its been a while, next chapter is already half way done, though it might take a while to finish, anyways enjoy!
thanks to Rudy Pena and just a crazy man for the beta
Traveler vessel
Near the remnants of M7R-227
March 8, 2025
The traveler vessel exited hyperspace over the remnants of the destroyed planet. Though the ship had received numerous upgrades the ship's looks hadn't changed much since it had first appeared in orbit over Atlantis. Its commander hadn't changed much either. As she walked onto the bridge several crewmembers greeted her.
"Commander, we have reached our destination. I have established a stable orbit over a planet on the outskirts of the system."
"Good, commence a thorough scan of the system. The Tau'ri sensors monitoring the area picked up a faint contact that disappeared near this system. Considering the history of this place, the Tau'ri want to know what it was."
"Yes commander." Someone said.
"The planet was destroyed right? We were all there, and Sheppard has said so many times." One of the older crewmembers said.
"It was, there's nothing left of the planet. Only bits and pieces here and there. Most of the asteroids around here are from the moons and other planets that were nearer to the planet when it exploded." The commander said.
"Scanning has commenced, a full scan will take about an hour."
"Very well, let's settle in for the time being."
About forty minutes later the scan was finally returning something useful.
"Commander, we are detecting a ship within the asteroid field."
"Can you identify it?"
"Redirecting sensors for an ID."
"The contact is changing course. It's coming for us!"
"Raise shields, arm weapons. Power up the hyperdrive and prepare a jump to the nearest outpost, let's be ready to bug out."
"We've got an ID, it's an ancestral ship!"
"This can't be a coincidence."
"They've powered shields and armed weapons!" someone said. "They're launching drones! Fifty seconds to impact!"
"Get us into hyperspace, now!"
Seconds later the ship came about and entered hyperspace.
In hyperspace
"Prepare to send a data package to midway, and get me Larrin."
A minute later Larrin's face was shown on the forward screen.
"Larrin, Katana here. We've just encountered a potentially massive problem."
"What is it?"
"We'll be sending you the logs soon. Midway sent us to check out a sensor return one of the hyperspace satellites picked up near M7R-227. When we arrived we commenced a scan of the system. After a while we got a sensor return and when we directed more sensors to identify the contact it started moving. We quickly got a hit, it was an ancestral warship. It opened fire and we jumped out."
"This is troubling news. Where are you going now?"
"We've set course for a nearby outpost, I believe it's run by the Genii."
"No need, get to the nearest stargate and gate to the midway station, your ship can follow through hyperspace. I'll get things started here."
Midway station
Larrin let her breath out once the connection was severed. She closed her eyes a moment and recounted the last time she had been at M7R-227, and the losses they had taken then. She stood up and walked out of her office. She took a left at the end of the corridor, a right after a few meters and busted through a door at the end of the corridor. A secretary stood up in shock and surprise.
"Is he in?" she asked as she walked towards a door to the side.
"Commander you can't go in there right now, he's on the line with…" she couldn't finish her sentence because Larrin simply walked through the door.
"Sheppard." Larrin said as the CINCPEGCOM turned away from a screen in surprise of the person busting into his office.
"I'm sorry general she just walked through." The secretary said as she had followed Larrin in.
"It's alright Nancy." Shepperd said as he waved her of.
"General Carter, would you mind if I'd call you back later?" Sheppard said as he faced to the screen which showed general Carter in her own office somewhere in the Milky way Galaxy.
"Sure thing John, I've got Rodney waiting on the other line anyways."
"Okay, thanks, give Rodney my regards."
Will do, see ya later." Sam said before the connection was terminated.
"What's up Larrin?" Sheppard asked.
"Katana's ship just encountered a hostile ancestral warship at M7R-227. They bugged out before they had taken any damage, but they were fired upon with drones."
"An Aurora class warship?" Shepperd said. Larrin nodded. "At M7R-227? As in Asuras?" Larrin just nodded harder. "Crap." He walked to a nearby window and looked out over the station, in particular to the docks where a number of warships were anchored. He looked at them for a moment and then returned to his desk. He pushed a button on his desk. "Nancy, I want my staff readied in the situation room, have General Flannigan report there as well, and have Generals O'Neill and Ellison on the line. Say five minutes."
"Yes sir." The reply came.
"Walk with me." Sheppard said to Larrin. Together they walked to the situation room where they arrived a couple minutes later. A couple of the staff were already there.
"General, we just received a report from a commander Labreya, a traveler. It suggests that an aurora warship was spotted near Asuras." A Colonel said as he stepped up to Sheppard. "Personally, sir, I'd suggest tighter drug controls 'cos I don't know what they've been smoking over there, but it must be some strong shit sir."
"Well, I have to disagree with you on that Colonel. You know Larrin." Sheppard said. "And I want to know what happened at Asuras." Sheppard looked over as General Flannigan walked in. "And I want general Flannigan to go investigate."
"Sir, investigate what?" Flannigan asked.
"A Traveler ship discovered an Aurora class warship near Asuras, and when they scanned it they were attacked with drones. They managed to get out without any damage though."
"You're thinking replicators might be back?"
"Perhaps, I don't want to take any chances. I'll send a light battle squadron. Your ship, the TFS Bellerophon will be in command, take three or four battle cruisers from the piers here and use the jumpgate to get to Asuras ASAP." The Bellerophon was one of four battleships assigned to the Pegasus Galaxy theatre of operations.
"Yes sir, anything else?"
"Good luck, happy hunting."
"Thank you sir." General Flannigan said as he walked out.
"General Sheppard, I have Generals O'Neill and Ellison." A coms specialist said.
"Good, put them up." Both Generals were on the same screen. "Generals." He said, the other two responded in kind.
"What've you got Sheppard?" O'Neill asked.
"A Traveler ship encountered an Aurora warship. Here's the kicker, it was at Asuras and it opened fire once it was detected."
"Replicators?" Ellison asked.
"Perhaps, the travelers didn't hang around to find out. I'm sending the Bellerophon and a few 304's to investigate. In the meantime, I'd like to know what kind of reinforcements I should be expecting if this thing turns out to be Replicators?"
