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.

Chapter Thirty-One

Ba'al's Mothership

That Same Time

Tharos was somewhat puzzled as one of the Tempest Guards escorted him through the corridors of the mothership towards Ba'al's audience chamber. He had been working diligently in his laboratory, working on the designs for something that he knew would completely revolutionise warfare in the Goa'uld Empire. Not to mention give them a fighting chance against his hosts people when they, inevitably came to blows again. He was of course thinking of Goa'uld battle mecha as expecting a squad or two of Jaffa – armed with only their traditional weapons of the ma'tok staff and zat'nik'atel – to go up against even one Spartan destroid and defeat it was ludicrous. The Jaffa would be wiped out in about thirty seconds and would probably only last that long due to the Terran pilot laughing his/herself silly at their insolence.

Due to the knowledge and practical experience with maintaining and servicing all manner of Terran battle mecha that Vince had he had been making excellent progress. He already had the very, very basics of a design already worked out though he was having to work with slightly different variables to Terrans. For example, he wanted to design a mecha that would be capable of transiting the chappa'ai, something that Terran mecha currently couldn't do since even the shortest was much taller than the six-and-a-half-meter height of a chappa'ai. He'd brought the designs, such as they were, with him after the Jaffa requested admittance and informed him that Lord Ba'al wished to see him. Not about to refuse a summons from a System Lord – bad things could happen to you if you did as System Lords did not forgive even a perceived slight lightly and his current liege was somewhat infamous among his peers for his frequently very spectacular and explosive revenge whenever he felt slighted – he had saved the designs to a memory crystal and brought them with him in a handy pocket.

It took only a few minutes to arrive in Lord Ba'al's audience chamber, the very same room in which he had first been interrogated by the much older Goa'uld and allowed to join his service. Somewhat to his surprise Tharos saw that Ba'al was not sitting imperiously upon his ebony throne instead he was standing over by one of the audience rooms expansive windows looking down upon one of the newest worlds in his domain. Accompanied by his escort Tharos came to a stop in the middle of the room and waited for the other Goa'uld's attention.

They didn't have to wait very long.

"Leave us Jaffa remain outside," Ba'al ordered not looking away from the window.

"As you command my lord," the Jaffa replied with a bow before turning and leaving the room leaving the two Goa'uld alone. For a few more moments silence reigned in the audience chamber then Ba'al turned away from the window to face Tharos, pleased despite himself that the much younger Goa'uld hadn't moved or attempted to fidget in anyway while waiting for him. It was good this new lieutenant was proving to be quite a worthy addition to his legions of servants.

"I am sure you are wondering why I asked for you to come here Tharos," Ba'al said with a slight smirk.

"The thought has crossed my mind Lord Ba'al." Tharos replied.

"I have a mission for you Tharos. Accomplish it and in doing so prove the extent of your loyalty to me will see you richly rewarded."

"What is this mission my lord?"

Ba'al smiled and made his way back to his throne and sat down before explaining. "The first two squadrons of Nar'kesh-class frigates and a single Ha'tak-class mothership have finished transitioning over to the new plasma beam weapons you designed."

"That is good to hear my lord. The rollout and refit are working even better than I anticipated."

"Indeed. I want you to take command of that battle group. I want them tested under full battle conditions. Sokar has a small shipyard complex in a system a hundred- and thirty-nine light years from here protected by two of his Ha'tak and several Nar'kesh."

"Do you wish me to destroy them all my lord?"

"Indeed. You will take the refitted ships to the system and neutralise all orbital and ground opposition with your new weapons. If any of the motherships or frigates under construction are complete enough to fly, then seize them. If they are not, just destroy them, there is a stockpile of both construction and weapons grade naquada at the base. I want them captured and brought back to me."

"I understand my lord. When will the ships arrive?"

"They are here already. Proceed to the primary ring room, they will transport you over to the Ha'tak. A vessel that should you succeed will become your personal flagship to do with as you please."

