his pale face.
"No…" Daniel replied. He had heard a lot of talk about the Dovahkiin at headquarters, including from Sujanha, who had a close friend at the Dovahkiin Royal Court.
"Unless the world will end if they don't show up, a Dovahkiin almost never arrives on time for anything. It's a quirk of their nature that you have to become accustomed to if you are going to work with them for any length of time," Asik explained, taking a seat at his desk and beginning to shuffle through a stack of reports, "They are a race of engineers and craftsmen. They can get so absorbed in a project so as to go for days without sustenance or sleep and completely lose track of the days. The Lady and Commander Anarr know this and simply make adjustments for it. The Dovahkiin work extremely quickly anyway, and having the Dovahkiin with us is worth the trouble: they can fix almost anything."
"Oh," Daniel said, flopping down into a seat by Asik's desk, "interesting." Daniel was silent for several minutes. He actually wasn't sure what to do for the moment. Sujanha hadn't given him any tasks to complete before he had left that morning. He could go read a book—there were always more books to read considering the size of the Library—but felt like he should be doing something, since the fleet and the army were going to set out for Milky-Way in less than a day.
Daniel started drumming his fingers on his right leg, trying to decide what to go do next.
"Just go up to Ocelum," Asik said, a touch of exasperation leaking into his voice, after only a few moments of the drumming, "Jaax had to go to Procater for the day, and Sujanha should have one of her aids with her." Procater, a planet prone to large, violent storms that popped up with little warning, was the homeworld of the Etrairs.
"Okay," Daniel bounced up and headed for the door. He had never been up to Ocelum before and never actually seen any of the Furling ships. This would be an interesting trip.
Ocelum was a large planet in an adjacent solar system to Uslisgas that functioned as a shipyard for the Furling Fleet, possibly the only shipyard (Daniel couldn't remember). It still amazed him, as he stepped through the Stargate, how it was becoming so commonplace just to step through a wormhole from one planet to another to catch up with his boss. Daniel was quite sure he was one of the luckiest men ever with one of the coolest jobs ever.
Daniel stepped out of the Stargate onto a massive stone dais in the middle of an even bigger courtyard. Rising up around him were large, in both height and width, buildings that were a far cry from the Furling style in Uslisgas, stone structures that were built to last but also had an old-world design. These buildings had the same clean lines but were very utilitarian in design.
After a moment, Daniel realized that the whole courtyard was bathed in shade even though there were no trees or buildings close enough to shade the whole courtyard, especially considering the position of the sun. Then he looked straight up to see a massive warship floating in the sky right above the courtyard. When he started to look around more, he began to spot more warships of multiple different classes in the sky or docked at bays on the ground. From the one glimpse he had seen of Supreme Commander Thor's flagship, the Beliskner, Daniel was able to pick out some similarities between the Furling ships and the Asgard mothership. The Furling ships seemed, he guessed, to have been based off a similar, if not the same, design, though they were less blocky in shape with cleaner lines. Some of the ships were obviously much larger than the Asgard's ships, though some were maybe half the size.
Not seeing anyone in the vicinity, Daniel picked a path at random and started walking, assuming that with all the hustle and bustle going on with the rapidly approaching departure of the fleet that he would soon run into someone who could point him in Sujanha's direction. As he walked, he had to continually keep tearing his gaze away from the spaceships to keep from risking tripping over his own feet or the steps or simply wandering off the path while he was distracted. Daniel had known that the Furlings were powerful—they were one of the Four Great Races, for crying out loud, and were continually sharing technological advancements with the Asgard, their close allies, and receiving others back in turn—but seeing the Furling ships was something else. The size of the ships alone made even the Goa'uld Ha'Taks look like small potatoes.
