Merged Stars
There were certain things the flag officer of the UNSC didn't expect to hear in his life. One of those had been "Sir, our galaxy has merged with another." That was high up there for Terrence Hood. It would never have been believable for a split second if there wasn't proof. Even when every long-range sensor system was double, triple and quadruple checked before it was believed. Only than could Hood accept it was true. Their galaxy had linked with another in the galactic east and was twice its original size. It helped that their Sangheili allies by necessity were as stunned as them and had indeed picked it up. As if you could miss it. For weeks they studied the data, sent ships to explore the new frontier. That led straight into another sentence the Commander in Chief of the UNSC hadn't expected to hear in his life. "Sir, we've made contact with humans. This new galaxy is inhabited by humans."
Could these people explain what had happened? How could they? No explanation could even begin to explain what had occurred. A force of nature? Impossible. An act of an unknown party? Unimaginable … and terrifying.
Chapter 1: Face to Face
Date: 2558 of the Military Calendar
Location: UNSC Infinity, Infinity-class Supercarrier
"I still have a problem with this happening now," stressed the man on the screen.
"You've made that abundantly clear, minister," Terrence Hood told him.
"This is too great a risk for you. We should send someone else." The displeasure in his attempt at persuasion wasn't helped by the malformed curving the corner of his lips. The corner twisted up, surrounded by small scars.
The foreign minister's objection had been heard a hundred times from a hundred mouths since the Infinity departed Earth. Hood knew President Ruth Charet was pushing for talks to begin swiftly after first contact. She picked Hood for this task partially because of his status in society and how popular he was with the public. It would tell the masses she was on top of it, at least she hoped so. It would be a shock to many that they had made first contact with humans from this other galaxy. Humans with no apparent connection to the UEG in any shape or form. In the chaos of what scientists called the 'Merging' she had a need to project order. Ruth pushed hard that it had to be him and it was clear why. The election was coming to an end and polling data said it would be a close call between her and one of the other candidates. As inaccurate as such data could sometimes be, Hood was certain it was accurate this time. It would be a close race. There was no doubt in the fleet admiral's mind. Ruth's hope for a second term could be broken by the young war veteran. If Ruth won, it would be down to the wire.
"We have made contact with a civilization of spacefaring humans, Minister Chomsky," said Hood. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime."
Especially first contact with someone that didn't shoot at them. It couldn't be assumed they would be friendly as appearances could be deceiving, but the lack of battle was a clear improvement over their first contact with the Covenant. Hood leaned back in the chair in his ready room. It wasn't unexpected that the minister vented his fears. Hood had assumed as much when he called to triple check the data package that had been arranged. Clearly, he merely tried to convince Hood to get Ruth to shut this all down. However, that wouldn't work.
"We should have sent more ships."
"This is a diplomatic mission with other humans. I do not intent to send an entire fleet, minister. As you might recall, the president agrees," he said with finality in his tone. "Thank you, minister."
He closed the channel without allowing the man another word. Hood considered a moment the man parroting certain members of the Security Committee in their meeting weeks ago. The topic of how large a task force to send had been heavy. The question of where to meet had been resolved by the nature of the encounter, specifically that the starship claiming to be from Earth, another Earth, appeared in a UEG control system: Palmorra. It was an outer colony with 20,000-30,000 people living there. Half of those were attached to the UNSC bases and shipyards. Thankfully the arrival of the Odyssey were peaceful and cool heads prevailed. Though, its appearance had caused a stir on Earth. Suspicions had flown every which way. What if these were insurrectionists? Short-lived as the proposition had been given the obviously different design to anything their mankind had ever build and not to mention some differences in technology. The Odyssey clearly operated a completely alien faster-than-light system. 'Hyperspace', said the report.
A beam told him someone was at his door.
"Enter," he said.
The door slid open and a Spartan in blue-white power armour entered. She held her helmet under her left arm. The door slid back closed and she stopped and saluted.
"Sir!"
