Here's the third chapter of SG Unbound

I have written in total 5 chapters, I will release the other two later this week.

Onboard the Hammer of Intent

"We lost the frigate Constance and the Meridian" reports Elland, "no survivors, they didn't have enough time."

Ivanova greeted her teeth while reining the emotions inside her. She had underestimated the firing range of those aliens' warships and lost two of her ships. The enemy fighter formations were nearly gone with only slight casualties on their side. However those pyramid ships were fast, faster than they had assumed, not even the Perseus class could reach those speeds.

"Enemy fleet has broken into two formations; larger group is heading for our flanks while the other is attacking us from long range. The enemy flagship is with the second group and remains stationary." reports the sensor officer. "Additional gunships are leaving the flagship."

Ivanova frowned, there was no doubt that the aliens were outgunned but the speed of their warships would allow them to run circles around the Terrans not mentioning their numbers and shields, they would be screwed.

"Which destroyer groups we have ready to intercept?" Ivanova asked

"Groups Tomahawk and Buster; group Navarro will be on intercept in six minutes" replies Elland as he observed the sensor screens.

"I want half of our cruisers and the Blade of Justice on that flank group, let them have a taste of our guns" says the Commander in a frosty tone.

"Aye aye Commander"

...

The twenty five Achilles class Destroyers were all divided into five groups of five Destroyers each in order to cover a large area of the battlefield. Because of their slow speed and lack of shields, the Achilles hulls were coated with a special chemical that made them very hard to spot and despite being seen on sensors, they were difficult to target, add that with their incredible firing range, it made them annoyingly lethal. A fact the Jaffa would be discovering in their attempt to flank the Terran fleet.

Three destroyers from group Tomahawk and Buster opened fire with three of their PACs so as to conserve their fire and reduce the recharge time at a range of twenty thousand kilometers toward the twenty approaching Hatak vessels. At the same time five squadrons of Star Hawks escorting two Squadrons of ASB 78 Vulture bombers raced pass the destroyers formation toward the enemy fleet while the frigate Lombardia and Columbus launched several missile jamming tachyon warheads to cover their approach by scrambling the enemy's sensors.

Two Hataks were destroyed instantly by three beams that collapsed their shields instantly and then pierced their reactor cores. Another Hatak had its shields depleted by two beams however the massive surge of power caused an energy overload which affected the anti-gravity propulsion systems, causing the ship to tilt to its side and slam into a fellow Hatak. Add with the massive thermonuclear explosions of the first two down Hatak, the chain reaction that happened afterward was massive and five more ships were destroyed. The Jaffa commanding the formation ordered his remaining twelve ships to fly in a loose formation and all Death Gliders to launch in order to form a protective screen; there was no Alkesh since they were committed on the other side of the battlefield. The plan proved to be futile as a large formation of Star Hawks annihilated the Death Gliders a thousand kilometers away using their anti-fighter missiles. The road cleared, the Vulture bombers disgorged from their missile bays each a dozen Widowmaker Neutron missiles. The Hataks detected the missiles approaching but the tachyon jamming from nearby frigates prevented them from getting accurate readings thus they judged them not dangerous, a big mistake.

As soon as the missiles impacted on the Hataks shields, the neutron particles began to cause the Goauld warships plasma shield to drain fast. With no shields, the Hataks found themselves easy picking for the Destroyers who began to fire two of their PACs in order to reduce the firing rate while they began to reverse their thrust. In a spirit of fanatical zealousness the Jaffa manning the remaining Hataks picked speed, breaking the safety limiters and ignoring the wall of fire set against them.

It was too late for the crew of the destroyer Themistocles as one Hatak slammed itself on the Terran warship, reducing both vessels into a ball of fire. Three more destroyers experienced the same fate before the Battlecruiser Blade of Justice and its cruiser formation joined the fray and used their more powerful plasma weapons to pulverize the kamikaze fleet.

On the other side of the battlefield, Ivanova had ordered her fleet to advance while at the same time her remaining frigates and cruisers unleashed an alpha strike on the stationary fleet of twelve Hatak guarding the flagship. Four Hataks and ten Alkesh were pulverized in an instant through a combination of neutron missiles, particle laser and plasma. Enrage by the humans defying their god, the Jaffa manning the Alkesh rushed with abandon at the Terran fleet. Six of them crashed on the destroyers of group Patton and Gladius, destroying six warships. A further four attempted to slam into the cruisers but it was futile as the warships swatted them out from space with their plasma canons like flies. Having enough of holding back, Ivanova ordered the Hammer of Intent to open fire, followed by the cruisers who began advancing rapidly toward the enemy flagship and its escort, while supported by intense fire from the Destroyers.

