Chapter 9
Hyperspace- Near Narn Space
"All clear. We are nearing the Narn beacon."
Warleader Tirak heard the report from his navigation officer. News of the Goa'uld invasion shook the League. To many in the League, the bombing and annihilation of Earth Colonies was certainly a mirror of the Dilgar Invasion just a couple decades ago. During that war, the Drazi were one of the few powers to still survive with a surviving infrastructure and their military somewhat intact. It was at least in better shape than the rest of the League. Many powers still put even more focus into rebuilding efforts once the realization hit that there were even more hostile advanced empires out there. He looked over at the intelligence files of the Goa'uld and wondered if the old tales of Gods taking Drazi and old legends of Drazi settlements vanishing were the Goa'uld? There were similar legends passed around with the Abbai and even the Brakiri. The latter had evidence of relocation after an offshoot race was discovered nearby that went extinct. He pondered if somewhere out there was another sister civilization thriving. Every Drazi that lived would always say they would never be enslaved. Even the civilians on worlds conquered by the Dilgar always fought back in which they inflicted almost equal losses. It was no surprise that the Drazi front was unforgiving to any Dilgar.
The Drazi along with the rest of the League the Earth Alliance as saviors. Many in the Drazi revered the Earthers as respected warriors. Many in the League did not expect them to join as in the beginning they were a moderate power only keeping to themselves and out of galactic affairs aside from routine trading. The Dilgar War changed that outlook. Once the Earth Alliance joined and drove back the Dilgar fleets from Markab and its colonies, it gave the League the resolve to push back. Many of the remnant fleets of powers such as the Vree, Brakiri, Hyach, Balos and many others joined Earth Force in pushing back the Dilgar all the way to Omelos. Many in the Drazi Freehold felt a great debt was owed to Earth. Now that debt would be paid off
"Jumping to normal space now. Picking up the Narn station and a large fleet of ships" His Navigation Officer Rilanak stated.
Many jump points opened and the large squadrons of Sunhawks, Warbirds along with its many squadrons of fighters and bombers poured out. All took a high orbit position around the red planet below. Many of the Narn ships held position by their large station. Several of the newer G'Quan Class Battlecruisers flanked by many of the Thog'rot Fast Destroyers and Frigates. Unlike the rest of the League, the Drazi still maintained a large fleet even during peacetime. Ever since the Dilgar War, the Drazi maintained full production at their shipyards to replenish and maintain fleet strength. The Narn followed suit, building more ships for a large-scale invasion that thankfully never came. The Narn still kept their fleet in case the Centauri would make any moves.
None of the fast Drazi ships came to attack nor did the Narn ships move to intercept and fire though both sides did keep an eye on the other. Instead, a lone Drazi shuttle went towards the station and fleet to begin docking at an Earth Alliance Diplomatic Liner that was flanked by three Hyperion cruisers. It was a variation of the Asimov Liners with centrifugal gravity. Alongside the Liner a Narn shuttle was also docked.
The Narn and Drazi had shaky relations from the start. Both expansionistic sides ran into each other, and border skirmishes were not uncommon. During the Dilgar War, the Narn did attempt to occupy several Drazi worlds but eventually faced Dilgar fleets which wanted to keep their claims on Drazi worlds. After the war, the Narn still held onto a few worlds which led to more disputes. The only thing keeping the Narn from declaring outright war was Centauri fleets on the border.
Warleader Tirrak made his way inside the Diplomatic Liner and met with a man dressed in a suit who was his escort. The ship was furnished and clearly designed to accommodate many races even though it was human design. Flags and banners of all known civilizations hung in the hallway along with pictures of Earth Ambassadors followed by known Ambassadors from other races. On another hallway there were images of other leaders as well including his own, and Emperor Turhan of the Centauri, the Narn and the rest of the League. The escort led the Drazi toward a large conference room. A Narn appeared seated at a triangular table and he immediately recognized him as Ambassador G'kar; one of the more well-known ambassadors to the League and Earth.
