0982 Hours, October 19, 2183 (Council Calendar)
Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula, Terminus Systems, Milky Way Galaxy
The Quinn dropped out of hyperspace, slowing to a cruising speed as it made its way towards the planet that the Apophis's Bane was in orbit over. Only a day before, Rak'nor had sent an urgent subspace communication to Atlantis. Originally, they had been dispatched to this system to find a new source of raw materials for them to mine and eventually sell. The Quarians had provided the system as a possibility as some of their people who'd returned from a Pilgrimage had suspected there might be ore in the system worth checking out. Unfortunately, the Fleet didn't have any spare ships to venture that deep into Terminus to confirm it. Instead, they offered to give the Atlanteans the coordinates in exchange for receiving a portion of the raw materials they needed for ship repair.
Instead of finding a rich site just waiting to be mined, Rak'nor had found… something else. He wasn't very specific in his message other than describing it as some kind of unknown technology. In his message, however, Teal'c and Bra'tac noticed that their old friend was… off. For something to unsettle him, a veteran of hundreds of battles against all manner of foe, meant that it was something that needed to be investigated immediately. And so, the Al'kesh and SG-1 were dispatched immediately to investigate.
Daniel, Sam, Mitchell, and Teal'c all entered the armory and began to strap on their gear. Vala had remained behind on Atlantis to continue to run Daniel's classroom, much to her annoyance and his amusement. But she had become an excellent teacher despite how much she complained about it. So, the four other members Stargate Command's elite team made their way to their first mission together off world since they'd jumped universes.
Mitchell was smiling as he pulled his tactical vest over his Asgard designed hard-suit, "Boy, I am pumped! It's been way too long since we all got to go on a mission together," he exclaimed as he began strapping his weapons and equipment on.
"I'm just glad to be getting out of the city for the first time in…, gosh, I don't remember how long," Carter replied as she did the same before grabbing an Ancient scanner and placing the ivory device in one of her vest pockets, "I'm surprised General O'Neill let us come actually."
"Well, McKay is still nursing that wound he got on New Rivers, so we needed a tech expert. Besides, I'd take you over anyone else any day of the week," Mitchell pointed out, slipping a Zat gun into his holster and grabbing his Avenger assault rifle.
Daniel was doing the same, grabbing his camera and other essentials and stuffing them into his pack, "And I'm here because I think I might know what it is that Rak'nor found based on his description. And if there's a language that needs deciphering well…" he trailed off, leaving the unsaid fact that he was the best suited to figure such a puzzle out.
"I am concerned that if there is indeed alien technology on this world, others might know about it. This system has a Mass Relay," Teal'c voiced from the other side of the armory, securing a Sodan short staff on his back before grabbing his M-76 Revenant, the massive heavy machine gun had drawn the Jaffa Master's eye when they received a new shipment of weapons from the Quarians, "And with all our other vessels on missions of their own, we may find ourselves without reinforcements should we need them."
Mitchell nodded at that as he finished suiting up, "Welp, we'll just need to make sure we don't overstay our welcome. Come on, let's boogey."
The team exited the armory and made for the ring transporter, entering the center of it and nodding to the Airman manning the controls. The officer nodded, punching in the command sequence into the emerald buttons that chimed in response to the contact. A second later, five rings flew up from the floor, surrounding SG-1. In a flash, the four disappeared and the rings fell back into the ground. Two decks above, identical rings burst from the floor, and in another flash deposited SG-1 onto the bridge of the Al'kesh. They made their way into the Pel'tac of the Quinn. A pair of Jaffa stood guard at the entrance, and another pair sat in the pilot and co-pilot seats. Past the holoscreen and through the viewport, they could see the planet in question.
Daniel pulled up his Omni-tool, "So, the planet's name is Joab. Unsettled, mostly arid with a few grass plain environments near the equator."
Carter frowned as she looked out the viewport, "Huh, you'd think that a habitable world like this would have a colony on it. Even if it is the Terminus Systems."
"Well, apparently this world had a civilization thousands of years ago. Before any other of the races had even developed mass effect technology. But something happened, no one really knows. Some kind of environmental disaster some researchers have speculated," the archeologist explained, his teacher-voice coming through, "Whatever happened, it wiped out the inhabitants and destroyed nearly all traces of their society. Apparently, there's a bit of a superstition about settling worlds that have been occupied by a race that was destroyed. Hence the lack of colonizers or pirates trying their luck here."
Mitchell sighed and crossed his arms, "We just can't seem to go anywhere nice. Just once I'd like a tropical getaway."
As the Quinn approached Joab, they could see the Bane in geosynchronous orbit around the planet. The Ha'tak rotated silently, it's ebony superstructure and golden pyramid core floating in sharp contrast to the tan planet behind it. The Al'kesh matched its orbital profile and rested a few dozen kilometers away, the pilot raising a hand to her ear before nodding and punching in a few commands into the console.
"Master Rak'nor is waiting on the surface below. He is ready to receive you at any moment," the Jaffa pilot explained, raising her hand to the console and waiting for Mitchell's word.
The man nodded and hefted his rifle, "We're good to go. Beam us down."
She nodded and punched in several commands. A moment later, the familiar musical chime of Asgard beaming technology filled the air. The four members of SG-1 glowed bright until they were consumed in pillars of energy, shooting out of the Pel'tac in the blink of an eye.
A moment later, four pillars of light materialized into existence and SG-1 was deposited on the ground. They looked around their immediate surrounds and saw that they were in a rocky opening in some kind of mountain range. In front of them, two squads of marines and Jaffa were standing at their posts, guarding the opening of a cave in the distance. A Jaffa with curly dark hair and a burnt scar on his forehead was standing discussing something with Sergeant Rothberg before he noticed them and nodded at the NCO. Walking over, he immediately approached Teal'c and raised his arm. The older Jaffa smiled and reciprocated the gesture, clasping the armored gauntlet of his friend and bowing in respect.
"Shal'kek nem'ron, Teal'c. Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, Dr Jackson," Rak'nor greeted the team, who all offered a smile in return.
Teal'c nodded and folded his arms behind his back, "Greetings old friend. It has been sometime since you've been back to Atlantis. I'd hoped to see you again under better circumstances."
