Notes: I'm glad everyone is still reading and enjoying this rather long series of my. I also like to give a mighty salute to my Beta Readers, Karen and SabaceanBabe who's guidance and assistance is invaluable. Finally, a moment to answer some questions…
Jump Prime: The Peacekeepers will get more involved when they finally get a taste of combat against the Cylons.
JonnyG: Prometheus will make her debut sometime soon.
Grayangle and Aaron: I'm planning out this huge ground battle, which will involve hundreds of Luxans and Jaffa against an army of Cylons.
Superstar Kid: Sam is happy for Crichton in being reunited with Aeryn. However, Jolinar's reaction is a different matter and that ugly head might rear up soon.
Worker 72: I understand your feelings about Chiana but becoming pregnant can have a serious affect on a person's priorities in life. However, that still doesn't mean she can't have fun.
Zantac the Barbarian: You are right about the genetic attraction angle but a D'Argo and O'Neill ship? That is a little too disturbing even for me to touch. ;-)
AlbertG: A ship named after me in your fic? Just as long it's not hauling garbage, I'm very cool with that:-)
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Gates of Hell
Day Six…
When first viewed from afar, the space surrounding the Scarran fortress Katratzi was lit up by hundreds of brilliant, glowing flashes, erupting and fading with no rhyme or reason.
An uninformed observer might think this was some sort of colourful firework celebration, perhaps in honour of the Scarran Emperor, but, upon closer inspection, two large fleets of duelling warships could be seen. They were the source of this incredible maelstrom as both sides did their best to blast the other side into oblivion.
The Cylon fleet had finally arrived at the very gates of Katratzi with the intention of capturing or destroying the Scarran base. Its defenders were doing all they could to protect and save their last stronghold in this sector.
Twenty-four attacking Cylon baseships and fifty-six destroyers were confronted by thirty-one Scarran dreadnaughts. However, these massive warships weren't alone in this battle as thousands of fighters from both sides were also eagerly engaged in the deadly duel. They sped about the much larger warships, fighting it out just a ferociously.
Scarran Predators, small one-man fighters, battled it out against the larger, three-man Cylon Raiders. Unfortunately, the Scarrans were outnumbered and outmatched by the better-armed and armored Raiders.
Like a game of chess, the Cylons pressed their advantage through sheer numbers and firepower. As the Raiders stripped the Scarrans of their fighter cover, they moved their baseships forward, their destroyers outmanoeuvring the slower dreadnaughts, flanking them.
One dreadnaught, its back afire from the punishing strafing attacks of the Cylon Raiders, was suddenly torn completely apart by Cylon pulsar cannons from three destroyers.
Facing off against a wall of baseships, the other dreadnaughts returned fire with particle cannons at extreme range, but the baseships' defence fields blunted their shots. Most of the beam strength was diffused before it could hit their hulls.
From the safety of his council chambers, metras deep within the Scarran fortress, Emperor Staleek watched as another dreadnaught fell to the Cylon assault.
"Order our captains to begin a fighting retreat toward the station, but to hold their formation at all costs. Keep engaging the Cylons and draw them in!" he commanded his underlings. The emperor knew that Katratzi could be his grave if they should lose today. That he had to trust that his new allies would not fail him – perhaps the galaxy truly had gone mad.
The Emperor snorted at the mere thought of placing his life in the hands of non-Scarrans.
The Cylons saw that the Scarrans were falling back toward their fortress, fighting as they went. The machines were puzzled. Tactically, the wisest move for the Scarrans would be to close in at point-blank range, try to get within the protective radius of the Cylon defence fields. Perhaps the Scarrans wished to lure the Cylon ships within range of Katratzi's more powerful defensive cannons. The Cylon commanders weren't concerned; Scarran weaponry was inferior. The order was given for the Cylons to pursue.
Far from the fighting, lurking behind a large asteroid, a lone battlestar observed the fierce engagement.
