Author Note
Honir is part of Norse mythology, and therefore could be a member of the Asgard race, however he is not a Stargate character. I made him up since there's only a few Asgard ever seen on screen and I've used nearly all of them already.
Jump Chain Gothic 4 - Atlantis
Part 24
Orilla. Othala Galaxy
Penegal, a very high ranking member of the Asgard race had requested to speak with me, and once more Thor had towed my ship across galaxies in a matter of hours, which was a speed my vessel could not manage by itself, even when using the ZPM.
While meeting with Penegal was the main reason why I was here, I had taken the chance to enquire about making use of an Asgard shipyard so as to have a second docking bay installed on my ship so I could carry around some fighter craft.
I had plans for modified death gliders which could be controlled by my AI Cortana over a subspace link, like those attack drones seen in season of Stargate Destiny. Of course I'd have to find a way to work around anyone jamming the link, but I was sure Seven of Nine would think of something.
The Asgard had agreed to this, and they'd agreed to taking a couple of Puddle Jumpers in payment for their aid. Mostly I just wanted to free up some room in the docking pay that I, and I could always get new Puddle Jumpers from the city-ship known as the tower.
Now I sat waiting in an office Penegal's office, or at least I assumed it to be his, it was clearly Asgard in design, and the view of the flying city was amazing, but the space lacked any personal touches so I was unsure it actually belonged to anyone, or it was just a meeting place for VIPs.
As it turned out I wasn't kept waiting for long as the alien I was suppose to be met with, soon appeared along with a large chair which he, or she, or it, didn't get up from.
"Greetings Captain Gothic" said the alien "I am Penegal, a member of the Asgard High Council".
We'd met once before, but back then this alien had been one of many all sitting above me, as if in judgement so it was fair of Penegal to assume that I wouldn't recognise him on sight. Also I didn't fail to notice how different this setting was to the last time we had met. I was no longer being looked down upon, this was more of a meeting between equals.
"On behalf of my people I wish to thank for your efforts" Penegal was now saying "We have been somewhat successful in solving our cloning problem, our solution is not a permanent one, however it will buy us time to find a true solution".
This was wonderful news.
"I'm glad to hear that" I said.
Penegal nodded his head.
"Your efforts on our behalf will not go unrewarded" I was told "As soon as you give permission a team of Asgard will beam on board your ship and begin the process of upgrading your vessel with several new technologies. Including our most advance weapon. I hope you will see the sharing of this technology as a sign of trust between your group and the Asgard race".
Given the sheer amount of knowledge and technology I'd shared with the Asgard I was sure that they say the installation of their technology on my ship as an investment that would later pay off. And they were right as with improved engines I could venture to more worlds and find more things to share.
"The Council is however concerned about some of your actions" Penegal was now saying "Not all members of the Council believe that the people of Earth are ready for the power and responsibility that comes with being one of the Great Races".
I'd researched the four Great Races for my book as one of those races had been the Ancients, the other being the Nox, the Furling and of course the Asgard. Out of those four only the Asgard had any real presence in this part of the universe, the Nox were pretty much in hiding, no one knew where the Furlings had gotten off too, and as for the Ancients, those that were left on this lower level of existence, were rebuilding as best they could on Atlantis.
Back in the day, when those races had been at the height of their power they'd formed an alliance, and pretty much took care of things in this part of the universe. They traded knowledge and worked together as sort of a United Nations of the stars.
Humanity, the Tauri to be precise, were on the way to become the 5th race, only this was a process that could take some time. Earth as it was now simply wasn't ready to take on what could be called the The Mantle of Responsibility, as it was called in the Halo verse, to put it simply the Mantle was the obligation of the most evolutionarily advanced beings to serve as stewards to all life forms of lesser capability which fell under their domain.
Currently the Asgard carried this mantle, they'd done the best they could while fighting the Replicators and trying to stave off their genetic problems, now that those issue were behind them, at least for the most part, perhaps they could do more.
However even when limited to the galaxies of this local groups, which included the Milky Way, Ida, Pegasus and other galaxies, there was a lot of space to look after. The Asgard couldn't do it alone, and the Ancients didn't have the number. Humans would have to pick up the slack.
