Author's Note #1: As I seem to be saying most every chapter, I am very sorry for the long delay since I last posted. I have been unbelievably busy with school, and my writing, as fun as it is, has been forced to take a back seat. The next chapter just needs to be edited, and the chapter after that is half done or so.
Author's Note #2: Some of the technologies on the bridge of the Valhalla are inspired by or copied from Marvel and Star Wars. I didn't come up with them.
The 10th of Vlopa, 6545 A.S. (April 1999)
Chulak, Milky-Way Galaxy
On the bridge of the Valhalla, Daniel stood with Master Bra'tac, who was leaning on his staff and watching all the goings-on with great interest. The Valhalla joined by 4 other motherships, 5 cruisers, and 7 transports sailed unseen towards Chulak. In the time that Daniel had been absent from the Milky-Way, Apophis had lost power, having been captured by Sokar several months earlier and thereafter having disappeared. His once-great empire was fracturing as his underlings fought amongst themselves for power and the biggest chunk of territory. Some of his Jaffa, remaining loyal to their absent 'god' and master, still controlled a number of his Hat'taks and, for the moment, several of his important worlds. Sujanha had jumped on the opportunity to strike a blow while their enemy was divided. In consultation with both Anarr and Bra'tac, she had thus chosen to attack Apophis' domain first, especially to prevent other System Lords from claiming the varied resources that control of his planets would provide.
Thus, two days after the Fleet had arrived in the Milky-Way, Furling ships were approaching Chulak, Saqqara, Kawawn, and two of Apophis' other major worlds to begin a coordinated strike that would cripple Apophis' remaining loyalists and keep these worlds from changing hands. Capturing Kawawn would remove a major source of naqauada from Goa'uld hands. Saqqara contained ancient Goa'uld libraries, and there were vague and unsubstantiated rumors, Bra'tac had told Sujanha, of hidden secrets on that world, as well. Chulak, as was well-known, had been one of Apophis' main home-worlds.
From the reports coming in from the other strike-fleets, opposition both in the air and on the ground looked to be relatively small, a fact that pleased Sujanha greatly. She wished for victories that would claim the fewest lives as possible.
Daniel and Bra'tac had taken their stand near the middle of the bridge along one wall where Daniel was near at hand if Sujanha needed him and Bra'tac had a good view of all that was happening on the bridge. The holographic displays at the front of the bridge displayed the position of the other Furling ships even though they were cloaked.
Sujanha was sitting quietly in her chair, seemingly lost in thought, glancing up now and again to check the positions of the five Goa'uld motherships that still guarded Chulak or to answer a question from one of the bridge crew, who were hustling about as final preparations were completed for the attack to begin. Suddenly, Mekoxe, the human communication's officer, approached her from his console toward the back of the bridge.
All the bridge crew was speaking in Furling, and Bra'tac, noticing Mekoxe's sudden movement, looked across at Daniel for a translation. Sujanha, before the Valhalla had picked up Bra'tac on a deserted world, had informed Daniel that he was free to translate anything (within reason) spoken on the bridge and only to use common sense in discerning what not to translate.
"That's Mekoxe," Daniel said quietly, translating slowly as the report was spoken, "he has messages for the Commander from the other strike fleets. Two are in position. The other two will be ready within minutes. She's waiting for confirmation from them all to start the attack."
Mekoxe went back to his station but returned to Sujanha's side within moments after another message appeared up on his console. "Sigurd, the Wing Commander leading the attack on Saqqara, is asking for confirmation of the rules of engagement."
"What are these rules of engagement?" The old Jaffa master asked.
Having gotten a crash course on that and other topics during the trip from Asteria, Daniel, keeping an eye on Sujanha who seemed to be considering the question, replied promptly, "The rules that the Furling Army and Fleet have to follow before engaging in battle and while engaged in battle. They can shift depending on circumstances but are reasonably consistent."
Sujanha began to reply, and Daniel started translating, "First, no ships are allowed to open fire until the lead ships has broadcasted a call to surrender. Second, once battle has been joined, fire to disable, not destroy. Third, any ships with disabled shields or engines cannot be fired upon even if they are still firing. Board them instead, and capture the ships with as little blood shed as possible."
Bra'tac seemed pleased by this. He probably had students or fellow members of the Rebel Jaffa on some of those ships and on Chulak, as well.
