Jump Chain Gothic 4 - Atlantis - Part 21

Moon. Sol System.

Looking around the Ancient lab/base I had to wonder how many other places like this were hidden not just in the system, but all over the galaxy. If it wasn't enough to find a whole city-ship on Earth which contained over a thousand still living Lanteans in stasis now we'd found a moon base of all things.

My team had found it by sheer chance while doing a detailed sensor sweep of the solar system, which along with the launching of dozens of Starfleet style probes, was an effort to fully map this part of the galaxy. Once we'd found the moon base I'd contacted Stargate Command and I'd invited them to send people as part of a joint away team.

I had no intention of claiming this lab/base, as given how close it was to Earth the Tauri simply wouldn't allow it, and I had plenty of labs of my own. If I ever did build a base it would be far away from this solar system.

As for the purpose of this lab, given its location it most likely used by the Ancients to study Earth. But that wasn't the interesting part, what really had my team's attention was that this base had a Stargate, one that was connected not to the gate network, but a space station which contained more gates. The station had a ZPM, but it was close to be being depleted.

However long term exploration of the space station wasn't my concern, and I was doubtful that the Tauri would allow me to make use of the station anyway as they would want to claim it, and would justify it by pointing out that one of the gates led to the moon, which was right next to Earth.

Not that this bothered me, in fact it suited me if the Tauri spent more of their time in their own backyard and less time messing things up for other people in different parts of the universe.

"I know it's not much compared to a whole city ship" I said to Colonel Carter, who was at a nearby control console "But it could be the start of a moon base".

Carter smiled.

"The IOA is considering just that" she told me "In fact they want me to take command of this place and supervise the construction of a proper moon base if it can be funded".

Wow for the IOA that was quick work. In my experience mostly they just talked a lot, never really decided anything, and then tried to blame others when things went wrong.

"I thought the IOA was trying to keep the American military from gaining more influence over things outside of Earth" I said.

While O'Neill was running security at the new city-ship, having moved on from the SGC, the IOA had managed to put the city-ship under civilian control (Doctor Weir was in charge) and was crewing it with people from all over the world. Although given the lockout device it was actually O'Neill in control of the city.

"Well the USA kinda owns the moon" Carter told me "There was that whole thing with Neil Armstrong and him planting the American flag".

Yes that would have to be taken into account.

"But I will be leading an international team of scientists" she then informed me "But with the air force providing security, like with the city-ship, only this base will be more of an extension of Stargate Command".

Hopefully stuff like that would led to a more united Earth in the future. Also it might led to the Tauri becoming more isolated in the future, now that they had so much to study within their own system. Which might suit me very well.

"The only downside is that it means the Stargate program is getting downsized even further" Carter was now saying "Which is bad for the human worlds we're allied with as they won't be getting the support from us they're used to. Maybe the Jaffa can pick up the slack, but I doubt it".

Once I was done here I'd check up on the Jaffa, and make sure that their nation wasn't going to crumble anytime soon, leading to a Jaffa civil war. The last thing this galaxy needed was more division.

(Line Break)

Dakara. Milky Way Galaxy.

While this world was now the centre of the new Free Jaffa Nation, this planet was originally inhabited by the Ancients; it was the first planet they landed on when they arrived in the Milky Way. As such it could be argued that the world still belonged to the Alterrans and their descendants, which the Jaffa were not. However what remained of the Ancients weren't going to be staking a claim to this world any time soon.

On this planet, the Alterrans, the first group of humans to live in this galaxy, built a massive superweapon/monument that was used to reseed life in this galaxy following the devastation of a great plague that had swept across the Ancient's empire.

The controls for the weapon lied in a small chamber hidden behind a wall with a complex puzzle acting as a lock. A Stargate lies at the base of this monument, and when the device is properly reprogrammed it would allow the energy field to pass through and spread to all of the gates in the Milky Way. However I was sure that I would not be allowed anywhere the device's controls.