"At ease, Commander Warhowl. Have a seat." He gestured at the chair opposite him across the desk.
"Aye, sir."
The Spartan III marched to the chair and took a seat. She sat straight-backed. Before they could begin any conversation there was another interruption.
"Pardon me, admiral," said Roland.
The Artificial Intelligence popped up on the holo-tank by his desk. Or rather Lasky's desk. As normally the office and command were his. His command had been temporarily rescinded in favour of Hood. The fleet admiral would have preferred his own Trafalgar but Ruth was insistent of Hood departing in command of the greatest warship in the UNSC. And so, command fell to him. Hood had expressed to Lasky that it was merely temporary. In the case of Commander Palmer, she had been otherwise deployed in combat with UNSC forces including the bulk of the Spartans operating out of the Infinity at the time. While the Infinity could be spared, her Spartans couldn't and there wasn't enough time to redeploy them anyway; and thus, Commander Jayne Warhowl was brought aboard with a full company of Spartan IVs to bulk up the Spartan presence on-board.
"Go ahead," replied Hood. The eyes on his wrinkled face shifted to the AI.
"Sir, we've received a tight-beam transmission from the UNSC Song of Ice. She is in the task force at Palmorra."
"What is it?"
"It appears the representatives of this, well, Other Earth, has arrived."
Warhowl arched her brows. "That's still sounds too hard to believe, sir," she told Hood.
"And yet here we are. Did they arrive on another one of those 'frigate-sized' ships, Roland?"
"Ah, no. Sir, the sensor readings are actually quite remarkable."
Hood arched an eyebrow. Roland's holographic body disappeared and was replaced with what at first glance had the look of some sort of city.
"It's some sort of starship in the form of a city, sir. Five kilometres in length and width, making it on par with this ship. Just slightly shorter," Roland explained.
Warhowl whistled, impressed.
"Well, they do say to put your best foot forward. What can you tell me about it?"
"I can tell you it used the same hyperspace engines that the Odyssey did, though that won't surprise you. What might, is that it's identified itself as Atlantis."
"The mythological city that sank in the ocean?" Said Warhowl.
"Correct, commander. It's surrounded by a shield. And, here's something. It does not resemble the small frigate in design. In fact, they have in no way the same design principles."
"Meaning what exactly?" Inquired Hood.
"Several possibilities, actually. One is they built it using new and highly advanced designs. This hypothesis requires a huge shift in available technology and changes design principles from when the Odyssey was constructed. Another is that they acquired it from an alien civilization. Either as a prize of war, a gift or a relic of a dead civilization."
Very interesting. "Armaments?"
Roland's hologram reappeared and the city-ship disappeared.
"Hard to tell. It doesn't have any railguns or missiles launchers like scans detect on the Odyssey. It doesn't have those mysterious energy projectors either."
Scans had provided more question than answers on that front. They had railguns and missile launcher designs that the UNSC could only call outdated if you were kind and primitive if you were honest, but then they possessed some sort of energy projector weaponry as well. It was quiet the amalgamation. If discerning from the first, the working theory was that they weren't all that powerful. The appearance of Atlantis had thrown Hood's thoughts on that into question. Those questions were filed away for the first official meeting.
"Is there anything else?"
"No, sir. That is all."
"How many days?"
"We'll arrive in six days, sir."
"Very good, Roland. That is all."
"Yes, sir." Roland's hologram flickered out and the holo-tank became dark and silent.
Hood turned back to the Warhowl.
"Thoughts, commander?"
She was silent for a moment as she organized said thoughts.
"Nothing worth sharing yet, sir."
He nodded and changed the subject. "Tell, me. This trip will be the first time you've met the Chief."
Warhowl's face tensed slightly and the ghost of a smile appeared. "Yes," she affirmed shortly.
"And?"
Her face brightened up. "It will be an honour."
"You aren't being charged by the word."
She hesitated, then cleared her throat. "Ah, a great honour. It feels … strange. Like meeting a legend? I have no doubt he will be exactly what I expect, despite what they say about meeting your heroes."
