I know, i didn't update last week. For that i apologise. Now on with the story.

Unknown system

The moment Mr Smith realised the situation they were in he immediately began spouting orders to his crew in a calm and even tone. He was far too professional to let his anxiety show through to the rest of his crew. A good leader must be fearless in any situation lest those fears spread to the people under their command. When people are afraid they are nervous. When people are nervous they are liable to make mistakes. When people make mistakes in dangerous situations, people get killed.

"Divert auxiliary power to the cloak. Maintain maximum stealth profile. Helm, take us closer but be ready to immediately go to hyperspace. I want as detailed a sensor mapping as possible of everything out there without compromising our stealth profile. Once all space contacts have been identified I want scans of the surface."

Against all odds he seemed to have found himself smack dab in the middle of the lions den. Now he had to get what data he could, before getting out again and reporting his findings, because sending a message while they were even in the same system as this armada was simply not an option if they wanted to make it out of here alive. There were so many ships around them that the odds of a subspace transmission not being detected, and their position being located as a result, were so remote it wasn't worth considering. They would be lucky just to get the shields up before the first volley hit them, and even with their shields one volley would be enough to vaporize them.

Thankfully they weren't completely surrounded, while admittedly there were a frightening number of capital ships around them there were no roaming patrols of fighters to avoid. Unfortunately there was no guarantee that this was a good thing. From a tactical perspective this could be seen as an oversight, unless of course the fleet is about to leave soon and the fighter craft needed to be secure in their hangers. Either way they needed to report this discovery quickly so that they could make preparations.

"Sir we have a count on the ships in orbit," the sensor operator reported.

"And?"

"The ships seem to be grouped into battle groups we have on record and smaller groups of five of the new battlecruiser type and five troop transports. Current count is twenty battle groups and ten each of the battlecruiser and transport groups."

Mr Smith's eyes widened. That put the count at well over eight hundred ships, only half of which could be considered to be weak. Of course since they all moved in large groups they would be hard to take on without utilising multiple capital ships of their own. If this force hit one of their worlds they would lose that planet, and a lot of ships and lives along with it.

"Have you completed scans of the surface?"

"Yes sir."

Mr Smith considered the options before making a decision. "Helm, get us out here. Com, get me a secure link to Colonel Sheppard."

The ship lurched slightly as the inertial dampeners struggled to keep up with the sharp turns the pilot performed to manoeuvre around the field of ships. Eventually though the ship cleared the field of ships and was able to charge full speed out of the system, where it could make the jump to hyperspace without being detected.

Weir

"Well crap," Sheppard said. He had just read the full report on the discovery of Eagle One and he had to admit it didn't seem like they could have found anything worse. Although given the way their luck was going lately he wasn't going to tempt fate, or Murphy, by saying that out loud.

"Crap indeed," agreed Thor, who had beamed in, throne chair and all, to the bridge for the meeting.

"Any thoughts?" Sheppard asked.

"We do not want to take on that fleet directly with our own offensive fleet. However we cannot allow it to depart for one of our protected worlds."

Sheppard frowned. Thor was one hundred percent correct, and that meant they were rather short on options. It was a classic catch twenty two situation. They couldn't attack the fleet directly but they couldn't take it on with the defences they possessed on other worlds. The truly annoying thing was that this fleet wasn't far from Calium, which really wasn't good if they wanted to get the Calium people out of their and onto Concordia after they dealt with the Zarasian forces on the planet.

"So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place," Sheppard summarised. "You know I could really do with some good news right about now."

"I believe I have it for you," Thor said. "Have you finished reading the second report on the planet based assets?"

"Unlike you I lack a computer for a brain," Sheppard deadpanned.

Thor's lip twitched into the faintest trace of a smile. "I shall summarise for you then. There a sizeable number of ground emplacements, however most are plasma cannons and thus relatively low yield. However the important thing is that there are a number of shipyards and mining operations which makes this world a necessary target to destroy. The critical aspect though is that there are a number of small areas that contain high numbers of human life signs. I believe these are where we will discover the missing Calium people, as well as any other prisoners the Zarasians may have taken recently."

"Yeah, if it wasn't for the massive fleet in orbit."

"That is only a problem so long as they are there."

Sheppard's eyes widened in understanding as he realised just what Thor was planning.

"So we lure them away."

"Exactly."

"How?"

Thor glanced out the window. "We do what we do best, liberate a world from oppression.