Colonel Dex checked the flood of incoming data from the battle before reporting to Cain. "You can say whatever you want about the Scarrans," he observed, a high degree of respect in his voice, "but they're sure not afraid to take one on the chin. They're fighting the entire Cylon fleet, but they won't last for long."
Next to him, Commander Cain nodded in agreement. The Scarrans had drawn the entire Cylon fleet to the very doorsteps of their base. It was time.
"Helm," he ordered. "Take us into the fight, ahead full."
The Pegasus' engines flared to life and the mighty battlestar surged forward, away from the asteroid and on course for the Cylon rear flank.
Cain had waited for this moment for a long time. This was going to be a stand-up battle, no more hit and run. Win or lose today, they wouldn't be running anymore. He issued his orders. "Positive shields! Energize main batteries and launch all fighters! Full power to countermeasures! Full-spectrum jamming!"
Still engaging the Scarrans, the trailing baseships of the Cylon fleet suddenly detected a powerful disturbance on their sensors. Something was approaching from behind and it was flooding the space about them with high electro-magnetic interference. As they tried to counter the interference, they determined by the strength of the interference that it could only be caused by a Colonial battlestar.
The Cylons quickly traced the source of the disturbance and located the battlestar by using visual targeting scopes. Except for the fighters they were launching, the Colonials were alone. One battlestar would not stop the Cylons, or the Colonials attempts to jam their sensors.
"They see us," Dex reported. "They're trying to penetrate our ECM field to acquire us for targeting."
"Let them try. Keep blinding their sensors," Cain commanded. "We've got only one chance at this!"
Three baseships and two hundred Raiders dropped behind to face the fast-approaching battlestar. The Colonial warship would soon be in range of their weapons.
Trailing behind her father's ship, Lt. Sheba and her Silver and Bronze Spar squadrons held their collective breath, maintaining their current positions as instructed. She could see the baseships now as they drew nearer.
"Now…" she breathed. Sheba knew the Cylons would open fire any micron. "Do it now…" she quietly urged again.
On the bridge, Dex and his tactical officers all closely watched their sensor boards.
"Energy spike!" one crewman shouted from his station. "Cylons preparing to fire main guns!"
Cain slapped his hand down, activating his ship-to-ship communication system. "Now!"
From above and below the three Cylon baseships, twelve Luxan Assault Piercer ships decloaked and opened fire at point-blank range. Although not as large as the Pegasus, the Luxan warships packed considerable firepower and at this range, the Cylon defence fields couldn't protect the three unfortunate baseships as they were pummelled from all directions. One by one, the baseships were dispatched violently by the punishing blows before they could retarget their main guns from the Pegasus to their new attackers.
Cain had realized long before this battle that surprise would be the only thing that could save them this day. That's why he jammed the Cylon sensors and used his ship as bait to be sure the Luxans could get in as close as possible for their attack.
As the Pegasus and the Luxans attacked from the rear, Cain transmitted another signal. "Commander Cain to all ally fleets. Attack!"
From out of Katratzi's blinding yellow sun, the Galactica emerged like an avenging angel. Flanking her from either side were twenty-one small, but lethal, Hynerian Battlearcs. With the Galactica serving as the spear point in their formation, they charged to strike the Cylon fleet from the right.
From the left side of the Cylon fleet, materializing like ghosts from hyperspace, nine Command Carriers appeared. These massive, multipurpose warships quickly launched every fighter and warship they had.
Combined now, the allied fleets were nearly the same size as the Cylon attack force. Within his fortress, Emperor Staleek smiled ferociously as the Cylons found themselves completely encircled. However, he also had his own surprise for the machines. "Launch all ships!"
All across Katratzi, massive bay doors opened and nearly one hundred Stryker attack cruisers roared forth to reinforce the Scarran fleet as they delivered a renewed counterattack to their front. The small Scarran gunships immediately started blasting, swatting down many of the Cylon fighters, taking pressure off the remaining dreadnaughts and fighters.
