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: It's rather like a complicated juggling act where i have so many things in the air and i find myself wondering just how i ended up with these elements hanging over my head. Somehow it all to seems to come together. I think the phrase is, only in sci-fi.
Cdoctor: You will never guess what i have planned for them.
vash1914: That's what this whole chapter is about, well sort of.
Oddliver: It'll take a little while but the fireworks will begin eventually.
Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.
stormwolf3710: I'm a big fan of steampunk myself, which is why i wanted this to be viable.
BIG Z1776: You have no idea. Making a steam punk world work properly is not easy let me tell you.
SkywalkerT-65: Everyone has their own reaction to the images, it all comes down to association.
Jacen010: Deus Ex Machina is typically defined as pulling something out of your hat that never before existed to solve seemingly impossible to solve problems. I should point out that i have never spontaneously created new pieces of technology for a situation but have merely repurposed existing pieces of canonical technology, a fact i have repeatedly explained to you. Since you cannot give me any suitable examples even when asked i will presume that your response is merely down to your own lack of knowledge on stargate.
Mystery World
The mystery world the Weir was investigating had proven to have one thing in an endless supply, and that was sky. So far the crew hadn't seen a single speck of land through the thick cloud bank below and it looked like they wouldn't for some time. The locals apparently had no plans on leading them to the ground, the airship guiding them maintaining a constant altitude along with its steady, and admittedly slow, pace.
Sheppard was quite happy to keep things this way. It meant that they had time to plan their moves to counter Zarins inevitable offensive. He had already dispatched a pair of 306's to take the supergate back to the Milky Way galaxy and pick up the, at the time, Ori mothership debris. His only concern though was that if things dragged on too long then he would be looking at defending the world from the Zarasians without the locals support. Not something he was particularly looking forward to attempting since the Zarasians would undoubtedly be able to get boots on the ground eventually, which would make them very difficult to get rid of entirely.
The one thing he was happy about was that McKay had finally gotten the sensors calibrated to work despite the interference from the planets unusually high and inconsistent magnetic field. He currently had ISIS running through a detailed scan of the planet in the hopes that the information would give them some sort of edge they could use later on. If at all possible they were also looking to find the planets stargate so they could bring it back online as an act of good faith. Somehow he doubted they had simply buried the gate but it was possible. Either way he was hoping to gain a little insight into how these people had ended up off the grid.
The mighty vessel slowly made its way through the clouds that filled the sky. There seemed to be no end to them, from orbit the entire world seemed to be consumed by them. Yet it was beautiful up here, high in the sky, and most likely that tranquillity would be destroyed as war came to this world.
Around were numerous rocks of varying sizes but as they approached they began to see larger and larger ones. Though they didn't know for sure they suspected that there were entire floating islands up amongst the clouds. Quite possibly that was where these people had made a home for themselves.
It was obvious they were getting close to their end destination. Sensors were now able to detect numerous fighter sized craft around them running between the floating rocks. Apparently these rocks had buildings built on them and some even appeared to be mines for trinium and the superconductor that allowed for the rocks to defy gravity. The real hint that they were getting close was the ever increasing number of large ships and gliders around them. Naturally though these ships were hiding, or attempting to hide, behind the clouds and floating rocks but they were perfectly visible on the Weir's sensors.
"Commander I have completed the sensor sweep," ISIS informed him.
"Bingo!" McKay exclaimed triumphantly. "I found it."
"Found what?" Sheppard asked.
"The stargate, I found this planets stargate."
"Are you sure it's the stargate?"
"A perfect ring of one of only two readings of naquadah on the planet? Yeah I'm sure."
"Okay fine I'll take your word for it, so where is it?"
"Buried under a ton of rock on the planets surface."
"How did that happen?"
"How should I know?" McKay asked. "I mean I can guess but aside from that I don't really know."
"Best guess then," Sheppard replied.
"Well it looks like one of those rocks fell on it."
"What do you mean fell on it?"
