Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Sg-1, Stargate: Atlantis or any other television programs, video games, books or movies used in the telling of this story. I make no money off of this work of fiction, and would rather not be sued anytime soon as I make very little money and need it to pay the bills, buy food and pay for the ridiculous cost of fuel.

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To Jumper Prime: I have to say I'm sorry - and a little embarrassed - by that little mistake, and thank you for pointing that out to me. It's been about six years since I last saw the original movie (although I've been meaning to buy the DVD for some time now), so that explains how I forgot that Ra used Horus Guards, and not Serpent Guards. In this chapter, I was going to give a little bit more of a background to the way my AU Goa'uld Union acts, and how the Goa'uld themselves interact with each other, so instead of going back and editing the previous chapter, I'm going to offer a plausible explanation in this one.

To Darth Kiryan: Thanks for the review, it gives me a somewhat better idea of what people want to see more of. I'm sorry to say this chapter won't be as action packed, as the last, although it should be anything but boring. Hopefully.

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March 3rd , 2187

Sierra Fleet Yards

UNSC Dreadnought Jasper's Way

Vice-Admiral Michelle Lucas was lying on her bunk in her quarters aboard her new flagship. The Jasper was the first of twelve dreadnoughts to be constructed at the Sierra Fleet Yards this year, and as it was the first to be completed, it had been temporarily assigned to the Sierra defence fleet while it tested out its weapons and critical systems.

Today's tests had been completed a little over an hour ago, and the half kilometre walk from the flag bridge to the main mess hall had added just that little bit to Lucas's fatigue, the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak. With a biological age of 103, but the appearance of a middle aged woman, Lucas wasn't as fit as she had been when she had first started her military career nearly seventy years ago, despite the strict training regimen and the aid of various gene therapies and regenerative drugs and, more recently, nanotechnology.

The Admiral had been awake and active since the Jasper had been completed two-and-a-half days ago, handling crisis after crisis, no matter how small or how big. The dreadnought had to be ready for combat by the end of the week, and already the ship had had to return to dry dock twice, once when a fluctuation in one the hydrogen fusion reactors had been detected, and once more to readjust the rail gun turret alignment.

Lucas had just closed her eyes and started to drift off when her COM link beeped, and the voice of her XO, Captain Jeremiah Hewitt echoed throughout the room.

"Admiral Lucas, we've received an eyes-only, Platinum encryption communiqué from Rear Admiral Vladislov," the Captains deep, baritone voice forced Lucas out of her bed and over to her desk.

"Put it through to my desk console please, Jerry," she replied as she took her seat.

"Yes, ma'am." A moment after the COM link cut off, the holo tank in her desk activated and the scarred, scowling face of Aleksandir Vladislov appeared before her.

"Alek," Lucas started, "I do hope this is important, I was just in the middle of my first rack time in more than two days."

"Sorry to disturb your beauty sleep, ma'am, but I think this warrants your full attention," Vladislov stated, all business as usual.

"Alright, what do you have for me?," Lucas returned, her interest piqued.

"As you no doubt know, sixteen hours ago the Tau lost contact with one of their deep space hyperspace monitoring stations, specifically Outpost 31, about a parsec from the Hubris system. Five hours later, the recon patrol failed to check in with Sierra FLEETCOM at the designated time. The 22nd UNSC battle group, commanded by myself, and the 8th TRN battle group, commanded by one Elder K'Hahn, was sent to investigate in force," the younger Admiral began, recounting all the details of the mission Lucas herself, as current ranking officer in the Sierra system, had authorized.

"As you said, Admiral, I already know all of this, so if you could please get to the point, it would be much appreciated."

"Hard contact," Vladislov stated flatly. Immediately, any signs - and feelings - of fatigue on Lucas's person vanished, replaced with perplexity and a not-so-small dose of concern.

"Say again, Alek?," she asked, although she already knew her hearing had not failed her.

"Hard contact, ma'am. When we entered the system, there was a fair-sized alien fleet here, as well as the remains of Outpost 31 and the recon group that was sent ahead of us. Just moments later, were contacted on a subspace frequency, which was relayed to all the ships of my fleet, and a human, or at least human like being appeared on the holo display," Vladislov paused for a moment as he waited for that piece of information to sink in.

A variety of expressions flickered across the Lucas's face, the first being shock, followed quickly by disbelief. It wasn't that she didn't believe Vladislov, so much that she didn't believe that humankind could have evolved on a world other than Earth, and there was no way a privateer or pirate faction would have anywhere near the number of heavy ships to be any kind of a threat to 142 Allied warships.

