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: The problem with making Zarins blood boil is that he will want revenge and since he is a geonocidal maniac it won't be fun.
BIG Z1776: You won't have to wait long.
Shadows of Realm: No he will not.
Cdoctor: We shall see.
Oddliver: They have designed their own versions of body armour but not the mark two versions are quite new technology so maybe Todd will create his own version eventually.
Just a Crazy-Man: Thank you.
stormwolf3710: Its not so much taking the relatively abandoned ship as it is holding it against the tide of enemy troops that will flood from the base.
Naginator: Here is more. Enjoy.
Andriabow: Here are the opening moves. Enjoy.
Chronus1326: We never really got to see much of what the Genii had in terms of technology and as a culture, however it is something i was planning on delving into a little in a few chapters time. The Genii have their merits, it's just that space travel isn't one of them.
Kolumnar
In a stable orbit over the green Earth like world of Kolumnar sat the Weir, the flagship of the Pegasus based fleet. It was a fleet that had been constantly fluctuating in size and composition ever since the very idea of a fleet for another galaxy had even been envisioned and yet now it was a reality. What had started out as just a single battlecruiser named Daedalus had grown into what most would call a true fleet of ships being composed of various classes which were both smaller and larger than the aforementioned battlecruiser. Destroyers, battlecruisers, battle carriers and even a hospital ship now made up the forces what would be stationed in the Pegasus galaxy for the foreseeable future. Of course the hospital ship Nightingale was the most recent arrival to the galaxy having only been present for a few hours now having relieved the Weir at the black hole and deployed the supergate blocks into position. Now that had been a truly spectacular sight to behold, seeing the individual blocks fly out of the hanger bay under their own power. Watching them come together to form a gigantic ring and then locking together in an unbreakable chain before the first test of the supergate. The whole process had taken mere minutes and they had even had the chance to watch the test. The entire ring had shook as it crackled with raw energy being channelled from the extractor placed by the event horizon of the black hole, so close to being pulled in that you would never know it was even there. As the energy enveloped the entire ring the exotic energies were channelled inwards meeting in the centre of open space before exploding outwards and then falling back into the stable form of a wormhole event horizon.
Over the speakers they heard the first tentative message being transmitted through the open wormhole.
"Milky Way this is Pegasus, do you read us?"
"Pegasus this is Milky Way, we read you loud and clear. Welcome to the intergalactic gate network."
A smattering of applause followed the confirmation that the supergate was fully operational.
Following that the Weir had set a course for Kolumnar and her next call of duty, delivering a consignment of three ZPM's for Borealis. Sheppard could remember a time when his priority was finding a ZPM for them to use and now he was going to be handing over three full ones as a chore. He could remember a conversation he had not too long ago with some bright spark that had been looking into the list of ZPM's they had encountered over the years in one galaxy or another. He hadn't believed it until he had been shown the actual list but they had encounters of some form or another with at least twenty four ZPM's that had been in their possession or someone else's and not counting the significant number they had blown up along with the Asuran homeworld. Thirteen of these were now in their possession and only four of which were completely depleted, with the other nine having been recharged. One of these recharged ones had come from the kid's planet after the expedition had replaced the greatly diminished ZPM with a sealed naquadah generator to power their EM field generator and was being given to Borealis. Admittedly it could have been ten total if they could only convince the people of Dagan to allow them use of the one in their possession but for the time being nine was plenty since it allowed them to give one each to the Antarctic Outpost control chair and the Milky Way and Pegasus flagships as well as three for both Atlantis and Borealis.
If they ever felt it necessary they could actually find wherever the reformed Quindosim had hidden the ZPM by simply scanning for its energy signature from orbit and then taking it. As it stood though they sorely objected to doing this on moral grounds and because of the repercussions it would have on their reputation. Even after Dagan had been admitted to the Coalition of Worlds and they officially became allies they still refused to part with the ZPM and making it vanish into thin air would potentially turn the entire Coalition against them. The last thing they wanted in the middle of a galactic war was to turn the majority of the galaxies population against them since it would prevent them from helping those worlds that would eventually come under attack from the Zarasians, or worse still ally with them. It was ironic really that the sole reason for appeasing the Coalition was so that they could help the member worlds in the long run when during their first encounter they had been threatened with being annexed. Apparently the ruling council had believed that without the trade with member worlds the expedition would suffer, apparently not having been made aware of just what they were and that trade was a courtesy and not a requirement. That fact had been made abundantly clear with the latest displays of their technological prowess, like being able to synthesise whatever they required out of thin air in nothing more apparent than a flash of light.