While researching city-ships I'd discovered that Dakara was once home to an Ancient city-ship called Discenna, which was where the Ancients worked on a cure for the plague. Like Atlantis, Discenna eventually left Dakara and the Milky Way for the Pegasus Galaxy. However it never arrived, and no trace of the city-ship was ever found. At least not be the Ancients.

After the disappearance of the Ancients, the planet came under control of the Goa'uld, although since the rise of the Goa'uld happened millions of years after the Alterrans left this galaxy it was possible that other races had occupied this planet. If they had then no trace of them was ever found.

During the time of the false gods the planet served a sinister role under the rule of the Goa'uld, as this world was were they first enslaved the Jaffa. However I suspected that the first Jaffa were humans slaves who were modified using only partly understood Ancient technology. The Jaffa believed that they came from human stock as well, but didn't know the details.

According to stories told by Jaffa, Dakara was the planet where their enslavement began, as it was the site of the first Prim'ta ritual. At the Temple, Jaffa were given their strength, health, and long lives, which were granted by their symbiotes.

The temple was the ultimate holy ground of the Goa'uld, who kept the Jaffa loyal by propagating lies that they were gods. The very idea of stepping into Dakara was unthinkable to the Free Jaffa until they actually went and did it.

Around the end of the reign of the Goa'uld, the planet lay deep within Ba'al's territory, making any attempt to claim to the planet tactically unsound, as he kept a number of Ha'taks in range of the world to guard it from such an incursion.

The humanoid Replicator copy of Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter wished to destroy the weapon, knowing it could be reprogrammed to eliminate all Replicator forces in the galaxy. Also the Goa'uld Anubis wished to use this weapon to rebuild the galaxy to his own specifications, by first wiping out all existing life. I could only assume that he wanted to seed the galaxy with humans who would worship him as a god, much like how the Ori must have done in their own galaxy.

Teal'c believed, correctly as it turned out, that the world was the key to bringing Jaffa together under freedom's banner, he realised that capturing the planet and holding it in the name of Free Jaffa would be the catalyst to bringing about the Free Jaffa Nation.

They were able to take the planet, and once they had fortified their position, the weapon was located by Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, with the aid of her father, Jacob Carter, his Tok'ra symbiote, Selmak, and the System Lord Ba'al, modified and used it to wipe out all Replicators from the galaxy.

After this long and bloody campaign, the Free Jaffa had managed to fend off both Goa'uld and Replicator forces, and take the world for themselves. The capture of the planet proved to the majority of Jaffa still in servitude, that the Goa'uld were not in fact gods.

This led to a general revolt by the Jaffa against their masters. Combined with the weakened state the Goa'uld were left in, after their war with the Replicators, the result was the overthrowing of the System Lords and the all out collapse of the Goa'uld Empire. Aside from a few isolated worlds that were cut off from the rest of the galaxy and some other holdouts held by Ba'al, the Gou'ald hold on the galaxy was now over.

This victory was largely in part because Ba'al, when confronted by Free Jaffa on his mothership over Dakara, fled rather than be killed or captured. His ships were taken over by the Free Jaffa, giving them the fleet they needed to finish off the Goa'uld Empire.

Anubis later retook Dakara in an attempt to use its weapon for himself, but was engaged in eternal battle by Oma Desala at the behest of Doctor Daniel Jackson, allowing the Free Jaffa to reclaim Dakara.

Since then Jaffa from across the galaxy have arrived on Dakara to make it their home and are now working on the establishment of a democratic government. The Free Jaffa currently inhabiting Dakara, were building structures of stone, which was an outward sign of their efforts to build a strong Jaffa society that they hoped to spread into the rest of the galaxy.

Of course building any nation was hard work, and this one was spread across the galaxy, as such it could be generations before the Free Jaffa Nation could live up to its name. I was intending to help with that by trading large amounts of easily replicated supplies for odd bits of Goa'uld technology.

Which was why not long after I transported down near the Stargate that I was greeted by Master Bra'tac. As a leader among the Free Jaffa, he was the one making these trades.

