"Normal speech"
"Gothic around non-Imperials."
"Mental Links."
"Ship Names."
"#Ancient to every one#."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To Northern-megas: If they had taken the ZPM then the artificial sun would have gone nova and everything inside Commorragh would have been reduced to atoms and particles. The fake sun was literally a ball of hydrogen compressed by a force field generated by the ZPMs therefore no more force field the nuclear fusion inside would force the sun to blast apart in a nova. The reason it was red was the weakened force field wasn't compressing it to the right level resulting in a shift towards red spectrum due to the cooler surface like a real sun does when it expands into a red giant. This will be fun. Still it would have been nice for them to get a ZPM.
To the Shadow Syndicate: All is forgiven once you realize the truth. As for the Eldar they are an analogue to the 40k variety, so in story term they are at a technological level just behind the Ancients and slightly ahead of the Asgard.
Every one listen up: I have an important announcement to make. Well, two, but never mind, the first is that the person by the alias of Arkh 'Cthuul has taken the honored and most terrifyingly repetitive position of my Beta. Secondly the Zerfàrim and their background material are exclusive property of Arkh 'Cthuul and I'm simply borrowing it. Please direct the appropriate acknowledgment for the Eldar's creation to him. Thank you.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The sleek ship slid through space with grace only comparable to a shark in water; swift purposeful and deadly, yet beautiful to watch. The approximately three hundred meter long frigate shimmered out of sight leaving no trace of its existence as it neared the outwardly pleasant world that housed Commorragh. A small black scar dotted it where the Imperial barrage had left its mark. The cruiser shimmered back into sight, its seemingly organic hull a deep metallic green that bled into the surrounding black with highlights of grey running along the frontal weapons. A single strip of bronze ran from what appeared to be the bridge to the engines of the ship. The ship itself was vaguely fish-shaped but missing the fins and tail with elegant curves and lines running along it, it appeared to be more a work of art than a vessel of war. That illusion was dispelled by the several visible gun ports and the definitive possibility of several more hidden ones.
Captain Thieri Ghen'Hòar, the newly promoted commander of Kaerathaì Baermon (Tear of the Stars), had been tasked with investigating the disturbance on Commorragh. She was approximately a meter seventy-five tall with long silver hair that hung down her back, ice blue eyes and a slim yet muscular figure. She muttered in annoyance, there wasn't much to investigate if it had been bombarded from orbit.
"Thaèn-Ghen'Hòar, I am detecting residual energy similar to that of a transporter from around the impact area." One of her crew reported as the shifting runes on his screen changed shape and color constantly.
"The last survey stated that they were a pre-flight civilization. So what are they doing with a transporter?" Ghen'Hòar rhetorically asked her bridge staff.
"If they had found an access to the outpost then they could have used the device there." A crew man said elegantly gesturing at the green world below them.
"No, we couldn't find the actually outpost. The only evidence we even have of its existence is the Command Link that the Lanteans left behind." She said with an air of annoyance.
"Thaèn! I'm detecting a massive energy spike from the moon!" A crew man shouted as his entire console changed to blood red with swirling patterns of black.
The small frigate spun gracefully around and powered away from the seemingly normal moon. A second after that the moon's surface began to crack, an angry red burning through the rock. The trapped energy of a sun erupted from the northern pole of the moon, a jet of super heated gasses spraying out into space. The moon continued to crack more and more, the veins of crimson shining brighter. The entire moon split in half held together by the flimsy remains of its southern pole. Inside an angry red ball continued to grow as the nuclear reactions at its heart forced it apart. The miniature red giant began to cool as the empty void tore its energy from it quickly, the furious newly released sun died, a cold black sphere floating in between the two hollow halves of the cracked moon was all that was left. The Zerfàrim stared in shock as the now peaceful, shattered moon settled into its new degrading orbit.
"Report." Ghen'Hòar said as the smaller pieces of moon crust bounced harmlessly of their ship while the larger burned up in the planets atmosphere.
