Author's note: thanks to all readers for their continued support.
Diplomatic Opening
Pegasus Galaxy, Millin System.
Rodney McKay carefully inspected the thin, colorless, transparent crystal plate before placing it in the last free cell. Immediately, the whole case was illuminated, proving that the system modified by the Canadian was functional. Rodney closed the locker and took his tablet in hand, opening several windows, and examining the columns of figures that were passing by.
"Everything seems to work fine, but with a genius like me, it's no wonder."
He turned to the members of the Daedalus engineering team, hoping to receive their compliments... except that they worked as usual, without taking care of him.
Somewhat upset at not receiving the applause he thought he deserved, the unbearable McKay turned to the chief engineer.
"Hermiode, do you want to check if there is no system error on your side?"
Isolated in the middle of an alien computer island and screens where runic writing appeared, the alien slowly blinked and moved an Asgard Stone on the control panel in front of him.
The text changed on the screens. After examining the report of his computers, Hermiode turned to Rodney.
"Systems were normal. But I don't see why it wouldn't, Dr. McKay. This is not the first time that you connect the Cloaking Device of a Jumper to the shield's generator of a starship."
Rodney tried to justify himself.
"It was the shields of Atlantis... an Ancient City Ship... The Daedalus is a hybrid of Tau'ri and Asgard technology."
Realizing there was no point in arguing with the annoying Canadian, Hermiode moved the Asgard Stone again. Some runes on the control panel went out and others lit up.
"Colonel Caldwell, the Cloaking Device is up and running, but I want to remind you that this system uses the shield projectors. So the Daedalus will be deprived of protection once she becomes invisible."
Steven Caldwell's voice resonated in the intercom.
"No problem to report?"
Hermiode glanced briefly at Rodney.
"One. Minor. Dr. McKay thinks his genius is not receiving the proper degree of praise."
There was a brief moment of silence before John Sheppard's laughter resonated in the intercom.
The Asgard engineer was famous among the Daedalus crew for the causticity of his remarks.
In order not to hinder the hands that came in and out of the bridge or slalomed between the consoles, Ronon Dex had leaned against a partition, arms crossed. He was talking to Teyla Emmagan, standing next to him.
"Rodney is exaggerating. It was just a matter of changing some Control Crystals... even I'm capable of doing it."
Teyla sighed and shook her head.
"Ronon, you know it's more complicated than that!"
He smiled at her mockingly.
"Really?"
Those who didn't know the relationship between Dex and McKay thought they hated each other. They fought almost all the time, and Rodney often called the Satedan 'orangutan' or 'gorilla'.
But in fact, they were probably the two members of AR-1 who understood each other best.
Both had a complex they were trying to hide. Meredith Rodney Mckay hated his first name, and more than that, he couldn't stand that his sister was a better physicist. He had a sickly need for appreciation.
As for Ronon Dex, he had seen his planet destroyed by the Wraiths. As part of the Satedan defense forces, he fought bravely but was unable to prevent disaster... or even save his family. Ronon was hiding behind the mask of a big bully who 'thought' with his muscles... but in fact, he was much smarter than one generally thought and astonished sensitive. For example, he cared much for children.
Standing by the command chair, Lieutenant-Colonel John Sheppard was watching the crew, who were getting ready for the passage into hyperspace. It would be a quick jump. They were not leaving the planetary system; they were just going closer to the third planet. An important space battle took place in its orbit.
This confrontation was the latest development in the war between the Pegasus Replicators and the Wraiths and the SGC was eager for information, hence the current mission of the Daedalus: protected by a Cloaking Device, they had to approach the battlefield and film the battles.
A hyperspatial window opened in front of the BC-304 which seemed to accelerate fantastically before crossing the opening which closed behind her.
Just out of hyperspace, the Daedalus became translucent and blurred before disappearing completely to the eyes and sensors.
On the bridge, a tense silence reigned as if the hands were afraid that the enemy would hear them.