By all accounts, the allied fleet should have achieved complete surprise, but the Cylons had more in their favour than their cold and calculating thinking. Their ships were all well protected and heavily armed compared to most of the ships opposing them, with the exception of the two battlestars. Also, the machines were able to follow orders perfectly. Their ships had greater endurance in combat because of the Cylons' artificial nature. Unlike Humans, Luxans or even Scarrans, the Cylons had little to worry about when the other side started blowing holes in their hulls and exposing the damaged compartments to the vacuum of space.
From the bridge of the lead Command Carrier, Captain Braca turned to address Scorpius. "All Prowler and Marauder squadrons are away."
Scorpius studied the battle unfolding before him. "Order them to engage, targeting enemy weapon arrays. Then notify our carriers to keep their defence shields up and close with the Cylon warships for point-blank engagement."
"Yes, Scorpius."
"Cylons approaching, Captain!"
"I see them, Lieutenant," Sheba told her worried wingman. "All squadrons, hold your formations! Let them come to us."
Silver and Bronze Spar squadrons, altogether numbering nearly seventy Vipers, closed rapidly against a wall of two hundred Cylon Raiders, but Sheba refused to give the order for them to break and engage.
"We'll be in weapon range in twenty microns, sir!"
"They'll be here," Sheba replied confidently. "We hold!"
"They'll rip right through us if we don't break…"
"Hold your positions!" Sheba snapped over the comms.
Sheba worried as time ticked down for them. She was putting her fate and the fate of her squadrons into the hands of another. A million things could go wrong during the battle, and if she were wrong here, the Cylons would slaughter them, leaving the Pegasus and the Luxan cruisers open to attack.
No, he said he would be here for her and she trusted him with her life.
"He will be here to help," she whispered to herself.
Just as she said it, from above the Cylon attack formations, several silver-winged fighters appeared, rippling into existence as they dropped their cloaking screens. Sheba's lips curled into a smile, they were Luxan T'kast fighters and she knew the man leading that one strike wing.
D'Argo let out a battle cry as his twenty fighters pounced on the unsuspecting Cylons, punching huge holes through their ranks. He and his team weaved right through the Cylon formation, blasting every Raider that was unfortunate enough to be caught in their sights.
Sheba watched as the Cylons tried to scatter from the Luxans, who sliced their way through their formations. D'Argo and his people achieved complete surprise and the Cylons were temporarily disorganized.
Now it was her turn.
"Silver Spars! Bronze Spars! Break and engage!"
"We're closing on the Cylons right flank. It consists of twenty-six destroyers," Omega reported from his station. "The Cylons are trying to regroup their fleet into a defensive sphere formation."
Commander Apollo exhaled, hoping this would work. "Lock firing solutions onto those destroyers and feed the coordinates to the Hynerian Battlearcs."
Omega worked quickly. "Solutions in and the Hynerians are acknowledging they have received the data. They're awaiting your command, sir."
"Fire!"
When a ship launched both a volley of missiles and streams of energy fire at the same time during combat, there was always a risk that the beam weapons might hit their own missiles by accident. To minimize that risk, the Hynerians tied their firing computers with those of the Galactica.
Together, the Galactica and the twenty-one Battlearcs unleashed their collective firepower in one devastating salvo. Turbo lasers and plasma cannons hammered the destroyers and seconds later, the slower Colonial missiles and Hynerian torpedoes all hit home.
From the bridge of the Galactica, Omega checked the damage they had inflicted. "Eight Cylon destroyers eliminated and four heavily damaged. Cylon fighters are closing in."
"Order Blue and Red squadrons in, but hold the Hynerian fighters in reserve for…"
The entire bridge shuddered before suddenly and violently lurching to the left. Apollo managed to catch himself by grabbing the back of Omega's chair and the edge of his console station. Just as quickly, the ship levelled off.