Below on the planets surface the ZPM's were being put into place and power was beginning to flow throughout Borealis towards a system that hadn't been brought online for four years, the stardrive. With a deep rumble that shook the surrounding landscape the stardrive came online and began to power up causing the vibrations to increase in strength and frequency. The powerful vibrations served a purpose though as the hardened earth around the base loosened and began to crumble as the base ship slowly worked its way free of the grounds formally firm grip. When the stardrive was finally powered up completely it released its pent up energy and the base ship slowly began to rise from the planets surface shrugging off the pull of gravity. With the base of Borealis now completely clear of the surface the secondary shield came online and she continued to rise even higher into the night sky. With the shields as of yet untested it was felt that the secondary capacitor based shield would be more appropriate in case of an unexpected main power loss. Not that this was likely to happen or even an issue since the base ship would only be ascending slowly and was air tight in any case. Slowly but surely Borealis rose through the atmosphere to meet the cold grip of open space and as she settled comfortably into the icy depths Kolumnar gained a new star. A star that shone briefly but brightly enough to be clearly by all those who ventured out to watch her departure as a hyperspace window winked open and the base ship was whisked away to parts unknown.
But the moment of celebration at the flight of this mighty vessel was dampened by the tense nature of the incoming subspace transmission from SPECTRE.
"It's been a week Todd," said Sheppard as the Wraiths face appeared on the screen. "Please tell me you have something."
"Our initial assumptions were correct Sheppard," said Todd neutrally. "There is indeed a Zarasian outpost located here."
"And the flagship?" asked Sheppard.
"Out of action, confined to a dry dock and undergoing repairs," replied Todd.
"Nice to know," said Sheppard before his expression softened. "Have you managed to find your sister?"
"We know that she is confined in the flagship at the moment and unable to be moved," explained Todd. "However we have a plan for rescuing her."
Sheppard studied the expression on Todd's face. Determined and holding back a lot of anger he concluded. Not an expression he wasn't familiar with having seen it before on Echidna when Todd had been kidnapped and he knew to tread lightly around the Wraith wearing it.
"Todd you know we're fully willing to commit to rescuing your sister and giving Zarin a kick in the nuts as a bonus, right?"
Todd smiled, grateful for the commitment. The Wraiths eyes actually lost some of the anger they had possessed ever since he had first found out about Eurielle's capture.
"I do now Sheppard."
"Good," he replied. "Now I want you to explain your plan and then we'll make any changes I feel are necessary given the current situation and what I feel is necessary to ensure its success."
Todd nodded.
"I understand," he said before outlining what SPECTRE had learned about the outpost.
"I believe that our best chance of success will be to capture the outpost in its entirety which will allow us to capture the flagship at the same time," concluded Todd.
"I presume you are going to have a role in this?"
"You would presume correctly," Todd confirmed. "While you and the rest of the allied forces are conducting a ground and space battle I intend to deal with the issue of them moving Eurielle. We will split into two teams, one will secure the room where she is being held while the other neutralises the ships reactors to prevent them from initiating a self destruct option."
"So you're leaving the ground and space battle entirely up to us to plan?" asked Sheppard.
"Yes," stated Todd.
Sheppard sighed.
"You said the outpost was protected by a stealth field that disrupts sensors right?"
"Yes it completely hides the outpost from detection from our weaker sensors," said Todd. "However it will also prevent you from establishing a transporter lock."
"Which means we need to take it out before we can deploy troops inside the facility," surmised Sheppard. "Unless of course we deploy our troops outside of the field's effective radius."
"Alternatively we could destroy the emitters and allow for the instant transport of troops," said Todd.
"How many emitters are there?"
"Eight laid out in an octagonal pattern. I would suggest we destroy them simultaneously at the beginning of the engagement."
"Alright I'll bite," said Sheppard, sensing a catch. "There is a reason you want us to take that option, what is it?"
"From our reconnaisance we have the emitters have an alternate purpose," explained Todd, looking like he was hiding something. "The first is to project the stealth field to prevent detection…however the second purpose is to generate a powerful shield that will encompass the entire outpost when active."
"And we need to destroy those emitters while the shield is down because otherwise we have to blast our way through it which means potentially damaging the whole facility and the flagship holding your sister," summarised Sheppard.