"Unknown explosive source but the moon appears to be hollow. Sensors are detecting a large city on a rock bed above the southern pole. Over two thousand biological signatures have been registered as well." The crew man said as his fingers danced across the runes of his screen.
"A city in a moon? Sounds like some thing the Lanteans would do." Ghen'Hòar said watching the plotted impact of the moon into the planets surface on her console screen.
"Thaèn-Ghen'Hòar, the city is far to damaged to prove any answers, may I suggest that we look around on the planet before half its surface is covered in lava?" Hayn Sàdo'Kel said smiling lightly. He was a man twice Ghen'Hòar's age and was the senior Officer of the Kaerathaì Baermon.
Sàdo'Kel was tall, just over two meters, with an extremely muscular frame, he had very short pitch black hair, bright green eyes with a yellow circle around the pupil and was the leader of the Domìnar-Suit pilots onboard.
"Very well. Charr-Sàdo'Kel plot a landing course to the attack site and keep the cloak active, we don't know if the things behind this are still here." Ghen'Hòar said as her ship began to descend.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
O'Neil blinked in surprise and slight shock: the Asgard Nerthus had just spent the last half an hour questioning him on his sexual preferences. Every time he had tried to escape the female Asgard would suddenly appear at his elbow not missing a single beat in her relentless and extremely embarrassing rambling barrage of questions. He had been contemplating shooting the small grey alien then blaming it on some random accident but fortunately Thor bailed him out by practically dragging the protesting Asgard away muttering apologies to O'Neil.
"Why is every one around me so weird?" O'Neil muttered to him self. Daniel was the resurrected dead, Carter a super genius that put his mind to shame if he cared enough to compare, Teal'c was Teal'c, Angelus was a dimension-hopping super human and Thor had joined his quest to get Angelus drunk, which was something he didn't expect from the stoic little alien.
Deciding that all that thinking was hurting his head he resolved to go shoot some things. Needless to say he didn't expect to be transported up to the Fenrir after kicking some random marine's ass in a competition. Even at his age he was still one of the best marksmen in the SGC and he was damm proud of it.
"What the hell?" O'Neil questioned as he found him self standing on the bridge of the Fenrir.
"Sit down." A cross looking Asgard said pointing at the seat behind him.
"Okay." O'Neil muttered as the Asgard glared at him.
"Why were you late?" The Asgard asked.
"Late for what?" O'Neil questioned confusion clearly written on his face.
"Skuld calm down he's here now and we can leave." The Asgard O'Neil recognized as Odin said.
"But we're late by approximately one point three minutes. That is intorable." Skuld said rounding on the third and final Asgard who was lazily staring out of the window.
"Darg I think you should look more active." Odin muttered as Skuld began ranting at Darg.
"What's going on?" O'Neil asked the seemingly normal Asgard.
"She has to do everything perfectly and he is obsessed with mapping stars." Odin said.
"Why am I here?" O'Neil asked as the human crew ignored him.
"The Ragnarok is returning and we're running the distraction." Odin said getting a pleased glint in his eye.
"Great." O'Neil muttered.
The bickering of the two Asgard was broken when the Captain of the Fenrir shouted. "All hands prepare for launch."
The three Asgard took up their positions on the bridge, their small webbed hands dancing across the terminals. O'Neil just got off the seat he had been given and walked over to the Captain.
"Supreme Commander." The Captain said nodding his head to O'Neil.
"Captain, so which part of the blockade are we hitting today?" O'Neil asked taking a standing position behind the Captain's chair.
"Section five around the Theta-One asteroid cloud. A single cruiser is at that position for the next three hours, then a Hive will join it." The Captain said plotting a course out on the small terminal in the arm of his chair.
"It's kind of weird how ineffective their blockade is." O'Neil said offhandedly.
