Monster King: I don't intend to stop before putting the word 'end' at the end of the last chapter.
Dragon of the Eclipsing Moon: it would no longer be Gilgamesh if he did not go to the extreme of his ambitions. Tablet 1 of the Epic of Gilgamesh reminds us well, he traveled everywhere, he learned everything, and he took all the challenges.
Jyggilag: Scottish and Irish are Celts. "Celt" is not the name of a nation. It is the name of a cultural group and a family of languages shared by many current populations (such as Bretons, Welsh, and Galicians) or extinct ones (such as Gauls and Galatians).
brayamayana963: sorry, I didn't really understand the question. I do not speak Spanish and my automatic translator is not very good in this language, the result looks like a mush of words.
Boyzilla: And as soon as the Hakuno Update is applied to the Asuran, they all will be transformed into worshippers of the Church of the Divine Head Tilt. Oberoth is wise to be cautious. In fact, the Hakuno Update is a pernicious virus that will reprogram all Pegasus Replicators to make them eternal slaves of Hakuno. As usual, our cute Spiritron Hacker did not realize the scope of her 'brilliant plan'... (She doesn't even know she's behind some brilliant plan, for starters).
I remember once telling you that what made Hakuno so dangerous was that she was both naive and awesome.
It's impossible to know if she's acting childish because she doesn't have the maturity or experience for a smarter answer... Or she is three steps ahead of you and seems to make a mistake... only to trap you.
Author Note: As always, I thank the readers for their constant support and encouragement.
Oh, rereading the previous chapters; I realized that I had made some mistakes. Most are spelling mistakes like in the writing of "Tok'ra". Others are a little more embarrassing, like the throne of Ba'al which is white in one episode, black in the next (canonically it is black!), or the porthole of Pel'tak which is triangular in one episode (Pel'tak porthole had ALWAY be shaped like a parallelogram).
More seriously, in the episode where Thena appears for the first time, I say that she is part of Niam's faction... the content of this same episode as the following ones clearly shows that she is part of Oberoth's Faction.
I plead for a careless mistake, I wrote "Niam" thinking "Oberoth".
The worst mistake is when I talk about the balance of power between the two factions represented at the Asuran Council... I never said the same thing twice and the worst... I wasn't right ONCE (Shame on me!)! In fact, the Niam's faction has always been a minority in the Asuran population.
Fate of Two Galaxies
Pegasus Galaxy, Asuras planet
The room was identical to the smallest detail at the Control Center of the city of Atlantis. On a kind of balcony, several rows of Lantean Control Panels were used by technicians who looked at holographic windows and manipulated keyboards with luminous crystal keys.
The only difference with Atlantis was that there was no Stargate in the room but a Transporter Cabin connecting the Control Room to the rest of the planet.
In fact, the Control Room was located at the top of a tower absolutely identical to the one that stood in the center of the Atlantis City-Ship. But this tower commanded a very different installation, instead of a snowflake-shaped city, the tower (surrounded by some smallest buildings) was installed in the shortest bar of a gigantic U-shaped structure. The two longest bars were almost flat with a landing pad for medium-sized spacecraft and several masts supporting flashing position lights. This structure was the Asuran City Shipyard S 105.
Although called an orbital shipyard, the small city floated only a few hundred meters above the ground, held in place by the contragravity plates located on the underside.
Between the two longest bars of the U, the wreck of the Sirius floated peacefully. A few minutes earlier, a large number of worker drones were at work soldering new armor plates on the Aurora-class Battleship, bringing replacement parts for damaged systems.
But all the drones had returned inside the bays that regularly opened along the inner face of the U-shaped Shipyard.
In the control room, an alarm bell sounded eerily.
One of the Asuran standing in front of a console pressed a few crystal-clear keys.
"Shield engaged."
Immediately, a dome-shaped bubble encompassed the City Shipyard. The shield was transparent, just slightly bluish.
Anxious, Hakuno watched the sudden activity of the Asuran, shaking her hands against her chest and turning her head from one side to the other. Despite her visible anxiety, she absorbed information like a sponge absorbing water.
