AN: sorry for the long delay, I lost some progress on this chapter after I overwrote the wrong copy. Nevertheless, I present to you, the seventh chapter.
Of course, special thanks to Rudy Pena for the beta.
March 22, 2016
Advanced infantry training center, Fort Benning
122nd Light Infantry Brigade (independent)
Earth
Colonel Blane made his weekly speech to each company under his command.
"Now you are entering the last week of your advanced infantry training, you must remember that you will become part of the best infantry brigade in the entire regular Tau'ri army. We will be deployed wherever the rest of the army would suffer heavy casualties or could simply not be successful. You will be among the first of the army units to follow the marines during an invasion. We will attack heavily fortified positions, we will fight the enemy in urban terrain, no matter how dug in they are and we will be victorious."
"Trust your fellow soldiers, and have confidence in your officers, they are all experienced soldiers whom have seen combat many times. Once we are done here we will be shipped out to join the eighth army at Terra Nueva close to the Aschen core worlds. From Terra Nuevo we will commence offensive actions against the Aschen. We will go into combat, and we will take casualties. But in the end all that matters is that we win this war and the Tau'ri Federation survives."
"Dismissed."
April 7
Lawson Army Spaceport
Fort Benning, Georgia
As the troops from the 122nd arrived at the spaceport, four large modules awaited them. Each module would carry one of the battalions and the fourth was for the support staff and other passengers that just happened to be traveling to Terra Nuevo.
It took about two hours for the entire brigade to be loaded into the transports. By the time they were done, four what would be called carryalls arrived. These large sorts of helicopters could carry an entire module. The modules were brought up to a medium sized transport ship. Four other modules were already loaded into the ship. They mostly carried military and construction materials for Terra Nuevo. Once the loading was done the ship joined a gathering of about eight other small transport ships and two 304's. Ever since the Lucian alliance ambushed two 304's during the Wraith siege all transport ships within the Milky Way galaxy were to be escorted by warships, this quickly led to a convoy system.
Although simplistic in design not many transport ships were built. This was partly due to advanced technology incorporated in the ships which prevented the Colonials or Free Jaffa from building them for the Tau'ri. The 122nd would join the 8th army at Terra Nuevo and be the final part of the 180.000 men strong army. Terra Nuevo also held a Free Jaffa and Colonial contingent, numbering a total of 80.000 soldiers. The 8th army would be the main land component in the planned May offensive. It would be the first time a force of that size would be committed against the Aschen.
April 25
Aschen Territories Army Group HQ
Fort New Ticonderoga, Terra Nuevo
May offensive briefing
General Patraeus, commander of the Aschen Territories Army Group was giving his briefing to the commanders of Tau'ri, Jaffa and Colonial units involved in the planned May offensive. Under his command and involved in the May offensive were the Tau'ri's 8th Army and two expeditionary corps from the Colonials and Jaffa. The Colonial troops were battle hardened troops against the Cylons and even the Wraith and Aschen. The Jaffa forces were not the usual old style warriors that would simply storm whatever they were attacking regardless of the losses; instead they were highly trained by Colonial and Tau'ri advisors.
"General Dale Dye is in command of the 8th Army; he is currently back on Earth for a briefing by the joint chiefs. Therefore I will give this briefing." Patraeus said.
"For this campaign we have two primary goals. The first is an Aschen world relatively close to the Colonial home worlds; it currently is used as a staging ground for attacks on the Colonies. The second primary objective is a major fleet base; it allows the Aschen to recover from their losses within months either by repairing damaged ships or just building new ships. If we take this planet we will not just reduce the attacks on the Colonies and other nearby allied planets, it will also give us an increased ship building capacity, especially for transport ships." Patraeus said.
"Lieutenant General Samyer, you and you're Colonial forces will make the first attack. As soon as two colonial battlestar groups have cleared the orbit of P99-212 your forces will land and overpower the garrison and set up a defense. This action will draw out a response from the Aschen and they will most likely send fleet units from P98-887, the second primary objective."
"As soon as the Aschen fleet leaves for P99-212 a small Tau'ri task force will attack P98-887 and secure orbit. They will later be joined by Free Jaffa units to maintain a presence in orbit. Afterwards the fifth Marine division will be the first to establish a beachhead which will be about fifty miles to the north of the shipyards since any closer and the landing ships would be in range of long range AA sites. As soon as the fifth has landed the 122nd light infantry brigade will be flown in for the purpose of capturing the city known as P98-887A. The marines meanwhile will set up a wide perimeter around the beachhead. Within a day after the first landings the first elements of the first heavy brigade combat team, 2nd armored division will begin to land and make their way towards the main shipyards. Depending on the amount of resistance they may be joined by the 25th mechanized division. The rest of the 8th army will be brought in to subdue the rest of the planet. Because of the large amount of vehicles and supplies required and the small amount of transports we will have to make several trips between Terra Nuevo and P98-887."
"I plan to have the Aschen subdued within 18 days after the start of the ground campaign."
"Are there any questions?"
