Hello all!
Here we have the next chapter of this story, there is a lot that happens in this chapter.
Also, new about Fairy Tail: Excalibur. The end date for the poll is going to be 1/31/2019, so if you have a particular opinion, go vote now.
That is all, let's get this show on the road.
Chapter Fifteen: Locating Liberty.
Time: August 28, 2006. Time: 1500 Hours. Location: Atlantis.
Dr. Rodney McKay was currently busy in his laboratory in the bowels of the city ship of Atlantis, papers spread all throughout the large room as McKay busily continued his work for the day. The planned upgrades for the Macross had been delayed yet again as a small explosion on Moon Base ALUCE had rendered the Macross berth incapable of accomplishing the planned upgrades. Some of the techs were now starting to claim the Macross was cursed as this makes the fifth time the upgrades have been delayed for one reason or another.
Gloval was starting to get annoyed, but understood that this was just life and anything can happen. He was happy for the ever expanding list of technologies that would soon be placed onto his warship.
Some of the upgrades were going to be reduced charging periods for the particle cannons, increased range and damage for the cannons as well, while faster reloading time for the Alterran Drones was also going to be included. A more accurate CIWS was going to be added as well, while also increasing the fire rate for the 30 mm CIWS turrets as well.
Also being included was a 75% stronger shield system that now had a new feature being included. The Macross is going to the be the first warship to include the Hull Polarization technology that Dr. Lang has been working on for the better part of a year. Zor, McKay, and a few Asgardian scientists have lent their help from time to time, but it was Lang who did the most work to get Hull Polarization online. This means that even if the shields fail, the Macross can still fight for a significantly longer amount of time now.
Lang finally managed to find a way to reduce the emitters for Hull Polarization from their original 20 feet by 10 feet by 7 feet size down to a much more manageable size of 5 feet by 2 feet by 1 foot. Also, the emitters only take a tenth of the energy they originally did. This means that even the Platos will be able to have the Hull Polarization tech soon enough.
In addition, the Macross is getting a new ultra experimental hull plating. The hull plating has been ratted as being 11% tougher and more durable then previous blends, while also being 2% lighter and the armor plating also absorbs heat and radiation really well, making it much harder to find the ship even when the Shadow Field or the Alterran cloak is down.
Sublight engines are also being upgraded from 125,000 mps to 175,000 mps, while a slightly faster and more efficient Intergalactic Hyperspace Fold Generator is going to be included in the long list of upgrades. Now it will only take 8 days for the Macross to travel from Lantea to Earth.
Senors and communication are being upgraded to be 55% longer reaching and more powerful then before.
The Shadow Field tech has only gotten a 7% increase in longevity and ability to hide the warships, but it is still an upgrade.
The thing that is getting the greatest amount of upgrades is the Protoculture/Naquada Reflex Furnaces. With the addition of the Omega Particle, the seventh generation of these energy producing generators are much more powerful then previous generations. With the addition of these generators, the Macross will be granted a massive increase in power generation that will allow them the energy equivalent of 75% of a ZPM.
The generators of the Macross currently only have energy equal to 25% of a ZPM, so these generators will grant three times as much energy to the Macross as their current companions are doing.
The Reflex Cannons is being replaced by two Synchro cannons. The plan is to take apart and then rebuild the massive booms of the SDF-1 into Synchro cannons, thus granting the SDF-1 more then double their firepower when it comes to their strongest weaponry.
Drone count is not increasing and nor is the count of torpedoes as well. However, the torpedoes themselves have received a slight upgrade in the fact they are faster and have a tougher hull, however shielding for the torpedoes has not been achieved yet.
The final series of upgrades will the mental interface system that the Auroras, the Puddle Jumpers, the Destroids and the Pendragons all use. The Macross is still using the outdated computers they brought with them from their original universe. Granted they have been vastly ungraded since their arrival, but the fact remains they are still hopelessly outdated compared to the computer systems that the ADF uses for most of their other tech. So adding in mental interface technology will significantly reduce the need for the massive crew size of the SDF-1, freeing up crucial personal that will allow them to field another warship.
The Macross is also getting a specifically built AI just for her alone. The AI has been purpose built down to the code for the Macross and the Macross alone, thus increasing the AI's ability to make the most out of the Macross's capabilities. The AI in question is going through the last of it's trials on ALUCE and is very eager to get to work with the legendary Macross. The AI in question is a female based one and her name is Galadriel, after the Elf Queen from Lord of the Rings.
Her name and AI base had been decided upon by a game of poker and the winner is a huge fan of the series, so this is how Galadriel was born.
Also, the Macross is being built up to be even larger then the Aurora Borealis class. The Aurora Borealis class is 4,500 meters long, while the Macross after this long list of upgrades will be 5,750 meters long, making the Macross one of the biggest warships constructed in history. All this extra frame will allow space for the larger and more powerful reactors while also increasing space needed for future upgrades. The Daedalus and the Prometheus aircraft carriers attached to her hull are going to be completely rebuilt up into more powerful and larger aircraft carriers more suited for space travel and space combat.
The refurbished Prometheus and Daedalus will be over 2,875 meters in length, 450 meters in width and 350 meters in height and be capable of carrying over 500 Pendragons each, while also carrying ten squads of each Destroids class as well.
The Prometheus and Daedalus will both look like a elongated version of the Armor class destroyers back in the Robotech universe when they are finished.
To get this massive list of upgrades done should take 6 and half months to accomplish, but since they can't even get the ship into dry dock to start the upgrades, the list just grows longer and longer as time goes on.
It was a aggravating conundrum that the ADF faces, but nothing can be done. The Macross's berth is still under repairs and won't be finished for a few weeks and then they can begin upon the SDF-1's long overdue upgrades.
