Prologue

Orilla

Asgard Homeworld

Ida Galaxy

Earth Date: December 3, 2008

Asgard Capital City

"So, Thor buddy, what's so important that you need us and the Odyssey for?" Jack O'Neill directs at Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard and long-time friend to SG-1, especially to O'Neill, as the two walked, well, O'Neill walked while Thor kept pace on a hover-chair, along a walkway overlooking the Asgard capital.

Unfortunately, Thor's answer was not what he was expecting, in fact, it was downright depressing!

"It is of great importance, O'Neill...in five days' time, Orilla and the Asgard will be no more."

"WHAT? Why?" Jack shouts out in surprise and horror.

"The genetic degradation of our cloned DNA has become malignant and irreversible, many bodies are on the verge of full systemic failure or have failed entirely though some have disapproved of this course of action, the Asgard High Council has decided to the Tau'ri...everything."

O'Neill sits on the floor in shock and dismay, asking, "Everything?"

"Everything...our knowledge, our technology, everything." Thor answers matter-of-factually. "You are the Fifth Race, O'Neill; we have chosen the Tau'ri as our successor, we believe that you have the wisdom and the foresight to use our gift well to the benefit of the greater good. It is our time to step back and let the chosen race continue our work. I know you well enough, O'Neill, that you still think that your race still need more time but we believe that you are ready for this responsibility." Thor states solemnly.

"Sure, no pressure," Jack replies flippantly, his trademark insolence back in place, though Thor have been around humans long enough to see the worried look in his eyes.

"You will do well, O'Neill but that is not all, we have also decided, to ensure the safety of our legacy, six of the following ships will be transferred to earths control: O'Neill-class battleships, Samantha Carter-class engineering vessels, Daniel Jackson-class science vessels, and a new class of ship that we designed as our final gift to Earth. This class will be called the Hammond –class Supermonitor, when it is fully constructed it will be the size of, what I believe you call the 'Super Star Destroyers' in the Star wars saga that Teal'c shared with me. All ships will be fully equipped with our latest weapons and shields, will be escorting you back to Earth with you which is the reason why we have also asked the Tau'ri to send six additional command crews, they will command the O'Neill's on the return trip, their bridges have already been modified to accommodate Tau'ri physiology and command systems, the Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson class vessels will cloak themselves before heading to Earth on auto-pilot."

Jack's eyes widen at that tidbit, "SIX? Six of the biggest, most bad-ass warships this side of the galaxy? And a ship bigger than anything that has been built since the Ancients ascended? Just to ensure your legacy stays safe? Are you sure that we didn't rub off on you just a little?"

"I personally admit that having six of our battleships escorting you home may be a bit much but given what the Ori are capable of and the trials you will have to face further down, some believe that six may not be enough..."

"But why the engineering and science vessels though? And I'm not gonna send all of them home I think that keeping a few around to witness your end would be fitting. So once you upgrade the Odyssey I will dock that with one of the O'Neill's and send all but two of each class and that monster ship home"

"It has been noted that the Tau'ri have inherited your ancestors' insatiable appetite for exploration, discovery and invention so it was decided that dedicated science vessels would be of great help and would be well-used; as for the engineering vessels, you will be needing their capability to both construct other ships and repair the O'Neill's, and the George Hammond, should they take any battle damage."

"What about...?"

"We will self-destruct the entirety of both our world and our remaining vessels to ensure that none may find and abuse our knowledge and technology, the Asgard Legacy computer cores that we will be placing on board the Hammond and the Odyssey, with the one on the Odyssey being a backup, the nineteen ships we have left to you will be all that is left of the Asgard."

"So there's no other way, is there?" Jack sighs sadly, looking down on the polished floor.

"I am afraid not…Jack." Thor replies solemnly.

Jack looks up in surprise at the use of his nickname.

"It felt…appropriate for the moment, you have always call me your friend yet I have not returned the gesture…now I strangely feel that returning the gesture now felt like it was the right thing to do." Thor explains with a perplexed frown.

Jack grins broadly, "Maybe you little guys didn't remove your emotions after all…maybe you just forgot how to use them."

Thor nods thoughtfully, "A plausible explanation, O…Jack."

"So what sort of upgrade will the Odyssey be getting? And what's the Hammond gonna be like once it's finito."

"We will begin with the power core and its distribution systems, relegating the naquadah reactors to reserve generators and replacing them with two neutrino-ion generators as well as a ZPM receiving station as her primary power core; secondly, your shield generators will be replaced with the latest Asgard shield generators along with a reserve generator should the first one fail; thirdly, the rotary rail guns of the Odyssey will be upgraded to fire 20mm Naquadah-Potassium rounds accelerated to 3600 km/s as well as two secondary triple 120mm railgun batteries with 4300 km/s acceleration, her vertical launch system will reequipped with gravitic accelerators and kinetic launch rails for faster launching and reloading while the missiles will be refitted with micro-ion thrusters for superior speed and maneuverability, the Odyssey will also be equipped with the latest Asgard Plasma Pulse Cannons with two protecting the forward and dorsal arcs, one protecting the rear and ventral arcs…we are also installing an experimental weapon on the ships we are giving you, it is a prototype Linear Ion Cannon, conceptualized by Colonel Carter, capable of firing in both pulse and beam configuration, utilizing an array of magnetic fields built into the barrel to super-focus and intensify the weapon's energy blast while improving both the range and efficiency, also the corresponding sensors and scanners will be replaced by Asgard sensors; fourthly, we will also be installing a computer core containing all of our knowledge thus turning the Odyssey into a Legacy ship as well as improving the Odyssey's reaction time." Thor somehow explained in one breath.

