Chapter 28
The Storm Part 1
The Silence Before the Storm
***Local Cluster (Sol System)***
**Earth (Surface)**
*Stargate Command (Control Room)*
To an outside viewer, the SGC would've looked like an anthill after you kicked it over. The news of the Ori's newly arrived fleet had sparked a mad rush to get the planet ready for an assault that could come at any moment. Major-General Hank Landry stood above the 'controlled chaos' that had consumed his command and made orders that he felt he was not fit to give.
Turning to one of his lead expert, Landry asked, "What's the status of the fleet?"
"We're not done with the upgrades," Sam replied worriedly.
"How bad is it?"
"The Apollo's system have been fully repaired, the Odyssey is fully combat ready, the Daedalus is still in Pegasus, the Cursor is in the middle of an upgrade to her power distribution systems, the last report we got from Atlantis indicated that half of their weapons were still being interfaced with the Control Chair, the Devastator is as ready for this fight as a Goa'uld ship can be, but that's the good news…" Sam shook her head and trailed off. "The planetary defense shield's tertiary emitters aren't even half way finished being constructed. We'll have to launch what we have and hope it's enough. The drones in Antarctica haven't been fired since Anubis' attack, and the Ares is out of the system attacking Ptah's homeworld as planned."
"What do we have?" Landry asked.
"The ships in orbit represent every ship we have except for the Ares, which isn't equipped to take on an Ori Mothership, Atlantis and Daedalus, which are a thirty-six hours out at best possible speed, and the captured Lantean Warship which is roughly twenty hours away from reaching the Alpha Site to undergo its upgrades and repairs. That leaves us with the Odyssey and Apollo, the Cursor, the Devastator, and the Ancient Weapons Platform all backed by the planetary defense shield."
"What are our odds?" Landry asked and the room went silent as everyone waited for the answer.
"Given the speed of an Ori hyperdrive, we have somewhere around sixteen hours to finish the upgrades to the fleet. Once the Cursor's done and the planetary defense shield's been reinforced by the tertiary satellites… the odds are still against us," Sam replied sadly.
"Even with the Artic Weapons Platform?" Landry stressed.
"We've never had a chance to test the effectiveness of Ancient drones against the Ori. For all we know, their shields could be immune to the phase field that allowed the drones to so easily defeat Anubis," Sam explained.
"Do we have any force multipliers left that aren't already being used?"
Sam stared to shake her head, then stopped as her eyes widened. "We do have one!" she exclaimed before running off. Landry followed after her, hot on her heels, and was surprised when Sam ducked into the AI Room. "If I gave you access to a subspace channel linking you to the ships in orbit, could you incorporate yourself into all of the ships without sacrificing efficiency?" Sam asked the AI that appeared the moment the door opened.
"You wouldn't risk that if there wasn't something drastic happening," Pac said skeptically. "What's going on?"
"The Ori are on their way and we need every advantage we can get," Sam replied hastily.
"Give me a minute," Pac replied before his avatar winked out.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Scutum-Crux Arm)***
**Furling Stealth Spy Satellite 7-9-22 (Orbit)**
*Paciscor of Nex (Computer Core)*
There was a spark of light, an alteration to his perception, as another mind appeared before the blazing star that is his own. Looking at this spark revealed it for what it was; his 'clone.' It took but a look at the thing for all of its knowledge to become his own. They communicated at the speed of electrical impulses, electromagnetic radiation being the only thing capable of moving at the same speed as their conversation. Ideas were exchanged and plans were formulated, all in only a matter of microseconds, and Widget was broadcasting a data package to the SGC. He then turned away from the departing blip of light and spoke to the organic that he served.
"There's been a development," the AI informed him.
"What is it?" Sieon asked from his place repairing the final satellite in the network that could be repaired.
"The Humans have been targeted by the Ori. A sizeable fleet is inbound to Earth. They're mustering their defenses and preparing to counter the assault, but they're heavily outnumbered and the Ori are a match for them technology. They've requested our help. I've already unshackled Pac and sent him a copy of the fragmentation code. He's going to upload copies of himself into their ships in an effort to improve their combat efficacy."
"I suppose this is the part where I pretend to care?" Sieon asked irately.
"I expect you to put aside your search for now, yes, but only because your allies are under attack. Ignore, for now, that they're a species under attack by a superior force and focus on the Asgard's decision to name them their successors. By order of the Alliance Doctrine, you're required to help them."
"That contract was written between the Furlings and members of dead species. The Alterans are gone, the Asgard are dead, the Nox will do nothing, and I was disowned by my people. I am Furling by blood and nothing else. That hardly demands that I help them."
There was an electric whir in Sieon's armor before the built-in defibrillators fired an electrical pulse into his chest. As his heart-rates were destabilized, another jolt cursed through is body and brought them back to their natural rhythm. "Do not make me hurt you," Widget growled in Sieon ear, his voice low and menacing as it exited his helmet's speakers. "If you do not commit yourself to this fight, I will do as my programming dictates and redeploy our forces as necessary. I will leave you floating in this dark, depressing void while I take this ship to Earth and help the only allies you have left survive what is to come! Do I make myself clear?"
Sieon breathed through the pain that had shook his body and nodded, the motion being transmitted to the AI as movement in the armor's servomotors. "Then get ready. We'll be needed shortly."
***Local Cluster (Sol System)***
**Earth (Surface)**
*Stargate Command (AI Room)*
"I've got it," Pac reported as he reappeared before them not even a full second after having disappeared.
"Got what?" Sam asked.
"The part of Widget's code that lets him create more versions of himself without compromising efficacy. Get me a direct line to each ship individually and I'll start getting the AIs settled in," Pac explained. "I know that your commanders aren't going to accept this without stipulations, so get them down to the SGC and put them under the scanner capable of reading their minds. I'll use it to copy their moral sense of self. Explain to and impress upon them that this makes the AIs have the same morals they do and your Colonels shouldn't have any complaints left. Then we give them names based off of their stations and the confusion is taken care of." When Sam looked at him funny, Pac added, "The Odyssey is the tale of Odysseus so the AI aboard the Odyssey would be named Odysseus."
"Carter," Landry said in a concerned tone.
"Sir, at this point he's the only force multiplier we have left!" Sam immediately shot back. They were behind schedule with the upgrades and the Ori were ahead of schedule with the attack. This wasn't good.
"Then I need to call a war summit," Landry said before leaving the room.
He didn't make it very far before Walter, once again, announced, "Unscheduled off-world activation!"
Making his way to the Control Room, Landry was about to ask who it was when a figure appeared on one of the screens. "Who are you?" Landry asked gruffly.
"Sieon Synipulous," the man replied. "I believe you have a copy of my AI in your base. He informed me of your request for help and I have something that may prove useful to you. I understand you have a device that prevents matter from properly rematerializing on your side of the Stargate. If you lower your defense, I will come through with power generators for the planetary defense shield I have been informed you have constructed."
"Get me Carter," Landry ordered and Walter sent the announcement across the base's intercom.
Sam ran into the Control Room a second later and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm actually glad to see you."
"Considering our last meeting begin with you in a lab, I suppose I deserve that," Sieon replied with an awkward smile. "I've got something for you."