A large translucent screen showed the beginning of a battle just above Asuras. At Wraith Hive Ship had just come out of hyperspace and had begun bombing the cities above it. Fortunately, the inhabited areas were protected by powerful shields, and the bluish shots cascaded upon the energy barriers ... Innocuous, at least for now.
Worse, Darts and other small Wraiths ships attacked civilian spaceships and made a massacre, because no spacecraft retaliated. Even warships only raised their shields and fled... most Replicators were still hampered by the hacking orchestrated by the humans/ insects hybrids some 10,000 years earlier. The Asurans had received a programming line that prohibited them from attacking the Wraiths!
Only ships that had participated in the Battle of the Black Hole GW234688, and whose crews had received the Hakuno Update, were able to fight. But they were too few.
The Asuran technician standing behind the communication console turned to Hakuno.
"The High Councilor Oberoth ordered the Persephone to attack the Hive Ship."
The Last Master of the Moon nodded and turned to the screen.
A diagram showing the Aurora-class Battleship Persephone had appeared superimposed on the tactical screen. The powerful warship was a monster more than 3,000 meters long (1) literally bristling with Lantean Pulse Weapon turrets. She was however only the secondary armament of the ship. Because she had several weapons bays capable of simultaneously launching swarms of Drone Weapons
As soon as she arrived within range of the Hive Ship, a violent exchange of fire began between the two spaceships but...
"Hyperspatial Windows Opening Detected!"
Pressing various keys, the Replicator which stood behind the sensor console made appear an image on another virtual screen... Two other Hive Ships had just left hyperspace, appearing to slow down vertiginously by regaining Einsteinian space.
Already engaged in full combat with the first Hive Ship, surrounded by swarms of Darts and her shields working at full power, the Persephone was in a pinch and hardly endured the firepower of his enemies.
On the diagram of this Aurora-class battleship, an area went from green to orange... then to red, while other sectors changed to orange. The damage suffered by the Persephone spread rapidly.
"Darts!"
Hakuno turned to another screen, forgetting for a moment the hard fight of Persephone. Several squadrons of Darts were heading straight for them.
She turned to the Replicators with a Head Tilt.
"Armament?"
Strangely confused, the Asuran looked at her with incomprehension. She repeated.
"The Shipyard. What armament?"
"None... just the shield... and we don't have ZPM connected to our power supply."
Hakuno nodded, understanding what the Pegasus Replicator meant. The City-Ship Shield was the most powerful type of shield ever made (2). Nevertheless, the power of a shield also depended on its power supply.
The Replicator continued to speak.
"In addition, we did not receive the Hakuno Update."
The other Asurans agreed.
Fortunately, Hakuno had not arrived at the Shipyard alone. In fact, being the only person who could give orders to the Sirius computer, the Last Master had to accompany the prize crew who had piloted the Sirius to Asuras. And this crew had been confined on board the Shipyard because they had received the Hakuno Update.
The first Darts had just arrived. The bluish shots of their energy weapons crashed on the shield without doing any damage; they turned back after a first pass and then returned to the Shipyard.
"Those who received the Update board the Jumpers and repel the attackers."
She turned to the other Replicators.
"Do you have Drones Weapons on board?"
"Uh yes... but no Launcher. Stocks are only used to replenish the ships we repair."
"No matter. Resume repairs on the Sirius. Focus on the armament. The Drones Launcher must be ready to fire as quickly as possible."
"Fine!"
Kishinami turned to another Replicator.
"I need a direct communication link to the Sirius mainframe."
The technician walked to a secondary console and pressed a few keys.
"It is done."
Hakuno nodded and approached the console.
"Code cast: Hack!"
The confrontation around the Shipyard was fierce. About 20 Jumpers were the only defense against hundreds of Darts attacking from all sides. In addition, three larger ships, Wraiths corvettes, flak spaceships, approached quickly.
Receiving a silent order, the Jumpers dispersed at once, triggering their Cloaking Devises to disappear from sight as from any form of detection.
After a brief moment of confusion, the Wraith gathered and resumed their assault on their main objective.
Except that...
