"Jack, Vanguard fleet is ready to advance," Sam said. She was sitting in the control chair of the freshly constructed lead Aurora. On one of the viewports Jack could be seen.
-I read you Sam. You have a go, see you above Earth. Are you still going for the primary landing zone?- Jack replied.
"Thank you Jack. We are still going to the primary landing zone in Scandinavia and unless the Goa'uld have fortified the whole region I don't see any reason for us to change from the primary to any of the secondary landing zones in New Zealand or South America."
On the screen Jack looked away for a few seconds and nodded to someone before turning back to her. -Well then, Teal'c and the blockade fleet have just gotten into position. You just do whatever you can to make sure they call back their ships to Earth and he will keep them there.-
"We'll make sure they can't ignore us Jack."
Again Jack looked away and the light flashing over his face changed. -Good girl. Now it seems I have a small engagement on my hands here over the new Icarus base, O'Neill out.- Quickly his face faded away from the viewport and the dark void of space took over.
A thought from Sam was all it took for the entire fleet to receive their orders and jump the last distance to Earth.
"We are out numbering the hostile ships Sir and outpowering them even more," one of the men on the bridge of the Aurora Jack controlled said. "This battle is our."
"Never count on a battle going the way you think it will." Jack's voice was calm but harsh as he replied. "Can I hope the landing team is ready?"
"They have already landed and will soon be ready to strike."
Outside the battle raged as the Alterran ships formed groups to focus on single ships, taking them out in seconds before moving on. The fleet of S.E.N 305s unleashed wave after wave of missiles towards the Alterran fleet together with a bombardment of railgun rounds. In turn the Retributors let the energy flow freely to their plasma cannons and the two Auroras which accompanied them launched a small swarm of drones. Each second which passed saw more and more 305s destroyed. A minute passed before the first 305 activated its hyperdrive to flee the battle and certain destruction.
Five minutes after they had begun the engagement speakers in Jack's control chair came to life. -General do you read?-
"O'Neill here, I read you just fine."
-Icarus base is under our control General, we are ready to turn of the beaming jammers.-
"Go ahead, I'll be right down with you."
-Yes Sir.-
When the speakers shut down again the chair rose back up into a sitting position so Jack could get up. When he did the ship's Captain hurried to take Jack's place in the chair. He rounded the control chair and walked up to the five heavily armed men that waited for him. They begun to hand him his gear and before long he had two pistols, one Tau'ri and one Alterran, tucked safely into their holsters on the combat vest and an Alterran SMG hanging across his front. When he was finished two seconds passed before he heard the familiar chime of an Asgard transporter and saw the accompanying white flash.
A saluting soldier was the first thing he saw when the white flash disappeared. They had been beamed directly into the base's gate room which was almost identical to SGC's gate room, the key differences was the slight yellow tint that the concrete had and the lack of a separate control room, instead everything was positioned along the walls of the room.
Over most workstations blood had been flung and plenty of limp bodies littered the room.
One of the soldiers in the room hurried up to Jack and his guards. "Sir, we captured the base commander."
"Good work."
"Bow before Earth's nobility, peasant." The order came from the finely dressed man standing in front of the gate whom almost everyone in the room had their weapon trained on.
"I believe my orders were clear though, no one lives."
"He's got a shield Sir. Our weapons have no effect."
"Then try something else." Before the soldiers had a chance to react Jack had drawn his Tau'ri pistol and fired a round. Just before the bullet hit the man it deflected away and buried itself deep into the concrete wall. With rage burning inside him Jack dropped the gun and drew his knife, running forward. In less than a second he had crossed the distance and tried to drive the knife into the man.
"I can not be killed, I am a nobleman from Earth," the man said while the blade simply deflected of the shield.
"Why don't we just leave him to die Sir?" one of the soldiers asked. "We're going to blow up the whole planet any way."
