Chapter 26
Location: P9X-992
Date: March 6, 2025
Time: 0630
The blue watery event horizon gave way to the rippling appearance of the tan-camouflaged SG-1 walking through the gate from Terra Nova to their first mission since the heroics of Kobol. All of them knew that this was a smaller operation, not the longer term exploration type mission that they were used to. Around them an environment, hot and dry with low hardly brush and trees greeted them. They could see the ground was covered in patches of dry grass with gold-orange dirt and sand. The sky was devoid of clouds, and the sun really beat down on them.
"Wow, shoulda brought SPF 30, not fifteen," O'Neill quipped as he stepped forward.
"I've got some," Dr. Tew responded, the medical assistant having a massive backpack and a pack slung over his shoulder was a large bag that was also full of medical gear. As the medical assistant he had an unspoken job to carry extra gear as the horror stories they'd heard of the early days of the SGC had instilled that kind of a fear of being unprepared.
"That's just O'Neill's sarcasm Karl," Lawson said as she rubbed some sunscreen on her nose.
The group began marching out along a fairly well-defined path as the group settled into their own groups and just enjoyed the climate and the sun. The seventeen of them had been resting and training, especially the civilians, who were now holding P90 SMG's, a long-standing favorite of the SGC. Arguably the best with them were their non-combatant geologist and biologist, who'd been training hard, trying to be the best in the civilian group at defending themselves. They routinely got their butts handed to them operating as the opposing force for training operations for the military members of the teams, but were getting better and better.
"Sorta reminds of home," Lopez said as he walked along, looking around at the area as they moved forward, all downhill.
"More like the Mediterranean," Brenda noted, worded more like a correction and got a questioning/peeved look from her geologist, "I did some grad work in Genoa."
"They're both roughly the same climate, even the same terrain, kinda why the all the glitz and glamour loves that climate," Lopez replied with a shrug.
"As well as people in general old boy, climates like Rome and California have long been the cradle of civilization. Long growing seasons, plentiful fauna, and on the coast plenty of shallow water fish and other foods," Walt noted as they walked along, his newly arrived ivory cane tapping along as they walked.
"If these folks can make a good Italian pasta I'm good with that," Gibson piped up from the rear of the column, "We can trade and explore all day."
"Funny," Walt smirked, "But unfortunately there has been a troubling pattern emerging from many developed and even undeveloped civilizations, an age of immense conflict has come. With the Gou'ald reigning over the galaxy peoples of all kinds couldn't risk fighting each other for fear of the Gou'ald, but with them and the Ori and Replicators now gone many covetous and imperialistic civilizations have begun exploring, and conquering one another. Right now, it's a period similar to that of the Caudillos of Latin America. Military leaders taking over their civilizations, and now waging interstellar wars of conquest upon the less-developed."
"Sounds like trouble," Major Blanton noted, "I take it that's our newest threat, less developed rogue states bullying their lesser-developed brethren?"
"Kinda," Brenda stated, "But we've got a high probability of not even meeting them."
"You say that now…"
"No kidding boss," Lieutenant Holden said over the radio from up ahead on point.
The group now got to a bend in the terrain and the group could audibly hear the crashing of the sea nearby. Holden was standing next to a tree, holding a hand steadying her M-501 and was looking through her larger scope and was scanning the terrain for a route to their ultimate destination. It was a white walled town with red roofs and a few small fishing boats and a larger trio of what could only be described as galleys with lateen sails on three masts.
"Wow, looks like something from the History Channel," Holden mumbled as she analyzed the harbor and then the town.
"Please, don't insult the natives," Dr. Walt scoffed as he laid eyes upon the seaside town, "Hmm…maybe twenty thousand people, very much built upon life depending on the sea, but hard to see past the cliffs for farms so I may be wrong."
"I know," O'Neill said calmly, looking at the town himself, "Looks like a couple roads head inland, may want to check those out for other connecting towns or villages."
The team got fully on the curve and saw the large town, built on the high slope down to the water's edge. There, a mix of wooden and stone docks were pretty much the hive of activity. A small stone wall surrounded the town, and in the center was a larger building, a lot like a palace with yellow flags on its surrounding parapets. The town buildings matched that of Italian and Spanish styles, very much designed for the purpose of regulating temperature in a rather warm environment. They could see it was a very active town, and the gate was open and a pair of guards in leather armor and Roman style helmets with red as their primary color it seemed.
