Chapter 18
Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 1
Full Circle
***Local Cluster (Sol System)***
**Earth (Orbit)**
*Quaero (Bridge)*
As the distinguished shape of two Beliskner-class Asgard vessels exited hyperspace accompanied by the truly impressive form of an O'Neill-class Asgard Warship, Jack let out a low whistle and said, "Now there's an impressive sight! Why didn't y'all send this many ships our way when the Ori first opened the Supergate?"
"We did not have the ships to spare," was Hermiod's annoyingly simplistic answer.
"So you can send four ships when we lose one of ours, but when the galaxy is invaded you can only send one?" Jack asked, more than a little confused by the logic in that.
"There is more to this mission than just retrieving the Odyssey. Supreme Commander Thor believes that the fate of the…" Hermiod began.
"…entire Asgard race hangs in the balance. I know," Jack finished for him.
"You may know, but you do not understand," Hermiod replied, blinking his big, black eyes. "How much longer must we wait until the supplies are ready?"
"Now that you have a ship with some cargo room, I'll radio Area 51," Jack replied before hitting his radio. After a moment he turned back to Hermiod, "They're ready."
"Yes, I know," Hermiod replied without looking at him. "They may reactivate their jammers whenever they so choose."
"Did you get the medical supplies from the SGC?" Jack asked, just to be sure.
"Indeed," Hermiod replied in a neutral tone.
"And the supplies from the ship yards?" Jack pressed.
"Indeed," the Asgard said with a sigh. "All we need now are the control crystals."
"Which you can't produce along the way, and yet you can reproduce the Odyssey's sublight engines?"
"Crystal structures are more complex than you give them credit, General. Creating a crystal from pure energy leaves the structure perfectly aligned as a result of a computer doing nature's job. For your ships to work, the imperfections in the crystals are not only useful, but required. If modifications to the Odyssey's systems were implemented, then, and only then, could we make the crystals en route to our destination without adversely affecting the ship's operation."
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**Dead Space (Location Unknown)**
*USS Odyssey (Infirmary)*
Walking into the infirmary, Davidson asked the head of the medical department, Doctor Jacob Jones, "What's the situation, JJ?"
"So far we've managed to stabilize the severe cases. There are still a few broken bones that we can't spare the pain killers for. There were only five concussions, all minor and taken care of. A lot of bruises from the mess hall, apparently the crew down there flew around and banged their heads on some pans. We have one person with a collapsed rib cage that's giving them trouble breathing. He was in the armory when the guns fell off the racks. Other than that, everyone else that came in here just had a headache from the pressure exerted on their bodies from the rate of deceleration and bruises from the same."
"What about fatalities?" Davidson asked, dreading the answer.
"In total, we've confirmed the loss of fifteen crew members due to the hull breaches and another three to overpressure, or due to having been thrown into something. Other than that, we're still searching some of the more remote areas of the ship because, when we did a headcount, we're missing a few people," Jacob replied.
"I can't believe this," Davidson said with a shake of his head while trying his best to cope with the losses they had taken. Eighteen out of a crew of two-hundred was still a significant number to any commanding officer's mind. "How are our visitors doing?"
"We scooped up six Vipers during the rush to get out, and, due to their less developed inertial dampening technology, they're used to pulling high-g turns in their fighters. They're actually the only ones who didn't so much as ask for painkillers when they came through here. I've checked them for any viruses or contagious diseases and found nothing, so they're pretty much just along for the ride like the rest of us. The Lucian Alliance prisoner Colonel Viride brought onboard is dead through no fault of my own. He broke free during the uncontrolled maneuvers and one of the guards shot him," Jacob replied while pointing to the bed in the corner that had a sheet draped over a dead body.
"Does it go against your morals to blow his body out of an airlock to keep the smell from spreading?" Davidson asked in a serious tone.
"Normally I'd say that it does, but the Lucian Alliance is a band of criminals and he's taking up room in my morgue. However, a body suddenly appearing outside of the ship might alert the Ori to our location so disposing of the body would be more easily done after we're not under their guns."
"And Cain?"
"I'm doing my job and keeping her alive, just don't ask me to care about her pain," Jacob replied darkly. "She's healthy, but she has a headache. Needless to say, she's at the bottom of the list of people who get meds much to her venomous disapproval. She seems to think being an Admiral in the Colonial Fleet should matter to me. Even then, it could be worse."
"Not the good news I was looking for, but you're right. Considering the circumstances, we're doing pretty well. Keep me informed. If anyone goes critical I want to know."
