Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.

I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander.

For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/

Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/

Review Responses

AlexanderD: Things are going at hyperspeed as of late, which means eventually they are going to have to slow down. I'm sorry to say that i need to wind things down a bit in order to reach the next round of action but i'm hoping this chapter will be just as memorable.

BIG Z1776: One week ends another begins, one battle ends another is just on the horizon.

Shadows of Realm: Or there was something else going on that won't be apparent until later. Sometimes there is more happening than it appears from a single perspective.

Cdoctor: Battle forges comradeship.

Oddliver: The way most fighters are designed, especially these versions, you rarely get close enough to see whats painted on the hull.

s-david-m: Unfortunately that's going to be true.

Kevin Trevino: It hasn't been asked and i had considered it and it is possible. The only problem is that while they have access to the general info like most important databases the juicy stuff isn't readily available. Its pretty simple to search the database once you have a translation program but if it were that easy they would already know how to make ZPM's and they've been looking for that from day one.

Seraphin2011: Have no fear your patience will be rewarded.

Osced: Yes he was.

Doom Bringer Computer Core

Sovaer dodged another bolt aimed for his head and fired one in return. He found himself surrounded by orbs and all of them were glowing an oppressive red. Eager to end this as quickly as he could he plucked out random data streams from those swirling around him, copying what data he could to his storage chip.

He had lost count of how many orbs he had shot down and had never been certain how many orbs there were attacking him. All he knew was that he was surrounded by a swarm of them and they were all gunning for his head. He couldn't take down that many in a straight up fight, let alone when he had to steal data at the same time. He strongly suspected that the computer core was generating new ones at a constant rate, which was why new ones were seemingly appearing from nowhere.

With a graceful leap he flew through the so called air, letting loose a flurry of bolts as he soared at the orbs around him. Landing solidly on his feet he snagged a nearby data packet before rolling to avoid another burst of fire. If he could keep moving then he could survive this just long enough for help to arrive.

Then he spotted it. A single fat orb covered in spines, crackling with energy. It was just floating there, seemingly not a threat to anyone. But he knew that couldn't be true. That thing, whatever it was, had to have a purpose of some kind. Before he could even begin to consider what it was though bolts of lightning shot out from it and one of them hit him square in the chest. The energy arced between him and the orb but as far as he could tell nothing was happening. He felt no pain and his avatar was undamaged. He couldn't understand it.

Then he rolled to avoid another flurry of bolts coming his way and he noticed the bolt of lightening was still connected to him. As he moved it stayed locked on him and still appeared to be doing nothing. It was frustrating that it seemed to have no discernable purpose and yet figuring out what it was supposed to be doing was taking up time in his thought processes and was slowing down his response time. He had been playing a constant game of cat and mouse with the system defences, constantly ducking and dodging to avoid being struck while snagging what data packets he could. Very rarely he would even fire off a few pot shots in an attempt to lower the count of enemies he faced. As a trained marksman he generally disapproved of firing blindly but in this situation, facing a veritable wall of enemies, the odds of him actually missing were slim. Ironically it actually improved his odds of survival to fire wildly rather than aim since it allowed him to keep moving without slowing down to line up a shot. More than a few orbs had gone down as a result of his hit and run strategy and more importantly he had been able to grab a number of data packets. He didn't have a clue what was in any of them, and for all he knew they could be personal logs, but that didn't mean he was going to stop. He intended to keep going as long as possible and gather as many packets as he needed, and only then would he cut the connection.

It was as this thought crossed his mind that he realised what the mystery orb did. The damn thing had established a connection to him, that's what that weird lightning was. There were only two reasons he could think of to establish a connection to his avatar. One of which was to transmit a virus to him to destroy the avatar, but since that clearly wasn't happening that only left the less favourable option. The orb was using its connection to his avatar to trace the connection his avatar had in the system, which meant that the orb would eventually find out where he had connected to the core. His own safety wasn't as much of a concern but Jakose was with him, and if they found where he was they would find where Jakose was.

