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 device was the gift, not the technology. And it wasn't really a gift, they were just allowed to use it. The Tria is going to need a lot of work to bring it up to Tau'ri warship standards. She's big but she isn't bad. Zarin is aiming for galactic conquest, quite possibly even intergalactic conquest, so he expects a fight.
Cdoctor: People asked what happened to the Tollan, i answered.
Oddliver: If they are stupid enough to try something like that with only a few thousand people and inferior technology they deserve what would happen to them.
Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.
romanhellhound: It's war on a galactic scale. Needless to say it is going to be messy. That's why they tried to evacuate the natives, to keep them out of harms way.
Naginator: Thank you.
Monsterjeffbuk: The board is set, the pieces are moving. Conflict is inevitable.
stormwolf3710: Thanks, i wonder what people got out of those descriptions.
BIG Z1776: The Zarasians still have many cards left that the allies have never seen. A land battle will be coming eventually, it will just take time.
Guest: The replicators played key roles in both series however and were for a time the main enemies of certain seasons. Aiden Ford isn't a subject i have given much thought to. I could theoretically bring him back but at this point and with everything that has happened...i'll think about it. The way my story is going it's all about the big picture, with a few smaller pictures featured from time to time. Right now though i am starting to focus more on the war because that is the precidence and at the end of the day it all comes together to form the big picture. That is the difference between a book and a tv series, if you don't like the story you really shouldn't be reading it. I really would like to have this conversation with you just to find out exactly what you mean, so could you create an account please so that we can.
Enterprise
The flagship of the Milky Way fleet soared through hyperspace at an incredible velocity. In little to no time she would reach her destination, the Tok'ra Homeworld. On the bridge of the powerful vessel Jack and Daniel waited for the journey to come to an end.
"So how is our guest doing?" Jack asked.
"Better now that she has had a chance to catch up on recent events," Daniel replied. "It was a lot for her to take in."
"Sometimes I still can't believe it myself," Jack replied with a thoughtful look.
"That we have come this far or that we actually overthrew the System Lords despite the odds?" Daniel said.
"Both," Jack said. "When I first stepped through that gate I knew that my personal universe had just gotten that much bigger. And when we encountered Ra and found out about the other Goa'uld I thought we had opened Pandora's Box. I've known battles over small scraps of dirt that lasted for what seems like forever. I hoped, I prayed even, that I would live to see the end of this war but I thought it would take far longer than a decade of service."
"I wonder what odds the bookies would have given us." Daniel said jokingly.
Jack smiled. "There wouldn't be enough money in the world if I only bet a nickel."
Daniel laughed.
Both men turned as they heard the door to the bridge gently slide open. A young woman in sand coloured robes cautiously entered. With her long dark hair and high cheek bones she looked quite beautiful, but her eyes gave off a sense of age that defied her young looks.
"Am I allowed be here?" she asked cautiously when she noticed the two men looking at her.
"Of course," Jack answered. "Just don't press any of the buttons."
"Of course," she replied, earning a small smile from Jack. "How long until we arrive?"
"It shouldn't be long," Daniel said, just as the ship exited hyperspace.
"Practically no time at all," O'Neill quipped.
"This vessel is indeed fast," she noted.
"Very," Jack agreed.
As the Enterprise approached the Tok'ra world several Ha'tak vessels moved to intercept. Somehow the Tok'ra had managed to acquire a dozen vessels of the type B configuration over the years to guard their world.
"The Tok'ra vessels are transmitting a message," ISIS informed them.
"Put it on speakers," Jack ordered.
"Unidentified vessel, you have entered Tok'ra space. Identify yourselves immediately or you will be fired upon."
"This is Lt. General Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri vessel Enterprise," Jack said. "We have a meeting scheduled with your High Council. We are transmitting IFF and clearance codes now."
"IFF acknowledged. Codes confirmed. You are clear to proceed."
"So do you want us to beam you straight down?" Jack asked the mysterious woman.
"They have never seen a vessel like this one before have they?" she asked. "That is why they did not recognise it."
"No, so far they have only seen one of our lighter battlecruisers," Jack answered. "These vessels have been on recon missions in deep space in this galaxy since we built them so they haven't had a chance to encounter them."
"Can this ship safely enter into a planets atmosphere?" she asked.
