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 hard part will be working to defend the planet while dealing with the locals. If it was just an abandoned planet with no one there except the two sides fighting it would be much easier for the allies because of the lack of civilians running around.
Oddliver: War, and the horrors it involves, should never be taken lightly. And on that i can definetly say that fighting to the last man only happens when retreat isn't possible.
Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.
stormwolf3710: Good question.
BIG Z1776: Pilot shortage is another reason. In order to use all the birds they now have they need some way to replace people as pilots.
SkywalkerT-65: Everyone has their own reaction to the images, it all comes down to association.
romanhellhound: He isn't exactly the head of the military but he does have a lot of experience under his belt, and of course is the man in charge of that rather large military fleet base.
EPetrelli: The Genii are way more advanced technologically i think you'll find since they have electricity, computers, nuclear reactors, nuclear weapons, etc. If they emerge on the galactic stage it won't be until after a major industrial revolution and of course after the war.
Chronus1326: Railguns are out of the question i'm afraid since they lack electricity to power it. They do however have a sizeable amount of projectile weaponry.
Guest: One of the things i have been doing is having multinationalities on major installations. Ships is a little more difficult but with the introduction of the fleet training school and the pooled personnel for the fleet i am hoping to make some headway.
Cdoctor: Enjoy.
Aerchangel: Thank you.
Monsterjeffbuk: Well not right away but eventually they will. As for the ending, well we shall see.
Kevin Trino: While i have mentioned the shields the Liberum ships used and maybe in passing mentioned the main beam weapon i really don't recall actually talking about the weapons used by the ships. I can't actually seem to find where the description you are talking about resides in my story. I am however fully aware of the number of secondary weapons featured on the warships. Don't worry you weren't ranting or whiny, although i do wish you would create an account. I'm happy to talk to my readers about ideas but i can't do that if i can't message them.
Mystery World
"No," Sheppard said. "Not the Zarasians."
"Then who?" the older man, clearly agitated.
Around them the entire base, which had seemingly been holding its breath in anticipation until now, had come alive with activity.
"You're afraid," Sheppard noted.
"They're attacking us!" the old responded angrily.
"Actually they just destroyed a few uninhabited rocks," Sheppard pointed out. "They never caused any actual casualties."
"Why are you speaking in the past tense?"
"Because it happened in the past."
"They aren't attacking us anymore?" the older man asked, looking around at his soldiers. "Someone get me confirmation of this, now!"
"What have you done?" he asked angrily, rounding on Sheppard.
Sheppard just stood there impassively, not showing any visible reaction to the anger directed at him.
"They aren't going to hurt you," Sheppard said.
"What have you done?" the older man repeated.
"I'm sorry I had to do that but it was necessary," Sheppard said.
"Tell me what you did!"
"I asked them to give you a small taste of what it would be like if the Zarasians came to your world," Sheppard explained. "Minus the casualties of course. You needed to realise the danger that enemy like the Zarasians presents to you."
"Why would you do this?"
"Because I don't have time to waste convincing you of the danger you are in," Sheppard answered. "You had to know that you couldn't win, you could barely even offer minimal resistance if they came for you."
"That was unnecessary," the older man argued.
"No, casualties were unnecessary," Sheppard said. "That is why I made sure there weren't any."
The older man silently fumed in outrage. "All units are to stand down. They are not to engage the unknowns unless fired upon. Send the necessary flash commands."
"Yes sir," the young man replied before running back the way he came.
"What do you want from us?"
"We want to help you," Sheppard said. "Those ships out there belong to our allies, a race of humans called the Liberum, and if you'll let us they'll be deployed here to protect your planet. If they're not enough then we'll send in more forces."
"Deployed where exactly?"
"Wherever you'll allow. Ideally they could use a base of yours to use as their own to draw the attention of the Zarasians."
"I do not have the authority to allow such a thing, and quite frankly I still have a hard time believing you."
"I know."
There was another flash of light and a small white dome like object appeared on the ground in between them. On the side of the strange object were several buttons.
