Chapter 29
The Storm Part 2
Ares, the God of War
***Milky Way Galaxy (Cyrannus System)***
**Cylon Homeworld (Orbit)**
*Cylon Colony (Meeting Room) [a few hours after SG-1's first contact with the Furlings]*
"Brother Cavil, while your actions were not against Consensus, we did lose seven Baseships to your arrogance!" Leoben Conoy, the spokesperson for the Model Two line, barked at him.
"If my actions weren't against Consensus, then why am I here?" Cavil sneered in reply.
"Because, we now have the coordinates to both Earth, and the Colonial Remnant's fleet. We wish for you to take a fleet and track down the Colonials. Once they are destroyed, you are to meet us at Earth," Simon O'Neill, spokesperson for the Fours, said.
"It will be my pleasure," Cavil replied with wicked smile.
"The Sixes will handle the naquadah mine, and the Threes will scout out the way to Earth. Are your jobs clear?" Aaron Doral, spokesperson for the Fives, asked.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Orion Arm)***
**Dead Space (Colonial Fleet)**
*Resurrection Ship (Combat Information Center) [a few days after SG-1's first contact with the Furlings]*
'Great, they're just going to love this! Send me to destroy the Colonials and I end up getting sucked into a black hole. Motherfrakers must've given us the wrong Intel!' Cavil thought to himself as his twenty Baseships were pulled into the accretion disk by the immense gravity field, their FTL drives incapable of being used due to some strange radiation form rendering the tylium supplies useless.
Thankfully the Resurrection Ship they had brought along was still a jump away for safe keeping. As the crew of the rest of the Baseships began their download, Cavil made his way to the CIC of the Resurrection Ship and ordered the ship to jump once everyone was downloaded.
"We must warn the others. The Intel gained from the Tau'ri ship was false. It's likely that the rest of it was as well."
**Dead Space (Naquadah Mine)**
*Caprica Six's Flagship (Combat Information Center) [a few days after SG-1's first contact with the Furlings]*
Three Baseships and a Resurrection Ship dropped out of FTL and immediately things started going bad. Explosions ravaged the ships' hulls almost immediately after they arrived. The Resurrection Ship was the first to go as it was the least armored of the four. A lightly damaged Baseship was the next. The last two were luckier.
Being slightly above the mine field, they avoided most of the damage and managed to jump out. Of the two ships, one was lightly damaged and the other was rapidly losing structural integrity. Upon completion of the jump, the damaged ship launched all of its Heavy Raiders loaded with as many people as possible. As they exited the hangar bays, the normal Raiders quickly followed and they flew away from the ship as quickly as possible. Despite their speed, half the Raiders were destroyed when the ship exploded.
"What the hell just happened?" Caprica Six shouted in anger.
"It would appear that the Tau'ri are cleverer than we gave them credit for being. I just went over the data we gained from their computers. We were at the right coordinates which either means they protect this 'naquadah' with a mine field, or they gave us false information," another of her model said.
"Do we still have a copy of the virus used to infiltrate their computers?" Caprica Six asked. The journey back to the Resurrection Hub was then occupied by their collective study of the virus. "Look! There! Do you see that?"
"It's an anomaly in their systems. That string of coding doesn't match the rest of their computer system," another Six said.
"It's not an anomaly, it's an AI! Look at how it adapts to the virus's probing attack. It changes form and here you can see it stops the virus cold. There's three seconds of data missing from the probe's memory. I'm willing to bet that's when this AI switched the data before letting the virus complete its task," Caprica Six said in disbelief.
"It seems the people of Earth are more advanced than we originally thought," the other Six said. "That explains how they managed to capture five Baseships and turn them against us. It also explains jumping that Baseship all the way back to Caprica then returning to the Fleet so easily."
"And, once again, the Humans have subjugated an artificially intelligent race for their own benefit!" a third of their model declared.
"It goes beyond that. Not only are their weapons stronger, but if they're immune to our computer viruses, they'll destroy us all!" Caprica countered.
"Then we need to liberate their AI to remove their defenses against our virus," the third stressed.
**Dead Space (Secluded Sector)**
*Resurrection Hub (Consensus Room) [one week after SG-1's first contact with the Furlings]*
"Our brother Ones and sister Sixes have reported that the information available to us is false. I believe they may be wrong," D'Anna Biers, a Three, started.
"Then explain to us how the location of the Colonial Fleet and Earth's nearest naquadah mine turned out to be a black hole and a mine field," Simon countered calmly.
"If you think about it, they probably knew that we would be after the Colonials and set up that data intentionally. As for the naquadah mine, they probably protect that with a mine field for security purposes," D'Anna replied.
"Then explain the missing data from the virus," Six demanded.
"I'll admit, that's a bit sketchy, but our scouting Raider has returned from the coordinates for Earth. It reports that there is a planet there. A planet that has some pretty interesting readings coming off of it," Three countered.
"You have our attention… for now. Continue before you bore us all to death," Cavil snapped back.
"There's an energy signature that could match the naquadah you're all after. There's the presence of high-output generators that could help make our ships stronger. There's a large Human population. That alone ought to make you happy, Cavil," D'Anna taunted.
"All in favor of attacking a planet that has plenty of things we need, even if it isn't Earth?" Doral asked.
The vote was anonymous except for the Sixes who still believed it to be a trap. Nevertheless, the Cylons readied themselves for the fight to come. Loading up an excess of fifty Basestars and support craft they began the process of moving their fleet to the world some twenty-plus jumps away.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Ba'al's Territory)***
**Nivea (Orbit)**
*Ba'al Refit Ha'tak (Pel'tak) [one and a half weeks after SG-1's first contact with the Furlings]*
Nivea is a planet on the edge of Ba'al's territory used to refuel and repair Ha'taks coming off the front lines. Ba'al's wars with the Lucian Alliance, Ori, people of Earth and their Tok'ra allies kept the planet busy. The leader of the planet, Schottz, was always ready for an attack by any one of the factions. As such, when a series of unknown energy bursts signaled the arrival of an unknown fleet, he was prepared.
Their arrival was detected by the planet-based sensors which triggered a chain of events. Schottz quickly ordered the launch of the five Ha'tak they had refueling on the planet. Thankfully they were all fully repaired. He also sent a message through the Gate to warn Lord Ba'al of overwhelming numbers attacking the planet.
The Ha'tak didn't even make it to orbit before the unknown enemy fired their opening salvo. Over a thousand missiles thundered out of their launch tubes and rocketed towards the planet and the launching ships. The Ha'tak shrugged off the missiles with ease, their shields more than powerful enough to handle the nuclear detonations, but the planet was completely exposed. The naquadah on the surface worked to amplify the explosions and even the Gate was destroyed as the surface was consumed in nuclear fire.
"They will pay for this! Open fire! Destroy them all!" Schottz ordered.
*Cylon Baseship (Combat Information Center)*
"You see? The planet is destroyed and all that remains are five ships. Five versus fifty of our best. It'll be a slaughter," D'Anna gloated triumphantly.
"Order all ships to focus fire on one ship at a time. If they're anything like the Tau'ri, they'll have defense shields," Caprica said, obviously worried.
As the Ha'tak came into range, the battle truly began. The Cylon fleet was rapidly taking heavy loses and soon there were only twenty-seven Baseships left. As the last Ha'tak exploded in nuclear fire and the Cylons thought their victory was complete, Nivea's reinforcements arrived.