He immediately started firing at the spiky orb but the others moved to take the hits and those that got past struck a barrier surrounding it. He knew at that point that he had officially run out of time. He couldn't possibly hope to take down those things defences and the orbs around it in time to prevent his connection from being traced. Diving to avoid yet another barrage he threw caution to the wind and grabbed as many data packets as he could while on the move. His slower pace of movement meant that, though he was able to grab more data packets, he was now an easier target to hit. Bolt after bolt struck him but he paid them no mind and just kept gathering data packets until his avatar felt ready to crumble.

With the last of the data packets he could reach secured in his data storage chip he pulled out the black virus launcher. With a practised ease he ejected a large canister from the heart of the weapon. Staggering forwards he threw the canister in the direction of the spiky orb. The orbs paid the canister no mind, so Sovaer was forced to do the job himself. With a carefully aimed shot he hit the canister, causing the casing to crack and splinter and a black substance to ease from the gap created. A second shot shattered the casing entirely, leaving a large hole in the side. A split second later a black substance burst out of the canister and spread in all directions. The substance was of course the black virus and with its containment shell coding damaged the virus spread throughout the computer completely uncontrolled.

As the virus spread rapidly it consumed the spiky orb, and the orbs around it, which immediately severed the connection to him. The remaining orbs began targeting the expanding smog and him as well. His avatar though had been too badly damaged by the attack for him to get away and the smog was closing in on him fast. Nevertheless the stolen data was safely tucked away so even if he died they could remove the chip and still get the data. He didn't have time to carry out the disconnection procedure and knew that if he screwed it up he could potentially corrupt the data he had stolen as the corruption spread to the chip. Unfortunately the same could be said if his avatar was destroyed by the virus since it would travel back down the link to his real body and infect the chip. He had been finished from the moment that he had triggered the defences by sabotaging the ship. He attempted to manually disconnect and they could potentially trace the connection. He had his avatar destroyed and they could again trace the connection. He disconnect forcibly or manually while they had that connection trace running and they would definitely trace the connection. He knew that he only had one shot of getting out with the data intact at this point and in a way to keep Jakose safe. Resigning himself to his fate he sent one last message to Jakose.

"Disconnect me now!"

If the connection into here was terminated then it would potentially damage his brain but it wouldn't then damage the chip. Also with his avatar gone the virus would have no link back to the chip in his brain and wouldn't be able to scramble the contents like it would do to anything else it touched.

With one last thought he accessed the sensor readings and to his delight saw that the Doom Bringer was currently in the middle of a battle with a fleet of ships that appeared to be of Averian, Asgard and Tau'ri in design.

As the virus slowly spread over him as it touched upon the complex avatar coding Sovaer gently closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips. With the gap in the firewall still wide open the black virus would spread into the critical control areas and the mighty Zarasian flagship would be crippled as its systems were scrambled. The shields would collapse without anyone having to fire a shot and their allies could beam Jakose and him, or most likely his body in his case, away. The Zarasians would potentially lose their leadership if the flagship was destroyed with Zarin aboard and Jakose could hopefully use what little data was in the chip to bring the Zarasian Empire to its knees in the coming war. He may be a casualty as a result of this particular victory but at least he could die happy in the knowledge that he had fulfilled his duty and saved his friend. As he felt a tug in the back of his mind as Jakose disconnected the link from his end he gave one final sigh of contentment before his avatar exploded, with streams of code scattering in all directions.

With his last conscious thought he had caused one final message to appear on the monitor in front of Jakose.

"I happily choose to do this my friend, for you and for Averia."

