Jump Chain Gothic 4 - Atlantis - Part 12

Aurora-class Warship. Pegasus Galaxy.

I had to admit that the Asgard knew what they were doing, a small team had come on board, and had performed several upgrades to what was already a very advanced technology. We now had superior long range communications, better sensors, and they'd even improved the hyperdrive.

Right now I was using a combination of holographic technology and the improved sensors to map out parts of this small galaxy. While we didn't get a great level of detail without entering the solar system we were scanning it was still worth scanning.

At a distance of light years we only got enough information to find out if it was worth a closer look, by detecting stuff like high energy readings, subspace broadcasts, and ships entering as well as exiting hyperspace.

However we were able to see how solar systems were set out, and view them using the holographic displays. Which was very cool, and this way we could see some of the more interesting stellar phenomena, such as black holes, nebula, and pulsars, all from a safe distance.

I was doing this from the control chair, not the seat on the bridge, so I was using the proper control chair, like the one in Atlantis. From this seat I could control the whole ship, fly us through hyperspace, fire the weapons, monitor life signs, and even mess about with the doors. Not that I did, as while it was tempting, that would be childish.

Actually what really prevented me from messing about was Seven of Nine, she had just entered the chair room, she had a worried look on her face and a data padd in her hand.

"The Wraith have been working on this for some time" Seven informed me she handed over the padd "They be close to completing a new hyperdrive engine".

This information must have been sent out to all Wraith ships via some secure means. Meaning that we hadn't captured that crusier we wouldn't have even known about it. At least not until the cullings started again and my Judgment Day perk went off.

"Well no worries" I said to Seven "We just need to figure out what base they are using, jump to that world and bomb the outpost from orbit".

Seven considered this.

"I should be able to track down the source of this transmission" she assured me.

This made me smile.

"Good" I said "Now once you have the coordinates, send them to me. We can be there in a few hours thanks to our new hyperdrive".

Seven nodded, turned around and left. Which gave me the chance to see how fine her ass looked in the blue coloured jumpsuit she was wearing today.

(Line Break)

Aurora-class Warship. Pegasus Galaxy.

"Scan the surface of the planet" I ordered a few moments after we left hyperspace.

As I'd expected no Wraith ships guarded the planet, which made sense as while the work going on at the outpost here was important, until it was finished no Wraith ship could travel faster than light, meaning no ship could be sent here to protect the outpost.

The Wraith couldn't even use this world's space gate to send Darts as the gate network was still offline. Also by the looks of things the outpost didn't have darts of its own as none tried to stop us assaulting the Wraith base.

"I've found the Wraith outpost" Seven of Nine reported from her science station.

Turning in my chair I moved to face Cameron, who was manning, or roboting in this case, the weapon's station.

"We won't bother with drones" I told her "Use the pulse cannons, and just level the entire area. Leave nothing left".

To my surprise Seven of Nine hadn't suggested going down there in order to take the data for our own needs. After all she had her own Wraith ship which was also unable to travel faster than light, despite the alterations she'd made. Then again she understood as well as I did how dangerous such information was to the people of this galaxy.

I brought up another hologram, this one showing the Wraith research outpost and the surrounding area, which was soon being blasted by pulse fire. Cameron followed my orders and did her best to turn the entire area to a level glassy surface. By the time she was done there was no chance of any information or research material being left behind.

"Well that was easily dealt with" Miranda Lawson commented.

When you the right tools, and half a brain to use them with, even big problems could be easily handled.

(Line Break)

Planet. Milky Way Galaxy.

My companions and I walked into the village, for once it was all of us going on a mission, since this planet couldn't be reached by ship, we'd arrived here via the Stargate, and that meant there had been no sense in leaving anyone behind.

Well aside from Jennifer Keller, she wasn't a proper companion, as such I didn't trust her with stuff like this, for now her loyalty was with the Tauri, not with me. Not that I needed to as she like ATA gene and as couldn't do anything with my ship once I had locked it down and the robots would stop her from trying to damage it. Not that she would.