"I mean fell out of the sky right on top of the damn thing," McKay replied. "The interesting thing is though that the DHD has been moved elsewhere."
"Well that kind of makes sense," Sheppard answered. "It's the only one of the two that is light enough to be moved."
"Barely," McKay said. "If I had to guess I would say that they relocated away from the stargate and then later mined out one of those rocks until it fell out of the sky."
"What makes you say that?" Sheppard asked.
"Because the DHD is located on a floating island that just happens to have a large number of life signs," McKay answered. "More than any of the other islands."
"So you think that's there home?"
"Most likely, but we're not heading there. We're on a completely different course."
"So where are we heading? No scratch that, I can guess. Somewhere nice and secure where they will have a lot of guns pointed at us."
"Judging from the size of those ships I would say a lot of big guns," McKay said. "These guys really like their big ships."
"If you thought the Wraith were going to descend on you then so would you."
"True," McKay admitted. "Hey look, they're signalling us."
The airship in front of them had begun to emit a series of flashes, which was apparently their version of Morse code. Before leaving on this trip they had been given the decryption key for the individual flashes.
"They are saying we will shortly be arriving at our destination," ISIS translated. "We are instructed to lower our speed by half and await further instructions."
"Helm," Sheppard said.
"Aye sir."
"Tell Tomin we are about to begin talks with the natives," ordered Sheppard. "Oh and inform him that I may have co-ordinates for his ships to travel to."
"Are you planning something again?" McKay asked.
"Just preparing a little insurance," Sheppard said. "I get the feeling we are looking at a hard sell here."
"You think?" McKay asked sarcastically. "They've been cut off from the rest of the galaxy for who knows how long. We're lucky they still remember the Wraith, and that by the way is not a conversation I am looking forward to."
"Yeah I know but at least it means we can give them some good news," Sheppard replied. "We are telling them that their world is about to be invaded after all."
"Not to mention that we have to let it be guarded by complete strangers," McKay added.
"Thank you for the reminder. I'll be sure to mention that when I talk to them."
"I've got a lock on the stargate. Do you want me to beam it up?"
"Just the stargate, leave the DHD where it is."
"It's in the cargo bay," Rodney reported after a few moments.
"The airship is signalling that we are about to arrive and that we are to follow them into dock," ISIS reported, following another round of signal flashes.
The clouds parted as the Weir followed the airship. By now there were dozens of the bird like flying craft they had spotted earlier flying along with them. At such a close range they could clearly see that they were man made. They even had a small steam engine and a propeller on their backs to provide additional thrust. Those that flocked around them came in several sizes. Some were nothing more than a pair of bat wings and a propeller while others were bigger and quite clearly armed but apparently less manoeuvrable.
In the distance they could see the stark outlines of other airships, both bigger and smaller than the one they were following. Sensors were reading dozens of contact both small and large. Some of them were tiny, not much larger than a transport shuttle, while others were massive, almost as big as the Weir herself.
Ahead of them was a massive rock that had been colonised and dug into to a certain extent. Across its surface were large numbers of lights and weapon emplacements, meant to deter attackers. Of course against something like a Wraith attack those defences would probably have proven to be ineffective, if not useless. When you face an enemy that can bombard you from orbit without fear of retaliation a large number of guns don't tend to be of much use. Presumably though those weapons were meant to defend the base against an enemy incursion, since fighter craft would have a hard time getting through the flak they could undoubtedly throw up. Even the Wraith wouldn't needlessly kill the humans they intended to feed upon. Unfortunately if the Zarasians ever launched an attack they would most likely just send wave after wave of fighters regardless of the losses, since they could always just make more reapers to replace their losses. Failing that they would just blast the rock out of the sky rather than go through the trouble of capturing it.
Still though it was certainly impressive what they had built here. The inside of this rock held caverns that could easily house the Weir inside along with a number of other ships. For a race that apparently hadn't even discovered electricity yet this was certainly an accomplishment. As they entered the large cavern they could see large pieces of machinery, all steam powered, and numerous structures that formed the dockyards of the base. There were also the distinct silhouette of multiple weapon emplacements, each and every one turning to face the ship and tracking her movement.
