A/N If I haven't already said this then I say it now, I do not own either Stargate SG 1 or Halo. Halo belongs to 343 industries and Microsoft and Stargate SG 1 belongs to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Chapter 5 – A terrifying situation
(1200 hours/ August 8th 1997/ Stargate Command Centre/ Location Level 28 Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA)
Stargate Command was now at Defcon 1 as a few minutes ago. A few days ago, one or more alien contacts appeared and disappeared when entering the Sol system. The radar sets had trouble finding the ship or ships. That was until just now when a fleet of ships appeared heading to Earth from the dark side of the moon.
"General, we have eight medium sized blips, two large blips and one very large blip exiting from the dark side of the moon on course for Earth." Sam cried out alarmed.
General Hammond moved lightning fast from the inactive Stargate to Captain Carter and then to the deep space RADAR screen. "Have they identified themselves yet Captain?" he asked now also very alarmed.
"No Sir, not yet. NASA is in the process of reposition Hubble at the moment. We should be getting a visual within the minute Sir." Carter replied hoping that Hubble would have turned enough in time to get a good look.
"Is there the possibility that these ships are of Goa'uld origin?" Hammond was remembering the report from Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson's original mission to Abydos. Jack mentioned that Ra had arrived on the planet is a massive ship equivalent in size to the Pyramids of Giza.
"Unknown Sir." Was the reply.
"How many SG teams do we have off-world right now?" Hammond asked worrying about his teams walking into a fire fight.
"SG-3, SG-5, SG-8, and SG-11 are all off-world on extended missions now Sir. SG-3 and 8 are due back in two hours, SG-5 in four hours and SG-11 in half an hour Sir." Walter rattled off instantly. Hammond nodded in acknowledgement. The teams would have to remain off-world unless they were engaged by the Goa'uld. "Walter, inform each team to make their way to the Alpha site when they finish their missions." Hammond ordered.
"Sir, Hubble has moved just enough to get a good visual." Carter said much to Hammond's relief and dread. On the screens were eleven boxy warships which looked highly dangerous. "Sir we are getting a radio transmission from the largest of the ships." Then his voice turned nervous. "The message is repeating itself in over five thousand languages all across the Planet."
Shock was the first thing that Hammond felt. Then it turned to relief that these ship highly likely weren't of Goa'uld origin. Then he had a feeling of worry that they were able to transmit the message in that many languages as it meant that they must have been watching them for some time to get a good grasp of that many languages. "Let's hear the message then." He ordered.
"Yes sir." Walter said before typing into his console.
There was a moments pause as Walter worked. As this happened the command centre came to a stand still quite literally as everyone wanted to listen to the message. At this moment Jack, Daniel and Teal'c walked into the command centre. "This is Captain Keyes of the UNSC Cruiser Lyonesse to Planet Earth. Ici Capitaine Keyes du croiseur Lyonesse de l'UNSC vers la planète Terre. Hier spricht Kapitän Keyes vom UNSC-Kreuzer Lyonesse zum Planeten Erde. Questo è il Capitano Keyes dell'incrociatore UNSC Lyonesse diretto al pianeta Terra." The message was repeated but each time in a different language. Everyone in the command centre attempted to contemplate five thousand languages.
"Can the message be blocked?" Hammond asked hoping beyond all hope that it was possible. The SGC may only be a few months old, but the technology they had gained from the Goa'uld must in some way be able to block the signal.
"Unfortunately, no sir. We cannot block the signal." Walter answered solemnly.
The general then wore a dismal expression on his face. He knew that this may just be the end of Stargate Command due to it being a secret military project. He lowered his head thought for a second then quietly said "Excuse me" before walking off.
Hammond walked up the stairs, through the conference room and into his office. He sat down behind his desk and breathed for a moment. Hammond then picked up the red phone on his desk. "This is Major General Hammond; I need to speak to the President. It is an emergency." He said in a foreboding tone.
(1330 hours/ August 8th 1997/ Stargate Command Centre/ Location Level 28 Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA)
An hour and a half after the fleet's commander contacted Earth the fleet began to settle into geosynchronous orbit above the Earth over antarctica. The militaries of the world immediately went to high alert. The SGC was no exception.