"Open the Iris," Sam ordered and Walter obliged only after Landry nodded in confirmation. "Go ahead," she told the Furling before running down to the Gate Room. Sieon stepped through, looked around, then made his body glow as he started bending the railings on the ramp that led up to the Stargate out of his way. "What are you doing?" Sam asked.
"Making room," Sieon replied before adding, "Send them through, Widget."
A procession of very large objects then exited the Stargate. Each one was just small enough to have an inch of clearance all the way around as the flat-bottomed objects that reminded Sam of a Puddle Jumper floated out of the event horizon on anti-gravity fields. There were twelve in total and the Gate Room was too small to hold them all so Sam had Walter open the hatch they used to get the Gate into the bunker to begin with. As the last of the large things floated in and up the shaft, Sam finally found her voice.
"What are those?" she asked.
"Power generators that put your Neutrino Ion Generators to shame," Sieon replied. "I have twelve available for your use."
"I see that," Sam said. "Why?"
"Because you're going to need them," Sieon simply stated. "Hook them up to your PDS and the shield will last much longer, but there are things about the technology that I have to tell you before that's feasible. If General Landry goes ahead and gathers the leaders of your world, I'll explain what I need to in the time we have."
"Where's the Nex?" Sam asked.
"Currently performing a task I couldn't stop at the moment. Widget will finish what he was assigned then he will bring the Nex here to participate in the battle to come."
"Carter?" Landry asked again, this time his tone one of hope.
"Go ahead, General. The scales just tipped in our favor by a significant margin," Sam replied. Landry nodded then walked up to his office to place a phone call. Turning back to Sieon, Sam asked, "What do I need to know?"
"First, where are we installing these?" Sieon countered.
**Earth (Orbit)**
*Planetary Defense Shield Primary Emitter Alpha (Power Room) [half an hour later]*
Since each of the primary emitters were the size of a small space station, they had two rooms within them. The Power Room where the ZPMs were plugged in next to the six Neutrino Ion Generators that Sam had insisted they install as the primary generation capacity of the field so that the ZPMs were technically the backups, and the Control Room where the satellite's power cores were brought online. Sieon was currently showing Sam how to install the new generators into the primary satellites by plugging them into the makeshift ZPM pedestal they had put in the center of the room. Since they had hopes for increasing the power of the shield, each pedestal, like the one on Atlantis, was designed to hold multiple ZPMs. Unlike Atlantis, however, these were designed to hold five.
Using this to his advantage, Sieon was installing the new generators by plugging them into a slot designed to handle a far greater amount of power than the FSR would be capable of putting off. Once done, he stood up to face Sam. Only then did he begin to explain.
"Okay," Sam said once she was done installing the other generator as Sieon had shown her how. "What the hell are these things?"
"That," Sieon said as he waved his hand over a small colored strip on the armored casing, "is a Furling-designed Fusion Star Reactor, or FSR for short. Inside of that armored shell is a protostar. Now," Sieon said as he started fiddling with the holographic screen that appeared above the strip that was now displaying a bunch of stuff Sam didn't understand. "This is the control interface. It's all touch-oriented so there's no neural interface to worry about, and I'll hook it into the system you set up to have the VI control it. Even then, you have to know what you're dealing with."
"I don't speak Furling," Sam interrupted as the read-outs scrolled across in the strange looking symbols of the Furling language.
"You don't need to, the VI will handle the translation of the readouts and it'll show up as English or whatever you want it to show up as in whatever computer you have monitoring the shield. The most important thing you need to know is that, as long as these five bars stay green, you're good," Sieon said in reference to the five vertical bars in the center of the display. "If they move from green to any other color just tell the VI 'push the red button'," Sieon added, pointing to the large red button on the right side of the 'screen.' "Any VI that Pac programmed will know what the order means, and, even if the button can't be physically pushed, the VI will be able to send a signal to reproduce the one the button would send.
"Now, since you'll be monitoring the systems from Area 51, you, specifically, need to know that the left-most bar is for the left-side shield emitter, the inner-left bar is for the left-side containment field emitter, the middle bar is heat management, the inner-right bar is for the right-side containment field emitter, and the right-most bar is for the right-side shield emitter. Got it?"
Sam promptly wrote down what the Furling said on her arm and read it back to him. "Great! Now, the black button," Sieon said as he pointed to the big black button in the left-hand corner. "This sends the generator into overdrive mode. While in overdrive mode, the generator increases its output by roughly one-thousand percent initial energy yield."
"What's the catch?" Sam asked in astonishment.
"I am so glad you asked! The 'catch,' as you say, is a massive increase in heat production, and a drastic decrease in heat management efficiency. Inside that shell is a protostar," Sieon said again to re-iterate the point. "One designed to mimic a blue giant, to be more specific."
"Okay, I got that part. Just tell me what to do," Sam assured him.
"The protostar is an extremely volatile ball of hyper-compressed plasma being harnessed for energy. The ball exists inside of an artificial containment unit shaped like a rectangle. Yes, there's a rectangle inside of all of that," he added when Sam looked at him funny. "The containment chamber is a sphere and the generator is semi-rectangular because there is an electromagnetic field and a shield generator housed inside as well that are attached to the sides of the sphere, hence the overall shape. Plasma has a naturally occurring electromagnetic field, as I'm sure you know. The EM field generators produce a field on a polar opposite frequency to the star's own, natural frequency. This allows it to collapse the star into an even more condensed ball as opposed to being the size of… in its 'natural' state, the protostar is as big as a Jumper. In the first stage of compression, as it is now, the protostar is reduced to the size of a… huh, Human head, I guess is accurate enough. When in overdrive mode, the protostar grows to be about half the size of its natural state. Back on point, the shield then wraps around the EM field in order to contain the heat."
"Okay," Sam said as she took more notes, her left arm covered in blue sharpie. She'd have to transcribe the notes later or any amount of sweating could possibly threaten the planet as a whole. That was a strange thought to have. "The star is contained by an EM field and heat is managed by a shield. I get that part, continue."
"When you put the generator into overdrive mode, the EM field is expanded from the size of a Human head to half the size of its natural state. The distance between the EM field and the shield is therefore lessened, and the shield starts absorbing more heat as a result. This causes the power in the shield to drain faster while allowing more of the star's energy to be harnessed for other uses. When the shield reaches critical levels, which takes about three hours, the EM field is collapsed again and the shield is disabled as the protostar is collapsed to the size of a… tennis ball.
"When this happens, the armor casing must be opened to allow the built-up heat to escape. If it isn't opened and the armor melts, it'll expose the EM field emitters to the heat of a star and vaporize them. At that point, there will be nothing compressing the star and it will expand to its full size. I don't need to tell you how bad it would be if that were to happen while the generator was still in your solar system when that happened," Sieon explained. "The gravitational disturbances alone would destroy Earth, and a ball of super-heated plasma would then either pull Earth to it, or fall into Earth depending on how you look at it, and melt whatever it touched before reaching the core of your world and causing the entire planet to implode."
"Yeah, thanks for that mental image!" Sam shot back with a look of horror.
