Robotech: The Stargate Saga
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and universes that I am about to mangle around and mash together for my own demented author amusement – sadly all Robotech and Stargate characters and concepts remain the property of Harmony Gold and MGM respectively – I am merely borrowing them and make absolutely no profit from their use. As a result, please keep the legal attack dogs – also known as lawyers – firmly muzzled and on a leash as I have no money to give to anyone.
Authors Note: I am really surprised by how quickly this chapter came together when I started writing it. I literally only started yesterday afternoon and already the chapter is done. It practically wrote itself – lol. I love it when chapters do that, makes my life so much easier.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Ba'al's Mothership
A Few Moments Earlier
The heart of Ba'al's host beat quite painfully against his ribs as the System Lord hurried down the shaking, increasingly smoke filled, corridors of his flagship to where he kept a small personal escape craft. All around him there was increasing noise in the form of explosions, the shriek of venting atmosphere and the crackling roar of out-of-control fires.
And things were going so well, Ba'al thought as he stumbled as another explosion rocked the mothership as the strange alien weapons that had come up from Calora tore into the ship again. The Asgard warship had been almost completely at his mercy, its shields failing and hull beginning to take damage, when the alien weapons had come up from the planet and commenced their attack. Weapons that were completely unlike anything that he had ever seen in his life before, which was saying something given the many millennia that he had lived. The way the weapons moved, the effortless power of it, how they simply seemed to ignore the ships shields and how they seemed to just drill through the ship again and again – triggering explosion after explosion and causing entire sections of the vessel to begin breaking apart – was powerful and alien in a way that the Goa'uld had never seen. However, he did know one thing…
Whatever those things were they weren't Asgardian.
Arriving at his personal escape ship Ba'al started to clamber aboard when a loud explosion from somewhere near-by caught his attention. He glanced over to see the squid-shaped alien weapons burst through the ceiling down the corridor and disappear into the deck filling the far side of the corridor with fire. But only for a second before a howling, shrieking noise filled the air as atmosphere began to vent through the newest breach in the hull.
Ba'al shrieked in fear as he felt his feet leave the floor, caught swept up by the sudden hurricane force wind. Frantically he grabbed onto the edge of the escape ship and hung on for dear life against the force of the wind. For what seemed like an eternity he hung in the air, to the point that his long life started to flash before his eyes, with only desperate strength even by Goa'uld standards preventing him from being swept away in the sudden maelstrom. Then an internal bulkhead door slammed closed isolating the breach. Ba'al landed on the floor with a painful thump that ripped the air from his hosts lungs.
Additional explosions shook the ship, accompanied by a deluge of shrieks and snapping sounds as the ship began to increasingly come apart from the inside out. Knowing he had at most a minute before the reactors or hyperdrive core ruptured, which would result in the ships final and complete destruction, Ba'al marshalled all his remaining strength and got to his feet. The air was both hot and thin and it was incredibly difficult, and painful, to breathe meaning that this body certainly had a punctured lung. Nothing he couldn't deal with, but that kind of healing took time, which he didn't have right now. So, he pushed the pain away, lumping it all on the personality of his host sitting in its mental prison at the back of his mind causing the human to whimper and plead for mercy, and climbed into the escape ship sealing the hatch behind him and throwing himself into the seat at the simple controls.
A moment later he had the escape ship shooting down a specialised launch tube – which was increasingly filling with sparks, smoke, and flames from the disintegrating mothership – and into open space. It was not a moment too soon as within a moment of the pod-like ship clearing the hull a tremendous force – accompanied by a ferocious blast of light – slammed like a billion sledgehammers into the escape ship and sent it tumbling end over end as the mothership succumbed to the attack and exploded.