McKay sighed as he continued to work hard a his latest project. It was designs for a new class of warship, more specifically, it was supposed to be a destroyer type of warship.
The type of fleet the Tau'ri wish to field has begun to form. The Plato class serves as the main backbone of the fleet. Being small, fast and packing a mean punch, their job to be at the forefront of any fleet and to help back up the larger warships in the fleet when engaging enemy forces. The next type of warships it to be the destroyer type warships, of whom a class name has not been decided upon yet. These powerful warships are to engage capital class warships with their powerful Synchro cannons and their plethora of particle cannons and other auxiliary weapons. Next up is the Daedalus class, these are battle-cruisers class warships and their job is to launch their myriad of fighters and then engage enemy warships with their powerful weapon systems.
A purpose built Super-carrier class of warships is the next one on the list and their job is to hang back while unloading swarms of space superiority fighters to support their forces upon a battlefield. Next class is the Aurora Borealis class dreadnoughts, this class is to simply arrive at a battlefield and support friendly forces with their insane amount of weaponry and strong shields. And finally we have the Super-Dimensional Fortress class of warships. These warships are to go to battles that are going poorly or to places with strong defenses or attack enemy fleets and simply annihilate everything in their path with their giant Synchro cannons and massive arsenal of other power weapons.
This new class of warship is to be the first iteration for the destroyer class of warships. So far it going rather well. The design was finished a few days ago and is currently going through the inspection process to see if it will met the requirements of the ADF. So far nothing has been said about whether or not this design has been approved of for the prototype phase or if they want an entirely new design.
McKay sighed once more as he looked over the design. It looked good. It was very economical and made use of every nook and cranny of the frame design and maximized space usage so that they could put the most things on or in the frame for the amount of resources they are going to be using to make the frame.
Just as he was about to get to work he got an alert on his Infiltrator. Looking over, he saw it was Sheppard calling him. Sighing deeply, McKay answered the call and said, "What's up?"
"Got something on the long range sensors. Need you up here." Sheppard said.
McKay sighed once again and quickly left his lab as he went to the central tower and more specifically, he went towards the control room.
A few minutes later and McKay had arrived and said, "What's happening?"
"We got a weird reading on the sensors from Sateda. Weir wants you to check it over before we tell Ronon." Sheppard explained.
"Alright. Let me give it a look over." McKay said as sat down and began to work on the sensors.
A minute later McKay said, "Alright. It appears to be some strange energy readings coming from the planet. I think we should take a Jumper and check it out."
"Alright. Call Teyla and tell her to suit up, you as well. We don't know what we'll find on that planet. I'll tell Ronon" Sheppard said as he went for the armory and Ronon.
While walking towards the most likely location of Ronon, John's thoughts were a storm of conflicting ideas about how to approach telling Ronon about the mission to Sateda.
The big guy had quickly adapted to the way Atlantis is run and has definitively earned his place here, however what happened to Sateda and that planet in general was a very sore spot for him. So, trying to find a good way to tell Ronon was a hard thing for John to figure out. Ronon may have changed significantly since he got here, but he still has a nasty temper at times.
John eventually just settled on ripping it off quickly like a bandage. He would tell Ronon quick and easy and hope to god the big man doesn't blow a fuse.
John found Ronon in the training area, tossing marines around like they are rag-dolls.
"Alright. Everyone out. I need to talk to Ronon alone." Sheppard said to the people in the room.
The marines quickly left the area, leaving just Ronon and John alone.
"What's up?" Ronon asked.
"We have got a weird energy signature reading from Sateda. AR-1 is heading over to check it out." John said.
"Huh." Ronon said as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead.
"Listen, Ronon. If you don't want to go and see Sateda, I understand. You can stay here and help wipe some of the newer members into shape." John said, before Ronon cut him off with a raised hand.
"John, it's okay. I'm good. I'm not over what happened to my planet, but I can go there." Ronon said.
"Alright, if you really think you're good to go." John said. "We're going really soon, so we need to go and get our Cyclone armors and meet up with Rodney and Teyla in the Jumper Bays."
Ronon nodded and the two men quickly left the training area and went to the armory. Once there, they quickly donned their specialized Cyclone armors and then left to head to the Jumper Bays.
While on their way, they saw numerous scientists in a large armor working on the Super Pack's for the Pendragons.
The Super Packs were something that the scientists of the ADF were quite proud of. The Super Pack system was a set of armor that was to be permanently attached to the Pendragons, allowing them greater firepower, durability, maneuverability and versatility. There is now 2 additional missile pods on the shoulders of the Pendragon, 2 missile pods on either leg, 2 more missile pods added onto the chest and finally, 2 of the new anti-warship beam cannons on the back of the shoulders, while additional thrusters are now added onto the wings of the Pendragon and a third Protoculture/Naquada reactor is added into the energy network of the vehicle due to the reactor being apart of the armor set, while armor plating has been added to almost all of the vehicle. While having the Super Pack attached, the missile count of the Pendragon goes from 20 up to 180.
The scientists working for the ADF are truly insane.
The beam cannons themselves were rated to be powerful enough to destroy a fifth of a Ha'tak class mothership, if her shields are down. However, the beam cannons dramatically drain the energy source of the three reactors by 10% per shot and it takes a long time for them to recharge. The Pendragon's can make the lost energy back up however in the end, the beam cannons must be used sparingly.
A medium ranged Hyperspace Fold Generator has been added to the Pendragon as well, allowing the Pendragon to fly between targets.
All in all, the Super Packs for the Pendragons is something all the pilots of the ADF have been dying to get their hands on for so long. However, the Super Packs are still not ready for deployment yet.