"It can," Jack asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Then I request that you take us into the atmosphere and put us over the city," she requested.
"Why?" Daniel asked, confused.
"So that the Tok'ra can see what she looks like," Jack replied.
"They should see what the Tau'ri are capable of building," the woman said.
Jack sighed. "Okay fine but only because you asked nicely. You're going to be the one explaining this to them though."
"Of course," she said.
"Take us in," Jack ordered.
"Aye sir."
Carefully, the Enterprise descended into the atmosphere. A blazing fireball around her shields took shape as a result of her steep entry angle and high speed. It wasn't long before the ship came to rest over the Tok'ra city. If you looked out the window you could see people so small they looked like ants emerge from the glimmering glass spires to look at the imposing vessel hovering above.
From the central pyramid the surviving members of the Tok'ra High Council emerged to study the Tau'ri ship.
"We clearly need to keep a better eye on the Tau'ri if they are capable of building such a ship," Per'sus noted as he eyed the numerous visible weapon emplacements. "Especially without our knowing."
"The Tau'ri have clearly come a long way with the Asgard on their side," Garshaw said.
"Perhaps but they are still an emotionally driven race that race to act," Delek said disapprovingly. "They act rashly even now."
"They should not have brought their ship into our atmosphere," Thoran agreed.
"The Tau'ri do not act without reason or cause," Malek argued. "They have done this for a reason, although I cannot say what that reason is."
A flash of white light appeared in the distance signifying arrival by transport beam.
"Come," Per'sus said. "It is time to find out what that reason is."
As the members of the High Council approached they observed an unfamiliar woman standing by several large containers that had been beamed down with her. Around her a crowd had gathered but none had yet approached her. To onlookers she did not seem to be a threat, if anything she seemed to acknowledge her surroundings with a sense of pride.
"Greetings, I am Per'sus. What is your name Tau'ri?"
The woman turned to look at him and smiled.
"Hello Per'sus. It is good to see you again. It has been far too long," the mysterious woman said.
Per'sus frowned. Clearly this woman knew him but he did not recognise her.
"He asked you a question Tau'ri," Delek snapped. "What is your name?"
"It is not surprising you would not recognise me my children," the woman replied, her voice taking on the deep tone of a symbiote. "And to be clear this host is not of the Tau'ri."
"Tok'ra kree," Malek commanded and several dozen zat guns and staff weapons were immediately raised at the woman. "Identify yourself Goa'uld."
"Goach, sha kree, lo Goa'uld," the woman replied, giving a Tok'ra password. "I have returned to you my children."
The eyes of the watching Tok'ra widened in shock.
"You are an imposter," Malek spat. "I saw Egeria die."
"Thanks to the Tau'ri I live again," Egeria replied calmly. "And I have been provided with a host without a consciousness."
"Prove it," Per'sus said indignantly, though his eyes held a glimmer of hope.
"When the Ashrak came for me you knew it was only a matter of time before they overcame you and my other children Per'sus but you would not run," she said, fixing Per'sus with a level stare. "I told you that the Tok'ra would need leadership if our kind was to survive. And we had to survive because the Goa'uld had to be stopped. Eventually you agreed but you promised that one day we would see each other again and on that day the Goa'uld and Ra would have fallen. You knew that was the only chance we had to be reunited."
Per'sus stood stunned. He could remember that day and those words like they were yesterday. He remembered how he stood alone with Egeria while outside his brethren fought a losing battle against the Ashrak that had infiltrated their base.
"That day has finally come my child," Egeria said with a gentle smile.
"My queen," Per'sus whispered. "Ra is dead and the Goa'uld Empire has fallen, we have won."
"Indeed you have," Egeria said. "However as I understand it not without help."
The Tok'ra flinched at that.
"The Tau'ri provided us with significant assistance in the final days it is true," Delek said. "However we were able to maintain the balance amongst the System Lords for several millennia, preventing one from overcoming the others."
"And yet in the end it was the Tau'ri and the Free Jaffa who finally freed the galaxy from the rule of the Goa'uld," Egeria said. "Ra, Hathor, Setesh, Heru'ur, Sokar, Cronus, Apophis and Ba'al, all of them before the Tau'ri and yet you still believe that they are less advanced than our kind."