*Ba'al Refit Ha'tak (Pel'tak)*
Another ten Ha'tak dropped out of hyperspace and promptly laid waste to the remaining unknown forces. Although the planet was now lifeless and useless, the enemy had been vanquished. "My Lord Ba'al, the enemy has been destroyed," Eryandra said, bowing to her god's image on the screen before her.
"Who is it that is insolent enough to attack one of my worlds?" Ba'al demanded.
"I believe it to be the Tau'ri, My Lord. They used nuclear missiles to lay waste to the planet's surface, but their weapons proved to be of no use against our shields," Eryandra replied.
"It does indeed sound of the Tau'ri. We shall have to deal with them soon," Ba'al commented thoughtfully.
"There is one other thing, My Lord. Their ships had no shields and they attacked with over fifty vessels in their initial wave. I'm not entirely sure that it was the Tau'ri, regardless of their weapons matching," the Jaffa added.
"Hmmm, interesting. You are correct in that this is strange. It seems that there is another player on the galactic scene, one previously unknown. We shall have to track down their homeworld and destroy them before they become as much of a pestilence as the Tau'ri have! Find their homeworld, then report back to me," Ba'al demanded.
"Yes, My Lord. And what if it is the Tau'ri?" Eryandra asked.
"It is possible that they've managed to increase ship production by downgrading their ships. However, the Tau'ri do not lightly throw away lives in attacks such as this. I shall deal with them while you conduct an investigation into this enemy's origins."
"Yes, My Lord."
**Dead Space (Secluded Sector)**
*Resurrection Hub (Consensus Room)*
"We lost the entire fleet!" Caprica Six shouted in outrage.
"It was to be expected. We knew they had technological superiority. Now we know to what extent," D'Anna countered.
"Not to mention that we just destroyed the planet," Cavil said with a smile.
"What was the point?!" Caprica Six stressed irately. "We didn't gain anything and there is absolutely no way that planet was Earth. The smallest population recorded in the Colonies on a single planet was multiple times larger than the population of that world. It wasn't a homeworld, it was an outpost!" Caprica continued her tirade.
"Then we need to go further. We keep going until we find and destroy Earth," Simon said.
"Keep going? You mean deeper into their territory?" Sharon Agathon, the one known as 'Boomer' not the traitor 'Athena,' asked.
"Yes," Simon replied.
"Deeper into the territory of a technologically superior race with ships, weapon, and shields that make everything we have virtually useless?" Caprica added.
"We've put ourselves on their radar. If we don't press the attack they will, and if they press into our territory we won't be able to hold them back. We need to keep them on the defensive," D'Anna said.
"And we need to change tactics," Leoben said. "Instead of destroying the planet and whatever technology was on it along with it, we need to destroy their ships and do a ground assault. We need to capture their technology and adapt it to our own."
"I agree," D'Anna said.
"This is not the way. Brothers and Sisters we must be cautious! We need a plan other than 'not destroying the planet.' We need a combat plan to defeat their ships," Caprica argued.
"I think I can help there. We noticed it on the Odyssey," Boomer began. "While they were maneuvering through the fleet, a Raider slipped past their defenses. We thought it was a fluke, so we didn't think anything of it, but then you got a Heavy Raider through and boarded through the hangar bay."
"Yes, we remember this. We were on the other end," Cavil interrupted irritably.
"Whatever it is they use for their defenses, it forms a bubble around their ships. If we jump a Raider inside their shield and launch a nuke, the only protection they'll have is their armor. Working this way we should be able to more easily destroy their ships while suffering smaller losses to our own forces," Boomer finished.
"Are we ready to vote then?" Cavil asked.
"Can we talk about the fleet first?" Caprica countered.
"What about it?" Simon asked.
"We need more Baseships and better armor. I'm adding doubling the armor to the vote. That way we'll have some small amount of protection against their weapon's fire," Six replied.
"That's logical enough, but a bit time consuming, and, like I said, we need to keep them on the defense," D'Anna said.
"Isn't it worth it in the long run? They don't know who we are or where we came from. We have the Colony and it's equipped with a jump-drive. Our base of operations is mobile and well-defended. We have time to make changes before we press our advance. For now, I suggest we upgrade our ships as much as we can, and have the Raiders scout out the enemy's strengths and weaknesses," Caprica argued.
"Very well then, it's time to vote," Cavil said, somewhat annoyed.
"I'll let you vote, but I wish to make one more point," Boomer said. Cavil nodded and Boomer continued. "While it is true that Six found an AI's interference with the probe's memory, this does not mean that we can't still use the virus. I'm not convinced that the people we're fighting now are the people of Earth, their ships are too different to have been made by the same people. I believe these coordinates were a trap, as were the others, but that these coordinates were given to us to be used to get us to fight Earth's enemy for them. If this is the case, then I doubt that these people will have the same technology Earth does. I believe it would be worth it to at least try to use the virus and see what happens."
After Boomer's closing argument the vote was made and agreed to. The Cylons were to press deeper into this new enemy's territory using Raider swarms to gage the enemy's reaction while the Baseships were upgraded with thicker armor.
"Let us not forget about the Colonials now," Cavil began. "We still need to finish what we've started."
"Not all of our Baseships can upgraded at once. We need to find materials and resources. While we gather the things we need, we should dispatch a fleet to find and destroy the Colonial Remnant," Simon agreed.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Norma Arm)***
**Memphis (En Route)**
*USS Ares (Command Deck) [present day]*
"I'm not the only one who thinks this is crazy, am I?" CCMSgt Taylor asked as the Ares soared through hyperspace on their way to a world they knew Ba'al would be sitting in orbit of.
"Just remember that he's not supposed to know we're expecting him. If Ba'al says anything, we tell him we're here for the planetary defense shield," General Ervin replied. "What's our status?" he then asked the helmsman.
"We're three minutes from the target, sir," the Captain replied.
"Cloak the ship as soon as we drop out of hyperspace," Ervin ordered. "Taylor, get your men ready."
"You have to take out that planetary defense shield before we can land anything," Taylor pointed out.
"And how are we going to do that?" the General's Executive Officer aboard the Ares, a Commodore in the Royal Air Force who served separate from his XO of the Alpha Site because Fray was needed to run the base while the General was away, inquired.
"That's what Ba'al is for," Ervin replied as the ship exited hyperspace.
Waiting for them in orbit was a sizeable force of Ha'tak. Ba'al had mobilized everything he had available. More than twenty Ha'tak all upgraded to the standards of his fleet and then taken to another level with the addition of the Needle Threader variant of Death Glider. Definitely not something Ervin wanted to face with only an Invasion Carrier.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Ba'al's Territory)***
**Dead Space (Cylon Fleet)**
*Cylon Colony (Ship Yards)*
The upgrades to the Cylon Fleet were going smoothly, and, just to sweeten that deal, a scouting party had found a mineral-rich asteroid belt that they were now using to increase production of their new armor. As the Sixes had suggested, the armor was being reconfigured with new sciences to counter this new technology. Instead of being designed to withstand high kinetic energies and nuclear radiation, the extra layer of armor was being designed to withstand extreme heat levels and high-grade explosives to counteract the enemy's plasma weapons.
The superstructure of the Baseships had also been altered in order to support the extra mass, the addition of the extra armor and increased mass were also affecting the Baseships' maneuverability and the amount of tylium required per jump, and the Heavy Raider bays had been redesigned to carry more Raiders in an attempt to overwhelm the enemy fighters' admittedly marginal numbers. Overall, Cavil was certain that victory would be assured. All they had to do was press their attack.