"Sir, what do we do if the Aschen fleet does not engage my ships at P99-212?" General Samyer asked.
"Even though it is most unlikely that the Aschen won't respond it won't present any change in our plans. The 304's can handle what is in orbit at the moment; it is just a bit easier and quicker when a part is gone."
Planet New America, near the Aschen sector
April 27 2016
The planet New America was one of the newly colonized planets. Some of the planets were named after the Earth continents and their cities after cities on those continents. This planet was one of the few that didn't yet have its planetary defense systems installed despite being one of the closer planets to the Aschen territory. The massive shipyards had just gone on-line and the mines not far away were already mining mountains of resources. New Washington was one of the eight new cities on the planet; most others were named after other United States cities. There was a small garrison on the planet but it was not large enough to defend all eight cities, the mines and the shipyards. A small Free Jaffa Task Force guarded the planet until a new 304 could come off the production line at Atlantis. The 69th Mechanized Infantry brigade (Formerly Massachusetts National Guard) was on another planet in the system undergoing low-gravity training in preparation of an attack on an Aschen listening outpost. About a hundred thousand civilians already populated the planet and that number was only going to climb as more and more facilities were built. The planet has its own governor, whom also serves as the senator in the Tau'ri senate.
In orbit one Hak'tyl and four advanced Ha'tak guarded the planet. They had a CAP of one Al'kesh and four gliders at all time. First prime Hak'tor was in command of the flotilla. Although he was a loyal follower of Teal'c and Bra'tak neither could prevent him from being stripped of his command and put on a low rank position. The loss of nearly half his fleet was used by the traditionalists to try and back out of the war effort and the alliance. Ever since the formation of the Free Jaffa nation there had been two major political powers, the traditionalists and the progressives, initially there was a third, the Ultra-nationalists but they never gained much political power and were wiped out of after their attacks on Earth.
Pel'tak, Free Jaffa nation ship Kel'tak
"First prime." A Jaffa said as he walked up to Hak'tor. "A messenger from Bra'tak arrived by Al'kesh."
"Send him in."
The Jaffa waved over to a guard near the entrance who waved over to another person. Eventually the messenger walked in.
Hak'tor and the messenger shook their hands at the traditional way while saying 'Shel kek Nemraan' – I die free.
"What news do you have?" Hak'tor asked.
"Bra'tak says that he is currently unable to rally enough ships from the reserves to give you a larger command. Perhaps by the end of this month after the May campaign his power may have grown enough to rally the needed support."
"I assume that you mention of the Expeditionary force to the Tau'ri? Who have a high probability of seeing action on either of the two planets in the campaign?" Hak'tor asked.
"Yes, if the battle shows that Tau'ri doctrines are more effective than the more traditionalists' ones the traditionalist will have to admit the Tau'ri are useful and that we need them." The messenger explained.
"I am confident that our troops have been sufficiently trained, I have seen the Tau'ri engaged in combat several times and they always fight hard. I just hope that the commander is up to the task of using the Tau'ri doctrines to their full use." Hak'tor said.
"Do you have a message for me to relay to Bra'tak?"
"Please tell him that the cause comes first, my reputation and pride can wait, they would be hurt if my personal gains would hurt the cause."
"Very well Hak'tor. I hope to see you soon in command of a larger fleet that you have now."
"So do I." Hak'tor whispered as the messenger walked out.
"First prime, long range sensors have detected a wave of warships approaching the sector, they appear to be Aschen in origin."
"Prepare out defenses, alarm the planet and send a warning to the Tau'ri. They are the only ones with ships close by enough to arrive in time." Hak'tor ordered. "Also warn the Brigade on training and tell them to stay low, we can't defend them and the planet at the same time."
"Yes first prime." An alarm started blaring and the lights dimmed. More Jaffa entered the Pel'tak and Deathgliders and al'kesh launched from the motherships. On the planet below the defense troops were alerted and they armed up.
A few minutes later two battle cruisers and eight light cruisers exited hyperspace escorting about a dozen transport ships. The ships were just outside weapons range of the Jaffa ships. Within seconds aschen fighters exited the two battle cruisers and headed for the void between the two fleets. The Deathgliders were already awaiting the Aschen fighters. Unfortunately only one out of four squadrons was equipped with Tau'ri made missiles. Nevertheless the gliders engaged the Aschen fighters and managed to keep them occupied enough for the al'kesh to make it past them.
Meanwhile the Hak'tyl made its way towards the Aschen fleet. It was flanked by the Ha'tak's, two on each side. Green Aschen weapons fire crossed the void just as the Orange Jaffa weapons fire passed in the other direction. Neither side could really get a distinctive advantage. The Al'kesh' tried to harass the transport ships but were held at a distance by a trio of light cruisers.
"Have the Ha'tak's cover us while we concentrate on the nearest battle cruiser."
"First prime, the enemy is landing troops on the surface."
"How are the Al'kesh doing?"
"We have lost two, the other four have damaged one cruiser and destroyed two transports. They are basically unable to continue for much longer."