At first, Apollo thought the Galactica had taken a hit, but soon realized that a Cylon pulsar cannon had struck a Hynerian ship off their portside. From one of the overhead monitors, he watched the unfortunate ship die violently, until there was nothing left save some floating wreckage.
The Cylons had wasted little time hitting them back.
A large wing of Peacekeeper Prowlers dove upon the Cylons, engaging their fighters. Hundreds of Cylon Raiders rose up to meet them. The Peacekeepers had read the technical data that the Colonials had given them about the Cylons and their war vehicles. The Raider class fighter was nearly twice the size of their Prowlers, constructed for heavy combat. The Peacekeepers weren't worried though. Larger size meant an easier target.
The two sides charged headlong and eagerly met each other in a furious exchange of weapon fire. The lethal duel was on.
One Prowler pilot got behind a Cylon Raider and quickly lined him up, squeezing the firing trigger. The pulse cannons on his Prowler thundered to life and hammered the Cylon with deadly fire.
The punishing fire had no effect and the Cylon made an evasive turn.
What the frell?
The Prowler pilot couldn't believe it. That Raider should have been crippled, if not destroyed outright.
Determined to make the kill, the Prowler pilot pursued his prey, firing a second and even a third volley. Finally, the Raider's side engine exploded, ripping the craft apart.
Before the pilot could celebrate his difficult kill, his cockpit alarm wailed, warning him that he was being targeted. He veered hard to the right just as three Cylon Raiders closed in from behind. Another Peacekeeper Prowler pilot saw his comrade was in danger and swooped in to help.
The rescuer dropped in behind, just as the Cylons took aim at the evading Prowler. He fired before they did. His shots struck home, but had no effect. The Cylons didn't even try to avoid the hits, as if they knew that they could withstand the Peacekeeper weapons for short periods of time.
The Cylons continued to track the fleeing Prowler and fired. The three Raiders' powerful pulsar cannons shredded the Peacekeeper fighter.
"Our shields are failing!" Captain Braca shouted to Scorpius as the Cylon fleet bombarded their line of Command Carriers. "We can't take much more."
"Closer!" Scorpius commanded. "Upon my order, drop shields and fire all frag batteries."
The Peacekeeper warships continued to close with the Cylon ships, as their shields glowed intensely under the strain of the incoming fire. One Command Carrier's shield flashed a brilliant red before flickering out. The Cylons immediately targeted the vulnerable ship and carved it apart with their cannons.
"Command Carrier Belar is gone!" An alarmed Captain Braca reported.
Scorpius heard, but showed no reaction. He was focused on bringing his fleet close inside the defensive arc of the Cylon defence screens. "Continue the approach!"
Their ship shuddered from a hit.
"Our shields are collapsing. Their weapons are penetrating our hull!"
"Closer!"
"They'll rip us apart like they did the Belar."
"Closer!" Scorpius roared.The Command Carrier Bridge trembled again as the Cylon weapons pierced their weakening shields.
"Closer…" Scorpius hissed as the range between them and the Cylon baseship whittled down to almost nothing. "Closer…"
And then. "Now! Drop shields and FIRE!"
As one, the eight surviving Command Carriers dropped their shields and opened up with every gun they had, including their devastating frag batteries. Their highly trained gunners fired these massive guns as fast as the weapons could recycle.
Three baseships and seven destroyers were reduced to ruin, but the Cylons also managed to claim three more Command Carriers in the unforgiving weapon exchange.
Scorpius continued to bellow out commands, pressing his fleet against the remaining Cylons facing them before the machines could regroup.
From his bridge monitor, Apollo could see that the Hynerian fleet commander was frightened. He could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. The high-pitched squeakiness as he spoke indicated that the air on his ship must be saturated with helium.
"We must retreat! Those baseships are using my vessels for target practice."
"Commander, if we don't stop them here we might never again. You must hold your ground!"