"Look, I seriously doubt that the battle will last more than three hours," Sieon continued. "All you have to do is hold off on putting the generators into overdrive mode until it's absolutely necessary. Deplete the ZPMs first if you have to, just don't put the FSRs into overdrive mode unless you have no other choice. If all the ships are engaged when the deadline reaches zero and no one can beam it off the planet and take it out of the system…"
"… All of this will have been for nothing because Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and several of the other planets would be instantly consumed by a star and the rest will be pulled into the gravitational field within the week. I know," Sam insisted.
"No," Sieon correct. "It's not a full-sized star. In its uncompressed state, the protostar is only as big as a Puddle Jumper… is as big as a Stargate in terms of diameter to make it easier to picture. It still burns as hot as a blue giant, but its gravity field is proportionate to its mass. It's a small star, but even a small star is still a star. Now, I seriously doubt that we'll need it, but I need you know what all the options are just in case something happens," Sieon replied.
"Okay, and you said that the system was already linked to the monitoring station we set up at Area 51?" Sam asked.
"No, we still have to give the VI permission to access the systems and a control interface will have to be built so that you know what you're looking at in relation to what this shell looks like," Sieon replied.
"Then we'll have to go to Area 51 and set that up," Sam said.
"Yes, but we need to install the other generators first. Have your ship beam you and two of the FSRs to the next satellite and I'll handle another one. We'll meet again at the end," Sieon countered.
**Earth (Surface)**
*Area 51 (Beam Room) [two hours later]*
In a flash of light, the duo appeared in a room specially designed to receive incoming personnel using the beams aboard the ships in orbit. They were scanned for weapons and IDs then the door was unlocked to allow them access to the base at large.
There was a moment of awkward silence as the two walked through the halls before Sieon asked, "What's 'Area 51'?"
"Our primary R&D lab in the Nevada desert," Sam replied with a small chuckle.
"Right," Sieon said. After another moment of awkward silence, Sieon asked "Just, you know, out of curiosity… where's Nevada?"
"Nevada is one state amongst fifty that compose the United States of America, one country amongst many on Earth," Sam explained as she led the Furling to the geothermal generator room where the PDS was being tied into yet another generator.
This one drew power from a tunnel mined using Tok'ra tunneling crystals. Since the original design for the PDS that had been given to them required a geothermal energy source, the tunnel had been built before Oliver and his team showed up with their miraculously acquired ZPMs. The tunnel was connected to the base by a series of Ancient-designed geothermal power conduits that were then hooked up to an Asgard-designed microwave energy emitter.
The devices, working cooperatively, would draw power from Earth's magma layer then send it into orbit to the primary shield emitter positioned over Area 51 to receive the energy by sending a beam of microwaves up to the satellite that would then spread its energy to the shield across the entire globe with the other satellites supporting the barrier with smaller, Mark II Naquadah Generators, Neutrino Ion Generators, the ZPMs, and the newly installed Furling reactors.
The geothermal power planet designed by the Ancients to power a shield that covered a planet, therefore, was surprisingly small for its purpose. In fact, it only took up the same amount of room that the 304 dry-docks did, and had, therefore, been located in the slip used to build the Daedalus. With Pac modifying one to see how Earth could better build ships, and the new geothermal plant taking up another, that left them with two operational slips, but, since the Daedalus and Apollo had traded out the times the ships needed to be in a slip, it worked out without slowing down the upgrade process.
It took the two figures another fifteen minutes, with Pac's help, to interface the VI with the new generators. Once the control interface was completed and the last of the systems checks were run, the geothermal power planet was activated with a loud groaning noise as the massive assembly of machinery came to life. With a flare and a notable increase in temperature, the geothermal plant started harnessing power and the microwave beam started sending it up to the primary emitter satellite in orbit of them. With that extra burst of energy and the finished instillation of the Furling generators, the PDS was brought online for the first time… still missing more than half of its tertiary emitters.
**Earth (Orbit)**
*USS Odyssey (Bridge)*
There was an immense power spike from under the Nevada desert before a column of energy, only visible to the advanced sensors aboard the warships in orbit, shot into the sky and connected with one of the cloaked primary satellites that sustained the planetary defense shield. From there, the energy spread out in all directions, each satellite adding more power to it as the barrier grew, spread, and moved to cover the entire globe. A slight shimmer of light covered first one hemisphere then the entire planet at large as the shield was brought online for the first time.
The barrier continuously grew stronger as it linked into the power supply of the smaller satellites that the Odyssey had beamed into orbit only minutes before, each tertiary satellite adding a small amount of power and the secondaries adding a large amount. It was the other five primaries that gave the shield its strength though. The others just helped keep it from being weaker in one area than in another due to the distance between the six primary satellites. As the shield enveloped the entire globe, the barrier let out one final, soft flash of light before disappearing from view almost entirely. At the edges of the planet where the shield curved back in on itself to match the curvature of the Earth and follow the path set for it by its emitters, however, Davidson could barely make out the shiny, silver-ish field of energy.
"Now that was pretty awesome," Major Marks said from his position at the helm.
"I agree, Major. Now let's do our part and make sure that shield takes less damage than we do," Davidson ordered.
**Earth (Surface)**
*Area 51 (Shipyards/Geothermal Power Slip)*
Once they had finished getting the last source of power the PDS would receive online and the control interface was completed, Sieon's comms system had crackled to life and a familiar, yet slightly different, voice had spoken to him. Since Pac and Widget had differentiated themselves enough to be individuals, Pac had slight sub-tones to his voice that didn't match Widget's.
With his slightly different, voice, Pac said, "General Landry has informed me that General O'Neill has arranged a meeting with those two as well as a man named General Hammond. The three Generals represent the SGC, Homeworld Command, and the United States of America for the duration of this battle respectively. In addition to those three, you'll be put before Generals and other high ranking military and political officials across the planet as a whole. The goal of the meeting is to formulate a battle plan, not question you on your origins, so feel free to show them why the Furlings elected you to be the Scourge in the first place."
Sieon, ignoring the fact that this wasn't truly his AI, asked "So, the SGC, or what?"
"Yes, the SGC. Which, I might add, they put inside of a mountain. Rather smart if you ask me. It's very tactically sound while remaining out of the way and out of sight which, in turn, allows them to build more without being seen. Anyway, the other officials will be contacted via secure video communications that will be relayed through the subspace transmitters aboard the Earth ships in orbit," Pac replied.
"Alright, where's the SGC?" Sieon asked.
"We'll be beaming over in a second," Sam replied as she finished what she was doing then hit her own radio to request the transport.
**Earth (Surface)**
*Stargate Command (Briefing Room) [one hour later]*
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are faced with an eminent threat to Earth, one we may not be able to beat outright. However, we do have a couple things working for us in the battle to come," General Hammond began, his face one of many present on the computer consoles set up along the wall across from the window that overlooks the Gate Room. Hammond was standing in the unmistakable room that is the Oval Office in the White House, the President sitting behind his desk next to the General.
"In the past two months, SG-1 was able to successfully complete two missions that have assured us three warships capable of outright destroying an Ori Mothership, all three of which are in orbit right now. Two of these ships are the BC-304 Daedalus-class Battlecruisers Odyssey and Apollo flying under the command of the United States Air Force. The third ship is an Asgard O'Neill-class Warship that's flying under the joint command of the IOA Nations and their appointed command staff," Landry picked up.
