Chapter 8
Hyperspace
The EAS Iwo Jima and its escorts turned off their engines after building up a good amount of acceleration in Hyperspace. It was known that even advanced sensors could only pick up ships if they got close. The shutdown in engines except maneuvering thrusters assisted the ships in keeping a low profile. The painted striped dark red and black armor even helped disguise the ships from visual detection as the swirling red and black hue made line-of-sight difficult. The armor was more of a combination of two ideas. One being a special composite above the traditional armor most Earth ships utilized. It was made after centuries of improving designs of the early B-2 Stealth Bombers and F117 Night Hawks in the 20th -21st Centuries. The second was inspired by the dazzle camouflage that ships used in World War 1. One ship captain during a Narn Skirmish noted that their ships were difficult to see in Hyperspace. This inspired him to work with Earth Force Research Labs on camouflage in Hyperspace.
Field tests of such stealth spacecraft worked. Several large freighters were fitted with many of the composite materials on its hull and painted in the dark red and black paint. These ships were given missions to fly around League, Narn and Centauri space. Only a lucky Centauri ship got within close range of a freighter to detect it and the cover story of it being lost due to a systems malfunction was accepted. The Centauri captain surprisingly accepted the freighter captains "I liked the paintjob" explanation when asked about the similarity to the Narn paintjobs. All ships were able to report back to Earth space and their missions were deemed successful both in and out of Hyperspace. Now there was a small number of ships that using this camouflage material. Avenger Carriers, Hecate Battlecruisers, Oracle Scouts and Olympus Corvettes were in small fleets operated by Special Operations to perform missions.
Captain Holly Keatson looked at the holographic representation of the ships near her. Each ship had its tachyon transponders off but regular tightbeam communications were on. This was to keep tachyon and other noise from the ships at a minimum.
"Captain we are receiving data from the Tok'ra ship. Passive sensors indicate the approach of Goa'uld supply ships, reading over a dozen ships and escorting Al'kesh." Her XO, Commander Mark Steffers reported.
Captain Keatson took in a deep breath. "Send in the Corvettes and Starfuries."
The Olympus Corvettes were designed to be a faster attack warship. It replaced the earlier Laertes Class and served well during the Dilgar War with its mostly railgun weapons. Unfortunately supply issues caused many to retreat from front lines until new ammunition can be replenished. This caused more recent models to be equipped with lasers and pulse cannons. Specialized models will sometimes see a mixture of laser, railgun and autocannon. These variants used autocannons that fired high velocity rounds that could pierce even the strongest of armor.
The Olympus Corvettes came in on an angle that brought it well above the Al'kesh bombers. Captain Keatson observed the data carefully for the right moment to strike. "Fire!" She ordered.
The Al'kesh were caught completely by surprise. Well placed autocannon shots shredded the hulls and punched holes into the armor in various areas. Atmosphere was soon leaking out as more areas got exposed to the near vacuum of Hyperspace. The few Al'kesh that were not destroyed quickly maneuvered to get out of the way but not before their engines were shot out by Starfury squadrons. Combat in hyperspace was rare; the conditions would usually cause energy weapons to veer off course from long range, but close-range kinetic weapons and some short-range plasma-pulse weapons did not have that problem.
The crew of the supply ships quickly figured out something was wrong and tried to maneuver out of the way. Stealth Starfuries silently came in and shot out the plasma turrets and disabled the engines. With engines disabled, some of the cargo pods became detached and were floating with inertia and would be carried away by gravity tides. The Olympus Corvettes released maintenance bots to recover the pods and bring them in before they could be lost in Hyperspace forever.
The Avenger and its Hecate escorts quickly moved in and launched breaching pods at the supply ships. Each ship received more than two breaching pods that would hit on opposite sides of the ship. When Earth Force used breaching pods, they would hit on multiple points on a ship instead of merely one spot. This would allow forces to hit and spread out to cover multiple directions.
Major O'Neill waited impatiently while the cutting lasers did their work. "Come on!" She said out loud. The several seconds it took for the torches to do their work felt like several minutes. A small blast kicked the hull inward in a shower of sparks. She quickly moved into the hallway of the supply ship scanning and sweeping the corridors for hostiles. "Which way to their bridge?" She asked Gina, the host of Ezraa.