Sheppard frowned. "But if we're not quick enough then we'll be caught by a fleet we can't take on while in the middle of a rescue operation."

"Then we have to make sure that situation does not occur," Thor stated.

Sheppard nodded in agreement. This would require precise timing and precision planning in order to succeed. A single misstep could lead to them being caught around the planet without support while they had assets on said planet. If they succeeded they would save an entire world and deal a grievous wound to the enemy, but if they failed they could very well lose the entire fleet and potentially even the war. In other words success was mandatory and failure was not an option.

"Okay, let's get the ball rolling. There are some things we need to do first if we are going to pull this off."

O'Neill

In an isolated room on the mighty warship a metallic orb floated inside a containment field. The orb was one of the avatars for the AI named caretaker and had been under observation for some time now. Ever since its capture during the battle at Vejovis' secret base the AI had been reduced to rambling the odd phrase at seemingly random intervals. Any Asgard, or anyone else for that matter, who had tried to question the AI had needed to go and sit somewhere quiet for a little while afterwards in order to clear their head. Apparently attacking the AI's central computer core and then jumping into hyperspace away from said computer core had been the equivalent of unplugging a flash drive without safely disconnecting it. In other words the AI, or the part of it residing in the avatar, had become corrupted. Or as young Johnny O'Neill had put it the thing was more than a few slices short of a full pie.

Strangely the young clone seemed to be spending the most time talking to the thing. Theories as to why ranged from him trying to get tactical information out of the thing to simply enjoying taunting a machine that would happily vaporize you if it could but was utterly powerless to do so.

Currently the two were arguing over whether the modifications to the Tria were an improvement or not.

"So, you ready to concede the point yet glow ball?"

"Negative inheritor, your logic is flawed…maintenance check complete, all systems fully operational. Next scheduled check in one hour, dispatching maintenance robots to next location…You are operating from an unstable level of understanding."

Johnny laughed. "I'm unstable. You're one to talk."

Caretaker flashed red in frustration. "Incorrect."

"Correct."

"Incorrect."

"Correct."

"Incorrect...sensor sweeps clear, no threat detected."

"Ha! See I was right."

"No you weren't."

"Were too."

"Were not."

"Were too."

"Were not."

"Were too, times a billion."

"Were not, times infinity," the AI chirped happily. "Fault in power grid detected. Dispatching maintenance robots. Adjusting power flow. Stable flow to stasis pods eight through eleven re-established…I win."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Standing in the doorway Thor couldn't help but shake his head at the exchange.

"O'Neill," he said, announcing his presence. "It is time."

"See you glow ball," Johnny said. "I have to go to work."

"You will die inheritor," Caretaker said confidently.

"No fear, a friend of mine has done that plenty of times and we still can't get rid of him."

"Why do you insist on talking to that thing?" Thor asked. "My scientists tell me the AI is so corrupted it is a miracle the thing can actually form coherent sentences."

"I wanted to test a theory."

"And?"

"And it looks like I was right."

Deep in the space between systems sat a single ship that was so old it was practically ancient. Over ten thousand years ago this aurora look a like had been constructed by the Lanteans as a warship capable of challenging the Wraith horde. However even the vast stores of drone weapons carried in her holds would eventually run dry before the sheer numbers of Wraith ships were destroyed, at which point the shields would be overwhelmed and the ship either destroyed or reduced to a powerless wreck. This particular vessel had been in such an encounter and survived, if only by the slimmest of margins. Crippled and left adrift, the vessel had been listed as lost, only to be recovered by Vejovis for use many thousands of years later.

Now, restored to the point where it was practically new, the ship was once again a power among the stars. Under the command of Vejovis however the ship was not meant to be a warship but rather an ark, meant to hold the resurrected Alteran race until such time as the galaxy was ready to accept their return. Until then they would sleep away the time in stasis, waiting for the day they had been promised would eventually come and they would rule over the first of many galaxies.

As the ship sat undisturbed three masses of white light moved towards the ship. Bypassing the shields and the hull of the vessel as if they were not there the masses reshaped themselves into three beings, glowing with an aura of raw power. Janus, Oma and Morgan calmly strode through the corridors of the ship. Using their abilities to mask their presence they were completely unnoticed by the guardian robots that were performing routine patrols and system maintenance.

After touring the ship for a few minutes they were confronted by a glowing mass so much larger and brighter than them it was almost like comparing a candle to the sun. That mass quickly reformed into Vejovis, his body crackling with power and his expression showing quite clearly that their presence here was very unwanted.

