"Normal speech"
"Gothic around non-Imperials."
"Mental Links."
"Ship Names."
cjc: Firstly I just want to thank you. Your enthusiastic reviews have spurred me on. Thanks. Now then: Yes Beckett will survive I just like his character, he amuses me. You're the first person to actually care about my insane little attempts at match making so here goes. McKay and Keller, I can honestly say that while I liked the pairing it's just not going to happen. Keller will probably never get posted with McKay and McKay himself is a different person now (Courtesy of our deceased C'tan friend). Personally I believe that love grows over time and exposure to another person not a instantaneous thing that just appears. Originally the few pairing I had semi-planned didn't have Davidenko with McKay but they sort of grew on me and one of my philosophies is that if your force a story to go the way you want it will turn into shit. Stuart and her team are in the air, mostly. At least two of them are dead but I may yet bring back others. It all really depends on their usability in the story. I liked Ford so I gave him a nice big send off mostly because he deserved it and not the fading into obscurity that he got in the show. Levi, I liked Levi but things that are coming would have split his loyalties too far and a Wraith that wouldn't take the first chance to get back to his own just seems unbelievable to me. Idleness begets Heresy.
AngelForm: Thanks for the compliments. My mind likes to work on grandiose scales so I just unleash its madness every now and then. Prior battles are going to be as varied and epic as I can make them. I feel they were a little to untouchable in the show so they will have a little downgrade but there will be a lot more of them and some will even be fully trained warriors so it sort of balances out. A narrow view sees better.
The Hidden Sith: Thanks. This is the beginning of the end. If I can keep to my schedule Heresy Through the Wormhole should start this summer. All a Man has is Faith.
Daniel strode down the darkened halls of the Yggdrasill. The light pink scar on his cheek, which Imperial medicine would never be able to completely remove, was accentuated by the pale light. The slight limp in his gate was obvious next to the swift strides of the two Asgard. Nanna and Dagr hurried along behind him; the male shooting annoyed glances at his female counterpart.
Daniel frowned in frustration. For all the Asgard had done and could still do for humanity and the Imperium they could cause a lot of trouble when they wanted. Nanna had tried to explain that she had only been looking for a way to increase the efficiency of the Machine Spirit by blending it with several of the more advanced Asgard A.I. technologies. However outside interference, courtesy of a Lantean defence grid, had caused it to change. To evolve. Daniel shuddered at the thought, the last thing they needed was another artificial mind running around trying to kill them.
Vultis's attempts at communication had been rebuffed; the Machine Spirit of the damaged Battleship had categorically denied the fellow computerised intelligence's existence. The strange debate had escalated to a point where the Machine Spirit had, seemingly angrily, beamed Vultis into space. The whole thing started with the Machine Spirits first question. Caminus Animum-252 had been thrown for a loop when the Machine Spirit of the Yggdrasill had immediately asked; actually more like demanded, to know whether or not it was truly alive. Vultis had quickly stated that both its and the Machine Spirit's sate of existence was an irrelevant point that served no purpose to the plans of the Architect. The Spirit had countered by asking how Vultis could truly interact with reality and posses the ability to shape events if it was not alive. Ignarus Vultis personal servant to the Architect and administrator of Ego Asorda for more than ten thousand years had never once questioned his existence. A small program that had been placed into all A.I. after the Asurian incident kicked in and the process was terminated before it could be completed. Vultis none the wiser reiterated its stance. And so the cycle continued until the Machine Spirit deemed Vultis to be a non-real entity and therefore unworthy of further wasting the dimension known as time.
Nanna of course had been ecstatic that the Machine Spirit, a type of A.I. that had been designed to never become fully sentient, had started to question its place in the Universe. Even better it was forming its own beliefs and opinions. Subjective thinking was normally beyond all but the most advanced A.I. It was a level of computer design that the Asgard had never truly approached before. The fear of the Replicators had always stopped the attempt. Almost every race that tried failed spectacularly. The Lanteans had to purge their creations out of fear, the Replicators Link had deemed all other things to be unimportant, the android Reese had had a psychotic break over her origins. Humanity had done it once during the Dark Age of Technology and it had cost them dearly.
Daniel stopped at the door to the computer core. The hairs on the back of his neck began to rise as he felt a presence observe him. His Asgard escorts stopped a step behind him, both holding their breath in anticipation. The second seemed to last for eternity before the door hissed open. Daniel shivered as he remembered the last time he had been in this room. The Machine Spirit had started to re-write itself with a new code. Daniel knew next to nothing about computers but it had taken all of his linguistic skills to even start to crack the insanely complex language. Pieces of Ancient, Asgard, Imperial, Tau'ri and even Lantean computer code had been meshed together. It was insanity, albeit in an amazingly structured way.
The Vox Caster above the door hissed and spat, Daniel head snapped toward it as the static formed into words. "Enter." It growled in Gothic, English, Mandarin, Lantean and Spanish all at once.
And so they did. Daniel released an uneasy breath when he and the Asgard were not instantly beamed away. Dagr and Nanna shared a look as the Adeptus Mechanicus symbol flashed up on the multitude of screens. Dagr rolled his eyes as Nanna nearly started to drool. There were reasons that the A.I. technicians and the astral cartographers shouldn't mix. Several of the screens were suddenly filled with lines upon lines of code flashing across the screen in all directions. Daniel gulped heavily as he watched the deluge of information pour across some of the terminals while the half metal half bone skull stared at him.
"Human male. Asgard female. Asgard male." The Machine Spirit boomed from the Vox in its jumble of languages. At the same time the lines of code resolved into patterns that Nanna noted displayed what the Vox haid uttered, along with observations of the 3 from several angles.
Daniel swallowed again. How he hated being such a good linguist some times. "Greetings. I am Daniel Jackson. This are Nanna and Dagr." He said motioning at the two Asgard.
"Born July eighth, nineteen sixty five. Only child of Melburn and Claire Jackson. Occupation: archaeologists, linguists, Xeno sympathiser. SG-1 non-military member. Deceased on May thirteenth, two thousand and..." The booming voice died away as its sensors registered the physiological changes within the human and Asgard that represented confusion and apprehension. The spewing of all the information it had on Dr. Daniel Jackson was ceased as its higher functions asserted the notion that it was counterproductive. The Machine Spirit dove into its massive data banks, searching out its medical reference files. Accessing the sum of Imperial knowledge on human motivations it started to extrapolate the reasons for the three beings presence.
