Hello everyone reading. I'm a bit late with this one, but I needed to finish the next chapter before this was posted for consistency. There is a lot going on in-between the lines for the moment as we build up to the season finale, so I am trying to get it finished by the end of February. Enjoy!

SGU s04 e15

Decoy

Everett passed on the information gained from the fake Dr Markins, including gate addresses and the suspected location of the twin planet system, to Cameron on the Apollo 2011. Cameron told him that the intelligence seemed relevant to the information that Daniel was working with, and that there was a Supergate near to Destiny's current position. Eli, Ginn, Nick, and Amanda had managed to effectively shut down the FTL protocols, and asked Cameron to try to dial Destiny's stargate, which was unsuccessful.

"It just comes up as engaged, like someone else has connected already," was his smiling reply.

The crew breathed a collective sigh of relief. Nick and Eli knew the Ori were in another galaxy and had the ability to sustain a connection indefinitely, and if they had Destiny's address, dialing in would be the one thing that could make them sitting ducks. If Markins had been able to send Destiny's gate address to his masters, they believed the Ori wouldn't have hesitated to use it.

While Col. Mitchell was still on the horn, he discussed a proposal SGC was putting forward."Hey Everett, General Landry has come up with a strange idea that well, might just work." said Cameron over their secure com channel.

Everett was ready to hear anything, but this would really test him. "Okay, shoot," he said awaiting the answer.

Cameron continued, "You remember the old slide of hand trick? You know the one, where one hand does something to take your attention, while the other conceals the magic trick?"

Everett looked hard at Cameron saying "Yeah," he replied cautiously. "Where is this leading?"

Cameron smiled at his cautious look. "We want you to take Destiny through the Supergate to the Ori's galaxy and draw them out!"

There was absolute silence on Destiny's bridge as everyone there took in the words Col. Mitchell just said.

Everett replied in disbelief, "You want what? Have they gone totally mad? Destiny is a research ship, not a warship!"

Cameron got serious. "I know I can't give you an order General, but I am sending some coordinates to you, and I expect to meet you there in an hour. I will talk to you in person then; Mitchell out!"

The screen went black as Everett just shook his head in disbelief saying, "This is not going to end well."

On the Apollo 2011, General Landry put his hand on Cameron's shoulder. "Sorry to make you the bad guy son, but I knew he wouldn't listen to me." Hank gave a sigh, "I hate giving good people crappy orders, but things are getting despite. Maybe the new upgraded F302V's we're giving them might ease the pain," he smiled at Cameron.

Cameron turned to his superior, "I know him well General; he'll be there."

Eli nodded to Everett, "Course is laid in General, and we'll be there in half an hour." He paused for a moment before saying, "General, maybe this is not as bad an idea as it seems. The Ori can't dial us out of FTL and we do have some pretty awesome capabilities. We have about a 90% fuel load so in theory our shields, weapons, and systems could stand up to almost any attack—I mean I know we're not impenetrable, but we're no lame duck either."

Everett cut him off with a nod and gentle hand wave, "I know Eli," he said empathetically, "But the game has changed, for both of us in particular." There was still silence on the bridge as both men stared at the elephant in the room.

Eli broke the silence. "Look," he said. "I know I haven't been a father for very long, but we are here by our choice alone. I at least have an idea of how you must feel about Te'arly and Hadrian; it would be the same as I feel about Ginn and Lala."

Everett was giving Eli his full attention.

Eli continued, "But this is the life we chose here and now, and nothing is going to change that." He looked at Ginn and smiled, but his emotions were raw and on the surface, "This is our family and Destiny herself is a part of that too now. I don't want to change it, and even if I have to face the worst of the worst –at least we get to choose –at least we get to have the ones we love the most right by our side if or when it happens."

Even Nick had a lump in his throat as he spoke. "He's right Ev," he said, "We made a choice to follow this thing through, to continue the mission. This ship," he paused, "Destiny is home to us now. Even though we can go back to Earth, do any of us really want to?" There was a strong feeling of extended and unique family in the bridge of Destiny at that moment, united as one no matter what was to happen, good or bad.