"This way." She pointed down corridor that turned a corner. The corridors were gold plated and angled at a somewhat triangular formation instead of the flat square layout in Earth ships. Her helmet indicated signatures moving in the adjacent corridor.
Each of the troops had a small helmet that had an integrated sensor unit which displayed in the visor. These sensor units not only picked up motion but also could see in thermal and night vision. They also monitored soldiers' basic health, atmosphere, chemical composition and could even detect biological agents.
"Alright we got incoming!" Major Kowalski held a fist up to signal a halt as he whispered through the comms.
The sound of metal boots hitting the deck in rapid motion told all of them Jaffa were close by. Coming out of the corner several armor-clad men holding a long staff weapon came out. Major O'Neill and Ezraa raised their zats and fired twice at each incoming Jaffa taking them down. The other Jaffa behind them jumped to the side and returned fire. Their plasma bolts whipped through the air in a definitive crack. Major Kowalski jumped out as O'Neill and Ezraa ducked for cover behind a wall and fired his PPG Rifle. The cracking of the bolts impacted and penetrated the armor. The remaining Jaffa were now dead.
The squad rounded another corner and came across a door. "Wait." Ezraa whispered over to O'Neill. "I will only stun the shipmaster. You can finish the rest." She kneeled and readied her zat while looking at the control panel.
"Works for me." Major O'Neill responded.
Ezraa pushed a button and the squad took positions. The door opened and both rushed in; Ezraa easily identifying the shipmaster and giving him one shot of her zat while the others were killed by a mixture of zat and PPG fire as the bridge crew only fired a few shots. "That's the shipmaster. He will be useful in interrogations." Ezraa informed and she identified the knocked out individual to the team.
"I like your style." Major O'Neill smiled.
The rest of the squad took positions around the pel'tak. Ezraa went to a console and took out a few crystals which deactivated the station. "These crystals control their communications and tracking systems. They will not be able to follow us now."
"Good, can you fly it?"
"Yes." Ezraa moved toward the center where there was a panel with two red glowing squares. A sphere in the middle jutted out and she put on a headset. She grabbed the sphere with both hands and manuevered the ship to face the Iwo Jima and move towards it slowly.
Major O'Neill pushed on her communications pad. "We have taken control of the ship I repeat, supply ship is now under EarthForce control."
"Roger that team. Bring her alongside the Iwo Jima and back to base." Captain Keatson ordered.
"What are they going to do next?"
That was answered by visible weapons fire and explosions of the other supply ships. A Hectate Battlecruiser went alongside the supply ship and escorted her away from the area. Gina could see the symbol of Black Omega Squadron as well.
"They brought the PsiCorps along?"
"Yeah they are doing their own capture mission. They plan on releasing all captured intelligence back to us. They don't know you're here." Major O'Neill assured here.
"I know. I am glad they are doing something useful for once."
Meanwhile on another Goa'uld supply ship, Alfred Bester honed his thoughts with the other members of his team. He felt the presence of several minds approaching. "Now!" He mentally shouted to the other members. He saw the Jaffa clutch their heads as they opened their mouths to scream but nothing came out. Bester reached out to one surviving member and had him stand against the wall. He stared into the eyes of the Jaffa as the rest of the Strike Team watched on. The remaining Jaffa lay dead with their mouths held open in that silent scream as blood poured from the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. The PsiCorps Strike Team's were brutal in their tactics.
"Show me to the command center." He ordered the Jaffa. Bester was surprised the Jaffa had very little resistance to telepathy. The team then followed as if they were going on a stroll in the park. This Jaffa led them to a large metallic door and pushed a button on the side of the golden plated wall to open it. The team sensed the presence of several minds in the room.
Soon as the doors opened the team of all P11 and P12 Telepaths went to work. The bridge crew was frozen in place by the Strike Team and stared straight ahead, unable and unwilling to move their hands.
Alfred Bester was able to identify the shipmaster. A tall man wearing slightly more armor and a small hand device. Another man, dressed in the same black gear as the other team members but taller with a slightly heavyset build and dark hair approached Alfred. He was Frankie Parkman, another one of PsiCorp's newest and best telepaths. He had come from a long line of family telepaths dating back to the 21st century.
"I received word that the bombs are ready."
