Last chapter. Please review and tell me what you think.

-.-

Corin's house was only an hour's drive from the gate port so it didn't take long for him to get back. Having a stargate did wonders for colonization. Usually, towns wouldn't risk being far from society or it meant seclusion. With the stargate, they could have only one town on every planet and not have a problem. That was exactly what Corin's town was, the only one on the planet. It didn't matter though. Cities and other civilizations were just a walk through a giant ring. But, that didn't mean his little corner of the galaxy was safe.

Corin's face turned pale when he saw black-watch trucks patrolling the streets. Black-watch guards patrolled up and down the streets, way more than there should be. That meant that they had arrested someone for treason. For a normal civilization, that would be a horrible thing. But, in a Ror'char sovereignty, a person could be arrested for treason just by questioning the policies of the president. Someone voicing his opposition probably got caught. The town was fairly large and it could've been anyone. But, Corin knew one person who was very vocal about her opposing views.

Corin sped up his driveway. He didn't even bother grabbing his suitcase or bag as he sprinted up the steps to the front door.

"Andrea!" he shouted in panic as he burst into his house. Andrea was visiting for the week and was going to stay in his home while he was away. But, he knew how vocal she was in her opposition to the Ror'char government.

"Andrea!" he yelled against as he took off upstairs. He burst through the door to his bed room and nearly crashed headfirst into a beautiful young woman coming out of the back.

"Corin?" Andrea asked in surprise when she saw his worried and utterly exasperated face. "You alright?"

Corin stared at her, stunned that she could ask such a thing. He practically collapsed on his bed in exhaustion.

"Corin," she said, gently sitting down beside him. "You ok?" Corin sat up and looked at her, not sure what to say or feel. Should he feel relieved that she wasn't taken? Should he feel angry that she would insist on doing something that would put her life in danger?

"Have you looked outside?" he asked. Andrea solemnly nodded.

"People were cheering," she said.

"What?"

"People were cheering that Guman was taken away," she explained. "Doesn't that upset you? They condemn someone for just holding a different belief than them!"

"Of course," Corin snapped. "But, this isn't just the Ror'char."

"Are you saying that other planets, nations, countries, they also demonize people who simply believe in something different?! The sign of a corrupt government is one that will demonize its opponents simply for having a differing opinion. We live in a society where we are told what to believe. I refuse to think that other civilizations would squander their freedom by hurting people who simply believe different."

"Doesn't matter because we can't do anything about it!" Corin snapped. "Andrea, if the Ror'char find out…if the other people…if…" Corin broke off. The Ror'char government wasn't the only thing that would come after her if they found out that she believed in something different.

Andrea put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"They won't find out," she said. She held out an empty ring box. "You said it was a promise for once this semester was over. Let me make you this promise, nothing is going to stand between us. Will you trust me, Corin?"

Corin Nevec didn't answer as he stared at the empty box. He still kept the wedding ring in his pocket. He had to wait for the school semester to end before he could do anything.

"Corin?" Andrea asked again.

"Corin," Nova shouted. Corin Nevec's eyes opened as he took in a lung full of air. The moment he breathed in he began chocking as dust filled his mouth and throat. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a slab of metal right in front of his face.

"Corin!" Nova shouted as she began to dig into the pile of debris that was atop of him. As the last of the rubble was removed, Corin Nevec tried to stand up and look around but realized that everything around him was blurred from the smoke that covered the room.

"What happened he asked," completely dazed as Nova handed out the weapons they had put away. He blinked several times to get used to the smog around the room

"Some sort of landing craft," Nova said as she stared out the shattered window. A thick blanket of smoke and dust covered the entire city. Though the gray haze she could see the figures of massive towers striding across the city on comparatively spindly legs. She remembered that these walking towers were actually ships that landed. Beam of green light combed the city with a lout whine. Many times the beam of light carved a path of flaming destruction while other times it passed over without any incident. "They're using an Asgard transport beam to deploy troops and attack." Nova remembered reading reports of the first encounters with the Asgard and how they transported things in great beams of light. These same beams were also causing the destruction. She could only guess that the ships were beaming some sort of unstable material that exploded on contact the moment it materialized. This single beam was used to both deploy troops and lay waste to the city.

Corin stared at the destruction before him.