"What happened after you made contact, and how did it turn into a fight?," Lucas asked, ignoring the urge to ask more questions before the younger man had the chance to reply to her first.

"Not a great deal really. The being referred to itself as 'Ra', and apparently he believed himself to be something of a god. I questioned this 'Ra' about the destruction of the Outpost and the recon group, which he pretty much admitted to being the culprit of. He then threatened myself and the rest of the battle group with a similar fate if we did not, and I quote, 'bow down to his divine will'," Vladislov spoke with the same monotone as he always maintained when giving a report. When Lucas did not reply, Vladislov took it as a sign that he should continue.

"I'm preparing to send you all the data we gathered, both before and after the battle. It will include enemy fleet formations, fighter and capital ship tactics, effective Allied tactics, gun cam footage from both strike craft and the heavy ships, scanner readings and estimated casualties for both sides," Vladislov said, watching Lucas closely, trying to gauge her reactions. Lucas nodded slowly, seemingly in deep thought, before looking Vladislov square in his holographic eyes.

"There's something else, isn't there Alek? You may as well tell me now, because I'm going to need all the facts when I present your findings to the rest of the Admiralty and the UN Senate," Lucas spoke evenly, years of knowing and having worked alongside Vladislov letting her know immediately that he was holding something back.

Vladislov seemed to hesitate a moment, then sighed and began speaking, "the Tau battleship, the Pious Inquisitor, was boarded after taking critical damage and high casualties."

"That doesn't seem like something you would normally hesitate to tell me Alek, now tell me what happened in detail. That's and order, by the way," Lucas stated, frowning deeply in disapproval at her friends apparent anxiety and hesitance to tell her something that was not exactly unusual.

"No boarding craft were detected by anyone in the fleet, yet the enemy managed to get an estimated 300 combatants aboard the Inquisitor."

Now that, Lucas thought to herself, that IS unusual.

"Explain."

"We don't know anything for sure, but I've had a few people giving me their hypotheses. The most common one among them was that the enemy have some kind of teleportation systems, not unlike the ones found in the Progenitor Repository on Pluto," Vladislov confessed, referring to the name used for the now-believed-extinct alien race that had left their legacy behind in the Sol system.

Lucas sat back in her seat and closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. If that theory was proven correct, then there were only three plausible explanations for it; first, the humanlike aggressors had discovered a repository or two of their own and figured out the secret to teleportation were both human and Tau scientists had failed, second, the aggressors were the Progenitors, or at least their descendants, and third, the aggressors were the race responsible for the extinction of the progenitors.

Of those theories, the first seemed most likely, as if this 'Ra' and his followers were the Progenitors or the race that had killed them off, then it was highly unlikely that Vladislov would have survived a hostile encounter with them, let alone won.

"Okay, Alek, honest opinion. If we do go to war with these people, what do you think our chances are of winning," Lucas queried, glancing at her control panel and noting that the promised data packet had arrived.

Vladislov was quiet for a long time, a look of consternation on his face. If at all possible, his scowl deepened further, before vanishing completely as his facial expression became neutral.

"Assuming that their territory and military strength is of roughly equal size to ours, and that they don't have any allies, then I'd say we have a better than 80 percent chance of winning, but we will likely take very heavy losses," came the answer, finally.

"And if their strength is greater, or they have allies?"

It was silent again in her quarters as Vladislov conferred with someone out of view, probably a member of his bridge crew or a strategist. When Vladislov turned to face Lucas again, the scowl was back with a vengeance.

"Akira, the Endeavour's AI, informs me that if that is the case, then our chances of success drop below 40 percent," Vladislov sighed.

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March 3rd, 2187

Aftermath of The Battle

TRN Battleship Pious Inquisitor, Starboard Hangar Bay

Captain Francis O'Malley, UNSC Marine Corps, 105th Shock Trooper Division, was the first man out of the Hellcat boarding craft that had ferried himself and his platoon, 8th/105th, from the Endeavour to reinforce the remainder of the TRN personnel aboard the Inquisitor. Given the fact that the Tau battleships structural integrity was somewhat less than optimal in most parts of the vessel, the boarding parties had been forced to land in the remaining hangar bay, rather than breaching the ships hull in strategic locations to best cut off and deal with the enemy boarders.

The Shock Troopers were equipped with the latest - and most expensive - equipment, weapons and armour available to anyone outside of SOCOM. Their armour, the Trident Powered Combat Armour Mark IV, was the first personal body armour to feature an integrated, self-regenerating personal energy shield, and a shoulder mounted plasma cannon, all powered by a double-fist sized hydrogen fusion reactor with a combat life of over 400 hours, and a standby life 2800 hours.

