Hello everyone!
Here is the next chapter and the end of Season Two of this story. Next chapter will be the official beginning of Season Three. Be prepared for radical differences compared to cannon in the next arc of this story.
Also, I just want to thank you all for your support. 115 reviews, 73 Favorites and 83 Followers. In only a few months as well. I always knew that these two fandom were not dead, however the lack of large number of good stories had me concerned for a bit, but I guess we are going to be alright.
You guys are awesome and can only hope I continue to reward your support with good story telling. I cannot wait to see where this story grows up to become.
Well, enough of that, let's get started.
Chapter Seventeen: Defensive Actions.
Date: September 10, 2006. Time: 2032 Hours. Location: Unknown Ancient Warship somewhere in Southern portion of Pegasus Galaxy.
Rick was studying the holographic map, seeing the 30 different Wraith soldiers moving through the halls of the Aurora class warship that he, Max, Ben, Lisa and the Travelers have found themselves trapped in.
After the group learned they had been boarded by the Wraith, they started trying to figure out a way to get rid of the Wraith.
"Can't we just vent the atmosphere in the parts of the ship they are in?" Silas asked.
"No good. When the Cruiser's energy weapons hit the hull, they cut command cables throughout the ship. Without those cables, the bridge is unable to properly instruct the ship to do a specific action. For instance, without the cables we would not be able to raise the shields. The bridge is essentially not just a useless slab of metal on this ship." Navik explained.
"So, let's call the R'clith and get some reinforcements in here." Silas said, only to be shot down once more.
"Your ship is currently engaged with a number of Wraith Darts and Wraith Transport ships. They are not going to be capable of sending anyone over to help us for another fifteen to twenty minutes at the earliest unless something drastic happens." Lisa said as she continued to monitor the R'clith's battle against the Wraith forces.
The fast firing energy weapons of the Travelers were fast taking down the slow moving Transport ships, but the large number of Darts was another matter entirely. The R'clith was in no danger of being destroyed, the Dart's simply didn't have the firepower necessary to destroy the R'clith even if her shields were down, but the Darts were good at keep the R'clith from coming and lending aid to them.
"So, what do we do? If we can't simply take away their oxygen, what are we going to do?" Silas asked.
"According to the sensors, the Wraith have broken down into three groups of ten. One group is staying in the hanger bay area, most likely guarding whatever they used to board the ship. The second group is headed slowly moving around the middle section of the ship and the final group is headed this way. ETA is around five to seven minutes." Max supplied.
"Okay. The way I see it, we have three options. Option One: We can try to run. We can quickly leave the bridge and using the life detectors, we can maneuver around the second group and together we can probably take the third group out, allowing us to steal their boarding craft and flee." Rick said.
"No, we cannot abandon this ship. Me and my people need it too desperately. Our population is decided by how many ships we have. Once we could build more, now we can't This ship can hold hundreds of families, she is too important to leave." Larrin quickly shot that idea down.
"Alright. Option Two: We can try and call for help. The long range transmitter is still online, we can call the ADF for help and hope they can get here before the R'clith." Rick said, only to be shot down by Lisa as well.
"Impossible. All of our forces are currently undergoing refit or are too far away at this point to be of any use. None of our ships are capable of getting here in time." Lisa said.
"Well that leaves us with only option three: We fight." Rick said.
"That's a good idea, except we are only nine against thirty heavily armed Wraith soldiers. We are outnumbered almost three-to-one and we only brought a single blaster each of use, meaning there is only five armed members here. So even worse odds then before." Silas said.
"Not necessarily. Let me check." Lisa said as she began to check the files of the computer.
A few seconds later Lisa then said, "There is a weapons locker around 500 meters away from us. Its a few decks below us as well, but from what little I am being told about it, the room is secure and undamaged, meaning that we can use the weapons inside of it to aid us. The armory is inside the range of radiation emitters, so the weapons should be safe to use."
"Okay, but that is only a few hundred feet from where the second Wraith group is and we still have to get by this first group without alerting the two other groups to our location." Ben said.
"True. However, this is the only way I can think of for us to even the odds. We need weapons and that armory is our best bet in getting some more." Lisa said.
"Alright. I say we go for it. There should be a large number of rooms we can hide in until the Wraith pass us by and then we can continue on our way to armory. Once there, we get anything that still works. After that, we lead the Wraith into this room. It's large, open area, plenty of places for cover, while also allowing us multiple places we can get multiple people on a single target. It's a perfect kill box." Max said as he pointed to a empty area where supplies would have been, but it was mostly removed now, but there was still a few crates here and there.
"Agreed. It's has a high risk, but this plan is our best bet of living through this." Rick added in, knowing that this plan hinges on their ability to get to the armory undetected.
"Okay. Let's do this. Get ready everyone." Larrin said as she and the other Travelers began to make themselves ready.
The took out their guns and set them onto Kill mode, knowing that if they met any Wraith, they only have one chance of killing them before the alarm is raised.
Meanwhile, Vermillion Squadron took the life sign detectors from the consoles of the bridge and turned them one. With these nifty hand-held devices this rag-tag team might just have a chance of getting off of this ship alive.