All this additional equipment and software for the Fold generator means the AI has to recalibrate nearly all the systems of the Pendragon to account for the Super Pack. There has been numerous glitches and failures due to the Super Packs being added to Pendragons that would normally get people killed in combat. So for right now, the Super Packs are still in the prototype phase as they are continuing to work out the problems with the systems.
However, when they are finished, the Wraith and all other enemies of the Tau'ri are going to find out they have something new to fear.
Ronon and Sheppard continued their walk until they finally reached the Jumper Bay, where Teyla and Rodney are waiting for them.
The team of four quickly boarded the Jumper and once inside, Sheppard sat down in the pilot seat and started willing he Jumper to start flying.
Faithfully as always, the Jumper quickly began to ascend upwards until they flew out of the Jumper Bay and then flew over towards the roof of the main tower.
The tower opened up as if alive and allowed the Jumper to descend downwards until it came down to the Gate room.
Already Chuck had dialed the Gate for Sateda and now the ancient gate was shimmering as the water like wormhole sat there waiting for the team to pass on through,
With but a though, the Jumper flew forwards and went through the gate in just a few seconds and then the gate deactivated, the blue energy fading away like a ember in the wind.
Location: Sateda.
Jumper One flew out of the ancient gate lying here on Sateda and saw the ruined remains of the once great planet Sateda.
All around them, what was once a bustling metropolis, full of laughing children of all ages as the adults went to and from shops as they went along with their business, was now nothing more then a destroyed remnant of it's former glory. Giant holes had been blown into buildings and the ground from the impact of Wraith particle weaponry, causing other buildings to collapse from the impacts and so there was rubble everywhere. It was a dark and bleak world, devoid of life and only filled with the pained memories of those that had perished upon this planet on that terrible day seven years ago.
For Ronon, it was a trying and emotional time. He remembered the sunrises of Sateda as when he was a child. How the sun made the sky turn red and then orange and then finally light blue as it started it's journey across the skies of Sateda. He remembered his grandfathers lessons as he taught Ronon how to fight and hunt when he was six and how he watched his Grandfather slowly loose his ability to function until he couldn't even say his own name anymore. He remembered joined the Satedan military when he was old enough as a way to bring honor to the memory of his dead father and his grandfather. He remembered falling in love with a wonderful woman. He also remembered that terrible day when it all came to an end. The loud buzzing noise of the Darts as they swooped down to open fire upon the defenseless civilians or how they beamed them into their storage units to hold until a later time.
He remembered it all. The good and the bad times. Being here, it was a bigger challenge then anything he could have prepared himself for. He thought he was strong enough to come back here, but apparently, that had all been a lie. It took all of his strength to not break down and cry here and now.
"Okay. The energy emission is coming from a location around two and a half miles to the west of here. I'll bring it up on the monitor now." Rodney said as he showed the group the location of the energy emission.
"I know that area. It used to be the place where we gathered old relics and kept them there for safekeeping. It was also one of the first places to be hit by the Wraith when they attacked Sateda. I don't know if we are going to find anything there." Ronon said.
"Well, let's go check it out." Sheppard said as he flew the Jumper towards the energy signature.
Once there, he landed the Jumper outside the ruined remains of a building. Once set down, AR-1 left the Jumper and quickly entered into the building.
Once inside, they saw only a ruined building. Rubble was everywhere as vegetation also had started growing over everything as nature sought to reclaim the ruined remains of the Sateda civilization. The building was a mess and almost nothing inside of the building was recoverable at all.
Rodney checked his sensors and said, "This way."
He led the team further into the building passing many ruined rooms and demolished facilities. There was many old relics in he building, but they were all either destroyed or completely useless.
The team then came to an old room where at the back was a large amount of rubble in front of what appeared to be a large metal door.
"Okay. What is that?" Sheppard asked.
"An old bunker. We made a few of them around the planet, but they were all struck by the Wraith. I saw one get blown up by a Cruiser's weapons system. Everyone inside was killed. I didn't think there was any still intact." Ronon replied with a little bit of hope in his voice. Could some of his people have survived the genocidal holocaust the Wraith unleashed upon them.
"Okay. Let's check it out. Rodney, how do we open the door?" Sheppard asked.
"Let me take a look." Rodney said as we walked over and began to scan the door.
After a few minutes he said, "Well, the door itself is composed of 2 inches of refined Trinium. We will have to use our particle cannons to blast our way into the bunker."
"Alright. Everyone back to the farthest point from the door. As one we'll shoot the wall. And if that doesn't work, we'll launch our Inferno's for good measure as well. Understood?" Sheppard asked, to which he got a round of head nods.
"Alright, let's do this." Sheppard said as he walked to the farther point from the door and aimed his particle cannon at the door.
The other members of AR-1 aimed their own particle cannons at the door as well and Sheppard then said, "On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"
As one, four white-blue beams of super-compressed particles rushed forth and struck the bunker wall, melting through the Trinium with ease and blowing through the other side of the wall, destroyed the bunker wall entirely.
Once the bunker wall was destroyed, the team saw a tunnel running further down into the ground.
"Alright. Ronon and me will take point, Rodney and Teyla take the rear." Sheppard said as he pointed his AR-55 forwards and then he and Ronon began to walk beyond the destroyed bunker wall and into the tunnel, followed quickly by Teyla and Rodney.
For a long time the group just walked down in the dark tunnel, the helmet night vision being the only thing allowing them to see and move in the dark without fear.
Eventually, the group came upon a open room where at the far back was the lit form of a ZPM on a pedestal which had a long, barely holding together power cable of sorts running from the base of the pedestal running further down the tunnel.
"Rodney?" Sheppard asked the scientist.
"On it." McKay replied as he walked over the to ZPM and then began to scan it with his Infiltrator.