"I thought they could do it," he said blankly. "They knew about the stargate, they knew that there was to the galaxy, and they still wanted to fight each other."

"We were wrong about what the stargate would do if it became public," she said. "We thought it would tell the planet to put aside their differences. Instead, it brought up every conflict in the planet's history and said to resolve it immediately."

"It is the nature of sentient beings to attack those who are different," Corin recited. "Whether it is difference in color or simply different in opinion, that which does not belong is must be neutralized. They will engulf themselves in chaos to pursue this goal; they will blame their faults upon others so they will not have to take chnage. We acknowledge that they will never overcome their flaws and differences. We will make the decisions that they have proven themselves incapable of making; we will descend upon them, one last act of evil and chaos to end it forever."

Nova looked at Corin in confusion.

"It's the Ror'char mandate," Corin explained. "When I was a teacher, I was supposed to recite it for the students every morning. If Elora was able to actually unitfy with the stargate, it would've proven that mandate wrong."

"They weren't ready for it now," Nova said. "It doesn't mean they would never be ready for it."

"What about your planet?" Corin asked. "Do you think Earth is ready to learn about the stargate? Or will they act the same way as the Elorans?" He remembered even before the Ror'char invaded, the planet was already in flames. Small skirmishes turned into wide spread chaos. Protests turned into riots and mobs. Countries that were supposed to unite went to destroy enemies they never got the chance to before it was too late. Would Earth do the same?

Nova didn't answer. She turned around and examined the devastated room.

"Bronston!" she shouted when she saw Bronston pinned under a broken ceiling beam. She rushed over but froze as she neared him. The mangled metal at the end of the ceiling beam had twisted into a sharp point that curved down like a talon that punched straight through Bronston's limp body.

Nova reached up and gently closed his eyes.

"He introduced himself as Chief Bronston," she said. "Did we ever learn his first name?"

Corin took a moment to think about it. Nova was right. He never told them his first name and now they'll never know.

"We better get out of here," Corin said as the ground below them rumbled.

-.-

Chen struggled to keep balance as the Valorous rocked with every explosion. The sparks raining on him stung his neck. Hailey had been thrown to the ground from the initial explosion and was fighting to stand back up.

"Status report!" Galligan yelled as a pipe above his head blew open.

"The fleet opened fire on the first ship that came out of hyperspace!" a helmsman yelled. "We were able to destroy it before it could raise shields."

"That's one frigate down, five more and the vidact left!" Chen yelled as he pulled Hailey to her feet.

"Hull breaches on multiple decks and we're venting atmosphere," another helmsman read.

"How'd we lose shields that quick?!" Galligan demanded to know. The helmsman looked at his control panel and his eyes widened in shock.

"We didn't," he stuttered in confusion.

Hailey looked at the front screen of the ship, watching the fighting unfold. It was almost a stunning sight to watch the small frigates tear into the Eloran ships which were three times their size with a flurry of green energy bolts.

"Chen," she yelled as a dread realization hit her like an anvil. "Are those drones?!" Chen stared out the front of the ship, watching the streams of green weapons fire. The shots were so close together that it was hard to distinguish each individual bolt. But, he then realized that she was right. The bolts being fired were Ancient drones. The squid-shaped projectiles were a lot smaller and were being fired like bullets instead of swarms of missiles but they still had their ability to punch through shields like they were nothing. He watched as the shields around the Eloran shields activated in a feeble attempt to block the shots as they passed through the shields like they were nothing. It was only because of how big the Eloran ships were that they were still intact.

"Our fighters have engaged Ror'char strykers," the helmsman announced. On the screen in front of them, swarms of fighters veered through swarms of strykers. Violent flashes from the exploding ships lit up the scene in front of them like fireworks.

"Commander, we're detecting an energy build up in two of the frigates," a technician yelled from the back.

"Why?!" Galligan demanded to know.

The answer soon became apparent as massive green beams of energy launched out of the two frigates' forward cannon. The beams of energy hit a nearby ship, its shields trying to hold back the hit but it wasn't strong enough. The beam broke through and tore into the ship's hull. The second beam followed, flames and debris spewing from the open wound like a volcano. Battered and broken, the ship began to shake apart, different fragments floating gently floating off in different directions, nothing but hollow shells and memories of what they used to be.