"Rick?" Lisa whispered quietly.
"Yeah?' Rick whispered back.
"Do you think we'll be able to get off of this warship alive?" Lisa asked him, a little scared of fighting off Wraith.
As she should be. She has seen the footage of ADF members being fed upon by the Wraith during the Siege of Atlantis, she wasn't able to fall asleep for a few days due to the nightmares those horrific scenes gave her. And now she was stuck in this 3-and-a-half kilometer long vessel with thirty of these things and not only that, she was unarmed as well. True she wasn't alone, but that did little to calm her fast beating heart.
"Sure we will. We have a good plan, good people to execute the plan, and also life sign detectors. All-in-all, we have a chance and we are going to take it. We are getting off of this ship and we are going home, I promise." Rick whispered back as he gave her hand a slight squeeze.
Lisa gave one back, a little less tense with that little pep talk. Rick might be a mecha pilot, but he, along with Ben and Max, has had extensive training in fighting on the ground and in unfavorable conditions.
"Alright people, let's go. Let's kick these damn Wraith off of our ship." Larrin said as she and the other Travelers approached the hatch leading outside of the bridge with their guns activated.
Vermillion Squadron quickly joined them and together, the group of nine left the bridge and started heading towards the armory and their one hope of getting rid of the damn space vampires they are faced with.
Flashback: 1900 hours. Location: M7X-567
Murrue Ramius stared at the display with a growing sense of grief and pain while a pit was forming in her stomach area.
Before her was an small debris field with components composed of Trinium/Naquada with Robotech Alloys added in for extra strength. Considering only the Tau'ri have access to Robotechnology, and logically one can conclude that this debris field was formed after the destruction of a Tau'ri vessel. When one factors in that all Tau'ri vessels are currently at Space Station Liberty or are either outside of the Pegasus Galaxy at the moment save for one, and one can safely assume that this debris field is in fact the final resting place of the Horizon.
Murrue was silently grieving, she had personally known Ben, Max, Lisa and Rick and had grown close to all of them. The fact their ship was nothing more then a small debris field and additionally there was no evidence suggesting they managed to escape using the escape pods, thusly there was a very high possibility they had all died.
"Miriallia, is there any evidence that the escape pods were launched before the Horizon was destroyed?" Murrue asked, hoping that the ultra sensitive sensors of the Archangel could find some small shred of evidence that Vermillion Squadron along with Lisa had in fact survived and were alive.
Unfortunately, Miriallia shook her head and said, "Scanners have found debris pieces that correspond with four different escape pods. If they did escape using the pods, they are now gone."
Murrue hung her head a little lower, offering a silent prayer for Max, Ben, Lisa and Rick so they might find some peace in whatever lies beyond death.
"Ma'am, I have found a strange radiation reading on the sensors. It appears to be Hyperdrive radiation, but not one that corresponds to any we have previously encountered. It might be the ship that destroyed the Horizon." Miriallia said from her console.
"Can you track it?" Murrue asked, hoping that even though she might not be able to rescue her friends, she might be able to at least avenge their deaths.
"Possibly. The trail has degraded, but it is still there. Whoever owns this Hyperdrive must not be taking good care of it. This radiation would only come out of a badly damaged or worn down ship." Miriallia commented.
"Try and find out where it leads. We need to know i this was the Wraith or someone else. Is the Horizon's black box still intact?" Murrue asked.
"Yes ma'am. I have the black box on my scopes. Beam it on-board and download the contents?" The sensor officer of the Archangel asked Murrue.
"Yes. Beam it on-board. Maybe we can find some answers while we're waiting for you to follow that trail." Murrue said as the small cube with blue glowing circuit lines was suddenly brought onto the Archangel, were it immediately began to download it's contents into the Archangel.
"Okay. I have the data from the black box. Sorting through it now. Also, my sensors have found a trail we can follow." Miriallia said.
"Alright. Arnold, plot a course at best speed. I want to catch whoever did this before they can get away." Murrue said as the Hyperspace Fold Generators began to charge up and then as always, a golden sphere enwrapped the Archangel while a large tear appeared before the ship. A second she hung before the tear before she shot forwards and disappeared from sight.
The Archangel would live up to her name, she would be the avenging angel for the crew of the Horizon and woe be upon those who aroused her anger.
Time: 2045 hours. Location: Unnamed Ancient Warship.
Rick slowly walked forwards, his life sign detector held in front of him as it slowly beeped as he continued onwards towards the armory.
Behind him the rest of the group followed closely, each one of them waiting for any signal from Rick that they had incoming Wraith.
So far, the group has been very lucky as they have not encountered any Wraith so far into their little journey to reach the armory. However, even with this seemingly great amount of luck, no one was going to lower their guns or tear their eyes from their life sign detectors until they reach the armory. Fate is a unpredictable entity and she can turn on a dime and leave you high and dry.
The group was only a little bit away from the armory when Rick says, "Hide! Three of them closing in!"
Rick swiped his hand across the glowing door controls and the door near him opens and he quickly get's inside with Lisa joining him.
The others follow his lead and get inside the doors along the sides of the hallway and wait with baited breath.