Tharos was stunned. His own mothership to do with as he pleased should he succeed in his mission! That was an extremely generous reward and one he had not expected to receive for at least another century. The mere thought of what he would be able to do, both for himself and his master, with the resources of a whole ship to draw upon practically made him giddy with anticipation. Oh, he didn't doubt that its computers would be packed with spy programs and the crew loyal to Ba'al first and foremost but those were something he could work on over time.

"You are most generous my lord," he said at last overcoming his shock and ignoring his hosts sniping about being a sycophant.

"Indeed. I do however expect you to complete your mission in a timely manner."

"I will endeavour to do so my lord."

"Dismissed."

"Yes, my lord."

Tharos bowed respectfully to his master then turned and left the audience room, heading now for the primary ring transporter room. Ba'al watched him go with a slight smile, confident that the younger Goa'uld wouldn't let him down. If he did and failed or was killed by Sokar's forces, it would be no big loss he had the plans for the plasma beams that Tharos had designed. Plans that he had already put Nerus to work on to see if he could improve them still further – not that he had told Nerus where exactly the plans came from. He was saving that revelation for a more advantageous time and when he could be there to see the outraged look on the fat buffoons face – with some of the technological data they'd recovered from data cores found in the ruins of the Caloran capital city nearly a decade ago. Data cores that had already yielded quite a bit of very useful information leading to a number of unique technological upgrades on his own ships that no other Goa'uld knew about – yet.

At that moment a comm unit built into his kara'kesh bleeped. "Pel'tac to Lord Ba'al," came the voice of the Prime Ko'tc on duty in the command centre. Now what, Ba'al thought before touching the softly glowing crystal.

"What is it?" he asked, putting a hint of menace in his tone that promised pain if he was being disturbed without a good reason. It was always a good idea to talk to Jaffa that way as it kept them obedient and ensured that they wouldn't bother one of their gods with something trivial.

"Forgive me for disturbing you my lord but the sensors on the sentry satellite deployed over the Caloran homeworld have detected activity from the planets Stargate," Ko'tc replied immediately. "In the last day there have been two activations of the planets gate from elsewhere in the network. The satellite is also now picking up a small drone craft of some type in the atmosphere over the ruins of the capital and a cluster of human life signs."

"Interesting," Ba'al commented with a puzzled frown wondering what was going on there. He very much doubted it was anyone scavenging for technology, such expeditions by others but especially the Tlak'kahn had been an annoying pain for a few months after Calora fell to his forces. But not after all this time. So, what was going on? He needed to find out, but he wasn't about to waste Jaffa by sending them through the gate if it was nothing to be concerned about, especially as his forces were currently resting and preparing for the next phase of the war with Sokar. "Dispatch one of my frigates to investigate."

"I will see to it at once my lord."

"Contact me as soon as they have a report," Ba'al finished before signing off and standing up from his throne again. He walked back to the panoramic viewport – which was not a viewport at all but an extremely high-resolution holographic projection since the audience chamber was deep within the armoured core of the Sha'ha'tak-class mothership – to gaze out upon space and where the fleet of newly arrived refitted ships he had assigned to Tharos were waiting in a parallel orbit. He clearly saw it when a transmission beam flashed into existence between his flagship and the Ha'tak and a pulse of particles shot along the beam towards the other, smaller mothership. After a moment the beam vanished as transport was completed.

For a few minutes the ships remained where they were before, with a breathtaking suddenness, opening hyperspace windows and vanishing into FTL flight on course for one of Sokar's many smaller shipyards. He found himself almost wishing he was going with them if only to see the effectiveness of the new weapons for himself. But it was not to be and besides it would be a good test of young Tharos' capabilities, if he was as good as Ba'al believed then he had the potential to go very far indeed. Potential that he needed to know was real as if it was, he could then decide whether he should nurture that potential – it was always good to have a loyal underlord who could be trusted, well as far as one Goa'uld could trust another – or eliminate it. He allowed himself a small smile.

He would know soon enough.