"That is a holographic projector," Sheppard explained. "The big button in the middle turns it on and off. The smaller one above that pauses or resumes the recording. The ones on the left and right are rewind and fast forwards respectively."
"What is it for?"
"It contains recordings on all the information we have on the Wraith, their recent history and our conflicts and encounters with the Zarasians. It should help to get the ball rolling a little faster. Oh and it also contains information about us, our allies and the Zarasians."
The older man nodded. "I'll see that this reaches the necessary people."
"Ideally it'll go straight to the top," Sheppard responded. "What do you want us to do with the stargate?"
"Take it away for now," the older man replied. "It was buried for a reason."
Sheppard nodded and another flash of light consumed the gate leaving behind a small white stone in its place.
"Use that to contact us," Sheppard said. "Just push the button and I will appear."
"Very well," the older man said. "Oh and Colonel, before you go there is something you should know."
"What's that?"
"If I think for a single moment that you mean my people any harm then I will not hesitate to open fire on your ship with everything I have."
Silence reigned for a few short seconds until Sheppard nodded. "I would expect nothing less."
"Oh and my name is Kavier."
"Just Kavier?"
"For now."
"Fair enough."
With those final words his hologram shimmered and vanished, as the engines of the Weir powered up. Slowly the large vessel departed, leaving the military base and rising out the atmosphere. The four Liberum warships followed close behind.
Weir – Bridge
Sheppard sighed deeply before slumping into his chair. That little ordeal had more of an effect on him than he had imagined.
"Well that could have gone much worse," Rodney noted. "It was nice of them not to fire on us while our shields were down."
Sheppard sighed again. "Thank you for that Rodney. It's not like I felt bad enough that I ran the risk of making them turn away any help we offered them."
Rodney gripped his friends shoulder comfortingly.
"You did the right thing," he said. "I know you don't like it but you did what was necessary given the situation."
"I hope so," Sheppard said, though he didn't sound very confident. "This could still go badly."
"It already is going badly," Rodney pointed out. "The Zarasians are heading to this system and eventually they will get here. We've done everything we can while telling them the truth. The alternative was kidnapping them or faking a natural disaster."
"Yeah because that would be so bad," Sheppard deadpanned. "With our transport beams we could have them off the surface before they even knew what was happening."
"It would be when they found out," Rodney pointed out. "We're supposed to be the good guys after all."
"Yeah well I just hope they accept our help, if not then this is going to be much harder to pull off."
Higher Plain
The higher plain where the ascended beings resided was a curious place. It many ways it had no actual substance, its shape and form was determined by whoever happened to inhabit the area at the time. It took on a shape that the inhabitant could understand, comprehend, somewhere of significance to them and it was even possible for other ascended beings to share in that image. Each ascended could essentially carve out there own corner as it were. Whenever Daniel Jackson had visited the higher plain Oma had shaped it to take the form of a café he had visited as a child, Oma was kind like that.
To Morgan though the higher plain just looked like soft white light. She was simply here for a purpose and was not particularly concerned with her surroundings.
"You know why I am here," Morgan said.
Circling her was a mass of glowing shapes. They were all ascended beings."
"Yes."
"You are uncertain."
"Afraid."
"You fear our response."
The ascended did not speak with one voice but the voices of many, although when they were of a similar mind it did indeed seem like one voice. Some chose to speak, others remained silent.
"No," Morgan said. "I am not afraid. I am merely curious."
"Curious about what we will do."
"Curious about whether we will allow you to do as you wish."
"As Janus wishes."
"It is not just Janus," Morgan responded. "I agree with him. It should be done."
"You know the rules."
"You know why we don't simply do as we please."
"Our actions have consequences."
"The lower plains are not our concern."
"We cannot alter the balance."
"You call this balance?" Morgan protested. "This is chaos. War will eventually consume not just one but several galaxies if we do not stop it now."
"It may happen."
"It may not."
"You would allow billions to suffer while we sit back and do nothing?" Morgan asked angrily.
"That may happen."