"Tell them to make their way to the surface and support the Tau'ri ground forces there." Hak'tor said.
The pel'tak shook as Aschen weapons fire struck the shields nearby. Flashes illuminated the immediate area as finally one Aschen cruiser succumbed to the Jaffa weapons fire. Fires raged the hull of the ship as it tried to make a suicide run on the Kel'tak. Fortunately its engines were shot and it exploded far away from the Kel'tak.
"Shields are falling below 60 percent strength." A Jaffa announced.
"What is the status of our Ha'tak?"
"Their shields are at approximately a quarter strength."
"What is the status of our target?"
"It's shields will fail momentarily."
"Wonderful. As soon as their shields are down concentrate on their power plant. Hopefully the following explosions will damage the other ships."
New America Military control center
"Colonel, we have Aschen forces zeroing in on the capital, and us. Our troops at the shipyards have already successfully repelled one attack by using some of the weapons meant for one of the ships under construction." A lieutenant reported
"Tell the local troops to dig in around the cities center and the bunkers. Make sure there is at least one area with enough room to land two Carryall transport ships. Try to get as many as possible civilians in the bunker." The Colonel ordered. "How are the other cities doing?"
"We've lost New Boston, the small garrison was overwhelmed and most of the Aschen forces there are already on their way down here. Furthermore two other cities have been capture, New Miami and New Detroit. We received reports from New Miami detailing Aschen eradication groups systematically killing all males above the age of sixteen. The other cities have either not been attacked or have repulsed an attack." The same lieutenant replied.
"What's the state of the gate complex?"
"It's still in our hands, the Aschen briefly tried to take it but failed miserably because of the advanced defenses we placed there. The gate is still connected to the Beta site."
"Good, evacuate as much as possible civilians through the gate until the cycle runs out. Afterwards they can hopefully send relieve forces, otherwise we'll have to dial out again." In case of an attack it was customary to dial the gate to a friendly planet that had sufficient communication and humanitarian facilities. This was to prevent an enemy from dialing in and preventing any escape by stargate.
"Is there already word on any reinforcements?"
"The 69th will be transported here as soon as the Jaffa have secured orbit. Beyond that I do not know. They may be able to send a division from Terra Neuvo but on the other hand, they are preparing for an offensive. The Beta site does have a rapid deployment battalion, but these days they are more deployed than at home." A Captain said. "For now, we're on our own."
"What are our casualties so far?"
"We've lost about 400 soldiers, most either killed or captured presumed dead. However, that's nothing compared to local law enforcement, the Aschen don't care for police, fire fighters or ambulance personnel. About 8000 have been reported killed, some even executed. I can't really give you any numbers on civilian casualties, but considering the eradication groups in New Miami and perhaps other cities, they will be high."
"Sir! The Aschen are retreating from orbit. We can expect the 69th to make their firs landings in two hours. The Jaffa have already sent down some al'kesh and gliders, more will follow."
"Can the mother ships give fire support?"
"Only if you want to destroy the city as well."
"Let's not do that just yet."
A few hours later
2 kilometers outside New Boston
LZ Foxtrot
The first landing ships that made it down were among the smallest, they carried about a platoon infantry each. Four made up the first wave. They quickly secured the landing site before the larger ships landed after which the mechanized units were unloaded. Within an hour the entire first battalion was ready. The troops quickly entered the APC's and they set out for the city of New Boston, where about 900 Aschen soldiers were trying to control the downtown area. Another battalion was unloaded near the shipyards, which were close to New Detroit. The third battalion was deployed in New Washington.
The 69th mostly used Strykers and Bradleys for transport and firepower as well as some Humvee's with added protection. Once they reached the outskirts of the city they could see people looking through the windows. A few children ran outside to greet the soldiers but were quickly called back indoors by their parents.
Once they neared the downtown area they could see the first signs of combat, several buildings were damaged and here and there the bodies of people killed lay to the side of the road. The company spread out over three roads, a company for each one. All around them unfinished buildings ruled the sight. Unfortunately those buildings could all be used to ambush the advancing troops.
They were at a numerological disadvantage, but that was countered by the high training of the Tau'ri soldiers who were in general the best trained in all the known galaxies. The Colonials came close, especially after the second Cylon war where a lot of their troops gained a lot of experience but they lacked the equipment the regular Tau'ri soldier had at its disposal.
"Sir, we've got life signs at eleven O'clock, two blocks down." A Sergeant reported over the company wide communications network.
"They hostile?" the Captain of the company asked.
"Can't say sir. Too much background interference from civvies and dead bodies." The Sergeant replied.
"Okay, this is what we'll do. Second platoon sets up a base of fire at a block away, first platoon goes in close to check it out. Third platoon is to cover our rear, I'm not liking this situation."
The three platoon commanders confirmed the orders and went on to give their soldiers their orders.
As they reached the junction the second platoon took up covering positions. Once they were done first platoon drove up to the building that showed the life signs.
"Sergeant, what do your sensors show you now?" the captain asked.
"It's even vaguer then before, I think the buildings are bouncing the life signs back of forth unlimited. There might be anything waiting for us in there."