"Of course. Now, I do believe that Colonel Carter needs to see you in engineering. When they brought those guys up, some of them had glass sticking out of them, others had crushed body parts, and I pulled a crystal out of someone's foot, but don't worry they're all fine, or at least stable… for the time being."
"Thanks, JJ," Davidson said as he made his way down to engineering only to find Sam and the rest of the tech crew working to replace damaged consoles, and, surprisingly, still working on the inertial dampeners. "I thought you said that the dampeners couldn't be fixed?" Davidson asked, causing them all to stop what they were doing and look up.
"They can't, but I've been thinking. I told Hermiod that the system was totally fried, but I didn't tell him which parts we needed to replace. That means that the only way to be sure we can fix it is for them to bring another system all together. Well that, and…"
"What is it, Carter?"
"It's only a matter of time before the Ori find us."
"I thought they couldn't detect the ship while it's cloaked!" Davidson nearly shouted in panic.
"They can't, but… they know that we're still here. All they have to do is spin around in space shooting, and they will eventually hit us. That or they can send their fighters out in search patterns, and if one of the ships enters the cloaking field or runs into the Odyssey, they'll know where we are and we still can't move fast enough to avoid the resulting attack."
"So you're trying to repair the dampeners so we can move?"
"Actually, no," Sam said with an odd look on her face.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"I can't repair the dampeners, but I might be able to use some of the parts in various systems to reverse engineer Merlin's phase-shifting technology."
"Okay… keep me informed," Davidson said with a hesitant glance over his shoulder as he turned to go check on the status of the repairs to the Bridge consoles.
As Colonel Davidson was making his way to the Bridge yet another alarm sounded. As the ship's internal comms system activated, Marks' voice came over the line. Davidson was relieved to hear the other man's voice as it meant he was finally well enough to report for duty.
"Bridge to scanners, what's going on?" Marks asked.
With the damage to the consoles in the Bridge, all the systems had to be rerouted to different terminals throughout the ship. Communications, both internal and external, were in the Bridge, while sensors were rerouted to a terminal towards the front of the ship, engines towards the mid-section, and shields, weapons, life support and any other major system left was routed into any terminal capable of handling their operating systems.
"Two more Ori Motherships just dropped out of hyperspace," was the depressing reply from the sensors operator.
***Local Cluster (Sol System)***
**Earth (Surface)**
*Stargate Command (Landry's Office)*
A knock on the door drew Landry's attention away from his work. "Come in," he said gruffly.
"General?" Woolsey asked as he stepped into the room.
"Mister Woolsey," Landry said as she put down his paperwork and faced the politician.
"The IOA has decided that, for the time being, your reasons for Shen's imprisonment are justified," Woolsey informed him. Landry laughed in reply to the man's words and went back to his file. "You're surprised?" he asked.
"Surprised?" Landry countered. "I never gave a damn. The IOA has no official power to veto my decisions when it comes to the security of this base. Shen brought an illegal recording device into my base then tried to blackmail me. She's staying in prison until she stands trail, as I've already told you. What the IOA needs to realize is that they don't have the authority to naysay my decisions. This is my facility, the people here are my responsibility, I make the rules, she broke them, and now she's trying to use her standing as a political figurehead to override her own self-inflicted position. This, Mister Woolsey, is why I don't like politicians. You never stick to your code, your morals flip-flop too often, and your lack anything resembling a spine. She made her choices. She has to live with the consequences. I advise you to stop fighting for her freedom unless you want to have your access to this facility revoked, and, before you protest, I assure you that I do have that authority. Now get out of my office."
As one man left, his metaphorical tail tucked up under his legs, another entered. "Sir," Walter said to get Landry's attention. "I have the latest report from the Asgard. With the Clausus Cursor in orbit, they've devised a means of helping us reach Pegasus. Since the Intergalactic Gate Bridge is down while Midway is still being built and Daedalus is being stalled due to an issue with supplies needed for repairs, O'Neill pushed a request through to the Asgard High Council. Hermiod had the production facilities on the Cursor produce a small power generator for us that he's installing as we speak. The generator, once hooked into the base's power supply, will allow us to sustain an intergalactic connection for the full thirty-six minutes once every two days."
"Finally, some good news!" Landry huffed. "I was one more bad report away from having the ZPM flown over from the Weapons Platform. Do we have enough material to send through for them with the Asgard taking our extra and the Apollo needing the rest?"
"The Apollo might end up a month or two behind schedule, but I think we can agree that getting the Daedalus battle ready is a necessity. They barely avoided detection from that Wraith Cruiser a few days ago. Right now, they the Daedalus more than we need the Apollo."