"My Queen," Garshaw said. "We meant them no disrespect but when we first met them they were a primitive people who did not even possess ships of their own."
"Garshaw isn't it?" Egeria asked.
Garshaw nodded.
Egeria smiled warmly. "I am glad to know that I was not the only one to see the folly of the Goa'uld. What you say is true, the Tau'ri had limited technology to begin with but they have come very far indeed. They are a young race but they have striven to overcome the obstacles they face and use their newly acquired knowledge to help others. It was with that knowledge that I was returned to you."
"And we are most grateful for that," Thoran stated. "Our numbers have dwindled significantly over the centuries past. We are a shadow of what we once were."
"And yet you have built all this," Egeria said, gesturing at the glimmering structures around her. "You have accomplished so much in the time I was gone."
"My Queen," said Per'sus. "What is in those containers?"
"A gift from the Tau'ri," Egeria said. "One that will ensure that we never want for hosts again. You should know I was deeply saddened to learn that you thought yourselves so desperate that you demanded hosts from the Tau'ri as part of your alliance. That is not our way."
"My Queen," Garshaw protested. "At the time we simply wished the Tau'ri to show that they were willing to work with us and would not eventually turn on us because we were like the Goa'uld. It was a matter of trust."
"The ideals I instilled into your minds should have been enough of a guarantee that they would not," Egeria stated flatly. "You were lucky that the man who volunteered for the blending did so willing or I shudder to think what might have happened to Selmak's mind as a result. You should know that the memories of Selmak and Jacob Carter are held in high regard by the Tau'ri."
"They were a great loss to our kind," Per'sus said, taking the hint.
"A great loss indeed," Egeria agreed, with a look of sadness. "Now you asked what was in the containers. The answer is simple, technology. The same technology that allowed for my return and the creation of a host without a consciousness like the one I now inhabit, cloning."
"The technology Ba'al used to create so many copies of himself?" Per'sus asked, remembering the headache that had caused.
"The very same," Egeria replied. "Thanks to this technology, as well as samples of my DNA the Pangarans had in their possession, I was reborn."
Echidna looked upwards and waved at the ship. In response to the signal Jack appeared as a hologram in front of her.
"If there is anything you need from us don't hesitate to call Egeria," Jack said.
"Thank you General," Egeria said warmly. "But your people have already done far too much for us as it is. Please feel free to ask us for anything you might require."
"Will do," Jack said.
His hologram faded and the Enterprise began to climb into orbit.
"Remember the look of that vessel my children," Egeria said. "The Tau'ri have many more like her and as the years go by we will be seeing more and more of them amongst the stars."
Vanir City
In the physical therapy area of the city hospital Sovaer was finally up and about again after his crippling injury. Well injury was arguably putting it lightly seeing as he had lost almost an entire leg during the last mission but in this case it had been nothing more than an inconvenience. A few hours of diligent surgery courtesy of trained Vanir specialists and his new leg had been successfully attached and he was back on his feet again. While the procedure to attach the leg had been simple adjusting to it was not so simple. Essentially he was using nerves he had never used before and in order to get the nerve attachments to stabilise he needed to slowly stimulate them. The scar from the attachment wasn't visible on his skin but it was present on his bones, muscles and nerves.
Under the supervision of Eir, who found it inconvenient to switch out of her combat body, he was slowly walking around the room. As time went by he would gradually increase the pace until he reached a light jog, which he continued to maintain for several minutes. It was while he was at this speed that Jakose entered the room.
"Feeling better then?" Jakose asked lightly.
"Much," Sovaer replied, increasing his speed.
"Well I can't blame you for getting hurt this time since I approved the mission," Jakose admitted. "And I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that you of all people would manage to get hurt."
Sovaer ground to a halt and turned to look at his friend.
Eir switched her gaze between the two of them for a few moments before coming to a decision.
"That's enough for today," she said as she walked out of the room. "Take it easy until tomorrow."
"Thank you Eir," Jakose said gratefully, receiving a nod of acknowledgement in return.
Sovaer studied his friend. On the surface he appeared calm and at ease but he had known him long enough to look beyond the mere surface. The eyes are said to be a window into the soul and Jakose had troubled eyes. Sovaer realised that he knew. He knew that he had told Jason to leave him behind so that the others could escape. At the time it had been the logical decision, especially since he would only have been captured and not killed but he knew that Jakose wouldn't see it that way. He probably blamed himself for what had happened. Jakose had admitted that he had approved the mission and couldn't blame him.