Celestia

The fighting went on. The fighting would always go on. Life in the Pegasus galaxy had been a constant struggle for survival. The expedition had learned this from day one when they realised they were in a galaxy that was hostile to their very present. The Tau'ri were a force to be reckoned and that meant they had disrupted the balance of power in Pegasus with their arrival. Now they had come so far and achieved so much they were viewed as even more dangerous. There were numerous powers in Pegasus that would like to see the Tau'ri fall but they would not dare act against them for fear of retribution. The Zarasians however seemingly had no fear of retribution. Their soldiers, the reapers, were lab grown husks so they had no fear of sending brave soldiers to their deaths. Their ships were crewed, manned and, quite probably, constructed by the reapers so losing a few ships was no great loss. Their world, or even worlds, were unknown and effectively off the grid so they had no fear of them being attacked. Because of this the Zarasians were bold, to the point where they had angered the great powers of Pegasus. In one foul swoop they had angered the Wraith, the Tau'ri and even the hitherto unheard of Averians. Ironically if the Zarasians had targeted the Averians or Wraith alone just a few years ago then they would not have earned the anger of the Tau'ri. They would have remained a potential threat that was shrouded in mystery but instead they were a known threat which the allies had banded together to face. The fact that the Zarasians had pressed their assault even though they were aware of the power their enemies wielded was a sign that they must wield incredible power of there own. Since their technology was sub-par compared to even the Averian standard, but was still potent enough to prove to be a threat, then there power must come in the form of numbers and that meant they had a sizeable army and fleet at their disposal.

The power the Zarasians wielded was showing in the battle for Celestia. As reapers fought against Tau'ri and Wraith soldiers they demonstrated a level of opposition that made them a credible threat. The reapers had been genetically bred to be stronger than regular soldiers and though they lacked the same level of intense training that human soldiers, and now even Wraith, went through they wielded that strength like a hammer. If the reapers closed into combat with you then you knew you were in trouble. As per their standing orders the reapers would beat you into the decking then finish you off with a ruthless efficiency.

The allied forces had one advantage to their favour though that the reapers, due to their nature, would never possess. With a lack of individuality comes a lack of intuition, that sense that allows you to predict what your enemy is going to do and what your comrades are going to do. But more than that, it meant that the reapers were unable to synchronise with each other to the level that Wraith and Tau'ri were capable of. As they fought together the Wraith and Tau'ri learned about each other, learned to anticipate each others actions so that they could fight together more effectively and even anticipate the reapers reactions. That was what gave them the advantage over the reapers and allowed them to eventually cut them down.

The reapers might know no fear. They might not care that their comrades lay dead and bleeding on the decking beside them as they fought on but the same could not be said for their opponents. When their comrades fell they only fought harder, filled with a primal rage that spurred them on to achieve victory with greater enthusiasm. They would win, they had to, for the sake of those that had already given so much for a chance of victory they had to.

So they fought. They fought against every reaper that came at them with an almost unfeeling brutality. Whenever one closed in to fight them in hand to hand they would be covered by their comrades or would pull out knives to stab at vital areas. The reapers had at first been the ones on the offensive, then they found themselves under attack, then they found themselves pushing back the attack and continuing heedlessly and now they found themselves being rebuffed and pushed back. It was almost as if by attacking so fiercely they had unleashed an even bigger threat than when they were rebuffing an attack.

With the attack rebuffed the allies pushed the reapers back even further. The defending forces forced them back along the corridors they had recently casually strolled down while the groups that had been deployed to harass the reapers as they made their advance tightened the noose and circled around to box them in. Then they advanced until the reapers were surrounded and taking fire on all fronts. When the Tau'ri and Wraith encountered reapers they cut them down without restraint and when they encountered Zarasians they kept them alive for questioning later but rendered them unable to fight or flee.

Steadily but surely the last of the enemy forces were either captured or killed and the station was secured. The battle, like all battles, had not been without cost. Lives had been lost and the wounded that were being shipped through the stargate were in such critical condition that they might not make it. The extensive medical facilities onboard had been brought online and were in full operation, with the overflow being redirected off station to where they could receive immediate treatment.

Todd walked through the bustling corridors. Around him people were hurrying about, transporting medical supplies and carrying their injured comrades. It was inspiring to see the level of comradeship between Wraith and humans that had developed as a result of the battle to retake the station. Fighting alongside each other had developed a friendship between them that would have taken years in peace time. The evidence of this was right in front of him, quite literally as it happened as he watched a human gratefully be supported along the corridor by a Wraith. If this comradeship had not come at such a high price he would be happy. But as it went he only felt a sense of loss at all the lives this victory had cost them. The thought reverberated throughout the hive mind until only one word was on their minds, war.

Across the hive mind the chant went out. War, war, war, until at last Echidna added her own gentle but dominating voice to bring an end to the chant.

"War."

"War," every Wraith spoke softly and simultaneously.