Several minutes passed, before the news that Sujanha had been waiting for arrived: all the strike forces were in place. It was time to begin.
"Let us begin," said Sujanha, still in Furling, dispensing orders to the bridge crew, "Uncloak and raise secondary shields. Tell the transports to start deploying their troops. And make sure Nang knows to let several Jaffa through the Stargate before we capture it."
Immediately, the 17 Furling ships decloaked at the same time. As the troops began to beam down to already specified high-priority targets on Chulak, the blind-sided Goa'uld vessels suddenly realized that their world was about to be invaded.
"The Goa'uld vessels are raising shields and arming weapons," Chakrechi, the armored Weapons Officer, stated.
"Broadcast the call to surrender, but do not fire until I give the order," replied Sujanha briskly, "Tell the cruisers to enter the atmosphere in support of the troops on the ground. Watch out for the Death Gliders and the Alkesh." The personal shields that all troops in the Furling Army wore rendered them immune to staff-weapons and zats and even limited fire from staff cannons, the shields in the dedicated personal shields being more powerful than the shields in the gauntlets that Daniel and Sujanha wore. However, heavy fire from an Alkesh or from an array of Death Gliders (or even worse, the impact of a crashing vessel) would wreak havoc in the Furling lines.
Seen in the holographic screens that displayed a nearly 180 degree view of space in front of Sujanha's flagship, all 5 of the Ha'taks were advancing, refusing the call to surrender. (Considering most Jaffa's almost unthinking loyalty to their 'gods,' Daniel and Sujanha both would have been surprised, perhaps even flabbergasted, if they had surrendered.) The lead ship opened fire with its staff-cannons, and its golden fire streaked toward the Valhalla. The ship's shield flared green as the weapons fire impacted it, but the ship did not even shudder. Daniel still remembered how Klorel's ship had shuddered, during the failed attack on earth the previous year, when the naquadah-enhanced missile had impacted the shield.
"Negligible effect on the shield. The ship could hold out all day under this fire."
"That's the point," Sujanha replied dryly, "tell the motherships to focus on one ship and one ship only. Reduce our guns to one-quarter power and fire. Disable the ships. Please do not destroy it." The flagships were protected by three separate layers of shields as well as a heavily armored hull that was supposed to be able to withstand moderate weapon's fire for a short time. Furling motherships were only protected by two layers of shields as well as the armored hull. Even though their hyperdrives were only about half as fast as the Asgard, Furling motherships, from what Daniel had heard, were as powerful as the Asgard Beliskner class, and the Furling flagships might even be more powerful.
Within minutes one of the Ha'taks had unfortunately been destroyed, and the other four were dead in the water. Troops from the remaining two Furling transports still in orbit began to board the ships, an open channel on the Valhalla's bridge broadcasting their radio chatter. As that began, Bra'tac approached Sujanha, moving for the first time since the Furling strike fleet had approached Chulak. Sujanha glanced up immediately as he came to stand by her chair.
"Master Bra'tac?" She asked in a questioning tone, switching flawlessly from the Furling she had been speaking to the navigator into English.
"Until your men have control of each peltak—the bridge—any Jaffa will have an opportunity to set the self-destruct."
That got Sujanha's attention. "Only from the bridge?"
"Yes."
"Do you know how to disable the self-destructs?"
"I do," the old warrior replied with a nod.
Sujanha rose from her chair and half-turned until she could lock eyes with Mekoxe at the back of the room, "Make sure that the men are aware that there are self-destructs and that they are only controlled from the bridge."
"I hear and obey," Mekoxe called back.
Sujanha returned to her seat. "I thank you," she said to Bra'tac, "for the warning. If you wish to observe the course of the battles on the ground, there are maps and view-screens at the rear of the bridge. If you have concerns or warnings, please them raise them at once."
With a subtle of inclination of his head, Bra'tac acknowledged her statements and then withdrew to take up the Commander's offer. Daniel, who had heard about the technology that the Fleet used to oversee ground battles but had not seen it in action, joined him.
Over the two large tables at the rear of the bridge, two large holographic maps with two separate sections of Chulak highlighted were projected with friendly and enemy ships in the air also noted. On the tables themselves, there were 3D maps of the sections of Chulak displayed on the maps. The maps, which displayed the terrain as well as the opposing forces, rough details of encampments, and gun emplacements, were possible because of the powerful sensors onboard the warships that were continuously transmitting data in real-time as to the course of the battle. By changing the highlighted map section on the holograph, the 3D maps would show different sections of the battlefield. A commander in the air could then see approaching ambushes before they happened and see potential obstacles before the troops met them.