Sovaer sighed and went to sit down on one of the benches lining the room. Picking up a towel he patted his hand down lightly. In silence Jakose came and sat down next to him.
"You really can't blame yourself for this one you know," Sovaer said.
"I know," Jakose replied. "But I still feel guilty that you lost a leg."
Sovaer shrugged. "I have a new one. Besides to me losing a leg isn't that bad. Hurt like hell but nothing life threatening. Rather like a nasty paper cut."
Jakose laughed at that. "A paper cut?"
"I told you, I'm a cyborg. It takes a lot more than a lost limb to slow me down."
"Or a potential suicide mission it seems."
"Oh please, suicide missions are my day job."
"Oh really," Jakose said with a wry grin. "Perhaps we should start calling the SPECTREs the canaries then."
Sovaer groaned. "For a man supposedly so busy you know far too many Earth cultural references."
"I also know Murphy's Law was on your side in this case," Jakose added.
"That's true," admitted Sovaer. "Although I never thought Murphy's Law would work in our favour. Or that it would apply to traps laid down by the enemy."
"Hope springs eternal," Jakose replied.
"Please enough already," Sovaer pleaded. "You're making me jealous."
"Then let's go and watch a movie," Jakose suggested. "You are supposed to be resting."
"Fine but I'm choosing. You think it's suspicious that Zarin hasn't made a major move yet too right?"
"Oh definitely. The allied commanders are expecting it to hit the fan any day now. I wonder what he's planning."
Sovaer shrugged. "It's obvious, wiping us out. The real question is when and where he'll strike next. The problem is there is nothing we can do about that."
Unknown Location
Zarin actually had far grander plans than the others realised. It would surprise to know that the others thought he would plan a strike on a single target when it was far more effective to launch multiple strikes simultaneously.
He had originally dispatched large numbers of task forces to both investigate and potentially conquer numerous worlds of the Pegasus galaxy using gate co-ordinates as a reference. He had intended to sow confusion and disorder amongst the enemy ranks by making them surrounded and uncertain as to his forces bases. However that plan had not worked out as he intended when the first reports started coming in about the status of the worlds visited. Oh he fully expected to hear about the worlds that had become uninhabitable after so many millennia, it was practically predictable after all, but the others had him annoyed. Every single world that his forces visited that had a working gate and signs of civilisation had been uninhabited. The settlements of each world had been completely picked clean of both people and their apparent possessions. It was as if the natives had simply picked up their things and gone someplace else. It was possible the enemy had evacuated these worlds when they realised that the Zarasians were coming but that seemed unlikely. They would have to have detected their presence while they weren't in hyperspace, plotted their apparent trajectories and then evacuated the inhabitants in record time. It just didn't seem possible.
In his mind though that left only one possibility, that they had been evacuated in advance long before his forces had approached. They could have repeated this on countless worlds. It could still be happening or have long since been completed for all he knew. It certainly made expanding his empire more difficult. An empire needed people after all and the reapers were only good for so much. True, they provided a basis for his ground forces and labour but they were not capable of thinking. If his people were to grow more powerful they needed new young minds to perform technical tasks and develop new technologies. They would be greatly needed as they fought to overcome their technologically advanced enemies. A war for a galaxy could last a very long time after all.
Time was of no consequence to Zarin personally, or his reaper soldiers, but the same could not be said for his people. He may be their Etere, their eternal, but they were merely mortal. Some had found a way to stave off death but certainly not all.
If these Tau'ri, since he highly doubted the Averians capable of such a feat, had chosen to remove the populations of these worlds then they must have done something with them. The Tau'ri were an intergalactic race he knew, but ferrying the population of nearly every world in this galaxy to another was a massive undertaking. They shouldn't have had the time since he had moved to a full war setting to accomplish such a thing, at least he hoped not. Logically the humans of this galaxy should be on one or more worlds in this galaxy. The alternative was far too worrying to contemplate.