Rak'nor nodded in agreement, "We've made much progress collecting resources and materials out here in these unclaimed systems. I must admit, it has been… calming. Simply scanning and mining… I did not think I would come to enjoy such a mundane task," Rak'nor admitted before his face became serious, "But… as you humans say, all good things must come to an end. We discovered… something…"
Mitchell stepped forward, "Yeah, some kind of alien pyramid thing? Why's that got you spooked?"
Rak'nor faltered for a moment, turning to look back at the cave. Mitchell shared a look with Teal'c, who raised an eyebrow at his friend's silence. The Jaffa took a moment before turning back to SG-1 and tried to find the words to describe what they had found.
"…It is… hard to describe. The device still has power, though it is clear whatever civilization created it has long since disappeared. Advanced, with strange green circuitry glowing all around it. But…" he trailed off.
Daniel frowned as he listened to the description, a look of recognition appearing on his face, "But?"
"There is something about the device that seems to invoke a foreboding. I do not know what exactly, but I cannot help but feel… on edge around the device. I've ordered everyone out of the cave until you could inspect the device," the Jaffa explained.
"A wise decision. We would do well not to disturb such devices until we can ascertain their true nature. We know little about the alien cultures in this universe, even less so about ones long forgotten. We cannot haste in our curiosity to find out what they are and put our people in danger," Teal'c counseled, which everyone seemed to agree with.
Daniel pulled out his camera, "That being said, I'm pretty sure I know what this thing is. But we should go and check it out to be sure."
Mitchell seemed to agree, "Sounds good. Rak'nor, lead on."
The Jaffa nodded and motioned for them to follow, along with several marines and Jaffa as escort. The group made their way into the cave, following the tunnel that was now illuminated with military grade neon glowsticks. A few minutes later they entered the cavern that housed the alien device in question. There were no glowsticks on the ground inside, the device's own whisps of emerald energy illuminated everything. Rak'nor ordered his men to hold at the entrance while he and SG-1 approached the device. The closer they got, the more they started to understand what Rak'nor was talking about. There was something… ominous about the pyramid.
Daniel started to snap photos of the pyramid, "Tetrahedral pyramid. Obsidian color… looks like some kind of alloy," he noticed the console in front of the device was active with green holographic screens and an interface glowing, "Was it like this when you first arrived?"
Rak'nor shook his head, "No, it activated once we were within a certain distance. I've kept my people away from it, and we have refrained from touching it."
Carter tilted her head as she started to walk around the side of the pyramid, though at a safe distance, and pulled out her Ancient scanner, "I'm detecting some kind of power source within the device. Looks like a miniaturized eezo core, along with some kind of fusion reactor. But it's nothing like what we've detected on Quarian ships. Or what's the norm for the rest of the galaxy based on information from the Extranet."
Mitchell stared at the pyramid and couldn't help but start to feel a sense of discomfort. There was something… eerie about the thing. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was definitely something about it that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Now he understood what Rak'nor meant.
'This thing is giving me the heebe jeebies' he thought to himself.
Mitchell turned towards their archeologist, "So Jackson, you said you might have an idea as to what this thing is?"
Daniel snapped another picture before letting it hang from its strap around his neck, "Yeah… when Rak'nor sent the description of the device I thought it sounded familiar, like I'd read something similar before in my research on our new home. So, I started researching the Extranet until I came across this," he pulled up his Omni-tool and a picture of a similarly colored obelisk appeared on the holographic screen.
The team gathered around and observed the image. The obelisk had the same green circuitry and energy coming off it that the pyramid had. The picture had several individuals of several different species surrounding it, most of whom appeared to be scientists based on their clothing and equipment. The image itself was centered in the middle of a news article, translated into English, that read 'Prothean Beacon discovered!' and had several paragraphs following it.
Mitchell tilted his head in thought, "Protheans? Those are those ancient aliens that built the Citadel and the Mass Relays?"
Daniel nodded and closed his Omni-tool, "Yeah, they're responsible for galactic civilization as we know it in this galaxy. The humans of this reality discovered their ruins on Mars which allowed them to develop mass effect drives. The other races had similar experiences in their history that allowed them to do the same."
"And what is a Prothean 'Beacon' Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked, his gaze on the pyramid in front of him.
"From what I've been able to find, Beacons are devices that contain information about Prothean technology and culture. Most of the ones found throughout history were damaged, and very little information has been able to be recovered from them," he explained, drawing concerned looks from his friends.
"So, basically they're like an Ancient Repository of Knowledge?" Mitchell asked, taking a small step back from the device, a sentiment that was shared by everyone else as they all did the same.
"In a way. There's evidence to suggest that the Protheans used some kind of neural interface to interact with the information stored in the devices. But no one has ever tried or been able to link with them before, either because they were too badly damaged or because they weren't willing to risk it," Daniel replied.
"How can you be sure this thing is Prothean?" Carter asked as she looked over more of the readings her scanner was taking.
"The architecture is a spot-on match. Plus, there's records of similar pyramids being found on remote planets that have been confirmed to be Prothean in origin," the archeologist replied, having done his research both in Atlantis and on the hyperspace journey to Joab.
The five turned back to the Prothean pyramid with renewed interest. They all learned of the Protheans when Daniel had put together data packets explaining the new reality they found themselves in. Just like the other ancient and mysterious races in their own universe, the Protheans had created technological marvels that awed even the veteran members of the Stargate Program. Specifically, the Mass Relays and the Citadel; feats of engineering that any race in their reality would have been proud of. If they had indeed found some sort of knowledge base belonging to them…
"We need to get a science team out here ASAP, this could be a huge find for us!" Carter exclaimed excitedly, feeling like she was just discovering how the Stargate worked for the first time, "We'll probably need to enlist the Quarians' help too. They know a lot more about the Protheans than we do."
"Should we have the Bane beam this device into its cargo bay?" Teal'c asked.
Carter shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea. I have no idea how the power source is connected to this device. Removing it could kill the power supply and we could lose whatever information this device holds."
Mitchell nodded, "Alright, me and Teal'c are gonna head back up and contact Atlantis about getting some more help out here. Rak'nor, you stay with Jackson and Sam while they try and learn everything they can about this thing."
