Record keeping time: Dear Choe, I have not forgotten you. I am working on it. People, when you get a chance, if you are interested, take a look at the recent reviews. I had a discussion with one of the reviewers (GTI-1), and for me, his opinion was most interesting. So much so, that I had to respond. His opinions are his own, but I do have a problem when a person assumes that everyone else shares his opinion. I have learned that we cannot assume much of anything. One thing that I didn't like in his argument was that the SGC Earth should annex Earth Alliance and the colonials for their own good. For that, I had to respond. As I said, if you are interested, please read the back and forth.
I did make an error and responded to another reviewer because I thought he was the one was supposed to respond to. For that I am sorry and I apologize for it.
This chapter was set for late next week but I decided to post it early. Please enjoy and everyone please be safe.
AlbertG
Chapter 35
New Tollania
The Tollanian frigate Guardian began landing procedures near the wreckage. Administrator Narim strongly disagreed with the decision to do a detailed examination before destroying the ship and was overrode by the Curia.
Captain Burin was not pleased, as he agreed with the administrator. Sometimes, The Curia was too curious for its own good. That attitude harkened back to earlier times where they were too civilized to even terminate goa'uld symbiotes that had parasitized humans. They had to consider the health of the symbiote. Well, those days were over, but some of the attitudes still remained.
Scans showed that the goa'uld infested Jaffa was parasitized by another parasitic alien never before seen. There were dead aliens on that ship, some of which the scanners were having difficulty locking on to. If that wasn't a warning sign, he didn't know what was.
One of the cultural exchanges that his people had received from the Tau'ri was their entertainment programing. The movies varied wildly and many of them were, at best, unappealing. But some were remarkably engrossing, one of which was demanding his attention at this very moment. In that movie, those over-confident soldiers were torn apart by things that even now, he wonder how the Tau'ri could have imagined. Acid for blood. What sick mind could conceive of such creatures?
He prayed that he would never develop the ability to imagine such monsters. But the lessons he gleaned from those nightmare-inducing movies taught him important lessons and he was recalling them now. The curia obviously hadn't seen those programs because if they had, he wouldn't be landing next to this ship to explore its remains. Instead, it would be completely destroyed and whatever was left sanitized.
Administrator Narim understood the others had trouble changing their ways in situations like this. They wanted him and his crew to check for survivors. He would follow orders. But if there was the slightest hint of danger. His people were going to destroy everything, orders or not. Let him be disciplined. His people would be alive.
The Guardian landed in the clearing two hundred meters from the wreck. All scanners and weapons were trained on the downed Ha'tak. Captain Burin ordered his heavily armed twelve-man squad to enter the ship and download any undamaged computer logs that survived the crash and collect samples of the alien remains.
The squad transported into the darkened vessel and witnessed the nightmare personified. The remains of alien bodies were everywhere, and the smell was almost overpowering. Quickly they reached the bridge and interfaced with the navigational computer core, and began downloading. The crystal circuitry was damaged, but in remarkably good shape, considering. A quick check showed that the only Jaffa onboard hadn't made any personal logs.
Blood was seen everywhere. The squad leader assumed that when the Ha'tak was overrun, the crew was killed and the aliens didn't bother to clean up the blood. That smell of decaying blood only added to the stench and horror. The Tollanians weren't used to this. There were no Jaffa remains, prompting one of the squad members to suggest those corpses were eaten.
No one found that amusing, and no one disagreed.
A few minutes passed before one of his men hesitated, seeing something attached to the wall by the command chair. It looked organic in nature and, as he looked at the object carefully, the dark bluish-purplish mass appeared to pulsate. The captain, listening carefully, had heard and seen enough. He ordered his men out. The moment the squadron started to leave the bridge, the mass began pulsating faster.
Binh screamed for the transporters to pull the men out now. The pulse went sub-nuclear seconds after the crew was transported out of the ship. The Tollanian frigate survived because of its shields. Everything else was vaporized withing three kilometers around the remains of the Ha'tak.
The Soldier of Darkness was angry. The enemy ship survived the blast. The shields used in this universe were becoming a constant bother. According to his master's calculations, the shield should not have protected the Tollanian ship. That indicated that something was different. The shields were stronger, more effective than the goa'uld designed they knew of. The masters needed to be made aware of this discovery. Her mission had changed.
Although wounded, it moved quickly, using the natural phasing ability to move through the heat and devastation to the ship before it lifted off. If its shield went down as it left, then entry was guaranteed.