"I said that no one lives solider. That includes him." Jack had dropped the knife and began to punch the forcefield, with each hit he landed he got angrier and angrier. As his feelings grew Jack channeled them just like Mokar had thought him, slowly the transparent force field bended and the light distorted. Finally it shattered and Jack's fist sunk into the man's side."Not even nobles from Earth." His fist shrunk deeper and deeper into the man's chest before he pulled out his bloody hand and let go of the anger. As he let go of the anger the raw energies around his hand dissipated and the blood around his hand dripped down without leaving any trace on his clothes. He pulled the bottom of his shirt three times to straighten it out before walking to the DHD.
-General I'm happy to inform you that we have eliminated all SEN ships in orbit,- a voice came from his communicator.
"Thank you Captain." Slowly Jack slid his hand across the DHD and let it rest on the central bubble.
"Alright people, we just received word that General O'Neill will open a wormhole for us in a moment. We know that there are friendlies on the other side of the gate, be sharp and ready but if you as much as fire in the general direction of our own people I will make sure that your whole unit gets stationed on the coldest planets we place an outpost on," Sheppard said from the balcony above Atlantis gate room. A unified acknowledgment rang out from the soldiers below. Within seconds the gate activated and the men readied themselves. When Sheppard walked down the stairs the men parted before him. When he came to the gate he took a deep breath and exhaled before he stepped through.
His arrival through the gate was not violent like it had been described in Colonel Young's report, instead it just felt like any other gate travel but with some additional force. He had barely materialised when his shield was hit, time and time again. But his men were coming through behind him, ready to take on any resistance. The replica of the gate room they had constructed in Atlantis looked nothing like the one they had arrived in. The two stairs going up were now lying as a barricade between the gate and the doors leading away. The steps of the stairs were reinforced with thick plates, just like the railing of the balcony above. It was from between the steps and through arrow slits in the balcony's plating that they were attacked. They had already counted on being without cover when they came through the gate so the two soldiers who came directly after Sheppard carried with them shield emitters which they attached to both sides of the stargate. It took the two emitters a second to fill their buffers, then they created a blue one-way forcefield around and above the gate. When the shield was full of soldiers their arrival halted.
The firefight raged on for a few minutes, with little happening other than the bullets and energy bolts which flew between the two sides. Then something changed, on the balcony above seven of the hostile soldiers stood up and begun to shoot down, not towards the gate but towards the soldiers behind the barricade. Seeing the chance Sheppard and the other Lantean soldiers rushed out of the shield and stormed the barricade, shooting anyone who moved. In seconds the gate room had been captured. On the balcony above the soldiers who had stood up carefully released their weapons and let them fall down on the metal grid. From somewhere a ladder was pushed over the railing and a lone man climbed over the railing and begun to climb the ladder down to the floor. By now additional reinforcements had begun to arrive through the gate. They spread out, everyone knowing their role, to secure every access point. The man climbing down had just let go of the ladder when two squads lined up to climb it up to the balcony.
The man who had climbed down pulled of an half-assed salute. "First Lieutenant Matthew Scott, US Air Force reporting for duty, Sir."
"At ease Lieutenant," Sheppard replied "What's the status aboard?"
"Hostile forces have captured the ship Sir. We have twenty armed soldiers spread around the ship which will help us if they can, I would appreciate it if you would not kill them Sir."
"We don't plan on doing any killing Lieutenant, we'll just stun them and let them be. We're here to bring you home along with any information you have gathered."
"Yes Sir. The enemy have just over a hundred men, including the men in this room. If we reach the bridge we can seal of and ventilate sections."
"Thank you Lieutenant, but you and your men will be leaving in a few minutes. That's an order."
"Yes Sir." Again Scott saluted, this time it was sharp and proper.
While they had talked the incoming wormhole had disengaged and now Destiny's own gate was dialing out. Scott's men had been rounded up, with two escorting Lantean soldiers in front and two behind them. "Don't be alarmed by what you find on the other side Lieutenant."