"Nearly the entire fleet is currently receiving final upgrades before the Dominion arrive, and once that's done they'll go into the reserves." Ellison said.
"I will put in a call to the Alliance, perhaps some of them can put in some ships. If I were you I wouldn't hold my breath though."
"Yeah, expected as much. You'll tell the president?"
"Yeah, will do, perhaps he has a bright idea." O'Neill said.
"Okay, thanks. Sheppard out."
"Bellerophon is pushing off." Someone reported. "Bellerophon, you and task force are cleared for immediate jumpgate departure."
A screen showed the progress of the Bellerophon and its three escorting battle cruisers. Within minutes all four ships had formed up at the jumpgates, and simultaneously, jumped to Asuras.
CIC, TFS Bellerophon
"All four ships present and accounted for, no damage."
"All ships sound tactical alert. I want to be ready to shoot back the moment we come under fire." General Flannigan ordered. "Commence a thorough scan of the system, start where the Travelers found that ship."
"Sir, we're detecting an incoming hyperspace window." Someone announced.
"Size?"
"Medium sized, could be an Aurora."
"Change course to intercept. Be ready to return fire."
"A ship has exited hyperspace, power readings suggest a ZPM powered Aurora."
"On screen."
"They're scanning us."
"Go active on ECM. Don't let them get a read on us."
"We're jamming them, they can't scan us."
"Excellent, hail them."
"Unidentified vessel, this is the Tau'ri Federation ship Bellerophon, please identify yourselves." Flannigan said. He turned to an officer at his side. "If we get a response I need you to run it through visual and audio recognition software, perhaps we can get a hit."
"Whom we are is of no concern to you, all you need to know is that this region of space is our territory and that you have one minute to leave."
The screen that had shown the arrival of the Aurora was split in two as the audio recognition programs of the ship started their magic on the voice. Within seconds it had a hit. A picture of the owner of the voice appeared on screen.
"The thing is, a couple of years ago, some friends of ours, blew up a planet here. And just a couple of hours ago, some more friends of us, were here for a casual inspection of the system, when they were suddenly and deliberately attacked by an unknown force, using the same type of ship as you use. The reason we blew this planet up, was because there was this very evil race living on it. But I think you already know this don't you, Oberoth?"
They waited a while but nothing was coming back. "I wish I could see the face of that fat bastard."
"Sir the ship is moving again, they're coming closer, but not very fast."
"Probably stalling for reinforcements." Flannigan said as he thought it over.
"Sir should we open fire?"
"We can't, the ROE say we can't attack a ship that isn't presenting a clear and present danger to us or any innocent parties nearby, for all we know that is just a split off faction of the Asurans who mean us no harm, or perhaps aliens who use Oberoth's voice to communicate with us. There's a whole host of possibilities." Flannigan said, though he didn't sound so convinced. "Get me General Sheppard."
Seconds later Sheppard was on the line. He must have been waiting for a call with some news.
"Sir, we've encountered an Aurora but it hasn't opened fire yet, nor has it powered weapons. I just had a brief conversation with someone from the other ship, they wouldn't tell me whom they were, but they did claim this system was theirs, and we have a voice match on Oberoth. Right now they're moving closer, but at a slow speed."
"I see, they're probably waiting for reinforcements." Sheppard responded.
"My guess exactly, I called to ask for a change in the ROE, because they don't present a danger to us at the moment the ROE won't allow me to open fire."
"I see, what's the worst case scenario?"
"Well, we could be opening fire on a ship crewed by aliens who are using Oberoth's voice to communicate with us."
"That would be bad. Alright. Send a hostile challenge and if they don't respond favorably you are authorized to open fire, disable the ship and board it if possible."
"Yes sir, Bellerophon out."
"Well that clears things up." Flannigan said. "Hail them again."
"Unidentified vessel, this is the TFS Bellerophon, identify yourselves or be considered hostile."
"No response sir." A lieutenant reported.
"Unidentified vessel, this is the TFS Bellerophon, identify yourselves or be considered hostile, this is your last warning."
"Anything?"
"Nothing sir."
"Alright, Bellerophon to task force, we are moving in to board the ship, only fire if they do not cooperate, and only to disable."
The ships started moving towards the lone Aurora.
"Unidentified vessel, this is the TFS Bellerophon, cut your engines, lower your shields, power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded, if you do not comply you will be fired upon."
The task force moved closer so they could more carefully aim for their targets. Once in range, the powerful weapons of the Bellerophon pounded away to try and break the Aurora's shields, which were a tough nut to crack. Quickly orders were given for the battle cruisers to open fire at different sectors of the shields to overpower them and bring them down quickly. It worked and the shields were already showing signs of weakening. Unfortunately, the general's suspicions were right. Two aurora's and five smaller types exited hyperspace within firing distance of the task force, and seconds later the arrivals and the already present Aurora opened fire.
"Shields are at 95 percent! Shields are holding against the drones for now!"
"Return fire at will, shoot to kill."
Immediately, the main weapons of the Bellerophon bundled their power to target the first Aurora. Three turrets combined their powerful beams into one massive unstoppable beam. The targeted Aurora didn't stand a chance. Though its shields flared brightly for a second or two, they eventually failed. They were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of power forced into one tight spot. Once the beam was past the shields, the hull was cut into like a hot knife through butter. Within seconds the first Aurora was history.
Stunned by their early defeat the aggressors turned tails and ran for hyperspace. One of the smaller ones was quickly taken out by the 304's ganging up on it. Within moments the two remaining Aurora's jumped into hyperspace, quickly followed by three of the smaller types, leaving only one.
"Take that last ship! Disable its hyperdrives, don't let it escape!" Flannigan said.
It only took a few seconds for the Bellerophon to destroy the smaller ship's hyperdrives and render it virtually dead.
"Let's get a boarding party ready. Use railguns to target weapons and shields, as well as other means that could be used against us." Flannigan ordered.