"Soldiers…seems like they have firearms, primitive," Holden mumbled as she analyzed the threat.
"May I?" Walt asked, and Blanton handed him a pair of binoculars and he took a good look at it, "Looks like a matchlock musket, not much threat to us I would say."
"Muskets, nice," O'Neill nodded.
"And swords," Holden added.
"Those can hurt," O'Neill smirked, "But we're still on neutral terms. Right?"
"Yes we're fine, I'm ready when you are," Brenda said as she looked around and adjusted her Stanford camp.
"Let's go check it out," O'Neill motioned, and then remembered Dr. Lopez and Dr. White, "Oh yeah, Lopez, White you're with Holden and Pauley, keep an eye on them Captain, let them do their thing."
"There's a lot to see, they'll be too busy to get in trouble sir," Pauley nodded.
"Keep a sharp lookout," O'Neill reminded him and the group of four began moving out.
"Finally, we can get some work done," White responded, ready to go and get some work and exploration done.
"The rest of us will head into the town and do the meet and greet," O'Neill ordered and waved everyone forward.
Earth Defense Fleet Command, Terra Nova
Assembled within a large meeting room, one of three the large circular building had, were a handful of expert analysts for the EDF. Their assignment was a relatively new one, create a revamped threat assessment to the Colonial Fleet. This was due to the large engagement at Kobol, and the surprising effectiveness of the Colonial Fleet that had engaged what had previously been thought to be a much, much superior fleet.
"So," Colonel Belousov, the chair of this board, started the conversation, "Were we wrong in our initial estimate of the Colonial Fleet's effectiveness? This battle seems like it."
"No other word for it, Colonial capabilities seem to have been drastically under-estimated, as well as industrial capacity," another man, Colonel Penn, the lone British officer on the board, put forward.
"They also seem to have given us a look at possible tactics for future engagements," one of two Americans said aloud, "And I do believe we should be concerned despite the obvious weakness of the motherships that were…well obliterated over that planet."
"Obliterated indeed," Belousov nodded, "The question is, could the Colonials use this against us?"
"The scientists have given us the raw numbers, these magnetic guns, they can be devastating if used the same way as we saw them used here. It wouldn't be the five or six shots these Ha'taks only withstood," Penn responded quickly, "But, with the numbers that the Colonials throw into battle we could very easily lose ships within moments if the Colonials jump into positions they want."
"What kind of range?"
"Well outside our own, a Battle Carrier won't be destroyed in really any engagement unless the fire of at least a hundred Colonial ships was used against it. But anything below Battleships and Carriers really needs to be careful. A Battlestar's full frontal volley will bring their shields down by five percent on average. A Battlecruiser would lose up to ten percent."
"That is if they connected?"
"If they connected of course yes," Penn made certain to make clear.
"So at range the Colonials can be an issue, but, there is the issue we now know they pose to direct planetary attack," Belousov responded as a new part of the meeting's purpose was brought up.
"Yes the Battlestar Galactica's atmospheric jump, impressive tactic, pretty much bypasses any orbital defense," the second American, Colonel Glynn, now spoke.
"This is something incredibly dangerous to the security of Earth, we at first thought the Colonials' ships couldn't handle the stress of an atmospheric jump as the Raptor crash at the Alpha Site showed us. Or so we thought, now they seem either have had that ability all along, or this new class of Battlestar is the only one capable of such a maneuver," the second American nodded.
"So we now assume that all Colonial ships especially Battlestars, which have two FTL drives, are capable of such maneuvers. If a strike force were to jump into Terra Nova's atmosphere or God-forbid Earth, their massive Viper Wings could devastate our defenses before we even get our fighters off the ground or guns and missiles into action," Penn sourly stated, "The problem is that we're just now beginning to understand Colonial FTL's, but any countermeasure is a long ways out."
"But their range is limited, or so we've been led to believe."
"Even that is starting to be questioned, the Galactica arrived at Kobol in less than a week. They're improving in that respect," Belousov mentioned.
"It has to be stated to command, the Colonials are now going to be the most powerful opponents we now face," Penn stated firmly.