Major Davis had been sent to the Pentagon to brief the chiefs of staff on Hammond's plan. He had left a while ago. Hammond's plan wasn't all that much considering the resource constraints of the SGC and Earth as a whole. Earth was nowhere near capable enough to build anything bigger than a space shuttle. Not even a space shuttle at the moment. All the SGC could do was offer tactical options and advice to the US military.
In spite of this, nobody was taking his advice seriously. China and Russia had gone to their equivalents of Defcon 1. The Nations of Europe were also in the preparation phase at the moment. However, the US military was at Defcon 3. The Air force was ready to begin the air superiority battle if necessary. The Army was being organised and being made ready to respond to a possible invasion along side the Marine Corps. And the Navy was having its nuclear submarines deployed and ready to receive launch codes and co-ordinates for their nuclear tipped ballistic missiles. During this time, Hammond had begun to send people from Earth to the Alpha site to ensure at least some of the brightest minds survived the possible cataclysm.
"Sir, the fleet above Antarctica, they are transmitting again."
The screen above the consoles in the command centre fizzled then produced the image of the upper half of a man wearing a grey chest piece, black shirt and white pauldrons. There was an eagle holding a planet the left hand side of his chest piece with the letters UNSC written under the planet. On the right side was a tag reading Keyes. Hammond stared untrustingly at the figure before him.
Hammond began to wonder why they were over antarctica and if the transmission was being sent worldwide. "I am Captain Jacob Keyes, Commander of the UNSC Cruiser Lyonesse and Task Force 19.8.6. I apologise for the fear and turmoil my fleet has caused."
Hammond absently thought 'at least they are talking to us.' "I am General Hammond of the United States Air Force. I fi may ask, why are you here Captain?" He asked fully aware he may have been heard by the entire world.
"We are here to secure Humanity's Future." Keyes said Cryptically.
"What is that supposed to mean, Captain Keyes?" Hammond asked both mystified and concerned about what they were saying.
"What I have to say and propose should be given to all the governments of Earth in one go, General Hammond. Please inform President Clinton that I would like to speak to the United Nations as soon as possible to inform the world of who we are, when we come from and what I am proposing." Keyes said. Hammond had absently taken note of the fact Keyes had said 'when' and not 'where'.
"I shall talk to the president now and try to arrange something for you captain." Hammond replied.
"Thank you, general. and just in case the president asks any day you are able is acceptable to me." Keyes said with a smile before the transmission was cut.
With that Hammond walked upstairs to his office and picked up the red telephone on his desk. "This is General Hammond; I need to speak to the president immediately. Tell him it is about the newcomers." He said into the phone.
"One moment please" the person on the other end of the line replied. After a few seconds the president spoke down the line
"George, have you got something to report about the newcomers?" The president asked cautiously.
"Yes Mr President. The commander of the fleet has just spoken to me. I asked him why he was here and responded by asking for a meeting with the entirety of the United Nations. He also said something about ensuring Humanity's future." Hammond responded.
"Did he say when we would be able to speak to him?" The president asked.
"Yes Sir, he said any day would be acceptable." The old general answered.
"George, I need to speak with the rest of the world leaders to come up with a day we are able to convene and meet this 'Captain Keyes'." President Whitmore responded. "Once I have done that, I will call you back and give you a date and time. Pass on the message and ask who he is going to bring." Whitmore continued.
"Understood, Mr president." Hammond spoke before the line died.
It was about a day later when Clinton called Hammond telling him when the meeting was going to be held.
"George, we have managed to secure the 12th of this month as the day we will be able to meet with Captain Keyes. He will be expected at the UN building in Manhattan at 10 o'clock in the morning. Everyone will be there George, You too. I need you as well as the joint chiefs and other advisors with me in the room to talk about his proposal." Whitmore informed him.
"Very well, Mr President. Once I have spoken to the captain, I will make arrangement for while I am in New York and then head up and meet you there, sir." Hammond responded before putting the phone down.
He then walked into the briefing room where he had set up a communications area so he could communicate with Keyes while not broadcasting their conversation for everyone to hear. Hammond picked up the head set and sent an open length transmission to the fleet asking t speak with Keyes. Surely enough a few seconds later Keyes' transmission popped up and they began to speak.