1st Tau'ri Federation Army HQ, NOS, Caprica
March 9
Since the invasion of Caprica by Dominion forces, the 1st Army had done well. The perimeter around Nos was holding, despite valiant attempts by the Dominion to break through. In the east, the Marines of the first Marine Corps had taken two old defensive lines and made something from it that had held the Dominion back without much trouble. To the South and west the terrain was more or less plains with some forests here and there. The infantry divisions deployed there had also built up defensive fortifications and were using rivers and higher ground for additional defense. Once in a while, the First Team (1st Cavalry Division) used the area in front of the MLR (Main Line of Resistance) as its personal maneuver training ground. Once I a while they were let loose and they turned the area into a slaughterhouse, especially when the Dominion were just in the process of attacking.
In recent days, the Dominion attacks had been getting more and more serious again. But this time it was different. The artillery strikes were much better placed and the attacks were also better coordinated between separate units. The support of Dominion ground attacks had become better, their logistics had improved as well as their ability to quickly deploy forces into attacking position, leaving only a small period of time for the Tau'ri to prepare for an attack.
Today, the Dominion had started the fourth day of constant attacks. So far, most attacks were concentrated in the south, the terrain was just a bit more favorable for preparing an attack then in the west, where there was the always present risk of a Cavalry sweep.
Lieutenant General Tom Parker, CO of the 1st Army was pacing up and down the command center. For days his soldiers had been under constant attack, and no matter what he had done, they would not stop. He had bombed every possible supply route into the area into oblivion, going even so far as to have a low yield nuke detonated at the nearest Dominion supply station. Nothing helped. In fact, the attacks got worse and worse. For months, his artillery had been left untouched by Dominion artillery, now, without warning, the Dominion had tracked, and destroyed nearly a dozen artillery batteries. Fortunately he had enough in reserve, the Tau'ri army had found out it was much easier and cheaper to fire a dozen HE grenades from twenty miles, than to send in a company of soldiers to stop a Dominion attack. Now the artillery had to 'shoot and scoot' in order to survive. Not that it wasn't something they weren't trained for, or weren't prepared for, but it just took a couple of minutes to pack up, drive on, and unpack again, and those minutes were minutes when they couldn't support the troops.
One of the aides had been working with several batteries, playing a game of cat and mouse, trying to destroy the Dominion artillery emplacements, while keeping their own safe. Unfortunately the Dominion seemed to have caught on to the Tau'ri's tactics of 'shoot and scoot' and had adopted it with some success.
"Sir, you've got to hear this." Someone said as he held up a headphone.
The general told the man to put it on the overhead.
"…Goddamnit asshole, don't argue with me, just blanket the area!" someone's voice boomed through the overhead speakers.
"Who's that?"
"The CO of 1st battalion, first marines. They're under heavy attack and being overrun as we speak." A colonel said. "Sector 24." He added as he saw the general searching for it on the holographic table.
"How'd that happen?"
"They came out of nowhere, completely surprised the marines and many posts were overrun. What's worse, is that sector 24…"
"Sector 24 contains one of the few access roads to the city. I know."
"Echo five give specific target date."
"God damnit motherfucker, we're getting overrun here, blanket the entire sector, air burst, we're getting overrun, drop 'em on our heads! NOW!"
Finally a positive response was given and apparently seconds later the first rounds started to drop.
"Get me UAV visuals."
Quickly a tech pulled up a feed from one of the airborne UAV's. numerous rounds were still impacting the area and dirt and body parts alike were thrown around, though it wasn't clear if they were human or Dominion.
Eventually, the artillery fire died down. Immediately, the shooting on the ground started again and the Dominion were on the attack again. The Marines defending the area came out of their bunkers and returned fire from the trenches that had long ago been dug out and reinforced with wood and concrete. Because of the intense artillery bombardment right on their heads, they had all been forced to take cover and once it was over they weren't in position straight away. The Dominion made use of it. Within minutes they had troops within the trenches and were making their way to some of the bunkers. Reserves were already underway, a battalion was 5 minutes out, they were coming in by spacehawk from the second defense line. It seemed as if they wouldn't be on time, not for every bunker anyways.
One of the bunkers had fallen. Dominion forces were pouring in through the hole that was created. A Dominion aircraft arrived. The Dominion loaded some people in and the craft returned to the Dominion lines. Mere minutes later the reinforcements arrived and reestablished the front line.
Sometime later
Somewhere Dominion
Lieutenant Colonel Mia Lundstrum slowly awoke. She looked around, scanning her surroundings. she had no idea where exactly she was, except for a Dominion cell, so she guessed. She had no memories on how she got there. The last thing she remembered calling in an artillery strike on their position, she must have been knocked out by a nearby blast. What she didn't understand was how she got to be in a Dominion cell, or something alike. The Dominion weren't exactly known for taking care of their own wounded, let alone those of their enemies. The lighting was abysmal and she couldn't figure out where the door was, if there was one at all. She'd be really pissed if this was some kind of Dominion torture, 'stick 'em in a hole they'll never get out of and let them die a slow and unpleasant death'. She patted herself down to see what she had on her and if she was somehow injured. She found nothing useful, just a lighter and some smokes, that would at least make her suffering a bit more bearable.
She lit up a cigarette. There wasn't much else for her to do, not unless someone showed up or she died. She walked around the cell, she touched the walls trying to find a clue to a possible door. She went over the recent events. She had called in an artillery barrage on her position. It had taken several attempts to get the REMF on the other end to fire danger close, but finally he had budged. That danger close must've knocked her out cold. In the meantime the Dominion had probably resumed their attack and overrun the marines' defenses. They must've cleared the bunker, probably killed everyone else who could resist and have taken her, and possible others into captivity.
But why? Why she didn't know. Of course, she was a colonel, but it's not like the Dominion had ever shown any interest in gathering intelligence from prisoners. From what she had heard and read, anyone who was unfortunate enough to get captured was worked to death on a Dominion run slave labor planet. All questions she couldn't answer, and probably never would get an answer for. She was stuck on wherever she was, probable still Caprica, though for all she knew they could be in space.