But of course. The man was a second-generation Spartan. The finest and most dedicated soldier in the UNSC. Hood saw Warhowl hesitated, unsure if she had the right to know the answer to whatever question she mulled over.
"Go ahead."
"May I presume to ask what Blue Team was doing on Palmorra? If I have the security clearance."
"They weren't," was Hood's simple answer. "They operated not too far away and was called in after first contact."
"I see." She didn't press, understanding she had been told all she was permitted to know.
"Commander, when we reach Palmorra I intend to attend this meeting with a minimal security team." He paused for the protest he expected.
She frowned and leaned forward. "Fleet Admiral, I must advise against that. If something goes wrong your life could be in great peril and the UNSC can't risk losing you."
"I do not intend to in any way make any move that will appear threatening. Several fireteams of Spartans will do be just that. A lot depend on this." Future relations would require a good first, or second impression, as the first was the initial arrival of the ship and talks with the rear admiral on the UNSC Song of Ice. "A small team of two will do just fine. One for myself and another for Commander Araquielle."
To her credit, by being a Spartan trained and to some extent indoctrinated by ONI to obey orders, the commander said, "The Master Chief and someone else from his team. You can't be in safer hands than theirs."
Hood nodded. That was another good thing about Spartans. They didn't argue orders they disagreed with like general officers did. Hood activated his computer and half-turned the screen to Warhowl.
"I was looking at this earlier."
It was a map over two merged galaxies.
"I can't fathom all of this," said Warhowl honestly.
"That isn't what I've been thinking about," he continued. "This is our space and this is line is essential where the galaxies are merged. This … is the Sol System in the Orion Arm."
"I follow this far." She was curious where he was going.
"This other galaxy has its own Orion Arm and assuming their Sol system is in the same place or near the same it is for us; they have travelled a damn long way from there. I wonder if it speaks to their FTL systems or colonial reach. We could be closer to bumping up against them than is preferable.
"Either way explains how quickly that city-ship arrived."
Hood spent the next few days reading reports and went over scenarios and necessary redeployments of ships and troops if this Other Earth proved hostile. With the short-lived coalition established by the Arbiter dead and an increase of Jiralhanae raids against Sangheili and UEG space it wasn't as easy as was preferred. There was also what Ruth had told him. "A sudden redeployment of military assets won't go unnoticed by the media and I'm sure you understand it won't look favourable this close to an election." It was the only truly negative part of the re-establishment of the civilian government in 2553. Politicians, even the best, seemed to spend an unfortunate deal of time worrying about their own careers instead of serving the people. He had bypassed her decision by picking the 5th Task Force to screen the Infinity on its way to Palmorra. Well, there the 5th, formerly of Home Fleet, would join the Palmorran Defence Fleet.
Hood was on the bridge when they exited slipspace fifteen minutes at sublight from Palmorran orbit. The task force under the Song of Ice laid in orbit with the shipyards, naval station and two unfinished orbital weapon platforms. Paranoid minds at ONI had feared that the appearance of the ship at Palmorra was no coincidence. That somehow, they had come across the newest UNSC base in the east of their territories. When completed Palmorra would allow a greater range of naval operations well outside their borders. It would be the pinnacle of the sectors defence. It would also aid in maintaining control of the surrounding colonies. Given the events of the Merging it also became an unintended jumping off point into the new galaxy. At worst it was the frontline of the next war.
And there were the ships supposedly from another Earth. The small Odyssey at less than 300 metres and the huge city-ship.
"Well, it certainly sticks out in a crowd," Roland remarked on the bridge.
It was elegant and beautiful. Surrounded by a shimmering transparent shield, within were towers several hundred metres tall. Compared to its grey and dull companion and the bulky UNSC ships it was impossible to miss.
"It does that," agreed Hood. "There is no way they designed that themselves." It was far to alien compared to the 'frigate'. There was no way their civilization had designed both. Leaving the question of where they got it, though that was something Hood filed away for later.