Amanda said her piece too, "Even our enemy carries their families on warships, and that is why we have now created a weapon that would only disable the ship, not destroy it. None of us want the blood of innocents on our hands, nor be a party to killing thousands in a single shot. No one wants to die here either, and I doubt that the SGC would send us on a suicide mission. They can't touch us now in FTL, so as long as we jump as soon as we get through the gate, we should be fine. Don't forget, Destiny has survived for millions of years on her own."

Everett looked at the most unlikely mix of non military people around him. He trusted them with his life, and they trusted him with theirs. He said with a genuine honor, "Your right; all of you—and I have never been so proud to have, family like you."

Silence again entered the bridge for a moment, as they all continued with their own thoughts on what had been said. Soon enough though, everyone continued where they had left off with a minimum of noise.

Eli interrupted the relative quiet a short time later saying, "Sir, heads up in five minutes."

Everett answered, "Okay Eli, and thanks."

Eli smiled back at Everett, "Your welcome, Sir!" and cast an unofficial salute to a man he admired greatly.

Destiny dropped from FTL with Nick reporting a small star system nearby. "Might be a good idea to hide over their Ev, at least keep us out of sight until they arrive", he said.

Everett replied, "We'll run for cover if the need arises, until then raise shields to seventy percent and bring all weapons online; keep an eye out, Cameron won't be far away."

Eli reported, "Hyperspace window opening off port side, hundred thousand kilometers at two o'clock," he paused for the moment finger ready to fire. "I'm receiving Apollo 2011's signature General," he soon said.

Everett gave a quick sigh, "Thanks Eli, open channel."

Cameron's face appeared again on screen. "Don't shoot, were friendly!" he said with an attempt at humor. "We're going to beam you aboard General Young and have a care package for you all, if you don't mind opening the hanger doors. Can you please lower your shields, and open the hanger bay doors?" Cameron made puppy dog eyes at Everett.

Everett gave the command and Eli lowered the shields. The moment Everett beamed out he reactivated Destiny's lifesaving Valeyian shields. Anything they sent to the hanger would have the ability to fly through the shields.

Everett was beamed straight to Apollo's ready room where he found himself among familiar faces, and some he didn't know. "Okay," he said, "Now that you have me here, what in the hell are you planning?!"

Hank was the first to speak, "Sorry for making Col. Mitchell be the bad guy Everett, but I didn't want you to know I was on board. We believe you may have more than one spy on Destiny, and I don't like taking chances," said Hank solemnly.

Everett was somewhat shocked and asked, "How is that possible? We got Markins locked up and we're hoping you will take him off our hands ASAP."

Hank gave him the bad news. "A certain Marine Corporal Luffe was found dead in his apartment by a family friend who didn't know he was supposed to be out of town, and made the discovery of Luffe's body slumped in the toilet. No visible wounds were found, but our team discovered death was by a double Zat'nik'tel blast. One of the problems since disclosure is the arrival of new weapons on the black market, so it's hard to tell who the shooter was. We believe it is the Ori behind all this, being that—no offense to anyone here—aliens come and go from Earth at their leisure, without any checks. So, since the Ori are human, they just blend in and we are finding it difficult to," Hank looked for the right words, "keep tabs on them all."

Everett wanted immediate action to arrest the Corporal. "Well what are we waiting for, contact Destiny and..."

Hank cut him off, "Hold your horses General, not so fast." He let Everett calm down for a moment before continuing. "We have decided to use this mole to our advantage. He is either waiting to sabotage the ship, report on your position or events that are planned. Now that we know who he is, we can assume that he believes he is still undiscovered after you arrested Markins."

Saying Everett was concerned was an understatement; pissed off was more like it. "So I have to just let this joker play his game and keep watch? What if it is too late?"

Hank smiled at him, "If it were too late my friend, we believe you would not be here." Everett shook his head as Hank continued. "Our plan is to use this guy as a pawn and feed him some bogus information that, well, sounds credible. This will involve the very real action of Destiny traveling into the Ori galaxy through the Supergate not far from here. This one is the biggest we have encountered at nearly a mile and a quarter wide. The largest one we knew of was a mile across, this one has an event horizon diameter of two thousand meters."

Everett conceded that they already had a plan and Destiny and his crew would be just another cog in the mesh of military tactics. "Okay, so it's more than big enough for Destiny to fit. I just hope the one at the other end is too."