Any human who heard them said nothing and simply nodded in agreement. War was upon them.

Todd continued on his journey to one of the many storage areas that had been converted into a triage centre. But this one came with a number of armed guards outside, Wraith and Tau'ri guards. This particular room was being used to hold the captured Zarasians, a number of whom required minor treatment due to injuries sustained when they were taken captive. After having lost so many of their own the Tau'ri and Wraith had not felt like doing things the nice way and the Zarasians had promptly been disabled and disarmed.

Looking around he saw over fifty prisoners seated, in some way or another, on camp beds with guards treating an eye on them.

"Is this all of them?" he asked a nearby medic.

The medic shook her head. "One of them will be transferred out off the station soon for further treatment. Apparently he put up resistance and had to be brought down. He took rounds to both knee-caps."

Todd nodded unfeelingly. Most of the Zarasians here were nursing bruises to their heads where they had been rendered unconscious, several were bound and restrained as they even now struggled to get free and shout curses and threats at their captors.

He saw the value in keeping prisoners alive but he would rather a prisoner died than one of their own because of the allocation of medical treatment. It was cold but then he had had to be cold over the years to do what needed to be done. He looked around the room for a prisoner he could talk to and it wasn't until he saw one of the slightly intimidating valkyries, Eir he believed, drag in two more bound prisoners that he found what he was looking for. One of them was frightened out of his mind and sporting a hole in trousers but no visible wound but the second wore a mask of disgust at his captivity but nevertheless remained silent. It was the second that he needed to question.

He waited until the valkyrie had deposited the two on their respective bunks before he approached the second.

"Hello human," he said with a slight hiss in voice.

"What do you want Wraith?" the Zarasian spat.

Todd leaned forwards until he was hovering over the bound Zarasian, noting the flicker of fear in the human's eyes.

"I want you to understand something human," Todd said a low voice so he would not be overheard. "Since you attempted to take control of a Tau'ri station you are their prisoner."

He paused.

"However if you fail to talk and give the Tau'ri what they want to know I will insist that you be turned over to us so that we might have a go at making you talk," he said very slowly. "Since you attacked one of our worlds they will no doubt agree to this and let me assure you that after what your people have done you can be certain of one thing. We will not show restraint!"

Todd slowly raised himself to his full height.

"I look forward to questioning you Zarasian," he hissed before turning to walk away.

"You're a fool," the Zarasian shouted after him.

Todd turned and was surprised to see the mask of defiance on the humans face.

"And yet it was not my actions that led to my imprisonment," he replied. "But you look like you have something to say so please continue."

"You will never learn anything from us," the Zarasian went on. "Zarin will not allow it."

Todd gave a low chuckle.

"Zarin is in no position to stop us."

"Don't be so sure. Failure always comes with a price and Zarin will see to it that we pay it."

Beside him the other captive shuddered, which puzzled Todd slightly.

Before he could ponder it more though a Tau'ri soldier came up to him.

"Sir I've just received word that they are about to fully disable the jamming device and will be beaming the wounded to the facilities on the fleet."

Todd nodded and was about to reply but was brought up short by the gasp from the first prisoner.

Turning around he grabbed the soldier by the soldiers and sent a telepathic message as he spoke the same words.

"Stop them from disabling the device!" he yelled.

"You're too late Wraith," said the second prisoner. "Zarin does not tolerate failure or for us to be taken prisoner."

With those final words that everyone heard every Zarasian in the room closed his eyes, and then their heads exploded and a slight tremor ran through the decking.

"Sir," said the Tau'ri soldier, listening intently to his comm. "Every piece of Zarasian technology just self destructed."

"And all the prisoners are dead as well," noted Todd. "I thought you said they were about to fully disable that device."

"They did sir," the soldier replied.

"Then it must have been a self destruct signal sent by an outside source," Todd surmised. "The jamming device must have been the only thing blocking it."

Todd noted that Zarin would have made a vicious Wraith, back when the Wraith were something different.