Presidential Bunker

Calora, That Same Time

Colonel Luis Ferretti was quietly frowning as he, accompanied by Hastings and Rogers, followed Colonel Karenic into the interior of the bunker. Everywhere his eyes, and his armours sensors, could see there were signs that this bunker had been in use for quite some time and that maintenance was really starting to suffer. Certainly, due to a lack of supplies as he could see areas where lights were no longer working and there were several hover vehicles sitting around that had tarpaulins over them. Tarpaulins that were caked in a good two or three inches of dust and grime.

"Sheesh this place has seen better days," Hastings commented over the private squad frequency as they passed through a heavy door – that according to sensors was made of a trinium/titanium alloy reinforced with carbon nanotubes – and a security station beyond it. Much of which was quiet and like the tarpaulin covered vehicles had a thankfully thinner layer of dust over it. Lighting was minimal, barely enough for an unassisted human like Colonel Karenic to see as Ferretti and the other two STORM commandoes could see as if it was bright daylight due to the optical sensors in their helmets, and everywhere paint was starting to blister and peel off the walls.

"It has," Ferretti agreed guessing that the Calorans had been in here for a very long time. Almost certainly since the ship recovered from Mars had been recalled to Calora and battle with a Goa'uld fleet. He decided he might as well ask their hosts, so he switched on his external microphone. "Colonel Karenic this bunker is looking a bit run down. Have you been here a long time?"

"Too long," Karenic admitted not at all surprised that Colonel Ferretti and likely his men had noticed the increasingly decrepit state of the bunker, especially in these outer areas. It was all they could do with their ever-declining resources to keep the main living areas of the bunker habitable and somewhat comfortable. "We've been here ever since the Goa'uld launched their final assault upon our world and our resources are nowhere near what they once were."

"So, you've been here nearly ten years then."

"How did you know?" Karenic asked, shocked that they knew just how long they had been down here in this bunker complex, sheltering first from the devastating rain of plasma bolts from the Goa'uld fleet and then the storms that arose after the bombardment and the planet began to freeze due to all the sulphur aerosols blasted into the stratosphere when the Goa'uld deliberately targeted all the planets volcanic and seismic centres.

"We recovered one of your vessels that had been abandoned and left to rot in a cave on the fourth planet of our home system," Ferretti answered. "We couldn't figure out why as the vessel is undamaged but was just abandoned."

Karenic swore. "Deserters," he said at last anger and disappointment in his tone, "when we knew the Goa'uld System Lord Ba'al was going to attack we sent out ships to find allies. Some were lost, some were destroyed by the parasites and some just didn't respond when recalled. But if they found your world, why didn't they ask you to help us?"

"Nobody ever approached us," Ferretti answered "if they had we would certainly have tried to help. As it was, we didn't know about you until we found the ship and accessed its computer records. We found out about the Goa'uld attack which is what prompted us to first send a probe through the Stargate to see if there were any survivors in need of help, especially after all this time."

"Well, we could definitely use some help," Karenic admitted with a sigh knowing that the bunker didn't have much in the way of supplies left, especially spare parts and their supplies of sekitan were long since exhausted forcing them to shut down their own generators and rely entirely on the feed from the Artefact. While that kept the lights on and life support systems running, allowing their hydroponic and aquaponic sections to continue supplying them with food, it didn't help with anything else. Especially the issue with spare parts.

"What I don't understand is the Stargate is not that far from here," Hastings said speaking through his own external microphone. "Why have you stayed here and not tried to use it to escape?"

"We couldn't," Karenic answered as they made their way deeper and deeper into the bunker. And began encountering more people some in uniforms and others not though all the clothing looked like it had seen better days. Many of the people they encountered looked at the three STORM Commandoes in their advanced and intimidating looking black armour and silver-visored helmets in a mixture of surprise, confusion, apprehension and fear.

"After the initial attack the Goa'uld soldiers the Jaffa surged over the surface taking any remaining technology and any survivors they found," Karenic continued. "When they left, they bombarded all the major volcanic and seismic centres worldwide including all our supervolcanoes like the Antek'ya Caldera on the other side of the mountains. For weeks after they left the sky was thick with ash and when that stopped the snows began.