"We're being told to land in the lit up area," ISIS reported.
One of the largest dockyards was lit up by large red lamps around the perimeter, highlighting it amongst the dark unoccupied others. With precision control the Weir descended as the landing supports lowered and locked into place. Gently the massive ship touched down into the dock, her antigravity systems causing her to barely make the ground shudder from her landing. Throughout the dock ant like figures could be seen scurrying closer to get a better look at the alien vessel while inside the Weir the crew peered out of windows, just as curious as the aliens outside.
"Keep our shields up," Sheppard ordered. "I don't care how much we want these people to like us, I am not risking them trying to capture or destroy this ship."
"Aye sir."
"You know it is really unlikely those guns can go through our armour," McKay pointed out.
"I know that, you know that and everyone on this ship knows that," Sheppard replied. "However those people out there don't know that and I would rather not have them try it. At the very least they could damage our weapons and I would rather that didn't happen. That reminds me, lower the blast shutters."
"Aye sir."
Across the hull of the Weir, blast shutters as thick as the hull of the ship slid into place, covering every window, port hole and viewing platform under a protective sheet of armour. As the last of the hatches slid into place over the bridge viewing port hologram projectors automatically activated, conforming perfectly to the windows and providing the same view that would normally be available with the shutters retracted.
From the outside the ship now seemed completely protected on all fronts, without a single vulnerability that an enemy could exploit. The gleaming armour combined with the numerous, idle yet apparent, weapon emplacements dotting her hull gave onlookers a simple message. We're in control of what happens to our ship so do not even think about trying anything.
Sheppard wondered if word of their advanced weaponry had reached the ears of the people here yet. Most likely it had since they had detected a small craft leave the airship before on the same heading they had taken. The knowledge of the firepower the Weir possessed, along with her shields, would hopefully act as a deterrent for itchy trigger fingers. At the very least it would mean they wouldn't be taken lightly.
Even though he was being cautious he did acknowledge that the natives were showing some signs of trusting him. They had allowed his access to one of their bases when they could have easily asked him to stay outside. Hopefully this meant they were willing to give diplomacy a try rather than start a shooting match. Still he couldn't help but notice the fact that while they were technically inside the base the cavern had been designed in such a way that the walls were just as armed and armoured as the exterior. Arguably the only difference between being inside the cavern and on the outside of this floating rock, ignoring the docks with their few inhabited buildings, was that on the outside they didn't have guns pointed at them on all sides.
"We are receiving another message," ISIS reported. "We are being instructed to await for a designated official to arrive to talk to us."
"Rodney anything on sensors?" Sheppard asked.
"You mean other than the large number of contacts of all sizes that are clustered around this floating rock?" McKay asked. "Nothing noteworthy."
"What about around their largest settlement?" Sheppard asked. "Anything coming from there?"
"Far from it," McKay replied. "They seem to be consolidating assets around that location and fortifying their position. But no craft are coming out of there to suggest they are sending an ambassador or someone important who wouldn't otherwise be stationed elsewhere. They appear to adopting a defensive stance from the off since we showed off our capabilities."
"I see all those games of chess have taught you basic tactics," Sheppard remarked.
"Or maybe I've been spending too much time with the military," McKay shot back.
Sheppard chuckled. "Looks like we're going to be here for awhile. Good thing I already sent off those standing orders."
"Yeah I figure the Chekov and the Vaselov should be arriving anytime now."
"How did those two ships end up being sent at the same time?"
Rodney shrugged. "They happened to be near each other and were the closest ships to the supergate."
Alpha Site
A hyperspace window opened and deposited two 306's, minus their escorts. For the mission they were on the extra space in the main hanger was needed for another purpose. The first part of the mission they had been given required them to pick up a few thousand items fresh off the production line.