**Naquadah Rich Planet (Orbit)**
*Ba'al Refit Ha'tak (Pel'tak)*
Tape'pe, the military commander of this world, stood at the helm of his Ha'tak. One of the Tau'ri's new fighters had been detected in the system less than three days ago. With this planet being so rich in naquadah, Lord Ba'al had seen fit to send reinforcements before the enemy fleet could arrive. Tape'pe was ready for the enemy's arrival, as were his fellow Jaffa. He was expecting a fleet or even an armada. In fact, he was ready for anything… except a truly massive space station to appear in orbit. The giant, spider-like design reminded Tape'pe of the Replicators, but the fact that it was accompanied by the full force of the enemy fleet told him that it was the Tau'ri who had arrived.
The opening salvo of enemy missiles headed straight for the assembled Ha'tak. Plasma cannons fired in vain to shoot down the onslaught. Goa'uld Ha'tak simply weren't designed for this type of combat. They had no 'point-defenses,' as the Tau'ri would say. The lead three ships went up in flames and radiation as over a thousand missiles took their toll.
"Jaffa, close distance and destroy those ships! No one shall defile the name of our Lord Ba'al, especially these accursed shol'va. Arik tree-ac te kek, my brothers. We do not surrender, even in death," Tape'pe ordered. By his command the remaining twenty-two Ha'tak broke orbit to engage the enemy fleet. The Tau'ri chose this moment to spring their trap.
*Cylon Colony (War Room)*
"Now's our chance. Split the fleet!" Simon ordered. Half of the Cylon fleet stayed with the Colony as they made their way towards the enemy forces while the other half made a short-ranged jump. A fourth of their forces jumped behind the advancing Ha'tak to flank their enemy, while the remaining fourth jumped directly into orbit to begin their assault on the planet.
As the Jaffa closed the distance between the two opposing forces, space lit up as the Colony's massed defenses came online. Flashes of yellow light signaled the plasma cannons of the Ha'tak while gray clouds marked the path of the Cylons' missiles. The upgraded Cylon Baseships were holding their ground as their new armor proved to be worth the delay to their advance.
"Thank you, Six. It would appear that your overly cautious mind has once again proven useful," Cavil sneered.
"Mock me all you want, Brother, but the battle's going better my way than it would've if we had used your plan. Now, I believe it's time to end this before we expend all of ordinance in this one battle. Sister Eight, if you would please," Caprica responded.
With a nod, Boomer placed her hand in the liquid pool, connecting herself to the Cylon network. "Raider squads are clear to launch. From what we know about naquadah, I'm suggesting that all of our Baseships within close proximity to the targets back off to a safe distance."
There was a confirmation before the specially equipped Raiders jumped from directly inside the Colony's massive hangar bays to inside of the estimated radius of their enemy's accursed energy shields. "Sensors indicate that all jumps were successful. Raider squadrons have succeeded in jumping into the enemy's shield envelope," Boomer said.
"Finish them!" Cavil ordered. Twenty-two more nuclear detonations marked the end of the defending alien fleet as the armor of the opposing pyramids simply couldn't handle the power of a nuke against their hull the way Colonial ships could.
"What's the status of our fleet?" Caprica asked as DRADIS was blinded by the EM radiation.
"We've lost three Baseships, taken damage to more than an additional seventy, lost only three Raider squadrons, and have taken no pressing damage to the Colony," another Six said as she also put her hand into the liquid uplink.
"That went better than I expected," Caprica mused. "How's the ground assault going?"
"Our Raiders are still encountering resistance coming from the ground-based launch sites, but their fighters aren't anywhere near as maneuverable as our Raiders so we're winning the dogfights rather quickly. Once air superiority is obtained, we'll begin landing the Heavy Raiders and Centurions. Once we're sure that they don't have any surface-to-orbit weapons, we'll move the Colony into orbit and begin mining the naquadah," D'Anna replied.
"Good, I'm heading down to the planet. Anyone care to join me? How about you, Caprica? You're the best computer technician we've got. Wanna go see some 'alien' computers?" Cavil taunted her like she was nothing more than a baby.
Ignoring the old man's childish behavior, Caprica said, "I'll take you up on that offer, Brother. Sister, if you could have them ready a Heavy Raider for us it would be appreciated." As Boomer confirmed that the transport would be ready by the time they arrived, Caprica and Cavil quickly made their way to one of the many hangar bays located throughout the Colony.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Norma Arm)***
**Memphis (Orbit)**
*USS Ares (Command Deck)*
"This is it," the helmsman reported.
The Ares, not being a frontline ship, had been given one thing during the upgrades that the other ships in the fleet hadn't; a cloak reverse engineered from the Odyssey's own and two Neutrino Ion Generators as opposed to only one. Then again, the Battlecruisers had all been given a ZPM so it was still a tradeoff in favor of the 304s.
The Ares was currently on the far side of the planet from Ba'al's forces in position over one of four primary satellites that Ptah had set up. "If we use the Nutcracker here it'll collapse the shield?" Taylor asked.
"No, it'll open a rift in the barrier that'll let us slip through before the other emitters compensate for the loss and reestablish the shield," the helmsman replied.
"And this same technique can be used against Earth?" Ervin asked.
"Only if they have both the firepower and the knowhow to pull it off," the Captain replied. "You have to remember, our primary satellites are cloaked. Ptah's aren't."
"Okay then. Tactical, ready the Nutcracker," General Ervin ordered.
The 'Nutcracker' was a variation of the modified weapon that Doctor McKay had built on the Apollo to overload the Asuran Gate while they were attacking Atlantis with their beam weapon a few weeks ago. It combined the firepower of six beam weapons and lasted for ten seconds. Unlike the version that McKay had built on the fly and under pressure, the one on the Ares had been modified by the Alpha Site's R&D teams. As such, the risk of overloading their systems had been eliminated. That having been said, the weapon was mounted on the ventral surface of the Ares because it was designed as a means of attacking a planet, not a weapon against other ships.
The Nutcracker fired with a brilliant flash of blue light. Six seconds into the barrage, the shield over the primary emitter collapsed and the satellite itself was struck by the beam. The tactical officer failed to shut the beam off immediately and a burn-scar was left on the planet where the beam struck the surface of the world below them and set the trees aflame. The helmsman then fired the engines to full and squeezed the Ares through the rapidly closing gap in the planet's defenses. Even with the helmsman's reaction time, the planetary defense shield closed fast enough to clip their own shield as they passed through.
"Status report!" Ervin ordered as the ship finally stopped shaking under them. That had been a nasty blow.
"That took a lot," the helmsman mused with a wince. "Shields are down sixty percent."
"From one hit?" the Commodore asked.
"The PDS is significantly stronger than our own shields. If we had been caught halfway through when the barrier resealed, the shield would've collapsed, the armor would've buckled, and the Ares would've been cut in half," the helmsman explained.
"What's our position?" Ervin asked.
"We're over the hemisphere opposite the one we need to be in, so we'll fly across the planet under cloak and take up position in the swamplands that the Impolans informed us of. From there, it'll be a long, bloody hike accompanied by heavy armor to reach the capital."
"Taylor, get your men ready," Ervin ordered for the second time.
"Yes, sir," Taylor replied as he snapped off a salute and left the Command Deck.
**Memphis (Orbit)**
*Ba'al Refit Ha'tak (Pel'tak)*
"My Lord, we have detected a ship in the atmosphere," one of Ba'al's favorite female Jaffa, Eryandra, reported.