"Ambassador G'kar I presume?"
"Ahhh Warleader Tirrak. I have heard much about you. On behalf of the Narn Govern….
"Why did you request me to go onboard an Earth ship for this?" Warleader Tirrak cut him off.
"Because I wanted to see the two of you here." A dark suited man stepped from another room. Both recognized him as David Sheridan, the famed ambassador to the Centauri and the rest of the League. "We should get to this quickly. Go ahead and speak G'kar. You wanted this meeting to happen."
"I see that it is important for you to assist Earth. A much faster route would take you through Narn space. My government has decided to…allow that passage…"
"In exchange for what exactly?"
"We allow one of our fleets to join yours to aid Earth."
"You know you are doing this because the Centauri intervened."
"That much is true however the Narn believe the Goa'uld pose a threat to us as well as everyone else." G'Kar paused for a moment then looked at the Warleader. "The Narn government has agreed to several concessions. We will relinquish all claims to Drazi worlds, return disputed sectors over and agree to fixed borders. In exchange for allowing our fleet to join yours through our space and more normal relations between our peoples." G'Kar stated.
"On our end the Earth Alliance has agreed to forgive both Narn and Drazi debt. In addition to that, Earth has also agreed to allow a percentage of salvage rights of recovered Goa'uld debris." David glanced over to G'kar. "Ambassador I am sure you noticed that the Centauri have pulled some of their fleet movements away from your borders. This should make your government feel a lot better about sending a fleet and work on the cooling down of relations between the Narn and Drazi."
Both ambassadors signed the documents and placed their handprints on the scanners. Although the Drazi Warleader was not an ambassador, his signature would still allow him to act in some duties approved by his government. The Drazi Warleader shook the hand of both David and G'kar and left to lead his fleet.
"Most meetings with Drazi lead to fistfights. The last time we attempted a diplomatic venture it resulted in several Narn and Drazi deaths. Almost a full blown war. The Narn Regime is grateful for your intervention."
"I can assure you the Earth Alliance is very thankful for your assistance so far. The material you sent us is very helpful.
"David I do have a favor to ask of you?"
"Yes?"
"If your government discovers any…Narn enslaved by the Goa'uld or other civilizations… can you inform our government right away? I know many of our ancient stories, libraries and archives were destroyed by the retched Centauri but like others we also had stories of missing villages and Gods flying around in pointy ships. Like you, if an Narn found that other aliens were enslaving Narn there will be calls for blood."
"I can assure you that if any are discovered we will notify you soon as possible. I am glad you agreed to all of this G'Kar. I could tell that conceding this wasn't easy but having cooled diplomatic relations goes a long way."
"Thank you, Mr., Sheridan. Your efforts are much appreciated."
G'kar was pleased with the results. He had heard recently the Centauri were planning an extensive military buildup. Military shipyards that have laid almost dormant were being recalled into active service and decommissioned fleets were being brought online. This startled the Narn Kha'rhi. After seeing Centauri help Earth directly at Vega it was decided that the Narn should send a fleet to show their support. Many members of the Narn government felt that helping Earth would secure better diplomatic relations between them though many hoped for Earth to intervene should the Centauri invade Narn again. Once the Drazi fleets began moving, he knew it was best to secure those goals and relations with Earth quickly. He hoped reap the rewards of those benefits soon.
Ra's Flagship- Star of Glory- Jericho
A small group of Jaffa soon approached and bowed before Ra as he stood in front of the throne looking through the window at the now scarred world below. The former green and blue was now replaced with orange and brown as dust started to block out sunlight. The planets native life would soon face a mass extinction event.
"What is it?" He snarled
"My lord…." The one of front paused nervously. "Your Prime Apelp has fallen at the Tau'ri system known as Vega."
Ra stood there in silence, taking everything in. This time he was more settled, his eyes did glow brighter in anger for a moment, but he maintained his composure. "That is certainly unfortunate. Do you have anything good to report?"