Hood glanced over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps. Araquielle's boots thudded against the metal floor. Clank, thud, clank, thud; swift and steady. Clank, thud, clank, thud; the first always heavy and loud like metal on metal. Each pair was followed by the low prick of the cane. She was in the all-black dress uniform of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Behind her came the heavy clanking of metal boots of a Spartan in full grey armour. His charge was young, especially so for something with the rank of commander. Though admittedly she had more PhDs than most general officers had medals. She was a few years from thirty, of short stature with brown wavy hair that passed to her shoulders. Her steely grey eyes locked on Hood the moment she entered the bridge.
"Fleet Admiral, I hope I'm not late. The ship's still a bit of a maze," she said apologetically.
"Not at all, Commander Araquielle," he said. He gestured to the city-ship on the screen the right. "Impressive, isn't it?"
"Very, sir. Quiet the architectural work. It'll make my superiors merry." Hood raised his brow and titled his head. Araquielle stepped closer to his and continued, "A new threat is just what they want. If they can play it up as the next major threat, they might be able to prevent being completely reined in."
It wasn't a surprise for Hood. He had pushed Ruth to rein in the organization fully, though it hadn't happened. ONI remained far too autonomous. Though it wasn't anything like in the days of the Covenant War. That they wanted back to that, now that was no surprise.
"I'm picking up an anomaly coming from the city-ship," Roland alerted.
Date: 2020
Location: Atlantis, City-ship
John Sheppard bit his lower lip as he stared at the sensor display. The screen revealed a new group of starships arriving. Dozens of ships in fact. Atlantis had arrived six days ago and was told by the local commander, a rear admiral by the name of Johannes van Bêbak, there it would take time before the United Earth Government delegates arrived. Though, he refused to give an exact timetable. Too confidential apparently. Was this new fleet of ships it? Sheppard hoped it was. Van Bêbak had expressed suspicion over how quickly Atlantis had arrived. Then a message arrived from the UNSC Song of Ice. The rear admiral ordered them to expect the UEG delegation.
"Alright," said Sheppard, more to himself than anyone else.
He drew a hand through his black hair and turned around and looked at the technician that sat near the communications station. The man was short with dark skin and a patch on his upper arm. It was the Ethiopian flag.
"Call Mister Woolsey, Doctor Jackson, General O'Neill and, eh ... what was that guy's name again?"
"You mean Ambassador Tretchovsky?" The technician asked.
Sheppard snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that guy. Tell them the delegation have entered the system."
Woolsey had been picked by the IOA as the representative of Earth, and the governments of Earth before that had agreed to leave first contact in hands of Homeworld Command and the IOA. It was the IOA that had suggested using Atlantis for first contact after the Odyssey encountered them. General O'Neill, the head of Homeworld Command, had advised against it. They didn't need a flashy entrance. Another Daedalus cruiser transporting a diplomat would do fine. Something Sheppard agreed with. Atlantis, he thought, was too much and too threatening. That was before he had spent a week outside Palmorran orbit seeing waves of warships arriving and Davidson on the Odyssey had told him there were initial 24 ships in-system. Sheppard didn't blame them since they would be concerned if the UEG had showed up at Earth with a warship. Though he wasn't sure how the small Odyssey could be seen as such a threat by them. The Asgard weapons and shields and its array of naquadah enhanced warheads made it capable to fight far larger ships, but they didn't know that. There was also the fact that scans showed most of the warships massing in-system didn't have shields, thus it would be easy for the Odyssey, and not even mentioning Atlantis' stores of drones, to tear through a number of them before they could do mush. Though, that pair of weapons platforms looked rather menacing.
He was soon joined in the control room by Mister Woolsey and the United Nations Ambassador Ivan Tretchovsky. He was middle-aged Ukrainian man, short, sloped shoulders and a balding with hair only along the sides of his head. Both men wore fine suits for the occasion.
"This is about time," complained Tretchovsky loudly.