"Okay, first platoon, go in hard, use flash bangs and non lethal if you are unsure about the subjects status. Second platoon, cover them if necessary, don't worry about collateral damage to the buildings, they are as strong as hell."
The building in question wasn't finished. Its walls were standing, the floors were laid down but beyond the bare rooms there was nothing. Nothing to hide behind, nothing to take cover behind. The soldiers had no trouble entering the building as the entire front was supposed to be filled by glass, which wasn't placed yet.
It wasn't until the third floor before they made contact with the enemy.
The lead soldier stuck his head out of the staircase and was greeted by a hail of bullets, a poorly aimed hail of bullets that was. The troops quickly swung into action and prepared to take a new peek around the corner, this time with a microscopic camera. The feed was streamed to the platoon commander and to the commander of the first squad, which would take point on invading the third floor. What they saw made them feel like they were back in basic school or playing bad video games.
The hall was filled with twelve Aschen soldiers, all training their weapons at the door, without cover. Opposite to the staircase was another office which would give them a place to take cover in.
"First squad, introduce these noobs to a flash bang and then make your way over to the office opposite to you. There, see if you can flank them, we'll keep them busy." The platoon commander said.
No sooner as the order was given a flash bang was thrown into the hallway blinding and stunning the Aschen soldiers for a few seconds. Enough seconds for the twelve men of the first squad to make their way over to the office and for the second squad to take up positions at the door.
From the office first squad was in they could make their way to another hallway, one that wasn't covered by the Aschen soldiers; from there they made their way around the Aschen soldiers without being noticed.
"Sir, we're in position, you want us to take them down?" the squad leader whispered into his mike.
"Yeah, take them down, we'll stay out of your line of fire, go lethal."
The squad quickly got into place, six on either side of the hallway, the first few crouched down while the last few stood to give all of them a good line of fire. On the command of their commander they all let loose with their weapons, ten M-700's, and two M-249 SAW's cut down the Aschen soldiers within seconds.
First squad as well as seconds squad quickly moved into the hallway to clear all the rooms.
"First squad clear."
"Second squad clear."
"All clear. Check them for Intel."
Bridge, TFS BB-305 Sol
Pegasus galaxy
April 27
"General Carter, the Apollo reports they have deployed the last sensor satellite." Marks reported from his station.
"Bring the grid online please." Carter responded. What they were talking about was their way of scanning the entire Pegasus galaxy. The sensor grid was a series of satellites strategically placed throughout the Pegasus galaxy in order to detect any ship movement.
Marks tapped several keys and the satellites all came to life. The telemetry immediately was downloaded to the Sol and the Midway station.
"Ma'am, we're getting it, it seems good."
"Crosscheck all signals with known positions of our own ships." Carter ordered.
Marks confirmed and typed in some commands. For a minute or so the computer was busy. In the end all friendly units were marked and a list was compiled of all unidentified or hostile contacts.
"Ma'am, it's ready."
"Put it up on the main screen."
The screen changed into a mess of green, yellow and red dots. The green dots were usually spread out although they did resemble something of a front line. The red dots were usually gathered together. They were anywhere but behind the line the green dots made. The yellow dots were interesting. They were contacts the computer couldn't identify. They were either Wraith ships that the computer couldn't get a proper lock on or alien ships which had not been encountered before.
"Can you scan for Wraith super hives?"
"Yes Ma'am, I can try."
The computer took another minute to scan through all the contacts and finally came up with a list of 90 plus percent matches.
"We've got nine potential targets." Marks lifted an eyebrow. "They all seem to be grouped at one place Ma'am."
"Anything else Marks?"
"They appear to be recovering from a hyperspace jump, they might jump soon again."
"Alright, prepare the ship for combat; I want to take them all down. The sooner they are gone the sooner we can join the fleet in the Aschen sector. How far away are we?"
"We're pretty close, about twenty minutes away."
"Set course, raise the 1st fleet and have them make best speed towards the targeted location."
Twenty minutes later
The ship exited hyperspace. For a second nothing happened, but then the forward turrets started firing on the nearest super hive. There was only a small escort fleet present, some hives and a bunch of cruisers, nothing to worry about. The F-302 squadrons launched from the ship as well. They formed up and engaged dart units as soon as they got in range.
Though the Sol was powerful it would take some time for her to take down all nine super hives. Nevertheless the first super hive was already drifting out of formation as about a quarter was blown off.
The defensive batteries started targeting the dart squadrons that got through the 302 screen. The less powerful CILS destroying dart after dart that threatened the ship.
The ship performed admirably, all its weapon stations were operating at peak proficiency and the shields were holding out despite the fire that came in from the super hives. Its crew worked effective and efficient and needed little guidance in doing their job making the officers feel obsolete.
Another super hive blew up, this time because the Sol scored a lucky hit on its Vanir power source.
"Colonel, target those Vanir power sources, they cannot replace them and they make for one hell of a bang." Carter ordered.
