Geneva, Earth

President Elizabeth Levy kept the television in the conference room off. Her and most of her staff had barely slept the past several nights and the effects were already visible as reports and updates kept flowing in on the Goa'uld incursions into Earth Alliance space. Four people soon walked into the room. Director Yuri Serkov, General Lefcourt. A uniformed woman wearing the Rear Admiral rank walked in behind them. She was known Rear Admiral Sally Ekart, Commander of Earth Force Naval Intelligence. Behind her was Ambassador David Sheridan.

"I know it's not going to be good so give me the bad news first." President Levy said as she tried to organize her mind.

"Madam President we lost Jericho and our units were forced to retreat from there, Sinzar and Cryus." An image of Jericho appeared on the screen. In several spots large fiery red marks could be seen that covered portions of the main continent. She had doubted inside that even deep mountain bunkers would survive the bombardment the Goa'uld inflicted in the planet. They could all clearly see a debris field that held the remains of ships, defense platforms and even remnants of Orion Starbases.

"My god!" She gasped "What the hell did they hit them with, there were almost a hundred thousand Colonists there!" President Levy's was in shock at the devastation.

"They had some sort of Quantium-40 Torpedoes. Each blast was around 250 Megatons and hit in the major population centers. We were able to evacuate more than ten thousand civilians while the rest hid in deep underground bunkers. I'm afraid there is no confirmation of any survivors." General Lefcourt stated, holding back emotions of sadness and anger. The loss of those colonists weighed heavily on him.

"Did we at least get some of them? Surely their ships aren't invincible!." President Levy shouted with anger.

"Our forces are good, but we cannot seem to inflict enough damage in a short timeframe; their shields are just too strong. Nothing we have seen can sustain a barrage from several Cruisers and Dreadnoughts and survive. For every two ships we kill they kill ten of ours. Already I am pulling patrols away from the League and Narn borders to reinforce the Fleets. I have ships from Ceti Gamma and Orion that arrived in Beta Durani for refueling today. Forces are reinforced at Vega, Beta Durani and Denova."

"That's something. Give me some other good news then?! Anything!"

"The good news is that their fighter and bomber pilots appear poorly trained. Every fighter and bomber they sent out was destroyed by our Starfury squadrons. We do know our Orion Starbases and defense grids were able to take several of their cruisers down by working in unison. Our scouts have reported that their main forces are holding at Jericho while their splinter fleets are heading towards Vega and Denova. Rear Admiral Thornton is joining forces with a strike force lead by Captain Larmore. They are activating the Deneth's asteroid bases and preparing them and their fleets for combat."

"Good. We have a duty to our protectorate worlds." It was known that the Earth Alliance had a few worlds designated as protectorates. These worlds bordered Earth Alliance territory were usually less advanced than most races and just entering the galactic scene. As they were threatened by Ch'lonnas, Koulani, and other raiders forces, they asked formerly to become a protectorate which meant the Earth Alliance would defend those worlds in case they were assaulted. It was policy of the Earth Alliance to honor those treaties.

"I have other good news Madam President." David Sheridan placed a folder in front of her and everyone else. "I heard back from Londo Mollari yesterday. He is gathering his House Fleet and plans to assist in any way he can. He mentioned the Centauri have similar legends of Goa'uld and we learned they are sending out an exploration fleet to monitor for them. They are just as worried as we are of additional threats. Londo plans to have his fleet near Vega within 4 days."

"I am surprised the Centauri are helping but their assistance is much appreciated. I take it they found some of their gods were more alien slave masters. How many more are out there?" President Levy stated. She was glad to have their help and looked forward strengthening relations with the Centauri in the future.

"From what Londo said they made some recent discoveries that suggest some of their gods are also Goa'uld. It was suspected in their culture but only recently confirmed. I did speak with the Narn and Drazi Ambassadors today and there are some arrangements that I feel can be approved." He turned another page of the dossier.