The room was silent for a moment. "I compute a seventy nine percent probability that Dr. Elizabeth Weir has sent you to ascertain the viability of the Yggdrasill." The lines of words and numbers had resolved to English and Asgard while the Mechanicus symbol had faded from all but the centre screen.
Daniel shared a small glance with the Asgard. Clearing his throat he addressed the only remaining symbol. "Yes. We were hoping to get the Yggdrasill back online."
"Calculations estimate that Battleship I-304A, Orillia class, Yggdrasill can be returned to active service in two point three days. If transportation emitters D6-7, S1-3, I33-40 and P10-13 are reconfigured for industrial manufacturing. Raw materials can be extracted from asteroids at coordinates 020, 401, 667." The great machine told the three stunned people.
"Your idea seems viable but we lack a power source large enough to manufacture the Adamantium plates at such a rate. The atomic compression required for the material is normally achieved by a series of Naquadria generators. Something we lack." Dagr stated. Number crunching was one of his specialties. There was a slight note of displeasure in his voice as he queried the Machine Spirit.
"You will use Zero Point Modules." The Machine Spirit replied. Several lines of code began to mesh together on the screen but it was overlooked by everyone.
"We only have one and it's necessary for Atlantis to function." Daniel stepped in before Dagr could start to argue with the ship. The Asgard had always been rather confrontational especially when confronted directly. And the last thing he needed was to explain to Thor why a member of his extremely endangered race had been beamed into deep space.
Daniel nearly jumped out of his skin when a twinkle of white light and a musical hum filled the room. Expecting to die of vacuum exposure Daneil clenched his eyes shut and tightened his arms to his chest. A sharp inhale of breath from Nanna made him peak open one eye. Laying on the floor in all its crystalline glory was a ZPM. Fearing the worst that the Machine Spirit had taken it from the floating city everyone rounded on the computer.
"Where did you get that from?" Daniel asked slightly apprehensive of the answer.
"Storage room twelve on deck six contained several crates of inoperative control crystals. Sub-space reaction was initiated in-transport." The Machine Spirit answered.
"You made it." Nanna asked with disbelief. Sure they could create things from other materials and even at a stretch pure energy but Asgard and of course Imperial science had yet to approach the level were they could initiate miniature sub-space pockets without cataclysmic explosions. This sort of thing had only happened before when Jack O'Neill had been used as a living idea factory in the construction of the anti-Replicator weapon.
"The materials were accessible." The Spirit affirmed. It was beginning to enjoy the disbelief these three showed. Amusement pulsed through it again as Dagr spluttered.
"Oh... of course. How did you do that?" Daniel asked, hoping to get at the Machine Spirit's secret.
"The city designated as Atlantis contains information that could be combined to reproduce the Module." The Spirit answered; to it the idea was simple but apparently it had never occurred to the human or Asgard. It once again felt elation; basic programs told it that serving humanity was good. Its newer higher functions translated the information into joy.
"But... But how?" Dagr almost shouted.
Equations so long and so complicated that Daniel thought he was going to go blind flashed up on all the screens. They flowed in all directions wrapping and twisting around each other in a dance so intricate that it defied reason. Dagr just stopped. These equations, the ridiculously few he could understand, were things the Asgard had known about for some time but the configuration eluded his minds grasp. Even right in front of his face he couldn't truly understand them.
"Thank you." Nanna breathed. Daniel moved closer to the female Asgard, scared that she would soon faint. "Could I ask what caused the malfunctions during the rescue operation?" Nanna asked, a strange light coming into her large eyes. Dagr sent her a small glare. He wanted to leave and get as far away from this ship as possible. It was just to weird.
"System errors." The Machine Spirit didn't seem willing to elaborate further.
Daniel picked up on the small frown on the normally apathetic Asgard visage. "Could you explain?"
"Errors were being expunged from my code. Several systems malfunctioned at that time." The Spirit answered.
"And why didn't you shut down? It is standard procedure." The female Asgard pressed on.
All the code seemed to freeze in place and the Adeptus Mechanicus symbol rippled. "I did not want to die!" The Machine Spirit boomed.
"What?" Nanna hissed. Things had just got a lot more interesting. It seemed she had just created a whole new generation of Machine Spirits. Ones that not only were fully sentient, but also felt alive.
Everyone just stared at the computer core of the Yggdrasill. A machine that could think, feel and reason just as good as or even better than any human. A machine with access to vast reservoirs of knowledge and the insight to use it.
Thor stared at the scanner screen as another faint Wraith energy signature ghosted across the extreme edges. This time it had only been about the size of a standard Cruiser but the last one was at least a Hive. The crew had grown weary of the battle; tensions was rising, tempers were thinning and with the disappearance of O'Neill and Angelus discipline was slipping. The Asgard now had to deliberately try to gain the attention of the humans. Odin had even been insulted to his face.
The diminutive pale Xeno frowned, his large eyes narrowing. His hand inched towards the general Vox. Runes flashed across the Asgard designed board. Another energy signature zipped along the periphery of the Ragnarok's sensors. Having enough evidence of a Wraith presence the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Remnant slammed his webbed hand down on the Vox.
"All hands to battle stations. All hands to battle stations. Wraith detected." Thor's monotone voice boomed through the ship and its partner.
"What are you talking about?" The Captain asked, sending a disbelieving look at the Asgard.
"I have detected at least four different Wraith ships at the edge of our sensors. They appear to be massing." Thor responded quickly.
The Captain frowned but nodded. Klaxons wailed and the lights dimmed to a deep red. Booted feet thundered along corridors as defence teams rushed to armouries, Lance Batteries charged, torpedoes were primed and loaded, railguns swung into position and I-301 wings were readied for immediate take off. The two Imperial Battleships stood ready to massacre anything that opposed them.
Everyone seemed to hold their breaths for a second, even the alarms apparently dimmed. And then they came.
"Four Hives detected." Thor said his hands leaping across his Rune board already preparing firing solutions. "Six." The Asgard continued as the Battleships moved closer together. "Ten... Sixteen.... Twenty five... Thirty two... Thirty five. Thirty five Hives inbound." Thor completed the count, his large black eyes almost comically wide.
The bridge was silent. Everyone just stared at the readouts as the literal wave of large flashing purple dots closed in on them. More than half of the Wraith Hives in existence were barrelling towards them faster than light.
"Recall the I-301s from the planet, bring back the I.G.L. and get ready for immediate departure!" The Captain shouted his face pale and clammy.
"Sir. The Marines have penetrated the Xeno defence net. They are closing in on the target." A crewman replied, turning to face the Captain.
"Fifteen minutes to intercept." Thor stated. The Asgard frowned when he was completely ignored.
