A/N: Here's the last chapter of this book. You will all have to wait a few weeks, maybe a few months, before I can finally finish up the next one. This is due to school and work. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and the tease at the end.
While her ship kept descending into Earth's atmosphere Sam's soldiers rushed around to double check and triple check their equipment. On her collar the com badge came to life. -Ma'am, we're touching down in twenty seconds.-
"Copy that, lower the ramps."
-Yes Ma'am.- In front of her the entire wall begun to move as huge pistons hidden inside the roof, walls and floor of the ship begun their work. First the entire wall moved outwards almost a meter and through the gaps wind founds its way. Then the upper part of the wall slowly swung down and revealed a bright red sky. On both sides of the ship the ramps kept opening until they were horizontal and the soldiers surged forward. Along the sides of the ramp a railing rose and at the end of the ramp the soldiers locked metal plates into vertical position for extra cover.
-Touching down in five seconds.-
Outside the shield tanks and anti-air cannons fired as best they could towards them and the other Aurora which was descending beside them. Each round fired towards them made the shield flare up for a second like small red flowers. Systematically the two ships picked of their attackers with their turrets while the soldiers on the ramps did what they could to help.
-We have touched down Ma'am.-
With the ships securely on solid ground the ramps lowered further and further until they touched the ground and the plates locked in place before dropped down to ease the disembarking. As the men marched of the ships the two ship's shields widened and merged to form a single shield between them. Above them three of the generation ships hovered and fired at targets in the distance.
"Base camp is secured, send out the Asurans."
-Yes Ma'am- a man replied. A few seconds later a number of Asurans marched of the ships with large and heavy crates in tow. Once on the ground some of the Asurans opened up the crates and begun to filter the materials inside through their bodies into building blocks while the others returned for more crates.
-This is Mokar, I'm on my way to the Traveler home fleet. What is your status?- Mokar's voice sounded through Larrin's com badge.
"The wraith fleets are holding their positions. More of our ships are on the way here right now to help but they're half a galaxy away. We will hold out until they arrive," she replied. Outside the ship the Traveler home fleet was sitting dead in space, through windows people could be seen moving about but very little power was running through the ships that were merged together.
-Do not risk our ships Larrin, they may be your people but they rely on bulkheads and armour to keep them safe. The wraith will only need darts to penetrate your defenses and board your fleet. We can not risk losing ships in this fight Larrin, we can not win here.-
"These are my people, I can not abandon them just like that." She had just finished her sentence when an alarm sounded on the bridge.
"Captain, the wraith fleets have entered hyperspace. They will arrived shortly" someone on the bridge shouted. "The Council are asking why you have gathered such a large fleet here Captain."
-Just remember this Captain Larrin, sometime people will have to die. I will arrive to help you coordinate the fleet soon. I hope you have activated the repaired ships within your home fleet by the time I arrive or many will die this day- Mokar said and closed the channel.
"Open a channel to the Council."
"Yes Captain." A moment later the forward viewscreen changed to show more than twenty small images of the captains on the Council.
-Why have you gathered Alterran ships of war here Captain Larrin? Have they finally come to take the rest of our people?- an old female captain asked -How ironic that they have sent you here.-
"The wraith are coming. We are here to protect the home fleet for as long as we can while you evacuate our people."
-There is nothing to support your claims Captain Larrin. We only see a fleet of Alterran warships here. There is no danger from the wraith- one of the younger Captains said.
"The wraith have hunted us for hundreds of years. Now when they come here you refuse to accept it. The Alterra have done nothing but trade fairly and in our favor. They are not the enemy. The Alterra have fitted some of the ships in the home fleet with new shields and hyperdrives on my request. I suggest that you get to these ships if you want to live."
-You will take your fleet and leave now Captain- the old woman said.
Before Larrin could respond six hives and twelve cruisers left hyperspace right outside the perimeter the Alterran ships had formed around the home fleet. Even before fully emerging from hyperspace the wraith fleet fired their weapons. Immediately some of the captains' transmissions cut out, others' images froze on their dying faces as their ships exploded and shrapnel tore through them and the home fleet. As quickly as they could the Alterran ships returned fire along with what ships the Travelers had.
"Broadcast on all channels" Larrin ordered. "This is Captain Larrin. Evacuate the home fleet. All emergency ships are ordered leave for rally points."