"And their stargate program is also branching out, just like ours did. So that means we've got to find a way to track them and their activities to get a better gauge of the Colonials' ambitions and goals," Belousov declared, moving on, seeing as they had no clear answer to the Colonial FTL capability as of yet.
"We can attempt to put in a program into their computer system to keep tabs on their gate activity."
"Might have to directly do it, as in by hand, to do that is…risky to say the least."
"Not to mention the immense diplomatic issue of this being entirely illegal," Penn replied as well, "We go in there with the intent of monitoring them and we give them every reason to open fire on every SG Team we send through the gate and every ship they see."
"We have the ability to place a sensor net over their whole operational theatre, we can easily avoid that," Colonel Wright, the first American officer, stated without worry.
"Not so easy to get into what it is perhaps the Colonials' most secure facility."
"If needed, we'll manage," Colonel Glynn assured them, "SG-1's our best."
"If that plan is to be administered then yes, I sure hope that they can."
Stargate Command, Earth
"Sir, we have an energy burst of unknown origin," the NCO on watch in the sensor hub of the Earth Defense Grid called out, seeing the screen blinking red.
"Location?" the Captain immediately asked, hitting the button for an alert.
"Northern Brazil, in the Amazon," he replied and zoomed in, "Scanners aren't reading anything else down there."
"Brazilian Special Forces are ready for beaming," a comms officer stated firmly.
"Send 'em," the Captain nodded.
The communications officer quickly spoke in rapid Spanish to order the team of Brazilians to be beamed right to the disturbance to properly investigate. The group knew that something was bound to happen now and an officer began communicating with an orbital defense ship, a Battlecruiser. The ship began to prepare for orbital entry and readied its lone squadron of Banshees. But it needed to be cleared by Homeworld Command in order to enter the atmosphere. However the Brazilians didn't need such authorization, it was their country.
Northern Amazon Rainforest, Brazil, Earth
A flash of white enveloped the special forces team and the twelve men immediately fanned out in the familiar rainforest around them. The group knew that there was something here in this dark forest, in their country! This was exciting to them, it wasn't often that the SGC called upon Brazil's elite. This was a no-drill, the moment they'd been waiting for.
With IMBEL A2's at the ready the team moved to the source of the energy burst. The group had their infrared goggles over their eyes and were moving quickly but quietly. The forest was alive, as always, and as they grew closer and closer the forest itself grew quiet.
"The forest, it's quiet," one of the members of the team noted in his native Portuguese.
"They sense something," one of the others responded quickly, "I can feel it too."
"Something's out here, move forward keep an eye out, be ready for anything men," the officer in charge quickly ordered them.
The team crept forward until they reached a lush opening in the forest. The team knew that they were close. All of them had their rifles pointed forward, and nothing was in their field of view, but their force's scanner and GPS both said that they were in the right place, but there was nothing there. All they saw was high grass.
"I don't get it, there's nothing here…" their commander mumbled to himself, and pointed two fingers forward as a signal to advance.
In a skirmish line formation the group moved into the clearing and they all moved right into the grasses. The group took a few steps forward, rifles slowly moving side to side, looking for any sign of activity. They at first didn't see or hear or feel anything. But when the furthest forward operator hit a solid energy field an orange bubble showed its existence when the rifle point touched it.
"Shield!" the man immediately yelled and the group instantly jumped to action.
They all triggered their laser pointers and red beams pierced the night and swept back and forth as the shield light died down. Everyone rushed about, and was very alert and jumpy, their rifles ready to fire. But the shield made certain that they were unable to really do much.
"Command, this is Jaguar, we have found a shield requesting support," their commander relayed to his commanders.
After he said that he heard an electric whoosh and there was a white flash within the shield that went top-to-bottom. They shielded their eyes to keep their goggles from going white but they failed in that regard for the most part.
"It happened again," the commander said calmly, shaking his head in frustration.
"It was a transporter beam, Ancient type," the radio responded, "Is there anything there?"
"Nothing but grass."
"Right now it's impossible to know where it came from. Keep an eye on that area if you can, the EDF is going through the data now. We'll figure this out."