O'Malley, sixty two years old and an actual Earthborn Irishman, something rare for a battle group based so far away from the Homeworld, had been a shock trooper for close to thirty five years, and a Captain for fifteen and had been involved in dozens of boarding actions against pirate and privateer ships, as had the rest of the 8th/105th.

Without even having to issue a single order, the platoon - thirty six men, including the Captain - split up into six kill-teams of six, and began heading to the four different exits to the vast hangar bay.

O'Malley himself weaved through the crowds of men and women in the hangar bay, dodging past triage teams working diligently on wounded crewmembers and security teams moving out to secure the entrances. The starboard hangar bay, the only hangar bay left on the grievously wounded battleship, was probably the most secure area aboard, aside from the bridge. As O'Malley and his team, Unit One, approached entryway three accompanied by Unit Three, he used his NCI (Neural Command Interface) implant to activate the platoon's secure COM link.

"All right then, boys and girls, here's the order of play. Unit One, we're securing engineering, Unit Two has the bridge, Three gets Primary Fire Control, Four has Secondary Fire Control, Five has the Tactical Command Centre and Six gets Life Support and Artificial Gravity Control. Move it out, and don't forget we want some of these jokers taken alive for questioning," O'Malley barked out, his smooth Irish brogue ruined by his habit of smoking cigars, giving his voice a more gravely undertone. Shutting down the COM link to the other units, he switched to Unit Ones frequency and ordered them to get a move on.

They had a lot of ground to cover, and O'Malley suspected he had very little time in which to cover it.

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March 3rd, 2187

Aftermath of The Battle

Cloaked Tok'ra Tel'tak Cargo Ship, One Light-hour from Human-Tau fleet

The three occupants of the Tel'tak had yet to fully recover the shock of seeing the alien fleet force Ra himself to run from a fight, but they still had the presence of mind to continue recording as much data on the newcomers as possible. It was readily apparent, thanks to the obvious differences in starship design, their were two separate races commanding the fleet.

Their technology seemed roughly equal, as both allied factions had fired a curious mix of projectile, nuclear and energy weapons during the battle. That, and both powered their vessels with what appeared to be some kind of very advanced hydrogen fusion reactors, although still inferior to naquada reactors, and that their engines had an Ion signature that was almost exactly the same.

The Tok'ra in the cargo ship had been picking up a good deal of subspace communications coming from all ships, most of it aimed at the largest of the ugly, blocky ships that they had witnessed destroying three Goa'uld Ha'tak in a single weapons volley. From that ship, however, they detected a single subspace data stream that was not directed at any of the ships in the fleet. They couldn't decipher what was in the message, but they could follow it to its destination.

After a short debate between the three occupants, the decision was made and the pilot entered the desired coordinates and made the jump to hyperspace.

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March 3rd, 2187

Aftermath of The Battle

TRN Battleship Pious Inquisitor

L'Tan huddled against the wall of the corridor leading to engineering, blind firing his rail rifle around the corner as golden bolts of energy slammed into the wall opposite him, charring the thin battle plate designed to ward off small arms fire to protect the vital systems running through the cables hidden beneath the battle plate.

L'Tan's own ceramic-titanium composite armoured breastplate had a pair of divots scored into it from two glancing hits from the strange staff like weapon their enemy was using. Beside L'Tan, the one remaining Marine swung around the corner, firing a stream of rounds form his much larger calibre rail gun, and to the Taus satisfaction, a loud scream of pain was cut abruptly short under the hail of fire.

The Marine took a hit to the shoulder and stumbled back behind cover, the armoured shoulder plate glowing bright orange from the intense heat.

"They're trying to move in closer!," the Marine shouted over the din of small arms fire, as he checked over his weapon to make sure it wasn't damaged, "anyone got any grenades left?"

L'Tan checked with the two remaining security officers, both of whom shook their heads. Looking back at the power armoured form of the Marine, L'Tan repeated the action. The Marine cursed, threw his weapon to the ground, and unslung the laser rifle from his back. L'Tan glanced quickly at the rail gun lying on the ground, and noticed that the weapon was warped just in front of the pistol grip, probably from a direct hit from one of those staff weapons.

Although rail guns were the preferred infantry weapons, laser and plasma weapons were slowly gaining more and more popularity amongst the Allied ground forces, and many had started taking one or the other as a secondary weapon should their rail guns run out of ammo.

"All right, we've got no grenades," the Marine started speaking again, attaching a device to the modular rail beneath the laser rifles barrel, "that's going to make this a little more difficult to pull off."