With that, Mitchell and Teal'c made their way out of the cavern and back up to the surface. Rak'nor stood behind the two other humans patiently, content to let them try and figure out what the device did. Daniel pulled out his note pad and started comparing the markings on the holoscreen with those he'd written down from his studies of the Prothean language. They stayed there for some time, taking in as much information about the pyramid as they could for study later when they returned to Atlantis. As Sam continued to take readings, she couldn't help but smirk as she looked over at her friend's terrible handwriting and worn journal.
"Why don't you use your Omni-tool to do that?" she asked.
Daniel looked up from his notes and shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, it's pretty useful. Especially when I'm looking up information on the Extranet. But I still prefer good old-fashioned paper in my hands."
"Of course you do," she chuckled, "So, anything useful you can see on that screen?"
Daniel kept his distance from the console in front of the pyramid, not wanting to end up like General O'Neill did, twice, and himself when he used Merlin's modified device, "Well, I can't exactly flip through different screens, but from what I can tell this device seems to be an archive of sorts. Housing what exactly, it doesn't say. Something about 'neural network' and 'tight beam distances'. Not sure what it all means… there's a lot of techno babble here," he sighed, sending a small glance her way, "I really wish you'd take me up on those language lessons."
Sam shook her head, "Languages have never really been my strong suit. Besides, I have way too many projects going on right now. Especially now, if this device is what you think it is," she then thought about what he had just said, "Hmm… tight beam distances suggests that this thing communicates on an interstellar level. Maybe some form of quantum entanglement communication?"
Daniel continued to study the screen as he tried to match the letters and words on it to those in his notes. Sam waited for an answer when she noticed Rak'nor raise a hand to his ear. He looked at her and raised a hand, signaling that he was getting some kind of message and would step away for a moment so as to not interrupt them. Sam nodded as the Jaffa walked away and turned back to her friend.
"No idea, but we're gonna need to access this console if we want to learn anything else. I wonder if…" Daniel trailed off, taking a small step forward.
Sam's arm shot up, "Whoa, Daniel. Careful, we both know what things like this can do."
But Daniel didn't seem to hear her. Instead, his gaze drifted towards the pyramid, and he took another step. The glowing circuits grew brighter, and the energy wisping off the device increased in volume. He could hear a low humming in his head, but he couldn't seem to turn away. Before he could take another step, Sam grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.
"Daniel! Did you hear me?" she asked, worry clear on her face.
Daniel blinked a few times before shaking the cobwebs from his mind, "W-what? What happened?"
"I should be asking you that! You started walking towards the pyramid. I tried getting you to stop but you kept ignoring me," Sam explained.
Daniel turned and looked at the Prothean device. He couldn't explain what had just happened… he just, he felt like he had been drawn to it. Like he needed to… to…
"Daniel?" Sam asked again, clearly very concerned for her friend.
"Sorry, I just got distracted. You know me and ancient cultures," he said with a shrug, though he could tell that Sam looked far from convinced.
Before she could ask for a more detailed, and convincing, explanation a rumble shook the cavern. Rocks and debris fell from the ceiling causing the pair to cover their heads and move out of the way. They turned and saw Rak'nor doing the same as he had come racing back towards them, calling out to his men just outside the cavern to see if they were alright. Then another rumble, and this time a small tremor that forced them to steady their feet. Daniel and Sam ran over to him to help him, while the Colonel raised her hand to her ear and activated her comm.
"Cam? What the hell's going on out there?" Sam demanded over their channel.
Shay stood on the Pel'tac of Apophis's Bane. She was Rak'nor's second in command, a title she wore proudly. She'd fought by his side throughout the Jaffa Rebellion, and then later against the Ori. When he was given command of one of their Ha'tak, he honored her by making her his second. And now, while he was down on the planet, she was in command of their mighty vessel. She was proud to serve aboard and hoped that one day she may be given the honor of commanding one of their other three Ha'tak.
An alert rang out from the helm console, drawing Shay's attention, "Status?"
Her helmsman was standing at the console and dragged his hand over it, pulling up the holographic screen over the viewport, "Sensors are picking up vessels dropping out of FLT. Vector readings indicate that they are coming from the system's Mass Relay."
Shay frowned at that report but stepped beside the helmsman before turning to the Jaffa manning the secondary console, "Raise our shields, and have our pilots mount their Gliders. Show me the ships' position."
Her men did as she commanded, and on the screen showed the space just beyond Joab. The screen zoomed in before outlining the ships in question. Their sensors showed eight ships, then ten, then fifteen, then…
Shay's eyes widened as more ships kept dropping out of FTL, the space rippling like drops of rain in a pond. Before they knew it, almost thirty ships had begun taking up positions around them and the planet. The holoscreen zoomed in on the fleet, picking out ships of several different sizes and classes. But the majority were what this galaxy classified as frigate sized, and about ten that were cruiser sized with the same tonnage as the Bane. They were all of the same lilac color, and the ships themselves resembled bug or snake-like creatures, a sight that more than unnerved the Jaffa as it all too much reminded them of the Goa'uld, some of whom were still being carried in their stomach pouches. They had not made any aggressive movements yet, but Shay had a bad feeling about where this was leading.
"Send a message to Master Rak'nor that an unknown fleet is approaching the planet. Then open a channel on all frequencies," she ordered, waiting for the confirmation to speak, "Attention unknown vessels, your approach was unannounced and with no attempt to hail us. State your intentions."
A moment passed, and there was no response. Shay shared a look with her brothers and sisters beside her, their faces tensing as they too sensed the danger. The ships maintained their current position, which was well within range for mass accelerator weapons but unfortunately outside of the effective range for their plasma cannons.
Shay grimaced as the silence continued, "I repeat, you have entered territory occupied by-"
"-We're being target locked!" her helmsman shouted without warning.
A half second later, the unknown fleet all opened fire on the Bane. Dozens of mass accelerator rounds impacted the golden concave shield around the Ha'tak, small nuclear explosions erupting before being drowned and absorbed by the energy shield. The fleet continued to pour on the fire, causing the Bane to shudder slightly and the Jaffa to steady themselves as some of the kinetic energy bled through the shield. Shay cursed under her breath, but nonetheless steeled herself and moved away from the console and took a seat in the command chair. Before she could order a response, one of her sisters called out from the other side of the Pel'tac.