Currently, Seven, Miranda, Cameron and I were standing around, as the villagers stared curiously at us. We must look very strange them with our modified Vanir body armour, energy weapons, which included Traveller Particle Mangums as sidearms, and backpacks full of supplies.

I took off my helmet, and let the locals see that I was as human as they were, this made the locals relax somewhat, but not totally. Still they didn't seem hostile, it was more than they seemed uncertain, and nervous.

"We have come here in search of the Sangraal; can you assist us?" I asked.

For a moment, the villagers simply exchanged glances with each other, until one of them finally broke the silence.

"It has been many generations since anyone has come in search of the Sangraal," the villager said "If you truly seek the Sangraal, you must consult with the Parchment of Virtues in the village library; it will prepare you for the journey to come".

So far so good. The library was pointed out and we started walking in that direction.

"Thank you," I replied.

"But I should warn you," the villager suddenly added "no one has ever returned from the Quest alive; if you value your lives, you would do well to reconsider your course of action".

No one spoke further, we just walked to the library, and the old wooden door led is into a room that was filled with rolls of parchment and odd bits of paper that scattered all over the shelves, as well as some piles of books on a table and some benches.

"Anyone home!" I called out.

An old man with a neat, short white beard, and robes that wouldn't have looked out of place on a teacher at Hogwarts, heard my call. I clearly remembered that in the show he turns out to be Adria. Given his presence here it was safe to assume that in the main timeline Adria must have killed the real librarian and taken his place. Which meant his life was one I'd saved by changing the course of events.

"I am Osric, keeper of the village archives" the man said by way of greeting.

"Hello," I replied "We're looking for something called the Parchment of Virtues".

Thanks to the Asgard stone I could clearly remember everything that happened in the show, however it was possible that some of the details in this reality could be different. It was unlikely, yet I still felt it wise to follow the plot as closely as possible. Still we'd come prepared as possible.

"So another band of stalwart heroes come to tempt fate in the hopes of claiming the legendary prize" said Osric "If your are looking for the Sangraal then I can tell you that it is located in a cave beyond the outlying forest and that the journey there is fraught with peril".

I was suddenly getting a D&D vibe, where was my level 12 Paladin when I needed him?

"Ages ago," Osric continued say, as he climbed slowly up a ladder to remove a long wooden box from a shelf" "Morgan Le Fay enchanted the area with a terrible curse, and since then it has claimed countless lives"

The old man opened the box, and then placed the parchment it contained, a small piece of paper rolled around two long, thin pieces of wood, on the table before us. Thanks to one of my many perks I was able to tell that the paracment was written in Ancient and I could also read it.

"This parchment was purportedly left behind by Morgan herself, as a guide for knights of noble spirit, since it is said that only the most virtuous will succeed in claiming the Sangraal".

Well this meant I wasn't qualified for the quest, however since Ba'al of all people was able to make it to Merlin I wasn't worried.

"'Only those of virtue true may win the prize concealed beyond the reach of the flawed and tainted," I read odd off the parchment "The Sangraal shall instead belong to he who speaks the guardian's name".

Lucky for us I knew the name.

"They say that the Sangraal is protected by the most powerful of mythical beasts," Osric soon told us "A dragon"

Despite my having already given a briefing on this mission, Seven of Nine was dismissive of the idea of a dragon.

"The dragon is a mythological creature" said the Borg drone "They do not exist".

Well given that many of the myths and legends in this galaxy had a bases in truth, it was actual possible that something that could be called a dragon did exist somewhere in this galaxy. In this case however we would be facing a hologram similar to the holographic guardians employed by Merlin.

"With luck you may have the opportunity to prove the truth for yourselves" was the old man's replay.

"'Prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith'," I said, while once again reading from the parchment "'Let these be your guide on this perilous quest'".

Again I knew all of this, but it was good to get confirmation.