"Yes, our reinforcements have arrived, and the cloned pilots are ready. Our Deathglider and Al'kesh squadron are replenished as are other supplies. The Tau'ri stopped their attacks on supply ships and have retreated to their holdings. The last Ha'taks produced are on their way here.".
Ra kept a steady production of Ha'taks in case other System Lords would move against him. With the Tau'ri now a problem it was best that all ships under production would be reinforcing his fleets quickly. Ra paused, considering his options. He decided that enough was certainly enough and Earth would be handled now rather than later. The other fleets and colonies can be mopped up later.
"So the mass of their fleets are away from Earth?"
"Yes m'lord."
Ra's eyes glowed again. "Then Earth shall be struck directly. Contact my brother Apophis. I want to speak with him now."
They obliged and soon an image of Apophis appeared as a holographic projection. He bowed sloppily toward his better. "What can I do for you brother?"
"Take the world of Beta Durani once final supplies are received. Crush them and half the spoils of the Tau'ri domain are yours instead of merely a third."
"With pleasure brother." Apophis smiled and the image turned off.
"Contact my First Prime Kessal. He isn't due to arrive in Deneth for another day."
First Prime Kessal appeared on screen. Unlike Apophis he did a more graceful bow toward the Supreme System Lord. "Supreme Lord Ra what shall I do for you?"
"Pull back your forces from Deneth. We shall strike the very heart of their empire and make Earth burn." Ra pulled an image of the Sol System and noted the two jump gates. One near Earth and another by Io, a moon of the gas giant Jupiter. The area around Io was marked in red noting stations, shipyards, and mining bases on Io. Crippling them and Earth would eliminate the Tau'ri ability to fight back. "Destroy these stations as I attack Earth directly. Once you are finished, join me in burning Earth to cinders and we will finish the rest!"
"As you wish My Lord." Kessel stated with pleasure in his voice. The image soon cut off leaving the holographic Earth and Luna floating. "Set us a course for Earth. Time for the Tau'ri to burn."
On the Pel'tak, Amissa saw everything go down. It did not take her long to decide to risk everything including exposing her cover. She had to warn the other Tok'ra of what was going to happen. As Ra and the others were turned away, she decided to go toward her quarters, passing a small group of Jaffa. Ekresh was not in sight thankfully and she certainly would have picked it up. Entering her quarters, she grabbed a small device. It was a basic Tok'ra communications device and sent a message towards Salmesh and the other Tok'ra that had notified the Tau'ri in the stolen Al'kesh.
She had been near Ra for some time, even since the War Against Sokar a couple centuries ago. It was a long and brutal war that changed Ra in such a way. It made Ra paranoid and suspicious of the other System Lords and often accusing them of harboring fugitives of Sokar's domain. He even accused his son Heru'ur of harboring Sokar himself to usurp the Throne. Even though every System Lord has those insane aspirations of wanting the throne, even Heru'ur wouldn't harbor a fugitive to try taking it. She knew from meeting another Tok'ra coming from his Domain that he's been building fleets above limits put on the others by Ra. This was news that Ra did not take well to but he decided to respond by increasing his own forces as well. Some of the Tok'ra wanted to trigger a war between him and Heru'ur but ultimately the High Council decided that such an operation would be too dangerous.
She walked toward another area of the ship away from the crew and slave chambers. Knowing that she was now out of sight, she sent the message. Even though it would blow her cover it would take some time for them to find out who it was. Even an Ashrak experienced as Ekresh would take too long to gather evidence and discover it was her. The message was now sent detailing the orders of Ra's fleets and their targets. She tossed the communications device and watched it incinerate itself from the inside out. In just seconds nothing was left of the device besides a thin region of dust. She went, grabbed the explosive device she had constructed and watched the engine room. The time for her to strike would be soon.