EA Modified Onega class warship Comanche
Captain John Sheridan felt close to panicking. He was putting his trust in the hands of unknown aliens in the hopes that he and those under his command could be saved. And he had no choice at all. This was completely outside of his experience. The Tau'ri were too quick to agree and a part of him wondered if these aliens had even spoken to them. This powerful vessel could be dragging them towards a life of slavery, and they wouldn't know until it was too late.
His ship didn't have windows, but the viewscreen captivated him completely. They were in another dimensional FTL space, completely different from jump space, which appeared as a swirling tunnel like expanse instead of the red swirling nothingness he was used to.
The Earth Alliance had nothing to compare it to, although they did know about its existence from the Tau'ri visit almost two decades earlier. That was really before his time as a captain, but the official word was that the Achilles had this capability to use this particular form of travel. It was also well known that EF desperately wanted access to that drive system and was denied by the crews. It was another slap in the face during those times, and some in the government planned on taking the technology by force. The attempted hijack failed, which he now registered as a good thing. Relations immediately soured between the other humans of this universe and his own. Clark and other senators and government and military conspirators were stymie. Clark was ruined, many senators were removed as well, and the shakeup in Earthforce ruined several careers.
All that served only to push Earth Alliance to where it was now. Clark survived and now, Earth Alliance was a neo-fascist government, either threatening. or at war with their neighbors. What was happening to the Kobollians was unconscionable and there was nothing he could do about it. They had tried to resist what Clark and his people were turning Earth into, but they weren't strong enough. The Babylon station suggested by President Levy was a good idea. But it failed, not because of aliens, but because of humanity. The station was a temporary oasis in a sea of political madness and Clark ordered it and everyone onboard destroyed. He and a few of the resistance ships barely escaped. John and the others felt responsible for the deaths of a quarter million people because of their stance, however there was nothing they could do but run.
With everything that happened, he was on the edge of exhaustion, and everyone looked to him for some reason, to save them at least one last time. He was tired, and he didn't know how much longer he could continue. He didn't trust Brindley. The other young captains and the crew did trusted him, not the general, and he may have killed them all by trusting these aliens.
"Captain, we're receiving a hail," said Susan Ivanova.
John looked at the young ensign/ she was so much like her older brother, but colder. This war had turned her heart to stone. That thought gave him another fit of hurt and anger. "It's the alien ship."
"Let's hear it."
Again, it was the cold voice of the alien. "We will be entering the Home system of the United coalition of Worlds. We will release your ships from the atractor generators. The Tauri will escort you to Earth. Your weapons and your ECM systems will remain inactive. You will not be harmed and your injured will be cared for. Requests for asylum will be adjudicated by them. If asylum is rejected, then you will be sent to a place of safety and treated within the rules established by the UCW. We wish you luck on your continued journey."
The comms closed, leaving Joh Sheridan and the bridge crew with a sense of relief and also a sense of worry.
The refugees were released near what had to be the Mars of this universe. There were no acceleration effects, no gravity stress on the ships. One moment, they were is other dimensional space and the next instant they were there. It was amazing and frightening. And what was worse, they never saw or even detected the ship that brought them here. In his gut, he knew they were already gone.
"Straight and to the point," muttered John. Almost immediately, two Terran warships, matching the original data to ninety percent, flashed into view. The power ratings, however, were much higher than any of the old records had recorded.
"Greetings to the Earth ship Comanche and other vessels. I'm Colonel Thomas Lecurtis of the UCW. Our scans indicate that your weapons are powered down and systems are at minimal. We also have detected crew members who are injured. When we arrive at Earth, we will tend to your wounded, and you will present your petition and state your intentions. We are aware that you have information that will be of value to us. You will be brought to Earth orbit by our tractor beams. The journey will take approximately two minutes. Activation of defensive or offensive systems will be considered an aggressive action and will be treated accordingly. Do you understand?"
"We understand and will comply with your 'requests'," responded Sheridan.
"Excellent. Your journey will begin in five minutes. No preparation is required on your part. Enjoy the ride."
All John could think of was that those people were far more advanced than anyone at Earth Alliance knew of. If Clark got his hands on this technology, no one and nowhere would be safe. "We'll be ready."
Ten minutes later, the beleaguered survivors of the Earth Alliance refugees were in high orbit around a world they all knew yet had never seen before.