L'Tan watched curiously as the marine tapped a button on his helmet, then a moment later a similar button on the small device now firmly attached to the rifles barrel. He noted that the device looked somewhat similar to a camera. Behind him, the two other security officers continued firing short bursts of rail gun round around the corner, cringing back into cover as the enemy intensified their own fire in return.

The Marine moved back up against the wall and shoved the two smaller Tau aside, then aimed the laser rifle around the corner and fired a single shot. From over the sound of gunfire, a loud shout of pain could be heard. The Marine fired again, this time a short burst, and another scream could be heard. The Marine pulled back around the corner and quickly checked over his weapon, before aiming it around the corner and firing again, the burst of laser fire yet again accompanied by a shout.

By this time, L'Tan had figured out that the device the Marine had attached to his weapon was a small camera, and he had connected it wirelessly to his helmets Heads-Up Display and was using it to aim whilst remaining in cover.

"Okay!," the Marine shouted to the three other Tau, " I'm going to fire full auto for a few seconds! When I do, I want you three to run over to the other side of the corridor and deploy the defence barriers!"

L'Tan grinned to himself as he realised the Marines plan. The defence barriers were wall mounted, deployable armour plated shields that defending soldiers could use as cover when fending off boarders. With the barriers deployed, the remaining Tau defending engineering would be able to fire from two different areas, increasing the fire output and hopefully their chances of survival.

The Marine stayed behind cover a moment longer, then shouted "GO!", and leaned his rifle around the corner and opened fire full auto. Instantly, the enemy fire slackened and the three Tau security officers charged out into the open, firing their own weapons in an attempt to make sure their the enemy kept their heads down. For the most part it work, however one of the Tau stumbled slightly over the corpse of one of the Marines and was instantly struck down by a quartet of energy bolts.

L'Tan skidded to a halt right in front of the control panel and slapped the button marked 'Deploy', and instantly a six inch thick slab of armour erupted out of the wall, intercepting a volley of fire that was nanoseconds away from cutting L'Tan and the last remaining Tau aside from the Marine into bloody ribbons. L'Tan grinned and slapped the shoulder plate of the Tau beside him, even as he realised that the last security officer with him was the nervous youth he had reassured before the first fire fight. With a nod, the young Tau leaned over the top of the barrier and fired a burst down the corridor, earning a satisfactory screech of pain for his efforts. L'Tan, amazed of the change that had taken place in the youth, shook his head and opened fire around the side of the barrier.

We might get ourselves out of this yet, he thought to himself.

At that exact moment, the lights went out, and L'Tan found himself completely blind aside from the flashes of gunfire.

Damn…

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March 3rd, 2187

Goa'uld Union System Lords Meeting Chambers

Undisclosed Location

Baal sneered derisively as Ra continued to make ridiculous excuses for the loss of an entire fleet. A quick glance at Apophis, Ra's only real rival for the title of Supreme System Lord, confirmed to Baal that he was utterly infuriated.

And rightly so, Baal thought, a good portion of the ships that Ra lost were his.

"Imbecile!," Apophis practically shrieked, clearly having had enough of Ra's excuses.

"You are questioning my authority as Supreme System Lord?," Ra questioned, his eyes flashing menacingly. Even Apophis was not fool enough to admit to that.

"No. I am questioning your loyalty to this Union, to the pact we all made when the Wraith invaded 150 years ago!," Apophis shouted, referring to the unprecedented attack a dozen Wraith Hive ships had made long ago, apparently having hibernated for the centuries it took for their hyper drive to cross the galactic void. Looking around the chamber at the other System Lords, he continued, "I take it at least some of you have noticed that almost all the ships that were 'lost' to this new enemy were the ones we all donated to the fleet we sent with Ra?"

There was a murmur around the chamber, as the other System Lords conferred amongst themselves. Of the ships sent with Ra, Apophis had lost fourteen Ha'tak and twenty Al'kesh, and everyone else in the room had sent at least half a dozen ships, with Baal himself having lost several of his upgraded Ha'tak. The murmurs rose in volume as each System Lord tried to speak above the rest, until everyone, with the exception of Baal, was shouting and arguing amongst themselves.

"Silence," a single voice spoke, the volume low, but it was heard by everyone and they all stopped speaking at the same time as the cloaked form of Anubis stepped out of the shadows. No matter how much collective power the System Lords had at their command, they all knew that Anubis was the one with the real power, and even if they betrayed Anubis and managed to destroy his fleets and armies, they would never be able to kill Anubis thanks to his semi-ascended state. Ultimately, the System Lords were nothing more than Anubis' pawns, his Lieutenants so to speak.