"Then have the Asgard beam the supplies over from Area 51 before they leave. Once the Gate's operational again, give it a test then dial Atlantis. I'm sure Weir and Caldwell will be thrilled to have the connection open both ways."
"Yes, sir," Walter replied before leaving to relay the orders.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**Unknown Planet (Orbit)**
*Captured Baseship (Combat Information Center)*
"And this is where things go bad," Gabi said as she left one consul and rushed over to another. "Their Hybrid is trying to communicate with ours. Needless to say, you can't talk to something that's not there."
"Are we in position?" Oliver asked.
"Not yet," Gabi replied as she franticly typed away on the controls.
"We're being hailed," Cassidy informed them from her place at the comms station. Being the team's resident communications officer meant she had the most experience and know-how to repair and modify the system.
"This is actually good!" Gabi said as she dropped one project and started another. "If they open a channel…" she trailed off before smiling. "Gotcha!" she declared as the Baseship in orbit near them went dark. "Their systems are offline, but that's bound to change any second."
"Open fire!" Oliver ordered.
"Aim for the Heavy Raider bays," Kimi added as a pair of nuclear missiles fired from their own ship. One detonated amongst a Raider patrol to clear the airspace, but the other managed to slipped into the guts of the ship and detonate inside of the shuttle-like Heavy Raider bay. What wasn't destroyed by the nuke was torn apart by a combination of secondary explosions and a compromised space frame being pulled on by gravity.
"Send a message back to the Admiral," Oliver began issuing orders.
"Oliver," Marcus said, a hint of awe to his tone.
"Tell him that we've secured orbit," Oliver continued.
"Oliver!" Marcus said louder.
"They can…"
"OLIVER!" Marcus shouted.
"What?" the Colonel asked as he turned to their historical and cultural expert.
"I've been here before," Marcus said without looking away from the view of the planet below. As per Oliver's request, Gabi had duplicated the system she used in Galactica's War Room. Their DRADIS system fed the information into a holographic projection system giving the CIC crew a clear look at their target as it hovered in the middle of the room.
"When?" Oliver asked.
"How?" Gabi added.
"About three years ago," Marcus replied as he pointed to a large portion of the planet that was covered in a black scar. "That's where the Prometheus dropped a Mark VII on the active Gate."
"Why would we do that?" Kirsten asked.
"There were ruins on the planet that we identified as Ancient," Marcus replied as his voice went to that ever so rarely heard awestricken tone. "I've seen the images they sent back after they made it to Atlantis. Take away the ocean, and the city was just as beautiful."
"Then why did we nuke it?" Kirsten asked again.
"Because Ba'al showed up," Marcus replied with a dark edge to his tone. "He dialed in and started flooding the area with troops, then dropped a Ha'tak in orbit and cut us off from reinforcements. By the time the SGC figured out we weren't going to radio in and declared us missing, there were only twenty left of nearly fifty. They sent the Prometheus to investigate, but she was never a fair match for a Ha'tak and Ba'al and Anubis had the most advanced Ha'taks in the galaxy. To clear orbit, Colonel Pendergast dropped out of hyperspace by the moon which was on the opposite side of the planet from the Ha'tak, launched the 302s, then moved to engage the Ha'tak."
"DRADIS contact," Amanda 'Andy' Uland, their sensors operator, reported. "The Colonials are jumping in."
"The 302s used the gravity of planet to slingshot around and gain a speed boost that let them blow through the Death Gliders," Marcus continued, unphased. "They hit the Ha'tak with enough ordinance that we could see the explosion from the surface, then the Prometheus jumped in behind them and things really stared to get heated. By the time we had all been beamed out, the Prometheus was about to lose her shields so General O'Neill ordered the Colonel to drop a bomb on the Gate. Needless to say, he did just that."
"Wait a second," Melissa said as she jumped into the conversation. "I remember that mission. It was my second time serving on the Prometheus during an active engagement. We lost a fighter during that operation."
"I remember seeing it crash over the ridge and thinking we should go after the pilot, but our guards had already called the evac order and we were beamed out a second later. The Prometheus firing the nuke at the planet was the only thing that got the Death Gliders to break off their assault long enough for the ship to make the jump into hyperspace while they tried to take out the missile," Marcus said with a sad nod.
"That's right," Melisa said with a shake of her head. "But the fighter wasn't destroyed. It lost power to its engines after clipping the Ha'tak's shield envelope. It got pulled in by gravity but the pilot managed to stabilize his plane. He crashed on the planet well outside of the effective lethal range of the Mark VII."