Soon, a single Wraith Commander type with long snow white hair and the familiar ghostly pale skin tone comes walking down the hallway with two Wraith drones walking beside him.
The group of nine all hold their breath as the Wraith walk right past the door and continue onwards until they are out of sight.
They all sigh in relief and then leave their hiding places and quickly continue on their path towards the armory.
A few minutes of quietly moving closer and closer to the armory, they finally reached the large doors to the armory.
With a quick swipe, the doors opened with a moderate amount of noise.
The four ADF members and the five Travelers quickly entered into the room and shut the door. Once they were safe from the Wraith, the humans quickly took stock of what they now had access to.
There was a grand total of 15 large rifle looking weapons, while twenty pistol looking weapons were on the rack on the opposite side of the room. Everything else in the room was too badly damaged to be considered useful.
Rick then said, "Let's spread out and grab anything that still works."
The group members quickly nodded and then got to work.
Rick went over to the rifles with Lisa and began to scan the rifles with his life sign detector.
The life sign detector is a nifty little device, not only does it show the life signs of nearby sentient beings, but it can also scan for energy signatures, radiation and can even check if pieces of Alterran technology still worked.
However, the scans Rick got from his little hand held device were anything but positive. Out of the whole rack of 15 rifles, only 7 were still working, the others haven' been maintained for so long that the crystals themselves that allow them to work have degraded to the point that they are nothing more then pieces of metal. At this point the only thing they would be useful for is using them as blunt weapons to beat your enemies to death with.
Lisa noticed Rick's frown and asked, "That bad?"
"Yeah. Only seven rifles are in working condition and even those that are have suffered heavy weary, meaning we have to be very careful how many times we fire otherwise they might fry themselves." Rick said as he put away his life sign detector and then grabbed four rifle and handed three of the rifles to Lisa.
"Well, better to have these then to only have our fists to fight the Wraith with." Lisa said as she and Rick walked to the middle of the room where they laid the rifles down onto.
"True, very true." Rick said as Max and Ben came over with a large pile of pistols and laid them on the table as well.
"Bad news. 11 pistols are incapable of being used anymore and even those that can be used cannot be used for very long." Max said to Rick and Lisa.
"Yeah, and then we have no spare crystal packs, meaning that when the pistols and rifles run out of energy we won't be able to reload them." Ben said, adding even more bad news to the growing pile.
"And even more bad news. There are no frag grenades, no flash-bang grenades, nothing in here. Also, our particles hand guns are nearing their own ammo limits. We have a very limited amount of shots available to us." Larrin said as she and her men joined the ADF members.
"Alright, so no grenades, barely working energy rifles and pistols and extremely limited ammo supplies. Does that about sum up our current situation?" Rick asked as he looked over the contents of the table.
"Yep. So, what's the plan now?" Larrin asked.
"We continue our previous plan. We head to that closed in cargo area and we set up an ambush while one of us goes and raises the alarm and leads the Wraith into the ambush. Only now, we must be very conscientious about how many shots we fire. We can't simply obliterate them in a hail of energy shots, now we have to take care and pick our targets carefully." Rick said as he picked up a rifle and slung it over his shoulder and then picked up a pistol and slid it into a specially made holster on the rifles strap.
"I hate to admit it, but that is probably our best bet for getting rid of these Wraith. Alright, lets load up and head to that cargo hold." Larrin said as she too took a rifle and a pistol as well in addition to her own particle pistol.
Max, Ben, Silas and the other two Travelers also took rifles for themselves, while only Ben and Max took pistols as well, while Lisa and Navik took two pistols so they themselves can fight.
Once everyone had their armaments set, they left the armory and started heading towards the cargo area.
Seems their luck would continue to hold as they managed to get to the cargo hold without tipping the Wraith off to their presence.
Once there, Larrin said, "Alright, Navik, you and Lisa go to the upper level and use those crates as cover. Silas, you, Helias and Athas will stay on this level. We want to catch the Wraith in multiple angels of fire, so use the crates in the back as cover. Max, Ben and I will head to the upper levels as well and use he height advantage. And Rick, you'll be the bait to bring the Wraith to us."
Max and Ben frowned, not wanting to but their commanding officer in danger, but before they could protest Rick said, "Sure."
Rick then quietly whispered to Max and Ben, "I know you don't like listening to Larrin, but please just follow her orders. We need to work together if we wish to live. I don't like this anymore then you two, but right now we need cooperation and teamwork for our continued survival."
Max and Ben looked like they really didn't want to do this, but eventually they both nodded and said, "Alright."
Rick nodded and then went to go and get the Wraith coming here when Lisa grabbed his right arm and said, "You better come back alive, you got that Hunter?"
Rick smiled and said, "Of course I'll come back. I got a date with the most perfect woman in the universe tomorrow. Can't miss that."
Lisa gave a soft smile and said, "Good luck."
Rick nodded and then wrapped his arms around her waist.
Lisa melted into the warm embrace, all the fear and anxiety caused by this situation just seemed to melt away as she was held in the arms of the man that meant the most to her.
It was but a moment in the eyes of those around the two, but to Lisa and Rick, it was an eternity as they just held each other, creating a promise to each other they would indeed survive and live through this ordeal.