Daniel told him, "The information we have is that it is the same size, but there is a fail-safe that would stop you if the gate you dialed was smaller the one you're entering from." Everett looked at him as Daniel elaborated, "Um, big gate can't dial small gate which seems to be basic commonsense."

Hank continued to outline the plan. "We are guessing that the Ori will be tipped off and know that you are coming, and being as arrogant as they can be, will try to disable and board the ship rather than destroy it. Even if ten of their ships were waiting, you will still be able to jump into FTL immediately."

Everett reminded them, "You know we have a cool down period between jumps, otherwise the drive will burnout. We have overridden it in the past, but that puts a massive strain on it. How do you intend for us to jump back into FTL after we exit the gate?"

Hank looked to Asgard Sága saying, "We have a plan, I'll let Dr Jackson and Sága explain."

Sága began. "I have created an upgrade for the Ancient FTL drive units which will regulate the drive cores while not in use and under load. This modification will allow for instant FTL drive without the need for cool down period as a permanent solution. In the words of Dr Jackson, he has referred it to an Earth vehicle saying, 'It is like shifting to neutral with the engine still running, where you can stop and start at will by simply putting it back in Drive'. Of course you will be able to shut the FTL drive down entirely, which will then require the normal cool down period before re-entering FTL."

Everett nodded his understanding. "So how long will this take to install, and do you want me to keep this under wraps from our new "friend", or make a point of it?"

Daniel replied, "It is only a matter of changing some crystals over to handle the new programming, and about an hour's work on each drive unit—and I think keeping this to a minimum of people would be best for now anyway."

Everett didn't really like any of this, but he knew there were greater minds than his in the planning, he said, "I know this has been all planned out, but what happens if they close down the Supergate and stop us from returning home? It is a hell of a long way back to where we are now; it could take years to return under FTL." He paused before asking, "So what is the rest of the plan? Am I allowed to know?"

Hank walked over to Everett and sat down in the empty seat beside him. "Not all of it, for good reason. Sometimes the less you know, the more unlikely you are to make a mistake. I can't tell you all the details but your ship is the decoy, and when we arrive, it will be like the outer space version of WWII D-day."

Everett finally smiled, "Bring the noise hey?"

Hank replied quietly, "The Ori won't know what hit them"

Everett had one last question, "What if this fails?"

Hank said it straight, "Then we're screwed, and it will become every man and ship for themselves." He looked around at everyone there, "My advice if this fails—no scrap that, my orders are: if this fails, get a full tank of gas, and get the hell out of Dodge as fast as you can. Don't look back, don't go back, and don't bother contacting Earth, as it probably won't exist after a few days. This is our last hope of completely destroying the Ori forever. If we fail, there won't be anything left to fight back with."

Hank took another deep breath and continued, "So, I'm counting on victory and your friends to help us out. Cameron will transmit your orders when the time comes, along with everyone else. That will be all, General Young—you can go home now." Hank smiled broadly at Everett and touched his shoulder affectionately saying, "Take care of everyone my friend, your part in this is greater than you think. Oh, and we have traded your F302's for the upgraded F302V's, same fighter, more of everything!" Before Everett could answer he was beamed back to Destiny's bridge.

A very well dressed Te'arly was waiting for him. "I was getting lonely all by myself my love." she grinned coyly at him and teased him with her eyes. "I see they have been keeping you busy again?"

Everett couldn't look into this woman's eyes and not feel anything but how lucky he was to have her in his life. Te'arly could bring a smile on anyone who met her, regardless of how they felt at the time; but Everett was hers, and she was betrothed to him which made their bond infinite.

Standing there in front of everyone General Everett Young said the first thought that spilled from his lips without warning, to the woman who was his soul mate.

"Marry me!"

Te'arly's first look was of unexpected shock, but that vanished within milliseconds as she stood there and happily cried,

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The bridge went from stunned silence to a roar of cheers and tears as Everett and Te'arly embraced in a very passionate kissing contest. The news spread across Destiny like a wild fire, but it wasn't without an air of caution as scuttlebutt of a mission to an unknown galaxy also began to circulate too.