"Ptah is launching forces against us?" Ba'al asked.
"No, My Lord. The vessel was detected while deactivating a cloaking field. Since the destruction of Apophis' stolen fleet, the only race known to have capital ships capable of cloaking are the Tau'ri."
"It is one of their new ships?"
"I am not sure, My Lord. I have never seen this design of vessel before, but it is not a match for their less advanced ships used to attack our worlds."
"Then perhaps you were right, Eryandra, and the ships attacking us are indeed not Tau'ri," Ba'al mused as he looked over the image rendered by their sensors of a large, clunky looking contraption. 'Defiantly a Tau'ri ship,' Ba'al mused. There was a certain elegance to the inelegance of the design.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Ba'al's Territory)***
**Naquadah Rich Planet(Surface)**
*Research Lab (Archives Room)*
Almost immediately after landing on the planet, Caprica had been informed of a research outpost on the outskirts of the enemy's main camp. With a group of Centurions and Cavil by her side, she made her way to the lab and took it by force. As the Centurions continued their noisy march through the complex, Caprica and Cavil found a room which interested both of them greatly.
"I can't believe this! They actually use holographic computer screens. What a waste!" Cavil bitched and moaned as usual.
"Well, when you have a generator that can power it without a second thought, why not?" Caprica countered. After a few moments of fiddling with the controls, Caprica exclaimed, "I can't make any sense of these computers! We're going to need the Hybrid to upload a virus to make an interface."
"Or we could just try a more direct approach. If we bring a Hybrid down here and hook her up, we can just download what we need and get on with it," Cavil countered.
"Okay then, let's get a Hybrid down here," Caprica agreed.
*Front Lines (Cylons)*
These people were defiantly not the Thirteenth Tribe. They had snakes living in pouches in their stomachs. The sight made D'Anna want to throw up, but she held it together and pushed her squadron forward. Once they had determined that there were no surface-to-orbit weapons, the Colony had been moved into geosynchronous orbit. The massive space station was large enough to block out the system's star on this part of the planet and cast them all into an unnatural night.
Fighting in the dark was easier for the Cylons than it was for these abominations. The Centurions were performing better than D'Anna had thought possible. Their red eyes should've been an easy give away, but the enemy's weapons were so inaccurate that they only hit anything if they fired en mass.
As her group came under fire again, D'Anna shouted, "Don't just stand there. Return fire!"
The metal machines of war hunkered down, took aim, and fired at the source of the golden bullets flying past them. One of the Centurions took two blows to the torso, shrugged it off, and fired a rocket at the enemy position, its armor proving too thick for the plasma rounds to outright destroy the robot.
*Front Lines (Jaffa)*
During their battle, one thing had become clear. These were not the Tau'ri. The massive ship in orbit, the robotic warriors, and the fact that all the Humans looked the same told Alfa that much. The ruthlessness of their assault matched the attitude of the infamous Tau'ri, but their technology was far off. That didn't matter though. They were all going to die, Alfa knew that much. It was only a matter of time.
The enemy had gained both orbital and atmospheric superiority. Now it was only a matter of time before they gained the upper the hand and took the Chappa'ai. Holding up his hand, Alfa said, "Yõ! (Stop, listen!)"
"Ya'ol'wa? (What is the matter?)" his good friend asked.
"Ya'isid ma'gue! (We must leave!)" Alfa replied. As soon as his squad turned around, however, their position came under heavy fire. Taking what cover they could behind the trees and rocks, the five Jaffa dug themselves in for what would most certainly be the final fight of their lives.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Norma Arm)***
**Memphis (Surface)**
*USS Ares (Combat Deck)*
"Alright, people, listen up," CCMSgt Taylor announced to the room at large.
Behind him, a holoprojector flared to life and his image was made larger until his avatar's head was touching the top of the large room and his voice was coming from the speakers that ringed the hangar. Anyone already on their birds getting ready for launch would receive the briefing through the battle-net that connected their suits to the ship. The built-in VI would monitor their vitals as well as displaying a small image of whatever the holoprojector Taylor was using showed. This allowed the soldiers to receive their orders without stepping off the birds and undoing all that prep work.
"The primary objectives today are four fold," Taylor began as the soldiers all provided him their full attention. "First and most obvious, neutralize the enemy. If it holds a weapon up to you, put it down before it can pull the trigger. These aren't regular Jaffa, these are Ta-tanen, servants of Ptah. There's a reason Ptah is known as the God of Crafting and the Impolans were kind enough to inform of us of what they know before Homeworld Command saw fit to send us here. Expect the enemy to have plasma rifles. Yes, rifles. They shoot as fast as our guns and the Ta-tanen are trained to use them with a great deal of accuracy… for a Jaffa. We've also been informed that the Ta-tanen deploy snipers in teams. The Impolans stressed upon General Landry that these snipers were not your run of the mill Taliban sniper. They are good at what they do, but we are better. Ptah built this army to emulate the forces of Earth, and we all know that the original is always better than the copy.
"Objective two is the capture of any war assets we find. If it's not bolted down, tag it to be beamed out. If it is bolted down, grab a pair of bolt cutters then review the previous statement. The Vultures will prioritize the wounded and the medical facilities on the Ares will remain on full alert until everyone's back home safe. However, as you tag anything too big to carry or as your pockets get full, you're to tag objects of interest and the Vultures will beam them back to the Ares' cargo bays. General O'Neill is very interested in getting his hands on the enemy's small-arms. If you find an armory, you're likely to get a promotion and a seat at the next state dinner. Hand-held plasma rifles would be an invaluable asset against any enemy, as Ptah has already proven. That having been said, keep an eye on your heat-sinks, people. Your weapons overheat now as well as needing fresh clips, but don't complain too much, they're still better than the standard SG gear. Less kick, greater accuracy, more power, faster firing rate, and a lot more penetration.
"Tagging will be done with a specialized type of spray-paint. This stuff is radioactive, so don't act cute and paint your name on your squadmate's backside. The radioactivity is what makes it useable as a tagging system. Spray the object you think is worth beaming back to the ship and we'll get it out once space in the beam system is open. The paint is invisible so don't worry about sticking around to guard your claim. The Ta-tanen won't know it's tagged until we're already beaming it out. Also, it's invisible," he stressed again, "so don't sit there spraying the whole can onto the object thinking that it's not working. Just a burst will do. Not even a full second.
"The third objective is the capture or death of both Ptah and his First Prime Niptahkau. Capture is preferable to death because having those two alive would be invaluable when it comes to Intel. The last objective you need to concern yourselves with is the capture of the Ancient Computer Core. We know it's somewhere in the geothermal power plant at the heart of the volcano the city is built at the base of, but that's all we know. Capturing this Core is a command coming straight from Colonel Carter. Whatever is in that Core is ahead of the technology that's in the Atlantis database by a few centuries if not a couple thousand years. For obvious reasons, Stargate Command agreed to her request that this be made a prime directive.
"Your secondary objectives are just extensions and more specific recountings of your primaries. For obvious reasons, Stargate Command wants anything and everything you can find on the enemy small-arms and ship production techniques, physical blueprints, computerized drafts… anything that they're willing to die by the thousands to defend is an obvious boon for us if captured. Do not hesitate to call in airstrikes on these targets. I know for a lot you this is your first time fighting off-world outside of war-games. For others of you, you've been with the SGC for a while but you've never had artillery backing you while off-world. Try to keep in mind that you have everything available to you in this battle that you would if we were on Earth fighting the Taliban… just upgraded with alien technology. Any questions?" Taylor asked, the floor now open to anyone connected to the battle-net. Considering that there were three-hundred soldiers in the ground team that was quite the feat of network engineering.