The first Darts to approach the City Shipyard were targeted by the Lantean Pulse Weapon fire. The projectiles of golden light left no chance for the techno-organics space fighters. Twenty of them exploded within seconds. The others dispersed in all directions to escape the Flack... but a dozen other Darts were destroyed before being out of range.
The brief confrontation, however, allowed the Wraiths to understand that Sirius was in a fighting condition. Nevertheless, the old Battleship was immobilized in the repair dock. As a result, the Shipyard's superstructures prevented the Pulse Weapons from firing in several directions... especially towards the stern, since all the buildings in the city were gathered on that side.
The Wraiths made a detour and repositioned at the stern of the Shipyard. They believed they were smarter than the Asurans. It was quite the opposite...
The Jumpers suddenly reappeared, turning off their Cloaking Devises. They were positioned behind the Wraiths, their firing pods already deployed.
The Drones were fired two by two, primarily targeting the Corvettes. Guided by Hakuno, the Seeker Weapons headed precisely for the weak points of the Wraiths' ships. Before they could react to the new threat, the spaceships were replaced by expanding plasma spheres. The Jumpers then fired on the Darts, destroying about 40. A dozen others were destroyed by the Sirius while the Wraith entered the area covered by the ship's Flack trying to escape the attacks of the Jumpers.
After such losses, the Wraith dispersed in all directions, temporarily abandoning the offensive. But they called for reinforcements.
The first wave of assault had been repelled.
There was a deafening silence in the council room.
At last for the human ear, because the Councilors were debating among themselves, but using the subspace link that linked all the nanorobots together.
Two minutes earlier, the Persephone had exploded and the loss of the only Aurora-class Battleship with a crew capable of fighting the Wraiths had caused the collapse of the Asuras defense.
All members of the Council could hear the Wraith firing on the shield protecting the city. There were now five Hive Ships in orbit. They fired relentlessly.
For now, supported by the eight ZPM connected to the power grid (3), the shield resisted everything. Experience gained during the Lanteans/Wraiths war proved that this type of energy barrier could withstand a Wraith bombardment for weeks. The danger was therefore not immediate.
However...
[The Hive Ship damaged by the Persephone does not participate in the fight] pinpointed Liem.
[Right, he recovered] Oberoth replied.
[I think it serves as a rear base for the attacks on the City Shipyard S 105] replied Thena.
[The Shipyard where Hakuno is] said Liem. After a brief pause, he spoke again. [I doubt it was a coincidence. They identified the source of their problem. ]
[Not exactly] replied Oberoth. [Their target is the Sirius.]
[It makes no difference, Hakuno is at the shipyard]
[Correct] replied Thena. [It is logical that they identified the Sirus as the source of the Hakuno Update. They are partly right. Don't you understand what they're trying to do?]
In the council room, all the councilors agreed.
While the Wraith had begun their attack by opening fire on all targets in range, now they were only firing on the capital and the Shipyard. They even looked down on the ships that did not attack them.
[They understood that the Hakuno Update was not yet widespread among all the Replicators and they want to destroy the source... It does not matter if they understood that it is from Hakuno or that they believe that it is Sirius, both are at Shipyard S 105. ]
[But then why attack the city] asked Ormaz, a Councilor so far silent.
[Because they want to access the Central Server] answered Oberoth. [At best, the Wraiths will impose even stricter restrictions... But if I were in their place, I would have no hesitation in annihilating the Asuran by downloading a virus that would destroy us forever].
Thena and Liem exchanged a glance before the latter spoke aloud.
"The time has come to make a decision. We know their goals, and we can easily predict the outcome of the confrontation... we will lose. Sixteen more Hive Ships have been detected by Hyperspatial Sensors. They're heading straight for us! They want to besiege and bomb us until our shield gives in. Nothing will change if we stand by and do nothing. We only have one chance to survive."
"The Hakuno Update" specified Liem.
"Right, as you know, we both received the Update. Any of us can connect to the Central Server and download the Hakuno Update for all our brothers."
Oberoth closed his eyes briefly.
"All right, let's vote by show of hands. Who is in favor of downloading the Hakuno Update to all members of our collective?"