Local Town, P9X-992
The guards had seen the thirteen team members. They knew that they had to deal with them calmly, seeing as they had dealt with many strangers in trade recently and that trade was always the best policy. Conflict was not the way of their people, but they were quite willing to defend themselves as their actions signified. On the other hand, SG-1's experience meant that they were indeed ready.
The guards immediately stepped forward as they approached, four of them lifting their muskets to the ready. The first one challenged them in what sounded very much like Italian. In fact their uniforms were reminiscent of another Italian state of ancient Earth. Their iron helmets were eerily reminiscent of Roman Legionaries, their leather armor had the exact same style of overlapping leather strips as what the Romans used but were hardened. A large powder horn and box-shaped bag on their sides hanging from a sling across their chest held their black powder and ammunition. A Gladius style sword hung at their waist and an oval shield was on their backs, signifying that hand-to-hand combat was still of great importance to them. Their tunics beneath their armor were red and went to their knees and wrists. Each had worn brown pants underneath with brown boots and shin guards. All-in-all they were a well-outfitted group, well-established and supported and meant business.
"State your business," the bearded guard ordered and Dr. Walt stepped forward.
"We are peaceful explorers," Walt started, and bowed slightly, "We're here to make friendly contact and learn of new cultures."
"Explorers, we've met your kind before, very well, the viceroy is always ready to speak with those who come in peace," the guard responded.
"Viceroy?" Walt asked in english, "A viceroy? You do not have…a king?"
"There is no king here. Not for some time, the viceroy is currently in the midst of holding court, I will send guards to escort you."
"Thank you," Walt respectfully responded as the guard signaled two of his men in his language and they were shown inside with the guards shouldering their muskets in one hand and had their swords held tight with the other.
"So far so good," O'Neill noted as the group walked through the gates, passing a cart filled to the brim with golden thin stalks, a grain of sorts local to the planet.
"Yeah, finally someone we meet without shooting occurring," Brenda laughed.
"It is refreshing," Walt agreed, "By the way Brenda, did you recognize some of that language I was speaking with the guard?"
"Yeah I did, a Latin language, Italian?" Brenda responded as she took in the sights of what was an Italian Renaissance town.
"Very much so, you might be able to speak with them directly if your Italian isn't too rusty," Walt noted.
"Been a while since my graduate studies in Genoa," she sighed, "But I can give it a try."
The group was immediately the town curiosity, with men women and children pointing and talking and in some cases bartering their goods to them directly, but the guards brushed them off quite rudely. This was something that O'Neill and the other military members noted quickly.
"These guys like to be a bit pushy with their people," Major Rosario noted to Captain Hailey.
"Symptomatic of the times they exist in, you have a sword you kinda get what you want," Hailey reminded her, "Also, keep an eye out for rogue hands of men who don't know we're not available."
"Gonna give them a rude awakening if they try, and that applies to you guys," Rosario half-jokingly warned Newbold, Gibson, and Baird.
"Another thing, ladies, you must remember that women of this time didn't have any rights, watch your step very carefully," Walt informed them as they continued up a main street with tall stone buildings around the stone road and towards the decent-sized palace.
"We're not their women and we have guns," Ruby reminded Walt, they want to tell us what to do like we're their slaves then they can kiss my…"
"No, that's my job doc," Gibson smirked and moved up next to her, "you know that they're gonna take issue with a black man before a white girl right?"
"And you know better than to pick fights," Blanton warned his SAW gunner, "They're backwards if they think that way but no it isn't our place to fight that prejudice unless vitally necessary."
"Like in negotiations where you must establish yourself as an equal," Brenda said, giving an example.
"In our case more like their betters, I don't think we can say we're their lessers," Rosario responded as they walked along a stone bridge over a market.
"Wow, at least they're prospering to an extent," Underwood noted as he leaned against the stone rail and looked down at the wealth of market stands with large carts and barrels and trays of fish, a lot of sheep and goats, vegetables, and a lot of bags full of stuff they weren't able to get a good look at.
The market was crawling with people, selling more goods here like cloth, tools, shoes, cups, and other such general stuff. Also down there was a statue on a large fountain and a pair of small wooden stands that well-clothed speakers were shouting out proclamations and news. One of them had a pair of guards standing next to him with muskets held on the ground at ease, perfectly content. There were small colored flags on ropes above the market, flapping in the cool sea breeze. The area was roughly the size of a hockey rink, and more than three hundred people were milling about below, some leaving and some entering.