"The Narn are willing to sell us pieces of Centauri technology they recovered. Heavy lasers, particle arrays, even some ion torpedoes and advanced coilguns. Hell, they even sent us a bunch of energy mines. It's a steep price but worth it. Warleader Tirrak of the Drazi is sending a fleet of 2000 ships that he will lead personally. The Brakiri and Markab can send a small fleet of ships and the Vree Navigator's Guild agreed to sell longer range tachyon transceiver systems and advanced temporary beacons." It was known that the Drazi built their ships small but still fast, agile and packing a heavy punch, so it was no surprise that they were able to hold their own against the Dilgar for so long. None of them expected the Brakiri or Markab to send anything larger than a patrol fleet as both races sustained heavy losses during the Dilgar War. The only race that was able to hold the line was the Drazi.

"What about the Abbai? Don't they have shielding technology and ways of bringing down shields faster?" President Levy asked.

"A gravitic based one yes. Its different than the barriers used by the Goa'uld ships. Unfortunately, the Abbai are still focusing on rebuilding and dealing with some problems on their borders. There has been increasing numbers of ships going missing in the spinward area of uncharted space which has caused them to cease exploration of those areas. They have mentioned an increase in tachyon noise in the area which has alarmed them. They will not be able to help us currently." Director Yuri Serkov answered. As Director of Earth Intelligence, he knew a lot about news going on in League space including technologies, incidents, political and other news that would be of interest to the Earth Alliance.

"That's something that should be investigated. I recall in previous briefings the Tok'ra mentioned System Lord Domains located spinward and corewards of explored space. Keep me updated if you find anything." Presiden Levy said.

"I can have some spy ships posted toward the region to see what they pick up." Director Yuri Serkov answered. The EIA did keep a presence in the League and would rotate mission areas at times.

"What's the other news on our readiness?"

"Well, when the ISN story broke yesterday this happened." He placed a newspaper in front of her. On the front page was an iconic photograph of a recruiting station and a line of people that seemed to stretch for over a mile. "Recruiting offices are being slammed right now. To say people were upset about finding human civilizations as slaves is an understatement. People are in an uproar everywhere. There have been riots from Earth, Mars, Proxima and all the way to Orion. We're about to reactivate old training bases at Benning, Perry, Dix and even Great Lakes. I have been getting calls about reactivating old bases in Europe, Asia and Africa." General Lefcourt reported. "We have veteran crews training fresh graduates in our ships even mothballed ships coming back online. Older ships are being refitted, upgraded and brought back into service. Progress is being made faster than expected." He added.

"Looks like our planetary draft problem solved itself. Reactivate those bases, whatever funding you need I'll make sure you have it. I must wonder, what else can we do to slow them down? One of my advisors mentioned shutting down parts of the beacon network. I am aware of the risks involved."

"That wont work. The Goa'uld don't really need the Beacon System like we do. According to Intelligence they can lock onto weakened signals from even far distances. You would have to shut down every tachyon generating equipment and ships within a thousand lightyears before they would be affected. Even then it would just slow them down by days at most." Yuri Serkov answered.

"I do have something." Rear Admiral Sally Ekart placed a folder down. "We received word of supply convoys heading towards Jericho and Sinzar. We can start sending specialized task forces to attack them in Hyperspace since they are holding positions for reinforcements."

"That's well outside the beacon network. That's an extremely high-risk operation you're proposing." General Lefcourt advised.

"We have the Tok'ra ship, some of their communications devices and we will get the advanced temporary beacons from the Vree. We can set up a mobile beacon our forces can lock on to and then divert towards one of our deep space bases." The Rear Admiral continued.

"We really need that ship. Our scientists are only starting to scratch the surface of it."

"There is another ship. If you recall the incident on Beta Durani has revealed a Tok'ra operation that even the other Tok'ra had no idea about. Telepaths determined they were being truthful as we are taking every precaution. This Tok'ra had already given permission to use it for operations." Yuri Serkov added.

"The Tok'ra were already in Earth Space?" David Sheridan asked with a surprised tone.