"You mean it's still intact?!" Gabi asked excitedly as she finally caught on to why Marcus was telling the story the way he was.
"That's exactly what I mean!" Melissa replied in an equally excited tone.
"What am I missing here?" Oliver asked.
"The computer on that 302, if merged with the Baseship's mainframe, would be enough for me to run the calculations that I need to get us back to Earth!" Gabi explained in a rush.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**P4X-650 (Orbit)**
*USS Ares (Command Deck)*
Alarms blared throughout the ship as a whole as an unknown contact dropped out of hyperspace before the Ares. The ship that appeared on their sensors had many thinking that Star Wars had worked its way off of the TV and into their reality. The imposing view of the Devastator was truly a sight to behold, and one they were all glad wasn't in the hands of their enemy.
"Unknown contact has opened fire!" the sensors operator reported before a barrage of plasma fire slammed into the shields of the Ares.
"Return fire," General Ervin ordered. Having plasma rounds slam into your ship was daunting. Knowing that all you had to return fire with was kinetic weapons that would be harmlessly absorbed by the enemy's own shields was even more so. However, not having to split the power production capacity of a ship between energy weapons and shields meant that the Ares had an advantage that the Devastator lacked; its shield would hold a lot longer than its opponent's.
"Sir, we're not going to get through their shields without anything short of a massive nuclear barrage," the tactical officer informed him as the helmsman took them through a series of maneuvers to avoid the enemy's fire.
The Ares, unlike her cousins, wasn't built for front-line combat. Her shield was powerful, yes, but only because her weapons were designed to hold off massive fighter swarms, not capital ships. She was also bigger by a significant margin. Where the Daedalus-class was two-hundred-twenty-five meters long, the Ares-class was a full five-hundred-fifty meters. That did not, however, translate into combat ability. Her size made her slower and more cumbersome and the extra space on the hull had gone towards anti-fighter weapons. Space was not the Ares' primary battle ground. She was a support ship.
No, that was inaccurate. She was an Invasion Carrier.
"Alright, skip to the part in the simulation where the Battlecruisers take out the enemy and prep the ground teams," the General ordered with a sigh. While it was true that the Devastator was a tough nut to crack, he was hoping they could at least force her out of orbit. Needless to say, that wouldn't happen anytime soon.
"Reinforcements have arrived," the tactical officer reported as two new blips appeared on their screens. They were, of course, just false readings being fed to the computers by the Alpha Site. They didn't have any other ships to participate in this exercise and that was depressing enough. "The enemy vessel is retreating."
"Drop us into the atmosphere before they regroup and make a counter push," the General ordered. "Taylor, ready your men."
"Aye, sir," the Command Chief Master Sergeant replied before hitting his radio.
*USS Ares (Combat Deck)*
"All hands prepare for atmospheric flight. Ground teams to ready stations," the Eagle ordered over the radio and Chino's face lit up like a kid on Christmas.
"I can't believe we're working with this guy!" he practically squealed.
Alcatraz slapped in the back of the head as he walked past him. "Get your shit together, Chino. We've got hostiles waiting for us groundside."
The teams assembled in the barracks all rushed to the armory. They suited up in their new, standard-issue SGC combat gear, grabbed their weapons, and reported to the Ready Room where they received their mission debrief before filing into the hangar. The massive hangar doors that composed the far wall slid open to reveal the planet below.
"Brace for clearing fire," their CO ordered.
The weapons mounted on the bottom of the Ares opened fire on the ground below and a section of forest disappeared under the barrage of hyperaccelerated rounds. Then the landing gear was deployed and the Ares settled onto the surface of the planet a few kilometers away from the base in the mountain.
"Team One, secure the beachhead," the CCMSgt ordered.
The first wave of Pelicans lifted off from the floor with a roar of their lift thrusters before moving beyond the edge and making their way down to the ground. The Ares sat two stories above the surface with her landing struts deployed, the ship's bulk doubling as a shield against orbital bombardment while the ship's actual shield continued to protect the armored hull.
"Beachhead secured. Load up, boys, you're going in."
The next wave of Pelicans that left nearly emptied the hangar bay as around a hundred of the three-hundred ground assault personnel were flown out of the frying pan and into the fire. Already enemy artillery shells were hammering away at the Ares' shield, the barrier flaring with each impact, but easily holding against the minor threat. Their Pelican set down behind the line that Team One had set up. Portable cover had been deployed, manned turrets assembled from crates, and already an armor line was rolling out of the Ares' dorsal armor bay.