Centauri Exploration Ship Serrius- Unknown System Coreward of Centauri Space
"It's been a very long time since a Centauri has made it this far." Lady Hessius looked out the observation window towards a nebula glowing in the distance. "Have the Tok'ra ever explored space?" She asked.
"We only explore to find new hiding places. Many of us do not have time for sightseeing adventures. Survival, hiding and sneak attacks have been our only concern. Occasionally we will find technology that will help us but nothing more. If we stay anywhere long enough, we risk detection and destruction by the Goa'uld." Malek stated.
"Sounds like a rough existence though you certainly are a hardy people if you survived for thousands of years. Tell me though, when was the last time you heard of Centauri System Lords?"
"We have known of Li, Illarus and Margath who is the same as "Mo-goth. My last contacts have stated the first two are…not as brash as the other System Lords. Both have fought wars against Margath. If he discovers that you now have an empire, he is sure to strike. He sees anything and anyone as a potential threat to his domain.
"You speak rather lightly of Li and Illarus. Could they be allies?"
"That is what I would like to find out. We have never really bothered to target Li and Illarus. The other has been given the most attention by us. As much as we hate the System Lords there are those who have been 'reasonable' those System Lords are rare in number."
"According to my navigators we have charted three systems. The Anteareans lay a claim to the first one as it had valuable deposits and a world closer to their needs. Sensors have yet to pick up anything resembling another gate network or unusual neutrino bursts. I have made up plans though for observing these System Lords."
"What do you have?"
"We have modified stealth Corvus Scouts. They can sit at the edge of a system and observe, if there are no other ships we can land on a planet and a team can surveil the area."
"Those are good plans. Some outer worlds will not be visited by a ship in years. Even decades. If you do not keep a large presence in the system, it is unlikely that you will be approached. However, I would tread caution."
Suddenly another Centauri walked into the observation room. Both recognized her as one of the Navigation officers. "Lady Hessius, you wanted us to inform you when we found something. We did, neutrino bursts have been detected in hyperspace not far from our location."
"Well that certainly is a discovery. Take us closer to the source of the bursts and keep us at a distance. The Corvus Scouts can quickly scan the area and come back to us. Let me know if anything else is detected." She stated as the Centauri left the room. "Well, Malek looks like we will have answers soon enough."
Malek nodded in agreement. He knew it was time to find out more information about the other System Lords. He needed to reach out to one other Tok'ra he knew was operating in this area. He hoped that he could still reach Anise.
Geneva- Earth
President Elizabeth Levy drank her coffee while seated. A newspaper on the table showing "Victory at Vega!" which showed the debris field of destroyed Goa'uld vessels. She certainly looked to be in better shape than in the previous weeks. Many people celebrated on other stations and ships of the major victory.
"As you know our forces were able to successfully defend Vega from the Goa'uld fleet led by Ra's Prime Apelp." General Lefcourt briefed. "Thanks to the specialized tactics of Commander Sheridan and Admiral Robinson along with the Centauri Fleet led by Mollari they suffered total and complete losses. Losses were heavy on our side, but we made sure the Goa'uld bled." He glance over at the EIA Director.
EIA Director Yuri Serkov soon opened a page on the dossier. "I have received word from David Sheridan that he was able to help negotiate a peace deal between the Drazi and Narn. The Drazi fleet will be joining with a Narn one and will be here in a few days. The Drazi have almost two thousand ships while the Narn will be arriving with several hundred." He turned to another page.
"In addition to that, our raids on their supply lines were successful, slowing them down significantly. The special raid to capture their supply ships were also successful and we now have an intact ship along with several of their Tel'tak cargo ships. Also contained were their naquadah bombs which are many times more powerful than our nukes. Those are now placed in some of our missile tubes on the Omega;s and are ready for deployment. We were able to get several of our mothballed ships up and running with veterans of the Dilgar War coming back into service, many of these veterans are training new crews in other ships."