"Is there anything else?" Miranda asked

"No," Osric replied, as he rolled the parchment back up and returned it to the box. "All Morgan left behind was this parchment... and the map".

That we might need.

"Could we take a look at that map?" I asked.

The man looked us all over for a few moments.

"You may study it, if you so wish," he said "However, I would ask that you not remove it from this building, the map itself must remain with me".

That was fine. I would just scan it with my omni-tool and use its fabricator to produce a much more modern looking copy.

(Line Break)

The majority of the walk was fairly straightforward for a time, with the group and I exchanging short stories about things we gotten up that not everyone else knew about. Then we encountered the first of Morgan La Fay's tests after a long walk through a field filled with high grass brought us to the outskirts of a forest,

Spread out in front of us, all facing the direction that the team were currently travelling in, were a scattered group of people dressed in clothing similar to the villagers. At first glance all of the people before us simply appeared to be standing completely still, but upon closer inspection it became clear that they simply weren't moving. Well actually that wasn't the case, they were moving, just so slowly that it seemed as if they were frozen.

"This must be one of the tests you told us about" said Tali.

Seven was already scanning.

"I'm picking up varying anomalous readings; stronger here... weaker here" the former borg drone said "I should be able to map us a safe route if given time to study this test".

Well we were in no rush.

"So Morgan Le Fay really did set up a time distortion field around this place we are going to" Tali was now saying to me "You know I had hard time believing it when you told me about this. The power requirements must be... well I can't even guess".

There could be a ZPM somewhere in the mountain we were heading to. If so I might remove it, as it wasn't as if anyone was going to have to find Merlin once I did. Of course it was mostly likely shielded, and since I couldn't some here by ship it might be possible for me to find it.

"I have found a way through" reported Seven "if you would all follow my lead"

We formed a conga line, only it lacked music and kicking, which for some reason made the whole thing seem more silly rather than less. On the plus side we were prepare for the temporal field to mess with our equipment so no chance of having to rely on old fashioned methods to get us through this maze.

"If you stray off the path, you could end up trapped in the distortion field" Seven warned.

For the first few steps it was relatively straightforward, we travelled a few metres before we needed to turn to the left, and there were more course corrections after that. Which left me with the feeling that this could take a while.

(Line Break)

"Well, we've already passed one test; there's not much point in stopping now" I said

Sitting in the middle of a small clearing in the woods was a simple wooden chest. I wasn't sure if we could bypass this test, and it seemed wise to do as SG1 had. So we purposely let ourselves get stuck in the force field trap.

"Remember that the Parchment of Virtues told us that we've have to rely on five things in order to reach the Sangraal; prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith. Charity is of the virtues mentioned in the parchment, so as planned we all put something in the box".

In short order we gave up an item we didn't need, but that did belong to us. We could have put rocks, and perhaps it would have worked, I just so no reason not to do what SG1 did since I knew that method would work. And it did, a moment after I closed the small chest the force field came down, then we were once more on our way.

As we walked I checked the map once again.

"According to this, the Sangraal itself is located in a cave beneath a lone mountain; if we focus on the mountain as our destination, we should be able to avoid any further traps".

Which was important as SG1 hadn't encountered any further traps in the show, so if there were more I would have trouble getting us out of them.

(Line Break)

After another couple of hours of walking towards the cone-shaped, volcano-like mountain we finally arrived at the what had to be the entrance; a small rocky corridor surrounded by foliage and moss.

"So the Sangraal's in there?" Miranda asked "Are you sure?".

Even for us seeking out the holy grail, which was a weapon we needed in case this galaxy was ever invaded by higher powers, did seem a bit silly.

"Yes" I told the former Cerberus operative "We just have to get through the cave, and then deal with a dragon".

Seven was scanning again.

"According to my scans, there is no sign of any kind of temporal distortions" she reported "However I am picking up a few odd anomalies. I advise caution".