"I've lost half my squadron!"
"And you will lose much more if you run! I've heard you Hynerians can live up to one thousand yahrens, imagine living that lifetime under Cylon occupation."
Starbuck surveyed the scene before him as he led Red squadron for another attack run on a baseship. They held their own, but barely. The Cylons were penned up by all four fleets, but things weren't going as planned. The Cylons fought back with superbly coordinated effort. The allies, which consisted of four alien fleets that had never fought together before and they kept themselves separated so they wouldn't trip over each other.
The allied fleets did the best they could, but they had to deliver a knockout blow of some kind before one of those allies decided that they'd had enough.
"Starbuck, incoming!"
"I see them, Jolly," Starbuck replied, keeping one eye on his fuel gauge and his remaining weapons payload. "Let's go get them!"
The battle raged on and on.
The huge capital ships of both opposing fleets were so close to each other now that it was like watching boxers slugging it out in the ring.
A single baseship managed to punch a hole in the Scarran line and got within range of Katratzi. It launched dozens of breeching pods; each pod carried a hundred Cylon centurions, all aimed at the Scarran fortress.
The Katratzi defence grid opened fire at the approaching boarding pods. Many were destroyed, but one got through and slammed into a docking bay.
"We have been boarded! Security reports at least one group of Cylons, company strength, on tier 92!" Kwenn alerted her emperor.
Staleek kept his attention on the monitor as he continued to observe the ongoing fleet battle.
"Seal off that tier and send in the special force to deal with them," he commanded with a sly smile.
The Cylon boarding force moved deeper into the Scarran station. So far, they had met with no resistance.
Mission Protocol:
1. Neutralize Station Power Sources…
2. Neutralize Station Command and Control Centre…
3. Neutralize Station Computer Core…
4. Destroy All Opposition…
They marched through the corridors of the base three abreast and thirty-three rows thick, as though nothing could stop them.
The Cylons rounded a corner and came to a sudden stop…
They were confronted by Sparky, backed by three hundred rebuilt Cylons, each sporting a fresh coat of green paint. Not only was this done to help tell the two sides apart, but also because Dominar Rygel wanted his new troops to look perfect.
When Rygel had offered to the Emperor to leave Sparky and his new troops behind, Staleek had been unable to deny how useful they would be. The easiest way to stop a Cylon was with another Cylon. Also, he wouldn't have to sacrifice his own men to protect his base.
The two opposing mechanoid armies faced off for a long moment, red eyes pulsating back and forth, each side studying the other. The green ones confused the regular Cylon force. The green Cylons were not networked with them and refused to respond to command signals.
"Cylon centurions," one gold Cylon commanded. "Identify yourselves."
Sparky obliged and, lifting his blaster, shot the gold Cylon, putting a fist-sized hole through it. A second after that, Sparky's own private army charged to attack the remaining Cylons.
The battle was brutal, neither side backing off for a second from destroying the other. In the end, the battle was short – the green Cylons outnumbered the regular Cylons three to one.
The Pegasus and the Luxan cruisers continued to engage the Cylons aggressively at point blank range. From his bridge, things looked increasingly grim for Cain. Apollo's forces were getting battered and he was fearful that the Hynerians might turn and run. Their ships had great offensive firepower, but they weren't built for prolonged heavy action.
Unfortunately, the Peacekeepers and Scarrans weren't doing much better. As it stood, for every two Cylon ships they destroyed, they'd lose three. Only their fighters were doing marginally better. He needed to come up with a quick solution to turn this battle around.
"Communication from Commander Apollo," Dex reported as smoke drifted freely from several damaged and overloaded console boards.
Cain turned to his station monitor as Apollo's image appeared. The picture faded in and out due to interference from the intense fighting. "I read you, Commander."
"Sir, we need the Asgard."
"Not yet, Commander," Cain insisted. "We can still win this on our own."