"That may not."
"You know what we are going to do," Morgan said. "What will you do?"
"You know the rules. You should obey them."
"Who said that?" Morgan demanded. "Come forward."
"I did," a male voice intoned.
Before her a glowing being reshaped itself into the shape of a man. He wore Lantean robes and had grey, spiky hair. On his face he wore a stony expression.
"Vejovis!"
"You know the rules Morgan," he said.
"I do not see this as interference, merely righting a wrong. This should never have been allowed to happen."
"That is not your decision to make," Vejovis stated.
"You were a healer Vejovis. You cannot tell me that you want to see people suffer."
"You are right, I don't."
"So why are you against this?"
"The rules are the rules. It is that simple."
"Nothing is ever that simple."
"Pretend it is."
"Why?"
Vejovis looked at her gravely.
"I fear for you Ganos. I fear what may happen to you, Janus and Oma should you continue on this path."
"You think the others will interfere."
"You will not be allowed to interfere. Our powers were not meant for this."
"I can't believe you would stand by and do nothing."
"Everything happens for a reason Ganos."
"The reason being because no one acted, but it is not too late."
"Let things play out the way they are intended to Ganos. Please don't interfere. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Will you stop us?" Morgan demanded. "You alone cannot stop us."
Vejovis frowned but did not answer.
"Will you stop us?" Morgan asked, addressing the other ascended.
Once again the answer was silence.
"What will happen will happen," Vejovis said before vanishing.
"What will happen, will happen," the others agreed.
Slowly the other ascended began to depart.
"Beware what lies hidden in the shadows."
She could not be certain exactly who had said that. It seemed like a collection of people giving her the same warning. The real question though was not who had said it but what did it mean?
"I don't know," Janus said, after Morgan had reunited with him and Oma and explained her encounter with the other ascended. "I suppose we will just have to wait and see."
"That could be dangerous," Morgan pointed out.
"Yes but in this case we have no choice," Janus argued. "There is already so much hidden in the shadows that we don't know about anyway."
"Which rather makes our plan to remove Zarin from the equation difficult to say the least," Oma noted.
"He'll show himself eventually," Janus said. "He won't be content to simply sit back and watch everything happen without seeing it for himself. Remember he took an active part in the attack of one of the Wraith worlds."
"And hasn't been seen since," Morgan noted.
"We live in hope don't we," Janus replied.
"Yes we do," Morgan said.
"The others could intercede though," Oma said.
"Vejovis certainly seemed to think so," Morgan added.
"Now there is a name I haven't heard in a long time," Janus mused. "I thought he had disappeared, apparently not."
"Some people just prefer to be left alone," Morgan said.
"Unless a fair maiden happens to be on the verge of doing something that could go badly for her," Janus noted.
Morgan glared at him in response.
"Apparently," Oma agreed.
"I guess that means he thinks the other will definitely try to stop us," Morgan surmised.
"It's a risk but one we'll just have to take I'm afraid," Janus said dismissively. "If Zarin is allowed to continue unchecked it could be disastrous."
"We act now and we could save countless lives," Oma said.
"Yes we could," Morgan agreed.
"So we're going ahead with this then?" Janus asked.
The others nodded.
"Good," Janus said. "Now let's get out there and gut this bastard."
Unknown System
A hyperspace window opened and deposited a group of five Zarasian strike craft back into real space, to a very interesting sight. In front of them was the planet they had come to investigate, and a quick sweep with the sensors failed to detect any life signs on the planets surface. However the interesting thing lay beyond the planet and consisted of a group of ships, apparently engaged in a battle.
As the strike craft moved closer to investigate the details became clearer. One large ship, at least a kilometre long, was fighting against a group of four much smaller craft. There was a sizeable chunk of wreckage that appeared to be the remains of one of the larger ships. The four smaller ships were immediately recognisable as being Tau'ri Night Fury's but the larger ship had never been seen before by the Zarasians.