Sol System
CDF battlestar Radiance
A bored DRADIS officer suddenly perked up. He was relieved to have something to do. DRADIS duty inside a secured system was one of the most boring jobs he could think of, not that he was lax. "Contact! Unknown incoming, settling into high orbit," the lieutenant on duty announced. "Four vessels, escorted by UCW destroyers."
Admiral Kunningham was just about to hand over command to his XO when the announcement stopped him cold. Unidentified contacts were fairly common, entering into Earth's orbit. Usually, the contacts were civilian craft or those pyramid ships of different configurations. Those were ships from the Jaffa nation. The Race civilian vessels, oddly unitarian and huge, arrived twice and DRADIS was able to scan them, being civilian ships. Those were converted, old-style freighters with the unique retrofitted FTL engines attached. Those were interesting and his people were hard at work, cataloging the scans and identifying the power source used.
He hadn't asked about the sources yet, deciding to wait a little longer. The locals already knew that the Colonies were very interested, and he didn't want to antagonize them, and overplay his hand. Negotiations with the Apellai were already difficult enough. If they sensed weakness, then it would make an already tense diplomatic contact worse. Ambassador Isahan agreed. They couldn't dare show weakness to these people, not with the attitudes shown by their elder cousins.
No, it was better for him to hold off and continue passive scans to accumulate the information he needed. He decided to be patient with them. This was especially true because the Tau'ri was just about to reveal secrets he desperately wanted to know. And he hoped the subject of power sources would come up.
Tyllium supplies in the Colonies were dwindling quickly and a new supply or power source would be needed in less than fifty years, or they would run dry. When that happened, the Colonies would have to expand to discover new sources outside of the treaty designated areas. That would bring them into direct conflict with the Cylons who had every intention of continuing to keep the Colonials ties up and closed in. The treaty Adar's predecessor signed at the end of the Colonial-Cylon war was shortsighted and foolish. Expansion was curved, and the Colonies were bottled up and slowly being drained of vitally needed resources. It was a certain recipe for a new war unless something was done soon. It was another reason why this mission was so critical and why the Apellai needed to join their cousins. The Colonies needed their resources to remain viable and their unknown power source was just what was needed.
Earth ships used something new to Colonial science, and they were in the process of switching over from fossil fuel to their new power source. The Kobollian CEOs and executives were very interested and so far, Earth was rather quiet about their source. However, the clean fusion reactor and stunned everyone. The device was so small, but again, the Earthers were vague as to what element they used to power it. The Langarans, however, were less secretive and the possibilities of acquiring the technology from them looked promising. By the time they returned home, a deal might be in the works with that UCW Earth colony.
The man grunted at that. He still refused to accept that the UCW human contingent weren't Earth colonies. They might be somewhat independent but they were still Earth-derived colonies and ultimately subjected to the Kobollian Articles, Earth dismissed too easily.
The viewer showed a real-time image of the ships. All four of them dwarfed the small UCW patrollers as he thought of them. The unknowns were unmistakable warships.
"Ships details," the admiral ordered, fascinated at what he was seeing.
"ECM is down, sir, length, one thousand seven hundred and fourteen meters long. I read over a thousand humans onboard. Life support appears strained. I think the ships have energy weapons of some sort, possibly laser cannons, both front and aft, port and starboard."
"Laser weapons," Kunningham swore. He wondered how powerful those weapons might be. If he could get some schematics, since this was an alleged enemy warship, he would be ecstatic. It depended if the Tauri would allow it. This was an enemy ship and not subject to the locals. He might make inroads if he and the ambassador were careful, they might be able to act as liaisons.
"Continue."
"Yes sir. The centerpiece seems to be a command center. It almost looked like a rotating center, but DRADIS scans indicate they have artificial gravity. Those extensions carry heavy weapons ports. External armor is a crystalline composite, type unknown. The ship is a carrier. Fighter compliment unknown, but are estimated to be around forty. Four main thrust engines. Form of FTL is unknown, but evidence suggests it uses the Tau'ri style of drive."
The phrase FTL had rapidly been adapted by the Colonials to describe the non-jump systems used by those in this sector.
Now that was a warship, Kunningham thought viciously. Even the smaller one looked impressive. He almost assumed these ships were Tau'ri, but those thoughts were brushed away. The energy profiles of the UCW dissuaded that idea. These ships were considered a threat, very likely enemy ships. Very likely they were from an Earth rebel colony.
All of them revealed signs of wear and damage. Obviously, those ships were in major firefights. Although ECM, and weapons and scanners were powered down as they slowly completed their parking orbits, the two UCW ships' weapons systems were active and tracking and that made in curious. There was clearly some mistrust on UCW's part. Several shuttles from the unknown were exiting the ships and heading towards the planet with an UCW escort following behind.