"One was. This one was close to their High Council and was sent here to gather information. After Ra and the other Goa'uld left there was a massive gap in knowledge in this area. One of their outposts detected increased tachyon noise and sent out a couple observers. Intelligence was able to gather that no harm was done to Earth Alliance interests."

"Well, that's a relief." President Levy stated. The last thing she needed was more dangerous espionage campaigns in Earth Alliance territory. "Do we know what's in those supply convoys?"

"Usually munitions, Death Gliders, and repair equipment. They still had a good number of damaged ships that will need repairs including replacing munitions and their Death Gliders before they will attack again."

"The Tok'ra said they have done supply raids to acquire ships and resources. This gives us a good opportunity to really close some of our gaps in both intelligence and other knowledge along with more technologies for our scientists to research. With Tok'ra assistance we can learn more about the Goa'uld and weaknesses that we can exploit." The Rear Admiral added.

"So, you want to get a capture mission authorized?" President Levy asked.

"Yes!" An image of an oversized Al'kesh appeared on the screen. Behind it were rows of cargo containers not to different from cargo pods the large transports utilize. "We have data on the supply ships. They utilize basic defensive armaments but are unshielded. Take one of them intact and it will give us more of an advantage."

"Do it. If it's a means of acquiring advanced technology that will help us either way, I am all for it. What's the status of our research on the Al'kesh?" President Levy agree.

"Our scientists are already making discoveries. According to Dr. Carter, their control crystal technology is very similar to our data crystals. We have already pulled a wealth of information from their crystals. Dr. Jackson is assisting him and has made progress with a translation matrix that can decode the information quickly. The more ships, materials and information we can get from the Goa'uld the better our chances of defeating them." General Lefcourt

"The mission is a go. I want full reports soon as they come in. Anything else?" President Levy glanced around the room as no one else responded. "Do everything you can and work towards solutions. Remember the Dilgar were considered invincible, and we beat them all the way back to Omelos. Keep me informed on all updates. I do not want to lose another Colony."

The conference room emptied, and President Levy left. She had hoped and prayed to God that the next meeting would be positive.

David Sheridan headed over to the room where the Kor-Lyan representatives waited. He opened the door and standing in the conference room were two large members of the Kor-Lyan Kingdoms. They had the appearance of a cross between a tall ape and a black bear. Some Earth Alliance traders even likened them to the legends of Bigfoot back on Earth. Both wore a black tunic each with a sash. The taller one wore a yellow sash with symbols that indicated he was a diplomat.

"Ambassador Sheridan." The Kor-Lyan extended his thick furry arm and greeted him with a growly voice. "I am Lord Diplomat Kerutin of the Kor-Lyan Kingdoms. "Next to me is my assistant Nerisin." His assistant bowed.

"I am glad to see both of you. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Earth so far."

"We have, your Amazon Rainforest reminds us of our Great Forests on Korlya. I heard you have a great many things to discuss."

"Yes. I have read the history of your civilization. The Lyan is a separate race, given sentience by continued bonding with Kor symbiotes." David Sheridan made sure he was well versed in the histories of the various League races.

"Yes, the bonding of Kor and Lyan was the defining moments that caused our civilization to develop. Before the Bondings, we merely swam in swamps, and the Lyan smashed rocks into each other's skulls. Whenever a child is born, they will be Bonded with a Kor that will last for the duration of their lives."

"Do you have any old legends that suggest your people may have been visited by aliens before your official first contacts?"

"An unusual reason to be summoned to Earth for. Does this have to do with your current war?"

"Yes… We have recently encountered a race that has several genetic markers consistent with Kor symbiotes." He placed some documents containing images of the Goa'uld symbiotes compared to the Kor symbiotes. The Goa'uld had fin like protrusions including the spiked mouth. The Kor symbiotes were smoother, more like worms with a smaller spiked mouth. "Has a Kor symbiote ever tried to bond with any other races?"