"It is obvious that no matter Ra's failings, this new enemy is a threat to all we have accomplished since my return," Anubis continues speaking, making his way to stand in the centre of the room, "Their ships are clearly powerful, and their commanders adept. It is clear to me, as it should be to all of you, that we need more information about them. Where they come from, how many worlds they control, how large their fleets and armies are. And once we know all of this, it should be a simple matter, even for fools like yourselves, to root them out and destroy them wherever they may be."

Anubis' short speech was met with murmurs of agreement from around the room, and Baal found himself smiling as he noted the evident frustration and embarrassment on Ra's face. For Baal, this particular series of events may well be just what he had been waiting for, and if all went in his favour, then he would soon be able to usurp Ra as Supreme System Lord.

Before that happened, however, Baal needed to be rid of Apophis. Then the only 'person' he would have to answer to was Anubis himself, and Baal was quite sure that there was some way to kill that overbearing buffoon. All he needed was a plan.

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March 3rd, 2187

Aftermath of The Battle

TRN Battleship Pious Inquisitor

Captain O'Malley nodded to himself as he received reports from the rest of the platoon. It seemed that for the most part, the Inquisitor was secure, with only engineering still under siege.

As O'Malley and his squad cautiously approached engineering, he noticed that the lights seemed to have gone out for several corridors, and the sounds of small arms fire had intensified considerably.

Probably trying to shoot each other in the dark, O'Malley thought, before checking over his rail gun and making a last minute diagnostic on his armour systems.

Shields, check. Sensors, check. Visual modes, all check. Plasma cannon, check. Hydraulics and servo motors, all clear. Internal biofoam injectors, check. Looks like I'm as ready as I'll ever be, O'Malley ran through the checklist in his head. Biofoam was a recent advancement in medical technology, and all power armoured battle suits had a series of injectors placed internally to provide first aid. It contained a mixture of local anaesthetics, stimulants and medical nanomachines which deadened the pain of a wound, kept the combatant conscious and able to continue fighting and sped up the healing process h hundred-fold.

"Unit One, systems check," O'Malley ordered to the rest of the squad. Immediately, orange acknowledgment lights winked on at the leftmost edge of his HUD, followed shortly thereafter by green 'all clear' lights replacing the acknowledgments. As O'Malley sent his own acknowledgement that he had received their status reports, he slid up close to the wall just a meter short of a corner in the corridor.

Just around the corner, O'Malley could hear the unfamiliar sounds of the enemy troops weapons firing, and, barely audible over the din, the much more familiar sounds of rail guns and laser weapons returning fire. There was a strobing effect from the close by weapons fired, bright, intermittent flashes of light rendering night vision useless and making it impossible for the human - or Tau, for that matter - eye to adjust. It did not, however, make infrared useless.

With a series of hand signals, (one can never be too sure that the enemy is incapable of hearing you) O'Malley ordered the squad to switch to infrared and form up into an attack position, heavy gunners equipped with the heavy hand held plasma cannons to go in first, the rest of the squad right behind them. O'Malley watched as his own infrared took over his vision, and his squadmates became bright blobs of yellow, orange, red and green against a background of dark blue. The Captain held up his left hand and began a slow countdown with his fingers.

3...2...1!

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L'Tan grimaced as his eyes struggled futilely to adjust to the constant changes of brightness that came from so many weapons firing within such close proximity to each other. The Marine across the hallway seemed to be faring much better, probably something to do with the armoured battle suits various vision modes. L'Tan stood to fire again, managing to drop another of the serpent headed invaders, before an energy bolt slammed into his already weakened shoulder plate, burning right through into the flesh the shoulder plate hade been protecting.

He fell back, shrieking in agony, even as the youthful Tau beside him cringed away from the returning fire and tried to aid L'Tan. L'Tan's vision blurred as he fought hard to retain his consciousness, and his hearing seemed to become muffled slightly. He found himself wondering if this is what it was like to die.

Surely I can't be dying. Its only a shoulder wound!

L'Tan blinked many times in rapid succession, finally overcoming the blurry vision, just in time to see the steady stream of golden light moving past above him and splashing against the wall to cease. He strained his hearing as much as he could, and was gratified to hear what sounded light rail gun and plasma fire over the sound of the enemies staff weapons.

Thank the Great Elder, help has arrived, were L'Tan's last thought before he finally gave up the fight and everything turned to black.

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O'Malley's shields flashed silver as a pair of energy bolts struck him mid-stride, causing the status bar to drop by a small amount and the numeric indicator to flash as the shield integrity dropped by 17 percent. Less than a second after taking the hits, O'Malley had cut down his assailant in a hail of hyper velocity rounds, his auto tracking shoulder mounted plasma canon firing into the belly of another as he aimed his staff weapon at the Captains side.

