Jump Chain Gothic 4 - Atlantis - Part 14
Aurora-class Warship. Milky Way Galaxy.
I'd spent my say supervising the careful loading, unloading and then setting up of all the equipment that had been taken from Anubis's hidden lab. Of course the robots performing the task could do so quite well without my aid, as they were under the direct control of my AI Cortana, however the stuff they were moving was highly valuable to me, as such I felt the need to be present.
"This technology seems very important to you" said Seven of Nine as we watched the robots work "May I ask why?".
I was surprised that she needed to ask.
"Because if we can master this technology then we can progress much further down the road to perfection" I said to the former Borg drone "Once we can control this technology, we could slice in the ATA gene right into your DNA, we can use it to increase our intelligence, gain near-ascended powers, and perhaps even other abilities that come from having the right genetics. For example in this galaxy there's a people called Langarans, a human race native to Langara".
They were divided into three superpowers: Kelowna, Tirania, and the Andari Federation. The Langaran civilizations have technology roughly equivalent to that of Earth near the end of World War II.
The three superpowers had undergone a long period of mistrust, but a military alliance between Tirania and the Andari Federation caused Kelowna to design a naquadria bomb. Which was even more deadly than a nuclear bomb as naquadria was much like naqudah, in that it could be used to enhance weapons.
Thankfully the detonation of the naquadria bomb actually de-escalated tensions in the long term by getting the three powers to come to the negotiating table, eventually agreeing to the creation of a world ruling body according to the SGC files.
"There's some evidence to suggest that they are better at retaining information and remembering things than humans from Earth" was what I said next "Although that might be limited to some special cases. However if it isn't then we could find what bit of DNA has mutated to allow that and slice into ourselves".
And that was just one option.
"If we can get access to Ancient DNA we can upgrade ourselves greatly" I then added.
Seven seemed concerned.
"Tamping with nature's design can have unforeseen consequences" she warned.
Well of course we'd have to be very careful, and not go around altering people without a lot of research and not without running many simulations.
"If nothing else we could copy Miranda's engineered genes" I mused "and try to fix Tali's immune system so that she doesn't have spend all her time as human or an environment suit".
Really the possibilities were endless, and not just limited to this universe. Should I learn to control this technology I could splice myself with DNA from any number of sources, such as advanced aliens, mutants, and even traits for animal species if I so wished.
"At the very least I want to accelerate my own evolution" I admitted to Seven "If I can upgrade my mind enough I could use the Ancient Knowledge Repository".
The mere idea of obtaining that wealth of knowledge sent a shiver of pleasure through my body. Some men craved gold, some wanted power, others even longed after love. Me I desired the secrets of the universe.
They were so close, that machine in Merlin's stasis chamber, all I had to do was stick my head in and blam I'd know so much. Of course at my current state of evolution the sheer amount of knowledge would kill me with days, yet part of me felt it might be worth it since if I died I'd just return to my dimension of origin. I might not retain the knowledge, but it would be mine for a time.
"Have you considered the fact that this technology might be the key to saving the Asgard?" Seven wondered.
Indeed I had.
"Yes" I told her "But I have no intention of giving them this technology, I'm worried that they might take it from us for fear of what it could do in the wrong hands"
Seven considered this for a few moments.
"I can understand your concern" she said "However we could appeal to the Asgard to help understand this technology, and offer them access to it for more of their technology".
Somewhat risky, but a risk that could be minimised if handled right. If we worked with the Asgard in learning to control this technology, that would make use seem more responsible and trustworthy. And while the Asgard were loathe to share their technology, at least most of the time, we were hardly primitives, and if we could save their race with this technology. They'd owe us big time.
"I'll contact Atlantis" I told Seven "It'll be faster if the Asgard come to us".
(Line Break)
Jaffa World. Milky Way Galaxy.
Now that the Jaffa could no longer simply take what they wanted from human slaves or the people they conquered, they now had trade just like everyone else, which meant that markets such as this one had quickly sprung up all over the galaxy.
In the Pegasus Galaxy humans used the gates to visit other worlds for the purpose of trade all the time, and for other reasons that I could only speculate on, however until recently that hadn't been the case in this galaxy as on most Goa'uld worlds, which were former Goa'uld worlds now, travel through the Stargate had been limited, and many humans had see the Stargate as something only for use by the gods. Many worlds had even buried their gates.
While that hadn't changed for everyone it was clear to me as I walked through this market that the situation was rapidly changing. People from dozens of worlds had to be here, all trying to sell their crap to each other. Not just Jaffa either, but humans as well.