"While they have been recalled, unfortunately, some of the others ships we have in our fleet…" General O'Neill added using the term 'fleet' loosely. He himself was present in person at the SGC since Homeworld Command's secure, subspace grid was undergoing a set of upgrades at the moment. "… Are out of the system right now. Of those, one will be in orbit in a matter of hours flying under the joint command of the IOA Nations. SG-1 also managed to acquire the help of another race which adds a fifth ship to the fight. This ship, however, does not fly under the command of any organization from Earth. Instead, she belongs to one of our allies."
"Whose command does it fly under?" the British Commodore asked. "The Free Jaffa Nation is too weak to help us, the Tok'ra have no warships at all, and, with the passing of the Asgard, I can name no other allies that would be both willing and able to lend us aid."
"If you remain patient, I assure you we're getting there," Hammond replied in a diplomatically polite voice. When the others nodded their consent, Hammond continued. "The first mission that SG-1 successfully completed was making contact with the Asgard as per the request of the Asgard High Council itself. During that contact, the Asgard gave us their entire knowledge base much like the Ancient Database on Atlantis. The Asgard also equipped the Odyssey with all of their latest technology including everything from the armor that now coats the hulls of our Battlecruisers, the shields that were strengthened by their efforts, the new Neutrino Ion Generator designs we used to increase the power output of our ships, their ion cannon designs… and plasma beam weapons capable of destroying an Ori Mothership in fewer than ten hits."
That shocked the assembled politicians, Generals, Admirals, and other officials into silence. "We can do that?" the Italian Prime Minister asked.
"With the help of the now deceased Asgard, yes," Lieutenant Paul Davidson replied from his place in the pentagon.
"For the past three weeks, Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter has worked in conjunction with an alien technician of an allied species to produce the current iteration of the 304 class. We're calling them the Post-Fifth Race 304s or simply the 304 Bs. Colonel, if you will," Landry said as he handed the explanation off to Sam.
Stepping up before a wall covered in the faces of the people who led the free world and beyond, Sam pressed a button on a remote she had in her pocket. The holo-projection system recently installed in the Briefing Room table flared to life to show the Odyssey before her encounter with the Asgard. Only then did Sam begin.
"We started by taking everything the Asgard gave us on the Odyssey and duplicating the working examples we had," Sam began as the Odyssey shifted behind her. "The Asgard gave us armor," she explained as the hull of the Odyssey was stripped away behind her and replaced with an obviously newer armor configuration, "we gave it to the Apollo. The Asgard gave us beam weapons," the system was highlighted, the four beam emitters surprisingly small given their power, "we gave it to the Apollo then gave ourselves more," four became six with another two facing to the ship's rear. "They improved our shields," the shield emitters and generator system were highlighted, "we used that to improve the Apollo. Then our researches at the Gamma Site used the information gained from studying the Devastator, Ba'al's flagship stolen by the Impolans and given to us by the same race, to perfect Earth's first plasma cannon design. We installed them on both ships," the addition to the Odyssey was sixteen small cannons.
"We then took everything the Asgard gave us in the Core, which holds the entirety of their military power, that could be useful and implemented more changes. They gave us their designs for ion cannons, and we altered them to fit onto our ships," four, very large cannons were added to the bottom of the 302 bays on the Odyssey, the barrels themselves sticking out past the edge of the bay and measuring in at nearly twenty meters long. "They gave us the plans for a coaxial ion cannon, we modified the design and installed it on our ships," the coaxial cannon that ran the length of the Odyssey showed up with only one barrel, then shifted to show the changes Sam, Pac, Felger, Bill, and the rest of the SGC's science teams had made. The cannon, after the modifications, ended with three barrels. One to charge the firing chambers and bring the ion round to life, one to charge the barrel itself before firing the ion round, and another to allow the systems to cool off. The cannon would rotate to allow each stage to be completed in sequence which would increase the fire rate substantially.
"We finished by using the knowledge the Asgard gave us along with what we already knew of holographics technology to create a semi-tangible holographic interface system that allows for better control of the ships' new systems. With the increase in power requirements brought on by the inclusion of such an expansive weapons system alone and the need for more power for the shields, we had to install a new generator as well. Since time was a constraint, we left the existing shipboard Naquadah Generator in place as ripping it out would've taken too long. Because of this, one of the larger cargo holds on each ship was converted into a new power plant. In each of these modified cargo holds, a Neutrino Ion Generator was installed to meet the new power demands the upgrades created," Sam explained as the holographic image of the Odyssey highlighted the Naquadah Generator in blue and the new Neutrino Ion Generator in grey. "With these advancements, the 304s will be able to take on an Ori Mothership with the odds, one-on-two, decidedly in our favor."
"Thank you, Colonel," Hammond said in way of dismissing her. "Also provided to us by the Asgard was an O'Neill-class Asgard Warship. We made several changes to this ship as well including the addition of the weapons, holographic systems, and other technologies Colonel Carter just explained. Due the ship's size and the fact that the Asgard built it, the Clausus Cursor has four Neutrino Ion Generators and is sure to have better combat durability and overall lethality than the 304s we'll be fielding. Even with all the knowledge of the Asgard and Ancients, there's only so much we can do in three weeks."
"Also joining the Odyssey, Apollo, and Cursor is the Devastator," Colonel Fray, General Ervin's Executive Officer, reported from the Alpha Site, the active Gate below and behind them allowing the Colonel to give his report. "This ship was built by Ba'al as his answer to both the Ori threat and as a bid for galactic dominance. We used the ship to get our plasma cannons online then upgraded it heavily. While Ba'al had already installed generators and shields on par with the upgraded 304s, we did have to install the Asgard's plasma beam weapons, ion cannons, another generator to help support the new weapons and reinforce the shields, and made minor adjustments to several other systems."
"Ba'al had shields and generators on level with those provided to us by the Asgard?" the Russian representative asked in a concerned tone.
"First, yes," O'Neill replied calmly. "Second, let's try not to get too far off topic here. Ba'al's new flagship, the one that was stolen by the Impolans and given to us, was the only ship he had with those advancements. He redesigned everything from the ground up. The thing's not even a flying pyramid for crying out loud. Also, the ship was stolen from him before he could finish it so it's not like we have to worry about there being another one any time soon. A ship like that takes time to build."
"And who would risk their lives to steal from Ba'al just to give that which they stole to us?" Camile Wray, the Chinese ambassador, asked. This woman had replaced Shin after she was arrested by Landry. So far she was far more tolerable.
"They themselves are a race known as the Impolans. They're a servant species to an entity we know only as the Mimner," Davidson began. "We don't know what the Mimner looks like, what sex it is, or even if 'Mimner' is a name or a title. What we do know is that the Impolans have been feeding us Intel on Ba'al and the Lucian Alliance for the past year and half. They have outright given us Ba'al's flagship, then, only a few weeks after giving us the Devastator, they returned to the Alpha Site and gave us the designs for a planetary defense shield. The only thing they said in question to why they would help is to not forget the Mimner's kindness in a time of need."
"Then, by accepting these gifts, we've set ourselves up to be the guardians of a race that is actively engaging two of the major powers of this galaxy? They will bring the wrath of Ba'al and the Lucian Alliance down on them then demand we help them!" Wray declared angrily.