"Good, get the information out of them you need Mr. Parkman." Bester stepped away to observe. Parkman was identified as a P12 telepath in his youth and was amazingly eager to join the PsiCorps. During training he was able to easily control his telepathic abilities which made him advance rather quickly above his peers. He ended up being one of the youngest Psi Cops. Already Bester was quite fond of him and made sure he came on as many missions as he could.
Frankie Parkman stepped in front of the shipmaster. He quickly scanned his thoughts and pulled an image out of Ra, his god. He formed a mindscape and created the illusion over himself that Ra was now standing before the shipmaster known as Amhan. Quickly Parkman made the mindscape so real that Amhan would not be able to distinguish it from a dream or illusion. It was one of the skills that made Parkmen an excellent addition to the PsiCorps.
Amhan now noticing his god before him quickly kneeled. "My lord I did not realize you were here."
"I desire to know the contents of those pods."
"Yes my lord." He pushed several symbols on the console and an image showed of the pods and their contents. All the pods contained naquadah torpedoes, armors, and troop weapons. Parkman froze the image to relay this information to Bester as he recorded the data. Soon he was able to get the arrival times of additional supply ships and the incoming troop transports.
"This one has a lot of vital information. I will take him back with us. Looks like all the pods are loaded with naquadah torpedoes. We should place bombs on each of them. I suggest we implant concurrent memories." Parkman mentally picked a random Jaffa and had him come forward. He began to stare into his eyes and weakened mind. "You are the shipmaster. Ra has chosen you to be shipmaster. The other supply ships are nearby, and you encountered no problems on the way. We were never here"
Bester knew Parkman would never disappoint him. The PsiCorps Strike Team left. Leaving no trace of their presence from the crews minds.
EAS Iwo Jima
"Captain all other supply ships have been destroyed except for one." Commander Mark Steffers reported
"The Psi-Corps succeeded I take it?"
"They did. They let us know their mission was accomplished with no problems. They were able to get information out of there shipmaster and it looks like the troop ships are almost here."
"Straight to the point. Do we have them on scanners?"
"They are coming into range now."
"Launch Starfuries, engage and eliminate all targets."
Each of the Battlecruisers moved in along with the Starfuries. They soon locked on the troop ships, massive elongated jagged pyramid shaped craft that also had more Al'kesh escorting them. They never received the message that the supply ships got hit nor did they know anything was amiss. The first indication that something was wrong was when the two lead troop ships exploded in bright flashes as railgun rounds went through them. More Al'kesh tried to fight back and go after the Starfuries but got taken out by missile strikes and autocannon rounds. Quickly all that was left was more debris.
"Is that all of them?"
"Yes Captain, all targets eliminated."
"Great job everyone. Let's get back to base before they start finding out where their pretty little ships went. We have lots to go over."
Jericho System
Ra sat on his throne in the pel'tak looking at the fiery red and orange marks from the world below. On the side panel he carefully looked at the data coming in from the one singular supply ship that arrived. One… just one supply ship. Why haven't the others arrived? Immediately he knew something wasn't right.
"Hail the shipmaster of the supply vessel!" Ra stood up and bellowed to his Navigator. Immediately an image of the shipmaster came on the screen. Ra could see it in the man's eyes that something was extremely wrong as the eyes held a purely blank expression. His armor did not even bear the markings of the shipmaster.
"M'lord what can I do for you?" He asked in a very flat voice. The man did not bow which was very unusual. No shipmaster would dare not even bow when hailed.
"There are supposed to be other ships arriving, where are they? You are not bearing the markings of shipmaster. Who are you?" He demanded.
"They are here m'lord! You have chosen for me to be the shipmaster!" Ra noticed he was lying and knew something was very wrong. Ra cut the feed. "Blow that supply ship out of the sky. Tell the other Ha'tak shipmasters to not allow the cargo onto the ships!"
The supply ship was destroyed with a single blast from the Shu'taks batteries. But it was too late. Ra looked out the window and saw several bright flashes of light as the Ha'taks ignited. Debris flying out impacted a few more ships. Some of the debris overwhelmed the shields and severely damaged other ships, some already losing orbit and heading into the planet on uncontrolled re-entry.