After a minute he said. "Okay. The energy source we found is the result of the poor power connection. Whoever built it managed to find a way to draw energy from the ZPM, but they did it in such a bad way that the ZPM is leaking out raw energy readings on a very specific radiation wavelength. We would have never found this if we hadn't been been playing around with the sensors. The ZPM itself is at 45% power left in the tank. However, the question I have is, who made the pedestal and then made a power cable capable of using that energy?"
That was the million dollar question and that was one the group intended on finding out.
"Alright. Don't touch the ZPM until we know more." Sheppard said as he started walking down the tunnel once more, the rest of his team quickly following him.
Another ten minute walk and the group came to an opening in the tunnel, where they saw something incredible.
There was an acre of food about thirty feet below them and beyond that, they could see the shapes of makeshift buildings.
Just as they were about to go down and explore, they heard to voices shout out, "Halt!"
Wiping towers the voices, the group saw two men holding strange triple barreled shotguns at them, with the taller one saying, "Drop your weapons!"
Before Sheppard could say anything he heard Ronon say, "Draz?"
"Who are you?" The one called Draz said.
Ronon lowered his gun and then clicked the side of his helmet, showing his face.
Draz froze and said, "Ronon?"
"Yeah. It's me man." Ronon said as he walked towards Draz.
Draz walked towards Ronon as well and when the two met they wrapped each other in bear hugs.
"I thought you were dead man. Everyone did. How are you alive?!" Draz asked his friend.
"I was captured by the Wraith and then turned into a Runner. After seven years of running and killing Wraith, the people you see behind me found me and got rid of the tracker and then took me back to their base. Draz, they have Atlantis in their possession. Call themselves the Tau'ri" Ronon said.
"They have the city of the Ancestors in their control?" Draz asked incredulously.
"Not only that, but there is five hundred living Ancestors on Atlantis. I have a lot to tell you, but there is one question I must have answered. Is Melena alive?" Ronon asked, the desperation clear in his eyes.
Draz smiled and said, "She's alive. A little different from the last time you saw here, but still kicking. Spiffy armor. Where did you get it?"
"I got it from the Tau'ri. They gave it to me because I joined their military as a way to help destroy the Wraith." Ronon explained.
"Got it. Well, better take you guys to see Goloth. He'll want this information." Draz said.
"Got it." Ronon said as he motioned for AR-1 to follow Draz.
The team followed Draz and his sidekick as they walked towards the makeshift city.
Along the way, they were seen by the people tending to the farms and soon they had a massive gathering of people coming o see who these strangers are.
As they approached the town, a massive white haired man that was even taller then Ronon came out. However, he had large wrinkles and many scars on him, showing his advancing age.
The mountain of a man walked towards Draz and AR-1 and when near enough said, "Draz, who are these people?"
"Goloth. Good to see you sir." Ronon said as he showed his smiling face to the man who was like a second father to him.
Goloth stared in shock and said, "Ronon, is that you boy?"
"Yeah old man. It's me. I'm alive." Ronon said.
"This is good news. But who are your companions and how did you get down here? The bunker wall is strong enough to resist even our greatest explosives." Goloth asked.
"Well, this is Colonel John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan of the Athosians, and Dr. Rodney McKay of the Tau'ri military fraction the Atlantis Defensive Forces. And we blew the bunker wall up. Wasn't too hard." Ronon explained, causing everyone hearing this to gasp.
"The wall is destroyed?" Goloth asked in shock.
"Yeah it is. How are all of you alive and what happened?" Ronon asked.
"When the Wraith invaded our world, we and my men started to evacuate the civilians into this underground bunker. However, as we were doing so, several of the Wraith blasts struck near the bunker wall and caused the doors to be seal, while a large amount of debris fell in front as well, preventing us from escaping. The Wraith attack also greatly damaged the back of the bunker itself, allowing us to dig and tunnel through the ground until we reached this abandoned cavern. Once here, we used what we had to survive. We have no medical equipment, little clothing and food is always an issue. However, power is not an issue thanks to the Relic of the Ancestors we managed to hook up. However, we have been incapable of fixing the equipment to the Relic recently. How did you find us?" Goloth asked.
"We detected a weird energy reading from Atlantis and then came here to investigate. I never thought we would find survivors." Ronon explained to the shock of everyone listening.
"The city of the Ancestors is real? And is active?" Goloth asked.
"Yeah. The Tau'ri found Atlantis, rose her from her ocean grave and have been fighting for her against the Wraith for almost two years now. I joined after they found a way to remove the Wraith tracker in my back so I would no longer be a runner. I owe them everything." Ronon explained to Goloth.
"John Sheppard. As the leader of the remaining Satedans, I ask you to help us." Goloth asked, desperation in his eyes.
"Of course. gather your people. We'll take them back to Atlantis. Once there we can give them food, cloths and medical. After that, we'll talk about what to do with you and your people." Sheppard replied.
"I thank you. Draz, go and gather everyone. Tell to leave everything behind. We are leaving this awful place." Goloth said.
Draz nodded and sped off, going around and telling everyone to prepare to leave.
AR-1 went around and checked everyone out to make sure they were well enough to leave. Some where okay, but others would have to be helped through the gate and then receive immediate medical assistance.
Ronon himself was led to a small broken down hut where, lying on a broken mattress was a golden haired woman. She turned towards Ronon and gasped when she saw his face.
"Ronon?" She asked in a quiet voice.
"Yeah, it's me." Ronon said as he walked over and grasped her left hand.
"Oh my god. Ronon." Melena said as rubbed Ronon's face with her right hand.
"I'm here. I'm back." Ronon said as tears started to run down his face.
"Ronon. How did you get here?" She asked.