The Chekov and the Vaselov were both Russian ships named after two very famous Russian officers, or at least they were famous to those in the SGC. Colonel Chekov had been the long time liaison to the SGC before he had met his untimely death during the Battle of the Supergate along with the entire crew of the Korolev. Before then Colonel Vaselov had sacrificed himself by allowing Anubis to possess him in order to escape. Coincidentally he had saved then Lt General O'Neill in the process by forcing the half ascended being to give up possession of Jack's body. That single courageous act had earned him a place of honour in the memories of those present. Jack had all but insisted on the two ship names.
The first part of their mission consisted of towing the wreckage from the first Ori mothership that they had ever destroyed. Since that one had been destroyed by the activation of the supergate the only piece barely intact was the rear section where the sublight engines were located. Unfortunately that meant that there had been little to know technology to be reverse engineered after its recovery by the Tau'ri forces. Of course even with this being the case they had made sure to gather every single piece of the wreckage left by that ship since there was no way they were going to let other, potentially unscrupulous, forces get their hands on it. For the sake of safety two ships were being tasked with towing the wreckage to guarantee it arrived safely.
The other part of the mission entailed picking up the latest in UAV fighter technology. It was a long acknowledged fact that an air force was not composed entirely of pilots, far from it in fact, and certainly not enough to fill the cockpits of all the 302's the fleet could carry. Nevertheless the 302's had been built and at last they would take flight. When the 302's had been designed they had included an ejection system in the form of the entire cockpit system separating from the fighter craft. Now an alternative to the standard manned cockpit had been built that contained a dedicated control computer with an inbuilt artificial intelligence modelled on a number of different pilots. The advantage of such a section was that it could easily be replaced with a standard cockpit at a moments notice, could perform complex calculations, like those needed for short hyperspace jumps, in an instant and meant that the pilot could never actually be killed. The sections were also covered in a thick plate of armour, since there was no one to look out the window so to speak, making the overall fighter slightly more durable than the manned versions. In combat the UAV's would be a fearsome opponent to take on, especially on mass since they were able to co-ordinate with one another.
With the control sections taking up every single bit of space possible and the wreckage of the Ori mothership under tow the two 306's jumped to hyperspace on a course for the supergate.
Mystery World
"We really need to find out the name of this place," Rodney said.
"Assuming they even have a name for this planet," John replied. "A lot of people have too much on their minds to bother coming up with a name for their planet. Besides, home is home as far as most people are concerned."
"True," Rodney admitted.
"You found anything interesting on sensors," John asked.
"Well it's hard to be certain but I do believe there are some animals present on the surface and around some of the floating rocks."
"So the planet has native wildlife, that's not too hard to believe."
"Yeah but they are pretty big creatures, especially the flying ones."
"How big?"
"Bigger than a horse."
John let out a low whistle. "Those are some big birds."
"Assuming they're birds."
"Meaning?"
"Well we've encountered dinosaurs before, would flying lizards really be out of the question."
John chuckled. "What you mean like dragons?"
"You said it not me, but you never know."
"So long as they don't breathe fire I don't really care. ISIS."
"Yes Commander," ISIS said.
"What's the status of the Korolev and the Vaselov?" Sheppard asked.
"They have travelled through the supergate to pick up the wreckage pieces and the UAV cockpit sections," ISIS reported. "They have yet to return however."
"Let me know when they arrive in system."
"Yes Commander."
"Now we just need to decide which system they are going to drop in on," Rodney added.
"Don't tell me, you have an idea."
"Actually I do," Rodney said smugly.
"So spill it already."
"You remember when the Jaffa encountered the Zarasians?"
"It wasn't that long ago Rodney."
"Right, of course you do. Anyway, they dropped out at the system with the stargate which got me thinking. The Averians, and by default the Zarasians, had a whole list of gate addresses, probably a copy of the list on Atlantis."
"Makes sense, go on."
"What if they are trying to go about this logically and are searching systems with stargates in them. Logically those would be the planets you would expect to have a native human population so they would be targets of choice for Zarin to commit forces to. There is one other system in this cluster with a stargate so the Zarasians will most likely check that one out first."