"There are a lot of civilians here especially families," he added, "it wouldn't be right or fair to expect them to march for hours through the snow and biting winds. Besides where would we go? Our colonies were destroyed in the days leading up to the attack on our homeworld and our few allies abandoned is to the Goa'uld."

"I can understand that" Ferretti admitted.

"Can you?" Karenic asked.

"Yes, our own world was attacked and bombed from space. Not by the Goa'uld but by another far more powerful race the Zentraedi."

"Never heard of them."

"No reason that you would they are not from this galaxy," Ferretti explained. "The Zentraedi were slaves, much like the Jaffa, in service to another race from a distant galaxy that we call Andromeda. We fought them and broke the chains of servitude that bound them to their masters, prompting the fearful Zentraedi supreme commander – a being called Dolza, he feared the loss of his position and power – to attack our world with a mixture of particle cannons and quantum reflex energy wave weapons. In an instant nearly seventy percent of our entire race perished incinerated in the energy firestorms."

Karenic blinked. "Then you understand," he said more than a little shaken. He had thought they had had it bad being attacked by the Goa'uld but something in the way Ferretti spoke indicated that his race had suffered just as much as they had. Only at the hands of an extragalactic – and thus extremely advanced and powerful – race. Though what were quantum reflex energy wave weapons? He wasn't sure he wanted to know as they sounded damned devastating. "I am sorry to hear about what happened."

"Thank you."

"Ah here we are," Karenic said as they turned down a side corridor that led up a short flight of stairs to a control room. A control room that he led them through to another room, which was clearly a conference room in which sat two middle aged men. One in uniform the other in a somewhat threadbare suit.

"Colonel Ferretti," Karenic said, "allow me to introduce you to President Stebran Jowmart and General Edwitur Pemblake. Mister President, General this is Colonel Luis Ferretti and his two associates Hastings and Rogers."

"Greetings," Stebran said studying the 'alien' as he stood there. Himself and Pemblake had been listening, thanks to a wire that Karenic had been wearing, as Ferretti and his men had been brought through the bunker to them. They had learned a bit, some of it extremely intriguing about the aliens but not exactly why they had been heading right for the bunker. "Before we begin, I do have to confess that we have been listening to your conversation with Colonel Karenic."

"I suspected that you would be that's why we were so open," Ferretti replied before, deciding to extend these people a bit more trust. Thus, he reached up, pressed a hidden button to release the seals on his helmet and carefully took it off before holding it at his side. "You have questions?"

"We do indeed especially how did you find this bunker," Pemblake demanded to know. "We know that you were heading straight for us."

"The Condor drone we sent through the Stargate to scan for survivors detected a power signature that does not match the sekitan ore used to power your other technology like the ship we found on our fourth planet. Specifically, it detected a power signature of Ancient origin. Very faint mind so either its shielded or no longer working at full capacity."

"You know of the Ancients?"

"That we do. We can even use some of their technology."

"You can bypass the genetic lock?" Stebran exclaimed the scientist he'd originally been before becoming a politician, a scientist who had spent years studying the Artefact, coming to the fore, "we've never been able to do that."

"You could say that" Ferretti replied, not about to reveal that there were people on his homeworld who, like Captain Hunter, had the DNA of the Ancients in their blood and in their cells. And that that DNA let them use Ancient technology and had convinced the Ancient artificial intelligence Primus to begin assisting them. They had to keep some secrets.

"It seems like we're going to have quite a bit to talk about," Stebran commented, realizing that if some of these people could operate Ancient technology then maybe, just maybe, they would finally have a means of escaping the frozen prison that Calora had become. "Please gentlemen sit down, and we will get started."