"Me and my new friends from a race called the Tau'ri blew a hole in the bunker wall. We are getting you all out of here now and we're taking you to Atlantis." Ronon explained to Melena.
"Atlantis exists?" She asked in shock.
"Yeah. Atlantis is real. I've been living there for a while now. Now, can you walk?" He asked.
"No. Ever since the attack by the Wraith, I have had no ability to walk. I have only been given food and water because I can help make what little medical supplies we have." Melena explained.
"Alright." Ronon said as he gently wrapped his arms around her and with all he grace gifted to him, lifted her up.
Ronon slowly and carefully helped Melena out of the hut. Once outside, he saw dozens of Satedans gathering at the base of the tunnel that led back to the surface. Moving quickly, he joined the others with Melena with him.
Sheppard was at the front of the group and said, "Goloth, can McKay take the Relic of the Ancestors? We might be able to put it to use."
"Of course. We won't need it anymore." Goloth said.
"Okay. McKay, go retrieve the ZPM and then head to the jumper as fast as you can. Get the jumper airborne and fly overhead of us. I want to know the moment anything that can possibly jeopardize the civilians appears." Sheppard ordered.
McKay nodded and quickly transformed his Cyclone into its hoverbike form and shot off down the tunnel, leaving behind the large group of people.
"Alright everyone! Let's go. Old or injured up front, women and children in the middle and men in the back." Sheppard said.
After organizing themselves, the mass of civilians began the long and slow walk up the tunnel. For the civilians, it was hard walking due to the darkness. Even with Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon using their emergency lighting, it was hard to see in front of them and that was slowing them down considerably. However, they persevered and eventually, they came to the end of the tunnel.
The Satedans all began to cry, for the first time in seven years they saw the sun once more. However, Sheppard then said, "C'mon people. We have two and half miles to cross over exposed territory. You can all celebrate when we get back to Atlantis. Let's move."
Reluctantly the massive group continued onwards, crossing over the destroyed remains of their once home in order to get to the Stargate.
It was even slower going now, due to all the shear amount of rubble they had to get over while crossing. Slowly, but surely, the large group moved closer and closer to the Stargate.
It has now been five hours since AR-1 came to the planet and finally, they have arrived at the Stargate.
Punching in the symbols for Atlantis, John quickly and smoothly opened a wormhole to the great city and contacted Weir. "Weir, this is Sheppard here."
"Where have you been? We have been trying to contact you for the past three hours?" Weir demanded.
"Well, we found a large number of surviving Satedans who are in desperate need of food, water, medical and lots of other things." John said.
Weir was silent for a minute and then said, "Alright. Send them through. We'll have medical waiting for them."
"Got it. Alright people, head through the gate in an orderly and calm fashion. Two at a time please." Sheppard said as he started directing people through the Gate.
One after another the Satedans left their dead world and headed towards the future after so many years in the dark all alone. Several times the Gate had to be redialed after the timer maxed out, however they were almost done by now.
However, that is when McKay said, "We have a single Wraith Hive in orbit around the planet, just came out of Hyperspace. They are scanning the planet now, they're going to detect the gate soon."
"McKay, attack that Hive with all your Drones then get back to the Gate immediately. Everyone through the Gate now, we have Wraith in orbit!"
The remaining Satedans made a made dash through the gate as quickly as they could desperate to escape the from the Wraith once more.
While in orbit, McKay dropped the cloak from the Jumper and then launched all six of the Improved Drones into the underside of the Hive, each one of the Drones set to explode after a few seconds of impacting the Hive.
The six Drones launched from their racks and flew through space until they reached the Hive, whereupon they activated their energy field and bore through the hull for a few seconds and then they exploded while deep inside the Wraith warship.
Six terrifying explosions tore through the Hive, causing numerous other secondary explosions to go off throughout the warship as well as the Hive descended into chaos.
Taking advantage of the chaos he caused, McKay redeployed the cloak and flew as fast as he could towards the gate, knowing he had only bought a few minutes at best to keep the Wraith off of the fleeing Satedans.
Back at the gate, Sheppard saw the last few dozen Satedans running through the Gate as fast at they could, leaving only himself, Teyla, Ronon who was helping Melena and Rodney as the ADF forces on the planet.
He watched on as Ronon walked through the gate with Melena and then Teyla went through as well and then Sheppard himself went through the gate.
Once back on Atlantis, Sheppard yelled out, "Everyone clear out from in front of the gate! McKay is coming in hot"
Everyone gave a wide berth from the front of the Gate and sure enough, not a minute later McKay and he jumper burst through the gate and stopped just a foot from the staircase.
A moment later the Gate disconnected and all was silent throughout the main tower of Atlantis.
McKay then made the Jumper rise into the air and flew the Jumper towards the Jumper bay. Once he was gone, the control room started to go back to work.
Ronon helped Melena over to Beckett and said, "Can you take a look at her?"
Carson nodded and said, "Dr. Carson Beckett. Nice to meet ya." He then took out a life signs detector and began to scan Melena.
"My name is Melena Dex." Melena said, shocking Carson slightly.
"Are you by any chance Ronon's wife?" Carson asked as he continued to scan her.
"I am." Melena said.
"Figured as much. Well, you have a slight injury to your spine. Not enough to jeopardize your life, but you are paralyzed from the waist down. However, we do have the technology to heal ya." Carson said as finished scanning her.
"Really?" Melena asked, hoping this wasn't a dream and she might be able to walk once more.
"Indeed. Let's get ya down to the infirmary and get you all fixed up." Carson said as he motioned for two medical person to come over.
They quickly deployed a wheelchair for her and Ronon gently set her down into the wheelchair. Once she was in it, the second medical personal then started wheeling her away towards the infirmary.