"There's been a few attempts, but they have failed. Our geneticists have worked with some Gaim and a modified Gaim can allow a Kor to bind with it. These files… I am no scientist, but these Kor have been extensively genetically engineered. That's… far beyond our capabilities and even the capabilities of the Gaim" The ambassador stated. It was common knowledge that the Gaim had extensive genetic engineering abilities given their hive-mind nature.

"Its beyond the capabilities of any race we know of as well." David Sheridan noted.

"Those Kor who are unbonded are part of Great Links. In our very old history, there has been legends of dark ones who have intruded into the Great Links and removed many Kor. It was a painful time. There are paintings the Lyan made around the same time of Star Demons that have been seen. This would be well over ten thousand cycles ago. We also know other races have similar stories of these Star Demons."

David Sheridan was aware of such stories. The Yolu, Narn, Markab have oddly similar stories of ancient beings many called Star Demons, Dark Ones and anything in between. All of them were too close to be mere coincidence.

"Our scientists can work with yours on comparing information. If you retrieve a living Goa'uld symbiote we would like to study, it with them."

"I am positive such a study will be approved."

"Then we will be more than happy to assist you." They shook hands. David Sheridan was glad good news was already coming. He looked forward to seeing them again in the future.

Deep Space Outpost SZ-101

This outpost was only known to EFNI and Special Operations Personnel. It was a military outpost that was some distance away from Sinzar but out in neutral space. It was used exclusively by the military to conduct tachyon interception of the nearby Centauri Republic, traveling marauders and even other potential stellar empires. It was in a system that would be considered useless. Brown dwarf with several icy planets. None of which had any valuable minerals.

Earth Alliance did not consider it useless though. The system was close enough to monitor neutral worlds close to the Centauri Republic. Tests of advanced technology were also conducted out here away from the prying eyes of politicians, civilians, and other wanderers. Special Operations used this area for some additional training.

Now it had a new purpose. Monitoring the invading Goa'uld fleet. Arriving from the Jumpgate was a smaller version of an Avenger Carrier. It was escorted by several Hecate Battlecruisers and a squadron of painted black Stealth Starfuries along with some modified painted black Zephyr Fighters. The black paint on all the ships was a special material designed to make it more difficult for sensors to pick them up. It was even known that the advanced sensors of Centauri and older League members had much difficulty in picking them up.

"Looks like our crew is about to arrive." Major O'Neill observed a black shuttle and a Tel'tak flew by the Avenger. Near the underground hanger of the planet, they watched the ships exit the jumpgate and take orbit. Within minutes both the shuttle and Tel'tak landed. The pad then retracted underground where doors closed above it.

"How did they approve the Tok'ra for this mission? They aren't exactly expendable." Major O'Neill asked as two of the recognized Tok'ra stepped out. She recognized Ezraa and Salmesh followed by Captain Holly Keatson in her black uniform with only rank attached and unit patch attached.

"These two volunteered. They taught our squads how to operate their technology. Plus, they aren't going on the front lines. They will be in the Tel'tak monitoring the assault." Major Simmons stated as the two Tok'ra were escorted to the conference room.

"Captain Keatson good to see you here." Major Simmons added as both her and Major O'Neill saluted and shook hands one after another.

"77th SOS? That's an elite unit." Major O'Neill remarked upon seeing the patches on the captain's uniform. The 77th Special Operations Squadron was an elite outfit designed for specialized kill or capture of starships, base infiltration, and reconnaissance. It was heavily rumored they stole a Dilgar Destroyer during the war. It was well known they did capture a Raider Base operating on the outskirts of Earth Alliance space.

"I heard about your accomplishments. Rumor has it you captured a Dilgar Destroyer back in the war and even piloted it back towards Earth space."

Captain Keatson smiled. "Those details are classified but some rumors do have elements of truth. I will say our assault teams have captured some ships. There's plenty of truth to us having most boarding actions. I heard rumor you are skilled in boarding actions yourself. I read your record quite a bit. Battling Spectres on Tirrith, even helped hijack a Dilgar Freighter.

"I wondered why they had me lead a special squad to do a practice run in boarding actions past couple days." She walked alongside Captain Keatson towards the briefing room.