"I have to admit Rodney you certainly seem to have thought this through," John said, impressed. "I guess I wrong."
"How so?" Rodney asked, confused.
"The military seems to have rubbed off on you," John replied with a grin.
"That supposed to be a compliment?" Rodney asked with a crooked grin.
"The best you're getting," John replied, his grin remaining in place.
John sighed. "What the hell is taking so long?"
Obviously he was referring to the meeting with the representatives from this mystery world. If they wanted to defend this world properly then they needed the co-operation of the native people.
"A lack of radios maybe?" Rodney suggested. "These people have to send a messenger whenever they want to talk so it's not that surprising really."
"Well if this goes on any longer I'm going to fly this ship over their supposed capital and talk to their leader in person," John said adamantly.
Rodney frowned. "You can't be serious."
"If it means saving lives you bet your ass I'm serious," John answered sternly.
Rodney chose not to comment. He knew that his friend was under a lot of pressure with the Zarasian threat hanging over their heads like an executioner's blade. For all their advanced technology, their allies and their determination to protect everyone they could the Zarasians had been preparing to conquer this galaxy for centuries. They would protect what they could but their backs were up against the wall as long as the Zarasians were in a position to strike from the shadows.
"ISIS, bring the main running lights online," Rodney ordered. There was one thing he could do to speed this up.
Along the hull of the Weir the seldom used lights came online.
"Encode a flash message and transmit it on all the main bulbs," Rodney ordered. "Message reads as follows, we repeat our request for an urgent meeting with your planetary leaders."
"Done," ISIS said.
"You can do that as many times as you like Rodney but I really doubt it will do much good," John said.
"Maybe but at least in here a lot of people will see it, hopefully someone higher up the food chain than that airship captain," Rodney replied optimistically.
"You're right, good thinking," John admitted.
"Commander we are receiving a reply," ISIS said. "They are considering our request."
"Tell them we mean them no harm but if we don't speak to someone soon we'll go and find someone to listen to what we have to say," Sheppard ordered, causing Rodney to flinch.
"Processing," ISIS said. It takes a while to send a message when each individual letter has its own sequence, at least at a speed that someone can read and translate by hand.
For a little while silence reigned as they anxiously awaited a reply.
"They say that a representative will be with us shortly," ISIS said eventually.
"Tell them I will be waiting outside the ship," Sheppard said. "Oh and put a spotlight on me."
In the dockyard Sheppard appeared in holographic form under the bright light of a powerful spotlight. The goal was to attract attention and get him noticed and judging by the number of figures cautiously approaching in the distance it was working.
Slowly the party approached him and although he couldn't see them his instincts told him that he was being scrutinised. If he had to guess there were snipers ready to fire at him and a lot of big guns pointed at the Weir.
He really wasn't worried about them taking a shot at him or the ship while the shields were raised but he knew it would be counterproductive to arranging to protect this planet.
The group that approached him consisted of a dozen soldiers in dark green military uniforms, all armed with rifles, and an older man who was also in uniform. It looked he was indeed going to be talking to someone higher up the food chain since the older mans uniform was more heavily decorated than the other soldiers. Quite possibly this man was in charge of this base.
"Hello," Sheppard said politely. "I'm Colonel John Sheppard of the Tau'ri."
"What is your purpose here Colonel Sheppard?" the old man rasped.
Sheppard kept his face neutral but his brain was churning as he took in the, apparently, old mans appearance. The way he spoke made him seem old, frail even and that fact was further exaggerated by the slight slump to his stance. It was easy to imagine him being given a boring desk job where he would be out of the way and wouldn't be required to push himself too hard. The gray hair, the small round spectacles he was squinting through, his weak stance and the raspy voice all painted a picture of a man past well past his prime. Those guards were probably here to carry away just in case he ran out of energy trying to walk here, which would certainly explain their slow pace earlier. But something was nagging at him about this man.