Ronon looked over at Sheppard who said, "Go. We are good here. Just go."
Ronon nodded and said, "Thanks." And then he quickly set off after Melena.
Sheppard smiled, happy to see Ronon finding something good in his life once more. With a happy smile on his face, he went back to helping out the Satedans anyway he could. It looked like it was going to be a long day.
Time: August 29, 2005. 1100 hours. Location: Atlantis Meeting Room.
Sheppard took a long sip of his coffee as he read the report.
It took them a long time and it required the help of their Replicators as well, but eventually the ADF managed to get all of the 2,100 Satedans scanned for any injuries and those who had the worst injuries were immediately sent to medical. Those who were slightly better of where given clothes, food and a place to sleep as they waited their turn for a medical check up.
For their stay her in Atlantis, the Satedans were all sent to the Western pier to try and keep them in one area. Already Weir was talking with Mayor Tommy of Neo-Macross to get permanent residence made for the Satedans. In all, the Satedans would be on Atlantis for another five days before they could all be sent to their new homes.
However, the Satedans were in most need of psychological help. Seven years alone in a cavern where each day was a fight for survival after watching your planet being bombarded into extinction had done a lot of damage to the Satedan's mentality. Weir had asked all the psychologists on Lantea for the their help in getting the mental aid the Satedans need to recover.
However, they would recover and they will survive. They were all tough and would make it through this trying time. They were safe and could finally recover from the Wraith attack.
Melena was a much cheerier subject. The operation had gone flawlessly and now Melena's damaged spine had been repaired by a mixture of Asgard and Ancient technologies with a little bit of nanite technology thrown in.
She was currently in recovery sleeping, with Ronon right by her side. He hadn't left her side once since she came out of operation.
Sheppard could only smile as he thought of Ronon. Perhaps now the big guy could finally start recovering from his demons and finally start living for once.
Sheppard then moved over to the training reports. The Drill Sargent's were tearing the new recruits apart per usual and those that managed to get through were tough as nails and ready to face the challenges of Pegasus.
Sheppard frowned a bit however as he read the report on ship trainees. There just wasn't enough personnel to man the planned newer warships. They were planning to build a fleet here, but they just didn't have the numbers to crew those ships.
Earth was facing the exact same problem. If they unveiled the Stargate program, their recruit problem would be solved as then they could just move all of Earth's military forces into Stargate forces. However, Disclosure wasn't happening anytime soon and so the defenders of Earth were left sorely undermanned.
Earth currently only had the Enterprise, the Tartaros, the Prometheus, the Daedalus, the Apollo, the Odyssey, the Korolev, the Hood, the Yamato, the Napoleon, the Phoenix, the Dunkirk, the Normandy, the Stalingrad, and the Hiroshima to defender herself with. That was better then when they only had the Prometheus, but the Tok'ra, the Jaffa and Lucian Alliance all had many times more warships currently in their fleets. One on one, Earth's warships could take down anything short of a O'Neill warship and win easily, however against the forces Earth's enemies had the small fleet of 15 warships would be utterly annihilated. The Ancient Outpost could not be counted on to beat every enemy that came Earth's way.
They need a stronger fleet and they need it now.
Numerous improvements were planned for the Daedalus warships, however even with Icarus and Granada Bases in the SGC's possession, they can't make the upgrades quick enough.
They need something faster then what they have currently, however, they have reached the limits of their current technology. The Asgard were not going to give away their absolute greatest technologies to Earth just yet and the Ancients were not exactly jumping at the opportunity to help the ADF understand their technology.
Only Galos and one other Ancient really respected and tried to help the ADF, but he is a warship captain and not a scientist. All the other Ancients the ADF helped were less then willing to try and help the humans understand their tech.
The only other Ancient who tried to help was a young woman named Aternity. She is a young woman of around 23 years old, has long chocolate brown hair and golden eyes. She is young, but is deeply respectful of the ADF and tries her best, but she isn't a scientist either. She is just a simple crew-member who was brought on to try and help the Aurora as the war got worse.
True she and Galos know many things, but they can't help teach the ADF the things they need to know about the more advanced technologies their race developed all those years ago. For that they need a true scientist and there were none on the Aurora when she went on her fateful mission.
John sighed as he thought about how unhelpful the Ancients were being. Lamenta and much of the crew of the Aurora did not think highly of the ADF, even though they saved them, gave them cloned bodies and returned them home to Atlantis.
They didn't actually try to do anything against the ADF, but they sure as hell did nothing to help them either. It was starting to get really frustrating for the ADF and even the Asgard were disgusted by the way the Ancients were treating those that had saved them from death.
The Asgard on the other hand, were a much more pleasant subject. The Asgard on Atlantis were genuinely enjoying their time here. Atlantis was greater then they imagined and the ADF personal were helpful and tried to keep up with the Asgard. Heimdall was by far the most outgoing Asgard, most of the time you can find him inside one of the many scientific laboratories helping the humans in away he can. Many in the city have grown to love him and his group of Asgard. They have even gone so far as to invite Heimdall and the other Asgard to movie night.
Heimdall was at first not very interested in the movies being shown to him, but after a little bit he has grown to actually enjoy them. He is particularly a big fan of Sylvester Stallone and the first two Rambo films.
Sheppard got back to work, the knowledge that a faster ship construction facility was needed and needed soon. Unaware of what the Macross herself was about to find.
Time: 1400 hours. Location: Near the Center of Pegasus. Unknown Nebula.
Gloval looked down at his Infiltrator screen with a frown on his face.
He and the Macross had been ordered to check out an unknown signal they had detected a little while ago from this location.
He personally thought it was a wild goose chase. There was nothing here except a ever expanding cloud of strange colors and unknown radiation. Nothing could possibly be here.