The vision offered to the Tau'ri explained their concern. The detectors were saturated with echoes of explosions. Thermal detectors located multiple sources of heat in the cosmos, explosions that cooled. As for radars, they received the echoes of many moving objects. Many were wrecks, Darts, or Jumpers that fought each other in risky maneuvers. There were also equivalents of corvettes and cruisers that exchanged heavy fire, but there were also...
Sheppard swallows up.
"Six Hive Ships..."
It paused as several hyperspatial windows opened to bring in new Wraith reinforcements.
"Correction...seven Hive ships and..."
The image that appeared on the bow canopy was easy to identify for someone who lived in Atlantis. The screen integrated into the canopy showed a top view of a kind of gigantic snowflake. Seen from the side, the same spaceship looked like a futuristic city with tall Skyscrapers clustered around a truly gigantic tower.
"... an Ancient's City Ship."
Most of the hot spots detected by the Daedalus came from the shots that hit continuously the soap bubble-like shield that surrounded the City-Ship. The huge spaceship was engaged in a violent fight with a small Wraith fleet grouped around a Hive almost as large as the city and... the Atlantis clone riposted with swarms of drones launched by the piers' openings as well as Pulse Weapons projectiles fired from the towers. The City-Ship inflicted enormous damage to the Wraiths' techno-organic vessels.
Hermiod's voice was heard from engineering.
"Vital signal sensors indicate the presence of living beings on board the Atlantis-Class City Ship and the five freighters at point X: 157; Y: 57; Z: 124 x 10,000 kliks."
Colonel Caldwell leaned over the intercom, turning the switch.
"Living beings? Are you sure?"
There was a brief silence.
"Colonel, if I wasn't affirmative, I would have said. But since you seem to want to hear my assumptions, I think they are human beings. They breathe oxygen, release carbon dioxide, and have a body temperature of 37°C."
Several crew members were stunned... it made no sense. The Asurans were Replicators, not humans.
Hermiode must have felt Caldwell's disbelief because he said a few words in his own language that sounded like... swears. Finally, he spoke again in American.
"If you allow me..."
The display on the screen changed to a tactical map where Wraiths ships were represented by red dots and Asurans by blue dots.
"This is the likely trajectory of the freighters."
A blue arrow materialized.
"As you can see, Colonel Caldwell, the freighters came from Millim, so the living things on board are probably the natives. And the Replicators evacuated them before a Wraith's culling."
Sheppard turned to the detection screen that showed the opening of new hyperspatial windows... again, Wraiths reinforcements.
"I think I understand the bad mood of our pale-skinned friends. I, too, would be angry if someone ran away with my lunch box just as I sat down to eat."
Lantea, Atlantis, a few hours later.
In Dr. Weir's office, Colonel Caldwell commented on the 3D holographic film floating in the middle of the room.
"... cargo ships full of refugees have finally reached a speed sufficient to open a hyperspatial window. The City-Ship covering their escape followed them... and then the rest of the fleet. According to Hermiode's projections, the Wraiths lost 4 Hive-ships and 20 cruisers. The Asuran had lost one Aurora-class ship and 4 destroyers."
Sitting in her chair on the other side of the desk, Elizabeth Weir nodded.
"Impressive, they inflicted a severe defeat on the Wraiths."
But she was immediately contradicted by McKay.
"Not really, the balance of power between the Wraiths and the Asurans is at least twenty to one. Millim is a Pyrrhic victory. If the war continues like this, the Asurans will win all the battles but the Wraiths will win the war... because attrition will eventually destroy the Asurans."
The Atlantis leader frowned.
"Asurans are Replicators, they can compensate their losses much faster than humans."
McKay seemed offended.
"You think that I didn't take that into account? Elizabeth, I did some calculations to prove my hypothesis during the return trip... and Hermiode checked it out... note that I didn't ask him anything but he loves to give his opinion on everything... so Hermiod agrees with me. Unless the Asurans inflict twenty times more losses on the Wraiths they will end up losing. And if I have noticed, the Asurans too must have understood. "
"Maybe that's why they saved the people of Millim?"
All eyes turned to Ronon Dex. He uncrossed his arms, stopping to swing on his chair.