"It's the rarest that we try one in hyperspace. I can honestly say that's only been done three times by our group. Once on a Raider Battlewagon, and twice during the Dilgar War. Its how we got some Thoruns you can see in the Museums on Earth."

"My team is up for the challenge. We fought together in some of the previous battles. They have the skills and experience to accomplish the mission."

The automatic doors opened to a medium sized basic conference room. A holographic display along with several monitors, PADDs, were in the middle of the table. Major Simmons sat down along with Ezraa and Salmesh.

"Good to see all of you here, let's get started. Ezraa here is a high ranking Tok'ra who has worked with their High Council. She has already been scanned and went through a brief interrogation with a PsiCorps and an EIA assigned telepath, so she is legit. I will let her give the briefing."

"Thank you, Major Simmons." She tapped the button on the remote control. "For thousands of years we have operated a spy network within the Goa'uld System Lords. Though they are advanced your ships and stations have inflicted enough damage to stall their advance. With their fighters destroyed and bombs exhausted they will need replenishment."

A screen soon appeared which showed a video feed of several ships in hyperspace. The ships looked more like oversized Al'kesh complete with more decks. Behind them was several rows of large cargo containers that were connected by an energy field. Around the ships were several Al'kesh

"These are Mu'tak heavy cargo ships. They are designed to carry heavier supplies to planets and ships more so than Tel'tak vessels. These ships will be followed by Ser'tak troop transports that will deliver thousands of cloned troops and pilots for the Death Gliders and other Al'kesh. Ra and Apophis have underestimated the skill of your pilots and will utilized cloned warriors skilled in space combat."

"Are you seriously saying they have clone armies…because that's wild." O'Neill exclaimed in shock.

"They do. They have the technology to clone and upload knowledge into clone bodies. The future Death Glider pilots will now be more formidable in combat."

"I'll transmit this information to Earth Force Command immediately." Major Simmons stated.

"The Iwo Jima will launch breaching pods after Stealth Starfuries make special strafing runs to take out defense turrets. We will disable the ships crew, take one ship back here. The rest will disable the systems holding the pods together. After that there will be grappler probes bringing the pods back with us. As this location is beyond your hyperspace beacon network, we will utilize the Tel'tak and long-range communications devices to act as mobile beacons. After that we will backtrack to the base. After that there will be ambush missions against the incoming Mu'tak vessels. Ezraa stated in her noticeable voice.

"What's in those containers?" Major O'Neill asked.

"Supplies. Weapons, naquadah torpedoes. The larger containers will hold the Tel'taks and Death Gliders. Following them will be troop transports with fresh crews and Jaffa to occupy planets. Many System Lords leave their supply ships unguarded. Raiding ships is easier than raiding a planet and destruction or capture of these vessels will slow the System Lords advance."

"How long till they get here?"

"A few days. Major Simmons and Captain Keatson plan on commencing this operation in ten hours. Major O'Neill please take this." Ezraa handed her a Zat'nik'tel along with a 3D printed holster.

"Thank you I quite like these guns." She examined the Zat'nik'tel. She attached the holster to her uniform and holstered the weapon

"Many of your squad has been trained and equipped with them. One shot stuns and the subsequent shots kill. I am aware your PPG Rifles have a stun setting as well. We should be prepared to capture some crew alive for interrogation."

"Good, I am ready to strike back at these bastards. Let's go kick some ass." Major O'Neill gladly stated. She could tell Ezraa and her human host Gina both agreed.

Hyperspace- Near Denova System Beacon

EAS Eisenhower

Rear Admiral Thornton reviewed the footage from the recent battle above Jericho. The atmosphere of the planet still burning with red in some spots as Ra's fleet threw Naqadah bombs into the surface. She could only pray and hope that the underground bunkers beneath the hills and mountains were sufficient to survive the blasts. Even though she was horrified about the destruction of the colony she was able to hold her composure and retain emotional fitness.