Alcatraz took it all in and steeled himself for the fight to come. Taking the mountain wouldn't be easy.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**Kobol (Atmosphere)**
*Cylon Heavy Raider (En Route)*
"And you're sure this will work?" Oliver asked skeptically.
"Have I failed you yet?" Gabi replied as she piloted the Cylon assault craft into the atmosphere.
"Well, there was that one time on Vaccus," Oliver said.
"Do not blame me for that!" Gabi shot back. "If anyone's to blame for Vaccus, it's Sheppard."
"I second that!" Tommy agreed immediately. "If he hadn't of screwed up, we wouldn't have been stranded on a Wraith world with no reinforcements."
The conversation died out as they flew along and they could see smoke rising from the ground below and ahead of them where the Raptor that preceded them had crashed after taking a SAM during its approach. When their own shuttle slowed with a flare of its maneuvering thrusters and set down a few yards from the crash site, Gabi turned to Oliver with a grin on her face.
"Go play hero," she said in a mocking tone.
"It's not playing," Oliver replied as he, Jack, Kimi, and Tommy all exited the Heavy Raider, their weapons drawn. They darted over to the shuttle, but their armor must've been a bit too much. The Colonial pilot, bleeding badly from the crash, opened fire on the metal clad figures he could barely see and forced the team to drop to the ground to avoid his fire. "Friendlies!" Oliver shouted over the noise of the man's gun. When they received no reply, Oliver said, "Jack."
The woman nodded once then disappeared with a thud of displaced air and a flurry of dirt being kicked up by her passing. "Clear!" she shouted back to them and they finished crossing the distance to the Raptor.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," the pilot was stuttering through a mouthful of blood.
"It's okay," Tommy assured him as he examined the man's wounds with a scanner built into his armor modeled after the Goa'uld healing device. "We landed a Raider right beside you after Cylons shot you down. I would've fired at the people coming out of it too," Tommy said with a light laugh. "Check the ship," he ordered over his shoulder.
"They're all dead," the man said sadly. "I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault," Tommy assured him as he started pulling supplies out of his medical kit.
"No, this time the fault is ours," Oliver agreed. "I knew that ship looked familiar," he mused.
"What do you mean?" Kimi asked as she very carefully pulled a body… no, a person, from the wrecked shuttle.
"Remember when the Odyssey first found the fleet we fought at the Tylium mine and we said that one of the Baseships looked different?" Oliver asked to which the woman nodded in reply as she applied pressure to a bleeding wound and Oliver rushed in after Jack to check for more survivors. When he came out supporting a wounded Doctor Baltar, he finished his explanation. "We did a scan and figured it was a troop transport. I guess this is why they had it with their fleet. They must've found this planet before we did."
"They're not dead!" Tommy said in a stern voice to the panicking pilot. "Look, here's Baltar. Come over here, Doctor."
"It's alright, Crashdown," Baltar assured him as he stumbled over. His wound was an obvious head injury that was slowly leaking blood.
Tommy scanned his head while the Doctor was still beside him and said, "You're going to be fine, Doctor. Your wound is superficial."
"Crashdown is your call-sign, right?" Kimi asked.
"Yes, ma'am," the man replied as Tommy finished wrapping the last of his wounds in an antiseptic-soaked cloth. "Well, get ready for the fame of living up to that name," Kimi said with a comforting smile.
Crashdown laughed at her words and smiled to the three people behind him who weren't dead after all. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Let's get you back to the Heavy Raider. Chief, can you walk?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, my leg's not that bad," Chief Tyrol replied as he stood up and started limping to the Raider while Jack lifted the sole dead body in an antigravity field and followed after Baltar while Tommy moved Crashdown, and Oliver and Kimi kept their weapons on the surrounding dirt.
"Gabi, get us to the 302 then take them up to Galactica," Oliver ordered as they settled into the back.
"Hold on," Gabi replied as she fired up the engines and took them low over the landscape. "Just in case," she said to Kimi who took the copilot's chair.
"A Raider picking up wounded Colonials would look suspicious," Kimi agreed with a nod before taking the controls.
"Set us down over there," Gabi said as she pointed at a large hill that dominated the forward viewport. "You ready for this?" she asked her assigned body guard.
"Just tell me what to shoot," Jack replied with a frown. She hated guard duty.
"Shoot whatever you feel is threatening you," Gabi said with a knowing smile. "I just need you to lift what I can't."
They set down with another small bump and this time Gabi, Jack, Oliver and Jesse disembarked while Tommy kept working on the wounded and Kimi kept the engines warm. The soldiers secured the area while the scientist started tearing into the wreckage of the crashed, half buried, and slightly scorched fighter. All eyes, except for hers, watched their surrounds with a well-founded unease. They weren't alone, and they all knew it.