"We have come to make peaceful contact with your people," Sheppard explained. "And to warn you about a threat to your world."
"We are aware of the Wraith."
"It is not the Wraith that you have to worry about," Sheppard replied. "We took care of that problem."
"You defeated the Wraith?"
"Not all of them," Sheppard answered. "We found a way to remove the need to feed on humans. Those that accepted our gift became our allies. Those that didn't were destroyed by us and our allies."
"You call the Wraith allies?" the old man rasped. "After all that they have done, why?"
"Because given the choice they made the right one."
The old man smiled amusedly. "If the choice is between life and death do you really think there is a choice?"
"If death is certain then it is," Sheppard replied. "Their leader wanted what was best for her people and to put and end to the death on both sides. That's a goal I can admire."
"So you trust them?"
"I didn't at first."
"And now?"
"They haven't given me a reason not to and so long as they don't try and conquer the galaxy I don't have a reason to dislike them."
"You are willing to forgive the deaths of so many at their hands?"
"I suppose it comes down to the question, if we were addicted to the life force of humans what would we have done?"
"An interesting question. What is this threat?"
"A race called the Zarasians. They wish to eliminate the Wraith and anyone who gets in their way."
"And how are they a threat to us?"
"They are coming here."
"You have brought your war to our world?" the old man accused. "Why? Where is the sense in doing so?"
"I said they are coming here," Sheppard repeated. "They aren't following us, one of their fleets is heading in the direction of your world and eventually they will find you."
"So leave and they will have no reason to bother us," the old man replied sharply. "Or destroy them before they get here. Leave my world out of your fight."
Suddenly everything seemed to make sense. The nagging doubt he had felt before was suddenly gone as the image of a tired old man vanished. The man that stood before him was a strong, proud warrior who would do anything to protect his people. Time may have left its mark but it had yet to claim his spirit. This frail old man persona was just an act, a mask he had donned so that Sheppard would underestimate him. It was obvious now that he thought about it. Those clever questions and responses that had been both insightful and sharp as a knife while giving nothing away, not even his name, should have alerted him to the deception. It was the eyes he realised, those electric blue, sharp and clever eyes that had constantly been studying him, and hinting of intelligence, were the nagging doubt from earlier.
"The Zarasians plan for victory involves bringing this entire galaxy under their control and annihilating those that stop them," Sheppard explained. "They will come to this world and conquer it and my people and our allies are your only chance of surviving them."
"And why should I believe what you are telling me?" the older man asked. "Why shouldn't I just give the order to open fire on your ship right now rather than allow you to maintain a military presence here?"
"Because you know that won't do you any good," Sheppard replied firmly.
The two stared at each other.
"I need proof," the older man said.
"How about this for starters then?"
A flash of white light momentarily engulfed Sheppard. When it vanished a large metallic ring surrounded him.
"That is…that's…" the old man stammered, shocked by what his eyes had just registered. "I've only ever seen pictures…crude drawings…the ring of the ancestors, how is this possible? It was lost long ago, before my time."
"We detected the presence of the naquadah and beamed it to our ship," Sheppard explained. "We can put it anywhere you want."
"Why have you done this?"
Sheppard shrugged. "Call it an act of good faith. But let me ask you something if we really wanted to conquer this world we would just stand here talking to you?"
"If you wanted minimal resistance then maybe and didn't want to have to fight us for every inch."
"But I haven't asked you to surrender."
"Not yet."
"Not ever."
"I hope that is true."
"Sir!" yelled a young man, running towards the group.
"What is it?" the older man barked.
"Sir, outside, there are ships!"
"Like that one?" the older man asked, indicating the Weir.
The young man shook his head, fear evident in his eyes just as the ground shook.
"What was that?" the older man asked, as he struggled to maintain his balance.
"They're firing weapons sir. They're destroying the rocks around us indiscriminately. That last one must have been close for us to feel the shockwave. We'll probably be next."
The old man stared at Sheppard, who stared back impassively. "The Zarasians?"
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