She thought of back home, to her house, her two sons and her husband. Her husband was with the Free Jaffa, serving as a military advisor to their military. In the meantime her sons were with her in-laws on earth, probably the safest place right now. She thought about her friends, how many must've been killed by now. Most were marines, she knew of a number that had died, some she had actually seen dying. This war was the worst of all she had gone through, from her first deployment to Iraq all through the Vanir, Cylon, Wraith and Aschen wars. In the end, all those previous wars had caused less than half the losses among her friends.
This sucked. If she was going to die, she'd rather die fighting, instead of being tortured to death or executed. The waiting was killing her, she kept thinking back to her family, to her marines, some of whom would certainly be dead now. Her XO, who, if he was still alive, would now be taking care of the battalion.
She stopped pacing. She thought she had felt a shock going through the cell. She placed her hand on one of the walls. She could feel the walls tremble slightly. Either there was an artillery strike nearby, which would mean they were still close to the front lines, or the shock she had just felt was a jump into hyperspace, and the ship she was on was moving through hyperspace, god knows where to.
Some divine wisdom would be useful right around now, perhaps an ascended giving some cryptic clue. Something at all would be welcome.
Without warning, a wall disappeared. It revealed a badly lit corridor, a tall being walked through and the wall reappeared again.
"Who the fuck are you?" she asked almost spitting the words out.
"In your military I would be a three star general." The Dominion said. He clearly was a Dominion, even though the lighting was bad, she could still make out the green skin color on his face and hands. "My name is too hard to pronounce in your language, and not really important."
"So what do you want me for?"
"I'll come to that in a minute." The General said. Out of nowhere two metal chairs appeared. "Sit, please. Smoke another cigarette if you'd like."
She looked him over once again, this was not what she'd expected from an initial interrogation by an enemy like the Dominion. She half expected a question she wouldn't know the answer to followed by a round to the chest or head. She took the seat, though she remained on her guard.
"You might be wondering why you're still alive, or not in some labor camp?"
"It had crossed my mind, yeah."
"The reason is that I need you."
"Yeah? What for? If you think I'll be your little pet, or sex slave or something, you might as well get it over with and kill me now."
"No, that's not what you're here for. From my colleagues I've gathered that the females of this galaxy, especially those of the Tau'ri and Colonials, are much to feisty for such work anyways." The Dominion said as he took a seat opposite her. "That's not what I'm here for either."
"So you're just here for the regular extermination of innocent beings, committing of war crimes on a massive scale?"
"That depends."
"I'll bite. On what?"
"You. And your leaders of course." He said with a grin. "Let me explain. As I told you earlier I am a three star general within the Dominion army. I am the commander of the fourth Guards Shock army. My unit recently arrived in this galaxy and is set to commence fighting on the Colonial planet of Tauron soon. I believe some of my colleagues with the Guards have already introduced themselves there. Please let me explain the difference between Guards and regular units. Us guards are professional soldiers, full time as you call it. The regular units are mere draftees, they rarely get into a real fight, but when they do, well, you've been fighting them ever since our military entered this part of the universe. The regular forces fight for the Dominion as a whole, but the Guards fight for the Emperor, we are better trained and equipped."
"What happened when the races here started fighting back, is that you got the personal attention of the Emperor, and he's furious, but on the other hand, he's also impressed."
"Lucky us." She mocked him.
"Yes, indeed you are." The Dominion said. "And he is willing to forgive you, all of you."
"What's the catch?"
"The emperor has seen fit to offer a letter of pardon to not just the Tau'ri, but also the Asgard, the Colonials, the Free Jaffa, the Pegasus Alliance and all members of the Great Alliance out of Heliopolis, but at the condition that all lay down their arms, and accept total leadership of the Dominion. You will be allowed to keep your own formations, and have some sort of freedom. But you will be required to supply units to the Dominion war machine."
"Are you on drugs or something?" she asked in disbelieve.
"As in a narcotic? No, I have no such addictions, nor any prescribed medicine at the moment." He responded dryly.
"Why in the world would you expect us to surrender to you? We've been doing fine fighting you off."
"So we can see." He said as he raised his hands to indicate their surroundings.
"A personal setback perhaps, but I am not the Federation. It will live on in my absence."
"At any rate, back to your original question." He said as he stood up again. "I need you to introduce me to your leaders. We'll be dropping out of hyperspace soon, near a planet you call Alpha site. I suggest you follow me to the bridge, from there we can hail your people."
"What!?" she was stunned. The wall had again disappeared and the general walked out without waiting for her. While on her guard for any tricks she followed him. She kept looking around for anything to use as a weapon. If what he had told her was true, taking him out would be something worth dying for.
After a few corners she saw a loose pipe lying on the ground. Before she could stop to pick it up he spoke again.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Do what?" she asked innocently.
"Picking up that pipe and killing me with it of course." He said as he turned around, he was grinning at her. "There are about a hundred thousand of your POW's waiting in a nearby system. If I return, no matter what your response, they will be turned over to your forces. If you kill me, or keep me a prisoner, they will be executed. I hope you will relay that message to your people as well."
"You some psychic or something?"
"No, just common sense I guess."
"So say this isn't some elaborate ruse to get something out of me, how do you want to proceed from here on? What about the crew of this ship for example?"
"There is no crew. This is one of the oldest ships I could find, its type isn't in use anymore." He said as he started walking again. "In a few minutes we will exit hyperspace some distance from your Alpha site. We will be in range of sensors and communications so they will see us. I assume your forces there will immediately converge on our position, trying to destroy us. What I need you for is to talk to them, convince them that we mean to talk with them and are there under a banner of truce as you call it."
"And from there on?"
"Well that depends on the reaction of your fleet there." Meanwhile they had reached what was supposed to be the bridge. "We'll go along with whatever your fleet asks of us. I assume they will beam us out, take the ship and take it apart. They will probably debrief us and that will probably be when our paths will separate."
"One final question, why me? You could've taken anyone from those hundred thousand POW's you claim to have, but you chose me instead."
"Simple, you've been captured less than a day ago, some of those prisoners have been in our custody for months. It would be reasonable for your people to mistrust them, for all they know we could have tampered with them, somehow manipulate them or something."
"I see."
"Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." She said.
Seconds later the ship exited hyperspace. Fortunately they were far enough away from any defenses, that she could see anyways, and the CAP was on the other side of the system at the moment.
"Can you open a channel for me? Just make sure its limited to the ships that are heading for us, but in an open, unencrypted frequency." She said.
After a second or two she received a nod from him.
"Tau'ri vessels, this is Lieutenant Colonel Mia Lundstrum, TF marines, first of the first marines. I am here with a representative of the Dominion leadership. He wishes to convey a message to our leadership. Please hold fire, we are not a threat to you." She said. "That should raise some eyebrows."
"It has." He simply said. "We are being hailed on a secured frequency, it's from one of your ships."
"Do you have a screen we can put that on?"
She received a nod and seconds later a projection of the other commander appeared in the middle of the bridge.
"This is commander Brown of the TFS Century, please confirm identity."
"ID is: TFM0619472F0Z, authentication code is Lima, Tango, Charlie, Tango, Foxtrot, Mike, brake, Echo, Zero, Six, Mike, Lima."
"That code is marked as MIA/KIA."
"That would be MIA, though not anymore." She said. "Commander, I was recently captured by the Dominion military on Caprica, now they want me to help deliver a message. We'll be lowering shields and cutting power so you can board us or beam us over, there should only be two life sings, me and the Dominion representative." She said with a nod to the Dominion.
"Hold one."
"Should you not have mentioned the one hundred thousand prisoners and their fate, should anything happen to me?"
"That would be too tempting, they would see it as a ploy to something, and not believe it."
"So what do we do now?" he asked as he walked around a bit. He seemed a bit nervous, which surprised her.
"We wait. I think we scared some people to death with our message, and they're probably waiting for orders from above." She replied. He walked around a bit more and patted his uniform again, to make sure it was clean and proper. "It'll probably take a few minutes for someone with real power to give an order. They'll probably beam some spec ops aboard to take us in. those soldiers would need to dress up and get ready first. So I guess, no more than, say, ten minutes."
"You don't have troops ready to fight here? So close to the front line? With our forces drawing nearer every day?"
"I'm not gonna talk readiness with you, not that I'd know anything about the grand strategic plan of the alliance anyways."
"Liar. But it was worth a shot." He said.
"So, why are you here?"
"Because the Emperor asked me, and it is my duty to do all he asks of me." He said matter of fact.
"But I mean you, why you? There must be enough people in your Guard, why risk a general if you could just send a private or something with a recorded message?"
"To add weight to the message. Would you believe a private with that message? Besides, it was convenient. When the Emperor made the decision I happened to be in the neighborhood. I was slated to leave for the front in a few days."
"How old are you?"
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"Well, from what we know about your race, you won't die naturally and could be millions of years old."
"hm. In your years, I'd be coming up on ten thousand." He said. "But most of us do not live to make it into the million years. Far from it. Only some of the Emperor's family, as well as the Emperor himself. He is the oldest Dominion alive."
Suddenly the room seemed to explode as loud noise and a bright light filled the bridge. By the time they recovered they were both on the ground, being tied up by unknown persons. Once their hands were tied and bags were pulled over their heads they were beamed to somewhere else.
Minutes later, and after being dragged through several corridors she was deposited on the ground somewhere. The bag was pulled off her head and she could finally look around. She couldn't really see much, the walls seemed to be giving bright white light. Or perhaps her eyes were just adjusting to the brightness.
Two strong hands helped her up. "Colonel," a disembodied voice said, "Decontamination," the voice said as an arm pointed to an open door, "undress, you know the drill." They said as her hands were cut loose. The hands let go of her and she brought them back so she could see them. She felt her wrists which had gotten sore of the restraints. She looked around and saw two persons standing in the corners behind her. Both were clad in dark clothes, they resembled NBC suits, but just a bit different. They were also wearing gasmasks, and, of course both had a rifle in their hands.
On their upper arms she saw a patch. a red spearhead, with a black dagger over it, and a black tab with AIRBORNE in red letter over it. These dudes were Delta Force.
As they didn't move she assumed they wouldn't leave until she had gone through decontamination. So she started to undress. She took off everything and stood up. She walked to the decontamination area. Once she was through the door the two operators closed the door behind her and, through a panel on the wall, instructions were issued.
First she was sprayed down with some liquid and later dried, the process was repeated a few times. In the meantime she had to give a blood sample and several questions were asked. She was also scanned a couple of times.
After about 25 minutes she was done and was sent through a door to the next room. Here she found some clothes over a chair which she was told to put on. It reminded her of a MARPAT uniform, except for the blouse to put over her shirt, which wasn't there.
The moment she was done two soldiers walked through the door, this time they didn't carry rifles, just a sidearm at their thighs. Both were sergeants, and both were with Delta Force. "Please come with us ma'am." She complied and they led her to another room, there she was beamed to somewhere else, from where she was led to another room. This one was brightly lit and it had a table with three chairs.
"Please sit." The tall black one said. Once she was seated both of them took the other seats.
"Hi there." She said. She wasn't expecting much, but you never knew.
After a few seconds of blank expressionless staring the tall one started talking. "Hi, I'm sergeant White."
"And let me guess, you're sergeant Black?" she asked the other guy, he was caucasian.
"No, I'm sergeant Brown, why would you think I'm sergeant Black?" he asked dead serious.
"Sorry." She stammered.
"Nah, I'm just messing with ya. For the purpose of this meeting you can call me sergeant Black." He said as he cracked a wide grin.
"Then call me Lieutenant Colonel Lundstrum." She said.
"Mia it is then." Black said.
"So Mia, what the fuck happened?" White asked.
"Come again?" she asked them.
"What, the, Fuck, happened?" black repeated slowly. "You've got a hearing problem I'm not aware of?"
"I got knocked out by an artillery strike, when I woke up I was aboard that Dominion ship."
"Yeah, about that." White said. "You called in a danger close strike on your head. What the fuck?"
"That was fucking stupid if you'd ask me." Black replied. They looked at each other and shook their heads. "Damn stupid." Both said simultaneously.