"And just what are you three doing here?" he practically spat.

"Nice to see you again too Vejovis," Janus replied with fake tenderness. "Lovely ship you have here, although the real treasure is the contents of the stasis pods. One in particular I might add."

"If you go anywhere near any single one of those pods I will annihilate you," Vejovis growled with venom. "Now if you want to live I suggest you leave this ship before my patience runs out."

"We didn't come here to fight Vejovis," Oma said, calm even in the face of certain death.

"A fight implies that both sides have an equal chance of winning," Vejovis pointed out. "You three against me however would only end in a slaughter."

"We know," Morgan admitted. "However we do not want to challenge you."

Vejovis looked at the three with curiosity, Janus seemed determined to antagonise him while Morgan and Oma were trying to keep the peace.

"We're just here to deliver a message," Janus added. "Well, more like a warning really."

For the first time since they had arrived Vejovis actually looked amused. "And what danger is there that I should be worried about?"

"How about the multitude of races that are currently stacked against your human puppet?" Janus asked sarcastically. "They seem to be doing quite well at the moment if the current state of the Doom Bringer is anything to go by."

"A minor set back," Vejovis scoffed. "In the end they will fall and then there will be several galaxies ripe for the taking."

"Do you want to hear this warning or not?" Janus asked.

"Oh by all means, I could do with a good laugh," Vejovis replied in amusement.

Oma and Morgan breathed a silent sigh of relief. The tension in the room seemed to be diffusing nicely. Perhaps they would make it out of this alive.

"Leave this galaxy," Janus said seriously. "Find another world in another galaxy. Rebuild our race there alongside Cura and leave these people in peace."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because if you don't when they have finished with your puppet they will come for you. And I can guarantee that after all the bloodshed from this war they won't show you or your children any mercy."

"Zarin won't stop because I have gone you know."

"No, but then again your final act in this galaxy could be to remove him from the equation."

Vejovis looked at him curiously for a moment before his mask cracked and he broke down laughing. "Oh this is rich. You actually think you can end this war by scaring me? By holding the lives of my children over my head?" His expression darkened. "You really are fools, all of you."

"Vejovis we're trying to help you," Morgan said reproachfully.

Vejovis snorted. "No, you're interfering."

"On the contrary," Oma replied. "We don't plan to interfere."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really," Oma assured him. "We won't lift a finger to help the allied races but we will try to help you by warning you while we still can. And in case you were wondering we won't be telling them where this ship is."

Vejovis studied the three of them curiously for a few moments.

"Well thank you for the warning," he finally said. "Now if you wouldn't mind please get off my ship before I remove you and leave you unconscious on the nearest world with a breathable atmosphere."

"Alright, alright, we're going," Oma said as she raised her hands in surrender.

As the three of them turned to leave Janus glanced back at him.

"Your puppet is about to suffer a grievous wound, and when that happens I hope you will reconsider," he said before vanishing.

Vejovis glared at the spot where Janus had been before assuming his energy based form and flying off at high speed.

Now a good distance from the ship the three ascended noted his departure and decided it was finally safe to speak.

"Do you think he believed us?" Janus asked.

"I don't know but I do believe you did a very good job of antagonising him, perhaps too good a job," Morgan replied.

"Hey!" Janus said reproachfully. "You know that I had to be the one, it's what he expects of me. He would be suspicious otherwise."

"He's right," Oma agreed.

"I know," Morgan admitted. She lapsed into silence for a few moments before finally saying, "He won't stop will he?"

Neither of them replied to her question, they all knew the answer. Vejovis wouldn't give up. He had come too far to simply give up. In his mind he had to succeed to guarantee the safety of his children.

"He believed we won't tell the allied races where his ship is," Janus said. "If he didn't that ship would be long gone by now."

"Of course he did," Oma said. "I was telling the truth the whole time."

"I know, and I hate it. All our powers, our experience, wisdom and knowledge and we cannot do anything to help."

"For the sake of victory that is how it must be," Morgan assured him. "By doing nothing to interfere we assure them victory over him."

Calium

It was around midday in the capital city of Calium, and against all laws of onomatopoeia was actually quite a nice day. The sun was shining brightly on the city square, high in the clear, blue and almost cloudless sky, and if you listened very closely you could hear the sound of relatively harmless flying lizards. And of course this lovely weather was, ironically, being completely overshadowed by the bleak atmosphere of the locals as they stood through one of Malek's attempts at making the local populace more compliant with the Zarasians presence.