"What is this? Someone tell me what happened!" Ra screamed with fury,
"My Lord I believe the pods were loaded with explosives. Our patrols in hyperspace report debris crossing the area." Navigator Hutanak reported hastily not wanting to further anger his god.
"How many ships were lost?"
"Ten ships, should I…." Ra immediately lost his composure and hurled the nearby torch stand across the room letting out a scream that trembled even the most brave of Jaffa warriors.
"Every ship, hold, quarter and space will be searched for Tok'ra!. Even if you suspect one kill them anyway and make them fear Tok'ra influence! All ships will have an escort of Ha'taks. We will not be tricked again! Any Ha'taks sitting on worlds will come here immediately. I will burn out the Tau'ri, the Tok'ra, their allies and any other species that stands in my way! My rule shall be uncontested. If any other System Lord dares to cross my territory I will burn them as well!" Ra's eyes flashed and stayed that way longer than normal. He defeated Sokar, he vowed to defeat the Tau'ri.
Vega System
"Anything on scanners?"
"Nothing yet."
Commander John Sheridan kept himself strapped in on the EAS Lexington. They had been given orders to depart towards Vega, a system that Intelligence mentioned was going to get hit next by the Goa'uld. Initially they were on patrol by the asteroid belt in Sol but after receiving upgrades and refit, they received new orders. They were part of a task force of a Nova Dreadnought known as the Schwarzkopf with several Hyperions. Currently they were patrolling an area of the inner debris ring not too far from several mining sites as there were several reported lost ships. Most of these mining sites have been evacuated since the Goa'uld incursion.
Vega was a major mining system that still held a debris disk around the inner portion of the system. The outer portion held formed gas giants, moons, and planets that were very rich in minerals, crystals, gems and ores. The system was very rich in Quantium-40 along with other valuable resources that could be mined from asteroids and several of moons that orbited gas giants. It was one of the few largest mining and supply depots in the Earth Alliance. The other being Beta Durani.
"Captain we are picking up a few blips ahead. Four Ha'taks. They are closing in!" Navigation Officer Stevenson shouted.
"Condition One all weapons batteries hot! Fire at will!." Captain Roger Stearns ordered.
The Hyperions spread out as the Nova turned 180 degrees, bringing all its guns to bear on the lead Ha'tak. Two dozen laser shots fired out and slammed into the shields of the nearest Ha'tak. The space in between the two fleets was filled with energy as interceptor grids ran hot as they caught Goa'uld plasma bolts. The Hyperions turned and fired their particle beams at the Ha'taks in attempts to dwindle their shields as much as possible. Already Starfury squadrons fired into action to sweep in and take out the incoming wings of Death Gliders and Al'kesh.
The shipmasters of the Ha'taks adjusted their rates of fire, sacrificing power for rapid fire. They learned that interceptor grids were phenomenal in intercepting plasma bolts. However even the best grids can be overwhelmed by massed fire.
"Captain more hyperspace signatures detected! All Goa'uld." Stevenson yelled, his face showing worry.
"Jesus… begin a pullback. Try to keep out of their fire!"
Six more Ha'taks exited almost at a plane directly above the main task force. All firing their plasma cannons in rapid succession. Soon, the interceptor grids of the Hyperions and Nova were overwhelmed. Multiple bolts slammed into their hulls piercing deep into the structure. Though Earth ships were designed to take heavy damage, the weapons wielded by the Goa'uld were too much. Many of the ships reactors ignited and consumed them. Commander Sheridan braced as the ship rocked violently. Power flickered and he noticed blood floating in front of him. He wiped off a small cut on his head and noticed a metal beam by Captain Stearns. He checked a pulse. Nothing. He knew he was in charge now and the next moments were crucial.
"What's our status!" He yelled out
"Those last three shots left us dead in the water. We have passive sensors only and the rest of the fleet is either destroyed or drifting. Ha'taks have left the area. We have dead and wounded on all portions of the ship. Starfury squadrons have pulled back and are hiding behind the asteroids."
"They must think we're dead then." Commander Sheridan noted. He had to come up with something as he knew the Goa'uld destroyed any ships transmitting distress signals.
"Lt. Stevenson are there any mined-out asteroids nearby?"
"Aye sir, there are several a few miles out."