Colonel Avonne thought the same. "Looks like there is some mistrust among the natives here," he whispered to Frankus, who merely nodded once. "The ship markings are clearly in the Tau'ri common tongue, Americana Englisha. They could be a breakaway faction that the UCW is worried about."
"I don't think so," Frankus mused. "Four battered ships escorted by skittish locals with weapons locks. They look like refugees from a rebel colony."
"These people could well be the enemy that the UCW is concerned about. Those ships look dangerous. But they may be rebels, or traitors looking for asylum, or sanctuary from their enemies who might be yet another rebellious colony. Scans on the shuttles show human life signs and some are weak. Sir, should we contact them?"
"No, not yet. Comm traffic between the two is extremely heavy. I don't want to interfere with their initial communications. Let them settle down for a while and we will say hello in a couple of hours. They'll have to go through decontamination and the wounded will have to get settled. Our attempts at communications will just interfere with this rescue mission. Relay that to the others and to the ambassador. We will get our answers soon enough. Have my raptor prepped. I'm going back to Earth as soon as it's ready. Let the Earthers know so they won't accidentally shoot me down," he sarcastically growled. "Continue with our repairs and battle preparations. Continue your scans and get as much as we can without being too intrusive. If they open communications first, then answer."
Avonne nodded and looked at another officer listening in. She turned and issued orders for the repairs to continue. While continuing to look at the new arrivals, he mentioned the same thing that was on Kunningham's mind. "This could be elements of the enemy the UCW is so worried about.
"Looking at them, I can understand why." He huffed. "I hoped that the construction of the dry dock would have started. That would have helped us as well as them," he almost snapped. "But we'll make do. Continue repairs on the mining ship. Let's make sure there aren't any more leaks in the tanks. I don't want to hear complaints of tyllium contamination from the locals. If it wasn't one thing, it was the other.
"Prepare a contact package for the newcomers, in case they don't know who we are. We'll send it along with our greetings when the time comes. Inform the ambassador of our situation up here and let her know that I will be joining her immediately."
"They probably already know who we are," Avonne mumbled. "Everyone else around here does."
The admiral agreed wholeheartedly. "Mining ship repairs first. The collapsed star did more damage than we thought. We have to repair the micro fractures in the hull due to gravity stress. We don't want them to get worse."
"We're on it, sir. Weapons and engineering are going through their checks. They will be ready for the upcoming battle."
The admiral nodded in approval. "Good. I want us to make a statement to these people." The man was pleased. It seemed that the gods had begun to smile on the Colonials once more for this mission. "If diplomacy isn't enough, then a show of good old firepower certainly helps."
Shadow station Hydrax Orbiting the New Colony world of the Shadows
Jason McGuire's quarters were small, but it was by no means spartan when it came to the luxuries. It was one of the perks of being a high-level minion of the masters. All of the humans had such quarters. The masters were pleased and wanted to keep the humans happy. It was one of the perks given when one sold their souls. Like the others, he was happy with his position, and he wasn't alone.
There were other humans with him who tied their fates to the Shadow masters, so he didn't lack for like company, but no matter how comfortable and secure his position was, there was still an undercurrent of fear. The fear was natural when dealing with the masters. Jason attributed the fear with respect to a superior species who held his life in their hands. But he also served willingly.
The Humans weren't the only ones on the newly built station. There were other aliens like the Narn and Centauri. There were the isolationists, Drakh, aliens that preferred to keep amongst themselves. There was a smattering of other familiar aliens from the home universe. But there were other aliens that most humans never knew existed. And, of course, there were Minbari, who long ago embraced the Shadows. The defunct Minbari Federation never knew about their dark counterparts, something that never failed to amuse Jason and the others.
Collectively, they were all called Minions of the Shadows.
The station was built for the underlings. The Shadows had no real use for it other than for it to act as an interface. The Shadows lived on the surface of the world the station orbited. Large cities were springing up on the planet's surface. Those cities were being prepared for the tens of millions of Shadow aliens immigrating to their new home. The planet reminded Jason of Z'ha'dum. It exuded the same aura of menace as had the old world. the world was temperate, but it was dark, just the way they liked it.