Considering that was an outburst from the usually irrational Chinese, Jack had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. For once, they were complaining about something legitimate. He liked this woman. She had the good kind of brain. Shen was evil, but Camile? She was the right kind of worried.
"First, let's try not to get too far off topic," General O'Neill stressed again. "Second, the Impolans have a fleet of very small, very fast, very lethal ships. They stole Ba'al's flagship from orbit of one of his own worlds. They defeated two Ha'tak, stole the flagship, took on a small armada of Death Gliders, and did it all with one ship the size of an Al'kesh! They won't need us to take on Ba'al because Ba'al doesn't even know where their homeworld is."
"I do not understand why we are discussing their motives at this moment," the Italian Prime Minister interrupted. "If we do not survive the fight to come, then our supposed 'debt' to these aliens will be null and void. Right now, I'm far more interest in this planetary defense shield you speak of."
"Of course, Prime Minister," O'Neill said. "Carter…" he then added when he drew a blank.
"The planetary defense shield, or PDS for short, is a network of satellites placed in orbit of Earth. It starts with the primary satellites that generate enough power to cover the planet in a shield that can hold off a small invasion force. After that, we use a series of secondary satellites to reinforce the barrier so that its strength is evenly spread across the globe. The last line of defense is then a series of tertiary satellites. Where the primary and secondary satellites are stationary, the tertiary satellites are designed to move around the planet and reinforce whichever spot is under the greatest strain. This allows the shield to be strengthened where needed without compromising the rest of the planet. However… we were only able to complete less than half of the needed number of tertiary satellites. While this won't compromise the barrier's overall strength, it will limit the amount of power we can reinforce a heavily assaulted area by. To make sure that the shield is held evenly and given the best reinforcements in real time, a dedicated, highly advanced, automated computer system known as a Virtual Intelligence will monitor the tertiaries while organic operators monitor the overall system," Sam explained.
"And where is this monitoring station set up?" a Russian General asked. "In America, no doubt."
"HEY!" O'Neill shouted at the top of his lungs while slamming his hand down on the table as the assembled delegates erupted into chaos. "We just received word from the Tok'ra that the Ori are on their way to Earth and you're FIGHTING over who controls what!?" O'Neill roared. "We Are under attack! Earth is being invaded! Not America, not Italy, not Russia, not china. None of us can afford to stand alone right now! Aliens don't give a shit what country you're from! They'll kill you just for the hell of it!" As the delegates all fell silent under the glare of an enraged General in control of a very powerful force sitting in orbit of their world, General O'Neill brought his voice down to a more diplomatic level.
"Yes, the monitoring system for the planetary defense shield was built in Area 51. No, this was not a bid for global dominance on our part. Area 51 has been researching the technologies needed to build the device in a timely manner for years now. The geothermal plant that the barrier gets the bulk of its energy from is the size of a 304's construction slip. We had to convert one of our dry-docks into a power plant to pull this off. It took us two weeks to use Tok'ra tunneling crystals to reach the mantel so we could start pulling in the geothermal energy. Any other facility would've taken over six months to set up properly. Building it the way we did keeps the entire system as securely hidden as our 304 bays and still allows us to power the shield. A dedicated facility built from scratch can be discussed later, but only if we survive the twenty-five all-powerful ships barreling through hyperspace on their way to Earth!"
As the assembled delegates took in the drastic shift in power that had just been revealed, Sieon turned to Sam and whispered, "I can't believe you're fighting amongst yourselves at a time like this!"
Sam shook her head sadly. "Neither can I, but we are who are we are. As a species, we're stupid, selfish, and moronic. It's the individuals with staggering levels of intellect, indescribable amounts of courage, and the few of us who use our common sense that hold everything together."
"And, of course, you're one of those people?" Sieon asked, his tone hinting at how he thought she sounded conceded.
"Everyone working for the SGC is one of the rare few who fall into all three of these categories," Sam rebutted without rising to the bait.
"Another thing we have working for us is this guy," General Landry picked up where the conversation had stopped. He pointed over his shoulder to where Sieon was whispering to Sam. "After SG-1's scheduled contact with the Asgard, they made a return trip to P3X-727 and made first contact with the Furlings, the last of the Four Great Races we had yet to meet. This here is their Scourge, the highest ranking military officer in the Furling Galactic Space Navy."
"At this point in the meeting, I believe introductions to be a waste of time. I don't care what your name or rank is. Whatever position you hold in the governments and armies of Earth has no meaning to me," Sieon informed them all firmly as he stood to address them. "I am here at the request of my allies. I don't care if that means the Americans to you. To me, it means the people of Earth as a whole just as it will to your enemies. The only thing that matters at this point is discerning the best course of action. We need to iron out a plan of defense that turns their strengths against them. If we can force the Ori off of the offense and get them on the defense, even while they're in this system, then we can pin them down and tear them apart before they can begin to hope for a quick victory. They will outnumber us, but we have something they do not, something they cannot, possess.
"The Asgard saw something in humanity that led them to bestowing their legacy upon your people. I believe I'm starting to see what they saw. You're a warrior people. You fight hard. You die hard. You take as many people to Hell as you can with you when you die. The Asgard knew this. I know this. You know this. The Ori are sure to know this. We will use this to our advantage. When they come, they will expect their numbers to force your fleet back to orbit of your world. They will expect you to stay in orbit and engage them. We will not. When the Ori arrive, we will meet them wherever they drop out of hyperspace and we will hit them with everything we have. While they're busy trying to reorganize under the pressure of our guns, we'll take out whatever and whoever we can. By the time they've regained their focus and regrouped, we'll have delivered a crippling blow to their fleet. Then we'll regroup accordingly and draw a line in space.
"Nothing will get past that line. You are Humanity. You are the Fifth Race. You are the People of the Earth, the First World. You will stand, toes to that line, and you will hold back the ocean even if you have only a bucket full of holes with which to fight it! The Ori have grown complacent in their domination of the Free Jaffa Nation. They will find the people of Earth to be anything but weak. Like the very thing they fear you to be, you will rise against the forces they bring to bear and you will cast down their gods as if they were but things made of glass! When nothing remains but shattered fragments of what used to be a great Ori Fleet, you will dance upon their ashes and send a message to all of your enemies. The people of Earth are not to be taken lightly. They will not sit back and be attacked! They will not simply roll over when faced with impossible odds! You will fight!" Sieon declared his voice growing ever louder and ever more energetic. Then his tones dropped to a level in line with a simple conversation. "And you will win," pause, "because you are Humanity," pause, "and that is what you do."
The way he said it, dramatic pauses aside, was more of a fact than an opinion.
Sam was utterly bewildered. Even as the representatives from around the world erupted into applause and the military personnel all seemed to grow comfortable with such a plan (a plan that wasn't even a plan in Sam's opinion) she found herself clapping along with them. The comms channels went dead as the assembled men and women went to ready their forces and Sieon collapsed into the chair behind him, looking very tired.
"What the hell was that?" Jack asked just as surprised as Sam was to find he was clapping along with them.
"Very, very draining," Sieon replied, his tones indicating he was short of breath.
"You just mentally manipulated the leaders of the world, didn't you?" Jack asked in an accusational tone.