Swearing in several different languages Ba'al fought with the controls. Finally, he managed to stabilize the ship and powered up the small hyperdrive. It wasn't powerful enough to get him back to his throneworld of Hadad from here in a reasonable timeframe, it would get him to one of the planets he owned in neighbouring star systems. Though even that would take the better part of two days given that the ship only had a very simple, very basic hyperdrive. He would be able to take the chappa'ai home from there and then he would have to start planning, planning how he was going to defend his domain – and indeed his very life – from what was certain to be a brutal and rapid counterattack from the Asgard. Plus, he would have to explain all this to Ra and the Supreme System Lord was not going to be happy.
A hyperspace window burst into existence outside the escape ships small viewport and Ba'al allowed himself a small sigh of relief as the ship entered it and space became the familiar purple and blue tunnel of a Goa'uld drive generated hyperspace conduit. Then he closed his eyes and focused on healing the injuries this body had sustained, there would be time enough to figure out how to pacify both Ra and the Asgard later.
Bridge
Ancient Destroyer Aurelius
"Sir supporters of Senators Messyr, Dukon and Svenkali with the support of Vice President Kuenovo have taken control of the bunker."
Silence reigned on the bridge of the Aurelius as President Jowmart stared at his military commander in shock and disbelief. Had General Pemblake really said what he thought he had said? It had been nearly three hundred years since anyone on Calora had attempted, let alone, successfully managed to execute such a coup. Not really since the Artefact had been found and the people unified under the creation of the Confederacy.
"They've done what," he exclaimed as the stunned shock gave way to fury. While he was not surprised that Irvanto Messyr had tried something, he had kind of expected him too to be honest since Irvanto was not the sort to take no for an answer, he would have thought that Alexmat Dukon, Maldani Svenkali and definitely Gunkel Kuenovo would have had far more sense. The latter especially hurt given that he and Gunkel had been friends for decades, hell he had been the best man at Gunkel's wedding. How could he do this? How could he betray him like this?
"Sir they've taken over control of the bunker," Pemblake repeated not at all surprised by the fact that the president was having difficulty processing this turn of events. It was understandable as such coups were supposed to be a thing of their past, something that had occurred in the barbaric times before the discovery of the Artefact, the Stargate, and the unification of the old nation states into the Caloran Confederacy. If he hadn't experienced it, he wouldn't have wanted to believe it either.
"How?"
Pemblake grimaced. "They and a small posse of soldiers that they've gotten to side with them charged both the control room and the main life support control room. They were all armed with working ion pistols. We had no chance of stopping them."
"I thought we only had a dozen working ion pistols sir," Colonel Karenic commented.
"We should these came out of nowhere," Pemblake replied, "if I had to guess one of the Senators probably had a stash of them hidden somewhere ready for a moment such as this."
"Svenkali it would certainly be him," Jowmart answered with a grimace. Maldani Svenkali had long been known to be something of a shady, deceitful character who would throw his allies to the wolves whenever it was convenient to his goals for him to do so. He was also, like Irvanto Messyr, firmly convinced that the Ancients had meant the ship around them for the Caloran people alone to use. So was Alexmat Dukon in fact, which was probably what had prompted them to take the action that they had never mind that it was treason.
"Do you know what they want," Colonel Ferretti asked after a moment.
"Yes, they want you gone," Pemblake answered, "they want all 'aliens' gone from Calora and every non-Caloran who has seen the Artefact to be killed for 'disrespecting the decision of the Ancients to leave this ship for Caloran use only'. The fact that we've never been even able to access the ship let alone power it up in the way you have proving them wrong doesn't seem to have registered with them."
"Political extremists never listen," Rick commented even as he let himself relax a little into the ships datastream and reached out with the sensors. He immediately noted the location of the control room and the large cluster of ion pistols – detectable due to their active sekitan power modules – being kept there marking where the bulk of the coup forces were. He noted several more heading towards the hangar here, with another dozen near the civilian areas likely to prevent any countercoup from starting.
"But I never thought they would try something this foolish," Jowmart answered before new holographic screens blinked into existence on the bridge showing what was clearly sensor data. "Is that?"
"All the coup forces yes," Rick replied, "due to you using sekitan to power them those ion weapons of yours give off a very unique and detectable power signature."