Kimi, being the sniper she was, saw the first of the metal men and popped its head off before it even had a chance to crest the hill it was approaching from. Also being the sniper she was, she was lying on her belly inside of the Raider with her rifle and clips arranged around her so that she could change weapons or reload in an instant. Four more Centurions fell to her overpowered rifle before she had to reload.
The Cylons pressed their advance the moment the fire stopped, the metal monsters running with loud, clanking footsteps as they charged at the Humans. Jesse, being a short-range combatant, moved from one piece of thin cover given to them by the ruins they had landed in to another until he was close enough for his shotgun to be effective. He rolled from behind a low wall and fired a round that took off a Centurion's leg. The next round he fired took its head off before he dove behind another low wall.
Jack, seeing the enemy coming and knowing she wasn't supposed to go charging off after them, dropped to one knee and put the butt of her rifle to her shoulder. No charging didn't mean no fighting and Gabi had said to shoot anything she felt was threatening her. She used the heavily modified rifle the members of Oliver's organization had trained her to use after the Tok'ra removed the Goa'uld from her body. The nearly kick-less weapon allowed for great accuracy even to someone who had only trained with such weapons for a few months. Even then, she preferred Jesse's approached and would love to pull the shotgun off of her back, but that would be too tempting. She had orders and she had learned the hard way that disobeying orders got people hurt. Learning to care when one of her new-found comrades got hurt in battle was the hardest part of being de-Goa'uld-ified for her. Caring about people was strictly a Human sentiment in the eyes of a Goa'uld.
Oliver, still lacking a replacement for his primary weapon, had Kimi's secondary, smaller, less powerful rifle in his hands. The scout rifle fired one shot per pull of the trigger and Oliver had the accuracy to make that count. He also had the trigger finger to make the thing damn-near fully automatic. Jack needed to up her game when it came to using guns. One of these days she was going to find an enemy her powers wouldn't work again, and on that day, her gun would be her life.
But that was not today.
The rocket came souring at them from behind the hill that the Centurions had marched up, and Jack was the only one who could respond appropriately. She gathered the power that Nirrti had given her before Ba'al enslaved her and threw the unstable ball of space-time at the missile. The impact of the ball against its metallic frame caused the whole thing to explode as the field of entropic energy triggered the warhead beneath the skin. That got the Cylons' attention.
The amount of fire the metal men turned on her after her display of power had Jack crouching behind a thin barrier of light generated by her body. The rounds flying towards her were forced to curve away by the… honestly Jack didn't understand the science behind it. All she knew was that the symbiote that had made her life hell for all those years had left behind the knowledge of how to do the things it had used her body for. It didn't give her an explanation as to how she did them. She did know, however, that it worked by pushing the bullets away from her instead of allowing them to tear her body apart.
Then she remembered Gabi behind her and expanded the barrier to cover her too.
With a flare of its thrusters the Heavy Raider lifted up off of the ground and turned into the battle with his main gun blazing. Apparently Kimi had given up sniping the enemy. Instead, she turned their own weapons and tactics against them. With a hiss and a thunk followed by a series of booms, the Heavy Raider fired off three rockets that sent debris and metal bodies flying in all directions.
Behind her, Jack could hear Gabi shouting something. "What?" Jack asked as she turned to face the scientist… who was bleeding. 'Great,' Jack thought to herself. 'Oliver's going to kill me.'
"I've got it loose, just rip it out!" Gabi shouted while pointing to a section of the fighter that had been cut away from the rest and left distinctly separated.
Jack didn't even bother with another question. She let the glow of her power surround her body then told it to 'lift.' The field of anti-gravity sprang into existence above the computer system and pulled the whole thing, wires and all, out of the fighter's rear section. "Now what?" Jack asked as she held the computer up.
Her answer came when the Heavy Raider lowered back towards the surface just low enough for everyone to jump in. Jack, after carefully lifting the computer core into the shuttle's rear, turned to Gabi and grabbed the scientist who had taken a round through her calf muscle while Jack's barrier had been focused on her own safety. "Hold on to your nuts," she told the woman.
"I don't have nuts!" Gabi replied before a boom deposited them both in the back of the shuttle. That had Gabi nearly vomiting out the back.
"Go!" Oliver shouted to the cockpit.
The door closed behind them and Jack let Gabi go so Tommy could wrap her leg. "How bad is it?" Jack asked.