"Even with the technology of the Ancients, the Tauri are not ready to take over stewardship of the galaxy" I said to the council member "But there are human civilizations out there, that are both more advanced and more united that Earth, as well many who are more primitive, but could still be unified under a single banner".
I'd finally decided to create that banner.
"And I have a plan to unify them, and I could use your help" I was now saying "Humans could become the 5th race, but they will need the Asgard to help them get there".
I went on to my explain my plan as best I could.
(Line Break)
Orilla. Othala galaxy
The sight of the shipyard on the Asgard homeworld was pretty impressive, made more so by the flying city in the background. Also seeing the ship floating in the air while the engines were powered down and with no visible means of support, say like a tractor beam, was very cool.
This was the impression of one Tali'Zorah as she watched the Aurora-class battleship Thunderchild, a name taken from some old Earth book. Not the best name in her opinion, but it was better than just calling it the ship, and the ship did desverise a name now that it was being upgraded yet again with superior technology
"Greetings" said a voice.
Tali turned to see that one of the small grey aliens called the Asgard was slowly making its way over to her.
"I am Honir" said the alien as it bowed slightly in her direction "An Ambassador from the Asgard High Council".,
Tali gave the alien a short bow in return.
"I'm Tali'Zorah Vas Thunderchild" she then said.
Well it wasn't any worse than being called Tali'Zorah vas Voyager, or Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, humans never seemed to be able to give their ships proper names.
"Your city is very impressive" said Tali "I hope I can get a closer look at your shipyard".
Miss Zorah spent a moment wondering if her people would ever achieve such wonders, and she reminded herself that.
"It may be possible to arrange a tour" Honir said "For now I have been sent to inform you of the upgrades we are installing. Since you are Chief Engineer of the Thunderchild the Council belive you should have all the details concerning the technology".
Honir handed Tali a computer tablet, it was a device that seemed to be of Ancient make, the Asgard had created it to interface with the computers used on Ancient vessels.
Tali quickly read through the offered information and discovered that an Asgard made neutrino-ion generator would soon be installed on the ship. A neutrino-ion generator didn't quite much to a ZPM, however a ZPM was pretty much a battery while the neutrino-ion generator would supply a fixed amount of power as long as it was in working order. Meaning the the ZPM could be saved for times when the Thunderchild needed to be at its best.
"You're giving us a plasma beam weapon?" Tali asked.
She'd heard Gothic mention that weapon, but he'd indicated that the Asgard wouldn't have finished work on them for another year. They must be offering some sort of prototype version, and they must have developed the weapon more quickly. Possible due to Gothic warning them about the sheer power of Ori made vessels.
"Correct" said Honir "And while I do not comprehend the science behind this new technology I do know that unlike most ship-based energy weapon systems, which are designed to fire individual pulses of energy, our new plasma beam weapons emits a narrow, high-intensity beam of superheated plasma. These beams are capable of overloading and penetrating even the most advanced shields and burning through the hulls and internal structures of an enemy vessel with comparative ease, causing heavy damage".
What none of them knew was that Asgard plasma beam weapons were the only known weapons capable of penetrating the shields of Ori warships, being able to destroy such vessels when entire fleets worth of ships with other kinds of weapons failed to do any noticeable damage.
"Giving you a prototype version of this weapon is a great act of trust by my people" said the little grey dude.
Tali read on some more and discovered that the prototype plasma beam weapon was an energy hungry thing. Which explained in part why the Asgard also needed to install a generator. For maximum power shots the ZPM would even be required.
"Looks like I have a lot of reading to do" Tali said, knowing that she would need to learn about the new systems before they could be repaired and maintained "I might need a rain check on that tour".
The small alien nodded.
"I will give you some time to go over the data, and sound the council approve of me giving you a tour I will ensure that our weather control systems are set to give us a sunny day" said Honir.
Rather than explain what rain check actually meant Tali just made her farewells and headed back to the room she'd been given for her stay on this planet.
(Line Break)
City-Ship. Pegasus Galaxy.