"Actually... they must think that if they prevent the culling the Wraiths will weaken. So they move people away to starve their enemies."
An expression of amazement appeared on McKay's face. Very excited, he pointed at the Satedan.
"... Ronon is right. How come I didn't think about it? Hermiode didn't think about it either...
Immediately he began to tap on his tablet while grumbling in a low voice.
Undeniably, McKay and Hermiode were very intelligent. Nevertheless, unlike Ronon Dex, they were not originally from this galaxy. They had forgotten to take into account the atrocious feeding method of the Wraiths... probably because it horrified them. This was a Cognitive Bias.
John Sheppard frowned.
"I often forget this, but there are many habitable planets that are not connected to the Stargates network." He turned to McKay. "How many habitable planets actually?"
The Canadian replied immediately without looking up from his work.
"Pegasus has around 150 billion stars, if we eliminate red giants, white dwarfs, blue giants - in short, all stars that are not on the main sequence- and too unstable planetary systems -close to a black hole or having eccentric orbits, for example- there must be..." McKay paused briefly. "Like a billion potentially habitable planets. But to check which star actually has a habitable planet, even the Wraiths must go and see for themselves."
Sheppard spoke again.
"So, if the Asurans move the populations of the planets that serve as Wraiths' pantry and hide them on unknown planets, the populations will be out of reach?"
He was addressing McKay again. The Canadian seemed a little annoyed by the question.
"Theoretically yes... even if the Wraiths visited a planetary system every minute, it would take them... uh..." Pausing his own calculations, McKay tapped a few moments on his tablet... "1,901.28 years to find the planet where Milim's inhabitants were hiding."
Ronon had a cruel smile.
"The Wraiths will starve to death long before!"
The meeting was about to end when a siren sounded.
"Unscheduled Stargate Activation."
Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard ran to the platform above the Stargate. They arrived just in time to see the formation of the vortex. Aiden Ford ordered the closure of the Iris... actually an energetic shield.
Behind the translucent shield, the interior of the door was undulating like a peaceful lake.
Radek Zelenka, a small man with glasses, looked up at the virtual screen projected by his Ancient console.
"Dr. Weir, we are receiving a radio broadcast. This is a message from... uh... Hakuno Kishinami, the High Councilor of Asuras. She wants to talk to you"
Although surprised (Kishinami? The Asurans?!) Elizabeth reacts like an experienced diplomat. Talking, even with potential enemies, is always good...
" Dr. Zelenka, accept the communication."
A holographic screen appeared in front of the railing. The 3D image showed the face and bust of a Japanese-type teenager. She had an inexpressive doll-like face, milk chocolate-colored eyes, and hair.
She was dressed in a white and brown tunic like the ones the Ancients wore in the recordings of Atlantis.
Briefly showing an expression of nervousness, Hakuno glanced at the clustered Tau'ri looking towards the screen.
"Uh... hello there?"
"Good day to you, Hakuno Kishinami," Elizabeth replied. "I am surprised to learn that you have become the High Councilor of Asuras."
She nodded.
"Newly elected" simply replied the Last master.
"May I offer my congratulations?"
Hakuno looked out of the camera's field of view at someone in the same room as her.
"No choice. War against the Wraiths."
The leader of Atlantis bit her lips, divided between the desire to laugh and frustration. She had been a diplomat for many years... but it was the first time she had to negotiate with the leader of a powerful interstellar nation headed by a chief of state who hardly spoke and had a perfect poker face.
"All right, may I ask the reason for your call?"
"Alliance?"
"Sorry?"
"Alliance" repeated Hakuno a little more firmly.
The leader of the Atlantis Expedition replied in an incredulous voice.
" You want to ally with us?"
Nod.
"Against the Wraiths?"
Another nod.
Elizabeth began to have a headache... hearing a muffled laugh, she turned to Sheppard to send him a warning glance. He had the good taste to pretend to cough...
Striving for calm, Dr. Weir used her most professional tone.
"What would be the terms of this alliance?"
With a cute Head Tilt, she looked at Weir with incomprehension.
"Terms?"