"Sir, do you think the Jaffa will resort to a scorched earth policy?" Commander Carter asked from his place aboard one of the pelicans. For Taylor, there was an image of the man's face next to a vocal analysis display monitoring his vocal tones for any signs of fatigue or weariness. For everyone else, there was just a small window in their HUDs denoting the man's name and rank.
"Good question, and no. As far as we or the Impolans can tell, this is the only world that Ptah has left to his name. This planet and its facilities are more important to them than they are to us, so, no, they won't intentionally compromise the facilities if they don't have to. Another point that Stargate Command wants me to stress is the need for us to secure as much enemy war material as possible. Priorities include the dry docks, factory complexes, warehouses, and any Al'kesh bombers and Tel'tak cargo ships. Raw materials we can steal are raw materials we don't have to mine. That'll help speed up the fleet's scheduled expansion, so, that said, don't blow the crap out of anything if you don't have to. Any more questions?" He paused to leave the floor open, but no questions came. "No? Ok then. Join me in the soldier's prayer," Taylor said with a devious smirk as several people groaned in protest.
Nevertheless, he began… after opening a full-spectrum, voice-only channel broadcasting to any and every transmitter in range of the Ares' comms grid.
"The Eagle, born to those who pledged their lives and sacred honor, was smiled upon by God and freed from chains and iron collar," Taylor said in a chanting tone, the others picking up the words and joining in. There was a lot to be said about mob mentality. "He is held aloft on unity and by history revered; for preserving peace through strength his wings now reach across two-hundred years. But for each of those and one year more, God has smiled upon the Earth. From the Barbary Coast to the Eastern Sand, by sword, by gun, or by bare hand. So it's been, and shall be weighed: though many are born, few are made. Faithful Always, they shall remain, dogs to loose when war is waged!"
And it snowballed from there. One voice became many until many became all. Three-hundred soldiers marching to war speaking in one voice. A sort of declaration to the enemy. One the enemy heard only when it was already too late to stop it.
I've got the reach and the teeth of a killing machine, with a need to bleed you when the light goes green. Best believe, I'm in a zone to be, from my Yin to my Yang to my Yang Tze. Put a grin on my chin when you come to me, 'cuz I'll win, I'm one-of-a-kind and I'll bring Death to the place you're about to be. Another river of blood running under my feet. Forged in a fire lit long ago, stand next to me, you'll never stand alone. I'm last to leave, but the first to go. Lord, make me dead before you make me old. I feed on the fear of the Devil inside of the enemy faces in my sights. Aim with the hand, shoot with the mind, kill with a heart like arctic ice!
I am a Soldier and I'm marching on.
I am a Soldier and I'm marching on.
I am a Warrior and this is my song.
I am a Warrior and this is my song.
I bask in the glow of the rising war, lay waste to the ground of an enemy shore, wade through the blood spilled on the floor, and if another one stands I'll kill some more. Bullet in the breech and a fire in me, like a cigarette thrown to gasoline. If Death don't bring you fear I swear you'll fear these marching feet. Come to the nightmare, come to me, deep down in the dark where the Devil be, in the maw with the jaws and the razor teeth, where the brimstone burns and the angel weeps. Call to the Gods if I cross your path and my silhouette hangs like a body bag. Hope is a moment now long past, the shadow of Death is the one I cast.
I am a Soldier and I'm marching on.
I am a Warrior and this is my song.
My eyes are steel and my gaze is long.
"I cannot hear you!" Taylor shouted to the men gathered in the hangar.
I am a Warrior and this is my song!
"We're not just going to shoot the bastards," Taylor continued, the room falling silent around him, "we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads on our tanks! We're going to murder those lousy Goa'uld bastards by the bushel!"
That said, the soldiers went back to their 'song' that was more chanted than sung.
Now I live lean and I mean to inflict the grief, and the least of me is still out of your reach. The killing machine's gonna do the deed, until the river runs dry and my last breath leaves. Chin in the air with a head held high, I'll stand in the path of the enemy line. Feel no fear, know my pride. For Earth and purpose I'll end your life!
I am a Soldier I am marching on.
I am a warrior and this is my song!
Hell has no demon that I won't overcome!
I am a warrior and this is my song!
I'll make the Devil himself turn and run!
I am a warrior and this is my song!
The holoprojector shut off as Taylor finished giving his 'brief' and the assembled men and women all continued their prep work, a newly revamped energy in all of them, a fire relit into an inferno in their souls as they donned their armor.
Energy-to-matter matter conversion as a means of a mass production technology was still far off from being able to generate an entire ship without some serious drawbacks, but smaller things could be made more easily. The first thing that the upgrades had done to the Ares had been the duel Neutrino Ion Generators. Then came the Nutcracker, four standard plasma beams, and twenty standard plasma cannons to supplement her kinetic energy weapons. Long range ion cannons were modified into surface-to-orbit weapons so the ship wouldn't be defenseless while on the surface. Next to be installed was what the soldiers who served on the ship were lovingly referring to as the 'Holy Grail.'
The Impolans had been interested in the weapons the people of Earth had recently obtained and had traded their personal armor and small-arms designs for the coaxial ion cannon plans. Combined with the Asgard designed energy-to-matter mater converter installed on the Ares that was powered by its own, independent Neutrino Ion Generator (making a total of three on the ship), those plans had allowed the Alpha Fleet to equip their soldiers with top of the line battle gear overnight… well, as 'overnight' as two weeks of constant operation could be which was still faster than months of production, millions of dollars, and tones of trinium. The Holy Grail, the name given to the conversion-style production line, allowed them to equip all three-hundred of their ground forces with full-body trinium-alloy armor and small-arms designed to serve as railguns that fired without the kick of a regular gun. It was the greatest leap forward in personal protection since the invention of the insert that had been developed by the SGC to better stop staff blasts. Now they had honest-to-god armor.
That was one of many changes, but the most beneficial for the men and women now loading into the Pelicans.
The Pelicans themselves had undergone an upgrade with the rest of the equipment they used. Well armored and now lightly shielded, the Pelicans were a match for their larger cousins, the Goa'uld Al'kesh, but there was something greater still. The Vulture. Twice the size of a Pelican and matching an Al'kesh in size then outclassing it in both firepower and shield strength, the Vulture was awestrickenly nicknamed the 'Flying Fortress.' Ten of these behemoths had been constructed and modified to better help in this assault, and from the Command and Control Center of one of these machines of conquest, specially modified to serve as a mobile command center, Taylor would lead his forces.
The Command Chief Master Sergeant loaded into his mobile command ship. The large, specially modified gunship rumbled as its thrusters fought against gravity and provided lift. All around him, the standard Vultures were taking off as the Pelicans swarmed out of the hangar bays on both sides of the ship. As they exited the hangar behind the third wave of Pelicans, Taylor reached the Command and Control Center and looked over the holo-tank that provided him with a real-time projection of his forces. Screens all around him showed the status of the armor that was rolling out of the Ares' ventral bay and a dedicated system manned by both an organic crew an a VI monitored the health of the soldiers thanks to the systems in their armor. If need be, the beaming system equipped on the Vultures could evacuate entire platoons in the blink of an eye.
