Chapter 7
SG-1 and the Ancients
The company continued their journey through the Old Forest and by nightfall reached Bree. A light rain had begun to fall as they made their way onto the road leading to the town of Bree. As they approached the gate that led into the city, they noticed that the town was eerily quiet for this time of night. For it was only early evening. Luke had a very bad feeling about this, as he led the way to the Prancing Pony.
"I agree Luke, I sense a trap." Mara whispered.
The Jedi all took out their lightsabers, but did not ignite them just yet. They made it to the Inn without incident. The door was slightly ajar, so they all went in warily.
The moment Luke passed through the doorway; he was fired at by stormtroopers. His lightsaber was ignited mere seconds before the shot was fired and with ease he blocked it. With the Force, Luke sent the troopers cascading into the far wall opposite the door. Luckily it was only three troopers, and not a full battalion. Luke ordered Mara and the others to take the guns. He bent down to check if the troopers were dead and found an alarming sight. These troopers were dressed in black armor and had a strange insignia on their shoulders. It was not the symbol of the Empire, but of the Galactic Alliance!
"Luke, what is the meaning of this? We don't have stormtroopers! And, why would the GA ambush us?" Leia asked.
"You betrayed us, Princess, how could you?" Galadriel demanded as her eyes glowed in fury.
"I assure you I did not authorize this!" Leia snapped back.
"Then who did?" Galadriel asked.
"It was I that sent these stormtroopers to ambush your company, Jedi Solo!" a gruff voice said from the top of a nearby stairwell.
"C'baouth!" Mara and Luke whispered in unison.
As one the Jedi all ignited their lightsabers and started towards the stairway. Luke led the charge as he leapt the stairs 3 steps at a time. They Jedi got within 5 meters of the crazy clone when they were force pushed down the stairs to land at Galadriel's feet.
"Master Skywalker, who is this new threat, not your wayward nephew again?" Galadriel demanded as she helped him up.
"No, just an enemy from the past. A clone, actually." Luke explained as he waited for C'baouth to appear.
As the rest of the Jedi got up, C'baouth appeared at the foot of the stairs.
"Well, met Master Jedi; I have long foreseen this." He chuckled.
Luke and Mara rolled their eyes. "Oh, please, C'baouth, this is getting old! Give it up already! In case you didn't know Luke's a Grand Master now; more than a match for you!" Mara laughed.
C'baouth just smirked. "Is that why young Caedus is his nephew?" he chuckled.
So, Jacen had a sith name. Things were more serious than Luke had once thought.
"We far outnumber you, Joruus, so don't try anything!" Leia said as the Jedi all surrounded the mad clone.
"You have nothing to fear from me, Jedi, I have come to help. I am not that mad clone of the Empire's. I am the REAL Jorus C'baouth. I sent the stormtroopers as test to see if you were really who you say you are. I offer my services to you on your quest." He explained to the shocked looks of the Jedi.
"Ah, well if it isn't our old friend, Merlin." A female voice said from the door that the company had come through.
They all spun around to lay eyes on an average human woman with long blonde hair tied back. She was wearing a black uniform with the symbol of Earth on it. Luke's jaw dropped.
"You're from Earth!" he whispered.
"Yes, I come from the Planet Earth. My name is Colonel Samantha Carter, and that man is not who he says he is!" she finished as she walked towards the old man.
"Tell me something I don't know." Mara muttered as she followed Carter.
"Merlin, we thought you were dead." Sam smiled as she activated her radio.
"Daniel, I have someone you might be interested in seeing." She said over the radio.
Within moments, three other men wearing the same uniform as Carter walked in along with a black haired woman dressed in the same uniform. the first one to step in the door laughed as soon as he saw Merlin.
"Ok, Morgan, enough is enough! We all know Merlin is dead, so stop with the charade." He said as he took off his glasses to clean them.
"My apologies, Dr. Jackson, but I'm not Merlin, Morgan, OR Jorus C'baouth." The old man chuckled.
There was total silence. All of a sudden Luke let out a small laugh.
"Then who are you?" he asked.
"Colonel Carter was on the right track, for I am an Ancient." The old man smiled.
Sam chuckled. "Alright, are you an Ancient we may have heard of?" she humored the old man.
"You could say that." He answered with a gleam in his eye.
"I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard." He smiled as his body transformed into a small gray alien.
"But, that's impossible! We saw your whole race blow up with your planet!" the black haired woman gasped.
"Ah, that you did; but had you not been distracted by the Ori ships, you would have seen us ascend." The alien chuckled.
"I knew it was a trick!" one of the other men whispered with a smile.
"Colonel Mitchell, we had to fool the Ori in order to survive. We were on the brink of extinction. But our hopes were not unfounded. You are the fifth race. You have proved that with your finding of the Ark of Truth!" Thor smiled as he bowed.