"Sir, I think I am detecting something." Vanessa said.
"Show me." Gloval said as a large holographic screen appeared before his face as he studied the image before him.
There was a unknown reading about three minutes ahead of them, however due to all the radiation from the nebula it was impossible to know exactly what it was.
"Alright, go to yellow alert. Raise shields, but don't power weapons. Let's go check this out." Gloval ordered.
His crew acknowledged and quickly followed his orders as the ovular greenish shield of the Macross raised around them.
The Macross continue her approach towards the unknown, the tension slowly mounting as they got closer and closer.
"Sir? I no longer have control over the Macross." Claudia said.
"What?!" Gloval shouted as he stood up.
"I mean I no longer can change or alter our heading any long." Claudia said.
"Vanessa, answers." Gloval said.
"I don't know. I am not reading anything that would allow for complete take over of the Macross." Vanessa said right before her screen went dark.
Sammie, Kim, Lisa and Claudia were all dealing with the same problem as their screens went dead while the Macross continue forwards.
"Sir, I think I can see the object." Lisa said, her voice unsure if what she was seeing was correct.
Gloval came over and stopped dead when he saw the object they were headed towards.
It was a massive space station. It was by far, the largest artificial construction ever seen by anyone on the Macross period. The Macross was just a tiny dot next to the monolith of steel given form. She had a massive cylindrical central point while three absolutely massive rectangular bays went out in a Y shape from the central hub. Each of the three bays were longer then the central point and nearly as tall as well.
Everyone couldn't speak at all, their ability to think and reason completely destroyed as the Macross came closer and closer to the nearest bay.
The massive bay slowly opened up, showing hundreds of berths easily capable of holding a warship the size of a Super Dimensional Warship after the upgrades the Macross is supposed to get.
The Macross went into the bay, passing hundreds of bays one after the other until they came to the back of the bay, where they turned 90 degrees and then went backwards into the berth directly behind them.
The berth opened up, allowing the Macross to come right in and once the Macross was inside the berth, giant docking clamps clamped down onto the form of the Macross while a airlock extended from the berth itself and connected to the Macross.
All across the screens of the Macross was Ancient symbols flashing across them faster then the eye could follow.
"Vanessa, any luck getting our computers back?" Gloval asked.
"No sir. I think we will have to explore the station to try and find a way to release the SDF-1." Vanessa said.
"Alright. We need to..." Gloval stared before he disappeared in a flash of light.
Everyone just stared at spot where Gloval had been standing in shock, wondering what was going on.
Location: Unknown.
Gloval appeared in a flash of light and started looking around him to find out where he was and what was happening when he heard a noise from behind him.
Spinning around, he saw a massive computer that must have been fifteen feet tall with giant blue glowing computer circuits reaching towards the ceiling.
Suddenly, the center of the computer began to flash as a figure appeared before Gloval.
The figure was dressed in white and brown robes of the Lanteans, had short black hair and bluish-green eyes.
"Greetings. I am the caretaker of this facility. My designation is Alpha." The being said.
"Well, Alpha, can you explain where I am, where me ship is and why I am here?" Gloval asked the being.
"Certainly. You are currently on the ship building facility known as Liberty. Your ship is in berth 1 of docking bay 1. And you are here because my programming told me that should an Inheritor come near the station, I was to bring them before me and explain the purpose of Liberty to them, all while evaluating them through talk and the computer files from their vessel." Alpha explained.
"I understand. So, what is your purpose?" Gloval asked.
"My purpose is to serve as the main ship building facility as designed by Janus." Alpha began, shocking Gloval.
"Janus? The Lantean scientist Janus?" He asked, searching for clarification.
"The same. Janus, during the last few years of the war, tried to think of a way to try and make the odds against the Wraith less so one sided. However, no matter how many Wraith warships his people took down, three more took their place. When it came to ship construction, the Wraith far outclassed the Lanteans. Janus grew more and more desperate until he had an epiphany. Taking five blocks of nanites, he put them on warships leaving Atlantis and when the warships got to a certain point, the nanites left the warships and then flew the points Janus programmed them to. Once at their designated destinations, the nanites began replicating as they worked to fulfill Janus's vision." Alpha explained as he showed Gloval as screen where five different stations of varying designs appeared.
One station was a massive half sphere with a giant rectangular block on top of the sphere. The diameter of the sphere was 275 kilometers across and the rectangle was 50 kilometers wide and same tall and long.
Another station was a large upright cylindrical shape with a large ring around the middle, the ring having thousands of cylindrical shapes along the rim. The cylindrical was 98 kilometers in diameter and the ring was 145 kilometers in diameter and held to the cylindrical by eight connection tubes.
The next station was a station that had the shape of a large tear drop, being roughly 103 kilometers in length, 85 kilometers in height and 72 kilometers in width at the widest.
Additionally, there was the station that had two large rectangular shapes attached to a large spherical shape in-between the two rectangular shapes. The rectangles had a total length of 130 kilometers, a height of 40 kilometers and a width of 30 kilometers, while the sphere had a diameter of 90 kilometers.
The final station was of Liberty herself, nothing differing from the schematic and the one he was on right now. Liberty is over 250 kilometers in diameter while being 170 kilometers in height and over 90 kilometers in width for her docking bays.
Gloval was shocked Janus was capable of creating 5 of this monolithic constructions all by himself, but then Alpha continued.
"Liberty was built to create warships faster then ever before, while Redemption Station was made to build ZPM's in numbers far beyond anything ever built before. Avenger Station was constructed with the purpose of spying on every single Wraith ship in existence at one time, while Serenity Station was built to provide a place where the sum total of all of Lantean knowledge was to be kept. And Juggernaut Station was built to provide limitless energy by connecting itself to the center of a black hole." Alpha explained the stations one by one, listing their purpose for Gloval.