I had once more returned to the city-ship that I knew only as the Tower, and this time I intended to stay for a while. I'd already discussed the matter with elders of the villages, and in exchange for a generous amount of supplies, mostly building materials so that a proper town could be constructed, they had agreed to turn over the city-ship to me.
They didn't need it for defence against the Wraith, and only a few nobles, most of which were now locked up, could use its systems in any case. Also it could make them a target for those unknown hostile aliens who seemed to be attacking any signs of advanced technology that they could find.
As to why I wanted this city-ship, that was because I intended to fly it to the Milky Way and to use it as a capital city of what I planned to call the Confederation of Planets, I would have gone with Confederation of Worlds, but then it could called C.O.W for short. Which didn't sound very good.
The plan was for each world in the Confederation to remain mostly independent while contributing what resources they could to the capital, and those resources would be used to aid those in the Confederation who needed aid. For example if one world had a plentiful harvest, the extra food could be stored away and then given to people who suffered a bad harvest.
I'd decided to call the city-ship, Annwn. Which was the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. Ruled by Arawn (or, in Arthurian literature, by Gwyn ap Nudd), it was essentially a world of delights and eternal youth where disease was absent and food was ever-abundant. It became identified with the Christian afterlife in paradise. I'd chosen the name mostly because I was Welsh, and because the other city-ships also had cool names.
Also it would be suitable as a name because the city-ship would provide medical care and give out food to all those who visit it. At least for as long as I was around. Once I'd left the Confederation would need to tend to itself. As such I couldn't just go around handing out supplies all the time. The worlds within the Confederation would have to learn how to look after each other.
I even had plans for opening schools here in this city-ship so that the humans who'd been forced to remain ignorant because of Goa'uld rule, would be able to catch up with their more advanced cousins on other worlds. The more advanced worlds would supply the teachers, and this way the more well educated humans wouldn't have to travel to different worlds in order to spread knowledge. They could just come to Annwn, and eager students would seek them out.
As I wandered the halls of this city-ship I could neither hear nor see the work going on, but I knew what was happening. Asgard engineers were repairing the city-ship so that it could be flown to the Milky Way, this would take much time effort, but it was worth for the little grey guys as they would learn more about Ancient tech.
I'd already selected a site for my city-ship to land once we reached the Milky Way, a world also called Annwn, it was populated by Celts and had one been ruled by a Goa'uld. I'd not originally intended to go there, but it made sense to have the city-ship of Annwn to settle on the planet Annwn, otherwise we'd have people going to the planet Annwn while looking for the city-ship which would be somewhere else. Best to nip that confusing situation in the bud.
The Asgard had agreed to tow the city-ship the Milky Way in exchange for having a permanent embassy within the city-ship. They were supporting my plan, but I was sure that they wanted to keep an eye on me in case I began a tyrant. Plus I had keep them updated with everything the Confederation did, and give them access to any new technology we found in that galaxy. There could still be a few bits of undiscovered Ancient tech scattered about that part of the universe.
Once the city-ship was set up in the Milky Way Galaxy I would park it on that planet, and remain there for awhile. The Ancients could look after Pegasus, with the help of the Asgard and human allies. However someone needed to sort out of the mess that was the Milky Way, and since I had nothing better to do for the next eight and a half years it might as well be me.
If my help was needed in the Pegasus galaxy then I could use my recently upgraded warship to traverse the space between the two galaxies in a matter of hours, it was so good to have a ZPM powered warship with so many Asgard upgrades.
I was intending to sort things out so that the humans of the Milky Way galaxy could help themselves, I was planning to set up an interstellar government made up human nations. Once I was set up I would contact groups such as the Free Jaffa Nation, which was currently led by a man called Garrak, the International Oversight Advisory (Tau'ri) Joint Ruling Council (Langarans) the Orban Elders, in order to set up Alliances. This groups were unlikely to join the Confederation, but I would require their acknowledgment and political support.
Also worlds like Hebridan, Tegalus, Pangar and Vyus, should be contacted as soon as possible, as even if they didn't join the Confederation then they might at least ally with it. Also it would be important to set up trades deals and to exchange information.
I was setting up the Confederation mostly to counter the Lucian Alliance, who right now were the closest things humanity had to an interstellar society, and that was actually a very bad thing.