"Admiral, I have a report from Charles Robinson." Her XO, Captain James Clifford grabbed a handrail to push himself into the room. "His fleet has retreated to the Vega system. However we did evacuate more from Jericho than we initially thought. Cyrus and Sinzar were also completely evacuated before the fleets arrived. More reports that our Orion Starbases and Satellite Defense Grids were effective. Goa'uld forces have lost a good number of ships."

"Well that's something. Its going to take many combined fleets to hurt those bastards. We lost a quarter of our fleet. That's twice as many lost from the Dilgar War. And Jericho!" She stated in horror. "We have never lost a colony before…never. There were almost a hundred thousand there James. That's the Dilgar War happening on our turf."

"Now I feel what the League must have been going through. I heard that ships are monitoring from the outskirts of the system. Ra and Apophis's fleets are holding. I've already sent a full report out to Earthdome. The Deneth Commonwealth are preparing a massive fleet to hold off any incoming Goa'uld."

"Deneth Commonwealth? How close are we to the Denova beacon?"

"Pretty close ma'am. We still have a solid lock on the beacon."

"Any Earth assets there?"

"A moderate task force led by Captain Larmore. Other patrols have been going in to reinforce them."

"Take most of our fleet to Deneth. Whatever ships that need refueling and repairs can head to Beta Durani. Inform Captain Larmore and Great Admiral Sstaka of our arrival."

"Aye sending orders now. I take it you have something in mind?"

"Yes I do. I have a lot of things in mind. The Denova System is filled with some asteroid fields and old mined out rocks. It's time to make some use of those."

"Sending orders now. Rerouting fleet to Denova beacon."

Several hours later, hundreds of jump points opened the boundaries between dimensions. The remaining Earth Alliance fleet spilled out and began to head towards the various Orion type stations near the moon of the Deneth Homeworld. Nearby was Captain Larmore's task force of a few Dreadnoughts, Hyperions and other smaller ships. Admiral Thornton could easily make out the hulls of unpainted Earth Alliance ships and many smaller Narn hulls as well. She identified them as Deneth ships as they purchased hulls from both Earth and Narn.

"We've arrived Admiral. Captain Larmore is hailing us."

"That's one hell of a welcoming party. Put him through."

"Admiral I am happy to see you!" The image of a red headed Captain appeared. He continued to speak in his Australian area accent. "Ive had several dozen cruisers join us in system. Lately many Dreadnoughts have been coming in. Ever since these ghouls invaded the Deneth have fortified this system.

"I saw a large fleet of Earth and Narn style ships in the distance along with a small Narn fleet. Have they been buying ships from the Narn now?

"Yep, they sure are. Deneth have been buying hulls and weapons from both Earth and the Narn for some time now." He zoomed into the fleet nearby to show the Admiral. The ships were clearly a mixture of older Earth Alliance hulls, mostly Oracle, Olympus with a few Hyperion variants mixed in there. Many of the Narn hulls were Thog'rot class Fast Destroyers. The Narn had many they were willing to sell in exchange for the rich Quantium-40 that was in the Denova System. Shipyards in the system have been tooled to make a mixture of ships with simple designs that Earth and Narn had. Many politicians on Earth had no problem with them trading with the Narn as it allowed Earth an insight to see how another race utilized ship designs and warfare. Now they would see it in action.

The Deneth were one of the first less advanced races the Earth Alliance encountered during their exploration of surrounding space. They were a seawater amphibious species that grew and lived on an ocean world filled with numerous small islands and one very small continent. They would build many cities that floated on the surface and underneath in vast trenches. The Earth Alliance detected tachyon signals coming from a jumpgate the Deneth were attempting to activate. Like the Centauri helping Earth, they helped the Deneth activate the jumpgate and show them how to build their own gates and jump engines.

The state of the Galaxy shocked the mostly peaceful Deneth tribes. Before this, war was uncommon, and they never had any major wars like other civilizations had. Most of their conflicts were petty tribal disputes over some resources and fisheries. They were shocked to discover that a mere two jumps away was the hostile Koulani and violent raiders. After witnessing a brief Earth-Koulani conflict they asked to become a protectorate of the Earth Alliance.