"I'm detecting several Tel'tak sized ships being launched! They're current course puts them on course for the surface," she reported.
"Show me," Shay ordered, turning to the holoscreen off to the side.
The screen flickered and changed to show a two-dimensional representation of Joab and the surrounding space. The blinking blue icon showed the Bane holding orbit, while the thirty red icons showed the enemy fleet. From the fleet, about a dozen smaller vessels were accelerating towards the planet, and if their course held, they would be on top of the ground team in minutes.
'Such small and nimble vessels… our cannons will be unable to hit more than one or two' she grimaced.
"Launch Death Gliders to intercept those vessels, now!" she ordered.
"The Quinn is requesting permission to engage."
"Granted," she replied, not taking her eyes off the sensor screen.
From the icon of the Bane, two dozen Gliders flew out of their hangar bays and raced towards the vessels trying to make it towards the planet. Just behind them, the larger icon of their Al'kesh followed. As they approached, the vessels seemed to ignore them. Either they thought they could outrun the fighters and bomber, or they didn't realize the threat they posed. Her thoughts were dashed a moment later when laser fire erupted from the small ships. Instantly, seven Gliders were struck and destroyed. The remaining fighters broke formation and took evasive action to avoid being easy targets. The Quinn continued on without breaking its course. Laser fire impacted its shields, but they held. The bomber fired its twin plasma cannon as it swooped in on the enemy formation, downing three ships before overshooting the formation but not before dropping a plasma charge. The resulting explosion took out another two as the Quinn pulled up and away, laser fire trailing after it and slamming into its shields. It provided a necessary distraction that allowed the remaining Gliders to swarm in and pummel the remaining ships with plasma fire. The kinetic barriers of the vessels proved defenseless against the energy-based weaponry, and the Gliders managed to take out three more. Unfortunately, the remaining two were far enough ahead of the rest and managed to take out nearly ten more fighters and accelerate towards the planet.
Shay stared at the screen in rage, "Have our brothers pursue-"
"-Enemy fighters have launched, they will intercept our remaining Gliders and the Quinn before they can reach the remaining vessels heading for the planet," the Jaffa sensor officer reported.
Shay cursed under her breath again but tried not to let her anger show. She needed to keep calm if she was going to be able to do what needed to be done. Staring at the readout of the enemy fleet, she could see that dozens of their own fighters were accelerating towards the Glider formation. Given that they needed their cargo and hangar bays as empty as possible in order to fill them up with raw supplies, the Bane was minimally crewed and only carried two squadrons of Death Gliders. She knew that the odds were not in their favor, even before considering the fact their numbers had been cut in half in less than a few minutes. She felt her anger spike at the loss of her brothers and sisters but set it aside for the moment. There would be time to mourn later.
"Have our Gliders fall back and return to the hangars. I want the Quinn to fall back as well," she commanded, before turning her attention to the enemy capital ships, "Heavy plasma cannons, target two of the cruiser sized vessels," she ordered, staring out of the viewport at their shield that continued to be hammered away at.
The Jaffa at the weapons console nodded, typing in commands to his console, "Enemy ships targeted."
"Fire," she firmly ordered.
A moment later, several of the ship's heavy plasma cannons opened fire. Six enormous bolts of orange plasma burst from their weapon mounts and raced across space towards their targets. The vessels either didn't have time to react or didn't understand what had just been fired at them. Regardless, the bolts slammed into each ship one after the other, the energy bypassing the kinetic barriers just as it had for the Gliders and Al'kesh. The first bolts pulverized and melted half of each ship in an instant before the following shots obliterated what was left of their superstructures and caused their munitions and reactors to explode violently.
That certainly got the rest of the fleet's attention, as the remaining twenty-eight vessels broke formation and began to accelerate to battle speeds and flank the lone Ha'tak. While her ship was capable of engaging at similar speeds, Shay knew that she could not afford to abandon their position in orbit above the site where Rak'nor and SG-1 were. To do so would give the capital ships an easy path to them, and she could only hope they did not have any more of those small ships that would be able to dodge her plasma cannons. If they did, she would have to launch her remaining Gliders and the Quinn to stop them, an action that would no doubt see to their deaths.
"Hold position, transfer power to plasma cannons and prepare to defend from all sides," she ordered before turning to her communications officer, "Open a channel to the surface. Get me Master Rak'nor or SG-1."
"Get down!" Mitchell yelled, pulling a marine down by the collar as an explosion occurred just behind their rocky cover.
Once the rubble had fallen, Mitchell peaked out from his cover and let out a burst of fire from his Avenger rifle. Down range beyond the entrance to the tunnel, a figure that was advancing on their position. It was about the size of a human, with sleek white armor plating all over its body with steel bands in between it all. Two awkwardly bent legs with two toes, two arms with three digits, and a long-rounded neck that ended in a single bright light that the humans couldn't help but think that it looked like a flashlight. The Colonel's burst caught the alien square in the chest, and after a few moments its kinetic barriers were down. Sparks burst from its chest, and oil and other strange colored fluids burst out before the lights on the figure went out and it collapsed in a heap.
He and Teal'c had made their way out of the tunnel and were about to set up a subspace communication with Atlantis when out of nowhere two purple bug-looking ships appeared above their position. Before they knew what was happening, the ships had dropped in what had to be a platoon sized force. They weren't like any alien any of them had ever seen, even in this new universe. More shocking than that, even someone as new to the Stargate Program as Mitchell could tell that these things weren't organic. They were some kind of robot, and advanced ones too. Thankfully, they seemed to go down with enough bullets, so they were some kind of human-form Replicator, an enemy that was invincible to all but their ARW's.
Pulling back behind cover, Mitchell assessed the situation. When the aliens had dropped in without warning, most of his and Rak'nor's men were spread throughout the tiny canyon that contained the entrance to the cave. The aliens dropped in and slammed into the ground, opening fire immediately. Several of his men and Jaffa didn't have a moment to react, their barriers were overwhelmed, and their armor pierced by dozens of mass accelerator rounds. Everyone else took cover behind what rocks they could and returned fire, but slowly they were being driven back towards the caves. These things used weapons that dropped their barriers in seconds, and if that wasn't bad enough, they kept dropping in more whenever their numbers got too low.