Chen stared ahead in horror. He's seen all these weapons before. He's seen 304's use beam weapons given from the Asgard. He's seen Ancient drones. The weapons that were once used by these majestic, almost angelic, races had been taken, perverted, and used by the Ror'char for their own needs.

"Commander, we're picking up a transmission coming in from the surface."

"Put it on speaker!"

Hailey grabbed the edge of a control panel as the ship rocked again. Another Eloran ship had exploded, releasing a shockwave that rattled everything around it.

"This is Flight Lieutenant Charles Martin, does anyone read me?" a familiar voice broadcasted over the speaker.

"Can we answer back?" Chen asked as more sparks rained from the ceiling. The smell of burning metal began to fill the air as smoke seeped out of the ventilation ducts.

"Com's on," the helmsman said.

"Hey, Charles," Chen called out.

"Chen?" Martin asked in surprise. "Good to hear your voice, mate."

"I thought Nova told you to ring aboard the Valorous."

"Got cut off," Martin explained, his transmission becoming more and more garbled with each second. "Ror'char hit down here pretty hard. I'm guessing these landing crafts were stored in some sort of hangar on that big ship we talked about. Don't know how we're going to make it back to the gate."

Galligan stared at Chen and Hailey when he heard this. He looked at the battle raging before him as an Eloran ship tried to fly away, smoke and flaming debris leaking from its open wounds.

"You say you're fighting the Ror'char?" Galligan asked.

"We are," Hailey said. Galligan looked back at the battle, small pieces of debris bouncing off the front of the ship.

"I'm going to regret this," he muttered.

-.-

Nova and Corin snuck through the ruins of the building, trying to reach the streets. Entire rooms had collapsed, piles of concrete and metal blocking hallways. Stairwells were ripped to shred, covered in glass and bodies. Even more bodies littered the bottom floor of the building. The sounds of battle carried through the air, gunfire from every corner of the city.

The wind gently breezed through the building, carrying scraps of litter with it. Corin watched as a crumpled piece of paper tumbled past his feet. The paper had a picture of the stargate on it with the words 'government lies' typed in large bold letters at the top. Written over it in large red letters was the phrase 'die in a hole moron'. Obviously someone didn't buy the stories about the stargate and someone else was cursing him for it. Corin just shook his head. They felt their problems were so big that they kept fighting. The stargate wasn't enough to tell the planet how insignificant their problems were; only the Ror'char invasion was.

Nova remembered this once majestic chamber. She remembered walking through it while negotiating with the Elorans. Now, it was covered and ash and run down, a husk of what it used to be.

"We're heading for the ring room," she told Corin as they finally made it down a flight of stairs that was actually intact. "If we ring aboard one of the ships in orbit, they can take us to the stargate."

"But they're in the middle of a fight," Corin pointed out, remembering that the Ror'char ships had also arrived in orbit. "They might not want to."

"Our only other option is to stay here," Nova said. "If we do that, the Ror'char will find us."

"Do we even-" Corin began to say but Nova immediately gave him a harsh hush. She froze in her tracks and stared at the door.

"Hide," she hissed. They both dove behind the collapsed column in front of them. She cautiously peeked over the strewn rubble. Sand and gravel shifted as the door to the building opened and a single Ror'char trooper stepped in.

This was the regular Ror'char trooper with his black suit of armor and helmet but the weapon in his hand wasn't the usual ion rifle. It was shorter with a set of rails running across the top of it.

"Area secure," the troopers said through the radio on his arm, the hollow demonic voice generated by the helmet carried across the room.

"Check the wounded," a voice answered through the radio, but this one was different. It wasn't the deep hollow voice the troopers had. This one had a distinct snake-like hiss to it. "No survivors."

"Affirmative," the trooper replied, raising his weapon.

Nova looked at the P90 in her hand. It was only one trooper but even one has proven tough to kill. She pulled out her berretta sidearm. If she decided to take the trooper on she would need the extra firepower but even this might not be enough.

The trooper slowly walked across the devastation, kicking the bodies to make sure they weren't alive.

Nova knew it was only a matter of time before the trooper would accidentally discover them. They brought a couple of guns in case of defense but they didn't think they would need to bring grenades. She picked up a rock, ready to toss it to the staircase. It was a feeble distraction but it was all she could do. She could feel the sweat trickle down her cheek, her vision narrowing as the adrenaline kicked into her veins.