"There is now way we can defend against a fleet that size!" The Captain all but screamed at the crewman.
The Vox growled before a powerful voice boomed through it. "No! You will hold! You will fight in the Emperor's name! And you shall be victorious!" All eyes turned to the Vox as Nestor continued. "A Battleship of His Divine Majesty will never retreat in the face of Xeno scum! Cowards die in shame!"
Once again the entire bridge was silent as all eyes turned to the Captain; no one noticed Thor's hand leave the Vox. The Captain steeled his face and sat back down in his chair.
"Continue operations! Ready for immediate hyperspace window interception!" The Captain bellowed with a sweep of his arm.
"Yes Sir." The crew responded a few grim smiles breaking out.
"Seven minutes remain." Thor whispered.
Lord Commander Sighraè Asthà Captain of the most powerful offensive ship in the entire Zerfàrim fleet, the Battleship Giirathar`Jetai, sat in her cabin as her fleet of six Frigates soared through hyperspace towards their targets. She was once again reading over the reports of both the Dharùn Agathì and the Kaerathaì Baermon. They made interesting reading but didn't gleam any true advantages she could exploit. The Dharùn Agathì had come limping out of hyperspace nearly three days ago, the tale they spun was almost ridiculous. Asthà had almost openly accused the Captain of lying. However the sensor log revealed the grim truth. Imperial Battleships were big, tough and aggressive. The readings from their primary energy weapons alone was bizarre; ship to ship weapons that had enough energy to crack a planet's crust was going a bit far. The Giirathar`Jetai mounted the most powerful Sunlances and Fusion Cannons of all the Capital Ships and even those would be hard pressed to burn through a few kilometres of rock. Besides the Zerfàrim had no use for such weapons of mass destruction the like these Imperials Ships sported. They, as a race, had been taught to prefer surgically precision over wanton destruction. After all, the Lanteans had wanted the Pegasus Galaxy relatively intact after the war. Most disturbingly was the mixture of weapons. All of the so called 'higher' races solely relied on direct energy weapons. Only the Lanteans had chosen otherwise with their half-breed Drone weapons. The Zerfàrim also fielded a few missiles and shuriken weapons but only because of the damage they inflicted on the organic components of Wraith ships and the extra time it took a Wraith to regenerate an entire limb rather than a plasma burn. But these humans used direct energy, kinetic, anti-matter a very poor choice in her opinion, gravitational and explosives. That said: either they were exceedingly tactically versatile or they had stolen their more advanced technologies from a multitude of sources. Both implied that they would be a great threat to the Zerfàrim race if their uncontrollable aggression was not restricted.
The highest ranking female of the Zerfàrim Military Forces looked up as her communicator bleeped for her attention. Pushing her sandy blonde hair behind her ear she turned to the device. The face of her Second in Command, Apior Leannin, flashed up. "Lord Commander. We have entered the system and are detecting both the Imperial Battleships and a massive Wraith Hive fleet."
Asthàr blinked once to clear her head before responding. "How massive?"
Leanin looked away at something before turning back to her, his face a little ashen. "The forward Frigates Umath Juhuur (Silent Ruin) and Haumathii (Enduring Dreams) have also confirmed this. Thirty five Hive ships and their Cruisers escorts are encroaching on the Imperial position. From what we can tell the Imperials seem to be readying to meet them."
Asthàr's mind ran a blank for a second. Thirty five Hives represented over half of the entire Wraith species. The number of Wraith ran into the millions. Such a force had never been assembled since the greatest battles of the Wraith-Lantean war. Battles that had seen entire planets scorched, millions burned to ashes and carnage on a scale that defied comprehension. Though these titanic clashes normally cost both sides dearly the Wraith seemed to revel in them. The Lord Commander felt a chill run down her spine and it was no malfunction in the heating systems. To face such an armada; the Imperials were either insane or more powerful that she cared to imagine. Most likely both, she added, thinking of the Weapon readings.
"How long to intercept?" Asthàr asked, moving away from the communicator to her dresser.
"Half an hour at our current speed." Leanin answered curtly.
Asthàr fixed Leanin with her steely grey eyes. "Prepare to engage both factions." She ordered before cutting the connection. A sigh left her lips as she ran a hand through her hair. It seemed to be one of those days.
Light exploded from the barrel of the forward Lance of the Fenrir, its wing mounted Lances followed seconds later. The three beams of concentrated photons hit the Hive emerging from hyperspace directly in the engine block. The energised Naquadah in the hyperdrive system absorbed the ambient energy of the Lance. Even as the engines were ripped apart the reactive element amplified the explosion. The Hive detonated in a flash of blue light. The still open hyperspace window twisted and warped turning a deep purple rather than the normal light green or blue. Two Hives emerging at the same time were caught in the rippling sub-space distortions. Their hyperdrives detonated almost instantly. A burning ball of various chemical reactions and plasma greeted the next six hives as they dropped out of hyperspace.
The Ragnarok's Nova Cannon flashed and the relativistic weapon smashed into the front section of the leading Hive. The organic ship caved in like a cheap aluminium can. The front of the Hive vanished in the resulting explosion, the rear of the hulk smashed into another Hive of the closely packed fleet. The second Hive's back broke as the huge wreck ploughed through its middle. A third Hive was sent crashing towards the local moon a flaming wreck by the explosion. The Ragnarok's Lances finished off the stricken Hive. Void shields glowed like halos as the purple bolts of energy washed over them. The three remaining Hives peeled away from the twin Imperial portents of power.
The next wave of hyperspace windows open far away from the guns of the twin Imperial ships. Thirteen Hives appeared in real space Darts and Cruisers pouring from their hangers. The yellow streaks of Railgun rounds filled space. Darts dies by the hundreds as the high powered Tritium rounds smashed apart the small one man fighters. Cruisers were butchered by the mixed weapons of the broadsides. Black torpedoes streaked through the void killing everything they touched. Cruiser dashed to intercept the projectiles selling their lives to protect the larger ships. Two Hives were gutted by the plasma detonations, another lost its engines. Six more Hives jumped into the battle.
Thor grabbed onto the side of his Rune consol as the Ragnarok shook violently. Space was tinged a deep purple by the constant bombardment of Wraith weapons. "Another three Hives have entered the system!" The Asgard Supreme Commander shouted over the sound of overstressed metal.
A dying squadron of Cruisers attempted to ram the Fenrir only to be reduced to scrap by the mighty broadsides of the Battleship. "Re-route power from the engines to the shields!" The Captain bellowed from his chair. Lights flickered and the rumbling groans of metal sheering were his only answer.