The Colonel raised his hand to his ear, "Say again, Rak'nor! What's the situation in orbit?" he asked, trying to drown out the noise of battle that was making it hard to hear.
"…fleet in orbit! Shay is holding position above our position, but the Bane is badly outnumbered," the commander of the Apophis's Bane reported from his position in the caves.
"Same situation down here," Mitchell groaned.
Mitchell knew that these aliens arriving here only a day after Rak'nor and his men did couldn't have been a coincidence. They show up, activate that Prothean pyramid, and these guys just happened to arrive shortly after? There must have been a signal sent out that they couldn't detect, and these aliens were probably on the other side. Were they Protheans themselves? He doubted it, since from what Jackson had told them no had seen one in the modern era. So, they must have found their own Beacon that was connected to this one. Regardless, they couldn't keep this up for long. They needed to get out of here and back up to either the Quinn or the Bane. No matter how much more advanced their own technology was, he wasn't keen on trying to stick around and battle it out for something that may or may not help them.
Before Mitchell could respond to Rak'nor, a loud bang drew his attention. Peaking back around, his eyes widened when he saw another alien had dropped in. But this one had to be eight feet tall, blood red and wielding a hefty-looking weapon that had a small flame on the end. Realizing what it was, he was about to order everyone to take the thing out, when Teal'c broke cover and unloaded on the machine with his Revenant in one hand and his Sodan staff weapon in the other. Dozens of mass accelerator rounds raced towards their target in the blink of an eye, peppering the alien and causing its barriers to flare in a blue flash. At the same time, golden plasma bolts slammed into its chest, erupting in small explosions of smoke and melted metal. One of the bullets must have hit the alien's fuel container, since a moment later the entire thing exploded in a fireball that took out its nearby allies.
"Nice one!" Mitchell yelled to his Jaffa friend before returning to the radio, "Rak'nor, Sam, get everyone out of the caves. I'm gonna signal the Quinn to do a sweep and beam us out of here!"
"Understood, Colonel Mitchell. We shall be along shor- wait, somethings- Dr Jackson!" Rak'nor exclaimed, and the channel closed suddenly.
"Rak'nor? Rak'nor?! What's going on?" he demanded, but all he got in return was silence, "Dammit!" Mitchell raised his arm and pulled up his Omni-tool, changing comm channels and raising the Quinn that was somewhere in orbit, "Quinn, it's Mitchell! We've got hostiles everywhere, requesting immediate extraction!"
The comm was silent for a moment, the it came on with static echoing in the background, "…We are facing heavy resistance in orbit, but we will get within beaming range shortly. Have your men out in the open so we may get a lock on your subcutaneous transmitters."
Mitchell cursed under his breath. The while the Quinn and other Jaffa ships had been upgraded with Asgard beaming technology, it was a rudimentary version at best, and thus had a much more limited range than those installed on their battlecruisers. They hadn't had the time nor reason to install newer versions on them given their priorities were in making the city safer. He was going to suggest a change when they got back to Atlantis.
"Copy that, Quinn, Mitchell out," with that he returned his attention to the battle at hand.
At this point, the remaining Atlantean forces were forced back the few rocks large enough to provide adequate cover only a few meters from the cave. They were more holding their own for the moment, but they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. The Colonel felt his teeth clench as he looked over the field and saw the bodies of his fellow service men, women, and Jaffa scattered on the ground. They'd be able to be beamed up when the Quinn came, but that was little comfort to the SG-1 team leader. They'd been killed under his watch. He should have been more alert, more prepared for a possible combat situation. And now people, his people, were dead because of that. He'd carry that like everything else.
Leaning out from cover, he targeted another machine and unloaded on it, letting out some a yell as he dedicated the kill to his fallen friends.
"What do you mean we're under attack?" Sam asked over her comm as she put her scanner away and pulled out her M-9 Tempest submachine gun.
Everything had been going fine one minute, the next Rak'nor was telling them that a huge fleet had just shown up in orbit and was approaching the planet. Before they could even start to guess who they were and why they were here, Mitchell radioed in saying that two dropships had parked above their position and were dropping hostiles everywhere.
"I mean we're completely surrounded, and we've already taken casualties," Mitchell replied, gunfire and explosions going off in the background, "I've got no idea who these guys are, and we're not waiting around to find out. I- shit, hold on!" the channel cut out with the sound of an explosion.
"Cam?!" she tried to raise him, but no response.
Daniel started putting away his gear, "No way this is a coincidence."
"I was thinking the same thing," Sam replied, looking at the pyramid, noticing the energy coming off it, "It must have sent out some sort of signal, I should have detected it," she deduced, frustration clear in her voice.
Daniel noticed and put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you couldn't have known. It's not like we have any experience with Prothean technology. If anything, I should have noted something about this in the research."
Before they could get into who should have done what, another rumble drew their attention towards the cavern entrance. Rak'nor quickly moved over to their position, his staff weapon resting over his shoulder as he typed away on his Omni-tool.
"I do not believe we will be able to hold this position for long. Have you two gathered what information you need about this device?" he asked.
Daniel shook his head, "Not even close. We need days to study this thing, set up some kind of interface to access the information inside."
"We don't have days," Sam pointed out the obvious, "If we leave now, there's no way General O'Neill is going to authorize a mission to return here."
"Obviously whatever is in there is important enough to warrant an attack like this, we can't just leave it here," Daniel reasoned.
"We have explosives that would destroy the device, perhaps it is best to leave nothing for them to salvage," Rak'nor suggested.
Sam frowned at the idea of destroying such an important and potentially groundbreaking piece of technology. And it wasn't like they were in desperate need of the technology from a survival standpoint like they had been in the past. But, if this Prothean pyramid was worth starting a battle over, maybe it was best that they don't let them take it intact.
"Okay, Rak'nor, let's get the explosives-" she began to order.
"-Sam!" Daniel protested.
Sam walked towards the entrance with the Jaffa, "Daniel, I don't like it either. But we don't have time to take this thing out of here. And leaving it for these aliens to take doesn't sound like a good idea either."