With the exception of the High Councilor himself, the other eight members of the Council raised their hands. An expression of anger passed over Oberoth's face. And it was with a voice tinged with bitterness that he pressed a button.
"All right, I am complying with the majority decision, but I do not approve of it and I fear serious repercussions thereafter."
Lyra -an Asuran looking like a woman with long brown hair- shrugged her shoulders in a very human gesture.
"If we have time to worry about the possible negative outcomes of the Hakuno Update, it will already mean that we have survived the Wraiths' invasion. This is already more than we can hope for now."
Dakara orbit, Milky Way.
The Pel'tak of Ba'al's flagship was silent. All eyes were on the screen.
The scene that appeared was obviously impressive. A space battle raged in a planetary system only a few light years away. The first fleet was homogeneous, consisting of Goa'uld warships, a coalition of several Systemlords under the command of Lord Yu.
Opposite... Ba'al had recognized some of Asgard's Bislkirnir-class. However, the luminous lines that illuminated the black armor of the Asgard ships were normally blue... but these ships were covered with red lines, which gave them a sinister appearance.
But above all there were strange spaceships of an unknown model. Lord Ba'al had never seen similar ships. They looked a little like jellyfish. The front was dome-shaped, and towards the back there was a kind of long stem a bit like a stalactite, other smaller stalactites were irregularly arranged, all pointing back. The hull was made of roughly assembled black metal blocks, some of these blocks glowed with an unreal blue glow.
Around these huge vessels, there were a multitude of smaller vessels resembling spiders with folded legs.
The 'jellyfish' ships shot material projectiles at the Ha'taks. The Goa'uld's Motherships dodged most shots while taking advantage of their superior agility and speed while retaliating. But the shots struck very strong shields on which the golden plasma discharges of the Staff Weapons crashed helplessly.
Ba'al clenched his teeth. He had recognized the bluish brightness that the energy barrier took under the effect of the shots.
"Asgard Shields!"
These 'Replicators' had copied the technology of the Asgard ships they had captured!
"Look at this Ha'tak, her shields are fluctuating!"
With a hand under the chin, Gilgamesh commented on the battle in a full of boredom tone. He didn't seem to realize that the fate of the galaxy was at stake... or he didn't care.
Ba'al watched as the Ha'tak tried desperately to maneuver to escape the crossfire of two Replicator Cruisers. The shield fluctuated one last time before collapsing. The Ha'tak was shot several more times by the Jellyfish vessels and then... the Cruisers simply lost interest, moving away from the Goa'uld ship. Yet the shots did not seem to have had the slightest effect on the Ha'tak.
The Jaffa standing in front of the communication console spoke talking about the ship that was just attacked.
"The Xià huā reports that the Replicators boarded."
Gilgamesh appeared interested.
"Oh... I see... the projectiles are also made of replicators Blocks, they turned into crabs as soon as they touched the hull. This explains why the Replicators Cruisers have stopped firing, they prefer to capture than destroy. It's probably with this very same method that they took over the Asgard ships for their fleet."
The Wedge of Heaven turned to the communications officer.
"Show me the interior of the Xià huā."
Hesitating, the Jaffa turned to Ba'al. But the latter did not care that Gilgamesh dared to give orders to his followers in his presence.
"Obey."
"Yes, my Lord."
In a passageway covered with gilded metal plates decorated with Goa'uld hieroglyphs, a group of Jaffa in traditional chainmail was deployed between the pillars. The interior of the Xià huā was lit by metal braziers placed on pillars.
The warriors had on their foreheads the emblem of Lord Yu. They were nervous... even frightened. The cause of their fright was the noise that came close to them. They heard shots from Ma'tok Staffs and also screams of terror and pain.
Suddenly, there was nothing but silence. Or almost... an indistinct noise was heard... the trampling of thousands of metal feet and the sound of servomotors in action.
While the first metal crabs appeared in the passageway, an armored door closed in front of the Jaffa. But this offered them only a brief respite. Then... at several points of the door, the metal began to deform and smoke before disintegrating under the effect of the acid secreted by the Replicators. As soon as a hole formed, the first crab came out of the opening.
Immediately the Jaffa opened fire.
