Asgard Cruiser Daniel Jackson

High Earth Orbit

The Bridge

With yet another flash of white, O'Neill, Teal'c, Carter, and Jackson were on board the bridge of the Asgard vessel, The Daniel Jackson. It took O'Neill just a second to realize he was no longer in Kansas, and when he did he was extremely happy he wasn't.

"Thor old buddy!" he said warmly to the small, gray alien standing behind a console. "You need to stop beaming us away like that without giving any notice."

"I do apologize," Thor responded, his face neutral. "I will make certain that next time I send proper warning of my arrival."

"Bah," O'Neill said, waving his hand. "Don't bother, it ruins the surprise. I'm glad you're here though."

"Yes. I am very sorry that I could not come sooner," Thor explained. "But I was unable to leave some work unattended until now. The current situation is very grave, I am afraid."

"So, you got our message?" Carter asked.

"I have not received any messages, but that is no surprise. Hugin has informed me about the Be'nox, and from what he told me, I believe we are all in trouble."

Carter couldn't help herself, and wanted an answer to a question that had bothered her. "Thor, when we were on (P4x79?) the Be'nox were using an Ancient structure that Anubis had used on us, but it wasn't there before. They were also using the ninth chevron on the Stargate. What does the ninth chevron do?"

"A Be'nox called Sor Jakk said the Be'nox are the predecessors to the Go'ald," Jackson also asked. "But where did they come from? Where were they for all these years?"

"As you are aware, the Ancients explored extensively and examined many different worlds. One of these planets is the one that you call (P4x79?), but found it devoid of life. After quite a length of time, they revisited (P4x79?) and discovered that some of the local inhabitants, the Unos, were different from the others. The Ancients soon realized that these Unos carried inside them a parasite that interacted with the host body. These parasites were, as we now know, the Be'nox. The Ancients had previously found the Be'nox in the planets' bodies of water, but had not known that they were capable of taking control of a host body. The Ancients natural curiosity being what it was, they decided to study the Be'nox."

"Oh gesh," O'Neill groaned, clapping his hand to his forehead. "Don't tell me they actually took them off the planet?"

"We are all prone to make mistakes, O'Neill," Thor said gravely. "Although the Ancients' curiosity with the Be'nox was strong, one Ancient stood out above the rest. His name was Akna. He found the Be'nox simply fascinating, so much so that he devoted himself to their study. Through careful experimentation, Akna learned much about the parasites interactions with the host body. Through a Unos host, Akna befriended a Be'nox symbiot. After several years, the Be'nox gained Aknas' trust, but the other Ancients had reservations about the Be'nox and limited the Be'nox's interactions with Ancient technology. In secret defiance, however, Akna worked with the Be'nox on several projects he was conducting, and was struck by how intelligent the symbiots were. Akna also observed that, because of the Be'nox symbiot, the host body became enhanced, with increased strength, endurance, longevity, intellect, and the curious ability to heal itself. Akna, hoodwinked by the Be'nox symbiot, became convinced that the Ancients would benefit greatly if they all carried a Be'nox symbiot, believing in all honesty that the parasite would share the body with the host. His findings were not looked upon favorably by the others. The Ancients were very unwilling to share their bodies with any creature, especially if it could take control away from them. Aknas reputation as a scientist was shattered, and because he allowed the symbiot full access to Ancient knowledge and technology, he was exiled to a remote planet, far from established Ancient society. The Unos and the Be'nox symbiot were considered a hazard because of their intimate understanding of Ancient technology and were incarcerated for security measures."

Jackson spoke up. "That explains how the Be'nox know so much about the Ancients, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Thor said. "But not entirely."

"There's more, is there?