"They've planned this well," Pemblake commented as he stared at the holographic sensor display, marvelling at the sheer amount of information that was being provided. "Too well for this to have been anything other than a plan they've been working on for a while, probably ever since our situation here started to go downhill more."
"So, what are we going to do about it," Jowmart asked, "we cannot let them get away with this."
"To be honest Mister President I don't know how we can stop them," Pemblake replied, "all our forces are locked down and between us we only have four working ion pistols. That's not going to be enough to stop this coup and retake the bunker."
"You can't stop them, but I can," Rick answered, "or rather this ship can."
"How?" Ferretti asked curious. "Is there some more remote weapons you can launch?"
"Well, I could but I've got another idea," Rick answered. "One that could let us deal with this coup without firing a shot."
Jowmart looked at the Terran, sitting in this ships command chair in a way that said he belonged there, with interest. "What do you have in mind," he asked.
Rick smiled and began to explain what he had in mind.
Bunker Control Room
Fifteen Minutes Later
Gunkel Kuenovo had distinctly mixed feelings as he observed the soldiers loyal to the trio of senators who had recruited him to this endeavour finished gaining control of all the bunkers systems. On one hand it was amazing to be standing here as the de facto president of the Caloran Confederation – what little of it there was left – due to the coup. He had thought, especially after the Goa'uld attack that had transformed their once beautiful world into its current ice cube state, that he would be in Stebran's shadow forever as vice president. To no longer be, to be the president, was nice and it was the main reason why he had agreed to this action, well that and the only other choice to be leader other than him would have been Irvanto Messyr which had had disaster written all over it.
But on the other hand, he felt terrible about betraying his old friend like this. He and Stebran had been through a lot together over the years since they first met in political college as idealistic young men, out to prove to the world that they had what it takes to make it in life. They had had each-others backs through thick and thin something that had especially been needed when the war with Ba'al began. A war that even before the Goa'uld had breached their defences and began bombarding their planet had touched them both deeply, indeed he'd comforted Stebran as he wept after his only son was killed in one of last few battles of the war. A favour Stebran returned last year when his wife succumbed to an illness that a few short years ago would have been able curable with a simple injection.
Someone clearing their throat behind him made him turn around. "Yes," he asked seeing Senator Svenkali standing there with Colonel Natagra Noydhen – the most senior of the military officers to side with the senators – next to him.
"Sir we have finished securing the bunker," Noydhen replied, her voice crisp and clear. "The aliens have been driven out. All the doors are closed and locked down the aliens can't get any more of their people in here."
"Excellent were there any problems?"
"A few," Noydhen admitted, "the Terran weapons, which are some kind of lasers, are extremely formidable and their armour is highly resistant to our weapons. I must admit we only succeeded in taking control because they suddenly pulled their forces out. Why we don't know."
"What about the ones defiling the Artefact with their presence," Svenkali asked.
Noydhen grimaced. "Unfortunately, they've closed and sealed access to the Artefact," she replied, "we have not been able to get inside the ship nor been able to contact Senator Messyr and his unit. We can only conclude that they failed to take the ship and are either dead or being held prisoner aboard it."
Svenkali scowled and started to open his mouth to say something but before he could do so alarms abruptly rent the air of the control room. Kuenovo spun to look at the consoles. "What is it?" he demanded.
"Sir one of the large alien ships has begun descending from orbit," one of the operators reported, "it is on a direct course for our location."
"Which ship is it Asgard or one of the other ones?"
"One of the other ones the biggest one," the operator reported, "at its current rate of descent they will be on top of us within ten minutes."
"Do you think they're planning to attack us?" Svenkali asked looking a little fearful at that prospect. "Surely they cannot hurt us this deep underground."
"You can bet they could," Noydhen replied, "depending on how powerful their weapons actually are they could easily drill down to the bunker and kill us all. But since its only one ship coming, I don't think that's their intention at all."
"You think they're coming for the people expelled from the bunker," Kuenovo asked.