Ferretti raised an eyebrow but sat down though Hastings and Rogers remained standing. Stebran frowned slightly at that, he had hoped that the other two would sit down as well but decided to not make an issue out of it. Instead, he began what he thought might be the biggest, most important meeting of his life so far, a meeting which could determine if the remaining sons and daughters of Calora lived or died.

Tharos Mothership

A Short Time Later

"My lord we are approaching our target coordinates."

Sitting on the somewhat plane and uncomfortable pel'tac throne – something he vowed he would change as soon as possible as it was a bit small for someone with a host the size of the one, he had – Tharos allowed himself a small smile at the report from the Jaffa – a quite capable Prime named Marnor – manning the main console. He sat up a bit straighter and prepared himself for the battle that was to come in another few moments.

"Excellent," he said letting none of his own nerves at the battle to come show in his voice. It would not do after all for a Jaffa to see one of their gods nervous about anything – well nothing that didn't involve dealing with the Asgard – certainly not about going into battle. It could potentially seriously undermine their faith in the gods which would not be a good thing. Though he could tell his host thought otherwise, though for once Vince was staying silent just watching what was going on. "Are all battle stations manned and ready?"

"They are my lord," Marnor replied immediately. "All ships report battle stations manned and ready. All glider and Al'kesh squadrons are primed ready to launch."

"Very good deploy them into combat formation as soon as we drop into normal space," Tharos ordered, "however they are not to advance upon the enemy until I give the order."

"As you wish my lord. My lord we are thirty seconds from normal space reversion."

"Good as soon as we emerge contact the enemy flagship, I wish to offer them a chance to surrender and join Lord Ba'al before we destroy them."

"Yes, my lord. We are dropping out of hyperspace now."

Tharos nodded as a faint decreasing humming sound ran through the ship as the hyperdrive began to power down. Through the pel'tac viewport he saw the familiar purple and blue of a Goa'uld generated hyperspace conduit flash before evaporating into a blur of stars and shapes that quickly resolved into normal point of light on a dark background as the sublight engines engaged and countered the effects of hyperspace inertia. Ahead of them was an Earth-like planet with three visible moons. In between them and the planet was the small fleet of enemy warships that their intelligence had confirmed were present, warships that were quickly breaking orbit and moving out to confront those who dared to trespass in their god's domain. The pel'tac HUD came on showing the approaching ships though they were still outside standard Goa'uld weapons range…

…thankfully his were no longer standard.

"My lord the enemy flagship is responding to our hails. Audio only."

No sooner than Marnor finished speaking than the hidden overhead speakers crackled to life and a Jaffa voice spoke. "You have trespassed in the domain of Lord Sokar. Surrender now or face his wrath."

"Jaffa I am Tharos. I claim this planet in the name of my master Lord Ba'al. Surrender now and join our forces or be destroyed. This is your only warning."

"They have broken contact my lord and are increasing speed towards us."

"Fools. Very well target the enemy flagship and open fire. Tell our frigates to focus fire on the other Ha'tak."

"Yes, my lord."

The lights in the pel'tac dimmed slightly as the newly refitted cannons drew the charge needed to fire – prompting a slight frown to appear on Tharos face and prompting him to make a mental note to add a few additional capacitors to store up a charge to compensate for the energy drain, that or add a few additional naquada generators – a second or so before they discharged sending a pair of slender golden energy beams streaking across space towards the enemy flagship.

From his throne Tharos watched as the beams, travelling noticeably faster than normal plasma bolts did though still much slower than the near relativistic speed of robotechnology based particle beams, reached and contacted the first of the enemies two Ha'tak. Immediately the enemy warships shield flared into full visibility, sparkling and sparking with the strain before seeming to completely shatter allowing the beams to slice into the hull. Naquada-based hull armour in the path of the beams first melted then vapourised as the beams cut into the ship, ripping through decks and bulkheads as if they were made of wet paper, eviscerating section after section across multiple decks with contemptuous ease, until they reached and sliced open the naquada reactors in the vessels heart. With the predictable result as the Ha'tak exploded with appalling savagery.