The Night Fury wolf pack were moving as fast as their powerful sublight engines would allow, desperately evading the weapons fire of the oval shaped warship. Beams of yellow light tore through space from the massive emitter on the front of the craft but failed to find their mark. In response the Night Fury's fired their plasma beams, each impact steadily decreasing the strength of the shields of the large ship.
As the strike craft moved closer the Night Fury's scattered and activated their cloaking devices. A little while later they de-cloaked, having moved out of range of the bigger ship, and entered hyperspace. Having lost its target the larger ship turned towards the strike craft but they engaged their own hyperdrives and moved on to the next system.
Mystery World
The planet that had been jokingly nicknamed the world of Calium, which meant sky in the Alteran language, by the allies was about to get its next batch of unwanted guests. In orbit of the planet were four Liberum warships and, unknown to the five Zarasian strike craft that exited hyperspace, the Weir under cloak.
The moment the Zarasian vessels exited hyperspace the Liberum vessels powered their weapons and shields. Just like when they had encountered the Jaffa the Zarasian vessels failed to act aggressively. They raised their shields and started scanning but did not power their weapons in response the obvious threat afforded by the Liberum ships.
"This is the Liberum vessel Liberatus calling the unknown vessels identify yourselves at once."
"This is the Liberum vessel Liberatus calling the unknown vessels identify yourselves at once."
"This is the Liberum vessel Liberatus calling the unknown vessels identify yourselves at once or you will be fired upon."
On the bridge of his flagship Tomin sighed. At this rate they were going to have to wait for an invasion fleet to arrive before they officially made contact with the Zarasians. It was time to up the ante a little.
"This world and its inhabitants are claimed on behalf of the Liberum people," he said. "Cease your scans at once or you will be fired upon."
By now the Zarasian ships would have detected the life signs on the planets surface but realised that the interference from the planets magnetic field was preventing them from getting further details. However the information about this being a subject world would hopefully convince the Zarasians that it wasn't as well defended as they thought and might prompt the ships to push into the atmosphere. It was a cruel thing to do to the natives but it was the only way to convince them to accept help. If a fleet meant to invade this world arrived then it would be too late to erect defences. Their only hope right now was to use the time that it would take for the invasion fleet to arrive to prepare.
Unfortunately the Zarasians seemed to be content to simply sit there and just scan away, trying to get as much information as was possible given the interference. Plan A hadn't worked. Plan B seemed to be having no effect either. Time for plan C it would seem, and he really hoped this one would work because there was no plan D to try before simply opening fire.
"Identify yourselves immediately. I warn you, if that is you, you Tau'ri dogs then you will not be shown any mercy."
"Sir, power levels on the Zarasian vessels are rising."
"Sir, we are receiving a transmission from the Zarasian vessels."
"Greetings people of the Liberum. I am Etere Zarin, leader of the Zarasian Empire. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
On the holographic display an image of Zarin popped up. Like when the Jaffa had spoken to him sensors registered that the transmission was coming from all five vessels simultaneously, with the ships being used as a relay.
"I am Commander Tomin of the Liberum people. What is your purpose here?"
"I understand we have a common enemy, the Tau'ri."
"And just what do you know of the Tau'ri Etere Zarin," Tomin asked suspiciously.
Zarin smiled. "Well for one I thing I know that they are outsiders to this galaxy who seek to extend their influence whether we want them here or not. For another I know that they destroyed one of your ships not long ago. I also know that I would not be unhappy if they were destroyed."
"And why are they your enemy?"
"Does that really matter?" Zarin asked dismissively.
Tomin narrowed his eyes. "If it means that I have reason to make you my enemy then maybe."
"We simply wish to extend our borders and increase our holdings," Tomin explained.
"As does the Zarasian Empire," Zarin replied. "However the Tau'ri like to make it their jobs to deny us that right. At the very least we would see them expelled from this galaxy."
"Such a feat would not be easy to accomplish though," Tomin noted. "They are sure to contest our claim on this world."
"Perhaps I can help with that," Zarin suggested.
"How?"