"It's what I would do sir if I had a ship in orbit."
"Makes sense," Svenkali admitted a second before more alarms went off. "Now what?"
"Sirs the Artefact it's… it's…" an operator started to say.
"It's what," Kuenovo demanded.
"It's beginning to move sir. It's risen off its docking blocks and the hangar has retracted its mooring clamps," the operator reported.
"We have to stop them," Svenkali exclaimed, "they can't steal what's rightfully ours. Close the hangar doors."
"We can't we've been locked out of all hangar control systems," another operator reported, "the Artefact has control over them now."
"Can you show us?" Noydhen asked.
"Yes, monitor three."
One of the large overhead monitors came to life with the feed from one of the security cameras that had been installed in the hangar area. It clearly showed that the Ancient warship had indeed lifted off its blocks and was slowly but surely moving towards the open hangar doors. They could only watch in helpless fury as the mighty warship disappeared through the doors and began moving along the long tunnel to the surface. The camera switched to a view from inside the tunnel – which had been carefully mapped and strewn with traps designed to catch any would be thieves years ago – and the Ancient warship gliding towards it with the slow inexorability of an iceberg.
"Do we still have control of the outer doors?" Kuenovo asked, referring to the doors that they had installed at the back of the cave-like entrance to the launch tunnel. They were usually closed but would have automatically opened when the main hangar doors did.
"Yes, sir we do."
"Close them that will force them to stop."
"Yes sir. Closing doors."
Another window opened on the monitor showing the doors closing and sealing themselves preventing the Ancient vessel from proceeding further. The response from the aliens taking their warship was not what they would have expected. Instead of coming to a halt and reversing course the ship kept moving and a circular depression set into its blunt prow began to glow ominously. A moment later a purple-blue energy beam erupted from the dish, shot along the length of the tunnel, and contacted the heavy trinium-titanium doors. For a moment the doors resisted the force of the weapon then in a brilliant flash of light they vaporised. The beam vanished and the warship continued forward. They could only watch in impotent rage as the Ancient vessel passed out of the tunnel and into the open air for the first time in who knew how long.
"Are they ascending into orbit," Kuenovo asked.
"Negative," an angry sounding operator reported sounding puzzled. "They're manoeuvring to take position directly over the main areas of the bunker."
"They've got what they wanted why don't they leave," Svenkali wondered sounding like he was on the verge of tears at the knowledge that they had lost the warship that the Ancients had left here for them to find and learn from as their chosen successors. The Ancients really had abandoned their people. What have we done to displease them, he wondered feeling like everything that he had ever thought, ever believed in his life, everything that he had ever worked for was pointless.
It was at that moment that the main lights went out, all the screens and consoles going dark. Cries of shock and distress filled the room a few moments before battery powered emergency lights came on. Some of the consoles also came back online but with fewer controls glowing or screens active.
"Great now what," Noydhen said. "Report?"
"Ma'am we've lost primary power throughout the whole of the bunker," one of the staff reported, "we have emergency batteries only."
"Sirs, ma'am we're getting reports that the population is disappearing," another reported, "multiple transporter actions."
"They're taking them," Svenkali exclaimed.
"No, our people are being saved," the familiar voice of the traitor President Jowmart said from behind them prompting them all to spin around. To find a full-sized hologram of Stebran Jowmart standing there, his face looking like a thundercloud as he glared at them. "Captain Hunter is using the transporter arrays of the Aurelius to transport the civilian population and all non-coup forces to a dropship launched from the Zentraedi battlecruiser that descended. Once they're all aboard the battlecruiser will recover the dropship and return to orbit."
"And what's going to become of our people? You've just sold them into servitude," Senator Dukon said, "and you've let aliens take something that belonged to us."
"The Aurelius never belonged to us. The Ancients, or to use their proper name the Lanteans, merely left it here until one of their descendants could come to claim it. And for someone so intelligent Alexmat you can be so stupid," Jowmart replied. "The Zentraedi were, until very recently, slaves themselves to an alien race called the Tirolians who used them as tools of conquest and warfare to expand their multi-galactic empire. They were freed by the Terrans who themselves have no use for slaves.