From subspace ten additional hives and over thirty cruisers emerged and began to bombard them from the other side. Within seconds the home fleet began to break up into huge chunks which drifted apart and broke up into smaller pieces when internal explosions tore them apart. Somewhere to the port side a Retributor was torn apart when some of the hives ganged up on it. Close after another followed.
After a few minutes shields began to form throughout the debris field and several dozen ships, large and small, broke free from the rest of the debris and quickly jumped away one by one.
With the last of the emergency ships escaping from the slaughter the Alterran ships turned around and retreated one by one.
"Report" Mokar said. His ship had just arrived at the home fleet or rather where it should have been, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it had ever been there. He had been watching a sensor feed coming directly from the battle and knew there should have been debris floating around.
"We have arrived at the correct coordinates. Full sensor sweeps detect nothing. A minimum of eight hundred tons of debris should be expected even after a standard Alterran clean up. Debris profile matches debris profiles found after battles between the Lanteans and the wraith. Reports do not indicate if it were Lantean or wraith clean ups. Chances that deeper scans will detect anything is minimal" the replicators said as one.
"Run all deeper scans this ship has the equipment for. Scan the first six lower dimensions and the first two upper as well. Finally scan the deeper regions of subspace for hyperspace activity, both coming and going. I want to know what happened here."
"This ship is a scout. It is not equipped to scan other dimensions. Additional resources will be needed, Atlantis long range sensors could be used."
"Begin with the rest, I will connect this ship to Atlantis' sensors" Mokar said as he begun to tie all sensor data from Atlantis into their own scans.
A minute passed while several green, yellow and red lines were drawn out into space. "Please confirm that only wraith, Lantean and Alterran hyperdrives were used."
"That is correct."
Outside one of the green lines turned blue. "Anomalous hyperdrive signature detected. Possibly Asgard origin."
"It's possible one of our 304s flew through here earlier to deliver parts for Larrin and Sheppard's project."
"Probability is minimal. The hyperdrive signature is fresh and the surviving 304 has been undergoing repairs at Atlantis. Atlantis' sensors do not indicate any temporal distortions or spacial fractures to suggest that any ships of the 304 class have arrived here from other realities or through time. In addition a 304 is too small to leave an imprint of this size."
"Use the raw data from Atlantis to track the ship."
"The ship has left Atlantis' sensor range. Using additional sensor points may allow for tracking."
"Connect to whatever sensors we have in that direction and map out the ship's path. Meanwhile set a course after the ship and summon what ships we can spare to join us."
Immediately the ship spun around and aligned with the blue line, then it jumped into hyperspace. "A single Aurora has been dispatched from Athyl to assist, its weapons have not been installed yet but it has upgraded sensors. Eight Retributors have been diverted to our location, four of which are manned by Asurans due to their lack of life support systems and artificial gravity. They will rendezvous with us."
One week after Mokar's transformation
A large group of well armed Jaffa came rushing into the newly constructed council chamber on Dakara that was to be the center of the new Free Jaffa Nation capital. "What is the meaning of this?" Bra'tac asked.
"It is apparent that again the council have made someone angry," Teal'c replied. He was sitting next to Bra'tac around the council's table. His right hand was trailing the underside of the table and found the button that would activate the defenses. Instead of the shield rising around the council, automated turrets deploying from inside the walls and guards storming in he received a shock that sent him flying when he pressed the button.
From the shadows behind some pillars a man stepped out. He was dressed in finely cut silk and wore the golden hand devices of the Goa'uld. "Teal'c, I would have warned you. But then you just showed the rest of the council what happens if you try to go against me." Three of the other councilors stood up and bowed to the man. "Master Enad has sent me to inform you that the council is no longer necessary and will be disbanded."
"It will be as he commands," Yat'yir said.
"Disbanding the council would require a unified vote of the council or the Jaffa," Rak'nor roared. He was sitting opposite of Bra'tac and just had time to stand up when an invisible force threw him head first across the room to where Teal'c was getting back on his feet.6
"Anyone who does not vote in favor will be killed."
"Then you will have to kill me too," Bra'tac said and stood up.