Richard Woolsey, Atlantis' commanding officers, said something diplomatic to sooth the man's agitation. The IOA representative had been in charge since his initial appointment years ago back in the Pegasus Galaxy. After their return to the Milky Way the job had become a lot of exciting. Most of the work on Atlantis had been that of scientists going over the massive amount of knowledge in its database. There was a life time of knowledge hidden there. Yet even that was nothing to Destiny. The returned ship had what Rodney described as a thousand lifetimes of information collected over its ancient journey.
"Mister Woolsey, Ambassador Tretchovsky," greeted Sheppard. The other arched an eyebrow at the emphasis on his name.
"Colonel, you are sure their delegation is in-system?" Asked Woolsey.
"That's what their transmission said."
"Ah, right. Good good."
Soon General O'Neill arrived. Despite being in a well-lit room he wore those sunglasses. He was dressed in the dress blue uniform of the US Air Force.
"Sheppard, Richard, ambassador," he said, nodding to each man. "About to have fun, are we?"
"Well, some might say moments like this is what it's all about," said Woolsey.
"Hmm, yeah. First contact." O'Neill looked at Sheppard. "I've had my fair share of alternative universe encounters in my career. Never had a whole galaxy pop in before."
Smirking, Sheppard said: "Yes, sir. I know the feeling."
Even for the Stargate Program this was new. The Merging was 'an unexplainable event of unimaginable proportions. Those were the words that had been used by Brigadier General Carter at his briefing on the matter. Doctor Jackson joined them He was cleaning his glasses with a fine black rag as he walked up the steps. He too was in a suit, though less strappy than those of Woolsey and Tretchovsky. As they looked the part of politicians the good doctor looked the part of an academic. He joined in the slowly growing round of greetings.
O'Neill turned to the civilian technician at the gate controls. "Dial Stargate Command."
"Yes, sir." The man affirmed, and started tapping the controls to dial the gate.
The symbols lining the stargate began to glow one by one. After the last chevron locked the gate activated with a whoosh as the unstable vortex occurred.
"SGC, General O'Neill," the general said in the radio.
"We read, sir. Go ahead," a woman's voice replied.
"Send word up the grapevine that we're starting the official talks now."
"Yes, sir. Will do."
"Oh, and tell Tanaka to enjoy his time he has in my chair."
"Yes, sir."
"O'Neill out."
He stepped away, the technician closed the radio channel and the gate shut down a moment later.
"We're being hailed," the comms technician said.
The group gathered turned toward him.
"Is it the admiral again?" Sheppard asked.
"No, it's coming from a small craft that just left one of the ships that arrived last."
That would be the delegation. Sheppard was about to order him to let it through but remembered he wasn't the highest-ranking individual in the control room anymore. Woolsey stepped up to and gave the order. "Let's hear it."
"Viper-One to Atlantis," a man's voice came through. It was a gruff military voice, a tone Sheppard recognized without issue.
"This is Atlantis, go ahead please."
"The UEG delegation is on the way. Will be there in five."
"They are most welcome. We're transmitting exact coordinates for the landing bay." He gestured for the tech to provide coordinates to the Jumper Bay.
"Got it. Viper-One out." The channel closed.
Woolsey took a deep breath, clasped his hands together and turned around to O'Neill, Doctor Jackson and Tretchovsky. Woolsey led the way down the stairs and left toward the Jumper Bay. Sheppard remained in the control room, eyes staring at the screen displaying the readings from the city's sensors. He would keep an eye just in case this became violent. It wasn't entirely out of worry as he had no doubt Atlantis shields would hold and they could just jump to hyperspace.