"I would be very grateful if that weren't to happen," Todd stated firmly.
"If we can't get a targeting lock though hitting the targets might prove difficult," pointed out Sheppard. "Even with the co-ordinates before hand it's a risk."
"The tower bases are quite large, making then vulnerable to attack and they are situated on the outskirts of the outpost," explained Todd. "A single round from one of your ion cannons in roughly the right area should be able to sufficiently damage them enough to trigger a structural failure."
"And the other thing you haven't told me?" accused Sheppard. "Don't deny it Todd, after all these years I can tell when you are hiding something from me."
"There is something else you should know," said Todd. "The reason the tower bases are so large is because they were designed to allow for the towers to be relocated."
"And why would the towers need to be relocated?" asked Sheppard pointedly.
"Because…this outpost is being expanded and even as we speak new buildings are taking shape," explained Todd.
"And I'm guessing it's already pretty big and has a large number of troops stationed there, right?"
"I'm afraid so," admitted Todd who, to his credit, did look slightly guilty at having hidden that fact.
"Any idea of how many we're talking about?"
Todd and Sheppard shared a look.
"Many," they said simultaneously.
Sheppard sighed.
"Alright we're going to skip the rest of the verbal report on this one I think," said Sheppard. "I want you to transmit us a log of all your sensor recordings for the outpost and anything else you have found out about the outpost."
"I'm transmitting them to you now," said Todd.
"ISIS," said Sheppard.
"Yes Commander," said ISIS, appearing beside him.
"Confirm receipt of the sensor logs and reconnaissance reports," ordered Sheppard.
"I can confirm," said ISIS.
"Todd," said Sheppard, turning back to the Wraith. "Call me back in an hour and I'll tell you our plan. In the mean time I want you and the others to load up and get ready to move out."
"I understand," said Todd before severing the transmission at his end.
"ISIS get Rodney here and tell him I don't care if he is in bed with Keller I need to speak to him now," ordered Sheppard. "And get Thor, Jakose and Echidna on the line, we'll need all the help we can get on this one."
"Yes Commander," said ISIS, obediently carrying out his instructions.
"You do realise that this is nuts right?" asked Rodney.
"Will it work though?" asked Sheppard.
"In theory yes it could work," said Rodney. "But I really must stress the fact that this is nuts."
"Yes I know it's a little nuts but it's not much different than towing an entire space station through hyperspace while under fire is it?" argued Sheppard.
"No but next to this plan I would gladly try that one all over again," said Rodney.
"Did I interrupt you in the middle of something Rodney?"
"Don't even go there Sheppard," Rodney warned him.
"I'll take that as a yes," said Sheppard with a smirk as his friend walked away.
"This plan carries great risk Colonel Sheppard," stated Thor.
"I know but it's the best option right now given what we know about our enemy," said Sheppard. "At least this way we have a say in how things go down."
"I see your point," said Thor. "How many ships will you be committing to the battle?"
"All of the Pegasus class and Night Fury's," replied Sheppard. "The battlecruiser fleet is either under repair or preparing to be deployed to safeguard other worlds and I would rather have our most powerful ships running in this one to keep our casualties low."
"I see," said Thor. "Then I will commit the entirety of my forces to aid you in this battle. If we are successful then the rewards will definitely be worth it."
"Thanks Thor I appreciate it."
"I understand that Borealis is finally underway will you be committing it to the battle or keeping it nearby?"
Sheppard shook his head.
"No. Right now I want to keep that card hidden until we really need to use it. As it stands the longer the Zarasians don't know about it the more of an advantage it provides us with."
"A wise move," said Thor approvingly. "I will prepare my forces for battle."
"I can commit the Arima and her sentinels to this battle," said Echidna. "The rest of my forces are needed to protect my worlds from assault."
"I understand," said Sheppard. "I figured you would want in on this battle though."
"I'll prepare my ships," said Echidna bluntly before terminating the transmission.
Sheppard hadn't really expected much more than that from the Wraith Matriarch.
"I can only offer the Kalon Aror to join Colonel Sheppard," said Jakose. "She is the only ship close enough to assist you without uncovering our defences."
"I understand," said Sheppard. "With the Aror in addition to our other forces I believe we have enough to overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers and firepower."
"That is good to hear," said Jakose. "I will instruct Admiral Xander to prepare for the coming battle."
"You are truly certain that this is the best plan Sheppard?" asked Todd sceptically.