"It's just as it was predicted the majority of the Wraith fleet is tied up trying to impose their faction as leader. If the power balance were to change we would certainly face a complete blockade or another invasion." The Captain said as the massive engines of the Fenrir blasted it out of Atlantis's orbit.
Ever since the momentum of the Wraith attack had been torn apart by the Imperials the twelve Wraith hive ships had degraded from a functional fighting force to several different factions fighting over who gets what and who does what. On top of that they had thrown together a hastily prepared and planned blockade that the Imperials could break almost at will. This just whittled down their forces as the Imperials had committed to a siege but with an active Star gate and enough plasma generators to power the shields the Wraith were slowly losing. So far out of the twelve that had followed the first three; two had been destroyed in ambushes and three had just given up and left the remaining seven Hives, the ones the Imperials now faced.
"These guys remind me of the Goa'uld, all that infighting is going to let us steamroll them. The difference is huge; the Replicons are one cohesive unit and they laid waste to a Galaxy in a week and we took the Goa'uld in a year and with one ship." O'Neil said leaning casually on the back of the Captains chair.
"Indeed. After all, the Emperor teaches unity." The Captain said.
"I'm sure he does." O'Neil said plainly making the Captain glance up at him.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Levis snarled at a crew man that had come near to him, making the poor man drop the food tray he was carrying and jump back holding the blunt knife from the tray out defensively. Ommarin punched the Wraith in the arm while he chuckled to him self.
"Stop doing that." She muttered shifting uncomfortably in the ship uniform she had been issued.
"Why, I need some form of entertainment since I was banned from the training grounds." Levis said glaring at a group of crew men that where huddled together occasionally glancing at the Wraith and ex-Wych.
"You where only banned for starting a fight with that crew man. Those armored guys are really strong." Ommarin said.
"I didn't start anything. I only acted as was befitting of 'Xeno scum'." Levis answered smiling dangerously.
"Will you stop that already that Angelus person okayed you, after a lot of arguing with our guys." Ommarin said happily to the sulking Wraith.
"All hands to action stations. All hands to action stations. Cruiser is within sensor range. Ship wide blackout in thirty minute. All hands to action station." A feminine voice coming from the large vox speakers on the walls said. Several groans of disappointment and loud muttering came from the crew as they filled out.
"What's that all about?" Ommarin asked her self.
"Levis! Lekiel! Over here!" Davidenko shouted as she forced her way through the throng of people.
"Hi!" Ommarin shouted back waving happily at the Russian.
"You two have to come with me. Since your not part of the crew we have to lock you in your quarters." Davidenko said stopping in front of the two.
"I'm not getting locked in anywhere." Levis growled.
"Sorry it's the rules. You two aren't military and we can't have you running around during a battle." Davidenko said crossing her arms over her chest.
Levis growled at her until Ommarin placed a hand on his shoulder. He grunted and sighed before getting out of his seat. "Where too?" He asked.
"Just follow me." Davidenko said.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Angelus watched the small purple blob that was the Wraith Cruiser as it blissfully floated at the edge of the asteroid field. The only lighting on the bridge came from the consuls of the crew and a single red light that hung over the entrance. The rest of the ship was in a similar state the entire length of the Ragnarok blended into the black of space, the usual pinpoints of light that spotted the ship's hull now gone.
"Nestor what is the ETA?" The marine captain asked his friend.
"Two minutes until the Fenrir launches its attack." Nestor answered.
"Vent the stern airlocks." Angelus said.
"Airlocks vented." Nestor answered. A cloud of crystallized air soared away from the Ragnarok the counter force of the venting air pushing the ship slowly towards the waiting Wraith Cruiser.
A large hyperspace window burst into life eighty kilometers from the Wraith Cruiser. The purple organic ship swerved to face the hyperspace window as the large black form of the Fenrir soared out of it. The Wraith Cruiser opened fire on the Imperial ship, the purple modulated energy of its weapons being batted aside by the shimmering wall of the void shield. Twin beams of white light shot out from the darkness of the asteroid field and bisected the Wraith Cruiser rupturing the hyper drive. The small cruiser died in a flash of blinding light.