"We were being overrun, we had Dominion forces about to enter the trenches. It was a last ditch effort to hold the line." She responded.
"A bad one at that." Black said sarcastically.
"And you failed to boot." White added.
"Hey!, are you two going to be this way for the entire duration?" She burst out.
"What? Us?" White asked with an innocent face.
"We're just babysitting you while we wait for the Generals." Black said.
"We're both just interested parties, trying to get some information." White explained.
"I'd almost think the two of you were twins." She said.
"Well… you know what William said." Black said.
"We few, we happy few…" White continued.
"We band of brothers." Black finished
She thought about it for a few seconds. "Shakespeare. True." There was a bit of silence. "So… Why's Delta Force doing the security on this place?"
"Can't say… yet. You'll find out."
"Yes you will." A hoarse but still formidable voice said. All three rose immediately.
"General Ferrando." Lundstrum said as she saluted.
Ferrando returned the salute. "General Mattis will be in shortly." Ferrando announced. He walked over the two sergeants and both immediately stood up. Ferrando deposited the file he was carrying on the desk before taking a seat. "So, the word is, you are who you say you are." Ferrando waited a second. "Surprised?"
"Not really."
"Thought so. Maybe this will." He said as he got something from a pocket. "You're promoted."
"Sir?"
"You've been promoted to a full bird. They need you at Tauron."
"12th MEU? What happened to its commander?" Lundstrum asked after thinking it over once.
"Got KIA yesterday. There are some doubts about the XO's combat qualities."
"And you just found that out? Half the Corps knows that already."
"We've been trying to rectify that mistake for a while, but it wasn't on such a high priority since he was just an XO."
"When do I leave?" Lundstrum asked eagerly."
"Take it easy, not until we've debriefed you. We've already got your new XO there, he'll keep guard until you're done here."
"Who's it?" she asked.
"A Major Ter Wiel, formerly Dutch marines, served with the fifth marines during the Aschen war, highly distinguished."
Lundstrum tried to remember the name but failed. "Never heard of him. But fifth marines did get in some nasty fights back then."
"True, true." Ferrando said. "How bout we get started." He said as General Mattis walked in and took the other seat. "So tell us what happened."
"We were under attack, the Dominion were pushing…" she started but was cut off.
"We know that part already, we saw the UAV feed and heard the radio calls. How 'bout you skip to the part after you are taken from the bunker."
"Okay. I don't know what time it was, or where we were, but I woke up aboard that Dominion ship. I was in a prison cell. After a while the General came in."
"Come again? General?"
"Yes, that's what he introduced himself as, a three star general. He didn't give me a name, just a comparative rank."
"Okay, continue."
"Well, we got to talking a bit, it kind of surprised me to be honest. And then he floated a proposal."
Both generals leaned forwards a bit.
"Peace. He has an offer of pardon from their emperor. The alliance would become a sort of semi-independent puppet regime to the Dominion and we would have to supply troops to their cause."
"Why?" Mattis asked.
"Because we've been inflicting massive casualties. So much, that they are deploying their elite units, Guards he called them. Apparently we've encountered a few of 'em at the Colonies."
"We've had such suspicions for a while." Ferrando said.
"Apparently, they do value their Guard troops, and want to prevent mass casualties to them. Also, their emperor is impressed by our fighting skills. He wants us on his side."
"Good to know we're doing something right." Mattis commented.
"He's been saying the exact same thing." Ferrando said. "Okay, that's kind of what we wanted to know. You'll have a meeting with a shrink tomorrow, before you ship out again. The boss requested you to visit him once you are ready. Anything else?"
"Eh, yeah, two things." She said. "Has my family been notified?"
"Yes, twice even. Your husband will gate home in an hour or two, so you can see him once you're done with the boss."
"Great." She said. "The other thing. He said that if we were to return him alive, no matter the answer to the proposal, he'd release a hundred thousand POW's."
"What do you think about that?"
"Sounds pretty damn good. Perhaps too good. But it might be worth risking." She said.
"It just so happens that we know it to be the truth."
"Really? How?"
"Well. It's kind of still a secret." Ferrando said.
"Yeah, but it's more of a public secret." Mattis said. He made a gesture to his colleague to go ahead.
"Okay, you might remember, that a couple of years ago, there was this riot about the military being able to copy the memories of anyone being beamed with Asgard technology."
"Yeah, I remember. That was true?"
"No, not at that point anyways. We were working on the technology to do so, but couldn't get it to work right."
"If you want to know the details you should ask General Carter, she's around somewhere. But it comes down to a couple of things. Acquisition, storage, and access. We had the storage and acquisition done, but not the access. The debate that followed brought us some good ideas and someone solved the problem for us." Mattis said.
Ferrando continued. "You and the General have been the first two operational subjects to this new technology. We've verified everything you said here before we even started. We're still sifting through the memories of the general, and we'll be doing our best to get that verified ASAP. It's a shitload but the techs wanna try something with time dilation and stasis."
"Great." Lundstrum said, not sure if she should be happy or mad at the invasion of her private thoughts.
"Okay, that's it. Go meet the Chief. Sergeants Black and White will take you." Ferrando said as he and Mattis stood up.
The two sergeants escorted her through several corridors before they exited the structure they were in. she couldn't immediately recognize the terrain. They appeared to be somewhere remote, there were some cabins and cars around, though few were military as she had expected. She looked up to the stars and did recognize several stars. She concluded she was somewhere on the eastern seaboard of North America. There appeared to be three types of people walking around, the marines, all were carrying the standard M-700 rifle and a sidearm and some more gear. A group of people in suits trying to blend in, but their posture said it all, security. The third group were people, also in suits, but definitely not security, probably bureaucrats.
As several cars drove by she got her final clue. The cars all had the seal of the president painted on their sides. This was Camp David.
"I'm here to meet the president?" she asked Black.
"Took a while." White said looking over at Black. "Yes, you are."
"And a bonus point If you can tell us our location." Black said, giving it his best 'show host' imitation.
"Camp David." She stated.
Before the two guards could reply two suits walked up to them. One was of the kind carrying guns, the other carrying nothing but a bad attitude.