Thor nodded his head. "Yes, however, the events after this are unclear, and there is no clear record of them. Many years passed after Aknas exile and the Ancients began to forget about the scientist and the Be'nox. However, unbeknownst to most Ancients, many Ancients were occupied by Be'nox symbiots, though no one is exactly sure how. By the time Ancient authorities learned of this, the Be'nox numbers had grown to an uncontrollable level. Armed with the knowledge of the Ancients, the Be'nox's were able to overwhelm the unprepared Ancients and a war broke out between them. For the first time in their history, the Ancients faced total annihilation by another advanced species. They knew that if they did not immediately acquire assistance, the Be'nox would destroy them."

"The Alliance of the Four Races," Carter suddenly said.

"That is correct, Colonel Carter," Thor replied. "As the Ancients fled before the Be'nox onslaught, they sought out the most advanced civilizations in the universe. My race was the first to be contacted by the Ancients. Recognizing the potential threat the Be'nox presented, the Asgard Council felt they had no choice but to wage war against them. Our fleet was mobilized and sent into battle against the Be'nox. Unfortunately, we were not prepared to fight against such an advanced enemy. Far too many Asgard fell fighting the Be'nox, and it was at this time that we were forced to clone ourselves just to be able to keep up with the losses. Although some progress was made, both we and the Ancients agreed that more members were necessary. The Nox were the next race to join the fight against the Be'nox."

"Wait, I thought the Nox were peaceful," Jackson stated.

"Not at the time, Dr. Jackson. The Nox had a strong military, and their addition to the alliance was invaluable, holding off the Be'nox just long enough for a special Ancient envoy to bring in the final race in the alliance."

"The Ferlings?" guessed Teal'c.

Thor nodded his head in respect. "That is correct."

"What a minute," O'Neill asked. "Just who are these guys exactly? We've never meet them."

"Because that is just their intentions O'Neill. The Ferlings are an exceptionally secretive race, with technologies at levels far beyond our understanding. They keep to themselves and are not concerned with what occurs around them. No one is quite sure what the Ancients offered them to come from their isolation, but it was the Ferlings that turned the tide against the Be'nox. With the Ferlings in the lead, the Be'nox were overwhelmed by the alliance and victory seemed achievable. Out of desperation, however, the Be'nox forced their hosts to devise terrible weapons that wrought tremendous casualties upon us. One of these weapons was a super virus designed to kill any life form indiscriminately. The effects were quite lurid. By transmitting the virus through the Stargate, the Be'nox infected entire worlds. Innocent life forms, having no connection to the war, were slaughtered all across the galaxy. Because this galaxy was the home for both the Ancients and the Nox, they were hit the worst. This virus may have permanently halted our advance if not for the selfless acts of Ancient scientists by using themselves as experiments to find a cure. However, the damage was done. The most of the galaxy become a lifeless void, depleted of all its natural wonder. We attacked with renewed strength, ignoring the increased casualties we suffered, so determined were we to defeat the Be'nox. It was around the time when the Be'nox were about to be defeated, however, that we received intelligence that the Be'nox were constructing an immensely powerful superweapon on a planet called now called De'kara, a weapon capable of unimaginable destructive power."

Everyone was taken by surprise at the mention of the adopted Jaffa homeworld. "De'kara…" Teal'c said reverently.

"But I thought it was the Ancients who built the weapon on De'kara," Carter said confused.

"That is incorrect," Thor explained. "The Be'nox had designed the temple at De'kara to be a monument to their victory over the Ancients, and because they controlled Ancient hosts, they naturally built it in the style of the Ancients. Also, the Be'nox designed the weapon, unlike the virus, to reduce everything into its basic components. They hoped with one blow to erase all progress in the universe and completely annihilate this plane of existence, for they knew defeat was at hand."

"Wait, wait," Jackson said again, more confused than ever. "When I was partially ascended, Anubis told me that it was the Ancients who were the ones who created the device in order to create life, not destroy it."