The moment passed and eternity faded away as Rick pulled away and with a final gaze of love to Lisa, he left the room and went to bring the Wraith there.
Lisa looked at the door for a moment and grabbed her pistols and went over to her position. She may not be a foot soldier but she would be damned if she didn't kill a few Wraith when they get here. She had absolute confidence Rick would get the Wraith here and when they arrived, the ADF members and the Travelers had to be ready to wipe them out.
With Rick...
Rick silently walked though the halls of the Ancient vessel, his life sign detector held in his right hand as he slowly tried to find some Wraith.
Suddenly his life sign detector showed ten new life signs headed his way.
Rick got behind a corner that led back towards the cargo area, his gun pointed towards where the Wraith where coming from.
Sweat slowly started to roll down Rick's face as his finger tensed against the cold metallic surface of his weapon, the muscles tightening as he prepared to fire the moment the Wraith came into view.
Seconds slowly went by as if they were years, the tension slowly building up second by second as Rick was ready to bolt the moment he fired his weapon.
Suddenly the door leading further into the ship opened up and ten Wraith where now visible.
With but a contraction of his index finger's muscles, the finger tightened around the trigger in a second and sent a command to the computer core of his gun. When the command was sent, a predetermined amount of energy was released from the power cell and coalesced into a bolt of energy inside the barrel of the gun, while new ion were added and specially treated to allow the bolt of energy to not loose too much of it's power once it left the barrel. After this process was completed in the blink of an eye, the bolt of energy raced out of barrel of Rick's weapon and flew across the hallway of the Ancient vessel faster then the eye could follow.
For Rick's target, all he saw was a giant flash of light that exploded into his face, followed by unimaginable pain for but a second and then all went blank forever more for one more Wraith.
The targeted Wraith flew backwards for the force of the energy bolt, the explosion of energy actually causing the Wraith to be lifted off his feet as his back arched backwards. The Wraith's lifeless body flew a few feet backwards and then fell with a thud onto the cold flooring of this Ancient warship.
His fellow Wraith were so startled and caught off guard by this event that they didn't even have a chance to react before the same thing happened to another Wraith, the energy bolt striking him in the head as well, causing his flesh to disintegrate and be destroyed as his head was obliterated in a matter of moments.
As the second headless Wraith's body hit the floor, Rick shot a third shot and hit another Wraith in the chest with this shot, however that is when the Wraith finally started to react and charged at Rick, their stun blasters firing wildly as they tried to hit Rick.
Rick was now starting to run as fast as he could, his footsteps echoing down the empty halls of the warship as he ran for his life, the entire time being relentlessly pursued by the Wraith.
However, by some stroke of luck Rick managed to reach the cargo hold and opened the door before running inside, while seven seconds behind him were the seven remaining Wraith from the first group, while the twenty other Wraith were converging on the cargo hold as well.
The supreme commander of this party of Wraith approached the cargo hold as the twenty seven Wraith on this ship stood nearby.
"Alright, let's get this over with. Prepare for combat." The Wraith said, right before his second-in-command said, "My Lord, shouldn't we use our Stun grenades to weaken the human forces?"
"Nonsense, there is but one, lonely, weak worthless human in that cargo hold. He ran like the rat he is and now we shall introduce him to horrors and pains unimaginable." The command said, drunk off his own perceived power and arrogance.
"Still, wouldn't it be best that we make sure we have all the advantages we can get?" The second Wraith said right before he gasped out as the commander wrapped his fingers around his throat and began to squeeze.
"Never contradict my orders underling! I am your Lord and you shall obey my word! Understood?" The commander hissed out as he glared at the Wraith who dared to question his orders.
"Yes my Lord." The second Wraith wheezed out before he was left go and fell roughly to the floor.
"Is any other Wraith dumb enough to question my orders?" The commander asked, glaring at each Wraith, daring them to open their mouths.
However, the other Wraith were smart and knew that now was the best time to keep their mouths shut and so kept their silence.
"Good. Now, open the door and let's begin the slaughter." The commander said as one of the Wraith drones open the cargo doors.
The doors opened quickly and the Wraith charged into the area.
However, there was no energy weapon fire, no sneak attack waiting for them as they entered into the cargo area. It was all stone silent in the large area as they entered.
The Wraith were on guard as they all entered into the cargo area and started looking for the human they have been causing,
However, the moment they all entered into the cargo area, suddenly the area was filled with energy fire as the ADF members and the Travelers opened up with their weapons, their large blue bolts streaking forwards and burning through the Wraith within microseconds, ending the lives of no less then 12 Wraith Drones before they had a chance to comprehend what was happening.
The remaining Wraith tried to return fire, however with their path back to the door completely unusable due to enemy weapon fire and with the lack of cover due to the humans moving it farther into the cargo area to prevent the Wraith from using, the Wraith really had no chance of living.
They desperately tried to fire at the humans, however with the humans cover and element of surprise and due to the fact the Wraith couldn't actually see where the humans where since they constantly where moving all the time to prevent the Wraith from zeroing in on them, the Wraith hit nothing.