"Colonel welcome here. My name is Bob Ritter, deputy assistant to the President's chief of staff." He said. From the start he seemed to be a boring guy. He turned to the other suit and grabbed something he handed to him. "This is your security ID. You'll need it to get past the security here." He said as he handed it to her. He started walking and she just followed him. "You'll meet the president in a few minutes. Before that there are some things I need to tell you about before you meet him." He started dead serious. He continued to give directions on how she should behave in the presence of the president, to not speak unless spoken too. It bored the living hell out of her, all he said appeared to her to be quite normal, definitely for someone from the military. Nevertheless she pretended to listened to the man, nodded every time he looked over to her and said 'right' and 'thank you' once in a while.
After some very painful minutes they reached a somewhat secluded cabin. Despite the darkness she could see the outlines of several marines walking a perimeter and several secret service agents, they had to be secret service, standing guard at the entrances.
She was met by an aid who seemed to have a bit more common sense and was guided inside. The aid knocked on a door and stepped in. he immediately announced her and she walked in. she was surprised by the sight. The president, along with someone else, he had his back to the door, were watching a hockey match on a nearby screen, while the first lady and the two younger children were on some couches reading and playing.
The president immediately walked up to her and extended his hand, she quickly took it. "Colonel, thank you for coming, I can imagine you want to see your family after what you've been through."
"No problem sir."
"The reason why I have called you here is twofold." He said. The other person also turned around. He appeared to be a second lieutenant with the marines, still fresh out of training. She guessed it was the president's first son, Jack jr. She could remember him joining up some time ago, following his sister, who had signed up with the space forces where, if she remembered correctly, she was now an officer serving on the Enterprise manning the flag bridge. "Colonel, considering what you've been through the last day or so, what is your opinion of the Dominion?"
"Sir?"
"You're personal opinion, not a political correct one."
"Well, the General kind of confused me sir." She saw the president look confused. "It's how he introduced himself, as a three star general, and since he's been unwilling to share his name I've gone to call him that."
"I see, General O'Neill called him Willie and, as usual, it stuck." Ryan said.
"Okay, so, Willie, appears to be an entirely different kind of Dominion from what I've been told about the rest." She started. "To be honest, from what he's said he seems to be like any other army General within our own forces. He cares for his troops, is obedient to his leaders, but wherever possible tries to prevent any losses to his men, or at least tries to minimize them."
"He's also experienced, he probably fights the hard fights for the Dominion forces. From what I gathered the Dominion forces, or at least the ground forces, are split in two. The conscript amateur part, and the Guards formations, which Willie said to be highly trained professionals. They probably preserve the Guards formations for some reason and only send them in when the fighting gets rough. It's kind of a complement to us sir."
"It's one I could do without." Ryan said. "How much damage do you think these Guards could do to us?"
"That depends on how many they have." She said. "According to Willie, some units have already been deployed and have seen action. It's likely that the breakthroughs they've had on Tauron are thanks to those formations, as well as the recent attacks on the Nox perimeter. I'd say that these units are about as good as our own National Guard formations, with a high amount of efficiency and quite some experience, we should make destroying these forces our top priority. Preferably before they make it to the battlefield. The only thing I'm not sure about is their equipment, if it's the same as their conscript counterparts it would severely compromise their abilities, but if they've got top notch weapons, vehicles, perhaps some sort of armor, we might be in for some trouble sir."
"So, considering the deal before us, what's your opinion?"
"Never. I don't have to remind you what Churchill said. England was in a much harder spot to get out than we are right now. We've got a fully equipped and prepared army, we've got a strong fleet, we've got robust defenses, plans and backup plans, technological superiority and allies. I will fight on till the end, so will any other soldier I know, none will surrender so easily. I think it's fair to say that the military is capable and willing to fight this one out till the very end, no matter what. It's the politicians who are the problem sir. Don't you worry about us sir, there's nothing like that peace loving, tree hugging, hippie shit going on with us. Sure, if we could end it now on favorable terms to us, sure we'd be all behind it, but these terms are just fucking ridiculous." She ranted. "Pardon the language."
"I couldn't agree more." Jack Ryan Junior said.
"I know you do son." Ryan senior said. "But just refusing this might not go over to well with the people, let alone with the peace coalition."
"So make 'em a counter offer." Lundstrum suggested.
"Come again?" Junior asked.
"Reject the proposal, but make 'em another. Something like, leave the galaxies, don't expand in our direction ever, and leave us the hell alone."
"Basically what would be acceptable to us." Ryan surmised.
"Yeah." Junior said enthusiastically. He quickly turned serious again. "Would that work dad?"
"The Dominion would probably reject it, but it would be a blow to the peace coalition, it won't be us refusing sensible peace, but the Dominion."
Someone stormed in, seemingly unopposed by any of the guards. "Mister president!"
"Arnie!, what is it?" Ryan said as he greeted the man who entered. "oh, by the way, this is Colonel Lundstrum, the new CO of the 12th MEU." He said. "Colonel, Arnie van Damm, my chief of staff."
The two shook hands and exchanged greetings.
"Sir, I just got off a call with a contact in the senate. Apparently, senator Wilkes will propose a bill that will require there to be a national referendum before an answer to this proposal is given."
"How the hell did he know about this? We've known this for what? Three hours?, less than a hundred people know any of the details, how did he find out so soon?"
"A hundred and one apparently, one to many." Arnie said. "It's probably gonna break early this morning, Wilkes' probably gonna play like you wanted to keep it secret and just reject, and him being the whistleblower, doing 'what's right for the country' and all that crap, being the good guy."
"Jack?" someone called from the other side of the room, it was Cathy Ryan, the first lady. "Might this be what you're talking about?" she said as she referred to a screen which showed a 'breaking news' story on CNN.
Immediately everyone walked up to the screen and the volume was turned up. "…We just got word from an anonymous source within the government, that a Dominion representative delivered a peace proposal directly from the Dominion leadership. Ehm, so far we do not have a white house, or Pentagon comment, as I said, this just got in…"
"Anonymous my ass." Jack said. "That's Senator Wilkes' friends at work, no doubt he'll be releasing a press statement within the hour promoting this proposal."