Out of sight Teal'c had taken cover behind one of the pillars and made a dash for the pedestals sitting along the wall. On them trinkets, trophies and gifts were on display. The Jaffa that had marched into the council chamber saw him and opened fire with their staffs but the pillars gave him cover. He managed to grab the anti-Prior device, a gift from Earth, and returned to the cover of the pillars. Quickly he activated it and smashed the display stand into a thousand pieces against the floor. As he crushed the display stand the MP7 hidden inside it slid across the floor and he lunged forward to grab it. Where he was slumped towards a pillar Rak'nor saw the gun sliding towards him and reached out to grab it. With clasping fingers he aimed the weapon at the rushing Jaffa and fired at them. Taken with surprise most of the Jaffa fell before they had a chance to act, then they turned their staffs towards him. Seeing his chance Bra'tac tackled the closest soldier and grabbed his staff weapon before running to Teal'c's side. From another entrance a group of Jaffa stormed in to defend the council. With their attackers otherwise occupied Teal'c and Bra'tac hurried to a side entrance. They had almost reached the door when the entire wall exploded and they were blown back onto the council table. With the council chamber falling apart around them they rushed to get away.
Outside there was absolute chaos, from motherships in orbit a steady rain of destruction fell while gliders and Al'kesh dominated the sky. From the hill the council chamber was built on they could see a large army surging forward from the plains beyond the city below towards them and the city.
"Come Teal'c, we must find a ship."
"You would flee now old man? We need to lead the defense of the city or our dream of a free Jaffa nation will be taken away."
"Look down there Teal'c. We do not have the men to defend the city against an army like that, we must escape to fight another day." As Bra'tac led Teal'c toward the outskirts of the city he saw Teal'c's side getting wet and the sand behind them turning dark red. "You are in no condition to fight Teal'c."
"If we leave now we abandon all hope for the Jaffa."
"We have carried the hope of freedom for the Jaffa on our shoulders for many years Teal'c. If we fail here today we will come again. As we always have, stronger each time." Around them the city exploded into pieces while they hurried down the streets.
"I only hope you are right old man."
"Come here," Bra'tac said after blasting a door to pieces with the staff weapon. With a kick he cleared away the pieces left in the doorway and stepped inside the house. Right inside the door a Tel'tak waited for them. "We must reach Earth, the Tau'ri have always helped us."
"My GDO is damaged. They will not let us through the gate."
"Then we will take this ship." Bra'tac had already reached the controls and powered up the shield. As the ship rose it thore through the roof. "I've set a course to Earth, it will take us a few days but I have plenty of supplies on board."
In the back the rings activated without warning and zat bolts came flying when the rings returned to the floor. From the cargo compartment a Jaffa strode and kept firing towards the central console which Bra'tac had taken cover behind, but Teal'c, who was slowed down by his injury, was right next to the door. He punched him in the throat and drove him backwards. With his powerful arms Teal'c grabbed the Jaffa and threw him backwards into the cargo hold. Tumbling around the Jaffa hit one of the braces and collapsed, but before Teal'c had a chance to finish him he was back up and charged Teal'c with a knife in hand. Blocking and dodging backwards Teal'c was driven back into the cockpit where Bra'tac waited with the staff weapon. Before he had a chance to fire the Jaffa feigned a slash towards Teal'c before diving towards Bra'tac and slicing him across his lower arm, but Teal'c had seen through the feignt and locked his arms around the Jaffa. With all his power Teal'c lifted up the Jaffa and crushed the Jaffa in his arms. An explosion threw all three to the floor. Quickly they all tried to get back on their feet and the other Jaffa was first, but only moments later Teal'c was up too and dove towards him. This time the Jaffa was ready and allowed Teal'c to grab him, only to drive the knife into his body and diving backwards. With the force of the fall the Jaffa drove the knife even deeper into Teal'c's body.
"The rings," Teal'c groaned. Both he and the other Jaffa was lying inside the rings and the later was squirming in his arms, each second the knife cut deeper and deeper into him.
"There is no way to know where you would be sent," Bra'tac said. He was moving towards the two fighters.
"Indeed."
Before Bra'tac had a chance to do anything the rings activated and the two vanished, in their place were four Jaffa. Quickly Bra'tac sidestepped to avoid the staff blasts and activated the rings from the panel. A sharp pain spread through his body as the rings activated and as he looked at his injured hand with mistrust the head of a Jaffa came rolling from the cargo hold.
With stumbling steps he hurried forward to the pilot's chair. He just managed to sit down when a hyperspace window formed in front of the ship. Placing his working hand on the side of the controls which had not been destroyed by the blast he tried to change course but nothing responded to his commands. Instead he saw the estimated time to Earth increasing from days to weeks and finally to months. On the ship was plenty of supplies and he would survive, of that he was sure.