"Its risky I know but given all the information we have about our enemy I think it's our best bet for getting a solid victory," said Sheppard.
"Very well then," said Todd. "I will ensure that we are ready for your arrival but for the record I think that this is the craziest plan you have come up with."
"That's what Rodney said, but I'm pretty sure we can make it work."
Zarasian Outpost
Surrounding the outpost sat a small fleet of ships that was ironically made up entirely of the surviving forces from Zarins escort fleet. That been said there were hardly more than a few dozen ships present and all were running in silent mode to prevent being detected. This was the beginning of the defences that protected the hidden base below as floating around them in a thick field of metal were weapon satellites numbering in the small thousands. Each satellite was small, packing only a single energy cannon and a light shield but that was intentional as coupled with the low power mode they were operating in they were very hard to detect. The satellites may have lacked the same power as the weapon on a Zarasian warship but it was by no means a weak attack and in the large numbers present could prove to be devastating. Negotiating past this metaphorical minefield had proven to be incredibly difficult for the SPECTRE team when they first arrived and it was going to prove to be an even bigger headache for the attacking fleet when they finally arrived.
Down below on the planets surface the outpost remained completely hidden from view, its stealth field powered and active. Unseen and yet still present the Zarasian flagship the Doom Bringer was still undergoing repairs to its computer core programs in the large dry dock below, being supported purely by the anti gravity field being generated by the harness fitted around the ship. It was suspected that the ship would remain in place for some time to come now as the repairs to the computer core continued. What the Zarasians didn't know though was that there were others who had different plans for the flagships future.
The headache would start very shortly as a single massive hyperspace window opened in front of the defensive screen and the allied fleet emerged from hyperspace. The fleet was an impressive one and certainly a powerful one. Composed of 24 Pegasus class, 96 Night Fury's, 20 O'Neill's, the Arima, 30 sentinels and the Aror this single fleet consisted of at least one ship from every allied race making this the largest allied operation to date.
In response to this obvious threat the Zarasian warships and defence satellites quickly raised shields and powered weapons while sending a frantic warning to the outpost below. The allied ships wasted no time either and immediately started to engage the defending forces with the various weapons at their disposal. The beam weapons of the Asgard, Averian and Tau'ri ships found their marks easily enough but the plasma and ion cannon rounds could be dodged and so they were, many of them missing the mark only to hit the planet below. But what the Zarasians didn't realise was that not all of these shots were misses, eight of them were precision shots fired at locations that had been marked by unseen foes.
The stealth field of the outpost was still active to protect the base, power being steadily transferred to the shield so that it could be raised without exposing the outpost to attack. Before this could happen though eight ion cannon rounds passed through the stealth field and struck the towers or the areas around the towers. Three of them were struck dead on and were practically vaporised on impact while the rest suddenly found they lacked support from below as their bases shattered and they gave in to the pull of gravity. With a crack the supports shattered under the strain of supporting the heavy pulsing buds that were the emitters and fell to the ground in pile of twisted metal before exploding as the pent up energy was violently released. The stealth field that had been making the outpost blend in perfectly with the surrounding landscape flickered and died in a second of the weapons impact as the power feed failed. Suddenly an entire military outpost composed of dozens of complete buildings with even more under construction appeared out of thin air, plumes of smoke rising from the outskirts from the wreckage of the destroyed emitter towers.
In bright pillars of light large bulky objects materialised throughout the outpost marking the arrival of the allied ground forces on the scene. As the lights vanished they revealed large metallic objects of a design never before encountered by the Zarasians, Titans and M1 Abram's. Immediately the armoured behemoths opened fire with every weapon in their arsenal sowing carnage and destruction amongst the unprepared forces of the Zarasians. No ground troops were present but they proved to be superfluous in this case since the attackers seemed to only be interested in reeking havoc wherever they went. Slowly the Zarasian forces got organised and began to mount a proper resistance to the attackers, pulling out heavier plasma weapons that taxed the shields of the Abram's and Titans. As this became more and more frequent pulling back to allow others to pick up the slack was no longer an option beacons were activated and transport beams whisked them away before sending them a little while later once shields had recharged.