A barely audible murmur ran through the audience... some Atlantis members had just been converted to the Church of Divine Head Tilt. Blushing without really understanding why, Weir breathed in, and breathed out to regain her composure.
"I mean the terms of this alliance."
Hakuno stopped and frowned, and then her expression changed as if she were listening to a voice (1).
"Defensive alliance to protect each other from the Wraiths. The purpose of this alliance is to put an end to the threat represented by these Aliens" she ends up saying, seeming to quote a text.
Weir nodded, a little reassured by the answer.
"Let me remind you that the Asurans attacked us without provocation on our part."
"Previous government?"
"I understand that, but... perhaps you could offer us something that will assure us of your honesty?"
"A ZPM?"
Weir thought of commitments, exchanges of ambassadors, and the signing of a treaty by talking about 'counterpart' but the Tau'ri would certainly not refuse material compensation... especially if it was a ZPM. For now, Atlantis only had one. However, the city needed 3 to function at 100% of its capabilities.
"It is indeed a very tempting proposal. Nevertheless, I would first like to ask you a question. Atlantis members witnessed a space battle near Millim. According to our sensor readings, the population of this planet was taken by cargo ships and an Atlantis-Class City Ship. We are of course grateful to you for avoiding the culling of these innocent individuals, but we are concerned about what they may have become."
"Another planet."
"You took them to another planet?"
It seem that Ronon was right.
"Yes... a planet not belonging to the Stargate network to which the Wraiths have access."
Weir frowned.
"What do you mean? There's another Stargate network?"
Hakuno blinked.
"Not exactly... address with nine chevrons."
Elizabeth Weir jolted. In Pegasus as in the Milky Way, all planet addresses were a combination of seven symbols. The eighth chevron would be to connect a gate to another galaxy (2). But no one at the SGC knew what the ninth chevron was for.
"What do you mean?"
"Nine-code addresses are a 'secret code' for accessing planets that the Ancients did not want anyone else to visit (3)."
Dr. Weir decided not to continue on this subject. The inhabitants were out of reach of the Wraiths, which was all that mattered for the moment.
"All right. I only led the Atlantis expedition but not the planet we came from. I cannot therefore accept an alliance without the agreement of my superiors. Could you send us your alliance proposal in the form of a text file, in your language and ours, so that we can communicate it to the SGC?"
Hakuno shook her head.
"Yes."
Zelnka shuddered and opened a window.
"We've already received the file, Dr. Weir."
Elizabeth smiled... obviously the Asurans worked much faster than humans.
"All right, thank you. I'll call you as soon as I get an answer. Is that okay?"
"Yes. Good-bye."
"Goodbye."
And without further ado... the Stargate closed.
Hearing laughter behind her, Weir turned around... simultaneously furious, relieved, and... as amused as Sheppard.
"John that's enough, it's a serious matter."
"Oh yes... because Miss Kishinammi risks ruining the careers of all the professional diplomats she meets."
Next to him, Ronon was watching Teyla.
"Are you all right?"
"What? Oh, I'm fine..." she smiled, staring into space.
"Well... you look like you got hit on the head."
Teyla blinked and jolted.
"What are you talking about?"
As the young woman's eyes had become clear again, her friend's anxiety subsided... a little... but he remained suspicious.
"Since just now you looked like stunned... besides, you are not the only one."
With his hand, he showed the other Tau'ri still looking at the place where the screen had appeared.
"It's just that she's so cute..."
"What? Kishinami? It's a toaster!"
Some people are immune to the 'Head Tilt Effect'... but they are not very numerous.
Cerberus, Milky Way
Like most of the planets where the Goa'uld settled, Cerberus resembled... Canada. To be exact a Canadian forest, with large conifers, and some poplars and birches... in any case plants that were very similar to these terrestrial species.
The planet's Stargate stood at the end of a simple polished stone ramp. Right next to it, on a pedestal, was a DHD. The place was quiet, only four Jaffa in red chainmail stood guard. Two of them had the typical snake mask of the guard of Apophis.