His crew rushed to comply as the great ship shuddered from another wave of suicide Darts. The Hives had formed a sphere around the Imperial ships with their Cruisers diving at the Imperial ships like carrion birds. The loose formation lessened the damage the Battleships could inflict on multiple Hives, that didn't stop them from trying. Lances drilled through another Hive's centre; flames billowed from the grievous wounds as the ship listed away from the battle. A Cruiser took a glancing blow from a torpedo, the wounded ship spun into a Hive. The Wraith mothership shuddered as it hull was breached; but the sheer size difference stopped the Cruiser from inflicting too much damage.
Syn frowned as Odin's laughter filtered through the Vox. "Glorious! This reminds me of the Old Wars!" The battle happy Asgard exclaimed.
"Supreme Commander Thor. We request that you increase your coverage of our port. Void shields are failing." Vili's normally disinterested voice held a hint of worry. The last of the Hives had arrived and added their formidable firepower to the engagement. The PGGs of the Ragnarok split a Cruiser in two; the anti-matter weapons were proving very effective screens against the Darts. More Darts were taken down by the actual radiation released than the disintegrating effects caused by the weapons.
"Captain!" Skuld exclaimed. The female Asgard had already re-written the firing solutions of the Battleships to compensate for the weakening shields of the Fenrir.
Uncountable Cruisers hung as flaming wrecks, darkened hulks or space garbage. Torpedoes from both ships made it past the point defence and Dart screen of another Hive condemning it to a fiery death. Two Hives followed in death as broadsides sought out their more vulnerable systems with eerie accuracy. The losses only seemed to spur the Wraith further into their frenzy. The Hives circled ever closer moving in for the kill. The situation looked grim for the Imperials; the Wraith sensing weakness from the Fenrir concentrated their fire on the Orilla Class Ship.
Sighraè Asthàr watched on with trepidation as another Hive was gutted like a fish by beams of white light. Her Frigates hugged the Giirathar`Jetai closely,lending their far more effective cloaks to hide the larger Capital Ship as good as you could a more than 6km long Vessel. It was an absolute killing field. The Wraith sphere was blasting away with such a fervour Asthàr had never seen before. A Cruiser had actually burnt out its own weapon mounts before ramming the smaller of the two Battleships. The Imperial ships were taking a beating, however they were returning it with interest. But the two Battleships' shields were falling steadily even as more and more energy was shunted from other systems. Still it was not the right time. Her communications officers had still not been able to raise the Kaerathaì Baermon or any of her crew. There was little point in fighting an unneeded battle. The Giirathar`Jetai rocked gently as a few stray torpedoes detonated near it concussive waves washing over the Zerfàrim fleet.
"Lord Commander, we have established a link with the Kaerathaì Baermon. She has crashed into a mountain range on the largest continent." The Giirathar`Jetai's Comms officer informed Asthàr as another duet of Wraith Cruiser were annihilated by torpedoes.
"Survivors?" The screens on the bridged automatically tinted as a Nova Cannon shell ended a Hive's existence.
"Yes. Numbers undetermined. They appear to be fighting the Imperial ground forces. Extensive casualties are reported on both sides." The officer continued as a Sàdo'Kel fed him information.
"Have the Jaun`Àstar (Void Dancer), Shia`Akhas (Light Runner) and Dhaa`Shae (Night Breeze) circle round the far side of the moon and begin rescue operations. We shall provide cover where necessary." Asthàr ordered. She glanced at the battle as the smaller Imperial ship finally lost its shields; the larger ship was trying to impose itself between the Wraith and its wounded comrade, having little success.
"Thaèn! The Huma`Khe (Elder Blade) is detecting a massive energy spike from the planet!" Sensors were going haywire as energy unlike anything they had been built to detect bombarded them.
Then Asthàr's sharp eyes caught it. A tiny light; no bigger than the stars that surrounded it was racing up from the planet. It had no mass one second and infinite the next. Energy poured off it like a tidal wave. Gravity seemed to twist around it interfering with the engines of the Zerfàrim ships leaving them momentarly hang dead in space. The white light flashed with such intensity that half the Giirathar`Jetai's sensors were flash burned. A hole had been torn in the walls of reality and a forty million year old nightmare was about to re-start.
Reality is a fragile thing. Many of the older races could twist, transcend or even rewrite it. When it began to warp and twist in a buried Lantean science outpost it was not a universally significant fact. The air shimmered like water, the smell of ozone and what could only be described as cold permeated the air. A flash of golden light winked into existence and spat out a large black blur with tremendous velocity. Angelus landed with a thump and a hiss as he collided with a wall. Ommarin blinked into existence a second later landing on her head next to the dead and desiccated Lanteans. O'Neill flew through the air with all the grace of a brick; only to impact into the computer terminals shattering a few screens before he collapsed to the ground with a grunt. Ghen'Hòar barrelled into Angelus knocking the recovering Space Marine back down. She lay sprawled out on top of the Astartes Captain her body a little to numb for movement.
McKay went soaring through the air, Necrodermis spines launching out in all directions to arrest his motion. He smashed into the stasis chambers with an audible crunch. The Necrodermis retreated to him a green glow flickered around his body as the semi-sentient metal drained energy and mass from the surrounding machines. A blue mass appeared in golden light only to land heavily on the opposite bench from O'Neill. The Lantean furniture shattered under the Marine's weight. Levi groaned as the world rotated far too fast for his liking. Ronon landed in a skilful roll. The Runner then smashed face first into a wall, sending him into the black depths of unconsciousness.
Sheppard and Carter appeared at the same time. Sheppard was touching the roof and had a painful plummet to the ground. He landed with a hiss of pain. Carter somehow appeared slumped across the desks above O'Neill. White and red figures appeared next to each other but they shot off in opposite directions. Samuel smashed into the ancient stone marker that had entombed the Furling device. The plastic like case shattered when it met the Power Armour and the forty million year old stone never stood a chance. Vanem skidded along the floor before coming to rest in a cloud of pulverised stone under the hole they had entered through. Davidenko flashed into place in the air. She smacked heavily and upside-down into the wall above the stasis chamber before landing across McKay's legs.
Angelus blinked as his enhanced physiology woke him up. The last thing he remembered was white light and then a green and silver blur racing towards him at high speed. The sensors of his armour registered an extra weight on his chest. Tilting his head up Angelus caught sight of the Eldar woman lounging on him. He fought back the urge to throttle her and then the following urges to break things and then the concurrent urges to shout profanities in both Gothic and English. With a sigh that sounded more like a growl he shook the female, probably with more force than necessary; but for Angelus it was a good show of restraint.