Jack thought Thor was only kidding about all the ships, but this meant that the Asgard are indeed serious, then his mind registers a certain fact...

"Linear Ion Cannon?"

"Colonel Carter took the Tollan Ion Cannon and modified it on the hypothesis that magnetic focusing fields might be able to boost their range and power, then requested if it was possible for us to construct a functional prototype; several of our scientists were surprised at the ingenuity of the modification, simple yet effective."

Jack grins broadly at the praise to his fiancé, "That's typical Carter ingenuity and improvisation."

"Indeed but we have added our own modifications as well..."

Jack cocks an eyebrow. "And they are...?"

"It has been modified to be able to fire plasma, much like our own Pulsed Plasma Cannons as well as fire a large-bore kinetic projectile."

Jack's eyes widen in shock and his mouth goes slack-jawed for the second time, "A multipurpose weapon system?"

"Correct, Colonel Carter's overall concept showed much potential, as it is, we believe that it can grow further but that would be up to the Tau'ri."

"So how long will everything take?"

"Our estimates place our deadline at four days away which is also how long we have before the Ori arrive. The Odyssey refit will only take 36 of your hours. And the Hammond will be ready in three days and 12 hours."

Jack grins broadly and jumps to his feet, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!"

Four days later…

Jack grins proudly as he looks out the bridge of the Hammond, the past four days have been very 'productive' as they had just finished the upgrades and modifications to the Odyssey and her battleship escorts ahead of schedule, the Odyssey is already gone along with most of the ships the Asgard had given Earth, having undergone a full shakedown, including couple of hyperspace jumps which was where they detected a flaw in the Legacy core, it was emitting a signature that could be detected even through hyperspace, a dangerous liability, but that had been rectified. The O'Neill's that were her escorts and guardians had finished test firing their new point defense pulse lasers and secondary twin Linear Ion Cannon batteries while that problem was fixed. Right now, he was watching the Hammond's fighter jockeys test launch and land in the fighter pods mounted on the sides of the massive ship along with testing the new upgrades to the now designated F-302B, the Asgard had gone ape on the upgrading; swapping out human computers for Asgardian ones, the engines and maneuvering thrusters for fighter sized ion drives and gravitic impulse drives, the old titanium for a Asgard neutronium-naquadah alloy armor, a shield generator, dual Naquadah reactors for power, and the railguns have been pulled out, replaced by four rotary micro plasma cannons, with two of them mounted on a modular belly turret system, two internal missile bays for eight short range missiles each, two more internal bays for 28 each of the new medium-range micro-missile (He couldn't wait to give the Ori a taste of the 'missile spam') weapon system and six retractable wing-mounted missile racks for anti-shipping operations, a short range hyperdrive with a rechargeable antimatter battery, inertial dampeners and emergency transporter. (Whew, got to remember to take one out for a spin!)

He was sharply jolted out of his reverie when the ensign at the sensor station calls out, "General, we have hostile incoming! Two Ori battleships inbound on a course aimed directly at Orilla!"

Jack turns sharply, his jovial mood being blown out of the water by the report and goes into his 'command' state of mind, "Comms, patch me through to Thor and the rest of our fleet…and have the fleet go to battle-stations, spread out and be ready to turn this fight into a turkey-shoot."

A flash of light came into existence in front of the bridge, a holographic representation of Thor, as usual Thor went straight to the point, his tone formal, "General O'Neill, we are ready." This meant that the Asgard self-destruct protocols were in place and ready to go.

A thought struck Jack, "Hey, Thor, did your people include your DNA and memory matrices into the Legacy core?"

"Yes, why?" Thor looks at Jack puzzled.

"Then this isn't good bye just yet, buddy, whatever it takes, we'll bring you back, that's a promise."

"No, my friend, it will not be that simple, the DNA sequences have been locked out, and the memory matrices will not be up to date, your effort is admirable but misguided; we, the Asgard, have lived long and well but it is time for us to step back and let our successors continue our work, we believe in your potential and your destiny; you are the Fifth Great Race, it will be you who will now lead the younger races. Good-bye, Jack…," the equivalent of a smile briefly passes through Thor's features, "and may the Force be with you."

Jack simply couldn't help himself as he replies with a broad grin, " Who said we were gonna use DNA. See you in Valhalla, buddy…," then he snaps to attention with crisp precision and proceeds to salute his friend and counterpart.