"Yes ma'am. An Asgard task force is waiting in hyperspace for your instructions." A lieutenant reported.
"Deploy them to the other side of the battle, as soon as Wraith darts reach them, they are to enter hyperspace and emerge on this side of the battle." Carter said.
Seconds later an Asgard task force consisting of two O'Neill's, three Beliskners and three Jacksons exited hyperspace. They opened fire catching the Wraith of guard. A hive and a cruiser were history within seconds. They soon concentrated their fire on a superhive, although less effective they did do substantial damage.
After another twenty minutes several other ships had arrived and the Wraith ships tried to leave. The last superhive left in existence made for the nearest clear spot to enter hyperspace. Unfortunately, Carter saw it and had Marks put a hole through the hyperdrive. After that the superhive was finshed.
"SitRep Marks." Carter ordered.
"Shields at twenty nine percent, minimal damage, eighty percent of fighters survived. The fleet lost no ships though there is quite some damage." Marks reported.
"Okay, I want you to see if the satellite grid has some more targets that look like super hives. I want to have every potential contact checked out before I report that we've destroyed all super hives." Carter ordered.
A few minutes later Marks had the results of his scan. "General, there are three more targets of potential target, but they all number in the twenty five to fifty percent range when it comes down to matches."
"Send a 304 to investigate every result."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Situation room, Atlantis
May 12th, 2016
An emergency session was called for by General Maynard of the Army. All the members were still arriving but the most important person, the President was already there.
"General Maynard, what is it you had to report?" Hayes asked.
"Sir, twelve minutes ago word reached me that the Aschen have deployed Biological or Chemical weapons against the 122nd Light infantry brigade near P98-887A. this is the main city on P98-887. The 122nd was ordered to capture it following a successful invasion of the planet. Four days ago the marines established a secure perimeter and the brigade was brought down. Ever since they've been in constant combat with Aschen defenders. Preliminary reports suggest that about thirty percent of the troops have been infected and may succumb within a matter of days." Maynard reported.
"What are you doing about it right now?" Hayes asked.
"The Nox have promised to send four of their ships which are equipped as hospital ships. They were already standing by and are now en-route to the planet in a hope to find a proper cure before our troops die."
"Is the 122nd the only unit infected?" the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs asked.
"Yes sir. The moment the commander of the 122nd noticed the attack he sent out an alert to all other units which subsequently went into NBC gear." Maynard said.
"What are our options?" Hayes asked.
"Sir." O'Neill said. "since the Sol will be back within three days I would suggest we send the first Alliance Battlefleet to destroy all known biological and chemical production plants within the Aschen domain."
"Why haven't we done that before?"
"Because these plants are located on heavily fortified planets and placed in bunkers deep underground, only a mark nine would be able to destroy them. Any normal fleet would not be able to crack those defenses. There is also one research lab that is located in the middle of a city, we can't nuke it because it would kill millions." O'Neill said.
"And General Carter could crack those defenses?"
"Yes sir."
"And about that lab, is it possible to take it out with conventional missiles? Or perhaps a Special ops team?"
"Intel suggests that the area is saturated with air defense batteries, no missile would be able to get in close. Even so, if we would destroy the building the surrounding area would be deadly, falling debris, never mind the possibility the weapons we tried to destroy might be released. We don't know what type of research they've done there or if the Aschen themselves are immune to it." O'Neill said.
"A ground strike might be possible though. A small team of Delta Force could in theory infiltrate the building and tag the chemicals so that another ship can beam them up. Or they could place high heat incendiary explosives that would burn the chemicals." Maynard said.
"How would you want to get them on the ground? I thought the beaming technology was not undetectable." Hayes said.
"If, for instance, the Odyssey would go in, phased out, they could launch a phased jumper which would be undetectable. All they'd have to do was to de-phase once they are down and keep cloaked and make their way towards the target without getting noticed." O'Neill said.
"How long would it take to prepare such a strike?" Hayes asked.
"A week, the unit would need to train. The jumper would have to be brought aboard the Odyssey and the Odyssey would need to get into position. She can't just jump into orbit of the planet and shift phase. They would be on the alert and they've got an extensive sensor system. The Odyssey would have to drop out at about three days sublight to get in undetected." O'Neill said.
"Okay, get it started, tell Carter she has a new mission after that lab has been destroyed, not before." Hayes said.
"Sir, if I may, I would like to suggest we do more than just destroy their biological and chemical weapons." The Chairman of the joint Chiefs said. "they deployed WMD's against our troops. Our doctrine dictates we respond in kind. Now I don't say we nuke the Aschen into oblivion like we did with the Vanir, but while we're at it we might as well nuke some military bases and such legitimate targets. Hopefully without incurring to many civilian casualties. It might force the Aschen to the negotiation table."
"This would prevent the loss of a lot of troops sir." Maynard said. "Our current estimates suggest we'll lose nearly a million troops, just by invading Aschea prime. Our total death count for the war would be near the ten million. Any chance to force the fight to an early end, with favorable conditions for us of course, would be preferred."