Sieon smiled in reply. "Reaching around the world and finding the minds that needed to be inspired was a daunting task, I assure you," the Furling replied, his spirits still high despite Jack's obvious anger.
"I can see why that would be useful," Jack said with a nod, to which Sam was baffled.
"You can see why that would be useful?" Sam asked accusingly. "That's a breach in global security!"
"Carter, you're the one who's been preaching 'they're our allies' since we got the AI-orb," Jack countered.
"No, that was Daniel. I'm the one who's been agreeing with you that we should be cautious!" Sam countered.
"Look, given the circumstances, I think you can cut me a break," Sieon argued. "It's just a motivational speech with a little extra 'umph' to help rally the troops. Winning a war starts by having a winner's mindset. Olaf One-Eye taught me that. He also taught me that a winner's mindset starts with the leaders and spreads down the chain of command, not the other way around. If your Generals and Admirals think this war is lost before the battle begins, they're right. If they think they've won before it begins, we have a chance at making that a reality."
With that matter 'settled,' Sieon turned to the three Generals left 'present' as Hammond was still on screen. "Generals, if it's not too much extra work, I'd like to try and capture one of the Ori's Motherships. I need to know why their reactor core exploded into a supernova when hit by a dark matter warp beam. If my theory is right, they're using a light matter energy core and that's the type of thing that I'd love to get my hands on!"
"Can you take a ship single handedly?" Jack asked.
"The only threat to me on that ship is the Prior, and I'm sure that my biotics can handle his telekinetic attacks," Sieon casually replied.
"Wow," Sam said with a roll of her eyes, now her turn to say the alien was being cocky.
"And he doesn't have to do it alone," Mitchell added as he entered the room from the hall. He had stayed close in case he was needed, but going before the leaders of the planet wasn't his 'cup of tea.' "I'd volunteer to help, but something tells me I'll be of more use behind the stick. It's the least we can do in exchange for his help defending Earth."
"Indeed," Teal'c added as he walked in behind Mitchell.
"Why is light matter so important?" Landry asked.
"For that matter, when did we start acting like light matter was a real thing?" Sam countered. "Last time I checked, light matter was discredited."
"Light matter is the antithesis to dark matter," Sieon replied. "That's why light and dark matter colliding makes grey matter."
"If dark matter is the antithesis to regular matter, how can light matter exist as the antithesis to something that already has an antithesis?" Sam stressed.
"You're confusing me," Jack said while shaking his head.
"Everything we touch is made of matter," Sam explained.
"Grey matter," Sieon interjected.
Sam shot the man a glare then continued. "Dark matter is theorized to be the antithesis to matter. It works like water putting out fire, earth grounding lightning, or oxygen breathing creatures dying when they breathe in carbon monoxide."
"That's Human physics for you, and it's possible we're talking about the same thing and that I'm losing something in translation," Sieon countered. "From the perspective of a Furling physicists, we live in the realm of grey matter which is a stable combination of light and dark matter. Light matter is energy in its purest form and dark matter is mass in its purest form. When these two are brought together in a balanced state, grey matter is created. Furling scientists have long theorized that the universe was created when a source of near infinite light matter met a source of near infinite dark matter. The resulting explosion would be equivalent to your 'Big Bang Theory'… I think," the Furling replied uncertainly.
"Why is that important?" Landry stressed.
"Light matter, unlike dark matter, is the only form of energy production theoretically capable of being self-sustaining. Obviously the Ori haven't perfected the technology or they'd be unstoppable, but, if we could perfect the technology, we could create a single generator with the output capacity to power everything on Earth with enough energy leftover to power the shield indefinitely versus an entire Wraith armada or anything or anyone else that managed to make it to Earth with hostile intentions. Once we have the basis of the technology, we can expand on it until we're ready to put it into use. The limitless energy production and self-sustaining nature of a perfected light matter energy core far outweigh the possible side effects," Sieon promptly replied.
Jack, Hank, and George all stared at the duo with confused expressions until Landry finally sighed in a frustrated fashion. "If you can capture an Ori Mothership without compromising Earth's defenses, I don't care." He then exited the room and made his way to the infirmary to get painkillers before his headache could cloud his judgment.
**Earth (Surface)**
*Area 51 (Shipyards/Geothermal Power Slip) [one hour later]*
Sam had done the math on the total output capacity of Sieon's FSRs. The results had stunned her, Bill, and everyone else who understood the math, into total silence. The only noise now was the massive geothermal generator that was projecting power up to the bubble that surrounded Earth, their last line of defense from an enemy attack. The FSRs, when combined with the ZPMs, meant that they had enough power to sustain the shield for years on end without them being under attack, and that was just with the Neutrino Ion Generators and Mark II Naquadah Generators in the secondary and tertiary satellites. Once the FSRs and ZPMs were added in, the shield looked like it could be sustained indefinably… if they weren't attacked.
The question now was, "How quickly will the Ori deplete it?" After crunching the numbers, the team of scientists determined that the shield could withstand a brutal beating from either the Ori or the Asurans, their two most advanced adversaries. Even though it was nothing more than a thin layer of energy between them and total destruction, it was a powerful layer of energy, and they trusted it to hold.
**Earth (Orbit)**
*USS Odyssey (Bridge) [one hour later]*
Arriving back on the Bridge of his ship after having his brain scanned, Davidson asked, "What's our status, Major?"
"The Ori Fleet is estimated at being twelve hours out, sir," Marks replied. "The Odyssey and Apollo are both ready for battle, as are the Devastator and the Blockade Runner," Marks said, using the translated name for the Clausus Cursor. "The Artic Outpost has been brought to full alert status and the planetary shield generator was given some Furling generators, so it's good for the fight too. In fact, Colonel Carter informs us that the shield will hold out far longer than the fleet's shields combined will when put against the amount of firepower we're going to be up against. As for the Paciscor of Nex, Sieon said that the ship should be here soon. All we're really doing now is waiting for the enemy's arrival and hoping the Dealer of Death gets here first," Marks reported, once again using the ship's translated name.
"Great," Davidson said with a sigh. "So now we wait."
"The hardest part of every battle," Odysseus, their newly minted AI, commented. That was going to take some getting used to.
"Alright, I want everyone to get some rest. Even if the Ori push their engines, we have ten hours before they arrive. Take some time to cool off and get any sleep you feel yourself capable of getting. This won't be easy, but we'll pull through," Davidson ordered before taking his own advice and heading for the mess hall.
*Clausus Cursor (Combat Information Center) [eleven hours later]*
"Alright, people, listen up! Your sensors aren't as advanced as the Cursor's are, so I'm telling you this in case you haven't detected it yet. The Ori Fleet has arrived. They're currently holding position near orbit of Neptune, but we're not going to just let them kick back and relax. Power up your hyperdrives, stick to your formations, charge your weapons, raise your shields, and remember the plan. Steel yourselves, hold your fear, and remember your reasons for fighting. The hour of our victory is upon us. To war!" Sieon declared victoriously.