He currently had a strike force dispatched to another world along the outer rim, following another stargate address. What they would find there he didn't know but another empty village would piss him off. Ideally what he wanted was to find a few enemy bases. The Wraith could be tracked down to a certain degree and the Averians weren't about to evacuate their homeworld, but the Tau'ri were effectively unknowns in this galaxy. Weeding them out would be an annoyingly arduous task but he would savour the moment when the searching was over and it was underway.
Space – Borealis
The base ship glimmered against the dark back drop of open space. She was far from any star system and away from prying eyes. Her purpose out her was two fold, act as a secret listening post in the depths of space and to continue ship production while remaining hidden from the Zarasians. They had no idea if the Zarasians knew about Atlantis and was a distinct possibility they did, but they couldn't possibly know about Borealis since her existence was such a tightly guarded secret.
Her commanding officer Colonel Paul Davis was standing in the custom built control room in the very bowels of the base ship. It was a truly wonderful design. Davis sat on a chair in the centre of the dome shaped room, while around him numerous crewmen operated control consoles. The walls had been designed to project an image of the space around the base ship, meaning Davis could see the stars twinkling in the distance. Even the parts of the floor surrounding the circular control area had the projectors built in. The choice to relocate the control centre came from the fact that this city had been designed for combat. This wasn't a place for people to live like Atlantis but a place to launch attacks against the enemies of the Alliance. Even sitting in space like this and operating at minimal power the base ship was far from being vulnerable. Her entire hull was lined with thick armour plating that not only insulated her against the icy depths of space but offered great protection from potential attackers. The silvery armour plating glinted with running lights and shone under the light of the transport beams scouring the asteroid field she was parked by.
Davis had deliberately chosen to place the base ship by the asteroid field because of the opportunity it presented. Using beaming technology they could effectively sweep the asteroids for any useful resources and work on constructing new vessels. The priority builds at the moment were Night Fury class vessels. Highly automated, heavily armed and requiring only a small crew to operate they were very much in demand when numbers to spread around were so important. Working in the administrative arm of Homeworld Command he knew the importance of having forces to spread around. If you have just one world to defend then a few big ships are fine but if you have to guard several worlds then you need a large number of small ships. Not just so you can spread your forces across those worlds but so that you have the numbers to be able to redeploy and reinforce those worlds should they come under attack.
Right now it was his job to bolster their forces while staying hidden. Numerous hulls were already under construction in the many hangers across the base ship. Industrial beams made construction incredibly easy with the resources being cherry picked from the asteroids. To speed up construction Borealis was devoting minimum power to the other systems, aside from deep space sensors of course. Though the capacitors were fully charged and operating the primary shields were deactivated, as were the weapon systems. Power was flowing freely from the neutrino ion generators to the sensors, shields and beam arrays, but not from the ZPM's because they could be greatly needed later on.
Although he knew what his orders were he was more than willing to see Borealis fighting on the front lines. It was what she had been designed for, to be a mobile military base that could relocate as the front lines did, which when combined with a stargate made the problem of supply lines practically non-existent.
"Sir long range sensors are detecting hyperspace activity," a crewman reported, rousing Davis from his musings. "Vessels are in transit."
"What kind of vessels?" Davis asked, perking up at having finally detected something of note since his mission began.
"Processing…Confirmed five Zarasian strike craft," the crewman replied.
"Can you ascertain their trajectory and end destination?"
"Course projections suggest two possible star systems sir."
"What assets do we have in the area?" Davis asked another crewman.
"None of personal assets or the Asgard ships, however the Jaffa and Liberum groups are in range."
Davis nodded, mulling the information over before coming to a decision. Borealis could technically intercept that group but their orders were clear.
"Transmit a priority one message to the Weir informing them of our discovery," he ordered. The ball is in Colonel Sheppard's court, he thought to himself.
"Transmitting now sir," said the communications officer.
"Wait!" said the first crewman. "Secondary contact detected, different course and heading."
"Hold that transmission," Davis ordered.
"Transmission holding."
"Report," Davis ordered.
"Zarasian strike group, composition five vessels. They're heading to a different star system cluster on a different vector sir. Sensors suggest different points of origin. Only the Liberum are in intercept range."
"Add the data to the transmission," Davis ordered.
Looks like the Jaffa and Liberum are about to be formerly introduced to the Zarasians, Davis thought to himself.
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