"And don't forget that every day we're stuck fighting the Aschen we waste a day we could be preparing for the coming war with the Dominion." O'Neill said.
"True, modify the orders for General Carter to include the destruction of any military target within range."
Bridge, TFS Odyssey
Aschea Prime
May 19, 1900 hours
Newly promoted General Emerson entered his bridge. He was met by his XO and a Warrant officer he hadn't seen since the second Cylon war. "Warrant Officer Sullivan, are you and the team ready?"
"Yes sir, Snake Doctor and his team are in the jumper and ready to go." Sullivan reported.
"It'll be dark within an hour, tell snake Doc he has a go."
"Yes sir." "Snake Doc, this is Red Cap, you have a go."
"Copy, we'll maintain radio silence until we reach the ground."
Soon thereafter the deck chief confirmed that the jumper had phased out and to his knowledge had left the ship.
Twenty minutes later the team came back in. "Red cap, this is Snake doctor, we've reached the ground and have found transport to the target."
"Copy that snake doctor, be careful and good luck." Red Cap replied.
Down on the planet the team had found an old and rusty van. Betty bloom's old skills came in handy and the van was quickly running. The team was already familiar with Aschen traffic rules because for once the intelligence they got was correct.
An hour or two later they reached the building. It was one of the largest sky scrapers of the city. The problem was that the building was partly residential. The Aschen had a habit of building things on top of already existing structures making for some strange buildings. Since blowing the building up was out of the question and beaming the stuff up would only alert the Aschen to their presence. Instead it was decided that the team would take the chemicals and stage a small explosion making the Aschen think the stuff was blown up, at least until they investigated closer, but by then the team and Odyssey would be gone.
They entered the building through the front door carrying their own weapons and gear in bags. Because the building was partly residential nobody really noticed them. Once they reached the twenty eight floor they exited the elevator and found a quiet spot to change into their gear. The next floor was a security buffer, there was nothing there except the security cameras. The next floor actually held the research lab. The floor above that one was also a security buffer.
Since detection was not an option the team could not go through either one of the two floors. The only remaining option was to go around, on the outside. They exited the building through a window and used suction pads to climb the building. Once they were on the right floor they cut a hole through the window and entered the lab. There was significant less surveillance there. The team had a look around and quickly found several small canisters that had Aschen toxicity logos on them. They looked around some more to see if there was more and they found some Intel. After that they found a place where they could place the explosives and might make it look like an accident.
Once they exited the building they had little trouble. The night doorman tried to make some conversation but was quickly cut off by an unkindly response from Snake Doctor. They loaded the canisters in the back of the van and set out to where they'd hidden the jumper.
After twenty minutes they still hadn't left the city as they got lost a couple of times. Right around that time the lab exploded. The entire floor seemed to explode and shrapnel was sent flying in every direction. Minutes later an air alarm sounded.
Nearly two and a half hours and a dozen police checkpoints later they were nearly where they left the jumper. Again they came across a check point, this one however was operated by the military. There were about three cars in front of them. They were all searched thoroughly by the soldiers.
"Looks like we're gonna have to shoot our way out of here. Betty bloom, once the shit hits the fan you put your foot down on that pedal and you will not take it off until we reach the jumper, you understand that."
"Yes boss."
"Red Cap, Red Cap, this is Snake Doctor, we're gonna make a hot exit, stand by to beam us out in case we need an immediate evac." Snake Doctor said through a special radio.
"Copy that Snake Doc, we're standing by." Red Cap responded.
They waited patiently for the three other cars to be cleared and waved through. Once it was their turn Betty bloom brought the van up to the stop point indicated by a soldier. The soldier requested his papers and told him that other soldiers would check the back. When two soldiers opened the back of the van they were surprised to say the least. Their lives were ended quickly at the end of two silenced MP5K's. it took a second for the other guards to realize what had happened. Meanwhile Betty bloom put his foot down and the van sped away. By the time the aschen soldiers could bring their weapons to bear they were already gone.
Five minutes later they had ditched the van and had loaded the bio weapons in the jumper, they took off, on their way to the Odyssey in orbit.
"Red cap, red cap, this is Snake Doc, we're liftoff and en-route to the ship, ETA twelve minutes."
"Copy that Snake Doc, ETA twelve minutes."
"Snake Doc, this is Odyssey actual, congratulations to you and your team on the good job and I'll see you once you get back aboard."
Sometime later the team was back aboard, and Emerson wanted to try just one more thing.
He had the navigator place the odyssey right beside the flagship of the Aschen fleet, practically hugging the hull. At his command the Odyssey phased back into existence and opened a hyperspace window. The hyperspace window ripped away the hull of the largest Aschen Carrier. It opened up a weapons storage locker to space, the munitions that was tossed about exploded, and subsequent explosions detonated waiting fighters and bombers as well as fuel storages.
Eventually the entire port side of the carrier was wrecked beyond recognition and more and more of the ship was consumed by internal fires.