"This is the Fenrir calling the Ragnarok, what is you situation?" A male voice asked over the vox.
"Team retrieved plus two extras. One loss, several injured and the reactors are acting up again." Angelus said into the vox.
"Yo, what's up?" O'Neil's voice asked in his laid back manner.
"We'll talk when we get back. I'm picking up three Hive ships inbound." Angelus said as he cut the line.
"Angelus we'll clear the asteroids in thirty seconds. ETA of the Hives is three minutes." Nestor said.
"It's good to be home." Titov muttered as they glided past the last asteroid.
"Not everyone is home." Sheppard said bitterly.
"He knew the risks and he went above and beyond the call of duty. I am recommending him for The Order of Terra." Titov said.
(The Order of Terra is my equivalent of the Medal of Honor. Since I don't want to offend anyone with or who knows some one with this medal or its equivalents, I am not using the real medals.)
"Asteroid field cleared. Jumping to hyperspace." Nestor said as a silent hum filled the air.
Both ships vanished into hyperspace the far superior drives of the Imperium out running the Wraith easily.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Kaerathaì Baermon settled down and powered down its engines, the charred ground around the cloaked ship settling once again onto the lifeless ground. Hatches along its length opened and gangways slowly extended. Six large armored figures walked down the gangways, their movements far more agile than their size would suggest.
The Suits stood at over three meters height; the feet were long with several flexing joints and three sharp toes and a small barb at the heel, the suits stood only on the ball of their feet. The chest plate was covered in small ridges than ran from the neck to the waist. The armor was smooth everywhere else. The head piece sat on a small stalk that slanted forward slightly and held it very close to the main body. It was tear shaped with the point facing backwards but not going past the rear body and the large base facing forward, there were no visible lenses on the front. The arms were long, almost to the knees but surprisingly graceful at the same time. The hands were thin and elegant with many joints in them while the three fingers where very long with three joints in them and long sharp nails at the end. On the back were two lines of four circular jets that extended out from armor. The armor looked like it had been grown in the way it slid together effortlessly and covered the entire body.
The first three at the front had four-barreled rifles that looked like an Imperial assault cannon on their left shoulders, on the left arm was a single-barreled long rifle and in the right arms hand they held a long, elegantly curved blade that ended in two points at different heights and slightly shimmered in dark-Green light.
The three behind had a similar blade in the right hand but on both shoulders they had long, smooth-barreled rifles that had a large bulge just above the connection to the shoulder.
The armor was completely dark green like the ship and the weapons had grey highlights on the barrels. On the first three there was a bronze stripe at the back of the head running down the spine while on the second three there was no line. The leading Domìnar-Suit had a single Bronze wing above a star design over the heart.
"Charr, form a perimeter around the ship and begin searching." The leading Domìnar-Suit said, its voice vocalizing without the metallic trait seen in most Imperial vox systems.
"Yes Thaèn." The other pilots replied spreading out into the scorched waste.
"Any indications of what did this?" Ghen'Hòar's voice asked in the ear of Sàdo'Kel.
"No Thaèn-Ghen'Hòar." Sàdo'Kel answered.
"Thaèn I think that you need to see this!" One of the younger Domìnar-Suit pilots shouted.
With a kick from the Suit's long powerful legs Sàdo'Kel activated his jet boosters at the top of his arc and soared into the sky coming gracefully down onto the small blue dot that indicated the position of the signaling pilot. Landing with a thud that didn't even make it past the shock absorbers in the ankles Sàdo'Kel straightened out his Suit to face the young Suit pilot which held out a stone the size of a human head.
"It was on that." The young pilot said pointing over at a large pile of stones the height of an average human.
Sàdo'Kel took the large stone in his Suit's hand and examined the runes that had been cut into it. The text was short and resembled some of the human languages he had learnt along time ago.