"That's not the worst." Arnie started. "There are elections coming up in a couple of months, and people are down a bit recently because of the lack of action from our side, which Wilkes uses to criticize the war leadership. But what I mean is, peace would not be seen as unfavorable, Wilkes will be able to spin this proposal in such a way, that the citizens won't see what it really means. They want to use their voice, a referendum gives them that chance, and senators can't vote against this right now, it will cost them their jobs."
"Crap, how long is it gonna take to organize a referendum?" Ryan asked.
"Well, there are certain things, constitutional requirements, that need to be met. But I'd say about three months." Arnie said.
"Right around the time we expect the Dominion to arrive."
"We can't hold a referendum if our home systems are under siege, can we?" Junior asked.
"This might be good." Arnie said. "We get the Dominion to stand down for our referendum, a cease fire for three months."
"General O'Neill did say that any day we postpone the Dominion arrival at the Alpha site is a good day. Every day we launch more MBDP's and thousands of drones are built. But would they ever accept?"
"We could ask Wilie." Lundstrum suggested.
"Then so be it." Ryan said. "Junior, you wanna meet a Dominion?"
"Jack! Not in here." Cathy Ryan exclaimed from the couch she was still sitting on.
"Who said anything about that. We could just as well beam to Atlantis." Ryan said as he put on a jacket.
"Sir?" Lundstrum asked as Junior also put on a jacket.
"You're done here, go meet your family." Ryan said. Lundstrum saluted him and he returned it after which she turned around walked out.
White House press room
11 AM, March 10
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the president wishes to address the nation within the hour, at which time he requests airtime on all public channels." The press secretary said. She had said the same thing since 7 AM this morning, but each time the statement was put off as the president was still talking with other heads of state, most notably the Asgard, Colonials and Free Jaffa.
"C'mon, you've been saying that for hours now, what's this about, does it have something to do with the claims by senator Wilkes about a peace proposal?" a reporter asked.
"Considering the high amount of publicity it has been getting since the Senator made those claims I dare say it is reasonable to assume that the president's address has something to do with it." She continued to answer the same kind of questions for another ten minutes before she was called back. Five minutes later she came back.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, in five minutes the president will address the nation on a matter of the highest importance. The president has requested air time on all public channels for this announcement." The press secretary said. "Just to make sure everyone understands me, the president will address the nation at approximately 11.25 AM local time."
Immediately a firestorm of questions arose, but all remained unanswered. That was, until five minutes later the president walked in and took his place behind the dais. No one asked a question, they only responded to the president's 'good morning everyone', followed by 'take a seat'.
"Yesterday, the Tau'ri Federation's fleet in orbit of the Alpha site reacted to a single Dominion warship exiting hyperspace at a reasonable distance to the planet. Apparently, it carried no hostile intent. Instead, it carried a messenger from the Dominion Empire. This Dominion identified himself as a three star general with the Dominion ground forces. He carried a message from the Dominion Emperor himself. This message is an offer of peace. The terms were as following: One, the Tau'ri Federation, as well as all other powers allied in the Great alliance will lay down their arms, and accept total leadership by the Dominion. Two, all will be pardoned, this is basically the peace part. Three, we will be allowed to keep part of our forces, but these are to be relinquished to the Dominion military if requested. If all these conditions are met we would be allowed some sort of freedom in our daily routines." Ryan said. He held for a few seconds to let it all sink in before continuing.
"It is my personal opinion, and others may not agree with me, that this is no more than a request for our surrender. Furthermore, I see this as a confirmation about our performance in this war. We have beaten the Dominion military at every opportunity and have certainly bloodied their nose. I see it as a confirmation that we can, and, if we put our backs into it, will win this war. I have always made it clear that if there was a way to end this war, I would. By that I meant with favorable terms, these are not. This morning, senior marine officers currently deployed on Tauron have contacted the Dominion command on Tauron. They said nothing about this proposal, yet they delivered another proposal. This proposal is one that covers the goals we, and the entire alliance have for this war. What it comes down to is the following, the Dominion forces leave the milky way galaxy, and any nearby galaxies containing an alliance presence. Furthermore, the Dominion would not be allowed to expand in our general direction and any nearby galaxies inhabited by the Dominion would be demilitarized to prevent a buildup of forces."
"About an hour later we received their reply, they rejected it and made us the same proposal as before. The marine officers receiving this news requested and were granted a 100 day cease fire between Dominion and Alliance forces. Just half an hour before the officers received the news a bill was proposed in congress to hold a referendum on this matter, and it passed. Constitutionally, a referendum requires a minimum of 85 days in preparation and may not be carried out in times of national duress. Since we know that the Dominion are coming for us we could not have held that referendum, since by the time it was held Earth, might very well be facing Dominion forces on her doorsteps. Also, other nations have these same sort of requirements and cannot hold a referendum while at war. Therefore, we requested a complete cessation of hostilities for the following 100 days. While other nations are free to decide when their referendums are, if they want to hold any, the referendum for the Tau'ri Federation has been set at Wednesday June 6th 2025. The cease fire will commence in about two hours and will hold until Monday, June 11th. At that time the Alliance will have to have an answer to the Dominion proposal." Ryan said.
"Further details on the referendum, the truce and the two proposals will be made available once they have been readied for release. Let me be clear, the choice each and every one of us will be facing is to either make peace at the cost of our independence, liberty and freedoms, or to continue waging war, with all its gruesome confrontations, the many deaths and wounded, the massive strain it puts on our society. But it is my opinion, my personal opinion, that we should carry on. We should keep on fighting. We've got the best army in the known universe, the best fleet, and the Dominion damn well know it. So I say go on, no matter how hard, no matter how long, I have faith in our armed forces to keep us safe, to defend us from this menace, to defeat it and beat it back."
"Thank you all, and have a good day." Ryan said as he nodded to the camera's and stepped off and left the room. The door hadn't even closed and the first reporters started yelling questions.
that's it for now, leave a review if you feel like it.