The map to which Bra'tac first went showed the plane around the Stargate and the edges of the hills beyond. Two dozen Furling warriors highlighted in silver were moments from seizing control of the Stargate from a handful of remaining Jaffa, highlighted in gold. Sujanha wanted a few Jaffa to be able to 'escape' to spread the word of the defeat of Apophis' forces but swiftly wanted control of the Stargate so that no additional reinforcements could arrive to support Apophis' beleaguered Jaffa.
The second map showed Chulak, the capital city several miles from the Stargate that Daniel had come to with Jack and Sam while searching for the Abydonians captured by Apophis and his guard. This was where he lost Sha're and Skaara. Though he had no fond memories of the city, Daniel was glad that, if he had to return, it was in the first battle of a war that would rid the Milky-Way of the Goa'uld. Less than 40 minutes had passed since the battle had begun, but the Furlings had already breached the wall surrounding Chulak in several spots, and the maps showed silver warriors pouring in the gaps, opposed by far too few golden Jaffa to stem the advance for long.
Minutes passed, and the Furling advance continued. The Furling troops were sticking to main roads for now as they moved through the city, a tactic that seemed to please Bra'tac. The previous night, Ragnar had been opining on Goa'uld army tactics or rather, in his view, the lack thereof. Discussing Chulak in particular, he had mentioned a number of ways that the Jaffa could slow the Furling advance in the city if only the Jaffa broke from the age-old tactics that served better for intimidation, rather than actual combat: lure the Furlings into smaller, side streets where the Jaffa could concentrate their fire more; bring down buildings with explosives to block main streets and force the Furlings to find alternate routes or even to trap troops in the rubble. Ragnar's discussion had been long and in depth, but it helped Daniel make a little more sense of what he was seeing.
As one group of Furling troops won their way up to Apophis' palace, Bra'tac, who had been watching the maps with a critical but approving eye, walked back across the bridge, to where Sujanha was sitting. All Daniel could catch of their conservation was one reference to "hidden passageways," probably a warning as to what the Furlings might face within the palace.
Within ten hours, all of Chulak had fallen except for a few small outlying regions that were soon captured, and within two more hours after that, news came from the other fleets that all resistance had ceased. Within a day, the Furlings had captured five entire planets. Sujanha was pleased by the relative ease with which the day's battles had been completed, though she was quick to acknowledge that all of the planets had been relatively undefended and that the Furlings would face much stiffer opposition in the future.
Following those reports, Sujanha departed the bridge, leaving the Weapons Officer in charge, and retired to her private quarters for a brief conference with Bra'tac as to the events of the days and plans for upcoming attacks.
The meeting was starting to come to a close when the door chime in Sujanha's office alerted the occupants to a visitor at the door. Sujanha made a small motion, and the door slid open. A young man, a human of perhaps 14 years of age, entered, carrying a tablet in one hand. He was nervous and seemed awed by being in Sujanha's presence.
"You have a message for me?" She asked kindly.
"Yes, commander," the boy replied, coming forward to hand her the tablets, "Casualty reports from all the strike-fleets and preliminary information about the ships and Jaffa captured."
"Thank you," Sujanha replied, "You may go."
Sujanha glanced quickly at the tablet, noting all the information it contained with a glance, and then handed it to Daniel.
Bra'tac, who had watched the messenger depart, suddenly asked, "You have children in your military?" He seemed disapproving.
"Hardly!" replied Sujanha, not offended by his question. She liked the old Jaffa's blunt manner of speech. "I would as soon have Asi near a battle as I would my own brother-son. His parents serve on board my ship. Asi is full of the energy of youth and serves as an errand boy, conveying messages and doing other small tasks. Onboard my ship, the boy is perfectly safe, and this way he can stay with his parents."
Bra'tac nodded his head in acceptance of her words and then asked, "What news from your ships?"
"Of our own men, 7 have perished, and 31 were injured. We have captured 10 Ha'tak, 4 Al'kesh, and 3 Tel'tak. The number of Jaffa captured is in the tens of thousands. We will not know the final number for some time."