"I can't keep the Hynerian captains fighting for much longer. If they lose any more ships, the rest might break and flee and we can't afford to let that happen."
"No, we need to keep Thor's ship in reserve for long as we can. After that, we won't have anything else to fall back on."
"We're suffering horrific casualties," Apollo countered. "Commander, signal Thor!"
From behind, Cain heard Dex shout out a warning. "Commander, we're detecting a subspace disturbance. It's a hyperspace window opening."
Surprised, Cain looked up. Thor had helped them modify their sensors enough to permit detection of ships using hyperspace, before they emerged into normal space.
Who could it be? The Peacekeepers had no more ships available and he hadn't signalled Thor yet, unless the Asgard had decided to take action on their own…
Crichton remembered watching one of those nature channels as a kid. One episode had involved honeybees and during the program, their hive had been attacked by a swarm of wasps.
That was what it looked like now, standing on the bridge of Thor's battlecrusier. He watched the huge monitor that displayed the battle in three-dimensional detail. Katratzi was the bee's nest and their guys, represented in blue, were the bees, while the Cylons, shown in red, were the big, bad wasps trying to invade. The Cylons were like those wasps, which took a lot of the little guys just to bring one of them down. Those Cylon baseships were monsters and the damage they were inflicting was horrifying.
Worse, Crichton wasn't sure if their side was winning at all. At best, they were at a stalemate, unable to get an edge over the bad guys.
He watched helplessly as another Hynerian ship was sliced in two by a Cylon baseship. The Galactica was now moving farther up, trying to protect the Hynerians from the Cylons punishing blows.
Cain and the Luxans were also struggling as they traded blows against several destroyers and baseships. The same went for the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans. They were all fighting hard, pressing the Cylons from all sides, but the machines were standing firm.
Crichton wasn't a military man, but he knew that their side just didn't have enough ships or the firepower to k.o. the Cylons.
"I should be out there," a pain-filled voice whispered next to him.
By his side, Aeryn watched the same thing that Crichton was witnessing. Sheba had grounded Aeryn because of her pregnancy, leaving her to be the helpless bystander in this battle, just like him. Aeryn had protested, but Cain and Apollo had both backed the Silver Spars' leader.
Crichton slipped his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers, but their eyes never left the battle as it played out like a train wreck in slow motion. He understood her desire to be out there to help and he wished he could do something, too. However, a small part of him couldn't deny that he was grateful that Aeryn was here, and safe, with him.
They watched as a badly damaged Scarran dreadnaught, its weapons disabled, lined itself up and rammed a Cylon baseship. Both went up like a Roman candle.
A Peacekeeper Command Carrier was surrounded by four destroyers and a baseship and was literally disintegrated when the Cylon ships fired as one.
"They have destroyed half of the Cylon forces," Thor reported from his command chair behind them.
Crichton wasn't sure what did it, just standing and watching this slaughter unfold or the calm demeanour in which Thor made his observation. He released Aeryn's hand, turned, and marched angrily toward the Asgard.
"And they got about half of ours! Get in there and help!"
"But Commander Cain has not given me the signal to attack."
"Forget Cain, attack now!"
Thor considered it, but he remembered that Commander Cain was very adamant about holding the Asgard ship back as their secret weapon.
"No."
Crichton was within a breath of losing his temper. Most of his friends were out there and he wasn't sure if they were still alive or dead. "Don't you care? Or are those ships out there just numbers on a score card?"
He suddenly found himself confronted by a rather angry redhead, who placed herself between him and Thor.
"Don't address him in that tone!" Sikozu demanded, as she stared hard up at him. "He's the captain of this ship, not you."
Crichton barely glanced at Thor's new groupie before pushing past Sikozu to face Thor again. "Listen to me. You have the most powerful ship in all the Uncharted Territories just sitting here, doing nothing!"
"We are not doing nothing," Thor replied steadily. "We are awaiting for Commander Cain's signal, if we are needed."