"By sending a fleet of my own to assist in the defence of your claim. When the Tau'ri come, and make no mistake they will come. You will need all the help you can get to defend against them."
"Very well then," Tomin agreed. "Send your ships and pull your current ones back. However if you plan to betray me then you will regret it."
"Oh don't worry," Zarin assured him. "You can trust me."
Weir - Bridge
"This is what you summoned me to see?" Kavier asked irritably.
One moment he had been resting in his quarters before finding himself on the bridge of the Weir in front of a smiling Sheppard. Needless to say he hadn't been happy.
"I thought you should see it," Sheppard replied.
"Why? Now the Liberum and Zarin supposedly have an alliance," Kavier noted. "I fail to see the point."
"Because Zarin is eventually going to betray the Liberum," Sheppard said. "We just needed him to think that the Liberum are occupied fighting us first so that he won't worry too much about them attacking him."
"How can you be so sure that Zarin will betray the Liberum?" Kavier asked sceptically.
"Because it's in his nature," Sheppard replied. "Remember what you saw in those recordings. The first time we tried to make peace with him he attacked during negotiations and had boots on one of our space stations within an hour. You can't trust that man as far as you can throw him."
"So you expect him to eventually attack my world anyway?"
"Of course and in the long run it works out better for us."
"How?"
"Because by the time he does attack we can have prepared defences so that we're ready for him. We're also going to weaken our defences here to make him think that it is a good idea to attack."
"But surely it is better if he doesn't attack?"
"Of course its better," Sheppard said, with a look on his face that said it should be obvious. "We just need to test him to see if he will, so we'll tell him that the Liberum Homeworld is under attack and pull back some of our ships. If he doesn't attack then wonderful, but if he does then we'll be ready."
"Why do I get the feeling that you would rather he did attack?" Kavier asked suspiciously.
"Because that wouldn't actually be a bad thing," Sheppard replied.
"How?" Kavier asked in disbelief.
"Because, no offense to the Liberum, but almost every one of the allies has a much better fighting force available to protect a planet," Sheppard said. "Zarin attacks we can turn up and since the Liberum will most likely be on the losing side they can turn tale and run while Zarin has to deal with us, and he'll find us much harder to deal with."
"You really think he will attack us?"
"No I know he'll eventually attack you," Sheppard replied. "The key point is to decide when he attacks you."
"How long do you believe we have to prepare our defences?" Kavier asked.
"Hard to say," Sheppard replied. "It would take about a day for those ships to reach here from where they came from. However if he is going to have to gather his forces for an invasion then I would say a week tops at best."
"That is not a lot of time," Kavier noted.
"No but it is time we didn't have before," Sheppard replied. "And with those ships gone for the meantime we can prepare our defences faster than we would anyway. I suggest you start fortifying your position."
"Oh you can count on that," Kavier said. "Now if you don't mind I need to report this."
"Beam him down," Sheppard ordered.
For the next few days the stargate on the cargo hold of the Weir was in near constant use as the materials necessary to defend Calium were shipped through the stargate. By agreement with the Calium government a small military base was turned over for use by the Liberum. The cover story used by the Liberum would be that they had taken over this base for use as an outpost on the planet. To defend it against from the primitive forces possessed by the local populace a powerful barrier shield had been installed to be supported by a large neutrino ion generator. This shield, while no where near capable of matching a city ships shield, was a significant step up those formerly used by the Liberum warships and was even capable of resisting a regular plasma beam. A web of power conduits now ran through the corridors of the base, leading to the dozens of shield emitters mounted on the exterior, and in the centre, at the heart of the base, sat the generator.
For the Liberum the on world base was the most valuable asset they possessed in this upcoming conflict. They only had a few thousand soldiers and while priors had been effective one man armies during the crusade they were severely outmatched against the overwhelming forces the Zarasians could potentially field. For that reason they were trying to get the Zarasians to focus their attention on the military base before turning their attention to the rest of the planet and by extension the local populace. A single Liberum warship was stationed over the military base, inside the confines of the shield, to provide some defensive weaponry should be base come under attack.