"What will become of them?" Bra'tac asked.
"The ships, or the men?"
"Both."
"We will tow all of the ships back to our bases in this galaxy. Our engineers and armorers will repair them, and once we have learned all we can from them, the ships will be loaned to our allies at need. As to the men, any of the Jaffa who are injured will be tended to by our healers, and then all the Jaffa will be taken back to our prison worlds in our own galaxy. They will be well-treated, but they will be confined there until this war ends or they learn the error of their ways."
"And what of Chulak?" Bra'tac asked, "Will you leave the women and children and the aged to fend for themselves? The planting season approaches, and they must eat."
"I will speak with my brother about this issue," Sujanha replied, "We have no wish to leave such to fend for themselves. We do not make war upon them, and we do not stand for collateral damage. We never have, and we never will."
Bra'tac nodded his head in assent and then rose, "I must depart. One battle has been won, but there is much more work left to do."
Sujanha rose, as well, surreptitiously leaning part of her body weight on the table. "I thank you for your assistance today. My brother and I value the support of the Rebel Jaffa highly. If you return to the bridge, one of my crew will beam you down to the Stargate. The troops guarding the gate will let you depart to wherever you wish."
Bra'tac bowed and then departed. A minute passed, and then another. Daniel opened his mouth to speak just as another knock sounded at the door. Sujanha made the same motion as before, and the door reopened, framing Ruarc in the doorway.
"It's late," Sujanha said, as Ruarc entered, "I thought I sent you and your brother off to get some food."
"I was about to," Ruarc replied, coming forward, "but a report came in from Sigurd, and I thought you would want to see it immediately."
Daniel felt an inkling of concern, which vanished as soon as he took a longer look at Ruarc's face. The guard wasn't concerned. More surprised.
"Problem?"
Ruarc shook his head, "Due to the rumors that Bra'tac mentioned about Saqqara, Sigurd had his mothership do an in-depth scan of the entire planet after the battle was completed. And he found this…" Bringing forward a tablet that he had been carrying, Ruarc flicked open a large hologram. The hologram showed the Serekh, a large pyramid built by the Goa'uld who had ruled Saqqara before Apophis, and the ground deep below the structure. A long, slender mass that was very large and very thick was highlighted.
"What is that?" Daniel asked curiously.
"Zoom in on that mass, and then rotate."
Ruarc did, and Daniel was able to make out a few more details. This thing, whatever it was, was several time as long as it was wide or tall. It was vaguely cylindrical shaped, though wider in the middle, and vaguely T-shaped at one end. When Ruarc tapped on the area, a mass of data appeared as a separate hologram off to the side, but Daniel wasn't at a good enough angle to read any of it.
Sujanha seemed to recognize it, if the totally flabbergasted look in her eyes was anything to go by. "It can't be. Did Sigurd double-check the scans?"
"He had the scans run four times on his own vessel," Ruarc replied, "and also had had one of his other ships scan the area. All the data is consistent."
"What is it?" Daniel asked again, his curiosity growing by the second.
"It's by the grace of the Creator that we do not face an enemy more powerful than ourselves," Ruarc continued.
"Tell Sigurd to double the ships guarding Saqqara, and have a message sent to Thor. He will want to know of this discovery.
Sujanha rubbed her paw across her eyes, before motioning Ruarc to close the hologram and waving him to a seat. She was quiet for a long minute. "To answer your question, Daniel, that is an Ancient's battleship, one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, warships created in all the known galaxies."
Daniel did not know a lot about the Ancients besides that they had been part of the Alliance and had built the Stargate network. It was hard for him to imagine a race more powerful than the Asgard or the Furlings.
"Didn't the Ancients leave this galaxy a long time ago? That ship must be very old," Daniel asked.
"That is correct," Sujanha replied, "The Ancients departed from this galaxy many ages past when a plague swept their lands, not the plague that forced our people away, but a different one. The Ancients left for a nearby galaxy but still had dealings in these lands for ages until they departed for good within the last 9000 of our years or so. Bra'tac said that Saqqara had been a Goa'uld world nearly since the beginning of their reign, which probably means that this ship crashed there sometime prior, though probably not long before, since I expect that the location of that pyramid is not built above the ship by chance."
Sujanha rose. Looking to Ruarc, she said, "Have my message sent to Sigurd and then go eat."