Flag bridge, TFS Sol
1021 hours, May 22
Aschen Colony
General Carter was in the flag bridge commanding the battle that was taking place. Since the Alliance didn't approve of the entire Alliance battlefleet being sent into harm's way the battlefleet was disbanded. Instead the Sol now was part of the first Tau'ri Battlefleet, consisting of the Sol, six BC-304's and four aurora's. The first battelfleet was part of the sixth fleet, assigned to the Aschen Territories army group. The planet they were attacking was only fifteen minutes away from Aschea prime by Aschen hyperdrive.
They were stuck in a pretty tough fight. Eight battleships, seven fleet carriers, three light carriers, and a dozen more capital ships, not counting the dozens of light cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes and gunships.
It was amazing that up until that battle no Tau'ri warship had been lost at the hands of the Aschen, something Carter was intending to keep so. The Colonials had some losses, three battlestars were destroyed in an ambush and about two dozen smaller warships were destroyed, mostly while defending a Colonial outpost. As usual the Free Jaffa had taken the most losses. They did field most of the ships involved.
The holographic representation of the battlespace projected two groups of Tau'ri ships. One was the Sol with four of the 304's charging in through the center. The other group, four Aurora's and two 304's, made their way towards the center from the right flank. They were taking out fighters by the dozens while firing their drones.
The plan was for the two forces to meet up in the center of the enemy fleet and from there make their way over to the planet where the 304's and Sol would commence a limited orbital bombardment with nuclear weapons. The problem however was that the carriers made up the center of the Aschen force, and they were protected by the battleships.
Nevertheless the ships fought their way through the masses of ships and fighters. Space was nearly constantly lit up by explosions and energy fire. Initially no less than five battleships had concentrated their fire on the Sol. The Sol was an unknown for the Aschen though they had heard about a new type of Tau'ri warship unmatched by any other ship known to them. They also knew that that warship was deployed to another theater of war where they were fighting a much more powerful enemy and would be there for a long while.
So when they encountered not a force of Jaffa or Colonial ships but Tau'ri ships with the newest ship they were scared. One 304 alone was deadly enough to them, let alone a ship so much times more powerful than a regular 304. They threw everything they had at it, assuming that everything has its limits and that, if enough firepower would be brought to bear on it she'd be history soon enough. Besides, an alarm was already sent out to Aschea prime, and a sizable fleet was already underway.
What troubled them was the rate with which the Tau'ri were working their way through the Aschen ships. At the current rate they'd be finished in a little over ten minutes. The sol had fought its way through all the escorts it arrived at the first battleship. Its most powerful weapon was deployed and in one shot, the battleship was hollowed out from bow to stern. Surprisingly the ship didn't explode, nor did it break apart. It just drifted away, its core incinerated before it could blow up, so powerful was the beam.
The Aschen commanders were scared. A perfectly fine battleship was taken out with a single shot while the ship that fired it, the Sol, had no damage whatsoever despite the enormous bombardment she was subject to. But there was no time for the Aschen commanders to be scared. The Tau'ri ships were bearing down on them and destroyed everything that came in their path. They knew what they were after, shortly after the Odyssey left Aschea prime a communiqué was sent out to every commander telling them about the Tau'ri going after the biological weapons.
Now already the Aschen leadership realized they had made a mistake by using biological weapons against Tau'ri forces. The reprisals were hard, the destruction of a carrier in orbit of their capital world had send ripples of shock throughout the Aschen domain. People were scared and it seemed as if no amount of weapons or ships could hold the Tau'ri back. The support for war was lessening more and more while the demand for peace was growing. The civilians began to lose their sense of superiority to the other races of the galaxy now that they were being beaten by a race, from a planet that the last time they'd heard of them were nothing more than savages, primitives, vaguely connected to them.
Anyways, back to the fight. The Sol was just done skinning the fourth battleship, the ship was hit dead center and broke in two pieces only minutes after. Two of the Aurora's were busy chasing down three carriers that tried to make a break for it. The Aschen forces were systematically eradicated, the 304's took care of the heavy cruisers and anything smaller, while the Aurora's and the Sol took care of the carriers and battleships. No ship, not even a fighter escaped the Tau'ri's blue-white fingers of death.
Eventually the Aschen fleet was decimated. The Sol took up a position over the known weapons lab and launched a mark nine nuke. Several drones escorted the missile down towards the planet to ensure its safe arrival. In the meantime the 304's used all kinds of ordnance on military targets as well as known industrial areas.
This was total war and the only thing they wouldn't do was deliberately target civilian targets.
For the next few minutes they were busy recovering shot down pilots and trapped personnel from both sides. But eventually they had to leave. Just as the 304's and aurora's entered hyperspace the Aschen relieve fleet arrived. The Sol stayed behind for a bit longer, just to show them the power she had. Two carriers and a battleship were gone before the Sol joined its comrades in hyperspace, en-route to the Colonial colony of Caprica.
Orbit of Caprica
1225 hours
The Tau'ri fleet exited hyperspace just outside the security perimeter of Caprica. They were quickly greeted by the colonial admiral of the Fleet, Admiral Nagala.