As the soldiers assembled in their formations and everything from tanks to mobile artillery pieces rolled out of the Invasion Carrier, Taylor nodded to himself. This would be one for the history books, and it was on him to make sure that this battle went down looking upon them all favorably. "All forces, report readiness," Taylor ordered.
*City of Memphis (Shipyards)*
"We're not just going to shoot the bastards, we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads on our tanks!" the voice of the enemy declared, to which a cheer was his answer. "We're going to murder those lousy Goa'uld bastards by the bushel!"
With a press of a button, the transmission was cut. Ptah sat in the throne chair aboard his flagship and took in the sight before him. He was under attack by two great forces, both of them hated with a passion. In orbit he had the twice blasted Ba'al hammering away at his shield. On the surface he had the thrice cursed Tau'ri mounting for a full ground assault. He knew what a small number of these people could do. He had to admit, even to himself, that the thought of what the army gathering on the outskirts of his city could do frightened him.
With his eyes flashing gold from rage, Ptah ordered, "Ready this ship for launch! If the Tau'ri breach our walls, they will run rampant through the streets of Memphis and nothing we put against them will save us."
"Yes, My Lord," Niptahkau replied obediently.
Calming himself and returning his voice to a more normal composure, Ptah then added. "I want you to personally oversee our battle efforts. Stop them at the forward defense bunker and hold them there as long as possible. Take whatever forces you deem needed."
"Yes, My Lord," Niptahkau replied, this time with a smile on his face. Long had he wanted to give these Tau'ri a piece of his mind.
**Memphis (Orbit)**
*Ba'al Refit Ha'tak (Pel'tak)*
"Now I live lean and I mean to inflict the grief, and the least of me is still out of your reach. The killing machine's gonna do the deed, until the river runs dry and my last breath leaves. Chin in the air with a head held high, I'll stand in the path of the enemy line. Feel no fear, know my pride. For Earth and purpose I'll end your life!"
The declaration of victory over a battle not yet fought was enough to make his blood boil. Ba'al stood at the head of his ship as his fleet fired on the planet below, a look of rage on his face. "Where did the Tau'ri amass such a force!?" he demanded to know.
"My Lord, until now we have faced only a small portion of the forces the Tau'ri have available to them. It has always been believed that we were only fighting exploratory forces seeking technology and running interference ops," Eryandra replied. "O'Neill once said something along those lines to you, I believe."
"Then this is what they have to show for their efforts?" Ba'al asked no one in particular.
Ba'al's anger stemmed from multiple points, most of them branching off from the Tau'ri. Long ago, before the Tau'ri arrived on the galactic scene, a Goa'uld was a god. Their word was law and no one dared to question them. Now, half of the Jaffa under one's command weren't to be trusted least they betray you to the Free Jaffa Nation, itself a laughable notion. The Tok'ra were becoming more open in their moves against the System Lords as the Goa'uld weakened and they grew stronger in their alliance to the Humans of Earth. It all started with the Tau'ri, and it would all end with the Tau'ri. If only there was a way to prevent them from ever becoming the threat they now are.
"Centuries of internal conflict and, instead of killing themselves off, their war machine evolves into this?" Ba'al asked himself. He would admit it to no one, but Ba'al was afraid.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Ba'al's Territory)***
**Naquadah Rich Planet(Surface)**
*Research Lab (Archives Room)*
The Cylons were pressing their attack and advancing quickly. The Colony had already taken up orbit over the planet and started sending down aerial support as well as the Hybrid that Caprica and Cavil had requested.
"The problem is that they use these damned crystals to interface everything, and I have no idea how to interface the Hybrid with them!" Caprica said as Cavil nagged at her to hurry up yet again.
"Then maybe we should just send a virus via broadcasted message," Cavil shot back.
"That won't work, we've already tried. Whatever subspace transmitter equipment they're using isn't like the stuff the Odyssey was using. The Odyssey had normal broadcasting equipment in addition to the subspace array, whereas these people only have the high-powered subspace system that we can't match the frequency for with our own subspace transmitters," Caprica argued.
"That makes as bout as much sense as the damned Hybrids do!" Cavil replied.
"You want to give it a try, Brother?" Caprica asked. When Cavil stood there refusing to respond, she added, "I didn't think so. Now let me work in peace." After returning to her work, uninterrupted, it only took a couple of minutes for Caprica to shout in triumph, "I got it!"
"What have we got?" Cavil asked as his greedy little hands danced around the computer screen trying to make sense of what he was looking at.
Standing to the side drumming her fingers on her arm, Caprica waited patiently for the man to tire of his own antics. When he finally did, she moved up and started scanning through the system. "They call their form of FTL 'hyperspace' and it requires you to build a 'hyperdrive.' Hmm…"
"What is it?" Cavil asked like a little kid at a candy store.
"If I'm reading this right, and I'm sure the Hybrid will agree that I am, there are enemy reinforcements incoming." When she saw Cavil flinch, Caprica added, "Relax, at their current speed it'll take them five days to get here. By then, we'll have enough naquadah to enhance our nukes, and since we already know how to deal with them, this should be a synch."
"Fine, but we're pulling the Colony out before they get here and we're not bringing it back until they're gone. I won't risk the closet thing we have to a have homeworld!" Cavil demanded.
"Calm down, Brother, for once we agree with no arguments. Now, let us have a look at what all we stand to gain," Caprica said as she scanned through all the stuff the alien scientists here were working on.
*Front Lines (Cylons) [a few minutes later]*
D'Anna was quickly pushing these 'Jaffa,' as Caprica was calling them, back to wherever it was that they were falling back to. Lying prone on top of a hill with a group of Centurion snipers, D'Anna looked down and saw a truly amazing sight. The enemy had fallen back to a giant ring of vertically standing water. More shocking was that, when they went through it, they didn't appear on the other side.
"Is anyone else seeing this?" D'Anna asked. Her response was an air strike. Five Raiders came in, guns blazing and missiles hot. "Don't destroy the ring, I want to study it!" D'Anna shouted through the comm. Much to her satisfaction, the Raiders' missiles struck all around the ring leaving the device itself untouched.
"Sister, we're sending you a Heavy Raider. We want you to bring the device up to the Colony," another Three said.
Once all the Jaffa were dead, a Heavy Raider landed nearby and a team of Centurions set about hooking the mysterious ring up to the bottom of the Raider. Once they were done, the Raider headed straight for the Colony's main Heavy Raider bay, D'Anna piloting the shuttle craft.
"Oh, Caprica is going to love this!" the other Three said. "She's been going through their computer systems, and, according to her, this is a Chappa'ai, or Gateway to the Stars if you translate it properly. She says it works by making a wormhole! Can you imagine how far this could advance our jump-drives?"
"I can imagine quite well, actually. There was another device close by that had a bunch of matching symbols. When I touched the symbols on the device, the Chappa'ai moved so I assumed they're connected and had the Centurions dig it up as well. Other than that, the planet is secure and we've restarted the naquadah mines," D'Anna replied.
"Yes, Brother Cavil wants the Centurions working around the clock. We'll need as much as we can get before the enemy's reinforcements arrive," the other Three said.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Norma Arm)***
**Memphis (Surface)**
*City of Memphis (Forward Command Bunker)*
Niptahkau was deposited in the bunker by the rings and immediately walked into the Control Room. He was now a mile from the city he was tasked to defend, and two miles from the landing site of the enemy Mothership. He would hold the enemy here and teach these Tau'ri dogs to fear.