Following the collapse of the Goa'uld regime, much of their resources and technology fell into the hands of the humans whom they oppressed for so many generations. Some of these humans banded together to form the Lucian Alliance, an organization comparable to the Mafia, only on a galactic scale.
The fact that the Lucian Alliance had managed to form a coherent group made them rather unique among the scattered humans in the Milky Way, but this alliance was not without its weaknesses. As its ranks are comprised largely of mercenaries, smugglers, and other criminals, its leadership is tenuous at best, with much infighting within the ranks. Members live dangerous lives, prone to being killed for failure, or simply when a rival desires their territory (in this respect, they were much like the Goa'uld). The Alliance rules with fear and intimidation, and punish defiance with swift retribution.
The Lucian Alliance was headed by a single leader, who divided responsibility, territory, and resources among his "Seconds." According to information I'd obtained from the SGC there were about 20 such Seconds who oversee operations including smuggling, extortion, racketeering, and trafficking in kassa, which was a corn-like grain with addictive properties.
More worrying than any of that the Alliance controlled a sizable armada of Goa'uld vessels, including Ha'taks, Al'kesh bombers, Death Gliders, and Tel'taks. They also had spies all over the Milky Way. Those kind of resources made them a threat, especially to the Tau'ri and the newly formed Jaffa government.
And it was pretty much the only kind of interstellar power which humans belonged to, and that simply couldn't be allowed. The Milky Way needed a proper government, one that was interested in the needs of its people, tha and worked to protect people, not to exploit them. And I would provide that organisation.
(Line Break)
Annwn. Pegasus Galaxy.
Rather than find her working on repairing the city-ship, so that we could fly into the Milky Way, I found Seven in one of this city-ship's labs, this part of the might vessel had already been repaired, and from here Seven could access the Ancient database.
As for Seven herself she was exploring her sexuality, and had began dressing even more strangely, and for some reason now seemed to be favouring very high heels on her shoes, as well as different types of collars which she swapped around, but this was no time to discuss that matter as the cyborg had found something of great importance.
"This city-ships contains information on the Ancient vessel called Destiny" Seven told me "A subject in which our own files can be found lacking".
Well even with my more advanced mind and the Asgard memory stone there was only so much I could recall. I'd never had much interest in Stargate Universe and the show hadn't lasted long. I'd very early on dismissed the idea of every reaching Destiny, and that hadn't changed.
"Destiny is a ship made by Ancients, the Alterrans, which was constructed and launched more than fifty million years ago from Earth" Seven informed me "The Ancients launched several automated ships prior to Destiny, each with the purpose of constructing and seeding Stargates throughout the numerous galaxies they crossed, with Destiny itself planned to follow in their path to explore those planets".
This much I knew, and again I was impressed by how long lasting Ancient technology was. That Destiny still flew was amazing.
"If my calculations are correct then Destiny has traversed at least 38 different galaxies" Seven said "And seems to have no overall destination".
She had more to say.
"The Ancients initially planned to wait until the ship reached a sufficient distance from Earth before boarding it. However, because of other endeavors, like ascension, and possible because of the plague, they never followed through on the plan. Because of this, Destiny has continued on a pre-programmed path on its journey throughout the universe".
Again these were things I already knew.
"However I have discovered why they began this project" Seven said next "Not long after the creation of the Stargates, the Ancients discovered a pattern in what is called cosmic microwave background radiation; recognizing that the pattern could not have been natural in origin, the Ancients concluded that its presence suggested an order to the universe never thought possible".
I had to stop her at this point.
"What the hell is cosmic background radiation?" I asked.
I didn't think I'd ever heard that term before.
"It is residual radiation leftover from the early stages of the development of the universe following The Big Bang" she said before carrying on "The message, assuming that is what it is, was fragmented and could not be recovered. To that end, they devoted the efforts of an entire generation to the construction of Destiny, the purpose of which was to find and reassemble the fragments, completing the message".
Now he she had my interest.
"So Destiny is out there trying to patch together a message from the beginning of the universe, which indicates that there was an intelligence around at the start of all things" I summarized.