In the Jumper Bay, O'Neill took centre stage with Daniel at his right and Richard to his left, and the ambassador left of him. A few paces behind waited two soldiers. They wanted want to appear aggressive when they met for the first time. Though, O'Neill didn't jump into a situation like this without being prepared in case something went wrong. For SG teams were waiting in the near-lying corridors. They were the rapid response teams led by Colonel Albert Reynolds. A gunship soon descended. It was a good twenty-five to thirty metres. Its hull had a light olive-green colour. If nothing else it looked more intimidating than a Puddle Jumper and was visually heavily armed. Though a drone from a Puddle Jumper would obliterate it in a second. It landed with its aft to them and slowly a ramp was lowered. First out was an older man in a white dress uniform that signified that he was a man of high rank, and by his right side was a short woman in a black uniform. What really caught O'Neill's eye was the giants in power armour that strode behind the two. A pair of what he could only describe as super-soldiers in dark green and dark blue armour respectively with gold visors. Handguns were attached to their hips and it appeared to be their only weapons. As if two giants in armour needed more. They walked toward them. Their eyes studied the Jumpers lines in the alcoves around the bay. The woman was especially astonished while the man didn't show much at all on his stoic face. Once the older man entered appropriate conversation range O'Neill spoke.
"Welcome to Atlantis gentlemen, lady. I am General Jack O'Neill of Homeworld Command, representing the United Nations of Earth," he welcomed them as curtly as he could.
The other man took his hand and shook his shortly as he replied. It was a firm grip. His hands were callous, those of a soldier.
"I am Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood, commander in chief of the United Nations Space Command. I'm sorry you had to wait for us. I suspect slipspace isn't nearly as fast as your hyperspace drives."
"Don't even worry about it. May I present Richard Woolsey, commander of this fair city," said O'Neill. He gestured to Richard. The other shook his hand.
"How do you do," greeted Hood.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, fleet admiral. I represent the International Oversight Advisory," Richard responded. "Or IOA to safe time."
O'Neill gestured to Daniel on his right. "And Doctor Daniel Jackson."
The other man shook Daniel's hand curtly.
"Doctor."
"I hope this will be the beginning of peace and friendship between our two peoples, Admiral Hood," Daniel said.
"And lastly Ambassador Ivan Tretchovsky," O'Neill finished.
"United Nations to be specific and I have been given the honour of assisting in representing Earth in this historic meeting," the ambassador greeted.
"This is Commander Mindy Araquielle of the Office of Naval Intelligence," Hood said, gesturing with an open palm to the short woman beside him.
She smiled pleasantly and greeted the men all in turn. She moved her cane from her dominant hand to the left, holding it horizontally off the floor.
"Now if you follow us to the conference room," suggested Richard.
"Lead the way," Hood said.
It wasn't a long walk to the reach the gate room. Now that definitely got the UEG visitors attention. The moderate attention paid to the stargate made O'Neill presume they hadn't seen one before and weren't aware of what it was. If this new galaxy had no stargates it would make exploration far more difficult. It would also mean if this new human government was hostile, it would be able to use the network to advance deep in the Milky Way if they recovered one and learned how to utilize them. But if they proved friendly, they might both assist the other in exploring their part of this merged galaxy. It would provide stability and ensure that the bureaucrats back home wouldn't have to quadruple Homeworld Command's military budget. As much as he believed in the construction of new starships and outposts to protect Earth and her slowly growing off-world assets since the stargate became public a few years ago, he didn't support a massive military build-up. They had already ordered ten – ten – new Daedalus-class warships begin immediate construction. Even the IOA – to their little credit – advised against it but was ultimately overruled by the UN Security Council. For their very little credit they didn't often overrule the judgement of the IOA. They walked up the stairs and left passed the control room. O'Neill gave Sheppard a nod as they did. They entered the conference room and took their seats around the large mahogany table Richard had brought there on his first day as leader of the Atlantis Expedition.
"Well then," O'Neill said as they all were seated. He eyed the huge armoured soldiers behind the admiral and commander.
"The architecture is beautiful," Araquielle commented. "Did your people build it, general?"
"No, we discovered it when we explored the Pegasus Galaxy," he answered, almost casually.
By their expressions it hadn't been the answer they had expected.
"You're saying you've explored other galaxies?" Hood asked, shocked.
If they only knew about Destiny, O'Neill thought with mirth. "We did, actually. Though just the one."