Miranda, Cameron and I were at the market looking for rare bits of technology, and while the other buyers came from many different worlds, none drew the kind of attention we did. I suspected that if we hadn't been so heavily armed and armoured, that someone would have tried to rob us.
Of course it didn't help that we had big backpacks stuff we some of the trinkcets we'd brought so far, and paying with slips of weapons grade naquadah also drew attention. Weapons grade naquadah, which I could produce using the Elemental Furnace, was a lot like gold pressed latinum in the Trek verses, even a few grams of such high quality naquadah could be used a currency.
Goa'uld technology was based primarily around the use of naquadah, a substance that the Goa'uld secrete into the bloodstream of their hosts. Naquadah was also used as a sort of interface initializer to interact with their most valuable technology, such as the hand device and healing device, similar to the Ancient Technology Activation Gene.
"Oh those would look great in my office" I stated.
I was now looking a collection of Jaffa helmets, they would indeed look great in my office, the space on the ship that was near the bridge that I'd recently claimed as a sort of Captain's ready room.
While in the service of the Goa'uld System Lords, the Jaffa guards, those warriors who served their masters most directly, often wore helmets that hid their features and intimidated the System Lord's human slaves. These were typically modeled after an animal associated with the particular Goa'uld the Jaffa served; for example, Apophis's Serpent Guards wore cobra masks while Ra's Horus Guards wore falcon masks.
The more complicated helmets (such as Horus helmets) could be retracted into the body armor of the Jaffa, or taken off the armor completely, while simpler models (such as Serpent helmets) simply opened to expose the Jaffa's face.
Upon occasion, System Lords themselves would wear more ornate versions of Jaffa masks to deceive their human slaves (Ra in particular was well-known for his opulent mask), or on the rare occasion where they would personally join their Jaffa in battle.
Helmeted Jaffa were sometimes seen directing unmasked Jaffa. This could indicate the masks are also a level of authority. Which would make sense since helmeted Jaffa often serve their gods as guards.
Before me were helmets of Horus guards, which were bird like, some sort of jackal, and of course the well known snake heads of the Serpent guards. Also ones that I didn't recognize such as some sort of fearsome looking lizard, possibly meant to be a dragon, and a crocodile helmet.
"Lugging them back to the ship would be a pain" Miranda complained.
We'd already found examples of the few bits of Goa'uld technology that we hadn't been able to get from the SGC, such as Kara Kesh, or hand device, which was commonly worn by Goa'uld. As for stuff like staff weapons, and Zat'nik'tels, as such unless they wanted to drag a staff cannon back to the cloaked Puddle Jumper then we were so taking those helmets. It would be better if they were trophies taken from defeated foes, but somehow I didn't think we'd be fighting any Jaffa in the future.
As for getting this stuff back to the ship. Well all we had to do was get the Puddle Jumper, and then we could use the gate to get to the planet my ship was currently in orbit of. It was a shame that I'd left Seven and Tali behind to oversee the latest Asgard upgrades, we could have used an extra set of hands.
(Line Break)
Stargate Command. Earth.
Jack O'Neill smiled as he saw his old friend Teal'c, who was in the company of several Jaffa, exited the gate and make his way down the ramp.
"Hi fellas" he greeted "What can I do you for?".
Bra'tac stepped forward.
"While the Jaffa Nation has not been truly formed the council has already begun planning the future of our people" the old warrior said "One of course is foster stronger ties with our allies, the Tauri most of all".
So far this sounded pleasant.
"To that end we have brought some our best and brightest young warriors to serve along side the warriors of Earth, including my own son" Teal'c informed the leader of the SGC "Just as I once did".
The former First Prime had been spending more and more time offworld in recent weeks as he worked to help found the Free Jaffa Nation, and to assist his people in destroying or capturing the last strongholds of the false gods.
While O'Neill could see some issues with having some Jaffa join active teams, he would find ways to make it work. The galaxy was rapidly changing, and with the Jaffa becoming a galactic power it would be a good idea to form stronger bonds with them.
"Alright" said O'Neill "Let's you kids get settled in while I have words with Teal'c about springing surprises on people".
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Milky Way.
My ship was playing host to quite a few people rather suddenly. Normally the vessel was practically empty, now it seemed crowded. Of course it wasn't as there was only a small team of Asgard on board.
Some were here to oversee the installation of new technology, which was going well, others were here just for the genetic resequencer. One of those people was Heimdall.
Heimdall was an Asgard geneticist and, unlike some other Asgard, who would remain nameless, Heimdall was quite affable, showing a much more jovial, friendly, and enthusiastic attitude while dealing with Humans.