The Supreme Command grabbed a Wraith Drone and used him as a meat shield as several energy blasts struck the Wraith Drone and killed it, but the Supreme Commander was safe from harm and he continued to the door of the cargo area using the dead Drones body.
Meanwhile, the rest of his soldiers were swiftly and efficiently cut down with ruthless precision and accuracy. Another 9 Wraith had been slain, leaving only six Wraith still alive on this Aurora class warship and since the Supreme Commander was fleeing, that left the remaining four Wraith Drones and single Wraith commander to face the fury of the humans.
Max took aim and quickly shot three times into the enter mass of a Wraith Drone, only to immediately cry out as his rifle short circuited and nearly fired his hands. Max threw away the rifle and took out his pistol, ready to continue this fight.
Meanwhile, Lisa quickly fired her two pistols at once hitting another Wraith Drone a grand total of six times in his chest and face to make sure the Drone was now dead. He was and was now lying on the floor with six large sizzling holes burned into his body with wisps of steam lifting off of the holes.
Ben quickly snapped off two shots, killing the two remaining Wraith Drones within seconds, leaving only a single Wraith commander and the Supreme Commander left to deal with.
The remaining Wraith Commander tried to make a break for the door, but was shot dead by Silas and the other Travelers simultaneously, leaving multiple gaping wounds in his back as his lifeless body fell to the floor with a thud.
Silence reigned over the cargo area as the ADF members and the Travelers all got out from their cover and sighed as now there was only a single Wraith left to deal with.
Rick got out from his cover and quickly took out his life sign detector and said, "I have the remaining Wraith's location, c'mon!"
Rick and the other humans all quickly ran out of the cargo area and took off after the Supreme Commander, intent on ending him to make sure he couldn't carry tales of what happened here back to wherever he came from.
Hallway and hallway passed them by as their forced their tired bodies to move faster and harder as they tried to reach the remaining Wraith.
However, they arrived just in time to see the Wraith Transport vessel the thirty Wraith arrived in leaving the large hanger bay area. The Transport vessel flew backwards out of the hanger and turned around and was quickly moving away from the Ancient vessel, the small engines at the back of the vessel flaring brightly as the vessel prepared to go to hyperspace.
"He got away." Larrin said simply as she stared at the vessel in anger. The Wraith have done so much to her race and so to miss the opportunity to unleash some payback was a tough pill to swallow.
However, just as the Transport vessel was about to vanish into hyperspace, many fast firing ruby colored energy blasts came crashing into the vessel, blowing away large chunks of hull plating in a matter of seconds until the Transport vessel just exploded in a large fireball that almost blinded the humans on-board the Ancient vessel.
Coming into view was the R'clith, her proud form unbowed as she moved into a defensive position next to the Ancient warship.
"Well, I guess it's over now." Rick said as he sighed deeply in relief, the stress of the whole day really starting to hit him all at one time now.
"Yeah, it really is." Lisa said as she too sighed deeply. She never thought she would be apart of a firefight in an Ancient warship against thirty Wraith with only Vermillion Squadron and a team of people who previously kidnapped her and then needed her help. Funny how life works out.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am really in the mood for a hot steak right now." Ben said with a wide smile on his face, his ever cheerful attitude once more on display for all too see.
"Make it two for me." Max said in agreement with his best fiend, a smile on his face as well as he adjusted his glasses slightly with his left hand.
The ADF members were just taking a moment to relax and rest after their long day filled with kidnapping, fixing an Ancient warship, engaging in a battle with the Wraith and then finally having a gunfight with Wraith boarders.
However, just as the ADF members began to relax, a large tear in space appeared a little ways away from the R'clith and the Ancient warship and from that tear came the familiar form of a ADF Plato class frigate.
"Hey, that's one of our warships! I thought all the Plato's were currently at Space Station Liberty right now." Ben said as he looked at the approaching form of the Plato class frigate with a slight sense of confusion.
"Yeah, they were supposed to be at Space Station Liberty right now. Which begs the question, why is this one here and what is it doing?" Rick asked.
"We should head to the bridge and contact the Plato, explain the situation to them." Lisa said, with the other four ADF members all nodding in agreement.
The humans quickly took off towards the bridge, opting to get there before things spiraled out of control once more.
Time 2100 hours. Location: Bridge of the Archangel.
Murrue stared at the screen in concentration as she observed the situation.
The Archangel had traced the hyperdrive radiation from the sight of the Horizon's destruction to this corner of space. Murrue had expected a beaten, broken warship barely holding together from the radiation they had detected and that is what they got, however, she had not expected a Aurora class warship to be here as well.
However, it did help shed some light on why the Horizon was destroyed. Whoever these people are, they obviously wanted people who have the Ancient gene and so took down the Horizon to get at her crew, which did leave a small hope that the crew of the Horizon might still be alive.
"Miriallia, scan for ADF ID signatures. Everyone else, raise shields, activate Shadow Field, power up weapons and lock onto the unknown vessel. If the crew of the Horizon is truly dead, we are going to avenge them." Murrue ordered as she looked at the detailed technical scan of the alien warship. It was almost too easy to crack through the anti-scanners the alien warship was deploying.