"We are receiving a transmission from Admiral Sstaka."

On the holographic terminal the image of a reptilian looking being appeared. Like most other races the Deneth had a humanoid form with two arms, two legs but with webbed hands and feet. Despite their reptilian appearance they were muscular amphibians' that evolved and thrived in the vast oceans of their homeworld. Many bore similar skin textures to saltwater crocodiles back on Earth with heads that had a similar appearance to dolphins. His image appeared next to Captain Larmore's.

"Greeting Rear Admiral Thornton. The Deneth welcomes you here. We are aware of the Goa'uld threat and have prepared our fleet to make its stand here. We are glad to have your help." The reptilian Admiral stated with a grumbling voice.

"Good, we are tracking a fleet that should arrive here within the next couple days. We have retreated from Jericho and are glad to be reinforced here. I have some ideas that we can talk about."

"I am listening."

"We passed by some asteroid bases earlier. Some of them are empty, do they still have fuel?" It was known that the Deneth had several asteroids towed into varying orbits around their homeworld. Some were used for mining while others ended up as vast fortresses complete with heavy weaponry.

"Yes they do. What would you like done with them?"

"The ones with guns, can you refuel them and operate them remotely? Other asteroids should be places near them with tachyon transmitters. If we can make them think the fleets are near the asteroids, we can lure them into a trap and keep the fleet away from Denova. Load them up with nukes."

"A great idea Admiral Thornton. I agree with this plan and have my fleets ready. Our people are prepared to give their lives to defend what is ours. We are glad to have you as friends' humans. May the higher powers we all believe in watch over us all."

Centauri Space-Immolan V

Setaena Hessius stared at the young man in front of her. Outside her palace, ships were taking crew to the Serrius. The Serrius was named after the first Centauri explorer to chart nearby worlds including what would become the first colony on Immolan V. This would also be the world where House Hessius would hold most of its power. House Hessius was one of the larger Houses of the Centaurum with Setaena Hessius as a female House 'Patriarch'. An oddity not just in the Royal Court but in the whole scheme of Centauri nobility, Technically the House Matriarch but never insisting on the title change. Setaena Hessiusis, was a cool, calculating noblewoman who had survived her late husband for twelve years now and ruled her house and family with poise and skill. Too well-seated in her status to be removed even by the Emperor, and too savvy for her in-family rivals to overthrow, she remained in charge of House Hessius because of three gifts. She had the grace of an imperial decree from Emperor Turhan, there were no viable male members of her house of age to take her place and she was a well-known, powerful telepath

House Hessius was also the main House for the development of jumpgate travel and hyperspace research. Many members of the House were highly respected scientists that reverse engineered alien technologies and created the first dedicated Centauri exploration vessels. These vessels would go out and chart the many worlds that ended up becoming Centauri colonies. Technologies developed would allow for the many ships to utilize artificial gravity, long range tachyon communications and faster sublight engines.

"Its not very often that I get approached by anyone. But when I saw you I noticed you had another with you. Two minds that share a body like a Kor-Lyan. At least I know so far you're both telling the truth." Setaena was also well versed in the races that inhabited local space. She stepped foot on Tirrith, Brakiri, multiple trade stations where many species intermingled. She even met the Kor-Lyan of their Kingdoms.

Malek considered his options. He was sent by the Tok'ra High Council to gather information on the known powers in this region of space. He stayed in his human host for a while after identifying that one of the main powers was also human. He was able to wander the League as a trader and able to discover a lot of information about the races in the area. His goal was to find a willing Centauri host. It wasn't long before he ran into a Centauri male named Elomdo Nartun suffering from a rare disease and traveled the area looking for a miracle cure. After a while he convinced this Centauri to have him as a host. It also helped that he learned of another species similar to Goa'uld and Tok'ra symbiotes called the Kor of the Kor-Lyan Kingdoms. Malek told the Centauri he was similar to a Kor symbiote. There was no time though to check if they were related to the Kor but noted that for future references. His human host Keshem stayed behind and continued to work on gathering information about the League.