Suddenly, a noise made them turn towards the door. A first chevron had just illuminated, then a second... Another Gate connected to Cerberus one.
Raising their Staff Weapon, the four Jaffa positioned away from the vortex that was going to form while keeping it in their line of fire.
But what crossed the Gate was... a MALP!
The Jaffa quickly recovered from their surprise and opened fire. But their shots fell helplessly on an Asgard Shield!
It was not an ordinary MALP, but a model called Beachhead MALP. It was not a mobile laboratory, but a weapon. A tube on the back of the remotely controlled land-crawling drone spit out four black grenades shaped like tube.
They exploded over the Jaffa in a violent light and deafening noise. But they were not simple flash-bangs. It was Sting-ball grenades throwing around hardened rubber balls. The defenders of the Stargate fell to the ground, neutralized.
A hundred meters from the Stargate, under a hill, was an outpost where another group of four Jaffa rested, the relief of the guards stationed near the Gate. They had attended the scene and wanted to give the alarm but a new salvo of four grenades reduced them to silence.
A group of Marines emerges from the Gate, in Woodland camouflage with flak vests, Kevlar helmets, and ballistics glasses. They were armed with M16A3 with underbarrel grenade launcher; one of the men even had an M249 machine gun.
They ran to the outpost and deployed, with some soldiers kneeling on the ground. All looked around them, ready to repel a counter-attack... that did not come. The Jaffa had been neutralized before giving the alert.
The sergeant leading the squad issued a brief radio message.
"Objective 2 secure."
Meanwhile, another squad had left the Stargate to deploy around the Naquadah ring.
"Objective 1 secure."
Daniel Jackson moved forward, pointing his P-90 around him. Three steps behind him Samantha Carter covered him. Marines were advancing to their right and left. As for Colonel O'Neill, he had stayed close to Objective 2 to gather the group responsible for attacking Objective 4.
The archaeologist was not a military man and in fact, he had nothing to do here... but Teal'c is his friend.
Objective 3 was an open area overlooking a huge crater dug into the ground. Daniel lay down on the ground and took out a small spyglass to look around him.
Two dirt roads zigzagged down to the bottom of the crater... a construction site lined with a Naquadah refinery. The place was miserable. Slaves employed as laborers lived in simple wooden huts without any comfort in the midst of industrial facilities.
Several guard posts were installed at different places on the roads going down to the bottom of the crater and Jackson saw patrols of Jaffa, they were easy to spot because they were in red chainmail.
On the other side of the crater, almost in front of them, there was a kind of fort with low and crenelated stone walls. In two places of the battlements, Daniel recognized Staff Canons. It was to be the garrison... but the most impressive was the spaceship that floated above the crater.
"A Bilskinir..."
It was an old Asgard model. her black hull was open in several places and the warship did not hover above the ground thanks to her own thrusters but supported by an anti-G ring which enclosed her.
Near Daniel, Sam answered in a low voice.
"It must be one of the ships captured by the Replicators. After the battle of Dakara, she must have been boarded by Apophis who brought her here for studying Asgard's technology."
Apophis was one of the most intelligent and technologically gifted Goa'uld. Among other things, he improved the Ha'tak's hyperdrives and even created a whole new generation of these antique warships.
Letting him study a Bilskinir was not a very bright idea.
Fortunately...
The archaeologist had a cold smile.
"Except once again we're here to end his little party... I'm sorry for him." Daniel paused briefly and then turned to Sam. "Actually, no... I lied. I am very happy to ruin his life, as he ruined mine."
As the crater was surrounded by thick forest, the Marines were able to deploy discreetly.
The confrontation began when a squad met a patrol of Jaffa. The confrontation was brief, the shots answered a trumpet. But the sound of an alarm horn responded to the fire... except it was already too late.
The gates of the fort opened and a column of Jaffa came out at a race pace. They walked to battle in parade formation like soldiers of the nineteenth century...
Two machine guns began firing at the same time, mowing down entire rows of warriors. Grenade launchers fired projectiles at the Aliens as they dispersed seeking shelter, killing almost all the warriors in the column.