It was, for a lack of a better term, a piece of shit. There was hardly anything on that warship that wasn't broken and then rewired to work longer. The ship was a cobbled together mishmash of technologies even worse then Tau'ri vessels. It was a miracle that thing was still moving or even working.
The enemy warship did in fact have energy shields and weapons, however the shields were vastly depleted and would be easy to crack and their energy weapons, while fast firing did not have the punch necessary to deplete the Archangel's shields.
Murrue knew that if a battle would break out, the Archangel would be capable of easily taking down the unknown warship, however that Aurora class warship was an entirely different matter.
Aurora class warship have stronger shields then a Plato class frigate and also had much large Drone carrying capabilities. If that warship has fully functioning shields and full Drone armory, the Archangel would be nearly destroyed should the two come to blows. This as due to the fact a Plato has a large arsenal of weapons to draw upon, with particle cannons, torpedoes, Improved Alterran Drones and Stargazers of which to be unleashed upon that Aurora. Unless that Aurora has a fully charged ZPM included into her power supply, the Archangel stood a fairly decent chance to destroying her.
However, if the alien warship and the Aurora both attacked at the same time, the Archangel would be hard pressed to come out of that engagement alive. An Aurora class warship and a unknown alien frigate with only guess work of it's capabilities fighting together against a single Plato? Murrue did not see a time where the Archangel could come out of that fight alive.
However, it would appear as if there was no need to fight as Miriallia happily cried out, "Ma'am, I have found ADF ID tags on the Aurora! ID says they are Lt. Rick Hunter, Max Sterling, Ben Dixon and Commander Lisa Hayes! The ID tags are saying they are alive and well!"
Murrue felt a great wave of relief wash over her being as she heard those words. It appears as if her friends were not dead.
"Locate them and beam them directly onto our bridge please. I want to make sure they are alright." Murrue told Miriallia.
Her bridge officer nodded and quickly punched in the commands which activated the Asgard Beaming technology installed into the Archangel.
A musical chime was heard as four bright flashes appeared onto the bridge of the Archangel, revealing the faces of Rick Hunter, Max Sterling, Ben Dixon and Lisa Hayes.
"Lt. Hunter, Lt. Sterling, Lt. Dixon, Command Hayes, it is good to see you all alive and well.' Murrue said with a smile as she stood up and walked over to her friends.
"Thanks for coming Captain Ramius. It is nice to get off of that ship. We have had a long day. However, we need you to contact the Traveler's ship as well as the Aurora." Lisa said.
"What ever for?" Murrue asked.
"They are a advanced race with ships, if we can get a alliance with them we maybe able to increase our own warship count." Lisa said.
Murrue nodded and said to Tolle, "Contact unknown alien warship as well as Aurora."
Tolle nodded and quickly began to transmit to the two warships only 35,000 miles away from the Archangel.
A familiar face soon appeared from the Aurora as a unknown face came from the Traveler's Generational ship.
"On behalf of the Travelers, thank you Hunter. We will definitely remember what you have done for my people by unlocking this Ancient vessel." Larrin said.
"You're welcome. Now, how about we talk about an alliance between our two people? You know we have access to large amount of powerful technology that we can use to guarantee your people a future instead of just living on ships all your lives. A planet on which you and your people can call home. We can probably even repair and get those generation ship back into working order as well." Rick said, trying to entice Larrin over to the ADF side.
Larrin weighed her options. On one hand, they had the Ancient warship and could simply just leave and rejoin the rest of the Travelers. However, what would they do once this warship is destroyed? As an Aurora class warship, the Wraith will definitely try and destroy it any chance they can get, simply because they do not wish any race to have the power to challenge their control over Pegasus.
Also, their Generational warships are starting to fail them. For centuries their warships have been serving the Travelers and now it is starting to take it's toll on their warships. They are getting weaker and weaker each day and they no longer have the ability to rebuild any of them. If this continues on, the Travelers will loose all their warships in 50 years. They need a home, a planet to live on and call their own if their race is to have any future. And the ADF does have a large supply of advanced technology and can probably ensure her people's safety.
However, on the other hand, trusting the ADF meant putting all her people into an unknown situation, She did just kidnap four of their own and that would not endear herself or any of her people to the ADF in any way, shape, or form.
But, the ADF did seem like the kind of people who would not take revenge against an entire race just because of a single person's actions against them. They did not seem like they would punish her people for her mistake.
The ADF's offer started to look better by the minute, however, it was not up to Larrin to decide this.
"Let me make a call first." Larrin said as she closed communication with the Archangel and then contracted every single Traveler warship in Pegasus.
On-board a Generational ship, this would have been impossible, however, the Aurora class vessel Larrin is on has a much stronger and more efficient communication system and also all Traveler ships are only forty light years away near a planet where Larrin is supposed to rendezvous with them in this Aurora.
The many Traveler ship captains accepted the communication channel and soon the secondary bridge of this Aurora was filled with 110 different faces, each one a captain of a Traveler ship.
"Larrin, why are you calling us? You are supposed to rendezvous with us in the Ancient warship." One captain demanded to know.
"There has been a development. An ADF vessel has come and taken back their personnel. However, one of them made a very good offer for an alliance between our two people." Larrin explained.