Malek learned a lot about his new Centauri host and got along very well. Elomdo was happy about his rare degenerative disease vanishing. With the sharing of knowledge and thoughts he knew the symbiote didn't have any ulterior goals nor did he want to collapse the Republic. It wasn't long before Malek learned the news about Earth's Explorer Division. The Earth Alliance became a big name in the stellar scene after their victory over the Dilgar many years prior. Malek worried about the expansion of Earth and the possibility of them running into Goa'uld which was confirmed after the news broke out about an Explorer fleet running into hostiles. He also knew that Coreward was other Goa'uld that the Tok'ra paid less attention to. With the invasion of the Earth Alliance by Ra and Apophis which was on every news station the Centauri and League utilized, and with the news of a Centauri expedition he knew it was a matter of time before the other System Lords would be interested in this area of space. Most System Lords would never tolerate other interstellar civilizations. He knew of three System Lords that previously operated in this region. Ilarus, Li, and Mo-goth/Margath. The latter he was most concerned about.

"Remember that I am a telepath. You have thought about that Margath several times now. Is he a threat to the Republic? Was he a threat to you?

"He is. When he learns the threat the Centauri pose to him he will declare all out war. Their fleets are powerful and their armies are ruthless. His people are made up of what you called the Xon."

Setaena took in a deep breath and felt slightly more nervous. She kept her house fleets strong and well trained but was aware of the dangers in unexplored space. "We have an old saying among my house. The void is dark and full of terrors. Long ago we fought a war against a civilization called the Garmak. They were a hostile people. They happened to attack a civilization called the Minbari; a civilization far older than ours. They effortlessly wiped out the Garmak fleets with very miniscule losses on their side. Not even our Republic at its might would dare attack Minbari. They have inflicted a terrible wrath on other empires that have tested them." She decided to take a seat on the other end of the table.

"Our Republic dwindled after its war with the Orieni. We have retired our fleets, discharged our military members and even abandoned some of our frontier colonies. The Republic cannot afford to have enemies on our doorstep. Especially powerful ones like these Goa'uld."

"Before I became House Patriarch me and my husband headed the labs responsible for reverse engineering alien technologies. We excavated archeological sites, dug up frozen starships and even decoded advanced computers from our enemies. We need an edge. I will listen to your ideas on how to proceed. What do we need to look out for?"

"There is a device called a Chappa'ai. It allows for instantaneous travel from one planet to another, you can pick them up by neutrino buildups. This may or may not mark the territory of a System Lord."

"How do you know this?"

"Because many of these Chappa'ai are on worlds abandoned or ignored by System Lords. If you find one, observe it from a distance. Ensure there is nothing there before landing. Many of the System Lords will not appreciate unknown fleets operating in their territory. They will pursue and destroy both the fleet and the worlds they originate from."

Setaena sensed he was telling the truth. She would never blunder into the unknown so carelessly. Any misstep would cost the Republic dearly.

"Very well. You will come with me and report directly to me. I will travel on this expedition as I have funded it and selected the crew for it. They come from the best trained and most experienced. Many of them have worked in my labs and in my House Fleet."

She opened the door and allowed him to walk out with her to the shuttle. The purple Centauri shuttle made its way towards the Serrius. Malek was astonished. He never seen such a wonderful design. The Serrius was like an Octurion Battleship only elongated. Setaena had purchased an unfinished hull and decided to have it modified into an explorer type vessel after seeing news of the Earth Alliance Explorers seeking out new life, systems and civilizations.

Surrounding the ship were several Primus Battlecruisers, wings of Sentri fighters and many Corvus Scouts. It was now time to explore and find out how much of a threat the other Goa'uld are to the Republic. She wished a lot of the public still held the drive for exploration that her House and people once held. Many Centauri wished for the Republic to return to its 'Glory Days'. It was time for her and her House to do the same.