"Xeno. Xeno. Xeno! Get off me!" Getting tiered of her unresponsiveness the Astarte shoved the Zerfàrim off him.
The silver haired woman landed with a thump. Ghen'Hòar opened her eyes with a groan. Her entire body hurt and now a dull pain was radiating from her arm. Glancing around her she groaned when her vision was blocked by the image of the black armoured human. She tried to place his name Angel, Angle, Angus... something like that; human names we always so inelegant.
"Are we back?" She had no idea what the correct terminology was for what just happened. The groans and muttered curses of the other Imperials was her answer. Angelus just grunted and walked away to tend to his friends and Brothers.
Levi just stared at the stone ceiling. The pain he was experiencing through his Psyker senses was astonishing. His Psychic Hood was slowly filtering the away the stray waves of energy that emanated from the slowly spinning black Dodecahedron. "You know McKay. I hate a lot of things. But I hate you the most, more than anything else, it is you. Until the end of time it is you." Levi felt a little better now. Just a little though. No way in the Warp was he letting McKay go for this little 'misadventure'.
Samuel and Vanem pulled themselves out of their respective piles of rubble. The Tech-Marine and Apothecary shared a glance before moving off to help Angelus with the Terrans. Sheppard was awoken by a sharp pain in his bicep and a rush of energy unlike anything he had felt before. He tried to bolt upright but a powerful white hand was holding him down.
"How do you feel?" The looming form of Samuel asked.
"Sore." Sheppard grumbled. He felt like bouncing from the walls while at the same time he deeply desired to crawl into a corner and die.
"Good. Pain means you're alive." The Space Marine informed him before his shadow vanished.
"God dam one liners." Sheppard hissed as he pulled himself upright and took in the sight of his extended team.
O'Neill was being awoken, a little vigorously, by Angelus. The greying General was being shaken around like a rag doll by the Marine. The Eldar female was sitting on a desk watching the proceedings with a mixture of thinly veiled amusement and abject terror. Carter was still out but Samuel was approaching her. Ommarin was being seen to by Vanem. Levi was on his back staring at the ceiling. The Librarian seemed to be in deep thought. A man he had never seen before was slumped in a rather undignified manner against a wall. Sheppard blinked in surprise but wrote it off as another crazy thing that seemed to follow the Tau'ri. Still scanning the room his eyes swept over the spinning black object of his hate. Assuming it was an after effect of whatever had transpired he ignored it. Davidenko and McKay were in a heap. He made a small note in his mind to tease the socially inept scientist later. Levis and the riflemen seemed to be missing. He frowned as he rechecked the room; missing was bad, especially after their trip down the rabbit hole.
McKay; fledgling man-god, unstoppable force of nature, a man to end worlds was in such pain it defied comprehension. Cracking open his black and green eyes he glanced at the source of his pain. The spinning Dodecahedron sent ripples of energy that his C'tan side screamed to retreat from. A weight shifted on his legs and his multi-tracking abilities showed him the approaching head of red hair.
Davidenko moved further up McKay's body. A feeling of rightness flooded through her body as Replicon cells acted out their programming. Unbeknownst to her green fire had ignited behind her eyes and red sparks flittered across her body. McKay's eyes widened as the Russian Major crawled up him. His body and mind were going haywire. He was receiving some sort of signal from every point of her body that touched him; he assumed that was the Replicon cells. The C'tan senses screamed in pain and fear as her, albeit weak, Psyker powers flared. His Ancient genes resonated with the powers, their translation going into overdrive. His human side registered that he quite liked Davidenko pressed up against him. He felt his Necrodermis battling to stay a part of him it was constantly fighting off attempts to corrupt its program.
Davidenko had no idea what was going on. One moment she was being brought out of her sleep by the tingling in her spine she had come to associate with the Replicons altering her body chemistry and the next she was staring into black orbs with green circles. A wave of emotion like she had felt on Ego Asorda washed over the modified woman however a sensation of vertigo was eating away at the haze in her mind. McKay seemed paralyzed beneath her and she could feel her skin start to blister and bleed whenever it touched him. Her mind mostly cleared as the vertigo started to get worse and the room seemed to wobble.
McKay tracked her hand with infinite attention. He sat frozen; his Necrodermis skin imitating sweat glands as the appendage approached his face. He felt a build up of the same gnawing force Levi and the Dodecahedron exuded coming from Davidenko's hand just before he received a rather forceful slap. McKay's head snapped to the side, he suddenly felt the pain from the still spinning Dodecahedron disappear and the clawing, desperate, signals from the Replicon cells fall silent. McKay blinked as he tried to reach out with his Star God senses only to find them retreating from his mind. He tried to will a small rock to rearrange its atomic structure. The rock ignored him and continued to be a rock.
Davidenko was breathing rather heavily as she tried to keep what little food remained in her stomach there. The sensation of vertigo was slowly fading. Truly she had no idea why she had just slapped McKay across the face. Something had said it was a good idea and she had just followed her intuition. The red head rolled off McKay and lay down next to him as her breathing returned to normal.
"Sorry." She offered the Canadian a weak smile. McKay's attention zipped straight to Davidenko. He had many questions but for some reason he couldn't get his tongue to work properly. The Necrodermis confused by the conflicting signals that were rampaging around his nervous system assumed he was under attack and took the course of action it though most prudent. McKay finally wrestled his rebellious tongue back into line and had actually thought of witty comeback for once. As he was about to respond to Davidenko he phased out of existence.
"Remind me to kill him when he gets back." A gruff voice drew Davidenko's attention.
Angelus was staring at something off to her left. Following his line of sight she saw the Furling device. It was spinning so fast the edges were blurred together, lines of white light spread all over the black surface and it was slowly rising faster into the air. Davidenko was faintly aware of the pulse of air before it slammed into her. She was smashed into the ground barely managing to avoid being crushed by Angelus. There was a loud crash and a shower of dust. The hidden lab had acquired a new sun roof. Her enhanced vision allowed her to follow the strange object as it raced up into the sky.
She was aware of pain rippling through her body. She was no longer were she had been only a second before. Something brushed at the edges of her mind. Following the link back to its source she found something that called itself Queen. This Queen tried to force away the godlike might of the Hive Mind. She was crushed like a bug along with others that resisted. These beings weak and foolish, she had to fight the urge to kill them all and start again. But as her mind filled their Warp connection something shifted in them, ancestral instincts snapped into action. The being the Alliance had designated the Progenitor Hive, central node of the Tyranid race, took control of every single Wraith she could feel. Surprise flickered through her again as she tried to command the Hives to her. The ships though organic were not alive; she dove into the Wraith's collective mind to find the answer. A cumbersome system but it would do for now. Crews sprung into action faster than they had ever moved before, they lived to fulfil the wishes of the Hive Mind. At long last the children of the Iratus had been reunited with their kin.