Daniel's face scrunched as he tried to think of something to say but couldn't come up with a counter to her logic. Turning, he looked back at the pyramid, as if trying to figure out a way to get at the information inside through will alone. He took a few steps towards the device, ignoring his friends who were busy gathering the explosives.
Sam dug into the pack of one of their marines while Rak'nor did the same with his Jaffa. As they gathered the necessary equipment, their comms scratched to life with the sounds of explosions and small arms fire.
"Rak'nor, Sam, how's it going down there?" Mitchell's voice filled their ears.
Sam raised her hand to her ear, "Cam, we're getting ready to blow the Prothean device."
"…Say again? You're gonna blow the thing up?!" the Colonel asked incredulously.
"I don't think we have a choice, unless we plan on holding this position for the next day or so," she replied, syncing the explosives to the detonator.
"Definitely not. Alright, make your way back up here as soon as you're ready to detonate. Rak'nor, what's the situation in orbit?" Mitchell asked.
"It is not going well Colonel Mitchell," the Jaffa replied, "The Bane is holding back the main invasion force from-"
-A deafening explosion over the comm interrupted Rak'nor, causing both him and Colonel Carter's eyes to widen.
"Mitchell?!" Sam exclaimed into the comm.
The static slowly cleared, and the Colonel's voice came back on, "…again, Rak'nor! What's the situation in orbit?" Mitchell questioned over the sounds of battle.
Rak'nor finished grabbing his explosives and turned towards the pyramids, "The Bane has engaged the enemy fleet in orbit! Shay is holding position above our position, but the Bane is badly outnumbered."
"Nice one!" Mitchell cried out distantly to someone, before his voice returned to the radio, "Rak'nor, Sam, get everyone out of the caves. I'm gonna signal the Quinn to do a sweep and beam us out of here!"
"Understood, Colonel Mitchell. We shall be along shor- wait, somethings- Dr Jackson!" Rak'nor suddenly shouted.
Sam looked over and was shocked to see that Daniel was now standing directly in front of the pyramid's control console. He stood still for a moment, before raising his hands and placing them on the console. Instantly, his body seized up as tendrils of emerald energy shot out from the device and danced around his body. The Ancient scanner in her vest squealed as it detected the sudden energy build up. Sam and Rak'nor sprinted over to his position as fast as they could. The green wisps continued to dance around the doctor, his body frozen in place even as it looked like he was trying to move away. Then, just as suddenly the pyramid went cold, and the energy dissipated. Sam and Rak'nor stopped just behind Daniel, waiting to see what would happen next. Slowly, he turned around and stared at them, before collapsing in a heap on the ground.
Sam rushed to his side, pulling up her Omni-tool and looking at his suit's vital readings. They were all over the place: elevated heart rate, adrenal spikes. As she looked down at his pale face, she could see that his eyes were darting pack and forth underneath his closed eyelids like he was having a bad dream.
"Daniel! Daniel!" she tried to wake him up, but it was no use.
Rak'nor kneeled down on the other side of him, "What did it do to him?"
Sam looked at the now dormant Prothean device, "I have no idea. It must react to physical contact, but…" she stared back down at her friend, recalling moments before when he seemed almost entranced by the device, "Dammit Daniel," she muttered under her breath, turning around and facing the pyramid for a moment before turning to Rak'nor, "Take Daniel back to the entrance. I'll set the charges and be right there."
"Are you certain Colonel Carter? We do not know what this device did to Dr Jackson," Rak'nor cautioned.
As much as Sam wanted to figure that out, she knew they didn't have the time, "Things are getting worse up top by the minute. We're just going to have to hope that our medical facilities on Atlantis can stabilize him. Now get going, I'll be right behind you."
The Jaffa nodded in agreement, handing her his explosives before reaching down and gently scooping up the fallen human and throwing him over his shoulder. As he moved back towards the cave entrance, Sam stood up and started laying the explosives around the pyramid in equal intervals to ensure no side of it would be untouched. She wanted- no, needed- more time with it to find out what it had done to her friend. Already she had some ideas formulating in her mind, but those ideas would have to wait until they got back to Atlantis. She could only hope that the readings she had taken and what little Daniel had been able to translate would be enough to find out. She hoped so, for Daniel's sake.
"Cam, I'm setting the explosives now. But…" she trailed off.
A moment later Mitchell came in over the comm, "But what Sam?"
"It's Daniel."
She could hear the groan coming before it left the SG-1 leader's mouth, "What happened this time?!"
"Long story, we can talk about it later. We're about to evacuate the tunnels, what the status of the Quinn?" she asked, dropping the last charge and breaking into a light jog towards the cavern entrance.
"It's on the way, it'll be within beaming range once you're topside," he replied.
"Copy that," she replied, clicking the channel off and came to a stop where Rak'nor and the others were.
Seeing they were all ready to go, she motioned for them to move, and the group began to make their way back through the tunnels back to the surface. They double timed it as they knew they needed to get back to assist Mitchell, Teal'c, and the others who were still holding the cave entrance. As they moved up the tunnels, they finally turned a corner and saw the bright opening of light at the end that signified they were at the entrance. As they exited the tunnel, their eyes took a moment to adjust to the sunlight and-
"-Get to cover!" the voice of Colonel Mitchell yelled.
Bullets started to pelt the rock walls behind them, forcing Sam and the others to seek cover. Rak'nor skidded behind a larger boulder that several other Jaffa and marines were behind, pulling Daniel off his shoulder and setting him down as a corpsman ran over and started to check his vitals. Sam ducked and dodged and ran over to where Mitchell and Teal'c were in cover, pulling her weapon up and letting off a few short bursts.
"What's the situation?" she asked, peering over their cover to observe the enemy marching towards them slowly.
"Not going so well," he replied, leaning over and downing another machine, "We've taken too many casualties, and these guys keep dropping in. I don't know how they're keeping so many in their dropships."
Sam looked over and saw that several of their troops were leaning against cover with blood staining their armor, looks of pain over their faces. Or their eyes were closed, whether from unconsciousness… or death, she couldn't tell. They only had about a dozen or so combat capable marines and Jaffa left, and they wouldn't last much longer if the enemy kept throwing themselves at them with no concern for their own casualties. Looking at the humanoid androids that were attacking them, her eyes widened in recognition.