Before Crichton could explode against the very patient Asgard, a bridge alarm sounded and Thor turned his attention up to the main monitor.
"Sensors are registering several ships approaching via hyperspace. They are Goa'uld motherships."
Crichton turned his attention back to the main monitor and had to close his eyes as the Goa'uld ships exited from hyperspace and closed in toward the battle.
Just when things couldn't get any worse…
"I am getting a signal from the Goa'uld ships," Thor said aloud. "They are identifying themselves as the Tok'ra."
Dropping out of hyperspace almost on top of the fight was eight Ha'Tak class Motherships. In the centre of their formation, dwarfing them all was a 'Super' Ha'Tak class Mothership.
When the System Lords had finally fallen during their war against the Peacekeepers, the Tok'ra had captured several ships and the centrepiece of their success was the capture of this Super Ha'Tak. Essentially, it was a massively up-scaled version of the standard mothership with heavier weaponry and shields.
It had been meant to be a nasty surprise for the Peacekeepers, but the Tok'ra had made sure that it never saw battle. Their operatives sabotaged the ship to keep it in drydock while it was being built and when the System Lords began to fall. Those same Tok'ra operatives boarded and seized the ship, flying it home to their base.
From the bridge of their new Tok'ra flagship, Jacob Carter surveyed the ongoing battle. Wreckage from dead and damaged ships was scattered far and wide about the fortress moon of Katratzi, and more was being added as the Cylons and the allies continued to slug it out.
"We almost arrived too late," he said aloud. From what he could see, Apollo's fleet of Hynerian ships was near collapse. Next to him, SG-1, Carter, Chiana, and several Tok'ra crewmembers also watched in complete silence as the apocalyptic battle raged.
"It looks like we just stumbled across hell," Daniel finally whispered to himself.
Jacob wasted little time and started issuing orders. "Deploy the fleet and get…"
He was interrupted when their ship shuddered from a hit.
"We're being fired upon," Carter reported from the main forward bridge station, sounding more than a little irritated. "The Peacekeepers are shooting at us, but shields are holding firm!"
"Don't those frellniks know we're here to help?" Chiana cursed.
"Well, they were at war with the Goa'uld. They were bound to get jumpy with us showing up in Goa'uld ships," an annoyed Jacob said, not appreciating having someone trying to put holes in their new ship. "Hail them and tell them we're on their side!"
"Oh, I've got a better way," Carter whispered as she armed their ship's powerful cannons and selected her target.
"Sam?" Both O'Neill and Jacob called out to her worriedly.
"Trust me," she answered with a faint smile. "I know what I am doing."
"Famous last words, Sam!" O'Neill warned.
A Peacekeeper Command Carrier was in the middle of a life and death struggle against a Cylon baseship when it was surprised by the sudden appearance of several Goa'uld Motherships from behind. The crew, thinking they were about to be attacked from the rear, opened fire with their two aft frag cannons.
As the Peacekeepers continued to fire upon them, Carter calmly aimed her own cannons at the Cylon baseship attacking the Command Carrier and fired. Already damaged by the Peacekeepers, the massive pulse cannons from the mothership tore through the baseship's armored superstructure. Firing again, Carter's second salvo bit even deeper through its hull and something finally gave inside. The baseship exploded.
"The Peacekeepers have ceased targeting us," a Tok'ra finally reported.
"Now we can get to work," Jacob said in relief before issuing orders to his forces. "All ships follow us in. We're going to split that Cylon fleet in two."
The Super Ha'Tak was so powerful and complex that it took Jacob, Sam, Teal'c and four other Tok'ra at seven different stations to operate the heavy weapons alone.
Surging forward, the Tok'ra ships slammed their full weight into the enemy formation. The Cylons, already fully engaged with the other vessels, had no more ships available to counter this new assault.
"It's the Tok'ra!" Dex shouted excitedly.