O'Malley swung around his rifle, not even bothering to aim, and fired a burst into another of the invaders at the same moment as one of his squadmates, the serpentine figure collapsing in a shower of blood and armour fragments. He turned again, just in time to see one of the Shock Troopers drop to one knee, his shields breached and his armour taking several hits before someone had the presence of mind toss a fragmentation grenade into the group of enemies that were responsible.

At the end of the hallway, a battle armoured Tau Marine stepped out of cover, raised his laser rifle and fired a burst of coherent light energy past O'Malley's head, cutting down another of the aliens even as it raised its staff weapon, preparing to club the Captain upside the head. O'Malley waved his thanks to the Marine, and the Tau returned the gesture even as the human turned away to survey the rest of the 'fight'. Of the two dozen aliens they had discovered firing on the Marine and whoever else was with him, only three had been taken alive, and two of those were badly wounded.

It would seem that the fight for the Pious Inquisitor was over.

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March 4th, 2187

High Command, Epsilon Eridani System, High Orbit of planet Bastion

Orbital Command Facility Imperial

"Surely we should be trying to reason with them. Only a logical creature can build ships, become a stellar power, and all logical creatures must want peace," Senator Samantha Bachmann, representative of the Gannis System voiced her opinion yet again, having stated that exact phrase three times since this Senatorial Conference had been called to session nearly eleven hours previously. Having had hourly breaks since the beginning had not saved the more aggressive Senators or the military personnel from the frustration the felt at Bachmann's persistence.

"Forgive me, Senator, but what kind of fool are you?," Major General Arthur Fields responded, finally fed up.

"Have you forgotten the Alkaid War? They had ship building capabilities, so therefore, by your logic, they should have wanted nothing more than peace with us. I'm sure you haven't forgotten how the war went," Fields continued, earning murmurs and nods of agreement form the majority of the rooms inhabitants. Bachmann looked suitably chastised, but refused to give up.

"I have not forgotten the Alkaid War, but they were the exception that proves the rule. The recordings of the events that led up to the fight between Rear Admiral Vladislov's group and the alien fleet show that no serious attempts at starting peace talks were made. Admiral Vladislov event went so far as to mock them!," Bachmann exclaimed. Silence reigned over the room until the Tau representative from Sierra stood and began speaking.

"I saw the recordings as well, Senator Bachmann, and while your efforts to maintain peace have earned you great respect from all Tau, I'm afraid I must agree with General Fields. Although Admiral Vladislov did indeed seem to mock the being that contacted his group, you seem to have forgotten that that same being killed hundreds of Tau and humans at the Outpost and the small group of ships sent to investigate, and then demanded that Admiral Vladislov surrender himself and accept this 'Ra' as his god," Representative Elder I'Pah responded, before bowing respectfully and returning to his seat.

There was a moment of chaos as the many people in the room began arguing amongst themselves, some about the ridiculous implication that the being in the recordings could possibly be a god, others about whether or not war was a truly viable option. A loud alert sounded out over the loudspeakers in the room, and slowly the rabble began to quiet down, until all was silent once again and the most powerful human in existence began speaking.

"Regardless of whether or not we should consider suing for peace with these people," President Harold Berkley, leader of all human government, started, "It is clear to me that much more information is needed. We don't even know what they call themselves, let alone how large their territories are, how powerful their armies or fleets. Therefore, I am authorising General Fields' request to prepare a SOCOM stealth cruiser flotilla to follow the hyperspace trajectory that the escaping vessels of Ra's fleet took and attempt to insert Special Forces teams on one of their worlds, should one be found."

A number of agreements - and arguments - arose, and were immediately silenced as the President raised his hand.

"I have made my decision, and it stands. This meeting is hereby adjourned until the SOCOM ships return with further intelligence on the aliens," Berkley finished, before standing and making his way out of the room.

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March 4th, 2187

Edge of the Sierra System

Cloaked Tok'ra Tel'tak Cargo Ship

The three Tok'ra had been sitting at the edge of the star system for just over sixteen hours now, and they had gathered quite a lot of intelligence on the newcomers. It was clear to the occupants of the Tel'tak that this system was some kind of military base, evidenced by the large number of what appeared to be orbital shipyards and defence platforms, as well as literally hundreds of ships of shapes and sizes. Some the Tok'ra had seen during the battle between the newcomers and Ra's fleet, some they had not.

One ship in particular had drawn their attention. It was far bigger than any other vessel they had ever seen before, and never strayed more than a million kilometres from the systems fourth planet. The enormous ship had been taking on many small shuttles and fighter craft, and was a constant hub of activity. They had witnessed what they assumed was a test firing of the vessels weapons on the large asteroid field perhaps three light hours from their current position, and had been thoroughly impressed by the apparent ease the ship had demonstrated in destroying asteroids thousands of kilometres in diameter with just a few volleys.