When Morden called him, it was the first indication that something was wrong. His masters had summoned him, Anne Sheridan, and Morden, to a meeting to discuss a problem that had just happened. Morden hadn't elaborated, but the tone in his voice made Jason quicken his pace. When he arrived, a very pregnant Anne was already there. Her cold demeanor looked even darker as she sat, waiting for the others to arrive. Two Shadows flanked her, and both appeared agitated. Two others, the dread Soldiers of Darkness, they had no other name that he knew of, and was sure that he couldn't pronounce it if he knew, were present. Those very intimidating creatures stood behind the Shadows, unmoving. Jason didn't know much about them other than those beings were original inhabitants of the first Shadow home world. Z'ha'dum wasn't the original home world of the Shadows, just their adapted one, discovered hundreds of thousands of years ago.
What Jason saw was the similarity between the two species. When it came to their ability to cloak just like the masters. But they also had the ability to partially phase through walls. He suspected that his masters could do the same, but they never revealed that trait directly, and he wasn't inclined to ask.
"There is a problem," Anne began. "Our attack on the Tollanian world failed. The Hatak ship used by our allies was shot down and everyone on board was killed. We lost a second controller."
Jason was angry. "How did this happen? The shield was supposed to resist their ion cannon, and ship's firepower. Were the shields active?"
"As far as we know, the shields were active, and the ship fired two nuclear missiles towards the city, but both were intercepted."
The first Shadow spoke. "Their loss was regrettable. It changes our plans," it said in a pleasing but chilling voice. "The Tollians are still in play. Our fleet advances and will arrive early. The Drakh will kill this universe's Earth. Our planet killers will finish what is left. Without Earth, the others will fall."
"Will the Drakh be enough?" Anne asked. The Shadow who spoke eyes glowed brightly. Anne stared back, unconcerned by the hidden threat.
The two Shadows approved.
"The Tau'ri destroyed a mother and resisted two others. They are strong, but they are still young. They acquired some Asgard technology, and that makes them dangerous, as the Vorlons learned, to their sorrow. We will not make the same mistake. Their stargate is the key. It is protected, but we will break it with our weapon. The explosion will destroy their gate and a portion of their world. As their world screams in pain, the Drakh will attack an unorganized resistance." It turned to face the others. "No young race will be allowed to interfere with our agenda. When Clark's forces come, they will find nothing but dust. He was a loyal servant, but he will not be allowed to gain more power. He has enough whether he likes it or not." The people in the room smiled at the prospect of a series of asteroids where the Earth once was.
"Come with us," the Shadow said, "and witness the beginning of the end, and the end of the beginning of our domination. We will mode this galaxy in our image and prove to what is left of the Vorlons that we were right."
Anne listened intently, quietly amused. This Shadow always liked to monologue, thereby proving that some things were constant among all species. In the end, it didn't matter to her as long as her master's plan succeeded.
As for Anne Sheridan, she rubbed her stomach, awaiting patiently for the birth of her twins. Other than for their safety, she cared little for the children growing in her womb. What she was interested in was her duty to her masters. Like tens of thousands of humans willingly brought, or in most of the cases, kidnapped from her one-home universe, she was chosen to be part of the great experiment. Most of the humans were victims of an agreement between the Shadows and President Clark. They were political prisoners and many, Many so-called undesirables. Most were women., now pregnant. The Shadows required a large population of humans for their experiment. In a little less than two thousand years and a dedicated breeding program, the Shadows would have their control population, and that portion of the experiment could begin in earnest.
Anne's children were to be used as a control. The humans of this universe were different. The Shadows couldn't read them and that was a concern, however, they would become part of the great experiment. In two thousand years, enough home humans and native humans would be alive for the Shadows to initiate direct comparisons to evaluate and determine if the natives were worth keeping. They would be experimented upon and modified if possible. The humans here were genetically locked by some ancient species and the Shadows had difficulty breaking the genetic codes in spite of their fast knowledge in genetics. If they could not be genetically adjusted, then the native humans would be extinguished, ensuring that the great experiment wouldn't suffer corruption.
Anne's children and the thousands of others who were even now undergoing fertilization would be the new generation and human inheritors of this universe. It was a grand experiment, one she would never live long enough to see, but she was excited. The other aliens would be cultured and given worlds accordingly and, finally, her masters would obtain final proof of their thesis. The surviving Vorlons would then know the Shadows were correct.
But first, this universe's Earth needed to be removed, along with their infantile alliance and then the Ashtorath Empire. With those powers remove, nothing would stand in the way of the Shadow's greatest triumph.
Let the Vorlons choke on it.
TBC