We entered and soon came across a decently sized chamber with Ancient writing on the wall. Also there were two paths leading in two directions on either side of the writing.

"Choose the way that is just and true," I read from the sign before us.

The Parchment of Virtues might have stated that kindness was one of the virtues that those who sought the Sangraal would need to possess, but it wasn't out of the question that this was also intended to test their wisdom by giving us an obvious trap to avoid. But I stopped worrying about that when we rounded the corner and saw an iron portcullis in front of us, the small boy, who must be a holographic projection, was sitting on the floor behind the door while crying. As in the show the barrier vanished once we all moved to free the child.

We moved on once more, and soon enough the new the tunnel came to a dead end, and we found another panel with Ancient writing on it.

"It's a riddle," I said as I studied the writing in front of us. "I'm struck and cut, shaped and cooled, then bound by rings to release what's stored".

The cave around us suddenly began to shake

"Key!" I yelled.

That didn't work. I figured the answer must have to be in Ancient like how Doctor Jackson had answered.

"Clavia!" I yelled at the panel, having gotten a translation from my omni-tool.

The way forward was cleared and as we approached another panel with Ancient writing on it the rumbling started yet again.

"I shake the earth with booming thunder, fell forests whole and homes complete" I read out "I influence ships, topple kings, sweep down swift yet remain unseen!"

All the fuss around us was forcing me to shout.

"Vantio!" I then said

We hurried up a flight of stairs only to discover another panel as the rumbling continued.

"Contagia!"

The final panel vanished as the rumbling around us ceased at last, and once again we carried on with the quest. Before long we came across a wall of fire, which we simply walked through as it was the type of thing the environmental shields created by our life support belts were meant to deal with.

(Line Break)

Planet. Milky Way Galaxy.

Defeating the dragon was simple enough as I knew the guardian's name, and before long I reached for the red gem, which of course was just a hologram, when I did try to grab it we were transported to another planet.

We soon found the stasis chamber, but there were no controls for it, and didn't respond to my mental command like some Ancient technology did. I assumed therefore that it would activate in a few moments. Mostly likely Morgan La Fey had programmed the device to defrost Merlin a short time after someone arrived in this chamber.

"'Here lies Myrrdin, Archmage of the Round'," I said, while leaning over to read the writing.

Since we had a few moments we all started looking around.

"I don't remember you mentioning what this is during the briefing" Miranda said.

"Stay away from that" I warned "Its a repository of knowledge".

Repositories of knowledge were put simply, digital libraries that download the entire knowledge bank of the Ancients into the brain of a person; however the knowledge is far too vast for the Human brain to comprehend at its current evolutionary level, so much so that the mind of the person exposed to the data within will slowly degrade after being exposed, until the brain could no longer function.

"Even with my perks, body mods, and genetic engineering I wouldn't be able to cope with all the knowledge" I told the group "I had a rough time dealing with the Prothean Cipher and that was just the knowledge of the Protheans who lived on Feros".

While receiving the Cipher was somewhat similar to gaining in the knowledge of the Ancients, there was a massive difference in scale. Sure I might last a bit longer than O'Neill, but it would kill me all the same. Of course the Asgard could remove the knowledge, however since I still had the Cipher in my head I couldn't be sure downloading more information wouldn't kill me right away.

Before anyone could say anything else, a sound started coming from the stasis chamber as the 'ice' receded away from the occupant, the old man inside began to fall forward. It was only thanks to my superior speed and reflexes that I was able to grab the guy before he hit the cold floor.

Merlin weakly opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, only then he leant back and closed his eyes, his body slumping as I held him. With help from the others we cleared away some place on a stone slab and tried to make the old man as comfortable as we could using what we could find to serve as a pillow and blankets.

"We've woken him up sooner than in the TV show" I said to the group "But given how long he's been in stasis that won't matter much. We need to get off this planet so that we can met with Thor who hopefully can keep him alive long enough for him to give us a Sangraal and straighten things out in Atlantis.