"No, the Zentraedi will not be enslaving our people nor will their Terran friends. Instead, they will take our people to the planet we planned to colonize if our evacuation ships hadn't been shot down by the Goa'uld. They will then provide us with all the resources and equipment we need to rebuild our civilization."
"And what about us," Svenkali asked. "Are you just going to leave us here to die?"
"Well, that depends on you," Jowmart replied. "If you surrender you will be transported aboard this ship and held until a proper tribunal can be assembled."
"And if we don't," Kuenovo asked softly.
"Then you will still be transported aboard this ship but only for a short while," Jowmart answered glaring angrily at his former best friend still incensed that he had betrayed him in this way. "You will then be taken to the few areas of this planet that are still habitable, where you will be transported down with a basic set of supplies and left to live or die on your own. I suggest you choose, now."
"May we have some time to think about this," Senator Dukon asked.
For a few moments the president didn't respond just glared at them for a few moments, making them all sweat fearing that he would deny them. Finally, he spoke up. "The bunker's emergency batteries have sufficient charge for two hours," he said. "I will contact you again just before they are due to expire. I will have your decision then."
With that the hologram disappeared leaving the conspirators to stare at where he had been. Then they all turned to look at one another knowing one thing. They were well and truly screwed.
Bridge
Ancient Destroyer Aurelius
Two Hours Later
Rick looked over from where he was sitting in the command chair as he heard someone come back onto the bridge. He wasn't surprised to see that it was President Jowmart, coming to use the holographic communicator to speak to the conspirators who had attempted to take over the Caloran bunker to learn of their decision.
"Are you ready Mister President," he asked him calmly. He had been quietly enjoying the peace and quiet here on the bridge for the last two hours, President Jowmart and the others having left the bridge to help deal with the survivors of the Caloran people being transported first here to the Aurelius and then to a landed Zentraedi Frandlar Tiluvo-class dropship. There had been more than one completely understandable freakout among the refugees as they caught sight of real-life literal giants, though the Zentraedi warriors had been nothing but polite and helpful to them. They had even removed their armour and not carried any weapons to appear as non-threatening as a fifty-foot-tall humanoid could be.
While they had been doing that, he had been studying the Aurelius and interacting with the neural interactive simulation of his distant Lantean ancestor Captain Bonran as he did so. The simulation had been extremely helpful in learning how the Aurelius worked and what she could do as flying and operating this ship was massively different to flying a veritech. In fact, they were as different as night was from day. Learning about those differences, and how to fly and operate Aurelius had been both fun and quiet frightening. Especially as it hadn't taken him that long at all to realize just how devastatingly powerful a warship this ship was, she was certainly more than a match for any ship in the Zentraedi fleet and would probably even give the SDF-1 – if she had still been operational – a run for her money in terms of lethality with the battlefortress only winning due to her reflex cannon.
He just hoped that they were mature enough not to abuse her power.
"No," Jowmart admitted bringing Rick out of his thoughts. "But I need to do this. I need to speak with them again to learn what their decision is. I hope they've made the right one."
"So do I," Rick admitted as he really wasn't looking forward to being the first Terran officer to maroon people on an alien world. Especially a world as currently hostile as Calora as while the equatorial regions of this planet were free of the snow and ice that dominated the rest of the planet, they were not the most hospitable of places. Storms were common due to the constant interaction between the hot air masses of the equator and the cold air masses to the north and south.
"Well, we will see now. Activate the holographic transmitter for me would you please."
"Of course," Rick replied giving the mental command to the datastream and immediately feeling the ship react and bring the transmitter online. "Commencing holographic scan."