'Are those-' her thoughts began to race.
"Sam! Are you gonna blow that thing?" Mitchell interrupted those thoughts, yelling over the explosions and bullets being fired.
"Wha- right! Everyone, get away from the entrance," she pulled up the detonator, "Detonating in three…two…one!" she shouted, alerting everyone else before hitting the trigger.
A half second later, a low rumble could be felt below them. Another half second later, a large plume of smoke shot out from the cave entrance, covering them all in a layer of dust and leaving the air smelling burnt. The cloud quickly dissipated, allowing the defenders to resume firing back at the attackers who had not let up but instead had used the opportunity to advance. Mass accelerator rounds and plasma bolts fired back at them, halting their advance before they could close what little distance remained between them and the entrance to the cavern. Their methodical and borderline suicidal advance continued since they didn't know that the Atlanteans had just blown up the Prothean device.
"We can't keep this up," Sam pointed out, downing one of the mechanical menaces.
Mitchell nodded and put a hand to his ear, "Quinn, what's your ETA?"
"…Reaching optimal beaming range… standby," the Al'kesh technical officer informed him over the comm channel.
"Acknowledged!" he responded, turning to his friends and troops, "Get ready people, we're getting the hell out of here."
Everyone gave him looks of appreciation and relief, and those who were still able continuing to lay down suppressing fire to keep anyone else from getting killed. But for every combatant they destroyed, two more took their place. It was getting harder and harder for the Atlantean forces to return fire without their barriers taking a beating. Suddenly a loud clang was heard, and everyone looked to see a cloud of dust dissipating behind the machines already on the battlefield. As it cleared, the remaining defenders' eyes widened in shock as a massive figure stood up. Similar in shape to the others, this entity had pristine, ivory armor all over its body. Instead of a single light shining from its 'face', a trio of instead staring menacingly at the Atlanteans. A massive, mini-gun style weapon held in its hands as it began to spin in anticipation of use. What really set the figure apart, however, was its stature. Over twelve feet tall, it towered over everyone and everything in the small area.
Mitchell stared at the behemoth, mouth agape as he tried to process the sheer size of the thing, when he noticed the barrels on the weapon in its hand start rotating, "Shit! Cover!" he yelled out to everyone.
Hundreds of rounds of the strange munitions these aliens used poured out of the gun, a high-pitched whine echoing in the mini canyon they were in and drowning out all other sound. The thick rocks and stone that was providing cover for the humans and Jaffa began to break and chip as the eezo propelled rounds slammed into them. Quickly, their cover was being destroyed. Occasional rounds deflecting off their barriers and causing them to crouch lower almost to the point of laying prone.
"Quinn! Now or never!" Mitchell shouted into his comm.
The behemoth along with its comrades advanced in a semi-circle formation towards the Atlanteans, keeping them suppressed and behind cover unable to return fire. They continued their slow, methodical march, patient to make sure that none of the defenders would be coming out of there alive. Then, without warning, nearly twenty pillars of blinding blue light appeared behind the rocks and over the bodies of the fallen humans and Jaffa. A heartbeat later, the pillars flashed and shot up into the sky before fading from sight after a dozen meters or so. The machines ceased fire, some of them titling their heads as they observed the sight before them. They moved behind the rocks, only to find blood and used medical supplies. And nothing else.
Shay gritted her teeth as their shields continued to take damage, sparks flying with occasional overload of a power relay. Because of their need to hold the orbital position above the planet, the Bane found herself surrounded on all sides by the enemy fleet. They'd managed to down nearly a dozen of their ships, including all but one of their cruiser sized vessels. The ships were far more advanced than anything they'd yet encountered in this galaxy with a unique form of mass accelerators. Still, they were no match for the Ha'tak plasma cannons that were able to destroy them in a single shot, three if they were cruisers.
Unfortunately, once the enemy realized that their attacks weren't damaging the Bane, and that the plasma bolts being fired from it were devastatingly powerful, they changed tactics. Using their blisteringly fast sublight engines and superior numbers, they began to dance around the lone Atlantean vessel, swooping in to drop ordinance before accelerating out of range while other squadrons did the same from the other sides of the mothership. The Bane was having a hard time attacking so many vessels at once, and from so many angles with speeds that were surprising given what they had seen from other races so far. They could only make precise strikes on the enemy ships when they were coming in for their own attack runs. Once they were out of range, their speed made it nearly impossible for the cannons to target accurately at that distance.
They kept this up until they decided to change tactics again. Several frigate and smaller sized ships began to make kamikaze runs, accelerating to their maximum speed and overloading their reactors at the precise moment of impact. The resulting explosion combined with the impact of that much mass might not have done much damage under normal circumstance. Several ships were doing it at the same time, compounding the effect and causing the ship to shudder every time it happened. Meanwhile, the other vessels continued their guerilla tactics of engaging and retreating, and with the Bane's focus on the kamikaze runs, their shields were slowly but steadily being worn down.
Another frigate slammed into her ship, causing Shay to grip the arm rests of the command chair she was currently sitting in, "What's the status of our forces on the planet?"
The sensor officer pulled up a second holoscreen, showing Joab and highlighting where their people were, "They've taken casualties, but are holding the entrance to the caves. The Quinn is moving into beaming range, it should have them shortly."
Shay breathed a sigh of relief and sadness at that. She knew that they could hold this position for much longer if they needed to but hearing that some of their people were dead on the planet below filled her with grief and rage. Still, they needed to retreat as quickly as possible and get back to Atlantis and report this battle to their superiors and find out who these new adversaries were. It was not how Shay was hoping for her first command would go.
The Jaffa commander spoke firmly, "Very well, continue to hold position until the Quinn has informed us that they have rescued our people. Once they have, order them to jump to hyperspace. We shall cover their retreat. Now, prepare to-"
Suddenly, the sounds of weapons fire impacting the shields ceased. The golden envelope surrounding the Bane faded from view once more as it no longer had to deflect and absorb incoming fire and ships. There was silence as the battlespace calmed into an unexpected and dreadful lull.
"The enemy fleet retreated just outside of our weapons' range. They've… just ceased all aggression…" her Jaffa stated in confusion.