"Captain Keyes, President Clinton want's me to inform you that the 12th of this month is when you will have your chance to speak to the world in a more formal setting. You are to arrive at 1000 hours in front of the UN building in New York. I was also asked to find out how many people you would be bringing with you to the meeting." Hammond told Keyes.
"Thank you, general. I shall be bringing roughly nine guards and a few other officers. So, my entire party should be roughly fifteen to twenty people arriving. However, five or so of them will be remaining with the transport so those actually entering the building should only be ten to fifteen people." Keyes told him.
"Very well, captain. See you then." Hammond answered before the transmission was cut off.
(1330 hours/ August 9th 1997/ UNSC Lyonesse/ Location High Earth orbit.)
Keyes was sat in his office having just finished his call to general Hammond. He was now thinking about who he would be taking to the surface with him. He called for Cortana.
"Cortana, I need the Master Chief and Captain Dare to the conference room as soon as possible." Keyes ordered to blue AI.
Cortana gave him a nod and disappeared back into the computer system. With that, Keyes picked up his TACPAD and left his office for the conference room. As the conference room was only a few doors down he reached the room in about a minute. He went and sat down in one of the chairs and continued with the paperwork he was doing.
Cortana popped back into the room having sent for the Chief and Cpt Dare. "Well Captain, I have located another stargate and a device the SGC has logged as a DHD in Antarctica along with some sort of outpost." Cortana relayed the relevant information.
Ten minutes later the Chief and Captain Dare walked into the conference room. Keyes stood up and beckoned them over to the table. "I have just been informed that we are able to meet with the UN on the 12th. I want a Spartan escort due to the publicity that we are getting and I will also need ONI, Army, and Air force officials. Dare, you will be the ONI official. I want you to find the second highest ranked Army and Air force officers to accompany us to the Surface. Dare, I also give you the responsibility to pick the Pilot for the mission. Chief, you are in charge of the Spartans, choose a team to go with us to Earth for the negotiations." Keyes informed to two of them. "Also, we have located a device of interest in Antarctica, I want a Spartan team ready for asset recovery and should the worst occur, asset denial. The full briefing will be on you TACPAD by the time you return to the Spartans." Keyes informed him.
"Sir, I will send Spartan Blue and Noble teams with you. Commander A-259 shall be in command with S-104 as Blue Leader. Omega team will be prepped for the asset recovery/denial mission shortly sir. However, as you put me in command of the Spartans, I will have to stay here to watch over the missions." Chief answered Keyes.
"I shall begin to look through the lists of those we have from Reach to find your accompanying officers Sir." Dare replied.
Both saluted before leaving the room having received a salute in kind from Keyes. Now Keyes had to prepare his speech for the 12th.
With Veronica Dare
Dare had just arrived back at her small office that Captain Keyes had provided for her and began to look through the list of people that Keyes would be taking to Manhattan with him.
She had first begun to surf through the candidates for who would be their pilot. Having to go through a small and well organised roster of pilots. "Deus please bring up each of the service records for the Pilots we have on the Ship. Office of Naval Intelligence access code 73998 – Oscar November India Serra One – Charlie – Dare." Quickly reading through the records, she found Captain Carol Rawley of the 23rd Naval Air Squadron. She quickly decided that she was the perfect person for the job. She had over 15000 hours of flight experience of which most of it was also dodging through a combat zone and was also perfectly capable of sitting in a select place for ages and still being lightning quick in her reactions if she were to come under fire.
Next, she looked for the candidates from the UNSC Air Force. She had enlisted the aid of Deus, the ship's AI in reordering the lists so she now had drop down menus for each of the ranks from the Army, Navy and Air Force as well as a separate one for ONI. The list was still being reordered but at least the officers had nearly been completed for the Air Force and was able to see that they had One Air Force Major and three Captains.
"Deus please bring up each of the service records for the Air Force captains we have in the fleet. ONI access code 73998 – Oscar November India Serra One – Charlie – Dare." All three of the Service records came up on her TACPAD one after another. She searched through their records for disciplinary actions against them and commendations. Veronica found that one Captain Olivia Fischinger had a perfect record and would be good choice for the job. She had actually been operating as the CO of the 38th Fighter Squadron callsign 'Hellhound' based out of the UNSC Commonwealth. While usually the Paris Class would carry longswords, this squadron operated Sabres.