A shimmering light flashed along the length of Jowmart's body and suddenly for the Caloran president reality changed. Suddenly he was back in the control room of the bunker that had been both their sanctuary and their prison for nearly a decade. He was startled to see that there were very few people here now, there were no sign of Senators Dukon and Svenkali and most of the operators had gone. Indeed, the only one's present were his former friend, Colonel Noydhen and three soldiers. All of which appeared beaten and completely demoralised.
"Where are Senators Dukon and Svenkali," he asked as the people in the darkening, cooling control room noticed and reacted to his presence.
"Dead," Kuenovo answered, "they and most of their supporters killed themselves just after you broke off communication. Svenkali said something about making amends to the Ancients by offering up his life. The others gave similar sentiments."
Jowmart shook his head sadly at that. While he had been, indeed still was, mad as hell at the Senators for their foolishness he wouldn't have wished for them to take their own lives. Not in that way, in a way that made no difference for anyone. It was just a sad waste of life.
"I see," he said at last. "Such a pointless waste of life but moving on. Have you made your decision?"
"We have."
"And?"
"We are prepared to surrender," Kuenovo said, "all that we ask is that whatever happens to us, whatever our fate is to be, that there be no negative blowback on our families. Can you please promise me that? For old times' sake if nothing else."
"I can. Your families are already aboard the Zentraedi drop ship, which will soon return to its mothership for the journey. There will be no blowback to them for your foolishness."
"Very well. Then we surrender."
"Good. You will be transported aboard momentarily prepare yourselves," Jowmart said before stepping back causing the holographic field to dissipate from around him breaking the communications link. He then turned to Captain Hunter. "They've surrendered would you please bring them aboard and put them in the brig."
"As you wish," Rick replied before giving the thought command to the system. Man, I could really get used to giving commands this way. It's so much easier than talking or pressing buttons, he thought as he sensed the ship respond to his command. Transport sensors scanned the bunker, isolating all remaining human life signs, before engaging the transport sequence bringing all of them aboard and rematerializing them in holding cells – two to a cell – in the brig. "Done they're all aboard."
"Thank you. So, what happens now?"
"Well in another few minutes the dropship will return to Commander Neleya's battlecruiser," Rick told him, "they'll then return to space before moving out of orbit to fold clearance. Once they're clear of Calora's gravity well they'll space fold to your new homeworld where some other ships from Commander Breetai's fleet, and a Nox vessel, will be waiting for them."
"I see," Jowmart replied, even as part of him wondered what space folding entailed when it came to faster than light travel and how did it compare to more conventional hyperspace travel. "Would you mind transporting me to the dropship before it takes off? I should be with my people now. We can discuss repatriation of the prisoners once we're settled, and a proper tribunal can be assembled to try them for their crime."
"Of course."
"It has been a pleasure meeting you, Captain Hunter. And I am glad to know that the Aurelius will be in safe hands with you."
"The pleasure has been mine President Jowmart," Rick answered with a warm smile before remotely activating the transporter, teleporting President Jowmart to the dropship in a shimmer of golden energy leaving him alone on the bridge if not on the ship. He was just about to turn his attention to the few other things he needed to do before taking the Aurelius up into orbit when an alert from the communications system caught his attention. They were receiving an urgent transmission from Earth.
He accepted it immediately causing a holographic screen to materialise in front of him. What he saw immediately filled him with concern as the person calling him was Lisa Hayes and she, frankly, well looked like hell. Her uniform was rumpled and stained, something that was completely out of character for Lisa as she was fastidious about the appearance of her uniform, and he could see soot stains on her face and in her hair.
"Lisa. What the devil happened to you are you alright," he asked alarmed.
"A bit battered and bruised but I'm okay Rick," Lisa answered, "but we need you back here as soon as possible. We've got a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"New Macross City has been attacked."
Authors Note: Well, another chapter bites the metaphorical dust. I hope you all enjoyed it, and this brings an end to the Calora arc of this story though it won't be the last we see of the Caloran characters you have all been introduced to. They will return in future arcs as they're going to have quite a role to play going forward. As for who has attacked New Macross you'll find out in the next chapter or two. Until next time.