"Take our nukes out of their launch tubes. Dispatch a shuttle with EVA Team and place a nuke in each of the asteroids. We're going to establish a kill zone."
This section of the Vega debris disk was a bit thicker than normal. Just over a decade ago, mining ships drilled holes in these asteroids to extract minerals. Some still had remnants of old stations sitting on the surface and underneath that were long abandoned.
Commander Sheridan waited patiently. The minutes felt like long hours as they all knew the Goa'uld were out there in the system picking off patrol fleets. The crew monitored the status of the EVA teams placing the nukes inside the asteroids.
"EVA Team has returned. All nukes are placed."
"Transmit distress beacon!"
"Sending distress signal out sir."
It wasn't long before the ten Ha'taks returned and moved slowly towards the source of the distress signals.
"Use maneuvering thrusters. Keep putting us behind asteroids and out of range of their guns."
"Ha'taks are in range of nukes three and four."
"Detonate!"
Two of the asteroids exploded in a brilliant flash close to the middle of their formation. The force of the explosion pushed debris at high velocities going in all directions. The size and force of the debris was more than enough to overwhelm the shields of the nearest seven Ha'taks. The three that were left already were trailing gasses as they were on the outer edges of the nukes. They continued towards the wounded ship.
"Remaining ships are in range of nuke one."
"See you in hell!"
The last nuke detonated. The force tore multiple sections of the last three Ha'taks hulls apart allowing the rest to be consumed in a fiery explosion as their naquadah reactors were punctured and reacted with the impacts. Cheers were heard all over the Lexington as they knew they were victorious.
"I need confirmation they are all dead."
"Confirmed Commander. No ship debris bigger than a car out there. Picking up several of our patrol squadrons on approach."
"Good. How many nukes are in the Nova's tubes?"
"Fifty of them sir."
"Excellent. Have teams take them out and start placing them in the asteroids. Its time we set up a larger trap."
"Commander I have Admiral Robinson on the line."
"Patch him through."
"That's a fine trick Commander. Do any of your damaged ships have communications intact?"
"The Schwarzkopf does along with a few of the drifting cruisers. Short range comms indicate there may be surviving crews."
"We will evacuate those ships and get yours out of here. The ships that have open comms we can use remotely to transmit distress signals and tachyon noise. Make them think a large concentration of ships is here."
"Good plan. My team has placed the remaining nukes in the asteroids."
"Have a portion set for proximity and the rest for remote detonation. We are sending a tug to grab your ship now. We can take the rest from here."
Apelp's Flagship.
Apelp stood on the pel'tak looking through the window at the red and black hues of hyperspace. Earlier his forces have bombarded Cryus and wiped out the stations then spread out and destroyed the remaining installations in the systems. He witnessed the Tau'ri forces retreat, and his scouts reported multiple contacts in Vega. Already he heard of success from his ships picking off patrols, now he will join them in decimating their fleets entirely.
"First Prime we are nearing Vega. Picking up distress signals from their fleet!"
"Looks like our ships have succeeded in killing many of the Tau'ri. Jump our fleet in and begin firing!"
Multiple vortexes opened as dozens of Ha'taks jumped by the asteroid field and moved in. They closed on the signals when sensors only picked up fewer blips than normal.
"I am only picking up a few ships. There is no fleet here"
"It is a trap! All ships retr... His words were cut off by multiple blinding flashes of light. He shielded his eyes along with the rest of the crew as over a dozen nuclear warheads detonated. Debris being propelled at thousands of kilometres per hour slammed and overwhelmed the shields of multiple ships. His Shu'tak rocked as it was grazed by a fast moving rock the size of a Tel'tak. The impact was enough to reduce his shields significantly. He focused on his display.
"Tau'ri have mined the asteroid field. Multiple ships Tau'ri ships coming in all directions!"
For the first time in a long time Apelp actually felt fear.
EAS Daedalus
"All ships move in and fire!"
The trap worked. Admiral Robinson had his fleet surround the Ha'taks on all sides. Massed pulse fire overwhelmed the weakened shields of near Ha'taks reducing them to molten slag. Laser, pulse and particle beam fire pounded into several Hok'kesh cruisers. Oher ships shields glowed brightly as they hit other mines that were laid around in the area. The surviving Goa'uld ships already launched all their fighters and bombers as Starfury squadrons approached.