Light years away on Valeya, a very relaxed Chloe "felt" something come to the center of her consciousness that made her pay attention and listen carefully. The good news came first, followed by something much more unsettling, as Matt noticing the immediate change from Chloe's serene state.

He asked instinctively, "Honey, what's wrong?"

She turned to Matt and replied, "Everett just asked Te'arly to marry him!" but the look on her face was not that of joy.

Matt smiled at first but then noticed Chloe's reaction and asked cautiously, "Okay, that's awesome; but why the long face?"

She replied, "Matt, there is something else going on, and it doesn't sound good. Destiny has passed me a message from General Young –he said to stay put and tell Valhalla we might need some help soon." Chloe was trembling slightly waiting for Matt to ask the dreaded question.

He asked, but in a caring way, "What's going on Chloe, I know you know, so please tell me."

Chloe took a deep breath and sighed just as Valhalla walked in the room, causing Chloe to hold off from speaking.

The very elegant looking Valhalla said, "Go on Chloe, this is part of your journey too; tell him what Destiny has shared with your mind."

Chloe looked back to Matt. She loved him dearly and knew his reaction would be to get back and help, but it was out of the question at this time. "They're taking Destiny through a Supergate into the Ori galaxy, and we have been told to stay here."

Matt was straight on to it, "Like hell we will."

Chloe cut him off by placing her hands on the sides of his face and said softly, "It wasn't a request from General Young; it was your direct order. For some reason he needs us to stay here."

Now it was Matt's turn to interject, "If Everett thinks he is keeping us safe by ordering me to stay."

Valhalla touched Matt gently on the forearm and said, "No Matthew, he is not trying to keep you safe, he needs you to help from here." She turned her attention to Chloe, "Please Chloe, tell him what you see."

Chloe closed her eyes and kept hold of Matt's face and allowed him to feel her love from within as she spoke. "You have to command a Valeyian warship, and will have shared control of their entire fleet. The IGA are planning an all out attack on the Ori, not the people, but Genesis and his Priors are the targets. Castell must be freed before he is turned. Destiny is acting as a decoy and heading straight to the twin planets. They will arrive at the Supergate in a few hours and jump through, after that, war will come to the Galaxy of the Ori for a final time."

Matt took it all in and remained silent for a few moments before looking at Valhalla and asking, "How many ships do you have in the fleet?"

Valhalla smiled as she told him, "Three hundred battleships, over five hundred support ships, and fifty destroyer class ships. All have the latest Valeyian technology, shields, and weaponry. We have more than ten thousand fighter spacecraft we call Leapers, and all have quantum hyperspace drives, faster than Earth's Enterprise class." Valhalla looked warmly at both of them before bowing slightly to Matt as she said, "Captain Scott, they are at your disposal."

Matt was stunned. "Holy crap! Now that's some serious firepower!" He looked at Valhalla slyly and asked cautiously, "I thought you were a peace loving race? You guys seem to be very well armed."

Valhalla answered back reflectively, "In years past, we had to fight for our freedom too Matthew; and we are prepared to do it again at any moment. Commander Odin is head of our fleet and will assist you with your duties. I expect Chloe may want to pilot alongside you?"

Chloe felt a rush of excitement surge through her as she gracefully accepted the chance to fly a Valeyian battleship. "Yes I would if that is possible."

Valhalla laughed, "Don't be so modest Chloe, I know you want too. Now, Captain Scott," she said in a semi serious voice, "You may recognize the look of our battleships, as they are almost identical in outside appearance to the old Aurora class battleships the Alterans used in the Pegasus galaxy, except for a wider tail wing to accommodate our quantum drive engines. Our Destroyers are a unique design and were created only three thousand years ago to fight against an aggressive oppressor. They are a prolate spheroid, akin to shape of the ball in your game of 'football', with a centrally located internal bridge and living decks. The weaponry will astound you, being capable of taking out a fleet of Ori warships in minutes, or if needed, we have the capability to erase a planet."

To say Matt was stunned would be an understatement as he just shook his head saying, "What?! You can take out a whole planet?" he just stared at Valhalla, "But why?"