"What is it Charr-Sàdo'Kel?" Ghen'Hòar's voice asked.
"Its some kind of marker, I think I can decipher some of the text but it would be better if a linguist did it." Sàdo'Kel said turning the large stone over finding a large twin headed eagle carved into the other side.
"Try anyway, it may be important." Ghen'Hòar said after a moments pause.
"Very well." Sàdo'Kel said clicking his tongue for a few seconds. "Ye…who falsely takes…the name…the name of Man…I…I have laid the Emp…Emperor's Wrath upon your…sinful dreams."
"What does that mean?" The young pilot asked, confusion clearly evident in his voice.
"I have no idea. These runes resemble some human languages but I have never seen them in this configuration." Sàdo'Kel said.
"Thaèn-Sàdo'Kel we've found a survivor." A calm voice stated over the communicator.
"Who?" Sàdo'Kel asked bounding towards the two Domìnar-Suits that signaled him this.
"A child approximately ten years of age, he is rambling about things from the night taking his family…It is most annoying." The same cold voice stated.
"I don't like this. Take the child and retreat to the ship; too many things are wrong here for it to be Wraith or a human raid." Sàdo'Kel said, sliding to a halt and scanning the trees surrounding the area.
"Yes Thaèn." The five voices of his team responded, the green dots on his map converging on the ship.
"Thaèn-Ghen'Hòar I humbly suggest that we take off. This wasn't the work of anything we've seen before." Sàdo'Kel said as he jumped back to the Kaerathaì Baermon.
The Frigate stirred up the earth around it as its engines powered up. The cloaked ship burst through the atmosphere and headed out-system. The science team began analyzing the strange marking stone which they had found.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The child had proven to be rather odd, as soon as he was brought on board he had stopped his sniveling and it had almost seemed like he was memorizing every little device and piece of information he saw or was offered. One of the medical staff had tried to feed the child and received a deep bit from the child's pointed teeth. Ever now and then Ghen'Hòar thought she saw a predatory gleam in the child's eye, something that would be viewed as normal for a Zerfàrim on The Hunt but was worrying in a human child.
Kneeling down to face the child, Thieri Ghen'Hòar smiled politely which the human child returned displaying his viciously pointed teeth. "Could you tell me about what happened?" She asked.
"Well these nice people came. They had strange weapons different from the ones you have." The child said pointing at the sleek pistol at Ghen'Hòar's hip. "Then they went looking for something and the Mastema took them."
Ghen'Hòar looked oddly at the child the strange word didn't make sense to her. "What's a Mastema?"
"They are ghosts that live in the mountains and eat people and then leave your dried out body on the doors of your family." The boy said shifting uncomfortably.
Ghen'Hòar mentally linked the Mastema to the Wraith and dismissed the information. "Then what?" She asked politely urging the child on.
"Then the creatures came. They came in a huge bird that blocked out the sun and lots of these little ones started to fly over the village. Then three of these big ones landed on the out skirts. They started to demand for their friends and we told them the Mastema had them and they didn't believe us. Then they took these strange metal things which were different to the ones the nice people had earlier. They spit fire and bark like a Kig and then people started to explode. My father told me to run into the forest and hide until they left. And I ran away far away and then after the village was burning and the big birds had left the sun came down and touched the earth. Then you nice people found me." The boy said smiling up at the Zerfàrim.
"I see. We'll find you a suitable planet to live on. Until then stay here." Ghen'Hòar said.
"Sure." The boy answered smiling at her baring his predatory teeth.
After she left the boy got off the makeshift bed the Zerfàrim had supplied him and slipped the small ceramic blade from out of his boot and began to twirl it in his fingers. He had never thought that the lie that he had been taught would ever become useful. These people seemed to trust him maybe he could use them. Smiling serenely to himself he drifted off to sleep full of bloodshed and revenge.