What was truly amazing though, was that almost all of the ships in this system appeared to be commanded by humans. This was unprecedented, humans having developed their own technology, free from Goa'uld subjugation and influence. Even better they appeared to have allies. This would surely be a boon for the Tok'ra, if they could get the humans and their allies to side with them in opposing the System Lords.

After a brief conversation, it was decided that they had enough information and could now report their findings back to the rest of the Tok'ra. The Tel'tak de-cloaked for a short time, then made the hyperspace jump that began its journey back to the Tok'ra, unwittingly setting into motion many great things to come.

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March 3rd , 2187

Sierra Fleet Yards

Orbital Command Facility Omega

In a room onboard the OCF Omega, a sensor suite lit up with a confirmed hyperspace entry contact; one that was unscheduled and in an area of space previously believed to be uninhabited by anything other than a few stray asteroids. Had the console been manned at the time, the contact would have immediately been reported and an investigative force would have been sent along the recorded trajectory. As it was, however, the computer system, unoccupied by the artificial intelligence construct that would normally be installed in such a system in the event that something occurred whilst the person manning the station was using the bathroom, as was the case now, simply logged the record of the contact and added it the file cache to be sent to the planetary command centre for review.

Because of that particular unfortunate series of event, even as short as it was, one of the most vital discoveries HICOM could have made about their new enemy would not be discovered until at least a week after the fact.

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March 7th, 2187

Former Location Of Hyperspace Monitoring Outpost 31

UNSC SOCOM Stealth Cruiser Magnus

The SOCOM cruiser hung against a backdrop of stars and the hulking forms of Allied warships, its ACSIS stealth system inactive for the time being. The 850 metre long cruiser was one of five in the 16th SOCOM Flotilla, and its ominous shape, reminiscent of some massive, space faring manta ray was matched by the other four. In unison, the five cruisers ran through their systems, starting with the Laser Net point defence grid, a series of interlocking light laser cannons on fast tracking mounts, and the Orbital Human Entry Vehicle launch pods, ending with main weapons, shields and the ACSIS itself.

The Active Camouflage Specialized Infiltration System was essentially a series of tiny holographic displays all over the ship, with cameras constantly recording and updating images of the surrounding space, effectively making the ship invisible to the naked eye. A sophisticated ECM suite and radar absorbent paints and hull materials made it virtually impossible to detect via high tech means as well.

Although the SOCOM Stealth Cruisers were designed for infiltration duties, including transporting teams of highly trained Spectre Special Forces Operatives from world to world, they also had to have the means to defend themselves, and if necessary, fight their way through a blockade of enemy ships in order to retrieve Spectres from behind enemy lines. Because of that, ships like the Magnus were equipped with a very heavy weapons load out for a ship of its size, made up mostly of heavy rail guns and laser cannons, but also a dorsal mounted double barrelled Ion Cannon, an experimental weapon with devastating firepower, and eight frontal nuclear torpedo tubes.

Soaring past the quintet of ships was a squadron of Valkyrie Heavy Fighters, heading back to their carrier, having completed their CSP duties. Since the battle here four days ago, Rear Admiral Vladislov had received massive reinforcements in the form of two Carrier battle groups and even a Dreadnought battle group. Further away from the bulk of the fleet sat the menacing form of a Titan-class Deep Space Fortress, a mobile shipyard and heavy support platform shaped like an eight pointed star and approximately fourteen kilometres in diameter and three kilometres from ventral side to dorsal. Any attempts by their somewhat mysterious enemy to retake this particular area of space would be met with nothing less than devastating resistance on the Allies part.

With a final systems check, the five SOCOM cruisers made the simultaneous transit to hyperspace, headed for their latest mission, and, for some, a date with destiny.

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March 8th, 2187

Orbit of Planet Designated P3Y-737

UNSC SOCOM Stealth Cruiser Magnus

The Magnus had been the second last ship of the small flotilla to be designated a planet to conduct their operations on, and since arriving in orbit the crew had been busy taking comprehensive scans of the planet, hoping to find some signs of civilization to insert their Spectre team into. Thus far, they had discovered nothing, but that was soon to change.

With a flash of blue light, the avatar of the Magnus' resident AI, Siobhan, appeared before Commander Albert Burrows.

"Commander," Siobhan started, her avatar taking the form of an attractive, sun kissed young woman of South American descent, "I have just spotted something rather unusual on the planets surface."