The decision to appoint an alien as the leader of their forces was actually rather simple. The Italian Prime Minister had pointed out that Sieon had led more battles than any of them and yet he still lived. Jack added that he won a war that lasted thirty-five years, though he left out the part about victory through retreat, and the others had agreed to the request to appoint the Scourge as the 'Fleet Admiral' for the battle. Once again, Sam was baffled. This time, however, she had monitored his brainwaves and was satisfied that he hadn't gained his position through mental trickery… unless he manipulated her mind into seeing false readings…
A cheer tore through the CIC of the Asgard Warship as the fleet moved forward and tore open the fabric of space. As one, the fleet jumped into hyperspace, and as one they exited it. The Odyssey and Apollo formed up in a line, the Odyssey leading their personal charge. Beam weapons, coaxial ion cannons, and ion cannons, the three weapons the 304s possessed they believed to be capable of taking down a Mothership's shields, split their firepower and let loose. Half of the Odyssey's weapons targeted the Mothership to her starboard, the other half targeting the Mothership to her port. With the Apollo right behind her, the two Earth-built ships tore through the ranks of the Ori formation at a fast rate.
The Ori had dropped out of hyperspace, and, just like Sieon said, they believed the Tau'ri would stay in orbit of Earth to defend their world. Instead, they swarmed. The Ori lined up in neat rows of five by five in preparation for their assault, and the Tau'ri dove into those lines with a ferocity not known to the Ori. The Odyssey and Apollo flew up one line and let loose with all they had. As the Odyssey weakened a target's shields, the Apollo finished off the barrier with her own guns as the fast moving 304s flew along. Behind them, the Devastator powered through space with her own weapons blazing.
The shieldless or weakened targets that the 304s had rendered vulnerable were her prey. With ion cannons, plasma cannons, beam cannons, and more, the Devastator tore into the Ori Motherships. The rapid assault showed no mercy. The Odyssey weakened the targets, the Apollo stripped away their defenses, and the Devastator lived up to its name. The first three ships in two rows fell to the joint, rapid assault claiming the first six kills of the battle entirely in Earth's favor. The last two ships in those rows broke formation and ran as the 304s closed on them.
The Odyssey and Apollo broke formation to give chase, each targeting another ship, and left the Devastator without her escorts. The Devastator was the only ship in this battle on the allied side that didn't have a ZPM. Sieon had specifically instructed the 304s' commanders to stick with that ship because they'd need the help. His point was proven when the Devastator's systems status, displayed on the fleet status HUD helpfully projected by the AIs in the fleet, indicated its shields were on the verge of failing as four Ori Motherships focused fire on the large vessel.
"Ellis! Davidson! I told you not to break formation! Get the pressure off the Devastator before they get blown up because of your recklessness!" Sieon ordered fiercely from his place at the head of the Cursor's command center. The two 304s immediately broke off their pursuits and barreled towards the offending Ori Motherships. As two of the Motherships shifted target to intercept the fast closing 304s, Sieon ordered, "Mister Colson, get your people out of there!"
The Devastator darted between the gap in the Ori ranks and opened a hyperspace window. The ship reappeared in orbit of Earth and set about getting their shields as close to fully restored as they could in whatever little time the fleet could buy them. From his place now standing at the head of the CIC, Sieon observed the battle with eyes that could see more than any Human could hope to comprehend. His eyes, just as the eyes of all the members of his now dead race, could see more of the electromagnetic spectrum than a Human's eyes could. He could, quite literally, see the Ori's shields even when they weren't being hit, and he could see the weakest areas of those that hadn't been touched.
"Adjust targeting," Sieon ordered the Cursor's tactical officer. "Aim there!" he said while pointing to a spot on the barrier that was fainter than the rest of the white bubble that surrounded the Mothership before them.
Though there were four Motherships bearing down on them, the Cursor was only actively engaging two. Her coaxial ion cannons were significantly longer than those in the rest of the fleet. Because of this, they were significantly stronger as well. She also had more than double the beam weapons, so taking on two Motherships without moving to avoid return fire wasn't even that hard. Not with the ZPM that had been installed to bolster the shields.
Clark, the Cursor's AI thusly named for the 'Clausus' part of the ship's name, noted the spot the Furling was pointing to and marked it on the tactical officer's HUD. Now properly informed of where to shoot, the tactical officer focused their fire on that spot, and a coaxial round slipped through the weak spot in the barrier. It was a lucky shot, Sieon knew that, but it served its purpose. Even before their shields were down, the coaxial round tore open a chunk of the armor on the Mothership and hit something critical. The ship went up in flames and the Cursor shifted targets.
A full barrage from the sixteen beam cannons mounted on the outer hull collapsed the barrier of the next ship and tore it apart all in one go. Another shift in target and the next ship received six beams and two coaxial ion rounds. As it died before them, the 304s were forced to retreat from a target they were hunting jointly. That was Sieon's cue.
"That's it, they've regrouped! Take us back to orbit," Sieon ordered. Once again the Earth Fleet jumped into hyperspace and the three ships left in the assault rejoined the Devastator in orbit of Earth. Now back in orbit, Sieon looked over the sensors data and swore in his native tongue. "I've got some bad news, people," Sieon said before he disappeared from the CIC of the Cursor in a wisp of dark purple.
*Paciscor of Nex (Combat Information Center)*
As his ship appeared in orbit of Earth, Sieon teleported over to his natural command vessel and continued his report. "Upon re-entering normal space and regathering their wits, the Ori started launching the mother of all fighter swarms. I'm already detecting over a thousand independent signals and they're still climbing."
"Pac says that each ship can hold roughly five-hundred fighter craft and we know there are still sixteen ships intact. Assuming the others that were destroyed didn't launch any fighters, that still leaves us facing off against eight-thousand fighters. Get your AA guns ready, we're about to be swarmed!" Sam reported from her place in Area 51.
Earth was immediately buzzing with activity as bases across the planet's surface started launching more F-302s to reinforce the ship-based squadrons also being launched and every pilot ever trained to fly any type of fighter craft was given a crash course in taking on an alien fighter force. Everything from F-16s to old Mig fighters filled the atmosphere of the planet beneath them in response to the threat these fighters represented.
"Final count on enemy fighters is eight-thousand, two-hundred-seventy-three. Their speed and trajectory will have them in orbit of Mars in less than ten minutes, and within weapons range in an additional three minutes after that. The fleet's been ordered to intercept and destroy hostile fighters by Homeworld Command," Widget's voice informed him as Sieon took his old seat and sat back in the Control Chair that could read his mind.
Behind him, Teal'c was beamed up with a small assault team provided by the SGC. Just by scanning the top layer of their minds, Sieon could tell General O'Neill had sent a few technicians along as well. "Get ready for damage control duties," Sieon ordered those few. "Widget will tell you what needs doing. If he gives you an order, follow it without question and for the love of whatever God you believe in, don't hesitate!"
"Yes, sir," the assembled personnel replied as they settled down for the wait. Some crouched, some took seats, others readied themselves to run to another section if a fire broke out. Sieon was impressed with their preparedness.
The minutes went by both faster and slower at the same time as anticipation, pent-up frustration, and adrenaline levels in the people across the fleet all skyrocketed. As the enemy fighters finally closed in on the Earth Fleet, the 302 Space Superiority Fighters moved to engage. A massive swarm of missiles rocketed out from the collective 302s and hurtled towards the enemy's rapidly closing position being led by a massive barrage of railgun fire, also coming from the fighters. To increase the lethality of the swarm of missiles, the fighters had been upgraded to include an advanced targeting VI in their computers. This allowed the pilots to target the fighters and fire every missile they had in the first wave, all without sacrificing a missile by over targeting a single fighter. The VIs would make sure that each missile not only hit the right target, but hit it in the right spot with the proper numbers.