...

Apophis watched with horror as his mighty fleet was being pulverized by those humans called Terrans. Granted only a few of their ships had shields they had proven to be extremely lethal. In just the first opening of the battle, he had watch his fighters being destroyed by a hail of missiles, laser and then surgical strikes by their own fighters who also seemed to be equipped with shields. He had sent half of his ships to strike at their flank confident he had found a weakness, instead it had been a trap as the bulky ships hanging in the back opened fire with energy weapons his sensors hadn't detected before it was too late. There were also those missiles his Jaffa had reported to be draining their shields. Apophis immediately knew what they were. Only neutron base weapons could affect plasma shields and few races had ever wielded them, few existed now. The Goaulds had made sure of that, however it was the first time that humans where seen wielding such weapons. Another strange thing was the energy shield on their largest ships and fighters. Unlike traditional plasma energy shields those ones seemed to deflect rather than absorbed and they were ion based. Whoever they were, these humans were powerful and a dangerous threat.

His back facing his lord, Ryac watched with a mixture of concealed awe and sadness as the human ships were decimating Apophis fleet. Since he began his instruction as Jaffa warrior, Ryac had witnessed and participated in many space battles in his life. His father Teal'c the former First Prime of Apophis was well known even to this day as a great tactician of space battles despite his brilliance during planetary battles. However what he was seeing here was totally different. For the first time he felt outclassed and outgunned. Those Terrans were unlike the other advance human civilizations. Where Tollans preferred to rest behind the safety of their technology, those Terrans were daring, not hesitating in meeting their superior numbers head on. Where the Hebridans build masses of defenses and awaited the enemy to strike. The Terrans were leading his brothers toward well crafted traps and then proceeded to tear apart their prey piece by piece. Those Terrans knew how to wage war and the Jaffa despite their long experience were children compare to them. Somehow a strange feeling inside his heart told him that he had perhaps found the ones who would help free his people. Unnoticed by anyone, Ryac accessed a dormant subroutine in the ship's main system. As First Prime he had more knowledge about the ship than anyone else, furthermore he had received additional training by the Tokra who were tacit allies of the Free Jaffa rebels, thus Ryac knew quite a bit to do what he wanted to do. It took only a few seconds and then he resumed watching the battle and wait, hoping that the seeds he had spread would bear fruit.

...

Sheppard and Lisa were back in their cell, there were only two guards at the end of the hallway for security. Despite being confined several decks inside the heart of the ship, they could hear the rumbles of the ship's shield and the nervousness of the guards translated that things were not going well for Apophis.

Sheppard meanwhile was busy trying to access the Terran Battle net through the use of his implants; unfortunately he was still feeling groggy from what Apophis had done to him.

"Damn it!" he cursed and got up from his couch then started pacing around the room.

"Somehow I can't use my implant to access the net" says the pilot.

"Let me help" proposes Lisa as she got up "I can use my implant to access your medical implants and clear the effect of what that guy did to you."

"Sorry but this are military grade implants if someone without the required access code touches them, their brain will fry." explains Sheppard

"Please" Lisa rolls her eyes "My brother worked on designing the encryption algorithm in those implants and I helped him do it."

For a moment Sheppard stared at her and wondered if it was a good thing that he was sharing a cell with someone who seemed quite privy to a lot of Terran military classified subjects.

"Alright but the minute something goes wrong you pull the plug okay?"

"Pull the plug? What are you an old school jock" she scoffs at his use of old terms. She made him sit down and then began using the wireless link of her implant to access his. Humanity had gone a long way in the field of miniature computers. Neural interfaces and implants were pinnacle of centuries of research and development. Many people employed them but the true ones were used by the military and key researchers.

It wasn't hard for Lisa to pass through Sheppard's firewalls and anti-intrusion systems. She found his medical implants and ordered it to release a mild stimulant to shake the cobwebs in his brains, then she proceeded to boost the subspace signal of his locator beacon by using the ship's very own subspace channel. Normally it would be detected but there was a battle going down there and Lisa doubted these guys were familiar with cyber warfare.

"Here it's done" beamed the scientist. Suddenly Sheppard felt a tiny spike at the back of his mind as he began accessing the Terran Battle net; stream of data began to flow inside his mind keeping him apprise of the situation and so far it was good.