The entire battlefield, land and space, was a mess of intense combat. In space plasma bolts flew on mass while plasma, ions and general energy was fired in return either in bolts or in beams. Wings of 302's and hornets engaged in heated dog fights against swarms of satellites that tested the reaction times of the organic brains of both pilots and living fighters. Fleets of ships bombarded each other with weapons fire but the outcome was already decided. The Zarasians didn't stand a chance against the sheer weight of numbers being stacked against them, especially not when they were up against a superior foe. In terms of a purely fleet battle it was an absolute slaughter, but this wasn't a purely fleet battle. The satellites were where the Zarasians were proving to be tough to handle. Their numbers and their manoeuvrability were allowing them to avoid some of the weapons fire while at the same time inflicting their toll on the allied forces as they pounded them with a rain of plasma bolts. On the ground the fighting was even more intense as the smoke and fires began to choke the luckless soles exposed to the open air. Slowly the allied armour stole more and more ground out from under the Zarasians as they relentlessly pushed forwards, cutting down the enemy where they stood. There were dozens of armour pieces in play and they were spreading throughout the confines of the outpost like a plague, ravaging whatever stood in their path.
On the bridge of the Kalen Aror a crewman reported a message coming through over subspace from the surface.
"Put it on speakers," Admiral Xander ordered.
A deafening screeching noise filled the bridge dazing the crew.
"Off! Off!" yelled Xander, struggling to be heard over the noise. "I said turn it off!"
Removing a hand that was clamped over his ear the crewman slammed his hand on the console, shutting off the noise.
As he redirected his attention to the battle Xander silently cursed Zarin.
What wasn't obvious, except from an aerial view, was what the final objective was. With the slaughter being reeked on the Zarasian forces one might guess the end goal was simple annihilation of any enemy forces present. Not that there was much going on to dissuade this possibility, anything the allies encountered they seemingly cut down without mercy. Reapers were falling in droves on the ground and the space above the outpost was rife with explosions as the allies turned their full attention to the satellites now that the last of the enemy warships had been shattered. However to truly understand what the end goal was one would have to ignore the space battle and focus their attention entirely on the ground battle from an aerial perspective from the very beginning of the battle. One would have to watch how the battle unfolded right from the beginning. How a sizeable number of the armoured units had been deployed around the main shipyard where the Doom Bringer was sitting and how a number of the units that had been beamed back had been re-deployed directly next to or in the hot spots around the same shipyard. Now this might not seem like something of consequence since it just seemed like the re-deployments were to relieve their forces but it was very important and became even more so with the next move of the allies.
Suddenly every single armoured unit stopped firing and was quickly beamed away but the question no one had thought to ask so far was where to? Every ship in orbit was apparently engaged in combat and as such their shields were raised which should prevent transport of any kind. So again the question became what was beaming these armoured units around with impunity? The answer to that became very quickly apparent when the bewildered forces on the ground heard a rumble from above. Moments later a single Pegasus class vessel that had definitely not arrived at the same time as the others de-cloaked and dropped straight into the atmosphere. Looking up the Zarasians saw what looked like a meteor hurtling towards them at break neck speeds, fast enough to create a fireball around it from the steep entry vector into the atmosphere. Defying the gravitational pull the ship came to a sudden stop right above the Doom Bringer before enveloping the ship in a tractor beam and slowly pulling her upwards and out of the dock she rested in.
Suddenly the plan became all too clear for all to see, especially the end objective. The allies had set their sights on the Zarasian flagship and they intended to take it from them while they stood by and watched. It was the equivalent of a slap in the face to Zarin. No worse, it was practically a kick in the nuts. Even more so since Eurielle was sitting in the containment chamber aboard, a fact the allies were no doubt aware of or at least suspected. Zarin was seething when he received that particular report. He decided that enough was enough and it would not be as easy as they thought it would. He had already evacuated to a secure bunker which housed the stargate and as he prepared to step through the active wormhole he triggered the self destructs throughout the entire outpost.
With the command given every reactor across the outpost, including the ones on the Doom Bringer, received the command to come online if offline and initiate a catastrophic overload. It started slowly, as a series of small explosions as the smaller reactors began to detonate which escalated into a cacophony of explosions as reactors of all shapes and sizes blew in a spectacular display of uncontrolled explosive force. Then the naquadah in the stargate got caught in the blast and the explosion was amplified even further. Within moments of the command being given the entire outpost was engulfed in what had culminated into a single fireball so massive it consumed even the Pegasus class vessel towing the flagship. By the time the explosive blast died down and sensors cleared the only thing left in space was the allied fleet, what had once been an outpost was now a crater and across the stars Zarin smirked at the allies failure to capture his flagship and the losses they would have suffered as a result.
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