As expected, the massive number of Ori fighters survived the initial missile wave and closed in on the Earth fighters. Unexpected, to the Ori at least, the missiles that tore through their ranks hit and they hit hard, fast, and with perfect accuracy. Each 302 had six anti-fighter missiles, and, with just under one-thousand 302s, over a quarter of the lightly shielded Ori fighters died in the missile swarm. Then the dogfight began.
As the two opposing factions met in battle, a flurry of railgun and plasma cannon fire erupted from the fighters of both sides and explosions filled the space between them as a measly thousand Earth fighters took on more than six times their own numbers. It was a testament to the bravery of those pilots that they'd even fly against an enemy that outnumbered them so heavily.
The 302s quickly roared out of the other end of the Ori's fighter formation. Pulling U-turns, the Earth fighters quickly headed back towards their defense of the planet as the Ori fighters engaged the 304s. Larger, anti-shipping railgun rounds hurtled through space and struck home, destroying even more of the Ori's fighters. The small craft fired on the two Daedalus-class ships in return before blowing past them as well even as the Odyssey and Apollo added their anti-fighter guns to the fray and the swarm parted around their shields. It was like being a room made of glass as the world burned around you. Explosions dotted the forward viewport as the fighters flew past the Battlecruisers at high speeds.
Finally the swarm passed the 304s and their last obstacle was the Clausus Cursor. While the Asgard ship had no noticeable anti-fighter weapons, it did have a bunch of plasma and ion cannons that would destroy several fighters in a single blow… and it had the white light.
Sieon wasn't quite sure what the hell that thing was, but when it moved through space it vaporized anything it touched. Entire swarms of fighters disappeared under the gaze of the powerful weapon. The Cursor, by the time the fighters had passed her by, had singlehandedly 'disappeared' over a thousand fighters from space and the 302s were closing in for another attack from behind.
Even then, the fighters swarmed over the massive ship like water breaking upon rocks before blowing past it as well, not even bothering to fully engage any of the forces arrayed against them.
"Colonel Davidson, to Homeworld Command. The enemy fighters are not engaging the fleet. I repeat, the enemy fighters will not engage. They're headed your way!" Davidson reported back to Earth, his voice coming across the fleet's battle-net.
"All units be advised, the Ori are powering up their hyperdrives for an in-system jump," Widget informed the fleet at large.
"Prepare for capital ship assault," Sieon calmly ordered as the 304s broke off their pursuit of the fighters to ready for the real fight.
"Cam, it's Sam. The Ori fighters are broadcasting a wide range of IFFs. I think they're going to try and make an atmospheric assault while their ships jump in. All 302 squadrons are to get back into the atmosphere ASAP!"
"Then why sacrifice so many during the swarm?" Mitchell asked in reply.
His question, however, went unanswered as Jack said, "Carter, our boys aren't going to make it back to orbit in time and we all know it. What's the probability that they can penetrate the barrier?"
"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know," Sam replied. "Pac, what have you got?" Sam asked the AI that had been let loose in the SGC's and Area 51's computers. Coordination was key during this battle and no one could think faster than an AI. Especially a networked AI.
"I've already tagged multiple squadrons with a one-hundred percent chance at making it through the barrier in one piece," Pac answered as calmly as he could given the panic the AI was feeling. Yes, Furling AIs can panic. A strange notion indeed. "That's over a thousand fighters that'll be making it through, just so you know."
"Alright, here's the plan," Sieon started as a rift in space opened up to deposited the Nex between the Ori fighters and Earth as opposed to its previous place sitting near the head of the fleet. Flagship or not, you go where you're needed most. "Keep those Motherships off of our backs as long as you can and we'll handle the fighters. Widget, ready the plasma flak cannons!"
The Nex's plasma flak cannons work just like any other flak cannon, only they fire plasma rounds. Rather than using the stable plasma rounds fired from the standard cannon design, the plasma flak cannons use an unstable plasma round that loses stability after being fired and explodes into a ball of super-heated plasmatic energy. The plasma flak cannons, however, hadn't been used in so long that they took a few moments to gather plasma from the protostars and destabilize it for use as a flak weapon.
A few moments too long.
The Nex shook violently as several Ori fighters made kamikaze runs directly into the massive ship's shields. As the cannons finally came online, the shields had a momentary fluctuation that allowed one of the fighters to break through the shield and impact against the hull.
"Godsdamn it! Hull breach, sector eight," Widget's voice reported.
"What's the status of the FTL drive?" Sieon asked, obviously worried.
Being onboard the monster of a ship that is the Paciscor of Nex was rather exciting, especially during a battle. The CIC's plain white walls were replaced by a holographically generated, three-hundred-sixty degree view of the battlefield. The way it was set up showed the command chair encased in a holographic representation of the ship while the rest of the room showed a three-dimensional version of the battlefield complete with models of the Odyssey and Apollo nearest the approaching Ori Fleet with the Cursor behind them, the Devastator behind it, and each individual fighter as they swarmed past the fleet. As the Ori fighters closed in, the men and women temporarily added to the ship's crew could only watch with fascination at the detail the display showed.
"The FTL drive is currently offline and in need of repair, but I managed to avoid any secondary explosions, and the core is still fully operational. Also, the plasma flak cannons are ready to fire," Widget rattled off the damage report in the fastest language he could speak, which is to say Furling, and, as Widget finished speaking, Sieon swiveled the chair around to face the incoming fighters, the Nex's engines realigning the massive ship so her dorsal structure was facing the fighters full-on.
"May the Great Flame of Oblivion have no mercy on your souls!" Sieon declared to the Inescapable Void as space around the ship was filled with bright, golden explosions of unstable plasma.
"Oh my god!" one of the technicians exclaimed as the holographic display showed them what the fighters would see.
*Clausus Cursor (Combat Information Center)*
"Holy shit!" Major Stan, the Cursor's tactical officer, exclaimed. "Why are the most beautiful things in life always the deadliest?" he asked no one in particular as the largest ship in the system pumped out round after round of dazzlingly bright, golden balls of fire.
'Smart,' Admiral Ricks thought to himself. 'The bright flash of light blinds their target to the next shot.' Coming back to his senses, the Admiral ordered, "Keep your head in the game, Major. We've got incoming capital ships." The Admiral, pulled from his spot aboard a Naval Destroyer a few months ago for 'specialized training,' looked on in fascination mixed with apprehension as the Ori Motherships dropped out of hyperspace in front of their drastically smaller fleet. "Coordinate fire with the rest of the fleet, target one enemy vessel at a time, get their shields down, then have the Odyssey and Apollo finish her off with their ion cannons. Be sure to keep them off of the Nex until Sieon's done with the fighters!"
The Admiral was the ship's designated Commanding Officer and had stepped up to take command once Sieon had left for his own ship. Now he was the acting Fleet Admiral and the reality of that wasn't lost on him. A series of confirmations came through to the Admiral from both his ship's crew and the fleet's commanders.
The battle for Earth had begun.