Valhalla seemed to lose some of her calm composure as she decided if telling Matt why was warranted. "There is a chapter in our history similar to the Alterans fight against the Wraith. It was believed at the time, that the only way to secure peace was with the all out destruction of our enemy's world. We had the technologies to either create a pathogen, or create a chain reaction causing a planet core implosion. The latter was decided as it removed the chance of any survivors from their world, and before you ask, yes we have used it; but only once."

Both Matt and Chloe stood in front of a woman they had come to admire and respect greatly, but now there weren't so certain about her people. "You took out a planet to remove an enemy? It sounds like a harsh punishment to me, major overkill!" said Matt cautiously.

Valhalla could plainly see their uneasiness about it. "You are right Matthew; it was an atrocity on our part at the time. It was decided that this weapon should never be deployed again, and it never has. Capability is one thing, making the decision to use a capability is entirely different, as you would understand. However it is pertinent to know that this act happened about 2950 years ago. I and Castell were not yet born at that time, and no one is alive today that was involved. So I understand you becoming unsettled by this. We also know that Earth's history is marred by such appalling decisions that may have been made in times of war, just look at the recent destruction of the planet that brought you to Destiny, or the war with the replicators in the Pegasus Galaxy. In both events, it was the SGC's actions that contributed toward the destruction of both worlds."

Matt looked Valhalla in the eyes knowing his conscience was not clear either. He knew he had been ordered to do things, and had done things in order to survive or protect his people. "I am sorry if you felt that I judged you on the actions of others, I know we have made some harsh decisions that have taken many lives presently, and before my time. Yes, Earth has a history of atrocity and war against innocent people in times of past and present—but we also share much in common with you—we have the ability to learn from our misgivings, and change our future history. With time, I am certain we will evolve into a species that shows compassion, not greed," he replied with heartfelt sincerity.

Valhalla moved to Matt with a slight tear in her eye and hugged both him and Chloe together as she whispered to them, "Such wise words for a young child," she sniffled slightly and stood back from the embrace, "We have so much hope for your race young Matthew Scott, and I am sure through people like you, it will be achieved." She composed herself and got down to business. "Right, there is one more thing: control of firing the Core Weapon on the Destroyer requires the collective consciousness of four Commanders to activate it. To do this, they must first all agree that it is the only option left, so it is not something easily achieved. I don't foresee you having the need, but you are required to understand the process. Commander Odin will brief you on the protocols of our ships."

Valhalla looked caringly at the two humans in front of her that she thought of as her own children. "Please, be wise and compassionate in your decisions; and bring my husband home to me."

Matt wanted to promise her, but knew he couldn't. "We will do everything in our power to achieve that, I promise!"

Valhalla understood saying, "Now I will return in a short time to take you to Commander Odin. Chloe, your mother Patricia will be better off staying here with me until this is over. Don't worry, we can return her to Earth anytime she desires." Chloe thanked Valhalla, knowing her mom would stay until she returned safely.

Back on Destiny M Sgt. Greer had quickly located Corporal Luffe, requesting his assistance with a heavily armed ground search team. Only one other trusted Marine knew what their real orders were, leaving no one else in the team aware of the full situation.

Greer gave Sgt. Wallace an outline of the plan. "We really need to see what his next move is going to be. Being surrounded by guns will either shut him down, or draw him out into action. They know we're headed toward a Supergate, but where too is still classified. I can't risk any of the other men tipping him off, so it will have to remain black for now."

Sgt. John Wallace nodded in agreeance with his Co but asked, "If he makes a move that endangers the men?"

Greer smiled, "You know the answer to that. Be aware that we will most likely be walking into a trap with him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was to find himself expendable from his own side either. We have no idea what his is capable of, or if he can communicate with his minders, so just stay alert to anything outside the norm."

Wallace tapped his fist to Greer's saying, "Loud and clear Sir!"

On the bridge of Destiny Dr Rush was at the controls headed for the Supergate. He called out to Everett, "Ev, about forty minutes before we reach the gate, do you want to do a test on this new drive system, or just pray they got it right?"

Everett walked over beside him and rested his hand on the top of the Chair. "I'd love to, but no. We can't risk tipping anyone off, onboard or out there." He turned to Eli at the front CI panel, "All under control Eli?"