"It is true, the Ancients used the device to recreate life in the galaxy after the plague unleashed by the Be'nox, but they were not its creators. They altered the weapon in order to undo the damage caused by the Be'nox. But capturing De'kara was not simple. Although we were winning, the Be'nox had held back most of their fleet in order to protect the weapon, and their defenses were very powerful. To make a long story short, we were able to defeat the Be'nox fleet, and when we landed on the surface an intense ground battle ensued. In the end, we were victorious, and we found no trace of surviving Be'nox. After several months of searching the galaxy, it was determined that the Be'nox were truly defeated, and the alliance faded away. The Nox, who, next to the Ancients, had suffered the most, became passive and isolated themselves. The Ferlings went back to wherever it was that they came from, and have remained this way. It seems that only the Asgard were able to rebuild our civilization."

"Ok, well that explains a few things," Carter began. "But where did the Be'nox come from? Where have they been all these years?"

"In order to answer this, we must go back to your original question, Colonel Carter. As you have already noticed, a Stargate contains nine chevrons on its outer ring. Seven chevrons are necessary to establish a wormhole between Stargates within a galaxy, and eight are required to travel between two galaxies. As mentioned before, the Ancients were a naturally curious race, even to the point where it lead to their downfall. Never wishing to place a time limit on how long they would exist, the Ancients believed their kind would span the ages, always exploring new frontiers. Being the forward thinking people that they are, the Ancients knew that a day would come when they would have traversed the entire universe, however expansive, and not wanting their explorations to cease, they created the ninth chevron."

Carter wasn't sure were Thor was going by all of this, but she knew that what he would say next would be important. "The Ancients created the ninth chevron in order for them to travel from this universe to other universes."

Silence reigned over SG-1 as Thor's information sank in. "Other universes?" commented O'Neill.

"Yes," Thor confirmed. "It was the Ancients deepest desire to be able to travel to not just different worlds, but entirely different universes, some similar to ours, some far estranged. For the Ancients, this was the ultimate purpose of the Stargate. Although convenient, the Ancients could efficiently travel the cosmos in their vessels, but they could not take them outside of this universe."

"Wormholes can take you to parallel universes?" The thought intrigued Carter.

"I do not understand the entire process but I do know it is extremely complicated. Something only an Ancient would be capable of comprehending," Thor admitted. "It requires a tremendous amount of energy in order for the Stargate to create and to maintain a stable wormhole. From what you have described, Colonel Carter, I would surmise that the function of the Ancient device was to provide the Stargate with the required energy to maintain such a wormhole."

"When Anubis used this device, he wasn't dialing with the ninth chevron," Teal'c stated. "For what purpose was he using it?"

"With his understanding of Ancient technologies, Anubis understood the device far better than us. My guess is that Anubis used the extra energy normally utilized to activate the ninth chevron to keep an ordinary wormhole open indefinitely."

"So the Be'nox are coming from another universe?" O'Neill wondered.

"It appears so. I believe they began to leave this universe sometime after their unsuccessful use of the virus to destroy the alliance. Based on the information you told me, it is also my guess that they did not fully intend to be destroyed by their superweapon, and most likely had plans to return and restructure the universe to their liking. Fortunately, they were prevented from doing so."

"But wait," Carter said, her finger on her chin in thought. "A Stargate requires another Stargate to connect to in order to establish a wormhole. How did the Ancients know what address to dial to connect with another Stargate? They didn't plan on just guessing, did they?"

Thor shook his head in amusement. "No, Colonel Carter, they did not. The Ancients knew that the likelihood of their connection to a random Stargate was virtually impossible, and so created yet another device to bring them to other universes."

"The alternate reality mirror," Jackson said.

"Correct. The Ancients had designed the mirror to transport them to other universes in order for them to either construct a Stargate to connect to or contact friendly Ancients and obtain a gate address. They knew, however, not all universes were safe to contact, and they used prudence in what universes they wanted to explore later."

"Interesting…" Carter said in awe.