If there was a intelligence that far back it would unlike anything we'd seen before, it couldn't be organic because organic life took a long time to create, and it couldn't be what we'd think of as artificial life, because that always started off as machines that were the product of organic beings trying to make existence easier for themselves.
Even ascend beings were organic once, so any intelligence that old would either have to be from an another much older universe, or it could be something totally beyond our understanding. It might even be what some people refer to as God.
"Automated ships were sent ahead of Destiny to explore the universe, seeding Stargates along their path" Seven told me "It was their intention to further their knowledge of the Universe, but they abandoned the project as they started researching into ascension, and the creation of city-ships".
I wondered where Seven was going with all of this.
"Over its long journey, Destiny sustained significant damage" she was now saying "Though some of the damage is simply neglect, as the ship has been left unmanned far longer than intended, battle damage will also be something we will need to repair".
At this point I had to speak.
"You want to go to Destiny" I said.
I'd neglected the idea due to its impractically and lack of benefits, but with this new information I was reconsidering the notion.
"Any message sent by the an intelligence as old as this universe is worth hearing" said Seven "It might provide clues to how the universe was made. If we can discover that, then we might learn many other things".
I think I understood what she wanted to go after this message.
"You think it might have something to do with the meaning of life" I realised "That the message might explain why this universe, and other universes like it, exist".
Seven nodded, and I began to consider what it would take to actually reach Destiny. We didn't know where it was so we couldn't fly after it in my ship, which wasn't as crazy as it sounded since Destiny hadn't been travelling in a straight line, it had been going from galaxy to galaxy, using a means of FTL than was much slower than my ship's hyperdrive, and it was always quicker to go from A to B. However for that to work we'd know exactly where Destiny was. Given the distances involved and the sheer size of the universe tracking it down with scanners would so near as to impossible as to not be worth trying.
"Well if we went there we wouldn't be trapped" I said, thinking out loud "We can gain access to the Space Dock via the Cosmic Warehouse, and the Space Dock is physically here in the Pegasus Galaxy so we'd just need to keep my ship stored there".
The tricky part would be getting to the Destiny as that would require more power than even I could calculate. In the show they had to use a planet with a naquadria core, in order to channel enough energy to the Stargate, of course we had technologies from different universe and a city-ship with ZPMs, so we might be able to use a method to reach Destiny that didn't destroy whole planets.
"It could be some time before I finish my research" Seven told me "And I would have to construct a base in the Milky Way on an inhabited planet, to dial from. We can use this city-ship in case the energies involved went out of control".
She was right to be concern as an exploding Stargate could render a planet lifeless, and that could happen in trying to reach Destiny due the sheer amount of power required. As such it wasn't something you wanted to do on a world that was home to people.
"So you're thinking that while I set up this Confederation of Planets you can work on a Destiny project" I was now saying "And when I'm ready to hand the whole thing over to elected leaders we can spend the rest of this Jump on Destiny trying to figure out what this intelligence as old as time is trying to tell people".
Again Seven nodded.
"You would need to build a team of people who are willing to risk the trip" Seven said "A few Asgard scientists, the best and brightest humans from across the galaxies, perhaps even a Tok'ra agent, and of course people to ensure our protection".
For sure that asshat Nicholas Rush wasn't getting on to the Destiny. If the Tauri found out about this they'd either try to fill the team with their people or make their own attempt to reach Destiny. And if Destiny was mentioned in the database of this city-ship then it would be in the database of their city-ship too.
"Do you think you could create a virus of some kind which could delete all the information about Destiny from an Ancient database?" I asked Seven "We don't want anyone else chasing after Destiny, not if it's as important as it seems to be".
She considered this.
"That it possible" she said "When I have opportunity I will begin looking into the possibility".
Given how much I'd changed the time line the people of Earth might never even try to reach Destiny, but if I was going there I didn't want to be followed. If any of the Tau'ri ever stepped foot on Destiny, then it would be on my terms.
Which meant that I'd have to deal with the Lucian Alliance as well, but that organisation was still young at this point in the time line and as such I should be able to destroy it. Of course to do that I'd need to set up the Confederation, and that meant getting back to work. This city-ship needed a lot of work.