Eli turned with some concern on his face, which was more about the mission than the drive modifications. "I have gone over the simulations time and time again General; there shouldn't be any issues but I'm on it if there is." Eli turned back to his CI screen.

A message alert came onto Nick's CI screen. "Warning, black hole detected. Shall I alter course?"

Nick spoke rather than type back. "No Destiny, I'm afraid that is where we are headed for—but hopefully not to close to cause any damage."

Everett looked back to Nick saying, "Why a black hole?"

Nick smiled, "In order to power the Supergate over such a great distance, you need a very big power source. From what Colonel Carter has noted, they could keep it open indefinitely using a black hole. The gate draws in energy, so in reality if you shoot at it while it's working, it will only absorb the energy of the shot. There is a bit more to it than that of course, but in layman's terms that's about the size of it. Also makes them very hard to destroy if we wanted to."

Everett nodded admitting that a higher understanding of how things work sometimes got the better of him. He called back to Eli, "How's the dialing program we got from Apollo going Eli?"

This time Eli smiled back. "All good thanks to Colonel Carter; unless they have added a few more safeguards, we should be able to dial any Supergate we find. I have also converted the program to run from any kino pad, shuttle, or F302 so anyone should be able to access the gate. Just remember, you can dial from small to big, but not the other way."

Everett acknowledged him with a smiling nod. "Okay Eli, I'll let them know."

Eli asked, or more to the point said, "General Young, I'm not really sure about this Sir. I mean, I trust your judgment and all, but this just seems way off to what we normally do."

Everett walked over to him. "I don't like this very much either Eli; in fact, I go so far as to say I'm actually scared about this mission. There are a million things that can go wrong with something like this, but they try to factor in the "X" part of it. But being scared is sensible to, as it keeps you thinking on your feet and aware of your surroundings. I have only met one man that hasn't been afraid to go into battle, and he tried to take over our ship. Now he is with someone I would call my closest friend; I can only imagine what both of them have endured from the Ori, not that I care for one of them!"

Eli felt a surge of anger rising from within his core. "That bastard deserves whatever the Ori dish out to him; if only I had my time again," he said angrily.

Ginn was beside him and put her hand on his knee saying passionately. "He will get what bestows him Honey. The universe has a way of making wrongs right."

Everett reminded them all of what it was they were facing as he redirected Eli's attention to more pressing issues. "Have you input the course to the twin planets that Apollo gave us yet Eli?"

Eli answered, "Yes Sir. It will take about two days at max FTL speed to reach them, from the info supplied about the arrival Supergate's position according to Dr Jackson."

Ginn got a quick private video call from TJ on her CI screen. "I think someone needs mommy," said TJ, "she's a little bit hungry!"

Ginn could see where she needed to be saying to Eli quickly, "Honey, I gotta go." and pointed to the screen.

Eli looked across smiling and waving at the screen with his little girl and TJ. "Go on, get!" he said jokingly to her followed by "Love you!" as Ginn rushed out of the bridge.

Te'arly was still on the bridge, but had the same thought as Ginn. She said to Everett, "I better go too, Hadrian will be feeding soon. Goodbye my Love," and kissed him deliberately on the lips, sending tingles through his soul.

Everett looked blankly at the CI screen that was now in front of him, trying to make sense of what this master plan was all about.

A personal message came on his screen from Destiny. "General Young, Captain Scott is ready with the Valeyian fleet, as requested by the Apollo 2011. I have contacted Chloe Armstrong with their required details about the mission. Is there anything further you require from me before we enter Ori occupied space?"

Everett was somewhat taken back by Destiny's question. He quickly typed back, "How do you know more than I do about this mission?"

The reply from Destiny was very "human". "While in contact with the Apollo 2011, I scanned Apollo's communication transmission backups after receiving the orders to contact Chloe and Matthew. It is a standard protocol procedure to eliminate any corruption of the data transferred. However I may have scanned more than was allowed, as the Valeyian Databank took over and imprinted a complete copy of all the data available. It was then transmitted over a secure Valeyian micro quantum-link, to a 99.9999% probability of Valeya. The exact destination was not made clear to my sensors, although the direction of transmission mirrored my own mapping data of the planet."