Ruarc nodded and hurried off. Then Sujanha looked at Daniel. "Are you hungry?" She asked.
"Quite." It has been a long day, and it was getting rather late for dinner, even to Daniel's at-times odd meal schedule.
"Let's go down to the food hall unless you would prefer someplace quieter to eat."
Daniel was somewhat surprised that Sujanha actually wanted to eat in the mess hall, thinking that after a long day and considering that she seemed to be in some pain, she would prefer quiet herself, but he shrugged and said, "I don't care."
Out in the hall on the way to dinner, Sujanha continued her explanation about the Ancient's battleships, "I noticed your surprise at my statement as to the power of the Ancient's battleships. In terms of hyperdrives and, by now, likely shields, the ships of the Furlings and of the Asgard are superior, but their weaponry as a whole has always been far superior to our own. The ion guns of the Asgard are a match for those of the Ancients, so the Asgard tell us, and we borrowed that technology from the Asgard."
"You have never met the Ancients, have you?"
"No," Sujanha replied, "not even the oldest among us remember them. By the time we settled in Asteria, they had already departed. All we know of them comes from our Archives, the Asgard, and an Ancient Database currently in the hands of the Asgard. What made the Ancient ships far superior to our own were their … drones." She had been speaking in English but switched into Furling when she couldn't find the right word in English to describe that type of weaponry.
"Drones?" Daniel asked, himself switching into Furling.
"Yes. Projectile weapons and energy weapons both. They could pierce almost any shields, burrow into a ship's armor, and then explode. Just a few drones could destroy most any ship."
"And you would like to get your hands on them?"
"Our engineers have long theorized that they would be of great value in our conflicts with the Replicating Ones, giving us a long sought for edge that would bring the Asgard some relief in their war. All our previous attempts to replicate the drones have been unsuccessful."
"It's by the grace of the Creator that we do not face an enemy more powerful than ourselves," Ruarc had said minutes before. His statement posed an interesting question in Daniel's mind. If this Ancient battleship was so powerful, why had the Goa'uld never used it or copied its technology, like they had with the Furling technology found in the hidden caches. He posed the question to the Commander.
"Because without a specific gene in the fabric of life of the host, the Goa'uld would not be able to even power up any of the Ancients' technology, much less comprehend how to use it. As you know, the Asgard control their ships via control stones. We use primarily use control stones but also use mental controls in some sections of our ships, as well as some of our own technology in some sections of the ships. With control stones and mental commands, anyone is capable of using the controls. The Ancients, however, limited the use of their technology only to those with this specific gene."
"Wouldn't that keep you—the Furlings, generally—from using this ship?" Daniel asked, "Unless you have an Ancient lying around somewhere."
Sujanha laughed slightly at his joke but shook her head at his question, "You have met half-bloods before. We have married into other races before. There are Furlings, descended from these unions, who still hold the gene. If the ship is reparable, we can use it."
The conversation then switched to pleasanter topics. Daniel, fishing for a good topic of conversation, asked Sujanha about her nephew. He couldn't even remember if he had known that Anarr was married. Daniel knew that Sujanha had few living relatives, though she had a handful of distant relatives, as well, but she rarely talked about them. Sujanha was happy to talk about her nephew Ansurr, a boy of 35 (12 in human terms), who bore a striking resemblance to his aunt and was a kind and good-natured, though sometimes impulsive, kid. By the time Daniel had then told Sujanha about his last visit to Abydos to see Shifu, Sha're 8-month old son, they reached the Mess Hall, a large room filled to the brim with people from all of the major races common to the Asteria Galaxy. And so the evening passed. The first battle of the war had been won. There was more to do, but for now they could rest and then prepare for the next step.
Next Time on Ripples in the Deep (SPOILERS):
Interlude III: Back on Earth II - During SG1's downtime, Teal'c returns unexpectedly from visiting his family with even more unexpected news: Chulak and several of Apophis' worlds have fallen to a mysterious new enemy.
Chapter 13: Strike Two - After cleaning house in Apophis' territory, Sujanha and the Furlings, on the advice of the Tok'ra, turn their sights to Sokar and his realm. The atrocities of his reign are revealed in part during the capture of Netu. During this period, Daniel learns several surprising facts about the Ancients during a visit to the Ancient battleship found on Saqarra, and Daniel also meets a surprising relation of Sujanha.