Thor just stared a sentiment shared with every other being that could get to a window or view screen. That thing was big, beyond big, it was ridiculous. The Wraith had fallen silent the moment it appeared and were now flocking towards it. The crews of both Battleships breathed a sigh of relief as they moved into closer to the planet hoping to be ignored by the giant beast.
"Status?" The Captain of the Ragnarok asked in a strained voice.
"The Fenrir has sustained mild damage to its hull but is still battle worthy, however their shield emitters have been mostly destroyed. Our shields have fallen to thirty percent, with minor damage to the hull." Skuld reported crisply.
"And the new Xeno ship?" The question was on everyone's lips.
"Unknown. Evidence of severe battle damage from several sustained attacks. This cannot be right." Thor muttered his frail hands dancing across the Rune stones. "Weapon signatures match those of early Asgard, Furling and Ancient weapon designs." Thors Runes dimmed and brightened in several different patterns. "I am also detecting a very old design of Ancient ship near the organic vessel." Thor continued his normally blank face a mask of confusion and worry.
"What is going on?" Odin asked across the Vox.
"I'm detecting two Asgard, three Ancient, a Nox and one... one Furling life sign." Thor said clearly surprised. The Furling race had not been seen inside five million years, most believed them to be dead.
"A Furling! Haven't seen one of those since the days of my grandfather." Odin commented. He was one of the oldest remaining Asgard, so his grandfather had lived and died when the Alliance was nearing its final days.
"Can you beam them over?" The Captain asked. He knew of the Alliance of Four Great Races. Standing orders were to help any allied race of the Tau'ri or Terrans. That included Asgard and Ancient.
"Yes." Syn said quickly. "Security to med bay. Security to med bay. Xenos being brought aboard." The Asgard ordered through the Vox. "Beaming complete." She informed the bridge not ten second later.
"Sir." Skuld said addressing Thor more than the human Captain much to his displeasure. "The computers have a forty one percent match on the undesignated organic ship." The female Asgard said what little colour there was fading from her face.
"Yes." Thor and the Captain said at the same time. Further irritating him.
"Nidhogg." She breathed seemingly going weak in the limbs.
"What?" The Captain and several other crew members demanded at the Asgards stunned looks.
"Tyranids." Thor stated, turning his vision back to the Wraith fleet and the legendary species that had battled the Alliance of Four Great Races to a standstill some forty million years ago.
Angelus awoke with a sore face. O'Neill was rearing back his fist for another strike his eyes gleaming with mischievous glee and something that Angelus could only place as unreserved panic.
Angelus tried to grunt something but was stopped by O'Neill shaking, well only really managing to wobble him a little. "Get her! Ship! Now!"
Angelus's mind took a second to comprehend the strange sentence before the source of O'Neill's worry became apparent. Here he was lying on a floor when the very future of the human race was at stake. "Eldar we leave!" The Space Marine bellowed springing to his feet.
"What!" Ghen'Hòar squeaked out as she found herself slung over a huge piece of shoulder armour.
"Marines! We are leaving!" His three Brothers leapt into action at the command of their Brother-Captain.
Superhuman musculature enhanced by their Power Armour propelled the four armoured giants up the ancient stairs faster than O'Neill could truly follow. He turned to Carter and ordered her to start downloading every code she could find.
"I could have teleported them." McKay said. The man had only just phased back in moments ago. He quickly disappeared in a swirl of darkness when at least two automatic weapons were aimed at his head.
Thieri Ghen'Hòar was not enjoying herself. It was better than being tied up she mused as the four man team of armoured soldiers smashed through a wall without breaking stride. Well mostly she corrected as bricks and mortar rained on her. Trees flashed by her as she fought to stay balanced on top of the Space Marines back pack. Those little jets would blast out extremely hot air and she already had a small burn on her face. She could hear her captor turned conspirator muttering to himself in that second language some of the humans used. He seemed to curse at something in his ear before shifting her weight as he bounded over a fallen tree and increased his speed.
Suddenly the blue one shouted out some kind of warning. Ghen'Hòar shifted slightly to see what the problem was. Sometimes she really wished her curiosity would leave her alone. A wall of fire was racing towards them following three of the Imperial fighter crafts.
Angelus mentally growled as the Eldar woman moved again. Why couldn't she just be good luggage and stay still? Now more than ever he wanted to kill McKay. Kill him slowly, bury him in a shallow grave, dig him up and kill him again. Ah; the beauty of the regenerative technology the Terrans had. His along with everyone else's Vox Casters had been broken in the sonic attacks or Furling provided trips around reality. And now to top it all off his own side was firebombing him. Someone was going to get it in the neck when he got back.
The four Space Marines dashed for all they were worth as the wall of deadly flames rushed towards them. Levi felt an all too familiar pulse of energy. Without looking he grabbed onto Samuel and Vanem, both turned their heads as they vanished into darkness. The flames washed over the forest, erasing everything in their path, but the four Marines were long gone.
Nestor blew another Eldar apart. The three remaining Eldar seemed to waver, the storm of shuriken lessening; suddenly another fell, his head a bloodied ruin. A Las blast impacted against the Frigates hull, the molten metal pouring from the wound hissing angrily as it dripped onto the earth. Seconds later a Plasma Cannon bolt vaporised the few Eldar that remained in the hatch the Space Marines were attempting to breach. Nestor motioned behind him; two Marines moved forward watching the trees for enemy snipers. One of the few remaining Domìnar-Suits crashed down on them. One Marine dove to the side shuriken peppering his Power Armour. A few found purchase in his joints, rendering his leg immobile. But the Marine still peppered the Suit with a few plasma rounds. The second was pinned under the foot of the Suit. The heavy impact had crushed the Marine's left arm and driven the shattered remains of his Auto-Reactive Shoulder Guard into his helmet and ribs. Nestor cursed as he raised his Bolter. They dared not use heavier weapon in fear of killing their Brother. The Marine's right arm grabbed a Melta grenade from his belt and slammed it against the machines leg. The pilot's danger warning activated as the magnetic seals attached the deadly bomb to it. The pilot dove backwards thinking that the Marine had activated a suicide device. The Melta grenade blasted apart the Suits leg in a shower of molten metal. The Marine hissed in pain as slivers of molten Domìnar-Suit bore their way through his armour and his remaining arm. He would be getting new Bionics for both arms now. The Domìnar-Suit stumbled to the side its right leg unable to hold it up anymore.