Siobhan's avatar disappeared as the Commander watched, to be replaced moments later by a small, poorly detailed map being represented in real-time. The map showed what appeared to be some kind of town or village, although the poor resolution made it difficult to make out.

"What am I looking at, Siobhan?," Burrows queried, his eyebrow quirking as the image updated itself as more detailed scans were made.

"If I'm not mistaken, sir, I believe it to be a pre-Industrial era township, although I am registering some kind of artificially generated power source somewhere inside this large building in the centre of town," Siobhan answered, the designated building suddenly taking on a dark blue hue for the Commanders benefit.

The Commander nodded, thinking to himself.

Not exactly what I would have expected from a space faring race, but for all we know these could be some primitive locals and not a colony.

"The inhabitants?," he spoke aloud.

"From what I can tell, they are human, sir."

"Very well. Please inform Spectre team to get themselves ready for deployment. They have one hour to make the necessary preparations, then send them to their OHEVs and launch them three kilometres from the settlement," the Commander ordered, effectively dismissing Siobhan for the moment. Siobhan's avatar reappeared long enough for her to bow to Burrows, then she disappeared again to see to her duties.

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Sergeant Major James Allen charged into the armoury before the announcement for he and his team to prepare for launch. He pushed his way past a pair of crewmen standing in the corridor talking about some new holo movie, dodged an officer staring intently at a clipboard and slapped his hand against the access panel to Armoury B, only to find the other three members of his team already there.

"God damn it, how do you always get here first?," Allen exclaimed, reaching into his locker and taking out his tailor made ACSIS Scout battle suit and unbuttoning his duty shirt.

"Dunno, Sarge," Corporal Carson Alexander grinned, "maybe you're getting slow in your old age!"

Allen scowled as the rest of his team chuckled and high fived each other. He had long since gotten used to their 'old' jokes, but occasionally they still got on his nerves.

"I'm only fifty three! Its not like I'm a crippled old fart in a retirement home," he growled angrily, slipping out of his pants and beginning to suit up. The rest of his team were in their late thirties or early forties, although none of them looked any older than twenty three. Allen himself could have easily passed for someone in their late twenties.

"Fifty four next week, Sarge," Private Jonah Weber added in, clipping his helmet to the neck of his suit and activating his holographic HUD, then reaching for his rifle to start synchronising the sights with his HUDs targeting reticule.

"Forgot again, didn't you, Sarge?," Private Michael Shehadi spoke up, noticing the faint look of distress on the Sergeants face just before he clipped his helmet into place. Allen chose to ignore the men he had worked with for the past decade, close friends all, and instead concentrated on his rifle. The M66TR Assault Rifle was a rarity these days: it was a gas-operated weapon that took a magazine of sixty 7.62mm armour-piercing rounds, and it was not a rail gun. The weapon was still in production for Special Forces because no one had yet invented an effective and reliably silencer for rail guns. With the M66TR, the only way to detect if a shot had been fired was to look for the brass shell casings or if you were the one being shot at.

"All right guys, time to test the ACSIS out," Allen spoke again, all business now. Acknowledgment lights winked on and one by one his team-mates disappeared, a faint outline all that remained, and he could only see that because he knew where to look and was concentrating hard on seeing them. If one of them move, he'd probably lose them again if it weren't for the battle suits built-in transponder, which presented a small icon over the head of each team mate and projected it onto his HUD in real-time.

Although the ACSIS had been used by SOCOM ships for many years now, it had only recently been perfected enough for it to be made small enough to be man portable, and was still officially in the experimental stage for such uses. Unofficially, it had been ready for full-scale production for nearly a month.

"Okay, deactivate ACSIS then lets head down to the OHEV pods and get ready for a hard drop. Everyone good to go, got everything?"

"Sure thing Sarge, we're all good to go," Shehadi answered for the rest of the team. Allen nodded curtly and motioned for them to move out. As they filed out of the armoury one by one, Allen couldn't help but wonder what they might find on this new world.

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A/N Okay then, that's another chapter down. Don't forget to R&R, but keep your flames to yourself. In the next chapter, Where The Wild Things Are, the Spectre team gets to know the locals and learns some more about the Goa'uld and the state of affairs in this area of the galaxy, the System Lords prepare to go on the offensive and the importance of the Stargate is finally discovered by Earth humans and the Tau. And coming soon, the first interlude that introduces the first of the 'cross-over factions'. Why don't you see if you can figure out who it's gonna be?

Also, for those who don't know SOCOM stands for Special Operations Command, HICOM is High Command and AMRAAM (from the previous chapter) is short for Advanced Medium-Ranged Air-to-Air Missile. Stay tuned, and I should have the next chapter up soon.