Gloval was shocked by what he was hearing. How could Janus build these hings and then never use them?
"If you are wondering how these stations were never built, it has taken ten thousand years for the stations to come online. Due to the fact only nanites were being used a only a single block a foot by a foot by a foot in size per each station, it took many years to create the stations in his vision. However, we were eventually finished. Each station has the most advanced technologies left behind by the gate builders incorporated into the design. Should we have been finished before the end of the Lantean war with the Wraith, the Lanteans would have been victorious.'" Alpha said with a little bit of sadness in his voice.
"However, that is the past. It is time to start working towards the future. From the files I have downloaded from your ship, you are a defender of Atlantis. You and your allies have sacrificed much to keep not only Atlantis safe, but countless other sentient beings safe as well. Not only that, but you have saved the few remaining Lanteans in the universe as well. I have gathered the evidence and have made my decision." Alpha said as he walked observe Gloval.
"Captain Henry Gloval, I, Alpha, hereby grant the ADF complete access to Liberty station. Put myself and this station to good usage." Alpha said as a steam of light scanned Gloval.
Gloval watched as all the lights came on and the computer before him itself activated and showed Gloval a schematic of Liberty as well as a list of her capabilities.
"So Captain Gloval, what are our orders?" Alpha asked Gloval.
Gloval then asked Alpha, "How quickly can you finish the refit operation we have planned for the Macross?"
Gloval then gave Alpha a crystal that contained the planned upgrades.
After scanning it Alpha then said, "Liberty can have the Macross with all of her upgrades completed in only ten days."
Gloval was shocked by the sheer speed Liberty can build, but quickly composed himself and said, "Commence the refit please. Also, please beam me back to the Macross. I have to keep the crew under control."
"I understand Captain Gloval." Alpha said as he beamed Gloval away.
Alpha smiled, happy he can finally do the job he was built to do so many years ago, unaware that his creator was watching him right now.
Location: Ascended Realm.
Janus was beside himself with joy. The ADF had finally found Space Station Liberty and could finally start using the five stations he built. It would take them time to find the other four stations, but they would eventually and then thy could finally take the fight to the Wraith and end this war once and for all.
He then saw Morgan appear next to him.
"So, the ADF finally found your pet project." Morgan said o him.
"Indeed. They found Liberty. Soon, they shall find the other stations and also the four other facilities I left behind. The time of the Wraith is drawing to a close. I cannot wait to see what the people of Pegasus will be capable o doing when they don't have to fear the Wraith any longer." Janus said with a excited smile on his face.
Morgan smiled and said, "Yes, that will be a great day. However, are you certain the ADF will not abuse this new found power of theirs? Liberty and your other facilities have the most advanced technologies we ever constructed on their lower planes. None of the other races can ever come close to that level of technological power. Even the Furlings, the Nox and the Asgard pale in comparison to some of those technologies. So how can you be so sure that they will not start lusting for more power?"
Janus said nothing as the movie theater they were in showed Morgan Janus's answer.
It showed the ADF working around the clock to help the Satedans and also the refugees from Taranis.
"They are not perfect. They will stumble, they will fall, however. The ADF has proven time and time again that they are our descendants. They have proven they have a very high moral code and will do their best to live up to the legacy we left behind. Also, they know the power they wield is very great and so they fear and respect it. They also share their greatest technologies with the Asgard. They know the Asgard will keep them in check and keep them on the right moral path. The Tau'ri respect the Asgard above all other races and listen to them. So, if the Tau'ri ever do fall off their path, the Asgard will bring them back. That is why I am so sure the Tau'ri will put this technology to good use. For, they understand and accept that they have a lot to learn." Janus began as he showed Morgan some of SG-1's greatest adventures.
"They do not thirst for power, but they thirst to understand the universe around them. They want to make friends and learn while also seeing all there is to see. They don't wish to destroy, they simply want to enjoy peace. They only wage war when they know it is the only way to keep others safe. They are willing to suffer so others don;t have to. They have shown their bravery and dedication to the cause of peace time after time. They have saved the Asgard numerous times and have also saved all life in the Galaxy several times. They were the ones that ended the Goa'uld and the Replicators. They have earned their place in the universe. They are going to do great things with the technologies I have left for them. I know it." Janus finished his speech as it showed SG-1 all together.
Morgan was silent for a little while and then said, "You obviously hold the Tau'ri in high regard. I can see why. They remind me so much of our ancestors fighting against the Ori. I wonder how far they shall rise."
Janus smirked and said,"Give them time and they shall far outclass anything we ever accomplished."
"We shall see." Morgan said as she vanished.
Janus turned back to the screen and watched Gloval taking control of the situation and said, "Indeed we shall."
The ADF have found one of Janus's greatest treasures and have also found but there are many more to discover. With a means of finally building their fleet quickly, the times when Pegasus is freed of the Wraith draws ever closer.
However, it shall not be an easy path. Already the next great challenge of the Tau'ri is readying itself for war.
The next stage of this war is about to begin.
And that is that!
I think this was a good chapter. Finally saw the remains of the Satedans being rescued, Ronon rescuing his wife and also Space Station Liberty has finally been revealed! And also four other great station with their own incredible powers have been revealed while a warning of the future has been cast. Whatever shall come next?
We are going to be seeing the newer classes of warships be built soon while the Macross has a complete overhaul done to her. Going to be asweome to see her when it is completed.
That is all I got to say so as always, if you have a comment, criticism or concern, leave a review or send me a P.M., always appreciated.
Until next time, this is StrikeFreedom10, signing off.
Farewell for now!
PLUS ULTRA!