Not long after he left the courtyard, Daniel was hailed by a passing guard, one of the Iprysh. If the Lapiths were one of the freakiest races in Asteria, the Iprysh were certainly one of the strangest and most mysterious. The true appearance of the Iprysh, who were never seen without their suits of high-tech, mechanical armor, was unknown, Sujanha had explained once. Their homeworld, Skeshan, was an ice world with temperatures that commonly made Antarctica look warm. As a result, few outsiders went to Skeshan on any type of business, the Iprysh usually traveling off world to meet with their allies. The few members of any other race who had been to the homeworld of the Iprysh had either never seen or never revealed the true appearance of the Iprysh. Because of the lack of knowledge about this race, truly ridiculous rumors have developed over the years, which Ruarc had once regaled Daniel with great amusement. Some said, Ruarc had revealed, that the Iprysh had no bone structure and needed their armor to protect their bodies and to give them a non-horrifying, globular shape. Others said instead that the Iprysh were some sort of bodiless consciousness who required a physical form (via the armor) to interact with their allies. Others, more sensibly, believed that the Iprysh who probably had forms adapted for the extremely cold and harsh conditions of their homeworld required the armor to protect their bodies from milder conditions on other planets.
Daniel tore his wandering mind from his ethnographic considerations of the Iprysh when the passing guard was forced to hail him for at least the second time.
"I'm Daniel Jackson, aid to Supreme Commander Sujanha," he replied in near-perfect Furling.
"The Supreme Commander is currently on board the Valhalla," the mechanized voice of the guard replied, assuming that Daniel had come to join his boss. He then activated his com, spoke a few quick words, and Daniel was then beamed away in a flash of light.
When Daniel could see again, he found himself at the end of a featureless grey corridor right beside a crossroads from which three other corridors led off in various other direction and a spiraling staircase led up or down to other levels of the ship. Daniel had utterly no clue where he was in the ship or where Sujanha was, either, though he figured that he probably had been beamed to a place near her. After a moment of just standing listening, he had almost decided to pick a corridor at random and start walking when he heard Sujanha's voice coming up the hallway from behind him.
Daniel turned, waiting for her to appear from around a bend in the corridor. He could hear her speaking in Furling and another voice responding, strangely enough, in what sounded like another language all-together, though it was hard to tell. The other voice spoke a language even harsher and rougher than Furling with tones that sounded like falling boulders. Daniel was reminded suddenly of a comment that Sujanha had made once, some months before, when she had gone to Othala, the Asgard homeworld, to speak with Thor, namely that, because of the shape of their throats and vocal cords, the Asgard could not speak the Furling tongue, and the Furlings could not speak the tongue of the Asgard, either.
Sujanha appeared first around the bend. She was moving slowly, as she had been for days: the weight of the war planning and the preparations for the upcoming departure of the fleet was sitting heavily on her shoulders. What was even more striking was that she wasn't even attempting to conceal her severe limp.
Neither Ragnar nor Ruarc were with her then, but the unknown figure just a half-step back from Sujanha's shoulder instantly made Daniel gulp for the figure instantly beat out the Lapiths for the scariest and strangest creature in the entire Asteria Galaxy.
Like Sujanha, he was humanoid but looked like—the closest Daniel could even compare—was a dragon incarnate with a slight resemblance to the gargoyles on the old cathedrals on earth. He was tall, maybe half-a-head taller than Sujanha. He had green hide covered in a close network of scales. His hands were tipped with long claws, and his feet were clawed as well, making a tap-scratch sound on the floor as he walked. Thick leathery wings sprang out from his shoulders and swept down to brush the floor behind him. His face was monstrous with dark eyes, no obvious nose or ears, the same scaly hide, and several large horns that swept back from his forehead. A circlet of gold encircled the largest of his horns. His clothes appeared to be of leather and thick cloth, and a belt of twisted leather, from which a variety of tools hung, was bound around his waist.
If Daniel had just came to Asteria, he felt as he looked at this newcomer—whom he guessed was almost certainly one of the Dovahkiin—that he might have lost his nerve to go forward. Yet, now he had had 9 months or so to get used to a new galaxy and a whole host of new peoples. Daniel stepped forward to meet them.