Shay stood from her seat and walked over to the holoscreen that overlayed the viewport, highlighting what remained of the unknown fleet. They had indeed fallen back beyond the orbit of the planet. Perhaps they'd sustained enough casualties that made the prospect of trying to take the planet untenable. Or perhaps they feared the Bane had called in reinforcements. While she did send a brief subspace communique to Atlantis informing them of the situation, it would take hours for any of their ships to arrive. She knew the best course of action was to buy time for their retreat. Thankfully, the enemy retreat would provide them with a window to get all of their people out safely.
"I'm detecting a new vessel dropping out of FTL," the Jaffa operating the sensors suddenly called out.
Looking out the viewport, Shay watched as just beyond where the enemy fleet was. The ripple of space associated with mass effect propelled FTL occurred and a millisecond later-
"-By the Ancients…" one of the Jaffa beside Shay couldn't help but gasp.
Shay didn't say a word but couldn't help but feel equally shocked. Resting in the center of the fleet was a ship. A gargantuan ship. It dwarfed any other ship of the invading forces, and was easily three times larger than the Ha'tak mothership. And larger than any ship in the Atlantean fleet. The only vessels she had seen that could match its length was a Goa'uld flagship. And the only one that surpassed it were Wraith Hiveships and Atlantis itself, the largest ships in then known universe. Or universes.
The vessel was a dark mauve, with teal lines of energy running throughout its hull. The main body of the vessel formed into a teardrop-like shape, narrowing towards the top. The sides and bottom had structures protruding out. The ones on the side were smaller and seemed to tuck back behind the massive ship. The five that 'hung' below could only be described as massive legs, and made the entire thing look more like a monster in space than an artificial construction. All over the ship, arcs of red electricity were sparking, dancing around the hull and illuminating it, enhancing the already menacing appearance of the vessel.
Shay swallowed the suddenly dry throat she had gotten, "Scan that vessel. I want to bring back any data we can gather on it."
The Jaffa complied, putting in the commands to his station as he went about taking detailed and deep scans of monstrous ship when a frown appeared on his face, "Scans are detecting…"
Shay noticed the way the Jaffa trailed off, and turned her head towards him, "Detecting what?"
"…Life signs…" was all he could say.
"What's so unusual about that?" she asked, thoroughly confused.
"They're… they're everywhere…" the Jaffa gasped, "The entire ship is registering as one massive life sign!"
Shay turned back to stare at the behemoth at the head of the fleet, "How-"
-A warning came over the consoles as another Jaffa yelled out, "I'm detecting a massive energy spike!"
The holoscreen zoomed in on the ship. The three front legs began to slowly move to a forward-facing position. The arcs of lighting began to sprout up more and more all over, until at the tips of all three appendages bright points of ruby light began to appear. Without warning, the beams of what appeared to be energy shot out of the arms, impacting the Bane's already weakened shields with violent eruptions of nuclear force.
The force of the blows sent sparks flying all over the Pel'tac, and knocked over several Jaffa who were not braced. The one manning the primary weapons console got blasted in face with sparks and fell to the floor, forcing Shay to run over and take over while the others helped him. She looked out the viewport and saw the beams continued to fire on their shield without pause, continually draining them without giving them a chance to recharge. She stared at the sensor readings. The strength of the beams individually, while far more powerful than anything they'd seen in this galaxy, were below that of their plasma cannons, their combined effect and uninterrupted output was causing serious problems for their shields. A moment later, the rest of the remaining enemy ships opened fire once more, further depleting their shields.
Feeling her rage return, she target-locked the flagship and opened fire with their cannons. Bolts flew out at the Bane, even though she knew that at this range the vessel would have ample time to maneuver out of the way. But to her surprise, the massive warship didn't move in the slightest. The bolts impacted the barriers, causing them to flare. Unlike every other time they'd fired their weapons at enemy ships, the barriers seemed to hold… and actually repel some of the plasma being fired at them. What energy did bleed through splashed harmlessly against the hull, indicating that it was made of a much more durable material than its compatriots were. The other two arms moved into similar positions and added their own beams to the three already being fired.
The Bane shuddered again, and more sparks flew across the Pel'tac, "We cannot stay here! What is the status of the Quinn?!" Shay demanded, forgoing command decorum.
The sensor officer reoriented himself, "One moment… and… yes, the Quinn has confirmed they have extracted SG-1 and Master Rak'nor's troops."
"Tell them they must make an immediate jump to hyperspace," she ordered before turning to her own navigation officer, "The moment they are away, we are to do the same."
The Jaffa at the head console nodded, punching in the coordinates for Atlantis and reading the hyperdrive. Shay returned her attention to the fleet before them, locking onto the ship once more and opening fire. Unfortunately, she could not use their heavy plasma cannons as the power needed for them was being transferred to their severely depleted shields. This left them with their lower yield light cannons, though they had a much higher rate of fire. The bolts darted across space and continued to hit the barrier and hull of the ship. She could not tell if the vessel was being damaged, and she did not really care at the moment. She was buying time, making sure the Quinn escaped safely. She glanced over at the holoscreen showing the planet and saw the small icon of the Al'kesh breaking orbit over Joab and accelerate away from them and the enemy fleet. A moment later, the icon disappeared, indicating that it had entered hyperspace.
Sighing in relief, she turned towards the viewport and that holoscreen overlayed it. The enemy fleet was moving into flanking positions while the flagship maintained its position and continued to fire on them. Soon they would be surrounded again, and Shay liked their odds even less now that this monster of a ship was on the field. She turned to her navigation officer and ordered the retreat. He nodded, his hands gliding over the interface as he sent the commands into the device. The hyperdrive powered up with a familiar hum, and the ship began to accelerate back and away from the attackers. A blue tear in space ripped open, and the Bane shot into it at incalculable speeds. A millisecond later, the tear closed again, leaving behind Joab for the unknown fleet to plunder, though their prize had been kept from their grasp.
The giant flagship ceased fire, the ruby red beams cutting off and the ship seemed to come to a complete standstill. Then, a small shuttle left from somewhere within its massive bulk, joined by others from the remainder of the fleet and accelerated towards the now uncontested planet.