Hit by the golden plasma sphere shot by a Ma'tok Staff, a crab staggered, retreating under the force of the impact... but it waved its elytra, hardly bothered, before jumping to the ground. Another crab joined it, another... and many others... in a few seconds, the Replicators had become a real tide of mechanical monsters that advanced climbing on the walls and even walking on the ceiling.
The Jaffa continued to fire while retreating, but their weapons had almost no effect. The crabs hit by plasma fire recoiled slightly, and seemed slightly disoriented... but were moving again towards Yu's servants.
A first Jaffa was caught, stumbled, and was covered by the tide of the Replicators. This was the beginning of a massacre.. until there was only one defender left. Mad with terror, the Jaffa unleashed his Ma'Tok and seized the Zat'nik'tel attached to his wrist.
He shot once, twice, three times... at the same metal crab. Although shrouded in arc flash, the Replicator did not even react. Running on the metal floor, it jumped on poor Jaffa's face. The latter struggled for a moment, screaming in pain... but he was overwhelmed by the mass of mechanical monsters that covered him. His cries went out mercifully.
"Very interesting!"
Gilgamesh had watched the brief clash, leaning forward, looking passionately at every detail. Now the King of Uruk smiled mockingly.
Ba'al was irritated.
"What's interesting?! All we learned is that our weapons don't work."
Gilgamesh's smile increased as he leaned against the back of his throne, crossing his hands under his chin.
"Have we watched the same scene, dear friend? So didn't you notice the difference in how the crabs react when you shoot them with Ma'tok Staff or Zat'nik'tel?"
Ba'al frowned. He had many faults. He was a cruel and megalomaniac tyrant... but he was not an idiot, quite the contrary.
"The Replicators absorb energy... the Zat'nik'tel does not affect them at all! But the Ma'tok are also kinetic weapons... they are plasma weapons... plasma is a perfectly ionized gas... this plasma has a mass. The high-velocity plasma projectiles of the Staffs stagger the Replicators. They are vulnerable to kinetic energy."
Gilgamesh laughingly applauded.
"There you are, it was not very complicated to understand."
The Goa'uld turned to the screen that again showed the space battle.
More than half of the Ha'tak were adrift, without shields and already infested with crabs that were to slaughter the crews. The other Motherships were engaged in a losing battle. They had failed to damage any of their opponents.
"Okay, but that doesn't tell me how to destroy those ships!"
Gilgamesh seemed to think.
"I see only one possibility. Fire at maximum power, and concentrate your shots on one ship. Even the Asgard shields have their limit. Moreover, their ships are slower and less agile than the Ha'taks. Use this asset to your advantage."
In small groups or even individually, the Goa'uld ships continued to arrive in the Dakara system. As Ba'al had taken command of the coalition formed with the Free Jaffa, the newcomers agreed to place themselves under his command whatever 'god' they served.
The combined fleet exceeded fifteen Ha'tak and a dozen others were on the way.
But that was not enough. That fleet was the last line of defense. Their defeat would result in the extinction of all life in the Milky Way.
One planet after another succumbed to the invasion of the Replicators.
Ba'al and Gilgamesh were just watching the attack on a planet with a rich Naquadah mine. Replicators' Spider Ships had landed near the dwellings of slaves before... deconstructing. The spaceships had appeared to collapse at once just after landing on their spider-like legs. The blocks were then reassembled in the form of crabs or Bettle or giant Bettle form, the latter form was the most important because some Giants Beetle were as big as a Tel'tak, a bit the 'tanks' of the Replicators.
The army of mechanical monsters had attacked the Jaffa defending the mines; and as on board the Ha'taks, small arms had proved completely ineffective. Only the Staffs Cannons had destroyed some opponents... But as they were targeted in priority by the Replicators, they were soon all neutralized. Without heavy weapons, the Jaffa's resistance collapsed.
As Gilgamesh watched the Kheops-class palace/starship (4) of the Mine's Goa'uld Underlord take off from the landing pyramid, fleeing the planet, a sound was heard.
The Jaffa in front of the communication console manipulated the touch keypad before turning to Ba'al.