In the show she, Heimdall seemed female to me, was introduced after an ancient Asgard ship containing three cryogenically frozen Asgard was discovered after 30,000 years being adrift, the Asgard came to believe the last perfectly preserved Asgard ancestor might hold the key to the Asgard's failing cloning technology, and Heimdall chose to study her ancient ancestor.
To prevent the Replicators from intervening, this study took place on Adara II, an uninhabited planet in the Milky Way galaxy, protected by the Protected Planets Treaty. Unfortunately, the research outpost was discovered by the Goa'uld Anubis, who sent a ship under the command of Osiris to the planet.
Thor attacked the invading Ha'tak, this was allowed according to the Treaty, but his ship was destroyed as Anubis had upgraded his fleet with Ancient technology.
As the Asgard were occupied fighting the Replicators, the Asgard asked Stargate Command for help. SG-1, without Dr. Daniel Jackson who'd ascended sometime earlier in the timeline, were sent to the planet where they met up with Heimdall.
Once there told them about his studies and asked them to help rescue Thor, who was being held prisoners by Anubis in an attempt to gain access to Asgard technology. SG-1 was able to do so, although the laboratory was eventually invaded by Osiris. The team and Heimdall were able to flee on a Tel'tak together with Thor and Heimdall's research, and were finally rescued from the Goa'uld by three O'Neill-class ships.
"Greetings Captain Gothic" said the small alien as I entered the room the device was kept in.
While originally I'd intended to keep this technology hidden I'd figured that Seven of Nine was right and that this tech could be used to save the Asgard race. By the looks of things they thought so too, and so I was leveraging it for some real cool Asgard tech.
Surprisingly the little grey people hadn't kicked up a fuss about me wanting their coolest technology. And I was grateful for this because I was still annoyed with IOA, although at this point I was upset more because they were annoying rather than because of anything they'd done.
"Greetings Heimdall" I replied "How goes the work?".
Heimdall nodded slightly, another bit of Asgard body language that I didn't understand, but I guessed it was a sign of her approval.
"Very well" she answered "Your finding of this device may very well prove to be the salvation of the Asgard race. Combined with our own work this device could result in the creation of our future bodies".
Heimdall used an Asgard machine to display a hologram. It showed an Asgard, only this specimen was more human looking, in the sense that it was taller and seemed to have muscles, as well as what a human would consider a more reasonable shaped head.
"This new clone body is my life's work" explained Heimdall "Most of the genetic material comes from our own ancestors, but there is some Ancient DNA mixed in as well, along with some of less than ethical work done by the Vanir".
I figured there was some human in this new clone. I could see it in the eyes more than anywhere else.
"Not only is this form more robust than our current clone stock, it also capable of containing the Asgard mind, and while I can't be certain, my hope is that this form will allow to return to the path of ascension" I was then told.
That was good news, and very interesting, however it wasn't my main concern.
"What about using it for human modifications?" I asked.
Heimdall switched the hologram so that went from displaying the future Asgard to that of a naked human male, only without the genitals. Apparently the Asgard had censorship.
"While the device was calibrated for a Goa'uld-Human hybrid, its function is to alter human DNA only" Heimdall informed me "It should be a simple task to calibrate the device for your use. However given your modified genes some alterations are required. And the device would have to be recalibrated for normal humans, should you wish to use it on anyone other than yourself".
This was good news.
"In fact I am certain that I could aid you if you wish to try advancing your own evolution" offered Heimdall "It may aid in my own research, however it will take time for me to learn the subtleties of this technology, and longer to teach others".
This was fine, there was really no rush, and I had other things to do while I was in this galaxy.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Milky Way.
While I still intend to return to the Pegasus galaxy in the near future, there really was no rush, and while many of the more advanced human worlds had been crushed by Anubis or simply weren't interested in trading with outsiders, there were a few exceptions.
A group of humans, who were called the Optricans, welcomed me to visit their world, and were offering tech exchange if I would use my star ship, they didn't have much in the way of space exploration despite being an advanced culture, to help end the war.
This war was the Bedrosian-Optrican war, a conflict between the Bedrosians and Optricans, the two human nations who ruled this world.
The Bedrosians were a race of Humans who are descended from the Tau'ri of Earth, though they did not believe this to be the case. Instead, they believed that the Goa'uld, Nefertum, created them on their homeworld, rather than having been taken through the Stargate.
Despite being descended from the Tau'ri, by the early 21st century, the Bedrosians were in fact more technologically advanced than their brethren from Earth.
The war between them began because of a difference in religious beliefs, with the Bedrosians believing in a long-departed Goa'uld, Nefertum, as their god and creator; and the Optricans believing that they had been brought through the Stargate from another world.