"It was originally built by a race we call the Ancients who are long gone," Daniel explained. He leaned forward slightly. "We'd be happy to tell you all about it once we've gotten to known each other a little better."
"I'm sure that would be an interesting chat." Hood quickly regained his composure from the shock they had travelled so far.
If he wasn't aware of the Stargate's existence, as O'Neill suspected, he might fear they had colonies their way there. That this new Earth was colossal in size. That should be fixed when they told them about the Stargate.
"We travelled there through a device we call a Stargate," he explained.
He received the expected reaction. They were indeed not aware of it.
"A Stargate? What is that exactly?" Commander Araquielle inquired before the other.
O'Neill gestured for the doors they had come in through. "You know that ring we walked by on the way here? That wasn't some ornamental paperweight. It's a transportation system connected to a network spanning our galaxy, and well … multiple galaxies really. Pegasus being another."
"My god," Araquielle said, astonished. Hood showed less shock. "How fast is it?"
"It's near instant and spans many thousands of planets," Daniel explained.
"Incredible," expressed Hood.
"Yeah. It's pretty neat," O'Neill said, smirking. He lowered his hands to the table and interlocked his fingers and his expression became stoic. "So, the United Nations of Earth," he began. Minus North Korea. The little hermit state had stood against every single decision ever made in the UN about interstellar travel. They had even given absurd demands about total and unquestioned control of the Stargate. "Are interested in learning more about your culture and your people."
"That may be possible," Hood said. Though, there seemed to be some hesitation.
These talks wouldn't get far if that was nearly too much to ask.
"I'm sure we share a common interest in seeing where our history diverges," offered Richard.
"That we do. You understand that you're from another Earth is the hardest part to swallow. The fact that you come from this new galaxy adds the possibility that it's true." O'Neill and Richard exchanged a glance. Before he could speak, Hood continued. "What we want to make very clear is that you respect our borders."
Hood provided a datapad that revealed the borders of UEG space. It outlined an area that stretched no longer than 100 lightyears from Earth. It wasn't terrible large on the grand scale of things, but could encompass dozens of hundreds of colonies. Especially since they weren't dependent on Stargates to explore the galaxy.
"We understand completely. We have no intention of violating your space," Richard assured the other.
Hood nodded in appreciation.
"I'm curious about something you said earlier," Araquielle said, changing the topic. "You used these Stargate devices to travel to the Pegasus Galaxy. Besides Atlantis obviously travelling back here, you didn't travel there by ship?"
"Actually, our ships are capable of travelling there," said the ambassador, finally finding some room to jump into the conversation.
"How long does that take? If I may ask, that is."
"That is-" Tretchovsky started.
"Eighteen days," O'Neill cut off him. It was hardly classified Intel and didn't harm Earth by being known.
Araquielle exchanged a look with Hood. O'Neill noted that if it came to trading technology, they would definitely have an ace on the table.
"Are you the only spacefaring species in your galaxy?" Hood asked.
O'Neill smirked. "I was just about to ask the same thing fleet admiral."
"Indeed, we are not," Richard said. "There are several planets engaged in spaceflight but only two that can be countered of galactic powers. The largest of whom is the Free Jaffa Nation. They are the freed slave population of the dead Goa'ulds galaxy-spanning empire."
"They're our allies." Sort of. Relations had always been a bit tricky, but it was better these days. Time had helped.
"Then there's the Lucian Alliance. They are essentially a bunch of mostly humans; smugglers, gangsters and pirates that united in the aftermath of the Goa'ulds fall."
"So, they are renegades from Earth," Hood assumed.
O'Neill imagined what galaxy-spanning civilization the admiral might think he was dealing with.
"No, not at all," Richard went on. "The Goa'uld used the Stargate to transplant millions of humans across the galaxy thousands of years ago."
Araquielle arched her eyebrows but Hood didn't show any visible reaction.
"I see. Who are, or rather were, these Goa'ulds?"
"They were a parasitic snake-like species that burrowed into your neck and took control of your body," O'Neill said. "They ruled our galaxy for thousands of years until they were destroyed."