"Yes Sir." With those words he jogged up to the column and took point, leading his men through the active gate. By now they all knew not to be surprised by the unexpected.
"Alright people, proceed as planned," Sheppard roared "I want the bridge secured and the ship locked down. Remember to check for our personnel among the enemy."
His men had already moved out into the corridors beyond the gate room so Sheppard hurried to catch up to them. He caught up with a four man team a few junctions ahead and together they hurried down the corridor, cutting down anyone who stood in their way. Blast after blast shot out of his Alterran weapon as things turned into a blur. Every few junctions small barricades slowed them down marginally, but their shields held the primitive bullets at bay as they rushed each position.
Before he realized it they had reached the heavy door leading into the bridge. It was sealed tight but they had brought breaching charges, a single one placed in the middle of the door cleaved it in two. It twisted and bended enough for them to pass through one at a time. Just inside the door ten guards were trying to get back up on their feet after the blast but they quickly got stunned by the passing Lanteans. On the bridge five guards faced them with raised weapons, behind the guards two men lay in pools of blood with three more sitting behind the ship's controls. Before the guards even managed to fire their weapons Sheppard and his team had stunned them.
One of the men sitting behind the ship's controls was out of the chair with his hands raised almost before the guards hit the floor, all of the Lantean weapons tracked his movements. "We will cooperate as long as we are allowed to treat our injured men." Behind him the other two men also stood up.
"Name and rank?" Sheppard asked, seeing his military uniform. One of his men hurried forward to examine the two injured men.
"Colonel Everett Young of the US Air Force."
Sheppard's man who was kneeling with the injured turned towards Sheppard. "They'll live, if we help them."
"Escort our people through the gate," Sheppard replied and turned back to Young "We're here to rescue you and your men Colonel, my men will bring you to safety."
Young strode up to Sheppard and stood so close that Sheppard's barrel was pressed against his chest. "I will not leave while I still have men throughout the ship."
"That's not a request Colonel."
"What are you going to do? Shoot me?"
Sheppard's finger was already on the trigger and a quick squeeze sent Young falling to the floor. "Yes, if that is what is needed."
The other two men who had been sitting by the controls took the Colonel between them and followed the soldiers out of the bridge.
When everyone had left the bridge Sheppard pressed his com badge. "Radek come in."
-I'm here Sheppard, we're standing ready on this side.-
"Give me a minute and I will start the transfer." From one of the pockets on his combat vest he removed an Alterran transmitter which he placed connected to one of the consoles. "There we go."
-We have a stable connection Colonel.-
"Copy that."
-It will take us an hour or two to download the entire database once we start the transfer.-
"Copy that."
"Well what's this sneaking around my ship?" A large, tall man was towering in the doorway leading to the bridge. He was dressed in colorful garbs with golden inlays from head to toe.
"You think this is your ship? An old rustbucket sent out millions of years ago by the Alterra? This is not a ship belonging to Earth, this ship belongs to the Alterra who command us. So I would think us Lanteans have a little more claim than you have."
"I am a god, no mere mortal from Earth. They do not deserve to be in control of a vessel as mighty and potent as this one." His eyes flashed and glowed uncontrollably while he talked.
"Now why would we have a Goa'uld in control of this old rustbucket? The Earth nobility thinks to highly of themselves for that," Sheppard said while he weighed his options. Behind the Goa'uld hostile soldiers came marching.
"I am a god, I wished for the ship and it was given to me."
"Well we want it back so if you could just leave we would could all get along."
"This is the eternal heaven, the divine knowledge found here can not leave. Therefore it is my godly orders that no one may leave." Behind the Goa'uld the men raised their weapons and trained them on Sheppard.
"So who's going to kill who first?" Sheppard asked. "We both know that's the only way this will end."
"I will not allow any further killing on this ship." Without bothering with further discussion Sheppard raised his weapon and fired.