O'Neill grew impatient with the pointless nature of the conversation. "Thor, as fascinating as all of this is, we have bigger issues to deal with. You guys fought the Be'nox before, are you going to help us?"

"I regret to inform you that we cannot, O'Neill."

O'Neill threw his hands up into the air in an 'I figured' gesture. "And would you care to explain why?"

"Do not misunderstand, O'Neill. The Asgard High Council recognizes the Be'nox's return to this galaxy as a valid threat to both our peoples, however, we cannot commit our military at this time. As a civilization, we are still recovering from the Replicators attack and we are not capable of assisting you now."

"Then what are we going to do?" Jackson asked resignedly. "We obviously can't take them on by ourselves."

"Isn't there something that the Nox or the Ferlings can do?" Carter immediately said. "I mean, the alliance was created to stop the Be'nox in the first place, after all."

"This is true, Colonel Carter," Thor conceded. "However, our enemy is also aware of this, and will not make the same mistake again. The terms and regulations of the alliance is extremely complicated and diverse, and so long as the Be'nox do not threaten the existence of any of the four races, nothing can be done. By remaining on their homeworld and not embarking on a campaign of conquest, intervention against them by the alliance is not called for."

"But they've attacked us," O'Neill countered. "And we're descended from the Ancients. That's close enough, isn't it?"

"No, O'Neill. It is not," Thor said impassionedly. "Although the Asgards have recognized you as the Fifth race, yous have not yet achieved the standards that would include you into the alliance."

Teal'c had remained on the sidelines through most of the conversation, and felt that his input was required. "How is such an achievement obtained? What must be done in order to become this Fifth race?"

Thor was not hesitant in his response. "Although desperate for assistance against the Be'nox, the Ancients laid down a stringent set of guidelines for who may be considered worthy to enter the alliance. At the current pace of developments on Earth, it will take your race many hundreds of years before you are finally ready to assume your place as the Fifth race."

"Hundreds of years?" O'Neill said incredibly shocked. "We'll all be dead by that point!"

"The High Council has also acknowledged this possibility, but remains clear on the matter. The Asgards will not assist you against the Be'nox unless you are a member of the alliance."

O'Neill felt indignant, after all they had done to help the Asgards, and this was the thanks they got? "Look, Thor. I don't know how much this means to your high-fluting council, but I can't even count on my fingers all the times we had to save your scrawny behinds! Doesn't that mean anything to you guys?"

"We have not forgotten this, and Asgards will forever be grateful for the sacrifices you have made in order to save us from the Replicators. This is why the High Council has decided to relax the stipulations for admittance into the alliance, at least until the situation has been rectified."

O'Neill didn't know how he did it, but Thor made him feel bad for his sudden outburst. "Well, um, thanks," O'Neill quickly regained his composure, however. "Then what do we have to do then?"

"In order for the High Council to recommend you into admittance into the alliance, you must unify your people on Earth."

While he knew it wasn't a few hundred years, Jackson did know that it would take a very long time for such a thing to occur. "Thor, you've got to understand something," Jackson attempted to explain. "We're so fractured on Earth that even if we tried now, it would take quite some time in order to do this. Thousands of years of warfare has divided us so much, I don't even think reconciliation is possible."

If this caused him concern, Thor didn't show it. "You must try, Dr. Jackson. The High Council has made many drastic cutbacks to the requirements, and we are not even sure that what we demand will be enough to admit you to the alliance. It all depends on the other races' decisions on the matter."

"Well, it was good talking to you again, Thor," O'Neill said cordially, not entirely satisfied with the task required of them. He looked around the bridge as if looking for something. "Thanks for the information, interesting as always. We'll just be going then?"

"It has been a pleasure conversing with you as well, O'Neill," Thor said. "I will instruct Hugin to assist you in whatever way possible. Farewell."

With a slight move of his hand, Thor activated the ships' transport and SG-1 was engulfed in white as they were beamed back to the SGC.