When the Zarasians had taken control of the city they had quickly moved to seize control of the people in power. The highest on the list were the various military leaders and, of course, the Calium president. One of the most devastating parts of the Zarasian invasion was when they had turned the Calium president into a puppet. By first taking control of various individuals with access to him they had gained access to him, and had been able to attach a string to him. Having the effective ruler of a world as your personal voice box is a powerful card to have at your disposal and the Zarasians had played this card to spectacular effect. They had ordered the Calium defence forces to move aside and allow the Zarasians to march into their city, their towns, and even their very homes, completely unopposed. The cherry on top had been when they had gotten the president himself to walk down the steps of the presidential building to shake hands with the Zarasian commanding officer.

However it seemed that the one at the helm of the puppets was not the one in charge of the Zarasian forces. Ever since Calium had been effectively conquered the cyborg brute otherwise known as Malek had taken control and he ruled with an iron fist, as opposed to an unapparent choke hold that the puppet master had seized control with. Every day like clockwork Malek would roll out his puppet to the village square, where there was a podium and microphone waiting for him, and make him spew utter sewage about why it was so good to have the Zarasians on their world. Speakers spread across the city and various colonies would mean that every Calium citizen was hearing this speech.

The spiel usually followed along the lines of how it was divine providence that the Zarasians were here, that the ancestors had willed it. The Zarasians were the agents of the ancestors will, attempting to unite the galaxy together under one banner and that one day they would all bask in the light of the ancestor's glory when they returned. And on that day they would be freed from hunger, disease and poverty. But of course that day would only come once the evil of those outsiders who claimed to be their protectors was wiped from the galaxy. In other words the allied races had to go, never mind the fact that some of them were actually native to this galaxy in the first place.

Still it didn't stop a crowd from turning up to listen to the speech first hand as it was delivered, kept a fair distance back from the podium by two rings of reaper guards. The reason for attendance was anyone's guess. Perhaps some people were waiting for the record to change. Perhaps they wanted to see with their own eyes their illustrious leader sell them out so that they could actually believe it. Perhaps they wanted to make it look like they were interested in what was being said so that they would just be left alone and their families kept safe. Or, and this was the most disturbing thing of all, perhaps they were actually buying what the Zarasians were selling. It was a shame really, since with his kind face and full, thick beard the Calium president came across as being lovable and wise. Handled differently people might have been more willing to listen to the speeches he was forced to give and under control of someone other than Malek he might be doing more than ruining his chances for re-election. But either way this little circus was about to come to the end of its final act.

Scattered amongst the crowd were a number of cloaked figures. Cloaks weren't uncommon on Calium since the temperature was much lower so high in the atmosphere so the figures received no special attention from the reapers. Moving silently, they gently pushed their way through the crowd to reach the outer ring of reapers holding the crowd back. Seeing no visible threat, no weapons in their hands, the reapers paid their presence no mind, although a sentient creature might have noted that there was now one cloaked figure in front of each reaper along the outer ring and become slightly suspicious of their presence.

By now the Calium president was halfway through his speech and the crowd were somewhat bored. None of them suspected what was about to happen next. Moving like vipers the cloaked figures brought up their arms and slammed their wrists into the necks of the reapers in front of them before they could react. Pulling their arms back a long thin blade attached to their wrists, now coated in blood, slid out of the necks of each of the reapers. The silent guards collapsed to the floor, the blade having pierced their jugular vein and their wind pipe and causing them to drown on their own blood. Before the crowd could even utter a cry of shock or the first ring of reapers hit the ground the agents brought up their respective gun arms, having expertly drawn their side arms with practised ease and aimed for the second ring. With a single shot to the head from the particle magnums the second, and final, ring of reapers dropped to the floor. As the crowd started to panic and flee the agents sprang forwards towards their target, president Hakim, who was still continuing with his speech. One of the agents fired a single stun blast at him. However as the blast struck him Hakim remained conscious. As the energy dispersed across his body it grounded itself on a large concentration of metal, in other words the string attached to his back. Hakim collapsed to his knees as the force controlling him vanished as the internal circuitry of the string was fried by the energy blast. In moments agents were beside to help him to his feet, but he shrugged off their assistance. He finally had control of his body back and he was going to make it move as he wanted it to, pain be damned.