At that moment, a bolt of blue energy streaked overhead, hitting the trooper square in the chest. The Ror'char soldier gave a grunt of pain as a cloud of smoke exploded from the area of impact, his upper body vanishing behind the haze.

An Amestrian soldier was standing in the stairwell, his laser lance armed and ready. This was the type of weapon that would normally put a person down in one shot. But, the trooper was more resilient than any normal adversary. He stood back up, waving away the smoke in his face before opening fire, spraying at the guard with blue bullets of energy. The Amestrian soldier didn't get the chance to shoot again as the shots rattled his body, smoke and powder flying off his mechanical suit of armor as his body violently twitched with each shot. He gave a single dying scream as he collapsed, his body rolling down the steps.

Nova took this opportunity to emerge out of cover and open fire, the bangs of her guns roaring so loudly it sounded like the whole building would collapse from it. The trooper was caught completely off guard, the bullets tearing into the armor that was already weakened by the previous shot. Dust and sparks were thrown up by any bullets that missed, surrounding the Ror'char soldier in a brown cloud. He gave a roar of pain, shooting wildly at the two, before collapsing.

Nova immediately ran up to the body and pressed the barrel of her P90 into the wound, ready to shoot if the trooper was still alive. She gave a sigh of relief when it was obvious the trooper was dead.

Corin ran to the Amestrian soldier. As Corin approached the body, he realized it was too late. The soldier was already dead. Corin just hung his head, almost guilty that he couldn't save the man.

He eyed the holes in the armor where the weapons fire hit. The wounds weren't charred or damaged in any ways. It was as if the area that was hit was simply missing.

Corin had never seen the weapon on Dakara. He was not used to weapons that were capable of deconstructing matter into its most basic components. He was even more unfamiliar with any gun that could do this, each shot violently ripping matter into its basic parts, leaving nothing but gaping holes. It was a gun that literally ripped pieces out of its target.

"Gaba-5, do you copy?" a voice hissed through the radio on the Ror'char trooper's arm. "We have lost contact with gaba-5."

"This is rogue-6, I am moving in to investigate."

"Confirmed. All rogues, converge on gaba-6's last known location."

Nova looked at Corin when she heard this.

"We better pick up the pace," she said, grabbing the Ror'char gun. "We're going to have Ror'char troopers here any moment." She quickly searched through the trooper's pockets, taking out the handle to his buzz sword and a rather large three-barreled pistol.

She looked at the Ror'char automatic weapon. It was roughly the same size of her P90 but felt a lot lighter. She holstered her sidearm so she could hold the Ror'char weapon in her other hand. She tossed the handle and the Ror'char pistol toward Corin.

"Take it," she said. "We need every advantage we can get." Corin just gawked at the two weapons she gave him. He could barely handle the Earth projectile weapons. Now she wanted him to be able to handle Ror'char weapons. Corin just quickly stuffed the two in his pockets, not sure what else to do with them.

"Come on," she said, walking toward the hall. She stopped in her tracks, eyes widening in fear, when a Ror'char trooper appeared from behind the corner. He had attached his buzz sword to his ion rifle and was using it like a bayonet. At the end of that bayonet was an Amestrian soldier, impaled by the gun-mounted sword.

Corin's mouth opened but he mustered enough self-control to stop himself from giving a shock of surprise. Nova raised both her weapons, P90 and Ror'char automatic weapon but managed to stop herself from shooting.

They both began backing up from the scene. They went to run down the hall on the other side of the room but they froze when they saw shadows being cast by someone down the hall.

"This is rogue-2, we are converging on gaba-5's last known location," a hollow demonic voice echoed through the corridor before them.

"This is rogue-6," the trooper behind them said coldly, staring at the Amestrian soldier he had impaled. "I'll be with you in a moment."

Nova and Corin looked found themselves back against the wall. They were trapped. They would have no choice but to fight.

"Oi," a voice hissed quietly from above. They both looked up. The voice was coming from a broken vent shaft in the wall, completely unnoticed amongst the carnage.