Veronica finally moved onto the Army list. This was a lot more complicated as the list hadn't really been started as there were so many army personnel now aboard the fleet that the list of army officers was extremely long. Where the Air force list had been roughly three or four pages of names for the enlisted while officers had about a page of names, the army had roughly thirty pages of names for the enlisted personnel and five pages of officers. She had found out that there was one Army Colonel, three majors and ten to fifteen captains in the fleet. Seeing as there were three majors aboard, she brought up their service records. She used the same criteria as she had for the Air Force captains and eventually picked out Major Parvat Rimal. He was a distinguished officer and had served in at least ten separate battles before the Fall of Reach. This made him the best candidate.
With John 117
The Chief had gone down to the 'Spartan Bay' as the crew had begun to refer to it. Kelly was with the rest of blue team waiting for him to return. Upon seeing him walking through the door, she got up and walked over to him. As there were only Spartans around at the moment, she referred to him by name.
"John, what's going on up top? Got a new mission for us?" She asked with a grin.
"Yeah Kelly, you have a new mission. Go get Fred, Linda, and Noble Team." He answered
Less than a minute later, Blue and Noble teams were assembled around the table John had designated the briefing table. "Spartans, Captain Keyes has managed to get a meeting with the UN. Your mission is to be the escort to him, Cpt Dare and the other officers that are being sent down for the negotiations. Blue team and Noble Six are to escort the officers into the building while Nobles One through Five are to remain with the pelican and her crew to ensue that nobody attempts to board and tamper or destroy it. Noble Three, as the Team Sniper you will be on top of the UN building to operate overwatch. Nobles Four and Five are to defend the pelican. Noble One is on board the pelican and to be in contact with the team at all times. Noble two will be on Radio overwatch. Blue Three will be stood with the captain while he is making his speech. Blue Four is to be on the balcony above the stage as inside overwatch. Blue Two will be stationed with the other officers with Noble Six. Noble Two, you will have the plans of the building as soon as possible, I want Blue and Noble teams going over those plans as much as possible to find any and all point for attacks and exit routes should one or more be blocked. You will also have a plan of the city so you can arrange extraction should you not be able to reach the insertion pelican. You have till the 11th as the meeting is on the 12th. Good luck Spartans." John said as a dismissal. As the meeting began to break up, he called Kelly back over.
"Kelly, do you mind sending Omega team here. I have a mission for them."
"Sure, John." She said leaving to find Omega team.
Two minutes later Omega team had grouped up around the table ready for the briefing.
"Listen up Spartans, you will be sent on an asset recovery mission with the Providence to the sites to begin excavation of a device called a Stargate and it's associated DHD. There is also an outpost of some sort. There are some major problems however. The first of them is that the outpost is buried under at least 100 feet of ice so getting to it will be next to impossible. The DHD and the Stargate however will be easier to get too. Now you will have to lift them out of the ground and up to a pelican each for transport to the Providence. Should anyone attempt to interfere with the operation you have the marine and army compliment of the Providence to back you up. Ensure that neither of the devices are seen and if the captain is unable to convince the planet to join us you will have to paint the target of the outpost and call in a MAC strike. Understood?" John finished
"Yes Sir." Was the reply.
"You have till the 13th to plan your operation and transfer any required kit over to the UNSC Providence. Good hunting Spartans." He said before saluting Omega team and them leaving.
John then decided to go and check over his equipment before going back to completing the reports for the Cpt and any requisition forms for the spartans. Omega team leader Leon while he was beginning to fill out the requisition forms.
"Leon, do you need something?" John asked.
"Yeah John, I need some more explosives and equipment for my Op." Leon explained.
"Okay Leon, I'll put a form in for demolitions grade explosives. How is Omega team handling the new situation?" John asked.
"Well enough, we will always stick to our oath and be Humanity's Sword and Shield like CPO Mendez said before augmentation." Leon said remembering their time on Reach during training.