The second Ha'tak died a few seconds later as the Nar'kesh fired their own weaker, but still devastating, plasma beams at the vessel. Instantly overwhelming its shields to tear the vessel apart from a range that the Jaffa on the remaining ships couldn't believe. With their heaviest ships swatted like toys at impossible range by Ba'al's new weapons the shaken, terrified crews came to a unanimous decision.

"My lord the enemy Nar'kesh are hailing us. They wish to surrender and join Lord Ba'al's forces," Marnor reported sounding both awed and pleased. The power of these new weapons and their range was beyond anything he had ever seen or encountered before. "The planetary garrison is also offering to surrender and join our forces."

"Excellent accept the surrenders and begin sending some of our troops to the ships and down to the planet to ensure compliance," Tharos ordered, "then take us into orbit so we may begin the next phase of the mission assigned to us by Lord Ba'al."

"Yes, my lord."

Presidential Bunker

Calora, That Same Time

President Stebran Jowmart was a little nervous as he led the three Terrans to the deepest, most secure area of the bunker complex. The only part that hadn't been constructed by their people and something they hadn't even known was there until some cavers stumbled upon it about three hundred years ago. A chance discovery that had changed everything for their people, jumping their technological progress ahead centuries and letting them avoid most of the environmental fallout from industrialisation that plagued other worlds that were allowed to advance that far.

As they walked, he thought back on the conversation that he, and General Pemblake, had had with Colonel Ferretti. It had been extremely informative and revealed that there were a great many similarities between themselves and the Terrans. They had both found something, in the case of the Terrans having an extragalactic alien battleship literally fall out of the sky onto their planet, that had enabled them to jump their technologies farther forward than they would otherwise have been. However, in both cases, it had also led them to trouble and to their worlds being devastated in his people's case by the Goa'uld System Lord Ba'al while the Terrans had suffered at the hands of the former leader of the Zentraedi. The only big difference between their experiences being that the Terrans had friends to help them recover in the form of the Asgard, the Nox – a race his people knew of only in passing – and those Zentraedi who they had liberated from the control of a group calling themselves the Robotech Masters.

There was also the fact that, unlike his people, some among the Terrans could operate Ancient technology and that they had access to said technologies including an industrial facility on the same planet where they had found the deserters ship. A ship that had prompted them to send a probe here through the Stargate to search for any sign of survivors of an attack like the one they'd endured. A probe that had also picked the Artefact up by detecting its power emissions, prompting Ferretti's team to be sent to investigate further. Which led to our meeting and new hope for my people to leave this planet, rebuild and help our new friends defeat any who threaten them including the Goa'uld, he thought.

It was in the hopes of really building that friendship that he was going to show them the Artefact. He knew that it might be somewhat controversial, especially with some of the more conservative and xenophobic members of the leadership here in the bunker, but it was his call to make. It had long been established that the president of the Caloran Confederacy would be the one who would have the final say on who got to see the Artefact. Not that that will stop some of them from moaning like spoilt children, he thought knowing that one in particular would complain bitterly about it not that he could, or world do anything about it. Certainly not if showing the Terrans encouraged them to provide a method of transport to get them off the frozen hellhole that their world had become.

Turning the corner to the secure hatch that led to the area containing the Artefact Stebran somehow wasn't surprised to see the person he had been thinking about standing there with two guards, face like a thundercloud. Senator Irvanto Messyr, formerly the chair of the once powerful defence selection committee but now little more than a minor functionary as the committee's power had died with their fleet during Ba'al's assault, stood blocking the corridor.

Stebran resisted, just, the impulse to roll his head in annoyance. "That's far enough," Irvanto snarled.

"Senator Messyr get out of the way," Stebran snapped.

"No, I won't you cannot do this. You cannot show aliens the Artefact."

"I can and I will it is my decision as president to make," Stebran replied, "and these people are no aliens, they're as human as us and have the means to save our people."

"We don't need saving we're doing well on our own."