"By your Earth? Excuse me if that's inaccurate but I get the feeling that's where you're going, Mister Woolsey."
"No, that's mostly correct, fleet admiral. It was really an effort by us, the Free Jaffa the Tokara. Right, they are an ally of ours. They are Goa'ulds that resisted the tyranny and slavery and spend thousands of years trying to fight them. The empire's dismantlement was a joint effort."
Hood leaned forward and interlocked his fingers. O'Neill felt like this might be a man whose every action was calculated and considered and every movement, even if it was the shifting of a finger, was weighed.
"Forgive me if I say so, but I find it difficult to see a 21st Century Earth having capabilities to wage that kind of war," Hood continued. "You are telling us you waged a galactic war on the reigning superpower of your galaxy."
"It wasn't nearly as flashy as you make it sound. Hell, they tried to wipe Earth out a number of times. But you see admiral, the Goa'uld were extremely arrogant after thousands of years of putting down peasants with sticks or a rival Goa'uld. They weren't prepared for anyone to independently develop technologically to the point we had when we first stepped out among the stars. Their tech wasn't built to resist projectile weapons. Only energy weapons since that's all they fought for thousands of years. They were constantly fighting amongst themselves to grab more power. Essentially every action they took can be traced back to an insatiable lust for power. For a long time, they didn't see us a threat, which helped. We had an especially powerful ally as well. They were called the Asgard and essentially, they were the only thing the Goa'uld were actually scared of pissing off."
Daniel picked up with a deeper explanation. "They entered Earth into what was called the Protective Planets Treaty. No planet that was part of it was allowed to be touched by any Goa'uld. Enforcing fell upon the Asgard and the Goa'uld leaders: the System Lords."
"And these System Lords enforced it to avoid war with the Asgard," Hood understood.
"Yes. And over time we build ships, established offworld bases and so forth."
"Still, we were close to extinction a couple of time," said O'Neill. "So, I would assume you aren't the only spacefaring civilization in your galaxy." He changed the topic to the UEG.
The ships that had travelled to the system had been heavily armed and some of them on impressive size, several kilometres in fact. There were also two huge orbital platforms with large and presumably powerful guns. These weren't things you typically built if you didn't have any enemies.
"You would be right. Until five years ago we fought a war against a far superior enemy. A thing it seems you can sympathise with. The Covenant, as it called itself, sought our extinction. It lasted twenty-eight years. Tens of billions of our people died and countless planets were glassed."
O'Neill and the others were shocked. The sheer scale of the dead was horrifying. If it had been that his team had encountered that first trip through the Stargate, he doubted they would have survived very long.
"That is horrifying. I struggle to imagine casualties on that scale," said Richard honestly.
"And ultimately you survived." O'Neill eyed the huge soldiers once more. "I think I can see why."
Hood's lips curved into the tiniest smirk. "The Spartans the super-soldiers. The finest of the finest. Without their sacrifices we would certain have perished. It wasn't all our effort in the end, however. It was also thanks to a splintering in the Covenant. We have become allies with those who splintered away and gained their freedom. These being chiefly the Sangheili, but also other races like the Lekgolo and Unggoy. We will provide a data package with information on all of them. Those we're allied with and those who's still enemies. The Covenant itself is dead and won't be a problem you'll have to deal with."
"Well, we appreciate that," O'Neill said. He recovered from the shock of the dead.
"We'd be happy to present a data package of our own," said Daniel enthusiastically. "We can provide cultural information, our history so that you may compare and some information on the other powers of our part of the galaxy."
"Thank you, doctor," though Hood addressed all of them. "We would appreciate that."
"Is it possible you might teach us to use this Stargate network?" Asked Araquielle softly. "A Stargate would allow us to communicate instantly for future diplomatic gatherings."
"Absolutely," said Richard.
"We can pick one up and have it delivered right here," O'Neill added. It might be a step more than they would really have to, but it would be good for relations going forth.