"Admiral, thank you for your welcome." Carter replied after she was welcomed by Nagala.
"General, if I may be so blunt, what are you doing here?"
"One of my Aurora's suffered some structural damage and I want it repaired before we go into battle again, besides, we've expanded a bit more munitions than I wanted and I thought we could use the stargate to ship in some additional munitions."
"Very well, you can dock your ships at the Pia enchorage, and drydock 238 is available for your Aurora. There is a stargate opening at 2200 hours this evening, I suggest you contact your command to have them send whatever you need."
"Thank you Admiral, we'll be docking within half an hour."
"General, on more thing." Nagala said. "Is there a chance you could give me a tour?"
"Sure thing sir. You can come by whenever you have the time. I'm planning on leaving in three days."
"Thank you General, have a nice day."
Aschen war council
Two days later
Aschea prime, Government bunker
The Aschen war council consisted of a few politicians, the prime minister, the secretary of defense, state, interior and intelligence. In addition they had the option of calling in help from 'experts'. It was the war council that had started the war, they declared that a number of nearby worlds were ripe for annexation by the Aschen. The military had objected and showed information obtained which laid out the probable responses the Tau'ri and Colonials would give. The minister of intelligence in response brought up a dozen of his 'experts', which all said that the Tau'ri would not respond, nor that they would object. Four days later the council declared that the worlds should be annexed. The highest military commander objected, as did his staff. That afternoon they were all in jail, two days later they were executed for betrayal.
Both sides were right. The Tau'ri were too busy fighting the Wraith to even consider fighting the Aschen, if it weren't for their attack on the ships sent to the planet Cau where the Ticonderoga was the Tau'ri wouldn't have bothered, not until the end of the Wraith war. Now the Aschen were part of an exclusive group made up by the Goa'uld, Milky way replicators, Pegasus replicators, Wraith, Vanir and the Lucien alliance, all had been subject to the wrath unleashed by the Tau'ri after they angered them.
The Aschen were overconfident by their superiority complex and many victories over other planets. The fact that ever since they threw out the Goa'uld they were never defeated also led to their superiority complex, 'cos, if not even gods could subjugate them, nobody could.
"Secretary of Defense, what made the most recent defeat possible?" the prime minister asked.
"The first battleship to be destroyed carried the fleet's commander. Its destruction caused confusion with the other commanders and their incompetence led to their ships being destroyed." The SecDef said. "The problem with this war against the Tau'ri is the gross incompetence of our commanders. We have given them the best ships and best soldiers. Our orders are clear and the enemy is badly motivated and badly equipped. Our own intelligence confirmed that half their planet was destroyed by an inter galactic enemy which they are fighting right now. All in all they cannot have that much ships here. These colonial dogs and jaffa slaves are the ones fighting. During the time of the Goa'uld we killed thousands of jaffa every day and we won the war."
"So you destroy their homeworld." The secretary of state said. "You admitted it yourself during an earlier meeting. The Tau'ri are concentrated on their homeworld, take it out and they will lose their will and chance to fight."
"That sounds great, why haven't we done that before?" the prime minister asked.
"Because the military objected it all the way, they say that we don't have enough ships to pull it off, such a thing would only inflame their allies." The SecDef said.
"Well it's not like they aren't already inflamed, why don't we go and bomb the hell out of Earth." The Secretary of state suggested.
"I second that motion and I suggest we do it soon. Our intel suggests that the newest Tau'ri warship, the S.O.L. is with the Colonial fleet undergoing repairs for damage taken during the most recent battle." The secretary of intelligence said.
"What does that even stand for, S.O.L.?" the prime minister asked.
"Our intel suggests that it is some kind of obscene abbreviation for their women." The SecDef said chuckling. All present chuckled at his statement, of course they were all old men over sixty years old.
"Let's call in the chairman of the chiefs, he'll be responsible for the mission, I have full confidence in him." The prime minister said. The chairman, the eight chairman in three months, was a cousin of the prime minister and worked himself up through the ranks with desk jobs.
"He is currently unavailable, he got stuck in a command bunker which was sent into lockdown by a false alarm. They are still attempting to dig him out." The SecDef said.
"Then bring in his second in command." The secretary of state said angrily.
Ten minutes later a general was brought in. The man walked with a limp as he lost a leg during one of the first attack made by Tau'ri troops. He was not that easily persuaded to throw away lives and accept lies to cover for politicians.
"General, you are to assemble a fleet and attack the Tau'ri homeworld. The plan has already been devised." The prime minister said as the SecDef handed a form to the general. "Considering that the main fleet of the Tau'ri is engaged with another hostile power and the rest has been spotted at the Colonial home world. Now is the time, strike now and destroy their homeworld. Those are your orders. Any questions?"
The general looked confused. After a minute he only had one question. "Who's side are you on?" with that he walked out. He went straight up to ground level. From there he had his driver take him to the nearest divisional HQ.
An hour later a company of tanks rolled onto the grounds of the bunker. A general led a company of soldiers down into the complex. A Coup had started.
AN: Well, that ought to be fun!
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