"Go," Nova whispered to Corin. Nevec quickly jumped up and crawled into the vent. Nova glanced back at the Ror'char trooper. He pulled out his bayonet and slashed at the Amestrian soldier's throat. The vibrating molecules on the blade spun like chainsaw teeth, shredding the molecules in front of it. The blade cleaved through the armor's helmet and through flesh and bone with next to no resistance. There was a loud clank as the Amestrian soldier's helmet hit the ground and a thud as his head followed.

Nova jumped up and pulled herself into the vent as the Ror'char trooper kicked the dead body in front of him out of the way.

"Martin," she breathed in surprise when she saw Charles Martin's face in front of her. Martin put his finger to his lip to tell her to stay quiet. She pulled herself deeper into the vent to make sure she couldn't be seen.

"This is rogue-6, all troops be on alert. Gaba-5 is missing his storm rifle, buzz sword, and carnifex. Enemy forces may be use our own technology against us."

Nova instinctively looked at the weapons she took. The automatic weapon she grabbed must've been the storm rifle. The buzz sword was currently simply retracted in its handle. That meant the carnifex would be the triple barrel pistol.

Nova gave Martin and Corin a nod and they began crawling away into the ducts.

"I thought you were on the Valorous," Corin whispered as he wriggled through the cramped tin tunnels.

"There were bloody roach bullet sponges in the ring room," Martin explained, referring to the Ror'char troopers. "Wasn't going to risk taking on two troopers and there are War of the Worlds tripods stomping around outside."

"So we need another plan," Nova said, carefully moving forward, afraid that a trooper below might hear noise in the vents.

"Got one," Martin said. "That ship of theirs, Valorous, it's going to pick us up and take us stargate headquarters. We just need to make it to the roof."

-.-

The explosions from the battle lit up the void of space like fireworks. The Valorous cruised away from the battle.

"The Valorous has withdrawn; the VIP's are heading back to the planet."

"Sensors detect the vidact in pursuit. Stop it at all costs."

The shields of the Valorous turn crimson as the ship enters the atmosphere, the violent flashes of the carnage behind them vanishing in the distance. The vidact wasn't far behind, the triangular saucer ignoring the other ships so it can pursue. An Eloran cruiser maneuvered itself in front of the massive dreadnaught, raining fire on the Ror'char ship. But, the vidact was not deterred. It didn't even bother firing; it continued moving forward, its shields absorbing the explosions and energy blasts. The Eloran cruiser thought that it could act as a wall, a deterrent to not pass. It didn't. The vidact plowed through the cruiser like it was nothing, the cruiser shattering against the vidact's shields, the debris bouncing and drifting off into space. And the vidact continued.

-.-

The doors to the roof the building burst open as Nova, Martin, and Corin ran onto the roof. The sky was completely covered by smog now, the roof carpeted by ash and massive chunks of cement and crumpled thrown up by nearby explosions.

"They're not here yet," Nova breathed. "Guess we just wait." Things were getting increasingly bleak but she remained hopeful things would end up ok.

Martin and Corin looked around, watching the columns of smoke all across the city.

"Check upstairs," a voice echoed from down the stairs where they just came. Martin and Corin both whipped around.

"You gotta be bloody kidding me," Martin exclaimed, running and slamming the door to the roof closed. He looked around desperately for a way to barricade the door.

"Help me with this," Nova said, grabbing a chunk of cement. It looked like it used to be a piece of a wall. During the first volley, the explosions must have thrown it up to the roof. Corin and Martin both grabbed an edge and lifted it up, dust and sand seeping off of the giant slab as they set it against the door.

"That isn't going to hold them," Corin pointed out. Simply forcing the door open with a slab of cement leaning against it would be impossible but the Ror'char could simply blast the door open.

"Hopefully it won't have to," Nova said, getting her P90 and Ror'char storm rifle ready.

"C'mon, Steven," Martin muttered, readying his ion rifle. Corin hid while Nova and Martin took cover behind some debris. "Where are you, mate?"

Then, they waited. They heard the footsteps of the troopers neared the door.

"It's stuck," a hollow voice said on the other side.

"Tear it down!" another voice hissed. The door and cement slab leaning against it burst apart, a wall of flames surging from the entrance, reducing both to smoldering debris. Nova didn't even wait to see the enemy before opening fire, both P90 and alien weapon, at the door.