"Really our supplies of spare parts are almost exhausted. Water is starting to breach some of the lower levels causing more systems to fail including one of our three waste processing facilities not to mention the secondary computer core," Stebran answered, "our people struggle to clothe themselves as we have no means of making more clothing since all our stores of raw materials for clothing are exhausted. The only thing we are not currently lacking for is food but even that will soon have problems I know you have seen the reports on how the hydroponic and aquaponic equipment is wearing out with no spare parts remaining. Tell me is that doing well?"

"You can't do this I won't let you," Messyr stubbornly replied ignoring the points that Stebran was making even though he knew, like everyone else that they were true.

"Don't be a fool," Stebran told him. "Messyr get out of the way, and get your goons to back off as well, and maybe I won't throw you in a cell for a week for insubordination."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would."

"I'm sorry I can't let…"

"Enough. Guards escort Senator Messyr back to his chambers," Stebran said giving the two guards with the Senator a look that said obey or else. "Make sure he stays there and has no contact with anyone. I will deal with him later." The guards hesitated. "Now."

"Yes sir," the guards acknowledged after a moment, each grabbing one of the shocked senators' arms.

"You'll regret this Jowmart," Messyr growled as the guards grabbed him. He might not have the power that he had once had but he still had considerable influence among the survivors of their people. Enough that he could make things very difficult for the president. "It wasn't meant for them. You're killing us letting them see the Artefact."

"No, I am saving us," Stebran said as the two guards escorted the senator away. As soon as they were out of earshot, he turned to look at Ferretti. "Sorry about that. I expected Messyr to do something, he firmly believes that the Ancients meant for the people of Calora alone to have the Artefact, but I didn't think he would try something like that."

"It's alright I have known a few politicians like that over the years," Ferretti replied thinking of the likes of the late, and very unlamented, Senators Robert Kinsey and Gerald Russo. "They never let common sense and practicality get in the way of whatever they want."

"Indeed, that's Messyr to a T," Stebran commented with a chuckle. "This way."

As soon as he finished speaking, he began walking again, opening and leading them through the heavy door between the two sections. The moment that they entered the next area Ferretti knew it wasn't built by the Calorans as instead of trinium reinforced concrete walls the walls were made of the same bronze-coloured metal as could be seen in holograms of the interior of the Ancient space station over Mars that he had seen. There were even the same patterns of crystalline light fixtures in the ceiling.

Without speaking they continued walking, travelling down silent corridors that showed none of the signs of wear and decay that could be seen elsewhere in the bunker complex. In fact, if he hadn't known better Ferretti would have assumed that this place was built yesterday and not who knows how many thousands if not millions of years ago. Like the Stargates the technology of the Ancients, and everything they built, seemed to be designed to be incredibly long lived.

After what seemed to be an age they came upon a heavy looking door. Stebran nodded at the guard stationed next to it who nodded back and began fiddling with a Caloran control panel which caused the door to open.

"Colonel Ferretti, Sergeants Hastings and Rogers let me introduce you to the Artefact," Stebran said leading the way onto a walkway before stepping aside. Ferretti for his part walked up to the edge of the walkway and stared in shock at what could be seen. The walkway was clearly high on the wall above a docking bay – a bay that had two huge doors at one end that presumably eventually led out to the surface – which while impressive in its scale was not what caught his attention. But rather what was sitting there in the centre of the bay, it was a ship that he estimated to be roughly six hundred meters long, made from a dull tan coloured metal with silver and brown highlights.

An Ancient ship.

Authors Notes: Well, another chapter bites the metaphorical dust, I hope you have all thoroughly enjoyed it as things are really starting to get interesting as Ba'al is beginning to make use of the first of his upgraded ships and events on Calora are beginning another path – one that will ultimately lead to a certain long-lost cityship and a possible solution to the Robotech Wars – for our intrepid heroes. Before anyone asks the Ancient ship that is docked on Calora is not an Aurora-class vessel but a completely different class of vessel, one that is much smaller than the Aurora-class that formed the backbone of Lantean military forces during their war with the Wraith. Until next time.