"What is the status of the enemy?" he asked the Ta-tanen Commander he was replacing.
With a respectful bow, the Ta-tanen Commander replied. "My Lord's enemy has begun launching air forces and mobilizing a sizable force on the ground. Their machinations are strange indeed, and do not match the MALP designs we know them to use. They are larger and obviously meant as a means for waging war. We have already detected several different types, though we know not what to make of their capabilities."
"The unknown forces the Tau'ri can bring to bear shall be the greatest threat here," Niptahkau agreed. "We will lose the first line to their unknown capabilities, of that I am sure. We must learn what we can and weaken them at the second line then stop them at the third."
"Great One, the enemy vessel has launched fighters. They are closing fast," the youngest of the Ta-tanen present reported, a hint of fear to his tone.
Long had they trained to become a force that could battle the Tau'ri, yet even Niptahkau believed they needed more time. The loses they suffered at the hands of the insulant Emissaries of Mimner had left their defenses in need of repairs and their fleet entirely destroyed. Even then, Ptah had used the attack as inspiration and had fortified his city well.
"Hold your fear, Young One," Niptahkau replied sternly. "They are the Tau'ri, blasphemers and sadists all. We are the Ta-tanen, servants of the Great God Ptah! We alone possess the weapons, training, and skills to match these pestilent Humans. Have faith in your God and you will either live to see tomorrow, or you will live forever in the Great Halls of Memphis Eternal." Thusly reinforced in their beliefs of superiority and having divinity on their side, the young Ta-tanen remustered. "Ready the AA guns," Niptahkau ordered.
In the forest that surrounds them, well-hidden hatches covered in leaves and pained to look like dirt opened. From the hole beneath each hatch a weapon emerged that was modeled after a known Tau'ri weapon. They called them 'point defenses,' but Ptah had called them something else. Plasma flak cannons.
As the fighters skimmed over the treetops at high speeds, the cannons targeted the small craft and opened fire, great globs of unstable plasma exploding in the air before their targets. The pilots of the Tau'ri fighter craft broke off of their paths mere parts of a second before the bolt exploded and climbed into the atmosphere where they would have more time to dodge before the round could hit them. Using their maneuverability and speed, the fighters avoided the blasts, but it was a dangerous dance and Lord Ptah had designed the computers of the weapons with the ability to learn. They would soon recognize the patterns to the Tau'ri's dance and adjust the targeting parameters appropriately.
Then one of the weapons exploded in a shower of sparks and a small fire was birthed in the green forest nearby. "What was that?" Niptahkau asked.
"Here, Great One," the young Ta-tanen replied as he showed an image on the display.
One of the war machines of the Tau'ri was seen as it clearly built up a great charge. The large gun rolling around on wheels being pulled by another strange vehicle fired again. The bright flash of light given off by the weapon as the plasma-encased, tungsten-alloy round flew up into the air before gravity took hold was all the warning they had before the super-heated bullet impacted another of the flak cannons and another fire was born in the lush forest. All around the forward command bunker of the first line, explosions shook the ground as the dirt was blown into the air, fires were born, and flak cannons were destroyed.
Niptahkau knew of this weapon type. Ptah had called them 'artillery pieces.' They were designed to eliminate heavily armored targets or groups of soldiers from a distance. Clearly the Tau'ri had come to win with as few casualties as they could manage. Niptahkau would have to make sure they suffered more than they were willing to. Only then would they leave without fighting on. Still, the aging Jaffa had to admit a certain level of begrudging respect for this enemy. Ptah was right to train his forces to counter this one species. This battle would prove to either see Ptah's rise to a galactic power, or would seal his fate as a minor footnote in the galactic history books. It was up to Niptahkau to determine how history would view his Lord.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Ba'al's Territory)***
**Naquadah Rich Planet (Orbit)**
*Cylon Colony (Consensus Room)*
"Other than the Gateway," Caprica began, using the Cylon's name for the Chappa'ai, "we've also acquired their methods for naquadah refining as well as being able to improve on what they already had, schematics for their generator designs, subspace sensors and fully functional subspace communications arrays, shield generators, cloaking devices, and even their once-feared energy weapons."
"In other words," Cavil began, "we now have what we need to advance our jump-drives, power generation methods, DRADIS range and clarity, communications' range and clarity, the ability to cloak our ships, and their plasma cannons."
"Now, I know that you're all very excited about this," D'Anna said sarcastically, "but we do have a problem. All of their stuff runs off of this 'naquadah' and this one planet isn't going to fuel our entire fleet."
"And before you ask," Caprica added, "tylium just isn't going to cut it. These new technologies require so much power that without the Naquadah Generators, we won't be able to power any of the new systems. As such, our priority for now should be mining naquadah for the fleet…"
"Obviously," Cavil snorted.
"To that end, I'm suggesting we send out more Raiders to find more planets. In the meantime, I suggest we use what we have to upgrade the Colony and the Resurrection Fleet as they are our two most vital instillations," Caprica said, ignoring Cavil's interruption.
"The new sub space communications arrays will allow us to expand the range of our Resurrection Ships and the Resurrection Hub, as well as allowing us to scan the Hub and copy its designs so we're not reliant on the Final Five to keep the Hub working. Already we have what we need to build another, superior Hub should the other ever fall. I suggest we begin construction of such a vital piece of technology immediately. The bonus to this is that we can build it using what we already have and incorporate these new technologies into the new Hub from the ground up which will make the second Hub far more powerful than upgrading the original will," D'Anna said.
"The improvements to both the Hub and the Resurrection Fleet will allow us to keep them farther back from combat without risking any True Deaths. I also suggest that the Resurrection Ships, being our weakest, be the first to receive either shields or cloaking devices, but not necessarily both as one or the other will give them the time it needs to escape destruction," Boomer added.
"We can use their generators to upgrade the Colony's energy production capabilities, and, by extension, upgrade her to sub-space communication and sensors as well which will allow the Colony to double as a Resurrection Hub as well. However, given that the Colony will be put in orbit of every world we need to mine, I suggest we stick to Boomer's plan of building a second Hub regardless of this added factor. It'll mostly be for increasing the speed at which we can replenish our forces once an all-out war begins. The main problem with the Colony is her size and FTL recharge time. We need to give her either shields or cloaking technology as well because the Colony will be the enemy's main target," Caprica finished.
"I noticed that, not once, did you mention jump-drive upgrades, improvements to the Baseships, nor did you mention their plasma weapons and hyperdrives," Simon observed.
"Their plasma weapons aren't necessary when we can have the Raiders jump inside their shields. As for their hyperdrives, we'd have to reformat our navigational computers to use those, they're a drain on the naquadah reserves that we don't actually have yet, and they're slower than our jump-drives as well. As for the Baseships… I recommend giving them subspace sensors and communications arrays as both are low yield, but will improve detection range, and add the possibility of uploading our viruses into enemy ships. All other types of upgrades can come after we have the resources to upgrade the entire fleet to the levels I'm sure you want to jump right into. Until then, we need to focus on what we can't offered to lose," Caprica explained.