"Admiral they are pulling back and trying to leave the asteroid field." His tactical officer Steven Davidson stated.
"Alright take us in. Have our flanks keep surrounding them. Keep us away from the proximity nukes! Last thing we need is a bunch of friendly fire." Admiral Robinson made sure to have several sections of the asteroid field mined.
Apelps fleet was moving at an angle which would take towards a less dense region of the debris disk. Ha'taks moved at full speed trying to keep as much distance from other asteroids for fear that nukes were hidden inside them. Already he lost a third of his fleet. Many more had their ships functioning at a quarter strength and others were suffering severe visible hull damage. Still their speed held an advantage over the Earth Fleet.
"Goa'uld fleet is repositioning themselves. They moved away from the mine field!"
Apelp kept his strongest ships on the flanks facing Earth Force while pulling its weaker ships towards the middle for repairs and allowing for their shields to recharge. The stronger ships now spread out in a stacked spherical formation surrounding the Shu'tak. They were spread out enough to allow the massive behemoth to fire its weapons. Flashes of light erupted in between the two opposing forces as interceptor fire intercepted Goa'uld plasma fire. Shots from both sides periodically struck asteroids sending more debris flying around in all directions.
"Keep on the pressure. Have our missile and railgun ships in the lead keep targeting weaker ships Full salvo and ripple fire."
The Ha'taks and Hok'kesh were changing position as multiple rounds of hypervelocity missiles, railguns and long-range plasma fire hit them. As Goa'uld shields weakened, more and more shots would still go through. Massed railgun fire brought down a few ships, all of them consumed as their naquadah reactors went critical after multiple shots penetrated deep into their hull. The shipmasters reacted by increasing rates of fire. Several Hyperions and Frigates went down from the massed fire and other damaged ships began to pull back.
"Our fighters have broken through and are approaching the Goa'uld from all sides."
"Good tell them ripple fire all nukes. Coordinate missiles launch with our frigates. Turn our Dreadnoughts to face their formation and fire our plasma mortars!"
Several of the missile frigates and cruisers turned to face the Goa'uld formation. In coordination with the Starfury Squadrons, many missile tubes opened, and hundreds of missiles began to streak towards the targets at high velocities. The Goa'uld plasma cannons managed to take down a few dozen of the missiles but many hit their targets. Several of the Ha'taks that already had weakened shields were vaporized. Others that weren't instantly vaporized soon immolated from subsequent volleys of nukes.
The plasma mortar was a long-range heavy plasma weapon. Like the plasma cannon this shot out balls of plasma but this was on a much larger scale. Regular plasma cannons kept the plasma in a tight containment field. This was much more uncontrolled and designed to spread the blast out over larger areas along with penetrating even the toughest hulls. These weapons could burn through several decks at once leaving crippling damage.
Maneuvering thrusters moved the Nova Dreadnoughts into a position. On the front portion of their hulls a blue glow appeared on the bow and began to glow brighter over several seconds. As quick as it happened a large blue ball of superheated plasma shot out leaving a trail behind it like a comet. Several of them shot out from the Dreadnoughts heading towards the Ha'taks.
More of the weakened Ha'taks had their shields collapsed by well-placed plasma mortar rounds. Subsequent shots penetrated deep into their hulls and reacted with the naquadah reactor turning the ships into flying debris.
Apelp was already steaming and in a panic. He never anticipated these Tau'ri leading him into such a trap, nor did he expect such losses. Already his fighter and Al'kesh compliment were eliminated, and his ships were dying one by one. "Have our strongest ships move forward!" He pointed towards the largest concentration of Earth ships. "Arm our fusion cannons." He yelled. The fusion cannons were specialized beam cannons captured and copied from the brief war against Vellamas around a thousand years ago.
The Ha'taks and Shu'tak moved towards the concentration of Dreadnoughts that kept hammering on the Goa'uld ships. Bright yellow beams of light shot out in rapid succession slicing Corvettes and Hyperion Cruisers in less than three shots.
"They are doing one hell of a suicidal charge. Have our ships pull back and spread out. Use large asteroids for cover. Their beam cannons pierce our armor like a knife through butter and we need our heaviest ships to survive. Whatever ships are low on fuel and power have them pull back."