"What's up?" asks Lisa, due to the protection systems she could only stay link up with his implants for only a few minutes before they tried to fry her brain.

"We are kicking ass" grins Sheppard ruefully as gave her passive link to the network, his face frowned a bit as he saw the list of casualties. "We lost two frigates and at least ten destroyers. Those bastards are using Kamikaze attacks and their weaponry is pretty strong."

"Indeed" agrees Lisa "However our side is going to win and that means that ship will blow up along with us if we don't get out of here." she remarks while getting up and examining the force field in front of her. It seemed to be plasma based and Lisa had to wonder how those guys managed to create such advance technology? Because they seemed pretty stupid to follow someone who portrayed himself as a god; then again Seth cultists were not the sharpest bunch either. She could only come to one conclusion. This technology was stolen.

Her musing was suddenly interrupted by a soft shudder and then the force field disappeared. She shared a confuse look with Sheppard who frowned.

"I didn't do it" replies the scientist, Sheppard didn't answer, instead getting up and carefully leaning on the side of the exit. The footsteps of the guards reverberated on the floor as they approached to investigate the noise.

Sheppard took a deep breath and began accessing his combat implants. He hadn't been totally truthful to Lisa earlier; while a Terran pilot his implants gave him better reflexes and reaction time. However for the Black Ops he participated in, he had also been genetically enhanced, granting him stronger bones and superior strength than a normal human. He wasn't a Terran Marine or a Shocktrooper but he could get the job done. Using his senses to calculate their approach, Sheppard timed it carefully and then lunged at the closest one to him. Caught off guard, the Jaffa was unable to neither counter nor defend as Sheppard punched him on the jaw, but instead of letting him fall, the Terran pilot grabbed him and turned his unconscious body around to face the second Jaffa who was hesitating in firing at his companion. Sheppard used that hesitation to toss his quarry onto the Jaffa, causing both of them to fall down. Before the warrior could recover, Sheppard deployed the Zatnikatel he had relieved from the first Jaffa and fired two bursts, killing both of them.

The whole thing had lasted only eight seconds but for Sheppard due to the adrenaline rush it had felt like forever. He stared at Lisa who stood frozen but only for a moment; he guessed she must have been used to death if her past was to be taken into account.

"You alright?" he asks, she nodded meekly. Sheppard began dragging the two bodies into their cell and placed in a corner so as to hide them, he did the same for their staff weapons which he reluctantly recognize that they were useless for them, especially in close quarter combat. He however took the second Zat and a couple of sphere like objects stored inside a leather bag behind their waist. Sheppard had to assume they were grenades of some sort.

"How are we going to get out of here?" asks Lisa visibly disturbed by Sheppard's actions. While she was prone to do something to escape, the reality of things was starting to take a toll on her.

"We can't wonder around without direction" remarks Sheppard as he handed her the second alien handgun "I think I saw some kind of computer room on our way to these cells. We access it to find a map that leads us to the hangar bay, then steal a ship and get out of here."

Lisa looked at him with a deadpan stare "That's it"

"It worked in Star Wars"

With a sigh she followed the Terran pilot, despite doubting the success of his plan it was better than nothing.

...

Colonel Steven O'Neil was given a wide breath of space as he made his way toward the bridge. He didn't blame them; a Terran Titan Shocktrooper was a sight to see. Standing a meter taller than a Terran Marine, the Titan Shocktroopers were created as an answer to the Seth super soldiers name Behemoths which had devastated the Terran infantries and mechanized forces for years. When a fortress needed to be breached the Shocktroopers were sent, especially if it was hidden inside a radioactive atmosphere filled with giant man eating insects. The Titans as they were called were capable of operating and fighting anywhere. Their cybernetic and genetic enhancements were beyond that of the Marines. They were not super soldiers; they were hyper lethal super soldiers. Hence the reason O'Neil and his squad had been assigned by TNI onboard the Hammer of Intent. It had been unbearably boring for him and his men as they watched the fleet tear apart the aliens. Fortunately fortune smiled upon them as he got a summon from Commander Ivanova, although O'Neil would have been content to watch his old collection of Simpsons courtesy of his donor, Jack O'Neil a former Special Forces operative from pre Terran era.

At his approach, the Marines guarding the bridge saluted him, their face blank, their eyes however showed pride, curiousness and respect. Shocktroopers were legends even among the Marines and they deserved it.

"Colonel Steven O'Neil reporting as ordered Commander" he saluted Ivanova who had her back turned as she was still staring at the holomap, or to be more precise Apophis flagship. O'Neil's sharp eyes caught two blue dots on the super impose 3d layout of the alien vessel marked as locator subspace beacons.