She broke into a smile "That's very good news. It's good to see the Narn and Drazi stepping up. Do we have anything else?"
"We were able to fit Narn weapons into several ships. Their energy mines can be fitted into our missile tubes and launched like our own. We fitted some of the Narn Coilguns into some refitted frigates and cruisers. Our prototype Nova-X fleet is also ready to be deployed." Everyone in the room was aware of the development of the Nova-X prototypes. Before the Goa'uld invasion it was decided that increases would be made towards production of several prototypes of which would become the Omega Class Destroyer. Now they would certainly see action.
Suddenly there was a flashing red light on the desk. The President answered it, and the holographic screen showed another Admiral. Everyone recognized the buff dark-skinned man as Admiral Charles Robinson.
"Madam President we just got intelligence that the last three Goa'uld fleets are coming in. Apophis is due to hit Durani while Ra and his First Prime are due to hit Sol. Our scouts have reported they left Jericho and are coming here hot! I am sending the information now." The Gold Channel transmission changed into a data flow. "Ra is heading towards Earth and Kessel planning on hitting our transfer point at Io. We need everything we can get up there to hold them off. I have already recalled Admiral Thornton from Deneth, and she is going to Durani to help hold off the fleets.
"I am glad we made the decisions to fortify Sol. Notify all commands and fleets. Everything that has guns and missiles should be ready to meet them. We make our stand here and give them hell. May God be with us all."
Orion 10- Copernicus Shipyards- Luna
The Copernicus shipyard were one of the first Shipyards made to build and expand the Earth Alliance Fleet. They were first made around 2050 when Earth's nations began to mine some of the rich mineral hotspots on the moon. Many of the components of early interplanetary spacecraft were built on the moon and transported to lunar orbit where larger ships were assembled. Each year there were always more plans for expansion and more searches for mineral veins. Right now almost a million people called Luna their home. Many bright lights of outposts, domed cities and such were visible even from Earth.
Hanging above the shipyards was an Orion Starbase. One of the first ones built by Earth Force and one of several that orbited the moon. Many used these stations to transfer from Luna over to Mars and even other stations in Sol.
Onboard, Commander John Sheridan snapped a sharp salute to Admiral Charles Robinson as he walked into the station briefing room.
"At ease Commander" He reached over to give Commander Sheridan a firm handshake. "I see you have your command staff from the Lexington?"
"Yes sir, some of the best officers in the fleet."
"They showed that to the snakeheads big time." He smiled. "I know the Lexington is undergoing repairs and you want to get back to it, however we have different plans. Follow me everyone, I promise that you will love what I am about to show you."
The small group of blue and grey uniforms walked towards another part of the station passing the many networks of corridors the Orion Starbase had. They stepped into a lift and Admiral Robinson pushed a button towards another deck. The doors soon opened, and they saw the view out the window. Many smiled and looked in awe at the new ships in the distance. Well over a dozen black painted blocky ships each with a rotating section were positioned outside the drydock. In the shipyards, many ships were seen undergoing repairs and refits.
"I'm sure you remember the Nova-X prototypes being developed. Those are the Omega Class. The one closest to us is the Agamemnon. That will be your new command. They are fitted with Narn heavy lasers, energy mines and specialized high yield nuclear weapons that we received. However, these cannot be run by a Commander." Admiral Robinson pulled out a set of pins. Gold triangles and bars which represented the rank of Earth Force Captain. "Commander Sheridan, you performed more than exemplary at Vega. Therefore, under the authority of Earth Force, I am hereby promoting you to Captain effective immediately." Admiral Robinson removed the old Commander pins and placed the new Captain pins on him.
Captain Sheridan saluted Admiral Robinson after the pins were placed on him. The command staff and other people clapped and cheered. Suddenly, alarms sounded throughout the ship "Alright everyone we know what that means. Report to your stations, take those ships on a spin and kick some snakeheads shit in!" Everyone quickly moved to their stations. The real battle would begin soon.