"Tek'ma'te, Master Bra'tac" I said.

I knew that Tek'ma'te was a respectful greeting, although it didn't have a direct translation, and it was also an honorific of sorts.

"Greetings Captain Gothic" the old warrior replied "I was glad to hear that you received my message".

I'd been contacted by the Free Jaffa via Stargate Command, and it was good timing as I'd intended to contact them myself as I wanted to check up on the Free Jaffa Nation, it was better for them to have contacted me as now my presence here wasn't unwelcome.

"And greetings to you Cameron" said the old man.

My Terminator gave Bra'tac a warrior's salute which the old warrior returned. He didn't know what Cameron was exactly, but having met her before he knew that she was far more than she appeared to be.

"Your message mentioned that you had technology for trade" I said to the old Jaffa.

He nodded, and then gestured for me to follow him inside one of taller buildings, which I did, and soon I was looking down at Ha'tak. The massive vessel had landed on the planet, and while it looked intact I could see what seemed to be some effort to unload everything from it. Which included computer cores as well as control panels.

"The ship was damage in a battle with those Jaffa who remain loyal to Ba'al. While it will never fly again, it can house my Jaffa families. We are stripping the craft of everything of value in the hopes of trading for what we need to continue our battles with Ba'al".

War consumed much in the way of both people and resources, and with no Ori to content with the Free Jaffa Nation were focused on taking down Ba'al and his clones. I imagined that once the last system lord was finish the Jaffa would turn their attention to the Lucian Alliance.

"And since I'm in the market for Goa'uld technology you figured you'd invite me here and give me a chance to trade before anyone else even got a look" I said.

Bra'tac nodded.

"You have been most generous in our past deals and the Free Jaffa Nation still lacks the infrastructure to support the war effort" the old Jaffa admitted "And we can not replace these ships. Our only hope is that you will be able to supply us with enough weapons to make up for the loss".

I could just trade, but I was thinking that it might be better to try to fix the Ha'tak, as then we could learn about the technology while aiding an ally. I suggested this to Bra'tac and he frowned.

"A generous offer" he then said "But the Council has already made its mind".

Perhaps I could change it.

"Surely it wouldn't hurt to give us the chance" I said to warrior "Give us a few days to try, and if we haven't made enough progress we can still trade supplies for Ha'tak parts".

Bra'tac spent a moment considering the proposal. It was a good deal that would benefit both sides. My group would gain vast amounts of data while repairing the craft, and the Jaffa would at the very least get some badly needed supplies even if we couldn't fix the Ha'tak.

"I will speak to the Council" he said "If you would return to your ship I will contact you when the Council decides on this matter".

Using my omni-tool to send a signal I beamed Cameron and myself back up to my ship.

(Line Break)

P8X-412. Milky Way Galaxy.

This planet had previously been part of the Goa'uld Qetesh's domain, and as far as the locals knew it still was. They had no idea that their god, Qetesh, had been removed from its host and killed. As far as they were concerned Vala was Qetesh and the Goa'uld still ruled the galaxy.

That didn't concern me too much, I didn't care who anyone worshipped or why, what did concern me was the level of poverty this people had to endure. They had a naquadah mine which produced enough of the metal to sell for a tidy profit, yet they were going to starve.

Well actually they weren't going to starve, I had already sent orders to the ship telling Miranda to replicate much in the way of supplies which would soon be beamed down. Not just food, but also water, clothes, blankets, and simple tools. Plus anything else Miranda thought they might need and wouldn't cost me anything other than some energy to produce.

However while my minor act of charity (it wasn't really costing me anything) would help these people to survive longer, it wouldn't real deal with the long term problem.

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day" I said to myself "Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime".

Vala, who was currently packing up some treasure, turned to look at me.

"What did you say?" she asked.

I was letting Vala hang out on my ship, and she was enjoying the luxury I could provide, because a former host she had knowledge of Goa'uld, and as a crook she had knowledge of the galaxy's seedy underbelly. And also because she amused me.