"So, why are you here, Thor?" the black haired woman asked.
"The Ancient High Council sent me to help you defeat these Dark Lords." Thor replied.
The black haired woman arched an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to the rule of not interfering?" she asked clearly skeptical of the answer.
"Vala Mal Doran, Arthur knew you would be skeptical." Thor chuckled.
Mitchell held up a hand. "Wait, did you just say Arthur, as in King Arthur?" he asked.
Thor nodded. "Indeed I did, Colonel Mitchell. The stories you heard were true Merlin helped him ascend."
"Is he the one who came up with this whole plan?" the tall man with a strange symbol on his forehead asked.
"That is correct, Teal'c. For he is the head of the Ancient High Council" Thor replied to gaping mouths all around.
"Arthur is the Head of the Council?!" Daniel gasped.
"Yes, Daniel, I am. It was I who sent Morgan to help you find the Ark of Truth. It was I who tricked Adria into giving Vala the answer to the 'three into one' riddle in a dream. And, it was I who led you to the Ori galaxy." Arthur smiled as he stepped into the light of the doorway.
Standing in the doorway behind SG-1 was none other than the King of legend himself, Arthur! SG-1 had gone through quite a lot over the past few years. But, this moment clearly defined the past few years of adventures.
"I knew you when I was ascended, didn't I?" Daniel whispered as he approached the king.
Arthur smiled as he embraced Daniel. "Daniel Jackson, it was I who sent you back when SG-1 was looking for the Lost City. I had a plan and it succeeded! It was I who finally convinced Oma to fight Anubis!" he smiled as he looked at Daniel.
Daniel's jaw dropped, as did the rest of SG-1's. Daniel blinked twice. Sam just stared at Arthur. Luke chuckled in surprise.
"Well that certainly explains quite a lot." he smiled.
"And, leaves us with questions as well," Vala chimed in.
Arthur nodded to Thor.
"We are sorry for all this trouble that came about with the Ori and their human followers, but we are Ancients after all." Thor said as he vanished.
"I am sorry we have to leave so soon, but there are pressing matters in Hyrule, farewell SG-1, and thank you for all your help with the Sangraal and the Ark of Truth!" Arthur smiled as he vanished in like manner.
Vala chuckled. "They're Ancients alright!" she said bitterly.
"Indeed, Vala Mal Doran." Teal'c murmured.
Mara looked at Luke. She had no clue who these people were and why they were in Middle Earth. Colonel Carter caught the look.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't introduce ourselves. I am Colonel Samantha Carter co-leader of SG-1." She smiled.
"I am the other co-leader, Colonel Cameron Mitchell." the other Colonel said.
"My name is Dr. Daniel Jackson, the foremost expert on the Ancients." Daniel said.
" My name is Teal'c, I am a member of the Jaffa, and was formerly first Prime of Apophis." Teal'c said.
"I am Vala Mal Doran, the newest edition of SG-1." Vala said as she gave a flirty look to Luke.
"He's taken, Ms. Mal Doran." Mara smiled as she kissed Luke.
"Oh, what a pity, he's a cute one." Vala said with a dreamy look.
"Cut it out, Vala, we're on a mission, remember?" Daniel said as he rolled his eyes.
"Can't a girl have fun?" Vala sighed.
Daniel sighed in exasperation. The rest of the team chuckled.
"But, why are you all here, in Middle Earth?" Mara asked.
"The galaxy is at war. We came to help." Carter explained.
"What galaxy?" Luke asked in surprise.
"The Milky Way and yours." Carter explained.
"Our nephew has really done it, Skywalker." Mara whispered to Luke.
Luke just nodded. He knew full well that the state of things was well out of his control now. How did he let Jacen slide down this path? And, to think he took advice from his nephew just a few months ago! He was beginning to see parallels with what was going on now and with what had happened nearly forty years ago during the Galactic Civil War. He took a deep breath, what he was about to say would change the Galaxy in drastic ways.
"I propose an alliance. This alliance will have nothing to do with the Galactic Alliance." he finished as he saw Leia's eyebrow arch.
"Luke, you can't do this! I am the Chief of State!" she whispered.
Carter raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "We had heard your son, Jacen was the Chief of State." she said.
Luke, Mara, Jaina, and Leia all grew deathly pale at this. "That explains the stormtroopers!" they all said in unison.
"What stormtroopers?" Carter asked.
"Shortly before you made your entrance, we were ambushed by stormtroopers." Luke explained.
"Which I did not have any knowledge of, or authorize their actions." Leia finished.
Carter nodded. This was very grave news.
"Earth will join you and your allies in this fight!" She said as the rest of SG-1 nodded in agreement.
"I suggest we move on, before we are ambushed again, Luke Skywalker." Teal'c said.
Luke nodded.
"I believe you are right, Teal'c. We had better make for the Lonelands." Luke said.