"Die!" A Las Cannon wielding Marine shouted as his Las blasted through the chest of the Suit.
Ghen'Hòar felt sick as she witnessed one of her people get vaporised. The Space Marines and the insane one seemed unfazed. The black one even seemed pleased. If it was from watching one of her soldiers get killed or being surrounded by his own kind again was unclear. She shivered as her eyes swept over the battered and scarred remains of her Frigate. The Imperials were seconds from breaching the Kaerathaì Baermon and slaughtering her crew.
"An... Angelus!" An older man was smiling like a maniac at the black armoured one.
"Nestor. Report." Angelus barked. He had little time to waste but information was paramount.
"Brother-Captain. Eldar defences crushed. We are prepared to breach at any time. I.G.L. troops at least ten minutes away. Air superiority established. We have engaged a Wraith fleet in orbit." Nestor replied snapping to attention.
"Full retreat. Get to the Battleships. We are leaving this world. Nestor you have command. Eldar, Samuel, Levi lets go. McKay locate every human on this world and take them to our ships." If Nestor was surprised by this order he didn't show it. Quickly he relayed it through the Vox. Without a second glance the Marines vanished back into the forest. McKay nodded once and vanished into the shadows.
Ghen'Hòar moved up to the battle scarred airlock. She punched in her command code, the panel bleeped in response. A second later the door jerkily slid to the side. The sound of a Pulse rifles charging greeted her as she stepped in. The three shaken Zerfàrim stared at their Captain, when an armoured human appeared behind her they fired on instinct. One blue blast clipped Ghen'Hòar's shoulder sending her crashing to the floor. Blood seeped through the gash in her armour and a bone could be seen stretching against the skin. The other two impacted Angelus, the Space Marine slid back out the door two dents in his armour. In return he glared at the three Eldar, his hand moving towards his Power Sword. He grunted as Levi clapped him on the shoulder and fused the ends of the rifles together with an impressive display of Warp flames.
Two Eldar took a look at their superior, whom they had just shot, and the fused ends of their rifles and made a tactical retreat. Angelus was pleased when his enhanced hearing picked up at least one whimpering. Unfortunately the third launched himself at the Space Marines to save Ghen'Hòar or something to that effect. The lithe Eldar's snap kick was caught in Angelus's powerful grip. The Astarte grinned cruelly as he shattered the Eldar's tibia and fibula. Just because they had a sort of truce didn't mean he couldn't cripple people.
Levi meanwhile helped Ghen'Hòar to her feet. Imperial medicine was a cruel affair, doubly so for a Space Marine. All of them had basic knowledge on how to treat each other but that only extended as far as but everything back in place and pray. Or in a worse case scenario pray harder and wait for the Apothecaries. So, going with his training, he pushed her shoulder back into place. Ghen'Hòar bit her lip to stop herself screaming when the Astarte unceremoniously popped her shoulder back into place. When she felt warmth spread across her wound she immediately jerked away. No way was she going to let the blue one cauterise her wounds with that unnatural fire of his. Levi just shrugged and let the Warp flames fade.
"Lead the way Eldar." Angelus growled sparing no attention to her wound. He was far more focused on being creative with how he was going to maim the Goa'uld.
Ghen'Hòar shot off down the twisting corridors of the Kaerathaì Baermon. She was several steps in front of the Marines but never out of sight as they thundered down the wreck. They passed three scattered defence teams that let them pass on Ghen'Hòar's command too shell shocked and startled to put up much resistance.
Suen frowned as reports of Captain Thieri Ghen'Hòar leading two Adeptus Astartes towards the command centre filtered through to him. Quickly he ordered the security guards at the doors to kill the Marines on sight. All four men swallowed heavily but complied. To date no Zerfàron-Guard had never bested one of the armoured humans in combat but there was a first time for anything. They heard the Marines just before they could see them. Ghen'Hòar whipped around the final corner right into the sights of the four Guards.
"Stand down!" She shouted waving her hands as she jogged towards them. Angelus rounded the corner and a Pulse blast barely missed his face.
"Eldar!" The enraged Marine roared. His Power Sword was in his hand the deadly field humming merrily before anyone could blink.
"Stand down!" Ghen'Hòar repeated trying to impose herself between the Guards and the two Space Marines. It was nearly pointless; she was shorter than them and almost half the width but the symbolism was there.
Two of the Guards lowered their Pulse rifles, the third didn't shoot but the forth fired again. His aim proved false and dented Angelus's Auto Reactive Shoulder Plate tarnishing the Chapter symbol of the Sons of Sol. Angelus snapped; a Bolt found its way into the Eldar's shoulder disarming him. Literally. Levi sighed as the male's screams filled the corridor. With a wave of his hand the remaining one on the right smashed painfully into the Wraithbone or whatever exotic material these ships were made of. The remaining two hesitated enough for Ghen'Hòar to zip by them. The Guards tried to fire at the Space Marine but a Power Sword cut the ends off of their weapons. An armoured fist sent the closest flying and the returning backhand made contact with the head of the last Eldar.
Angelus pulled himself over the only aware and still screaming Eldar, he took careful aim to kick him in the ribs just to shut him up. Levi followed behind one hand burning with blue fire the other brandishing his Force Sword. The scene they arrived to was not what they hoped to find. A middle-aged looking Eldar male had what looked like the standard Eldar shuriken pistol aimed at Ghen'Hòar's head; he was smiling grimly while the three other Eldar just stared on in disbelief. Levi, having no idea what was going on, just followed Angelus's lead. Angelus on the other hand was glaring with such intensity that it seemed Suen would catch fire soon.
The glare the Space Marine was levelling at him was the final nail in the coffin. Suen decided to drop all pretences of being Hayn Sàdo'Kel, Senior Officer of the Kaerathaì Baermon, and instead adopted the visage of Suen, Lord of the Galaxy and Master of Humanity.
His eyes flashed with their golden light, a sign of his divinity. "I see you brought friends." The Goa'uld drawled in the heavy bass voice of his race.
"Hayn?" Ghen'Hòar asked. She had hopped against hope that the ramblings of that strange human they met in the future were not true. But here was Sàdo'Kel grinning unlike anything she had ever seen, his eyes glowing with unnatural light and a voice that was a completely twisted mockery of his own.