"It's a clean wound," Tommy replied simply. "It went all the wall through and didn't hit the bone so it's actually easier to fix. All you have to do is stay off of it for a few days and let the muscle stitch itself back together."
"Yes, because Gabi's so incredibly good at following orders to stay off of her feet," Jesse said sarcastically as he nursed a minor wound of his own.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**P4X-650 (Surface)**
*Alpha Site (Gate Room)*
The gunfire tearing through the air was enough to keep most people ducking for cover. The assault on the mountain had begun nearly twenty minutes ago and the aggressors were making a strong push for the Control Room. Both of the halls leading to the nerve center of the base were under assault and they were failing to hold them at the Gate Room as they had been ordered. If they fell back now, the Alpha Site would be lost.
But it would appear the enemy was also running low on reinforcements.
Another assailant fell to the Intar weapons of the defenders and the others seemed to be taken aback. They were laying out suppressive fire now, but it was only because they were retreating. The defense team breathed a sigh of relief as their attackers fell back through the base until the hangar was the only room they still controlled, their tanks making a counter assault impossible. The enemy would regroup before launching the next wave, and they were running out of defenders just as much as the aggressors were running low on men. This was bad.
And it was over.
General Ervin marched past the Control Room and straight into his office as he shook his head at the losses they had taken. "Run it again," he ordered. "From the top."
"Sir, it's to be expected. They're not going to succeed in taking the Alpha Site. This base's defenses have been built up over years. It's built inside of a mountain for crying out loud! How can you expect them to take the base in one push?" his Executive Officer countered.
"My men aren't the problem," CCMSgt Taylor said as he arrived for the post-battle debrief. "It's your defenses."
"They made it to the Gate Room," General Ervin agreed with a solemn nod. "I wanted this exercise to show us where we can improve with the ground-based forces, but the exact opposite happened. With the Gate Room under their control, an attacking force could stop the Iris from deploying and call for back up. They were ten men away from achieving that goal! Once more hostiles arrived through the Gate, the Control Room would've fallen. We need to reorganize the Alpha Site's defenses."
"You should start by relocating the Control Room," Taylor casually suggested as he used a knife to cut into a peach he had picked up from the mess hall. Popping the slice into his mouth and sitting in one of the extra chairs in the room, the man continued. "I know it'll be costly and probably confusing for your men the first week or so, but having the Control Room so close to the Gate Room is a mistake. It should be deeper in the mountain with dedicated defense forces and turret nests. One way in, one way out. Protect the door at all costs. That's what I'd do," he said before shrugging and adding, "First," to the end of his statement.
"They modeled the Alpha Site after the SGC," Colonel Fray countered defensively.
"And I never liked the way the SGC was set up. It's foolish to leave the nerve center so close to a place that sees constant off-world traffic. It's to near the point of egress for any Gate-based offense to be effectively guarded against, and the Gate is a major target for any ground invasion by ship," the CCMSgt replied calmly. "Both facilities need a serious overhaul of their internal design. We know our enemies well enough now that we can tailor our defenses around their styles of attack."
"And how long have you been with the Stargate Program, Taylor?" Fray asked rhetorically.
"Six months," the CCMSgt replied while eating another slice of peach. "But I've been running my section of the Office of Airborne Intelligence for a few years now. I know how to do logistics, layouts, planning… intelligence is my specialty, yes, but I only got into Intel because, as a soldier on the front lines, I was tired of the assholes secured in their bunkers getting it wrong. Do you know what they say when you score a ninety-seven on the ASVAB?"
That caught Fray off-guard. "No, I don't," he replied seriously.
"They tell you that you can do anything you want. I decided on being a PJ. I only moved on because the Intel they kept sending me was trash. I started as a Cryptographic Linguist, worked my way up the ranks, then got assigned my own division. You know what I used that division for? Giving our soldiers Intel that wouldn't get them killed. That's what I'm doing right here, right now. You want to hold the Alpha Site against an attack force like the one the Ares can bring to bear? You need to reinforce your defenses with a network of automated turrets and move the Control Room away from the Gate Room and deeper into the heart of the mountain. This room is positioned in a way that, with only two rounds from the Ares' main gun, I could collapse the entire chamber in on you. Granted the Goa'uld don't know where to shoot the mountain like I do, but my point still stands. This base needs an overhaul."
"And I agree," the General said, rejoining the conversation after letting the two officers speak their minds.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**Unknown Planet (Orbit)**
*Captured Baseship (Combat Information Center)*
"You found what?" Oliver asked, more than a little shocked.