In my view this was a foolish war, mostly because the Optricans were right, they had been brought here from another world, and I was sure the Bedrosians leaders also knew this to be true. However they would never admit it since then they'd lose all their power as their nation collapsed.
Truth be told I didn't want to get involved in a war, but the Optricans had technologies I desired. Such as Optical regenerators, small devices capable of restoring the sight of a blinded individual. While a person feels pain as the nerve in the eye regenerates, that would be a small price to pay to escape blindness. And having once been short sighted I knew that many people other than the blind could benefit from this technology.
"Okay let's get this over and done with quickly" I said.
Using my mental control of the ship I moved it from a high orbit into a lower one, and I prepared the weapons to fire.
(Line Break)
P2X-416. Milky Way Galaxy.
Rigar, a commander of Bedrosian forces, looked around the military base as the alarms went off, he didn't know where the attack was coming from, but he would do his duty, and serve his country.
The disheartening thing was he knew the damn enemy were right, he even knew that the gateway which had been buried during the Great Upheaval and later dug up by a small team of archaeologists was being studied by the top scientists and engineers Bedrosia had, but nonetheless he was here fighting to maintain a lie.
In his heart he didn't want to accept the truth, to accept that the beliefs he had been raised with were false and that so many of his people had died for nothing, but he could never forget what he had seen no matter how much he would want to.
He still carried his well-worn copy of the Book of Nefertum in his pack, he still pretended to offer his prayers and devotion, because it was expected of him and good for morale, but it was just a myth to him now, and instead of offering comfort it just made him want to throw up every time he heard the Chaplains talk about the rightness of their cause and how victory was certain because Nefertum was on their side.
While the words were hollow to Rigar, the men and women under his command still believed them, and while they were no savages, they would fight like fanatics when the Optrican heathens attacked.
That was when things started to go wrong. An automated gun position which was part of the bases' defences, suddenly exploded. A bolt of energy had fallen from the sky, and had simply wiped the automated anti-air gun out of existence.
Rigar looked up as something blocked out the sun. It was a massive vessel of some kind, it was hard for the man to judge the scale, however its great size could not be denied, nor could its deadly weapons.
Fighters started to engage the huge craft, but their own fire splashed harmlessly against a energy shield that came into view for a brief moment every time it was struck. Both the Bedrosians and Optricans had force-field technology but nothing remotely that resilient and as the huge craft continued on its way it started firing other weapons. Rigar did not know what a drone weapon was, but he knew what devastation they could cause.
Soon more Bedrosian fighters took the skies, only they started to fall in greater and greater numbers as they attempted to fight back against the floating behemoth. Yet they weren't all shot down, some just crashed, it was if their pilots had all lost control over their craft.
"In Nefertum's name, what is it Sir' a junior officer called out to Rigar.
He didn't know what the vessel was exactly, but he knew what its presence here meant.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Milky Way.
I smiled in pleasure as the drone weapons flew through the sky, each seeking out the local's automated defences and blowing them apart no matter where they were. I was striking down targets hundreds of miles away without harming a single soul.
As for the enemy fighters. We could use our transporters even with the shields up, so I had the transporters beam the pilots out of their ships and onto the ground below before a pulse cannon took out the small craft. The new Asgard transporters were much easier to use and much faster in operation than the old ones.
A few crashed, as I could only keep my attention focused on so much of what was going on, but I did my best to limit any harm being done to people. After all it wasn't their fault that Goa'uld propaganda had become a state religion.
"Gothic there are Bedrosian ground troops below us along with a large number of grounded shuttlecraft" Seven of Nine reported from her post, which she was using to take scans of the surface "What are we going to do with them?".
I'd decided to avoid loss of life at all cost. The natives were misled not evil, and they were no threat to me.
"Time to try out the newest bit of tech the Asgard gave us" I said.
While I couldn't see it I knew that right now a beam of energy was lancing about removing the shuttles without harming anything organic, which in this meant the humans, who were currently running around trying to board the shuttles. The fighters were too fast moving to do this too, which was why I hadn't used this technology yet.
This technology was what Thor had used against the forces of Heru'ur, when they invaded one of the planets that was protected by the treaty. It was a combination of transporter and tractor beam. Which could be used to dematerialise matter without it being materialized elsewhere, or it could be broken down and stored inside the ship. Which gave us access to plenty of high grade materials which could be fed into the Elemental Furnace for stuff like Naquadah.
"At this rate the Bedrosians won't have a much of a military left" I heard Miranda commented.
Which was the whole point. With no aircraft or an anti-air defences, the Optricans would have totally control over air-space and would be able to attack the enemy leadership directly, thus forcing a surrender and an end to this war.