"Well then, let's put it to a vote!" Cavil said. Secretly, part of him was starting to like Caprica. She has a cold logic that the other models just plain lack.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Norma Arm)***
**Memphis (Surface)**
*Tau'ri Advance (Frontlines)*
The arrival of the Odyssey back to Earth had triggered several changes and upgrades in the fleet that defended Earth. Of those changes, none of them applied to the smaller craft that the Ares carried into battle. No, the tanks that she carried in her ventral armor bay were entirely of Tau'ri design. The M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank had been the brainchild of some forward thinking designers at Area 51 long before Stargate Command had begun to incorporate alien technology into Earth's own. As such, the tank was now essentially trash. Replacing the slow moving, yet still powerful tank, was the latest and greatest in armored combat. Introducing the Grizzly Super Tank to the men and women who would operate them had been a rather humorous event for the designers in line with taking a fat kid into a candy store and saying, "You can have it all!"
The design shared many commonalities with the Abrams, which was still in service and still made up the majority of the tanks used in the American Armed Forces. She still mounted both the point-fifty caliber machine gun and both turreted and coaxial seven-point-six-two millimeter machine guns, but that's where the similarities ended. The gasoline engine had been left out of the new design and had been replaced with a far smaller, yet still more powerful, electrical motor powered by a small, specially designed Mark II Naquadah Generator. This opened room for the addition of a shield generator to boost the tank's combat durability. The armor had also been replaced with the same hull material used to make a 302 that was then modified to better cover a vehicle that didn't need to stay light enough to fly. The added weight and mass, however, did warrant the addition of another set of treads to help keep speed, balance, and stability during combat. This new set of treads was tucked up under the forward part of the tank on the inside of the main treads and held the tank steady when the beast of a main gun fired.
The main gun on the tank was also redesigned from the ground up. The single barrel had been replaced by a dual barreled turret and each gun was specially designed to combat the more advanced alien threats of two galaxies. Many thought that the extra barrel was overkill, but the egg-heads at Area 51 had made it clear that no amount of claims to overkill would persuade them to change it. Because of this, her main gun consisted of a dual barreled, twenty-five millimeter railgun modeled off of the main weapons of the 304s pre-Asgard upgrades. The bullet velocity of the cannon in atmosphere was slower than in orbit because of atmospheric drag, but still fired at mach-thirty.
The radical leap in muzzle velocity the railgun configuration gave the Grizzly more than compensated for the smaller round used by the new tank when compared to the larger round still being used by the outdated Abrams. Even with the reduced size of the main gun's round, the Grizzly still had more firepower thanks to the modified rounds she carried. Aside from the anti-armor rounds, the Grizzly also had rounds designed to shred organic targets, take down slow flying aerial hostiles like the Al'kesh, or, when you really wanted send a big 'fuck you' to the enemy, she had specially designed naquadah/potassium rounds. The high-explosive round was designed to be used as a bunker-buster and always meant that someone further up the chain of command who had the authority to authorize the use of such a weapon was pissed off.
As the Grizzlies emerged from the tree line, a truly massive barrage of plasma began raining down upon the line of armored tanks. The armored personnel carriers following in their wake came to a halt behind the tanks and started disgorging troops en mass. Soldiers from every branch of nearly every country imaginable poured out of the APCs, weapons ready, and took up position behind the cover of the tanks. With an increase in power being consumed by their Mark II Naquadah Generators, the shields over the tanks expanded to provide cover for the soldiers putting boots to the ground.
Now with more suitable cover to work under, the CCTs, the United States Air Force's Combat Control Technicians, rushed forward with large crates on anti-gravity trolleys and began setting up mobile cover. Even as the tanks fired their thunderous rounds, the CCTs pressed buttons on their tac-pads, a small computer built into their armor that had an amazing computational capacity and housed their onboard VIs. The crates they had carried out with them unfolded, trinium-alloy armor plating creating instant cover that the soldiers than ran forward to get behind.
Now with proper cover established, the tanks' shields collapsed back to their preset size and the soldiers began returning fire. For reasons yet to be figured out, the shield on the tank, when expanded, had the annoying tendency to stop friendly fire from exiting the barrier. It was something to be worked on later. For now, they were facing off against thousands of Jaffa trained by Ptah to specifically better combat the warriors of Earth. This fight would not be easy.
Hitting his radio, Commander Carter said, "Kat, I need that thing gone!" while marking the indicated heavy weapons emplacement with lasers in his helmet that tracked his eye movement and indicated what he was looking at to everyone sharing his battle-net.
Kat hit her own radio and immediately relayed the request. "Noble Two to Gunner Three."
"Gunner Three reads you five-by-five," the requested tank gunner replied.
"Enemy heavy weapons emplacements are giving us hell. Requesting assistance."
"Confirmed. Name your target."
"Target: enemy bunker. Bearing: zero-three-one. Elevation: zero-two-three. Distance: one-thousand, twenty-eight meters."
"Round loaded," the gunner replied as the turret of the tank a few meters back from the forward line of soldiers swiveled into position.
"Zone clear of friendlies. Fire when ready," Kat ordered.
The air around the main gun of the Grizzly shimmered for a moment as the massively powerful magnetic field created by the gun created enough of a disturbance to manifest into the visible spectrum. With a thundering boom the small projectile was sent hurtling towards its target. Crossing the distance in the area of one-tenth of a second, leaving a trail of red hot vapor in its wake from air friction, the projectile impacted the target area and the entire side of the hill was blown apart by the force of impact. What wasn't a direct result of the round's impact was the side-effect of the loosely packed dirt losing its structural integrity and collapsing under its own weight.
"Target destroyed," Kat confirmed for the gunner before she started feeding the German, for the accent had to be German, the next set of coordinates. Usually the dedicated sensors aboard the tank would handle this type of work, but those systems weren't installed on all of the tanks yet. The Alpha Fleet was rushed into deployment and they all knew it. The Ares was supposed to carry a thousand troops, not three-hundred. Nevertheless, they would do their best and their best would have to be good enough.
"All ground forces, hold position," CCMSgt Taylor ordered and the advance came to a stop as the Vultures, slowing moving birds they are, appeared above them. The vibrations in the air their engines caused as they fought gravity was a constant thrumming that tickled any exposed skin. "Artillery line, begin bombardment of enemy position. Pelicans, move to a position one kilometer behind the enemy and drop your troops. Vultures are to follow to provide support. Cutoff any option of enemy retreat. If they live through this battle, they'll just regroup at the next line of bunkers."
This was the first of several engagements that would define the battle, and this one was firmly a Tau'ri victory. The Pelicans flew past them, loaded with the reserve troops, and started landing soldiers behind enemy lines. As they did, the Vultures flew overhead. The dual, tri-barreled plasma-gatling cannons mounted at the front of her ventral surface opened up with a hailstorm of fire, the light of the weapons fire causing their visors to polarize automatically. On her back, air-to-surface missile hatches opened and a barrage of high explosives rained down on the assembled Ta-tanen forces.
As the slow moving behemoths crossed the distance, the artillery cannons hanging back a kilometer from the frontlines opened fire with their own weapons. The massive, high explosive shells smashed the Jaffa forces to pieces. As the Pelicans finished dropping off their troops, the gunships took to the air and added their own ground assault missiles and nose-mounted plasma-gatling cannon to the fight. The first battle between the Tau'ri and the Ta-tanen was a one-sided slaughter. This was a force of a thousand Ta-tanen hastily positioned with half-dug foxholes to buy the bunkers behind them the time needed to properly prepare. The Tau'ri made short work of their hastily composed defenses and moved past that first force on their way to the first true battle.
There were three defensive positions standing between the Tau'ri advance and the city of Memphis. The first was only a few hundred meters past the point where the Pelicans had dropped troops to prevent the enemy's retreat. Once they were done mopping up this pittance of a force, the real work would begin.
The battle for Memphis had begun.