The Dreadnoughts and Cruisers hit their engines for a few minutes to give acceleration then cut them, letting them drift as they fired weapons. This technique allowed the ships to conserve power for longer engagements and to make a safe retreat.
Ha'taks continues to move toward the large formation. Their shields glowing as they continued to sustain hits. Another captain got an idea to fire a high velocity nuclear warhead at an asteroid they passed close by, detonating it obliterating a couple of Ha'taks and diminishing the shields of others. Bright yellow beams crossed space and tore into unlucky Earth ships. Their debris already starting to litter the debris field along with unlucky Ha'taks.
Hyperions and Frigates in front of the formation began to fall in large numbers. Admiral Charles Robinson looked at which was inching closer to a third of his fleet but theirs suffered significant losses as well. He did not want to retreat but knew he couldn't last much longer here.
"Give me a system wide broadcast. Begin evacuation and have all ships enter hypers.…" He began to speak before being cut off by his tactical officer.
"Admiral multiple jump points opening! Sir! They are Centauri Warships! Receiving transmission from the flagship now!"
An image of a Centauri male appeared on the screen wearing colorful garments. Admiral Robinson recognized him as Londo Mollari one of the Centauri Delegation to Earth. He followed the news and seen several ISN interviews with the Ambassador.
"Admiral Robinson I am here to offer my assistance in repelling these parasites from your space. The Centaurum does not wish these difficult times to spread to the rest of the Republic." Londo stated. He had watched and did not want such a monster unleashed on the Republic.
"We gladly accept your assistance Londo Mollari. I owe you one after this."
"Your finest ales it is Admiral. We shall celebrate victory together soon!" The feed soon got cut as the Admiral smiled.
"The human ships are sharing battle data and sensor nets!" One of the navigation officers reported.
"Excellent." He grinned. "Give me the nearest…Hathak and fire our battle lasers and ion cannons" He stated having trouble with the Goa'uld names for their ships. "Tell our Vorchans to target the three nearest ships." Londo knew from reports that concentrated fire from multiple ships was enough to bring down their shields. He would soon see how well his ships fared.
Centauri Vorchans, Primus Battlecruisers all spread out and targeted the nearest Ha'taks. Battle lasers fired in succession slamming into shields. It was known that the Centauri Battle Laser was closer in form to a particle beam weapon rather than a true laser. Still, it packed quite a punch. Orange beams were followed by dozens of red pulses of their ion cannons. The weakened shields of four Ha'taks gave way, and the ships were soon blasted apart.
Apelp was caught off-guard. He looked at his display desperate for a solution. He promised Ra he would be victorious, so retreat was not an option to him. Through the viewing port he could see plasma and fusion cannon shots hitting the crescent shaped ships of the newcomers. Their ships were falling just as easily as the Tau'ri. Fine if they want to help the Tau'ri they can fall besides them. "Destroy the newcomers! Keep pressing forward and let their ships burn!" He bellowed. He would never allow himself to look weak before Ra. "Our victory is close!"
Centauri ships even though they were more advanced than Earth, were known to have thinner armor. However, this was rectified by a gravity field generated from their gravitic drives. This allowed energy and kinetic shots to slow down before striking the hull this limiting their damage. Even then the power of Goa'uld weapons was too much. Their interceptor system was also more able to become overwhelmed while Earth ships made their ships utilize full coverage with their interceptor grid. Plasma bolts and fusion beams tore into Vorchans, destroying them in a few well-placed shots. Centauri Sentri Fighters joined Earth Alliance Starfuries in conducting strafing runs using tactical nuclear missiles on Ha'taks to dwindle their shields. Nova Dreadnoughts and Hyperion Cruisers turned to unleash even more plasma and laser fire on the Goa'uld ships. The addition of Centauri ion cannon and plasma accelerator fire helped to dwindle down the shields even more, causing several more Ha'taks to fall to the heavy barrages.
"Did we use all of the nukes in the asteroids?" Admiral Robinson inquired noting the position of the Goa'uld fleet moving slightly closer to a cluster of mined asteroids.
"No sir there are still several left in that field."