"I agree. Even while being stuck in the command centre all the time is not what I want to do. It's what I have to do to ensure we can be Humanity's Sword and Shield." Rest up Omega team and pass the same onto Noble and Blue teams so they are ready for their missions."
"10/4 Commander, and if I haven't said it yet, congratulations. You earned it. There is no one else we would rather follow."
John felt his heart warm up a bit from that and gave the spartan a smile before he walked out the door.
(1100 hours/ August 10th 1997/ UNSC Lyonesse/ Location High Earth orbit.)
Keyes had read through the suggestions that Captain Dare had made for the UN Conference. He had approved of all the suggestions and ordered that they present themselves at the briefing room aboard the Lyonesse at 1100 hours today. He had also read through the list of Spartans that would be accompanying him and the other officers. The Chief being who he was probably made the right call an who he was sending. As such he approved of the teams and ordered them to be at the conference room to explain the plan to himself and the other officers.
At 1050 hours, Major Rimal, Captain Dare, Captain Fischinger and Captain Rawley had made their way into the conference room, saluted Keyes and after receiving a salute in return sat down in the chairs around the table. At exactly 1100 hours the Spartans entered the room and as one snapped to attention and saluted Keyes. He returned the salute and the briefing began.
"Good morning everyone, for some of you I am sure you are wondering why you are here. The simple answer is that I have a meeting with the UN on the 12th at 1000 hours. As such I have asked for an officer from Each the UNSC Army, Air Force and ONI to accompany me down to represent the entire UNSC. While I will be the one doing most of the talking. If you are asked questions then the podium will be yours and you will be able to answer any questions asked of you. Now, Captain Dare will be our ONI official, Captain Fischinger will be the Air Force representative, Major Rimal shall represent the UNSC Army and Captain Rawley will be piloting the Pelican. Now I will hand over to Noble One who will brief us on the Spartan deployment and emergency plans. Over to you Commander." Keyes said.
"We will be boarding the Frigate UNSC In Amber Clad the night before and travelling to Manhattan during the night. Once we arrive it should be roughly 2200 hours. At 0955 hours we will be loaded up on the pelican and ready to go the UN. Upon Arrival, Myself and Noble Two will remain aboard the Pelican and provide technical and command support for all forces. Nobles Four and Five will remain outside the pelican to stop curious people and saboteurs. They will also be in position should the team inside be attacked and need a speedy get away. Noble Three will make his way to the roof of the UN Building to operate outside overwatch. Blue Team and Noble Six will be the indoor team. Blue Four will be deployed on the balcony above the stage as indoor overwatch. Noble Six and Noble Two will be positioned with Major Rimal and Captains Dare and Fischinger while Blue Two is with Captain Keyes." Carter informed the officers. "Should the indoor team not be able to extract the VIPs to the Pelican, we have a rendezvous at LaGuardia Airport. Noble Three and Blue Four will operate with Blues Two and Three and Noble Six. If our Pelican is shot down then we will have another Pelican on stand by with two more Pelicans loaded with ODSTs to deploy and provide fire support and be able to extract everyone. Extraction will still take place at LaGuardia Airport. If things go smoothly however, Blue Four will meet up with Noble Six and Blue Two and Three at the door to the building. Everyone will board the Pelican and pick up Noble Three before leaving back to the In Amber Clad. I would suggest that we deploy with an ODST squad anyway as to ensure that each of you have at least one person able to extract you should we all become split up during a worst-case scenario where we have to go to LaGuardia." Carter Finished.
"I agree with Commander A-259's assessment in regards to an ODST squad. Due to their previous experience with extracting valuable 'Cargo' from locations, I would suggest Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson's Squad of marines and Alpha-Nine lead by Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck. During this operation they would be under Spartan command." Dare said.
"Agreed. Dare, you are to inform Alpha-Nine of their new orders and to be ready to move by tomorrow evening." Keyes said. With that the meeting was dismissed.
A/N The Forum Page that was talked about in Update 2 is listed under Games - Halo then go to the last page and at the bottom of the last page is the one titled Restoration of the UNSC. All the topics are there. For lists of Names for the Spartans of Gauntlet and Onyx teams as well as personnel names, please put them under the topic Character Suggestions.