From the ramparts, the defenders retaliated. But the golden plasma projectiles burned the bark of the trees without much damage, the Marines were widely deployed, sheltered behind the trunks and lying on the ground. Some even used their shovels to dig individual holes. They responded quietly, aiming before firing short bursts.
Simultaneously, two fire support teams were putting mortars into service. The shells went off in a curved trajectory, falling on the other side of the walls.
Daniel Jackson stood up briefly and shot.
The Jaffa who ran towards him seemed to dance while the bullets hit his chainmail.
All around the archaeologist, the Marines fired towards the guard posts on the other side of the crater, or towards the Jaffa who went up the road leading to the bottom of the crater.
In fact, the Tau'ri completely surrounded the construction site. They had a vast arsenal of weapons ranging from assault rifles to machine guns, including sniper rifles, and grenade launchers, and made extensive use of them. Moreover, they were more numerous than Apophis' warriors and they had the high ground.
Samantha bent down and curved two grenades that she dropped on the front post just below them, despite the vertical distance - about ten meters- the explosion violently shook their position.
The battle had begun about ten minutes earlier but was already running out of steam, the Jaffa were fighting bravely, almost without fear of death... but they were dying bravely, in fact.
Jack O'Neill ran to the outer wall of Apophis Fort. Dozens of Marines simultaneously fired towards the battlements, forcing the last defenders to bow their heads and take shelter. A soldier had straightened up, arming a rocket launcher. The projectile struck just where a Staff Cannon was firing towards the forest... the explosion blew up the top of the wall raining down broken stone and... a corpse.
Out of breath after crossing the no-man's land, Jack leaned a few moments against the wall and then approached the entrance door, a thick postern made of wooden beams. He pulled a block of C-4 out of one of his chest pockets and fixed it to the wood, setting the timer.
The explosion blows the entrance to shreds. The smoke had not yet dissipated as the Marines straightened up to run toward the opening.
Daniel carefully descended the steep road that made switchbacks on the side of the crater. This saved his life. A Serpent Guard suddenly came out from behind a boulder. Jackson had only time to hide behind a large stone, which the enemy fired with his Zat', the blue lightning electrifying the ground where he had stood.
The Jaffa having returned to shelter behind his own rock, the situation froze for a few moments, bursts of bullets, and blue lightning succeeded each other without breaking the status quo... the two camps were pat.
Except that two Marines were following Daniel, they threw their hand grenades across the rock and...
The explosion ended the fight.
Daniel resumed his descent from the slope without meeting another enemy... at least alive... because there were many corpses.
The fighting was almost over. Jackson could only hear a few isolated shots.
He had memorized the map of the site drawn from information provided by the Tok'ra and headed for the nearest slave dormitory.
He discovered that several soldiers had arrived before him. They deployed to secure the place and let him in.
On the inside...
Daniel grimaced; it was worse than he had feared. It was not a dormitory but a dying room. On straw mattresses, dozens of skeletal Jaffa looked at the Tau'ri without seeing them. They were completely apathetic.
"Daniel!"
He turned to see Major Carter. She was kneeling near two beds. A Medic was caring for two visibly unconscious Jaffa.
Teal'c and Bra'tac.
"They are..."
But Sam interrupted him with a reassuring smile.
"I am not a specialist, but believe they are in Kelno'reem condition. They went into a trance to stay alive, but this meant that they were already so weakened that they could no longer survive out of this state of meditation. We must immediately bring them back to Earth if we want to save them."
(1) Imagine for a moment the situation on the other side of the Gate, the reactions of the other members of the Council... especially Oberoth. Fortunately, Thena will dictate Hakuno's answers in the continuation of this 'important diplomatic contact' (cough cough).
(2) Still, not all Gates can connect to other galaxies. The difference is not in the Gate itself. In the Milky Way, only a Stargate located on Earth (and the Gate communicating with Destiny) can open vortices to other galaxies.
In Pegasus, it's a bit different.
Only the Gate connected with Atlantis' computers can open vortices to other galaxies and so it doesn't matter where the City-ship is.
(3)True.