"Amazing, like a window through time," Dr. Lawson sighed in awe, looking down at the hive of activity as they paused to view the area.
"We must continue, the viceroy is waiting for you," the guard stated to them as he noted that they had paused.
"Yes, of course," Walt said in English and nodded.
"Rosario, you and your team can stay and look around, we only need Walt and Brenda for this," O'Neill suggested, "Blanton, you're with me. Could use some size for obvious negotiation purposes."
"Roger that sir, I'm in charge ladies," Rosario declared, "Split into two teams, Hailey you take Newbold and the doc's. I'll take Gibson and Baird with Ruby and Underwood."
"Let's get going, stay in contact and out of trouble," O'Neill ordered as he moved to follow Brenda and Walt behind the two guards towards a much more heavily guarded gate just up ahead.
The gate opened as they walked in, and saw that inside was a much higher quality building within, with arching water spouts in a long pair of fountains flanked by tall thin pine trees. The building was boxy measuring in at five floors with marble columns supporting the roof and balconies on the sides and corners with a flat façade in the front with tall windows around the large double doors. It was well-crafted, but not overly intricate and ornate.
Only perhaps a dozen guards in wide-brimmed feathered hats with metal cuirasses and red tunics below with black pants and boots stood with rapier style swords and a matchlock pistol in a holster. Each was the immaculate representation of a Musketeer from the famed French elite of old. But these ones did not have the classic European embroidery customary in the Renaissance age and had no Christian emblems whatsoever. Two of their number stepped forward with a man in more proper civilian attire in between them.
"Welcome travelers," he stated in a clear deep voice, and in English, a language that seemed to be quite common in the galaxy amongst active trading civilizations, "The Viceroy Principe welcomes you. I am Lord Garetes."
"Thank you, I am Brenda Jackson, this is Dr. Bruce Walt, and our military escorts Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Steven Blanton, representatives of Earth's SG-1," Brenda stated firmly while stepping forward, taking the lead in negotiations from the start.
"You…you allow her to speak here?" the man sternly questioned Walt. He was clearly unaware of Earth's reputation.
"She will speak, and she will be spoken to," Brenda responded without much room for tolerating him.
O'Neill cocked his head and smirked at the man, signaling that he wasn't going to be helping him in any way. He would be dealing directly with Brenda.
"I see, if you'll follow me, the Viceroy is waiting," Garetes nodded and beckoned them to follow.
The group entered and they walked along the flat stone path with grass and trees to either side with flowers interspersed amongst the green. The large door opened as they approached and Blanton felt a chill go up his spine as he felt the troubling subconscious feeling of being watched. He turned his head slightly, and his eyes picked out a single figure in his peripheral vision wearing a brownish red suit of armor, but hidden in the shadow of a tower of one the wall to his right. He was a not exactly a bulky individual, and Blanton could tell his was a very advanced suit of armor, one that did not belong in this place wandering what was a restricted area. The big giveaway to him was a glowing orange eye on the helmet and he could also see the black of the second eye and a bit more equipment over the nose and mouth, a very intimidating sight to see analyzing you from afar.
"Colonel, three o'clock, shadow of the tower, being watched, definitely not a local," Blanton quickly said to O'Neill, "Advanced armor, glowing orange eye."
"Threat?"
"Possibly, didn't see any weapons," Blanton answered immediately as they entered the building and were now out of sight.
"Send an alert out to the team, be ready just in case."
"Roger that."
Alright, I think I can leave it off there without giving too much away. It's been a while since I got a pair of chapter updates to this story completed and posted, hope this meets your standards guys. As usual, leave a review or PM any questions or suggestions or concerns you may have and I'll do my best to get back to you in a timely manner with a proper response.
As many of you can probably guess I am in college, in a major I love taking some truly amazing courses at a school that has a bit of history with my family, the University of North Texas. It is an amazing school, beautiful campus, knowledgeable faculty, and the city isn't half-bad, a bit small and covered in construction zones but meh, I can live with it. But it does keep me very busy so be prepared for long gaps between chapters or I might get lucky and crank a chapter out on a weekend so stay tuned.
Next Chapter Preview: The Colonials begin learning some of the truth of their Gods.