"Thank the Lords of Kobol!" Cain whispered as he watched the Tok'ra blaze a destructive trail through the Cylon forces. "The scales have finally tipped back in our favour."
He activated communication to their entire fleet. "All ships, this is our chance. Hit them with everything you have left!"
The battered and nearly exhausted ally fleets rallied once more for the final push to win this critical battle. The Cylons wavered as the Tok'ra motherships sliced their fleet in two and joined up with Apollo's fleet, encouraging the remaining Hynerians ships to battle on.
The Cylon fleet commander calculated that they had lost the initiative in this engagement. They had not planned on the Scarrans having help in this battle. Facing superior numbers now and no reinforcements, they had one course of action left – save what they could.
Aiming for another kill, Sheba was closing in on the tail of another Cylon Raider when it veered off, away from the battle. Not long after, she noticed other Cylon fighters were doing the same.
She couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true.
"They're RUNNING!" She shouted triumphantly.
They were running. Many pushed through the Peacekeeper lines to escape and Cain helplessly watched them do it. Scorpius' Command Carriers did all they could to stop them, but powerful as his ships were, he just didn't have enough vessels left to plug the gaps.
The Cylons were leaving enough fighters and most of their destroyers behind to cover the escape of their more valuable vessels. Five surviving baseships were fleeing for open space and Cain couldn't allow that. If those ships were allowed to escape, they would only face them again in another battle, fully repaired and rearmed.
As it was, those baseships stood a good chance of making their escape while the ally fleet was tied down fighting against the remaining Cylon forces, defending their retreat.
This was just the situation for which Cain had held back the Asgard.
"Now, Thor!"
Thor answered Cain's call and his battlecrusier jumped instantly from hyperspace, speeding to intercept the five fleeing baseships.
The Cylon baseships had little time to react before Thor's charging ship attacked. A single energy projectile was fired from the Asgard battlecrusier and struck the first Cylon baseship. It was enveloped in a blue sphere of blinding energy, which immediately began to fade. Once the sphere had dissipated, the baseship could no longer be seen. The energy weapon had completely destroyed the huge baseship, not leaving even a single piece of wreckage.
Thor's ship fired four more times and four more baseships all met the same fate.
Crichton, Aeryn, and even Sikozu stood in complete, stunned silence at the display of sheer power they had just witnessed.
"You…" Crichton finally started to say before turning to face Thor. "You could have taken on the entire Cylon fleet with that much firepower."
"That was our main weapon," Thor said as he steered his ship, bringing it about to help the ally fleet against the remaining Cylons. "Powerful as it is, we can only use it a few times before it becomes a serious strain on our primary generators."
Crichton gave a thoughtful nod. "That must suck when you don't know if you fired five shots or six."
Thor couldn't understand Crichton's need to speak in riddles, but had little time to think about it as his ship closed in on the battle. The Asgard Supreme Commander maneuvered his ship outside the formation of Peacekeeper Command Carriers and added his firepower to theirs against the remaining Cylon destroyers.
Thor armed his ship's secondary weaponry. Although far weaker than the main weapon, it still packed a considerable punch. Targeting one destroyer, Thor fired and annihilated the warship with a blaze of consuming blue energy. Then he targeted another, and another.
The guns of the ally ships soon fell silent as the last of the Cylon ships were destroyed. They had finally won but not without paying a terrible price both in lives and ships lost. It would take time to get the final estimate of today's casualties that could easily tally into the tens of thousands but the allied fleet had survived, the Cylon attack force was completely destroyed, and Katratzi was still firmly in their hands. From here, it would serve as a base of operation and a launch point for all new offensives against the Cylons before the machines could recover from their first major loss of the war.
Already, many Scarrans, Peacekeepers, Luxans, and Hynerians were predicting a quick victory over the Cylons. However, the Colonials knew better. The machines had fought them to a standstill for a thousand yahrens.
That's what many Colonials feared, a new start to another thousand-yahren war.
TBC…..