"What offer is that?" A female officer asked, intrigued by what the ADF might be offering her and her people.
"They are offering us a future, in the simplest of terms. They are offering us a planet on which we can rebuild our civilization. They are also offering to rebuild and repair our warships." Larrin explained to those assembled.
"This is too good of an offer to refuse out of hand. If we get a planet all to ourselves, we can finally not have to worry about population anymore. We can finally start living once more." One of the captains said.
"They would never offer anything like this without a price. What did they demand for all of this?" Another female captain asked.
"They never stated a price, they simply said what they would give us." Larrin said.
"There must be a hidden cost. No one would ever offer this without a price to be paid." The female captain said.
"Even so, we must accept the offer. A planet and our fleets rebuilt and repaired, that is something we cannot just ignore." Another captain said.
This went on for a little while before Larrin said, "I need a decision. All in favor, say Aye."
Around three-fourths of those assembled said "Aye."
"All against?" Larrin asked.
The remaining captains said "Nay."
"The aye's have it. All Travelers warships are to get to my location and assemble here as we await the ADF." Larrin said as she closed the communication window.
While Larrin had been talking to the other Traveler captains, Lisa had contacted Space Station Liberty and debriefed Gloval about what had happened.
"So, if I understand the situation correctly, you and the rest of the crew of the Horizon where kidnapped, taken to an Aurora, forced to unlock said Aurora, got into a fight with a Wraith Cruiser, destroyed said Cruiser, then had to fight off thirty Wraith soldiers on Aurora and are now trying to create an alliance with the race that kidnapped you. Did I miss anything?" Gloval asked.
"No that about covers it." Lisa replied.
Gloval sighed and said, "I do not like this, but I can see where you are coming from. The ADF needs more personal to man our warship and getting the help of a race that lives in warships would be a big help for our space forces. Alright, I will allow this."
Lisa nodded and said, "Hopefully Larrin can convince the other Travelers that this is what is best for her and her people."
Gloval nodded, just as a communication channel was being sent from the Aurora class ship near them.
Larrin appeared next to Gloval and said, "The rest of the Traveler's have agreed to your alliance. They will be here in twenty minutes."
"Understood. Once they are here, we will lead them to our space station where we will finish our alliance negotiations." Lisa said.
Larrin nodded and the screen cut out once more and so the waiting game began.
Twenty minutes slowly passed until Miriallia said, "Ma'am, I have 110 hyperspace windows forming."
Sure enough, 110 hyperspace windows appeared and out of them came 110 vessels.
80 of them were the same as the R'clith, Generational warships. However, the remaining thirty came in three varieties.
19 were much larger then a regular generational warship, being 300 meters long and having a much bulkier appearance to them and having two large hanger bays on their sides, leading the ADF to the conclusion these are carrier type warships.
The next ten were even larger then then the second version, being over 570 meters in length and having a large plethora of weapons on them. These were clearly a dreadnought variation of the Traveler warship.
The final warship is a large 830 meter long warship, easily the largest Traveler warship in this fleet. Having the greatest size, the greatest power generation and greatest amount of weapons, the ADF members concluded this is the flagship of all Traveler warships. It's capabilities are roughly around that of the Daedalus in her second form after the ADF gave the SGC some of their technology.
"Those ships look horrible." Rick said as he looked over the forms of the Travelers ships.
"Agreed. Those things look as if they are barely holding together at this point." Lisa said as she too looked over the forms of the Traveler warships.
"Alright. Arnold, set a course for Space Station Liberty. Send navigational information to the Traveler warships and slow us down to match their speed." Murrue ordered.
Arnold nodded and quickly maneuvered the Archangel towards Space Station Liberty, all while sending the navigational information to the Travelers.
One by one, the 111 Traveler Generation warships, the one Aurora class warship and the single Plato class frigate all vanished into hyperspace, leaving nothing behind except the debris of the lone Wraith Cruiser slain here.
Date: September 11, 2006. Time: 0700 hours. Location: Space Station Liberty.
Rick sighed deeply as he nursed a cup of coffee as he stared out at the nebula that surrounds the massive form of Space Station Liberty.
The Traveler fleet arrived outside of the nebula and with the help of the Archangel, managed to find Space Station Liberty, whereupon they were all told to dock at pier two, away from ADF forces. The pier was easily able to hold the entire fleet of Traveler warships, much to their shock.
The negotiations afterwards had gone very well. The Travelers now knew just what they could receive if they allied themselves with the Tau'ri. Five hours of negotiations and a deal had been struck.
The Travelers who wished to enjoy a peaceful life would be allowed to head to Lantea, where they would be sent to the continent and allowed to build up their civilization, with the help of those from Neo-Macross, the Athosians and the Satedans.
However, those Travelers who wished to take the fight to the Wraith would all join the ADF and be trained, while their warships are melted down and rebuilt into ADF vessels.
As members of the ADF, the Travelers will be granted all the rights and privileges of the ADF, being capable of leaving the military after a term in combat against the Wraith.
For the ADF, this was a great addition, as now they had no less then 30,000 new sailors to man their warships now, allowing them to greatly increase their warship count and they also got another Aurora class warship, whom was already beginning to be upgraded into an Aurora Borealis class Dreadnought.