"I am going to be brief Colonel" spoke Ivanova with her thick Russian accent "Our sensors have suddenly detected the subspace beacons of two Terran personnel that were assigned at the Sigma Outpost. One of them is a Terran Navy pilot by the name of Alexander Sheppard and the other is a female scientist called Lisa McKay. Your orders are too board the ship and extract them both out before I reduce that vessel into scrap metal. Understood?"

"Yes m'aam"

O'Neil saluted once more then turned on his heel before exiting the bridge. There was nothing more to be said; further details were being sent through his implants over the battlenet. He used his internal communicator to ring all of his men to suit up while drawing a discreet smile on his face. The Titans were about to be unleashed.

...

One Gungnir Assault Boarding craft raced across the battlefield toward the six pointed star shape alien vessel, escorted by two wings of Star Hawks and one squadron of Vulture bombers. The craft carried eight men and women belonging to the infamous and dreaded 501st Shocktrooper Division also called the Titans. One would wonder why only eight men were sent into such hostile situation, but if you took account the genetic and cybernetic enhancements of those soldiers not to mention the equipment they were carrying, you would realize that eight men was plenty overkill.

O'Neil took one last check at his power exoskeleton combat armor, the Cougar MK4, design specifically for the Shocktroopers. It was made of a blend of Trinium, composite carbon and Titanium, the inner layer however was made of nano-weave Trinium carbon. The armor had special servo motors design to boost the already considerable strength and speed of the Titans, allowing the user to lift up to five tons. The armor featured an onboard nano-medical system, which consisted of nano-machines that would circulate into the body and protect it against blood loss, disease, chemicals and other nasty stuffs. The helmet featured thermal sights, night vision and an onboard Virtual Intelligence to help slice through computer terminals. The armor was powered by a Deuterium fusion battery core and could operate for a hundred years without resupply; it was vacuum sealed, amphibious with an oxygen supply of two hundred days. However what truly set the armor apart was that the Cougar was the first to feature a miniaturized Ion energy deflector shield.

Having tested the armor at the Ares training military reserve on Terra Nova, O'Neil was glad he had managed to outfit his men with the Cougar which had barely come out of production lines. He had no idea what they would find onboard that ship so every advantage would help.

"Five minutes to contact sir" reported the pilot of the Gungnir.

Sheppard approached the cramped cockpit and connected his wireless interface to the craft's sensors. Their escort was now engaging the enemy fighters while the bombers picked up speed and approached the massive alien warship. A few Vultures were destroyed by the intense AA fire of the alien mother ship but the bombers were soon within firing range and unleashed their neutron missiles, quickly draining the ship's shields.

"We are clear!" says the pilot as she increased the shuttle's speed toward the objective. More and more of the warships guns were becoming silent as the Star Hawks were shooting them down, with the shields protecting them were gone.

The needle shape end of the Gungnir began to glow white hot as it approached dangerously close to the vessel.

"Contact in ten second"

"Load up boys and girls" yelled O'Neil as he strapped his hand on a handle next to the exit door.

"5...4...3...2...1...Contact!"

The needle ship pierced the Goauld warship's hull with its plasma torch like a knife cutting through butter.

As it burned through several meters thick of Trinium and Naquadah, explosive decompression spread across the entire deck, killing hundreds of Jaffa and shorting out several subsystems.

Like a flower opening its petals, the needle end of the Gungnir opened to reveal a hatch at the middle, which opened and unleashed the Shocktroopers. By groups of two, the Shocktroopers spread out across the deserted deck, scanning every inch of floor, their energy pulse rifle cocked and ready.

O'Neill activated the map on his heads up display and located his query. His armor computer systems had already access partial bits of the vessel subsystems via wireless.

"Alright, our targets are a deck above us, in the starboard side of the vessel. Alonzo, Fred you guys watch the shuttle. The rest let's go!"

"Yes sir"

In a single file, the Shocktroopers entered the hallways of the alien vessels in search of their quarry.

I am not good describing space battles but I think I did well in this one.

This chapter introduces the Shocktroopers, they are basically Stargate version of the Spartans from Halo games. This doesn't mean they will be Marie Sue types and will annihilate whole armies, the Shocktroopers will soon meet their match in the next chapter.

Stephen O'Neill is indeed related to Jack O'Neill in more ways than ones and you will have to wait to find out. Some other Stargate characters will appear soon as well.