The P90 didn't do much against the first Ror'char trooper that stepped out but their armor could do nothing against the storm rifle. Its molecules and matter ripped right out of its body, a few seconds of sustained fire and the first trooper had a crater the size of a watermelon in its chest.

Martin appeared and finished him off, landing a powerful bolt of particles from his ion rifle right in the wounded trooper's chest, the force of the blast tossing the trooper back like a rag doll.

Two other troopers appeared and leapt for cover as their ambushed comrade violently flew past them.

The roars and bangs of their battle carried across the metropolis. The storm of bullets and energy bolts flying back and forth was so loud it sounded like it was the loudest thing in the entire city.

"I'm losing cover here!" Martin yelled. The powerful Ror'char weapons were ripping apart the cement debris he was hiding behind. It wasn't going to be long before it was completely gone.

Another pair of troopers emerged from the doorway, weapons ablaze.

"We're about to be overrun!" Nova yelled.

The troopers first aimed at Nova and Martin but their attention was immediately diverted elsewhere. They immediately aimed up at the sky and opened fire. Nova and Martin looked up.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Major Jennifer Hailey yelled triumphantly as the ramp underneath the Valorous lowered, at least a dozen Amestrian troops armed and ready on the ramp. In Hailey's hands was an enormous laser cannon. She fired a massive bolt of electricity that hit a Ror'char trooper square in the chest, the force of the blast lifting him off his feet and sending him flying backwards, plumes of fire and smoke coming out of the impact. The wounded trooper tried to get up but a second shot sent him flying off the building.

"Move it you two!" Chen yelled, appearing and spraying at the troopers with his P90. Corin, Martin, and Nova all made a break for the ship, a storm of gunfire right behind them. They jumped onto the ramp as they watched Amestrian soldiers in front of them get slaughtered by the oncoming gunfire. Two Ror'char troopers finally fell as the soldiers and Chen rained fire on them.

"They're on, go!" Hailey yelled. The ramp hummed to life as it began to raise, the last two troopers vanishing from sight. Suddenly, at the last moment, a grappling line shot up and latched onto the ceiling. Chen turned around just in time to see a Ror'char trooper pull himself onto the ramp at the last moment with a grappling hook in his gauntlet. The string to his grapple snapped off as the trooper immediately took aim at Chen.

There was a metallic bang and Chen felt something fly past his ear. The Ror'char trooper gave a final cry of pain as a massive metal stake punctured into his helmet like an arrow, the tip shredding apart every molecule in its way. The head gave a violent twitch backwards, as if the metal rod was ready to simply rip the head off as it passed through, but the stake was stopped and the trooper's head remained attached with a massive prong embedded in it. There was a quiet hiss and a small puff of smoke began to seep out of the helmet.

Chen blinked a couple times, stunned by how close he came to death and even more stunned that he was staring at the end of a six inch prong that had been put through the trooper's head. The trooper's body fell limply to the ground, the end of the prong hitting the floor with a clank. Chen looked behind him and saw Corin, carnifex pistol in hand, staring at the trooper's body, stunned stiff by what he just did.

"Thanks," Chen choked.

Corin Nevec was not a soldier. He was a teacher; his experience with weapons was strictly to the firing range. Every time he had to use his gun he tried and failed miserably. This was the first time he actually managed to successfully fire one. And, it was the first time he ever killed anyone with it.

"You did good," Nova said, putting her hand on his shoulder. Corin gave an exasperated cough and nodded at her. "Just keep your eyes open next time."

Chen nearly fell over when he heard this.

"Did you just shoot at me with your eyes closed?!" he exclaimed.

"Come on," Nova said, grabbing Chen by the arm and dragging him off.

Corin just stared at the trooper's body then at the pistol he used. He looked at the metal prong embedded in the trooper's head. He was never going to get used to this; used to all the fighting.

He quietly turned around and followed the three surviving Amestrian soldiers out of the hangar.

-.-

Gallgan sat in the captain's chair, his hand to his head in fear and anxiety. He looked toward the front view screen. They were already away from the capital city so he at least didn't have to see the city ruins.

"Commander," Nova said as she stepped onto the bridge. Galligan stood up when he heard his rank called. Nova walked up to him and extended her hand. "Appreciate the rescue. Chen and Hailey told me about you."