As he got back to his feet two of the agents quickly assembled a transport beacon, allowing for armoured figures to appear in flashes of right light around the podium in a defensive formation.

Malek was sitting in his office indulging his favourite past time, listening to his puppet say whatever he wanted. In actual fact it was Hakim's office but it wasn't like the Calium president was in a position to argue the point. It amused him greatly to know that if he wanted he could make the Calium president do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Of course he didn't, since his superiors wouldn't be very happy if he went too far, but he could still have the president give his daily speeches.

In his mind the speeches were a brilliant idea, allowing the foolish peasants to think they were safely under the protection of the Zarasian military. In reality though they were being slowly removed from this world and shipped off to a prison until they could be put to work serving the Zarasian Empire.

He was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice saying "Hello Malek, my name is Colonel Sheppard."

Malek was out of his chair in an instant and levelling the energy cannon in his artificial arm at the intruder that had suddenly appeared in front of him. Seeing the spiky haired man in a Tau'ri uniform standing before him he did not hesitate to fire. Malek's look of anger turned into one of confusion when the energy blast passed through the figure as if he were made of smoke.

Sheppard smirked. "I'm not really here. Nice office by the way, although I suppose I should be saying that to its actual owner."

Malek scowled. "I am its owner."

"No, the owner is currently safely in our hands," Sheppard corrected.

Now it was Malek's turn to smirk. "I don't think so."

"I do," Sheppard said. "Or haven't you noticed the lack of background music?"

Malek frowned as he attempted to figure out what the Tau'ri meant when suddenly it clicked. The speech he had been listening to had stopped.

"Figured it out have we?"

"So what?" Malek spat while subtly reaching round to press a button on the side of his fake limb. "So I've lost my puppet. I still control this world. My forces are on alert and a distress beacon has been activated. Help is coming and your forces will lose."

"Yeah about that," Sheppard said while casually scratching his head. "President Hakim is going to need a new office, because there is a drone weapon with your name on it heading your way. Last chance to surrender Malek."

"Oh very good Colonel," Malek laughed. "But you won't fool me. I know that the weapons you call drones are mere shadows of the ones the ancestors used, and while theirs could certainly harm me yours cannot."

"True," Sheppard admitted. "Our drones lack the ability thus far to bypass shields, however if one was already inside the shield then that isn't a problem. Look out the window if you don't believe me."

Curious Malek actually did what Sheppard suggested and looked out the window. In the distance he could see a figure standing on a rooftop and holding a large tube. Without warning a bright light shot out of the end of the tube and came barrelling straight towards him.

"How did you think we got Hakim out of your clutches?"

For once Malek didn't have a reply to give. Instead he just ran for a concealed emergency chute and dived straight into it. The chute had been installed a long time ago in the days when Wraith attacks were more common and led to the entrance to an armoured trinium bunker located deep beneath the presidential building. Malek may be a brute and lack fine tactical sense but he wasn't self sacrificing. If there was a way out he would find it and, when the time came, he would definitely take it. It seemed that time had come. It took mere moments to seal the bunker, and he wasn't the only one inside. The Zarasians had converted the bunker into a command centre and installed the onsite queen inside, the bunker being the most secure place on the planet.

When the bolts on the armoured door clicked into place Malek breathed a sigh of relief. But when he heard the voice behind him he nearly had a heart attack.

"Nice try Malek."

Malek spun around and found himself face to face with a smiling Sheppard.

"You know our drones may lack the ability to bypass shields but they can cut through trinium and rock like a hot knife through butter. Like the materials this bunker is made of." The metallic ceiling started to glow red as the drone inched closer and closer to the target, it very quickly started to liquefy and drip onto the floor. "Oh and thank you for sending that distress signal, we appreciate it. Bye Malek."

Before Malek, or any of the Zarasians in the bunker, could even cry out the drone cut through the last of the armoured ceiling and detonated. The detonation of the liquid naquadah and potassium warhead was powerful enough to not only vaporise the inhabitants but collapse the entire bunker. As a result the building above found itself lacking a central foundation on which to stand and collapsed in on itself. President Hakim suddenly found himself without a place to live and the reapers found themselves without human leaders.

In space above the planet the six Zarasian battlecruisers suddenly found themselves completely surrounded by warships of varying sizes. In a storm of plasma beams, ion cannon rounds and plasma blasts the battlecruisers were annihilated.

The allied forces had officially arrived on Calium.

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