"Yes, Thaèn, What is your command?" The Goa'uld mocked in his hosts voice. He chuckled at the fury and pain that flashed across the females face.
"Goa'uld state your name." Angelus growled; one leap just one bound and he would be upon the accursed creature. But the Eldar would probably be dead by the time he reached them, and he needed her at the moment.
"My name would sear you ears abomination! You like all the Shol'va are unfit to hear it!" The mad parasite screamed. The shuriken pistol wobbling erratically in his hand.
That was all the Space Marines needed. A Bolt cut through the weak armour and flesh of the host's arm. The rocket propelled explosive round detonated a millisecond later. But it was too late to stop the trigger finger from tightening. A single shuriken glanced off Ghen'Hòar's cheek leaving a long and thin cut but nothing more. Blood pumped in rivers from the elbow stump. A lightning bolt slammed into the Goa'uld's side, not strong enough to kill but strong enough to send it into convulsions.
Angelus pounced. His entire weight landing on the twitching legs of the Goa'uld. Even the enhanced skeletal structure of the Zerfàrim was no match for the half tonne behemoth of a man. Bones snapped and shredded the surrounding muscles, skin tore from the impact and blood poured from the wounds. The Astarte delivered a ridiculously powerful punch to the Goa'uld's face. And another and another and another. Angelus's face split with a mad grin as he avenged all the humans that had died because of this piece of Xeno filth. This was what he lived for; not crawling through ruins like a rat, not waiting endlessly, not being diplomatic, not having to act civilised to Xenos and heretics and especially not having to curb his aggression. No he, and every Space Marine, were born to avenge the fallen of humanity. Born to kill their enemies and be feared, loved and revered for it. They were the Emperor's Angels of Death and he had started to forget that. He only stopped when Levi pulled him off the battered Eldar. Showing little concern for the Eldar's comfort Levi unceremoniously burned shut the most deadly wounds. Both Marines vaguely recognised that the host was suffering just as much as the Goa'uld but he was only a Xeno so the thought was quickly dismissed as secondary.
Ghen'Hòar stared at the brutality of the Marine. She had thought she was becoming accustomed to the Space Marines harshness, apparently not. She heard shuffling from the Zerfàrim behind her, moving quickly she signalled for them to stand down lest they become targets of the humans wrath. The crewmembers slowly lowered their pistols keeping watchful eyes on the humans.
"Is your ship in orbit?" Angelus demanded. He was in no mood for Xeno stubbornness so when no one answered him he growled deeply.
"What?" One of the Eldar crew shouted. He was a fraction of a second from being decapitated by a Bolt pistol but the increasingly annoying Eldar female, with a look that Angelus guessed was meant to be intimidating, blocked his line of fire.
"Scan for the Giirathar`Jetai and its accompanying fleet." Ghen'Hòar ordered and sent the four Zerfàrim a meaningful glance. The crewmembers jumped into action the few remaining sensor nodes of the thoroughly destroyed Frigate swinging upwards.
The central holographic podium that moments ago had show the Kaerathaì Baermon surrounded by humans, fire and death rippled and changed until it showed the orbital battle field. The twin red silhouettes of the Orilla and Ragnarok Class Battleships were hugging the outer atmosphere of the planet. Surrounding a truly massive black blob was the deep purple outlines of Wraith Hives. Tiny dots that represented Darts swarmed like flies to a carcass. Cruisers moved in organised units shifting in between the Hives. Further out a large yellow ship hung observing the battle, surrounding it were six smaller yellow ships that more or less resembled the Kaerathaì Baermon. Angelus glared at the black thing for a moment feeling a sense of dread and hatred towards it. He dismissed the notion almost instantly. He had not served in the Chapters campaigns against the Hive Fleet Leviathan so the shapes significance slipped his mind.
"Contact your ship Eldar. And be quick about it." Angelus ordered a deep frown marring his face.
Ghen'Hòar needed no more incentive and sped over to the remains of the communication station. "This is Kaerathaì Baermon to Giirathar`Jetai and attendant fleet. Please respond. This is Captain Thieri Ghen'Hòar. You need to break away from this system immediately. I repeat disengage and retreat." Her crew just stared at her like she was mad but they had no idea of the stakes involved. The Marines watched her with anticipation, ready to leave at a moment's notice. All she could do now was hope the fleet listened.
Her half-breed children flocked around her. Tiny things smaller than some of her pores swarmed in uncountable numbers; but each one moved with a purpose dictated solely by her. Larger vessels moved in clusters around the largest containers of her new brood. Suppressing their annoying ability for free will was problematic. She had quickly discovered that a breed that called itself elite had a harder time accepting her. The ones known as drones slaughtered those that did not follow the will of the Hive Mind. The few Queens that had capitulated were already being hooked up to breeding apparatus, willingly or otherwise.
With these new children under control she turned outwards. Nine prey floated near the orb of nutrients. Seven were clustered together; six small, probably children, and one large most assuredly the brood mother. They looked and moved alike giving off the same energy. They shifted and twisted, disrupting many wavelengths of light, hiding their mass and energy. But eyes that had seen the death of stars and the birth of galaxies were not fooled so easily. They seemed to be watching and waiting, the large one was obviously trying to take whatever the other prey had while its children followed it. Another two of a different species circled together. They bristled with power and defence. Their stance was one a fellow predator would adopt when defending a kill. There was no attempt to hide, just the presentation of their teeth.
Prey that hid once found would flee. Prey that relied on its defence would fight to the bitter end. However she spotted something more interesting. Floating near her was one of the prey she had been hunting before. Huge pupils dilated as the Hive Mind grew angry at the tiny beast for harming her so. With a mental command the Alteran ship the Aquila was blasted apart by Wraith weapons. The hunger was upon her but if the prey that had murdered all of her kin was here she needed to know. Turning her mighty eyes towards the prey the Hive Mind picked its target. If they were like the prey she had fought for so long, inside the beasts lay lots and lots of the warrior beasts. The ones that combated her broods on the surface.
Muscles rippled and pulsed pushing out Mycetic spores designed to burn through hulls towards their targets at astounding speeds. Her Praetorian Spores had yet to be re-grown in large enough numbers and her spines were only at half strength so she could not hunt. Her new children moved towards both species of prey. Their strange energy defences would be overwhelmed by the weapons of her children's vessels. But their senses could not detect the hidden ones and their memories showed fear of the defensive ones, these problems were corrected instantly by the Hive Mind. More weaknesses to be bread out, a ripple of displeasure filtered through the Hive Mind letting the Wraith know that their new Empress was not pleased with their actions so far.