"My Lord, Lord Anubis wishes to speak to you."
As if covered with a layer of mercury with strange distortions, the porthole of the Pel'tak had turned into a kind of mirror that reflected the image of a Goa'uld sitting in a black throne between two braziers.
The false god was dressed in a dark monk's robe with silvery threads. His face was invisible, hidden by a smooth and slightly domed black glass mask.
"Chel hol, Lord Ba'al."
Anubis's voice was that of a ghost, perfectly atonal.
"Chel hol, Lord Anubis."
"We have no time to waste with unnecessary pleasantries. I have come to inform you that I am about to leave for Dakara with five upgraded Ha'tak and my flagship."
It was good news; Anubis's ship was a real cosmic fortress able to face a dozen Ha'tak and win.
But the false god had not finished speaking.
"Lord Osiris is already on his (5) way with three Ha'tak. He will be there before me. I will not delay you any further. I..."
"Wait!"
With his hands on the armrests of his throne, Ba'al stood upright.
"The Tau'ri and the Asgard claim that the Replicators want to take over the legendary Ancients' superweapon on Dakara. Is that true? Does this weapon really exist?"
The Goa'uld had searched for this weapon for years without ever finding it. They had come to believe that it was only a myth and Dakara had lost any interest in them. Nevertheless, Anubis had taken control of this planet as soon as he returned. Why take notice of this almost lifeless ball of sand? Except that this Goa'uld was not like the others, he had learned many secrets from the Ancients. It was obvious that he knew where to find the superweapon and maybe even how to activate it.
Anubis stopped and something strange happened. For a moment a human skull seemed to reflect in the black glass of his mask. Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow. He was intrigued.
"This weapon exists" ends up answering the false god.
"Where is it? Lord Anubis, I must know to better protect it!"
"On Dakara there are the ruins of an ancient city."
Ba'al nodded. He knew. The Stargate had been installed there.
"These ruins are at the foot of a mountain... or rather what looks like a mountain. It is actually camouflage. Under a coating imitating the natural rock is hidden the weapon of the Ancients, a molecular de-builder. The weapon sends a pulse that can be transmitted by all Chappa'ai (Stargate) simultaneously, enveloping the entire galaxy with an energy field capable of breaking molecular bonds."
After wishing good luck to Ba'al, Anubis cut off communication.
Gilgamesh turned to the Goa'uld.
"I think I understand your idea."
Ba'al had an ironic smile.
"Well, I totally agree with the Replicators' plan. I even love it so much that I'll adopt it with immediate effect. I'll just change a little detail... because they are the ones who will pay the price. I'd rather be the one who causes genocide than be the victim."
Gilgamesh flipped his head back and laughed... he had always loved watching people who sought absolute power. Most of the time, they behaved like a moth attracted by a flame.
(1) Note: It is difficult to know the exact size of the Aurora-Class Battleship. In fact, every time an Aurora appears in Stargate: Atlantis, its size seems a little different. Fans of the series, based on the information given in the Stargate DVD Collection and comparing with the ships of other species visible in the episodes where Aurora spaceships appear (BC-303, Traveler Ship, Wraith Hive Ship) estimate that the Lantean vessels are between 3,000 and 3,500 meters. I opted for the minimum value.
(2) Outperforming even the Asgard shields. The best defensive combo in Stargate is Ancients City-Ship Shield + ZPM.
(3) There are five ZPM in the Council Dome and three others in the Atlantis City-Ship replica which is connected to the energy grid of the capital when it is docked on the lake in the center of the city. This is the largest number of ZPM connected to the same power network in all Stargateverse! With only three ZPM, Atlantis resisted Wraiths' siege for several months, even as an entire fleet bombarded the City Ship from orbit. This explains Oberoth's stubbornness. He believes that the Wraiths can't break Asuras' formidable defense and will eventually give up. He wants to take the time to study the Replicators modified by the Hakuno Update to verify that it does not represent any danger to the collective before downloading it into the Main Server.
(4) Ra's pyramid ship in the first movie.
(5) Osiris is a male Goa'uld... but his host is a woman. A rarity. Usually, the Goa'uld chooses hosts of the same sex.