"A saying from Earth" I explained "Basically it means that it's better to help someone help themselves rather than just give them stuff".

Which wasn't going to stop me from beaming down the supplies, I was just acknowledging that it wouldn't help in the long run. It would take a massive amount of work to combat poverty like this. I'd have to set up a network for trade, ensure education, offer medical care, and provide protection until these different worlds could do all that for themselves.

It might be possible to do all that, but I had no desire to set up an empire since I would be leaving in about nine years, and as amazing as this universe was I didn't want to spend the rest of my life here because there was so much more to see.

"Here it is as agreed" Vala said as she handed me a small box.

I opened it up and found inside a The long range visual communication device is a communications system used by the Goa'uld. Shaped like a gray sphere of varying size, it allowed for a one-way or two-way audio and visual communication link across interstellar distances.

The device comes in different sizes, ranging from handheld versions like the one inside this box, to larger ones that can be several feet in diameter. They seem to function the same regardless of size, although larger versions have some sort of anti-gravity ability which allowed it to float in several feet into the air or at the center of an inactive Stargate.

There was already a large version of this device on board my ship, I'd traded much in the way of replicated supplies for it with the growing Free Jaffa Nation, however it took up a lot of room, and I'd wanted a smaller version of the device for my collection which was kept inside the Cosmic Warehouse.

Another thing I knew was that Tok'ra do not use the devices, as the system was not secure enough to ensure the secrecy of Tok'ra bases. Also I knew that Colonel Harold Maybourne, who was now the king of some primitive human planet, had access to at least two, which after much research were eventually adapted to serve as a communication link with his secret offworld team.

The Goa'uld Tanith used a handheld variant of these devices, which was identical to the one I held now, after escaping the Tok'ra on Vorash in order to contact Apophis and inform him about the location of the Tok'ra base.

"Thank you Vala" I said.

This little trinket was actually worth much, but all she'd wanted in exchange was the chance to recover her treasure. A good deal.

"I have some other technology" the former host told me "Perhaps you can make an offer for them".

More tech was always good.

The first thing she showed me was a Goa'uld tablet , which was s a small device used by the Goa'uld to record information. The tablets have multiple "pages", being changed to by a Page turning device which caused the symbols on the tablet to change. How the information gets on the tablet I didn't know, but I was sure that Seven would figure it out.

She also had one of the page turning devices so at least I could look through what was on this tablet. I quickly learned that Qetesh kept detailed records of the populations of the worlds she ruled, the productivity of her naquadah mines, and military strength. All of which would have been highly useful if Qetesh was still around and needed defeating.

I then recalled that the inventor Ma'chello once used a false page turning device to unleash a weapon designed to kill Goa'uld symbiotes. It successfully killed the Goa'uld, but the use of the device also resulted in the deaths of the hosts. Thankfully this was not one of those versions of the device.

What mattered to me was that these devices were small, and even once studied they could still have value as something to trade later on.

"I'll trade you some naquadah for all of this" I told Vala.

That could be sorted out later. For now I needed to make sure the supplies were beamed down.

(Line Break)

Dakara. Milky Way Galaxy.

After a Jaffa council session, that I was sure had been full of near endless debating, my girls and I had been give permission to work on the Ha'tak vessel rather than let it be gutted and turned into housing. This was a nice opportunity for us and well worth the time spent as we still had much to learn about Goa'uld technology.

The Ha'takwass a class of spaceship designed by the Goa'uld. During the reign of the Goa'uld empire in the Milky Way galaxy, the Ha'tak served as the main class of capital ship employed by most Goa'uld System Lords.

During the height of the Goa'uld empire, the Ha'tak was among the most powerful vessels in the Milky Way, with hundreds having been positioned around the galaxy as to cement and project the power of the Goa'uld empire. Following the fall of the Goa'uld empire in 2005, the Ha'tak's presence in the galaxy endured, being adopted as the main battleship of the Free Jaffa Nation. The oldest class of Ha'taks, such as those used by the Goa'uld Ra, were around 10,000 years old.