Everett typed back with a smile on his face. "You are becoming more human every minute that passes. Please take that as a compliment. Now, what else can you tell me of this plan?"

Destiny ran a script that outlined the entire plan to Everett discretely, but requested that he keep the information from the others. He was not surprised by the idea, but he was by the sheer numbers of fleet ships from many races, and the firepower available. He thought back to Landry's last orders, "If it goes to hell, get a full tank of gas, and get out of Dodge". With the "sneaky" unauthorized information Destiny had obtained, he feared what was to come. The stakes were high, the enemy was tough, and soon he would be entering into the most dangerous mission they may ever face. This was an all-out attack run with no room for error, or prisoners; it would become a case of kill or be killed.

And two of them had the most precious cargo in their own universe to keep safe.

Everett stopped contemplating, and began a course of direct action! He ordered his Airmen to high alert status and had every available F-302V in Destiny's hanger fully armed with Valeyian Antimatter (enhanced) Sub Space Warheads (VASSWDs). Once they had exited the Supergate and returned to FTL speed, his plan was to momentarily drop from FTL after one hour, just long enough to launch four F-302Vs which would then travel independently along the same course as back up for Destiny.

The new upgraded F-302V's had the latest shielding (combination of Valeyian and Asgard technology), being able to withstand many* direct hits from an Ori warship beam weapon (*how many is still unknown, due to the drain on the generator under combat conditions). They are also capable of carrying; four Mark IX warheads, eight Mark VIII warheads, or twenty VASSWDs.

The standard rail guns remained, while one Asgard Beam weapon was replaced with a new Valeyian Quantum Disruptor Canon (QDC), with the effects of this weapon yet to be seen under combat conditions. The main advance of the fighter is the installation of the Ur'torina Generator, replacing the Naquadria hyperspace window generator, allowing real interstellar travel in hyperspace for periods of up to two weeks. After this, the unit must be given time to cool down and regenerate for at least ten hours, longer is better. Short trips in hyperspace (up to 150 hours) do not require lengthy cool down periods in between, only needing about half an hour to refresh before re-entering hyperspace, although this cannot be done continually.

In the hanger, Adam gave the love of his life one last hug as Captain Tez prepared to be one of the "four" who would protect Destiny at all costs.

Adam said as he held her, "Are you sure about this, we do have other pilots?"

Tez kissed his neck quickly as she held on to him. "Shhh," she said, "Just enjoy the moment." Finally she had to pull away from him and collect her thoughts. "I don't want to do this either, but it is my duty to protect those that have given me everything, without asking anything in return. Everett didn't order me to do this, I volunteered."

Adam knew the woman he fell for was one of a kind and if he lost her, he didn't want to contemplate what his life would become. All he understood right now was that he had a bad feeling about this; all of this. "Please Tez, don't make any rash decisions out there. I want you to come home safe to me," Adam was almost pleading with her.

Tez grabbed his hands with hers. "Look Baby, we have the craziest advanced fighters ever. They are so much better than the old ones and I feel very confident in my abilities to keep out of trouble out there. And besides, who would you rather have protecting that cute little ass, me, or some kid fresh out of flight training?" She reached around and grabbed a cheeky handful of Adams butt and squeezed it gently. "I'll be fine Baby; trust me," she kissed him passionately one more time before tearing herself away from the man that gave her world meaning again. "I love you!" she backed off and headed toward the F-302V and her flight briefing.

Everett had given the orders, and both the civilian and military crew alike was busy getting them done. Eli finally announced they were five minutes out, and would be dropping from FTL in four. Everyone was nervous as the announcement was made over the ships com system.

Destiny dropped from FTL and continued at sublight speed toward an object that was vaguely detectable to the human eye. As she closed in the outline of the Supergate began to come into focus, until they stopped only five kilometers out, but off to port to avoid the unstable vortex blast.

Nick said aloud, "FTL drive is in neutral; all systems are functioning as normal, ready to initiate drive on your command Ev."

Franklin stared at the sheer size of the two kilometer ring. "My God; it's massive!"

In the distance they could see the accretion disk of the black hole from where the Supergate drew its power.

Nick replied somewhat bewildered, "I've never seen a black hole up this close; amazing."

Everett took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay people, this is it."

"Eli; dial the gate!"