Sujanha broke off her conversation as soon as she caught sight of Daniel and smiled at him in greeting, a smile with her eyes, not her mouth. She rarely smiled as humans did, except when she was intentionally trying to imitate human mannerisms. A human smile seemed a little less friendly with her when it could reveal teeth that could tear through flesh like a knife through butter. Her golden eyes were very expressive, though, showing a range of expressions from warm fondness (a look Daniel had seen directed more and more towards him in recent months) to glacial fury (usually reserved for when she had heard news of new Goa'uld atrocities).
Sujanha beckoned him forward. "Zinjotnax," she said, turning back to her companion, "this is Daniel Jackson, formerly of Midgard and now one of our people. He serves as my third aid."
Turning to Daniel, she said, "Daniel, this is Crown Prince Zinjotnax, son of Sariiz, the Great Queen of the Dovahkiin."
When the introductions and polite platitudes were finished, Sujanha commanded, "Please go up to the bridge. I need to know several things. First, have the troop carriers arrived back from Ida yet? If so, the information needs to be transmitted to my brother. Second, how many—if any—of our warships have yet to arrive? Enough ships are setting out tomorrow that we need to start loading supplies soon. Third, have any messages arrived for me from Knight Commander Shandel? Also, I need to you to pass two messages to the bridge crew. First, I need to speak with Sat'a Chakrechi, the weapon's officer, after the afternoon meal. Second, as soon as possible after she arrives, Rusa Bonroas, the navigator, needs to speak with Nizul, the engineer, to be updated on the updates the Dovahkiin brought for the ship. She had not yet boarded when I arrived several hours ago, and I have not had a moment to check since then."
Daniel repeated back her questions and messages back to her to make sure he had them correctly and then asked, "How do I find the bridge?"
"Go up one level. Take the passage that goes straight forward off the stairs, and then take the first right."
Daniel found his way through the long corridors of the massive warship up to the bridge with little problem. The bridge was a massive rectangular room that was semi-circular at one end. In the very front of the room—the semi-circular part—was projected on a continuous row of holograms that displayed a stunning view of space above the planet and a staggering number of ships. Back a little ways was a row of consoles and three chairs, probably for Sujanha, the navigator, and the weapon's officer. The rest of the room was taken up by 4 long consoles/display boards (in the middle of the room) and two large tables at the back.
Only two others were on the bridge currently as Daniel entered: one of the Iprysh sitting in the left seat at the front of the room and a man working on one of the displays which was covered by a massive map (of what Daniel wasn't sure).
The man looked up as Daniel entered. "Are you in need of assistance," he asked, not seeming to recognize Daniel as one of Sujanha's aid.
"I am Daniel Jackson, Supreme Commander Sujanha's aid, and have two messages for the bridge crew from her," he replied, "and there are several things she needs to know, as well."
The Iprysh rose from his—with the armor, Daniel could only guess at his gender—and approached. "Speak then." He said.
"Messages first then, the Commander had a message for the weapons officer."
"I am he," the Iprysh replied.
"The Commander would like to meet with you after the afternoon meal."
"I hear and will obey," the Iprysh—Sat'a Chakrech—replied with a nod. "Next?"
"I have a message for the navigator." The name Sujanha had given for the navigator was, he thought, a Lapith one. Since there was no Lapith on the bridge, he wondered if she had still not arrived yet.
"Rusa has not arrived yet," the man replied, "Give me the message, I will pass it to her."
"As soon as possible, she is to speak with Nizul as to the updates the Dovahkiin brought for the ship."
"I hear."
"What else?" The weapons officer asked, his mechanized voice strangely echoy inside the bridge. The Iprysh, as a race, seemed to be always blunt and to the point.
"The Commander requested information on these issues. First, have the troop carrier arrived back from Ida yet? If so, the information needs to be transmitted to Supreme Commander Anarr."