"Likewise," Galligan said graciously, shaking her hand. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Nova looked at the forward view screen. The ship was already in the clouds, streaking across the landscape.

"Where we headed?" Nova asked, watching the clouds fly past.

"SGHQ," Galligan said. "It was temporarily shut down during the public disclosure. Once we get there, dial Millennium and get out while you can."

"I appreciate what you're doing," Nova said. She knew that by getting them to the gate they had abandoned the fight and left their friends behind.

"Eleven countries have already surrendered to the Ror'char," Galigan explained. "Amestris has lost over half its government officials, and the superpowers aren't responding. Elora is lost. I want you to promise me one thing."

"What is it?" Nova asked.

"Remember us. We may not have been the galaxy's most outstanding race, but we tried. Remember us not for who we were, but who we tried to be."

The crew around the bridge hung their heads when they heard this. They knew that their lives were going to completely change after this, their homes would be gone. The world they knew would be no more.

"Commander," one of the helmsmen said. "ETA is five minutes."

"Commander, we are detecting an inbound craft on intercept course approaching fast," a technician yelled.

"Confirmed. Size and shape matches the vidact."

Before another word could be said, the entire ship rocked, sparks flying out of the ceiling, pipes exploding. Several technician were thrown back by the explosions, other crewmen grabbing fire extinguishers to help them.

"Get your team to the escape shuttles!" Galligan told at Nova. "The pilot will get you the rest of the way! Gate back while you can!"

"But," Nova began to protest.

"GO!" Galligan yelled.

-.-

The Valorous turned to face the massive ship as a tiny escape shuttle left its hangar. Enormous green bolts of electricity shot out of the edge of the ship, narrowly missing the Valorous and hitting the mountain side. Flames exploded from the impact site as the bolt dragged across the ground. Bolts streaked through the sky toward the massive saucer, exploding against its shields.

"Gents," Galligan announced as the vidact's massive black figure loomed overhead, its shields effortlessly blocking every missile and laser bolt fired at it. "It's been an honor. This may be the Valorous' last battle, make no mistake, we will be remembered."

One last bolt of electricity shot out of the vidact, hitting the Valorous head on. The electricity jump across the ship's shimmering shields before reaching the vulnerable ship beneath it. Arcs of energy danced across the surface of the hull, sparks flying out of every corner, before the ship burst into flames, a ball of fire erupting from the center of the ship, tearing it apart. The flaming remains rained to the ground as the vidact flew past.

-.-

Wolf Pack was solemnly quiet after what they just saw. They heard of planets being conquered but they've never actually seen it up close before.

"The fighting on Elora continued, despite knowing what would happen if it didn't stop," Nova explained to General Mercer at the conference table. "It started with extremist groups but then citizens began to join in. It wasn't long until entire countries started pulling out of talks."

"One event sowed the seeds of further violence," Corin added. "Even knowing that they would be invaded if they didn't stop fighting each other, they still continued. Public knowledge of the stargate brought back just about every conflict in their history. The Ror'char attacked once the deadline was up."

"We've tried dialing back to Elora," Hailey said. "We're able to establish a wormhole but no response to our radio. I think we can assume the Ror'char have taken control of stargate headquarters."

"We have a small drive of data on their technologies and a couple planets," Chen continued. "We can load it up for the tech teams to sift through."

"It'll make life here a tiny bit easier," Martin remarked. "We've given the pilot some quarters but, he's taking the fall of Elora pretty hard."

"We all are," Nova pointed out.

Mercer leaned forwards and gave a thoughtful sigh. He had been on Millennium the entire time. He had no idea what they had seen while on the planet.

"Very well," he said slowly. The team all stood up, ready to leave, ready to find something to try to help them forget.

"One more thing," Mercer said, standing up. Wolf Pack froze and turned to look at the General. "I know I was not on the planet, but I understand how you feel. Elora was a lot of things for a lot of people. It was not just a source of resources. For many people, it made them think of home. And, its destruction reverberates our fears for Earth."

Mercer reached underneath the table and gently took out a tray of wine glasses. They tall took a single glass as Mercer took out a bottle of champagne from under the table. He opened the cap with a gentle pop before pouring it into all the glasses.

"To the planet and the people of Elora."