However, the Travelers would be kept under supervision, each warship having a major Traveler crew would have an AI installed that if the Travelers did anything to jeopardize the ADF or her personal, would lock the ship down and return to Liberty. Even if the Travelers were allowed to be members of the ADF, that doesn't mean the ADF was going to trust them completely and with their greatest technological advances just yet. They did kidnap Vermillion Squadron and Lisa and blow up the Horizon, so they were going to have to earn the trust of the ADF.
But, despite all of that, it was considered a good day for the ADF, since they now had a much larger amount of people that can man their warships now, allowing them to continue the fight against the Wraith with greater intensity.
Rick smiled a little as he thought of how far the ADF has come since their humble little beginnings back two years ago when all they had was the Macross and Atlantis and that was it. They have come so far and done so much and they were still only just beginning. There was a lot more to do before the Wraith are defeated and it was going to be a long war before they achieve victory.
However, that just makes their inevitable victory over the Wraith all the sweeter and more meaningful.
As Rick was deep in thought, Lisa came into the lounge area and saw him and quickly walked over. It was early in the morning and most of the crew for Liberty were either heading back to their quarters or heading to the mess hall to get breakfast, meaning no one else was here in the lounge.
Rick, Lisa, Ben and Max had all been given the rest of the day off since they got kidnapped and went through a firefight with the Wraith to allow themselves a chance to rest and recover before they got back to work.
Lisa sat down next to Rick and said, "Hey."
Rick was a bit startled by Lisa's sudden appearance and said, "Oh hey Lisa, I didn't hear you. Sorry."
"No problem. How are you?" Lisa asked.
"Well, the doc gave me a clean medical bill and said to get some rest, but I couldn't get to sleep so I just came here to have a cup of coffee and think for a bit." Rick answered as he turned towards her.
"That's good." Lisa said as she started playing with her long hair.
"Lisa, is something wrong?" Rick asked as he set down his coffee cup and looked at her with a little bit of concern.
Lisa was silent for a little bit before she said, "I was scared, back on the Ancient warship when you were about to go and risk your life to get the Wraith to follow you. That was by far the most dangerous thing you have done ever Hunter."
"What about all the times I've faced the Wraith before? Or about the time I boarded a Wraith Hive to get the information we needed?" Rick asked.
"In previous engagements you have flown in one of the most advanced and dangerous fighter craft ever invented and had Max and Ben to back you up. And on the Hive ship, you have back up as well. However, this time you were alone, no Cyclone armor, no ADF armaments. You were all alone with only barely functioning weaponry to aid you against 30 Wraith. You had almost no chance of getting back alive." Lisa said as her hands clenched.
"The thought of you being fed upon by the Wraith and killed was by far, the most terrifying thing I have ever felt before. And, it made me realize something." Lisa said.
"What?" Rick asked.
Lisa looked Rick in the eye and said, "Life is too short to be wasting precious time with the people that mean the most to me. I am not going to be wasting a single second more, because that just might be my last second to be with you."
Lisa grabbed Rick by the collar and smashed her lips into Rick's, his eyes growing wide in shock at such a bold move that isn't Lisa's style.
For a moment neither reacted and then Rick closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Lisa, drawing her closer as to his body as she wrapped her arms around him as well, the two holding each other close as they gave themselves into this moment.
The door to the lounge opened up as Max, Ben, Roy and Claudia all began to walk into the lounge when they saw the two.
For a few seconds the group of four just stood their in shock before they all grew large smiles on their faces and quietly left the lounge and made sure no one could enter to give the two this private moment.
Claudia and Roy both agreed to tease Rick and Lisa about this one, but they were both so happy for their friends.
Lisa has finally shown she is moving beyond Karl and starting to look to a future for herself. Rick has seen this and reciprocating her love with his own and nothing could make Claudia happier then seeing her best friend finally having a bit of true happiness all to herself.
As Rick and Lisa finally moved their relationship from just having feeling for each other to finally admitting that they love each other, the second phase of the ADF-Wraith war draws to a close. The third act of this story is beginning, bringing new allies and new enemies for the ADF to fight in their war to keep the people of the Pegasus galaxy safe and sound.
And that is that! Another chapter is done.
As some of you may have noticed, I have now started to say, "Date" instead of time, looking back that made no sense and so I will continue this new format to try and be more logical when telling the date, time, and location of these events. Hope that clears up any confusion.
I like the idea that the Travelers now have a chance at peace, with some of their people going to Lantea to create a new home for their civilization, as the rest join the ADF space forces so now the ADF can field many more warships.
Also, Lisa and Rick have finally admitted to their feeling for one another and are going to try to have a serious relationship. It won't be easy, but it is going to be worth it.
And so, season two of this story has been completed. We are going to begin season three next chapter with lots of cool new things, so be prepared for that.
One more time, I just want to thank you all for coming and reading my story and for helping me make it into something really special. It is so very important to me to hear all the love my story is getting. You are all the best.
So, if you have any comments, criticisms, or concerns, leave a review or send me a P.M., always appreciated.
Until next time, this is StrikeFreedom10, signing off.
Farewell for now!
PLUS ULTRA!