"The pilot died while giving one last report," Gabi explained as she plaid back the recording of a dying man. He mentioned a strong energy reading picked up by his sensors then closed his eyes and let Death take him. "I checked the sensors' log and found this," Gabi said as she pointed to the signature the pilot had detected.
"What am I looking at here?" Oliver asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's Delphi, home to Pythia, and, according to what I was able to find on the subject during my brief time studying Atlantis's database when we were dropping the Intel on P3X-727 into their computers and hypnotizing McKay into searching for it, it's also the first City Ship ever built by the Ancients," Gabi replied excitedly.
"A City Ship?!" Oliver nearly shouted.
"Don't get your hopes up, now," Gabi forestalled him. "It's damaged beyond repair so there's no going down there and getting it working. Remember what Marcus told you. Kobol was destroyed during the First Cylon Uprising when the Thirteenth Tribe's wayward 'other half' returned to the home of their creators and nuked them all from orbit…"
"Colonial history really does repeat itself, doesn't it?" Kimi asked with a sarcastic huff.
"If that's true, then shouldn't there be a sect of the modern day Cylons that don't want to kill us? Because I'm not seeing that," Tommy countered.
"Long story that I don't know the details of made short," Gabi continued, "Delphi is designed after the first generation of City Ships ever created by the Ancients. After this one came another generation then they finally settled on Atlantis. From what I can tell, the hill the fighter crashed on was actually the ship itself. It's not buried in sand," she quickly added when Oliver moved to interrupt her, "it's just built with an armored shell over it to hold in the atmosphere while they're flying. Unlike the Atlantis-class City Ship, the Delphi-class doesn't have a shield. The city's hull is torn open in some areas by the bombardment and the city itself was flooded with enough radiation to kill everyone inside. The engines were overloaded and made unusable and the rest of the systems are in a state of utter chaos."
"And you know this how?" Tommy asked.
"I ran a scan," Gabi replied impatiently.
"So we're discussing this because it's interesting from a historical stand point?" Oliver asked. "Why isn't Marcus here then?"
"Because the energy signature that the fighter detected is coming from another location other than the city," Gabi replied as she brought up the recorded scans. "This hill here is a naturally occurring geological feature with a cave in it that has a ring platform connected to an underground bunker. That's where the energy signature is coming from, and, just to peak your interests, I'm ninety percent certain that the energy signature is a ZPM."
"Keep talking," Oliver said with a smile on his face.
"I did more than take the 302's computer core," Gabi said as she turned to Jack. "Sorry about the extra weight."
"It doesn't bother me," Jack said with a shrug. "Sorry about the leg."
"I'll be fine," Gabi replied with a well suppressed grimace. "I also tore out the hardware that houses its sensors. While nowhere near as powerful as the Odyssey's subspace grid, the 302's sensors are decades ahead of the DRADIS system we're using. I had Kirsten and a few of the others install them in a room we weren't using then dropped us into a lower orbit and focused them on the area in question. Yes, that's how underpowered the sensors are. Even with a Mark I hooked up to them, they were designed to allow a fighter to target Death Gliders, not a capital ship to scan a planet. They're designed for accuracy, not range. This is what I have…"
A holographic display popped up of what looked to be a tomb and Kimi, upon seeing one figure in particular, fell to her knees and started praying. "Athena," Oliver said as he looked at the woman that the Athamite Assassins worshiped as their matron.
"The problem I'm having now is that the bunker's systems appear to be offline," Gabi continued, mostly ignoring the woman's prayers. None of them would judge her. Kimi was family and family stuck together no matter what. "But check this out," Gabi said as she pointed to another of the twelve figures in the room.
"Apollo," Oliver nodded. While he was never religious and the House of Black never forced religious beliefs on their members like the House of White, otherwise known as the Athamite Assassins, did, he had respect for Apollo as a mythical being. They were a lot alike. Then he saw it. "His bow is empty."
"And his quiver's made of stone," Gabi said with a nod, a clear sign that Oliver had found what she wanted him to see.
"Got it!" Marcus said as he jogged into the room with a piece of paper. "I just got back from a meeting with a man in the fleet who worked at a museum on Caprica. He said that the Arrow of Apollo was brought to the colonies after their exodus from Kobol. It was supposed to be a gift from the Gods to remind them that they weren't alone. The caretaker said that they did scans of the thing once a year and never could identify what it was made of."
"Meaning it's probably Ancient tech," Gabi nodded.
"But it's on Caprica!" Marcus stressed.
"Then it's time we visited the Twelve Colonies of Kobol for ourselves," Oliver said matter-of-factly.