The man tapped several time on the screen he had been working on and brought up a different map, displaying a galaxy with a multitude of blinking dots. He zoomed in on one area where there was a large collection of dots and tapped on one of the icons, which brought up a separate small screen. "I am Mekoxe, the communications officer," he said, as he worked, "and no, the transports have not arrived yet but are due in an hour. I'll make sure the news of their arrival is transmitted to Commander Anarr."
Daniel nodded, "Have any Furling warships yet to arrive? The Commander was concerned that, with the number of ships setting out, that the supplies be able to be loaded soon."
"The warships from Ida have also yet to return but are only an hour behind the transports. The last two relief ships, departing with the fleet, will arrive shortly. One mothership and two cruisers coming in from the outskirts will also arrive within the hour."
Daniel repeated back the numbers to make sure he had it correctly (it was a lot to remember at once) and then asked his final question, "Last, the Commander needed to know if any messages had arrive for her from Knight Commander Shandel?"
Mekoxe checked another screen and then shook his head, "No, not as yet."
Daniel had rather more trouble finding Sujanha than he had had finding the bridge. Not thinking to ask where she was before he had left the bridge, Daniel was forced to wonder two separate levels for almost twenty minutes before he found her, this time alone except for Ragnar. He gave her the news she had asked for as they walked up to her office on the level above the bridge.
Sujanha spent most of the rest of the day in her office, her strength waning for a time after a very long couple of days. Jaax, who arrived right after the afternoon meal, along with Daniel were her legs, running errands as needed, passing messages, and checking on the arrival of the rest of the fleet and the loading of supplies.
Like most everyone else in the military that day, the three of them worked long into the night. With over 150 warships, several dozen transports, and multiple relief ships (from the name, probably similar to US hospital ships), setting out, there was a simply staggering amount of work to do, supplies to be loaded, and things to oversee. Added to that was the 300,000 or so troops from the Furling Army plus large contingents from the other races within the empire that had to be loaded on to the transports along with the supplies.
The morning of departure began at dawn. Daniel knew Sujanha must have been exhausted and in pain when she emerged from her quarters after only three hours of sleep. He certainly was tired and was wishing fervently for multiple large mugs of coffee, though he would have to content himself with Furling spiced tea.
They ate a quick breakfast with Jaax, Ragnar, and Ruarc. Asik, at his own wish, had been chosen from the three aids to remain in Asteria for the time and keep fleet business functioning there and to make sure necessary information about what was going on in Asteria and Ida was passed on to Sujanha or others.
Daniel trailed behind Sujanha and her guards, lost in thought about his friends on earth, as they went up the bridge where the Commander was due to address the fleet before they departed. The bridge was much busier than it had been the previous day. The navigator and weapons officer were both in their chairs. Daniel saw the communications officer at his console towards the back of the room, and there were another 5 people from several races, whom he didn't know.
Sujanha took her seat, and silence fell across the bridge as her hologram was transmitted across the fleet. The tiredness that had shown in the commander's bearing, posture, and voice even since she had risen had all disappeared as she began to speak.
"Seventy-eight years ago, I stood before you to announce the end of the war against the Sicarii. After over 2800 years of war in which countless lives were lost and our people were brought to its knees, we finally, for a brief period, had peace. Now, we are ready to begin another war that is not in our galaxy, not in our empire, and against a race that does not directly threaten our people, our existence, or our livelihood."
"I ask much of you again. I have asked much of you before, and you, my loyal and brave men, have never failed me. The Goa'uld are a scourge upon the universe. They have stolen our technology, corrupting it into weapons of terror and destruction. They have enslaved countless planets and ruthlessly kill all those who oppose them. We are the unintended cause of their rise to power. It is our duty to ensure their fall."
Sujanha ceased speaking, her short address complete. She turned to the navigator at her side, "Let us depart." One by one the ships jumped into hyperspace.
Months of preparation and planning had all led to this moment. Within ten hours, the Furling fleet along with the countless troops would reach the Milky-Way and begin deploying for their first attacks, a process that could take a couple of days. The war had begun. The reign of the System Lords, though they did not know it yet, was fast coming to its end.