Eventually after analyzing what remained they would learn that a transmission had gone out when the jamming device had been disabled reporting of the mission failure. It was automatically designed to transmit if a code wasn't entered after a certain amount of time. When the jamming device went offline the device had transmitted the signal and Zarin had sent a reply in the form of a self destruct command. The command automatically triggered explosives placed in all Zarasian technology and implanted in the Zarasians brains. Zarin did allow for prisoners to crack under torture and give away information.

"All ships pull back and initiate Silver Storm manoeuvre," Xander ordered.

As the order was given the lighter Tau'ri ship, some of fighters and the Asgard warships performed a brief hyperspace jump to take them away from the field of fire. The remaining Zarasian ships had by now formed a wall to protect the powerless flagship and suddenly found themselves not under fire for the moment.

The reason for this is because every one of the Pegasus class, the remaining F-302's and even the Aror had been launching ordinance before performing a short jump away themselves. Every launcher the Averians and Tau'ri had had fired NPD's and mini drone missiles on mass at the Zarasian fleet. Individually they packed a relatively small punch but there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, being launched. As they soared towards the Zarasian fleet fighters had moved to intercept but the drones had been pre-programmed for this and moved to impact the fighters before they could shoot too many down. When the last of the fighters had been eliminated the drones continued on, with the enemy flagship as their primary target.

The Zarasian warships naturally moved to shield the flagship from the mass of silver ordinance and took the full brunt of the impact. As the drones hit and the mini drone missiles split to unleash their deadly cargo the fleet was saturated by explosions as hundreds of miniature suns formed. When the last of the light from the explosions died out it revealed a devastated fleet left in the Silver Storms wake. Dozens of ships lay drifting and broken with wreckage forming a screen in front of them and there wasn't a single Zarasian fighter left intact.

In the wake of this destruction power readings from the Doom Bringer began to rise above minimal levels and the ship fled into hyperspace. Xander was tempted to give chase and was even about to give the order but a warning from one of the Asgard vessels changed his mind. More Zarasian ships had been detected on the way.

With the allied fleet in need of repair and re-arming the option of another battle was off the table for the moment. So the 302's and Night Fury's returned to their hangers before the fleet of ships entered hyperspace and headed to Celestia, with the slower Aror in tow.

Aror – Medical Bay

After he had beamed off of the Doom Bringer Sovaer had been transferred to the medical bay of the Aror. It was hoped that the Vanir there, who possessed a more intimate knowledge of his cyborg nature, would be able to provide better care for him after his forced ejection from the Doom Bringer's computer core. When Jakose, at Sovaer's request, had disconnected him he had immediately fallen unconscious.

Now he lay on medical bed, sensors attached to his head and a cable running from his mental interface port. Jakose sat by his bedside, wearing a seemingly permanent grim expression and willing his friend to regain consciousness. So far though that had not happened.

Jakose looked up as a Vanir approached him.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He appears to have fallen into a coma," the Vanir stated plainly.

"As a result of me disconnecting him?" Jakose whispered. It was phrased like a question but to Jakose it felt like a confession.

"It is possible however we are still performing tests and cannot be certain what the cause was," explained the Vanir. "However we do know that whilst he was in cyberspace his storage ship was in near constant usage and data was being stored as well as accessed."

"He said he was fighting against anti-virus programs," Jakose said in a low voice.

"That would explain his access. But we do not yet know what was downloaded. However from the limited access we have gleamed into the chip we have learned a file marked as black virus is missing. We have yet to determine if this has a link to what happened."

"What does it look like happened?" Jakose asked weakly.

"Preliminary scans indicate a lack of activity in several areas of his brain and the links between his neural implants and brain stem have been damaged," the Vanir explained. "We suspect this resulted in his comatose state."

"Why are they inactive?"

"That is unknown however it could be a result of the black virus interacting with his neural implants which would explain the damage caused to his storage chip and the sudden loss of power on the Zarasian flagship. The damage to his brain has made the chip impossible to access so far without forcibly removing it from his central cortex, which would unfortunately result in his death."

"Sovaer, you brave fool," Jakose whispered.

An hour later Jakose arranged for a meeting between representatives of the allied races. He was angry and upset but he had to tell them what he had learned when Sovaer had infiltrated the computer core. That the Zarin that had originally lead the separatist group was the same one that currently led the Zarasian Empire.

Please review.