"Show me. We can still take the Goa'uld into one last trap!" He saw a couple more Centauri blips vanish indicating their destruction. He wanted to finish this Goa'uld fleet off. The Goa'uld fleet was inching closer to the minefield but it wasn't enough. Now that had to change.
"Contact Londo Mollari, tell him to pull his ships back to these coordinates. We will converge our forces there and let the Goa'uld have chase. Let him know our plan."
"Aye sir, sending data package now."
The two fleets turned and put their engines in full burn to take them deeper into the debris field. Many of the ships maneuvered to go behind several of the larger asteroids to provide additional cover from the incoming weapons fire.
"They're following! Course is taking them right in the kill zone!"
"Keep on it!" Admiral Robinson looked at the screen. The red blips that represented Goa'uld ships made their way closer and closer to the last group of asteroids with nukes. He waited until the first group of Goa'uld ships passed the center of the kill zone. Now it was time for them to meet their makers. "Are all of ours and Centauri ships out of range of the nukes?" The last thing he wanted was his or the Centauri ships to be caught in a nuke blast or take shrapnel.
"Yes sir!"
"Blow them all to fucking hell!"
In bright flashes of light, the remaining asteroids all detonated. Iron and nickel rubble traveling at high velocities overwhelmed both shields and hulls. Many of these hit other asteroids leading to a chain reaction. The remaining Ha'taks had their shields easily overwhelmed by the remainder of Earth and Centauri warships priming their lasers and particle cannon fire.
Apelp looked in shock and horror at the scene before him. Fires were in the hull as a nuke detonated close to his flagship but far enough to do only moderate damage however his shields have depleted immensly. Multiple beams, pulses and lasers pierced the weakened shielded and sliced up the armor. He watched as the ship got torn from around him. Apelp was not even able to scream as a final series of nuclear missiles detonated against the hull immolating him in nuclear fire.
Meanwhile onboard the Earth Alliance ships, cheers were heard all over. Many of them even drowning out the comms. Londo Mollari watched as Admiral Robinson smiled. "Londo Mollari we thank you greatly. I am sending my ships to take care of any wounded you have, and we can dock at nearby ports for repairs.
"These Goa'uld are truly a nightmare Admiral Robinson…" He paused, reflecting on the pure destruction they witnessed firsthand. It already reminded him of the Centauri-Orieni war in which several Centauri colonies were burned. "My governments sending reinforcements as we speak. For now, when we meet I will need some data on the Goa'uld to send back to my government. My people have made some discoveries and information we would like to share with our friends on Earth. Admiral Robinson are you familiar with our history with the Xon?"
Deep Space Outpost SZ-101
Ezraa looked over at Major O'Neill and back over at one of the largo cargo pods recovered. The pod alone was half the size of a freighter and many of them were in the underground hanger.
"You don't need explosives to open this you know." She said to Major O'Neill as she prepared charges and cutting torches. The small woman walked over to the first cargo pod and slid a panel open. After typing into some pad, the large doors soon slid open. There were 2 ships on each platform. Small, maybe a bit larger than an Earth Alliance shuttle.
"Those are Tel'tak small cargo transports. The Goa'uld use them for scouting along with hauling small amounts of troops and cargo."
"These….these small things can open their own freaking jump points?" Major O'Neill asked. She thought she couldn't get more surprised by the level of technology these people held.
"They can. We use a lot of them for our surveillance of Goa'uld territories. This is how we acquire our materials. A couple centuries before I came here I was able to use one to land a modified bomb on a moon Heru'ur used for his large mining operations. The explosion destroyed a large portion of the surface and rendered future mining futile.
"You are going to use one to reach your High Council aren't you?"
"We need to. They are likely aware of the war by now. I am certain I can convince them to provide more assistance to your people."
She walked over to the second cargo pod and got the doors to slide open. All held a large amount of silver looking balls. She noticed Major O'Neill hold up a scanner to them.
"These….these are filled with that Quantium 40 variant."
'Naquadah. These are Naquadah torpedoes. They possess explosive power on par with the largest nuclear weapons Earth Force has fielded."
"We can fit these into our missiles. This naquadah, it can amplify energy, right? Can it amplify our nukes?"
"Yes, indeed it can." Ezraa smiled as she knew exactly what Major O'Neill was thinking. Both her and Gina will be more than happy to give the Goa'uld some much needed payback.