Though the Ha'tak remained largely unparalleled in terms of overall power when compared to the ships of most races in the galaxy for centuries, the Ha'tak's prestige had dramatically declined following the fall of the Goa'uld. The ships of several other races, including the Asgard, Tau'ri, and Ori, make us of technologies and had capabilities that far exceed even an Anubis Ha'tak, which were vastly superior to the normal kind.

While attempting to repair the vessel I discovered that a Ha'tak consisted of two sections: the main section was a golden square-based pyramid built into the center of the vessel, evocative of an Egyptian pyramid, and it containied the majority of the primary systems as well as the command areas and Glider bay.

Built around the pyramid is a much larger, triangle-shaped superstructure, which wraps around the center of the pyramid. The outer structure houses the vessel's weapons.

A Ha'tak's armament was vast, each ship possessing 60 high-power Staff cannons scattered around the superstructure. These can be used for ship to ship combat or orbital bombardment. A Ha'tak can also house a large complement of Death Gliders for use as a fighters.

"How's it going?" I asked Tali and Seven as I made my way into passed for a engineering section on this vessel.

Seven, who'd somehow found a even tighter fitting body suit to go with her new collar, reported to me.

"I predict that repairs will be completed in less then ten hours" she said.

This was impressive as we only been here for two hours so far.

"The technology is pretty simple once you get used to it" Tali told me.

I found this to be the case, at least when compared to the Ancient tech it was based upon.

"Very good" I said to the girls "I'm off to speak to Master Bra'tac about Jaffa history. I should be back in a few hours at the most".

I wanted to include a section on the Jaffa in my version of the Book of Origin, however between the success of the rebel Jaffa and their creation thousands of years ago I didn't have much to say other than they served the Goa'uld and killed lots of people. Which didn't paint them in a good light, and while I wasn't going to skip over the galactic oppression, I did want to something good about the Jaffa.

"Contact me if you need any help" I said to the girls.

They were already back at work, so I let them get on with it.

(Line Break)

Aurora-class Warship. Sol System.

With a familiar flash of light Supreme Commander Thor, the most awesome of the Asgard race, appeared on the bridge of my ship.

"Greetings Captain Gothic" said the little grey dude.

I still wasn't used to being called that.

"Greetings Supreme Commander Thor" I replied "How goes the work of transferring the stasis pods?".

Upon fully inspecting the city-ship we'd found just over a thousand people still alive in stasis. Which would have made moving them a tricky job, more so because I didn't want them woken up until they reached Atlantis. Those people had gone into stasis as children and would wake up as adults, that was enough to mess with anyone's head and it was best dealt with by the remaining Ancients.

Given the sheer size and speed of their ships, as well as their vast knowledge, I'd felt it was best to let the Asgard handle the whole people in stasis issue.

Another reason was that I simply had too much to do. I was aiding the Tauri in building their new ship, which I think in the show ended up being flown about by the Russians, they also needed my help figuring out their new city ship, and I still hadn't finished acquiring all the tech I wanted. Not that I was in kind of rush, there was just a lot to do.

"The task is finished" Thor informed me "I have transported the stasis pods to my ship and have attached them to my ship's power grid. Once I arrived at Atlantis I will transport the pods to the city-ship and let the Ancients deal with their own".

I was impressed. Even for the Asgard this was quick work.

"Well have a safe voyage" I said.

The alien blinked at me.

"I would suggest returning to Atlantis with me" Thor advised "The city-ship is still vulnerable to attack".

And even if it weren't there were still a few locations in that galaxy I wanted to check out before I finally decided what action, if any, to take here in the Milky Way.

"If I tow your vessel we could be there in a few hours" Thor then said.

I agreed to this so, Thor made his farewells, and the beamed away, a moment later his ship locked on to my mine with a tractor beam, and we vanished into hyperspace.