To that end I headed outside to check on the gate, and the group followed me.

"As you predicted the obelisk near the Sangraal hologram teleported us through the Stargate after activating it by remote control" stated Seven of Nine.

While everything going on as did in the show did make things easier, it also made it more boring, but this was so important that I really didn't mind.

"Tali, Seven, get to work on the gate" I ordered "Miranda, Cameron, stay out here and keep an eye on things. I don't think we'll be attacked, but better safe than sorry".

After that I headed back inside, and found Merlin coming around.

"Where... where am I?" the elderly Ancient wish to know "Who are you, what do you want?".

Lucky for him these were questions that I could answer.

"You're in cave, on a planet that is somewhere in the Milky Way galaxy" I told Merlin "My name is Gothic, my companions and I came here looking for the Sangraal. You were placed here in stasis by Morgan La Fay".

I figured it might take a few moments before the Ancient figured out what was going even with my help. He might be an advanced human, but no one woke up after a thousand year nap without needing their cobwebs cleared.

"Morgan?" Merlin muttered, sounding uncertain.

"You knew her as Ganos Lal" I told him.

"Ganos Lal..." Merlin repeated

He then stood up.

"Now that is a name I haven't heard for a very long time..."

I was sure the bloke was deep in memory at this point, alas we had no time for such things. Merlin was dying, and only the Asgard could save him, which meant we had to get him out of here, and that would go much more quickly if I could get the old man to help us figure out what was up with the gate.

"Look, sorry to rush you" I said to Merlin "But you need to know that a thousand years have passed since Morgan La Fay placed you in stasis, and what's left of your people in this plane of existence are badly in need of proper leadership".

I got the impression that he wasn't really hearing me.

"It's been so long... so hard to think... so tired..."

"I can help with that," I said.

He didn't even react when I scanned with omni-tool.

"Basically he's physically exhausted" Cortana explained to me once the scan was done "Give him a mild stimulant, and a health shot".

Health shots were my groups name for hyposprays that were filled with the things the human body needed to help deal with injuries and other problems. It contained a mixture of all the things the body needed, such as vitamins, as well as trace amounts of important minerals, and it could injected straight into a person's bloodstream to more quickly aid them.

"That should help keep you going until we reach our allies" I told the Ancient as I gave him the aid Cortana had suggested.

He was already looking more aware.

"Your technology" he said "I did not think humans had developed such things".

Well for the most part they hadn't. The Tollan might have, not that having such tech had meant when Anubis turned up. I wondered if there was anything left of that world. When I had the time I should go check it out. I still meant to go check out that four races meeting place as well. Thankfully I had plenty of time.

"I'm from a different universe" I explained "I've been moving from reality to reality for years now collecting technology and knowledge. So I'm more advanced than the rest than the humans on this galaxy, at least as far as I know".

Amazingly he didn't question that.

"Now we just need my companions to finish working on the gate" I told Merlin.

He was now standing up and walking around.

"Have you become aware of the Ori?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Yes" I then said "But not many are aware of them, and they aren't aware of us. However they could find out about us in the future, so I felt it best to prepare".

Merlin visibly relaxed.

"Then there is no urgency" he said.

Well actually there was.

"My companions I recovered some of your people who weren't able to return to Earth when you left Atlantis" I told the old man "There's a few hundred of your people there, and they don't know what to do about their future. So aside from making a new Sangraal we need to provide some leadership".

Merlin chuckled.

"Then I come full circle" he said "I began on Atlantis, and there I must finish my life's work".

That was the plan. Merlin couldn't led the remaining Anicents on this plane of existence for very long, but perhaps he could command them long enough that the Wraith could be dealt with, and some sort of course of action for them in the long term could be decided. Then I wouldn't have to do it.

"Gothic, we're ready to go!" I heard Tali call out.

I turned to Merlin.

"If you'll come with me, sir I'll take you to met some allies of mine" I said.

He didn't protest, instead he followed me without saying a word.