Meanwhile the other allies, minus the Jaffa of course, were preparing their own forces for the job that was expected of them. Soon they would have their first taste of ground combat.
Five days had passed and the Zarasian reinforcements arrived. Joining the five strike craft from the scout fleet were several ships, some of which were a type that had never been seen before. One of them was the same basic hull shape as the flagship Zarin had commanded when he launched his attack on the Wraith world, except that the power readings given off were much higher on this one. Joining it were another fifteen strike craft, bringing the count up to twenty, ten four hundred metre long vessels and five eight hundred metre long vessels that looked like supersized versions of the strike craft.
"Etere Zarin," Tomin said. "Welcome to the world of Calium, although I wish you were here in person."
"My apologies Commander Tomin but I am required to be elsewhere," Zarin replied. "However the fleet I have sent should be more than capable of defending the world against an invasion fleet. If necessary I can provide you with ground forces to solidify your claim and help with the locals."
"I appreciate the offer," Tomin said. "However that won't be necessary. The locals possess primitive technology not capable of posing much of a threat to us. I have already been able to secure a foothold on the planet that is impregnable to assault and if necessary I can just destroy their vital infrastructure from orbit. The facility I am in also contains the planets stargate."
"Clever, do you have a specific target in mind?"
"Yes, they have a large hydrogen production facility that supplies their entire civilisation. Hydrogen is the primary fuel for their steam technology."
"Such a loss would cripple them. I can see that such you are a sound tactician."
"Thank you. I…" Tomin trailed off as his attention was distracted. "Damn."
"What is it?"
"My Homeworld is under attack by the Tau'ri," Tomin said gravely. "I need to redeploy ships to defend it."
"All of your ships?"
Tomin shook his head. "No, just the ones in orbit should be sufficient. I will remain behind and facilitate taking complete control of this planet."
"I will request additional ships to be sent here to cover their absence," Zarin said.
"I appreciate that," Tomin said. "My ships could be absent for some time."
"I have some ships nearby that I can pull away from their duties," Zarin said. "They can be here in about an hour."
An hour later and a hyperspace window opened, depositing the additional ships Zarin had sent for. In reality these ships had actually been in a nearby system waiting for the right moment to appear. These five ships were of the same type as those encountered by the SPECTRE's, in other words they were designed to transport troops rather than filling a combat role.
From the belly of each of these large ships four drop pods deployed from hatches and headed straight down to the surface at high speed. Or more specifically they were heading straight for the Liberum base. Unprepared for the sudden appearance of the craft the base tried to power shields in time to block what they assumed were missiles of some kind. It was however futile as the pods were travelling fast enough to punch through the weakened shield before it could be fully powered and like spears they embedded themselves in the surface of the outpost. They were travelling at such speed that they were able to punch through the rocky surface and into the network of carved passages below, preventing the Liberum from simply destroying them with their ships.
Sixteen of these drop pods made it through the shield and the hasty Liberum defensive fire intact. In corridors across the base ring platforms activated and began deploying troops, using the directed matter stream of the rings to bypass the shields of the base.
"Zarin!" Tomin roared. "You will pay for this betrayal."
Zarin chuckled. "I think not Commander. However I will look forward to finally meeting you in person. That is if you are taken alive by more reapers."
Tomin visibly seethed in anger at this betrayal of trust.
"My forces will not be tied up forever Zarin and in case you have forgotten I have a ship here still."
"Weak and outmatched," Zarin retorted. "If it attempts to flee it will be destroyed and I rather think your forces have enough to deal with if the Tau'ri have come for your heads. Oh and do not think about trying to use the stargate to escape, I have already dialled in. Now why don't we see how much punishment that shield of yours can take?"
The Zarasian ships immediately opened fire on the military base with the plasma cannons mounted on their underbellies. The now fully powered barrier shield held off the assault but with the amount of firepower being received it was only a matter of time before the shield emitters were burned out from continuous use.
The battle between the Liberum and the Zarasians for the world of Calium was on.
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