Hello everyone!
I am back with a new chapter for you all!
Season three begins here and boy will things be a lot different from cannon!
For this first chapter, we are going to start out slow and then go completely off the rails in the later chapters.
Now, for a little while I have been getting a few complains about the year this story takes place, and after going back and checking the dates I have given, I discovered I made a huge blunder by saying that seasons one and two happen in the same year, 2005. I apologize for this error and have already moved to change the dates to a more consistent and logical one. Thank you for bringing this error to my attention so that I can change it.
Also, the poll for Fairy Tail: Excalibur has ended. The final result is...
Fairy Tail x DxD crossover!
I already knew this from how DxD has been dominating the poll ever since I put it up. However, I wish to thank everyone for voting and letting me know what you want.
Fairy Tail: Excalibur will be taken down soon and once it is, I will begin typing the first chapter of the new story.
And with all that out of the way, let us begin the chapter.
Chapter Eighteen: The Lonely Tower.
Date: November 17, 2006. Time: 1100 hours. Location: Lantea.
Ronon grunted as he continued to toss and catch the apple he had just bought for a fruit seller here in the market place in Neo-Macross.
The market place is one of the biggest and busiest parts of Neo-Macross, having dozens of different stales where Athosians and Tau'ri can sell their goods to each other or to the Satedans and Travelers that now call this massive continent home.
Neo-Macross is now easily three times the size she was when she had finished being built. She was now housing close to a 300,000 inhabitants, a vast majority of them being Travelers, with the Tau'ri coming in second and the Satedans coming in third in terms of population.
Speaking of the Travelers, after the negotiations had finished, the civilian population has been transferred here to Lantea and then they were given temporary housing until their new homes could be built. Once their new homes were built, the Travelers were put into a new program that the Satedans and Athosians were also in.
It was called "Operation Illumination" and it's goal was to educate the inhabitants of Lantea, most of whom are lacking in the skills needed to advance their civilization.
A massive school had been constructed by the Tau'ri, however it was open to all who wish to learn. The university taught quite literally almost everything, form how to plant food and take care of crops to the highly technical scientific theories that allow Hyperdrives to work.
It was hoped that this university could help allow the Travelers, the Satedans and the Athosians to rebuild their civilizations by educating their children in the best ways possible. For the more technologically advanced courses, Tau'ri teachers were used,however for the history and culture behind the different civilizations, teachers from those civilizations were used. So a Satedan who teach the next generation of Satedans about their culture and history, while a Traveler would do the same for their next generation. That way the individuality and uniqueness of these civilizations would not be lost to the annals of time.
Ronon himself was currently walking around the city as due to a few new upgrades being worked on for Atlantis, the Stargate was currently offline and all off-world travel via the ancient Alterran device were put on hold until the upgrades were complete.
So for right now, all AR teams were given time off until the gate is back online.
Also, Ronon wasn't with Melena right now due to the fact she is taking her validation exam to become a Doctor for the Tau'ri.
After her operation and her subsequent time having to go through psychical therapy so she could use her legs once more, she wanted to become a Doctor once more, as that had been her occupation when Satedan had been attacked and destroyed by the Wraith.
So, she had personally asked Carson to teach her and allow her to become a Doctor for the ADF and after hearing she had once been one of the best Satedan doctors around, Carson took her under his wing and taught her everything she needed to know about being a Tau'ri doctor.
Being a Satedan Doctor and being a Tau'ri Doctor are very similar, in the regard that you are healing and helping human beings, just for different planets, the key difference is medical technology and medical techniques.
Even before the Stargate had unleashed it's unimaginable bounty of medical technology to the Tau'ri. the children of Earth already had much better medical technology and medical techniques in their repertoire. Add in all the brand new techniques and medical technology now accessible due to the Stargate and being a licensed and certified medical doctor for the Tau'ri is a much harder job, due to the fact that there is now there are dozens of incredibly advanced medical technologies to memorize, understand and use properly, along with dozens of techniques that the Sateda never thought to consider.
However, Melena was nothing if not more stubborn then Ronon and Ronon was infamous for his legendary stubbornness and hardheadedness. She had taken every single piece of medical jargon given to her by Carson, memorized, learned it and then mastered it. She already knew all the muscle groups, blood vessels and the like, just under different names, so learning those Tau'ri terms wasn't hard for her in the least. No, the thing that took the longest and was the most difficult for her to learn was all the super advanced medical technologies, but with Carson's and Keller's help, Melena quickly learned how to use the technology properly and was now ready to take her quiz to become a proper Tau'ri Doctor.
The quiz was taking place at Lantea University in a special part of the campus and would be a few more hours before it was over and since Ronon couldn't be in the room and since there was nothing else for him to do, he just decided to walk around the city to try and kill some time.
Ronon knew Melena would pass the test, there was no way for her to fail, but that still left him with nothing to do for a number of hours.
Ronon was busy with his thoughts when he saw a someone walk across the street wearing a ADF uniform.
As Ronon looked at the guys face, he realized that it was Rick Hunter, one of the ADF's best pilots ever. This is strange, what is he doing in Neo-Macross considering he is assigned to the Macross and she is currently out of Space Station Liberty and currently patrolling around the black holes here in the Pegasus galaxy as a means of trying to find Juggernaut station.
Curious, Ronon walked over to Rick, who quickly noticed Ronon's approach.
Just as Ronon knew who Rick is, Rick knew who Ronon is. After all, Ronon is the undefeated champion of the sparing matches in the ADF, holding a winning streak stretching into the hundreds. No one has been able to beat him and most don;t even last thirty seconds against him when Ronon goes all out. Sometimes Ronon feels particularly sadistic and will prologue the fight purposefully while inflicting painful welts upon his victims, causing them to fight while suffering for long periods of time. He also has one of the largest kill counts in the ADF since he spent seven years fighting the Wraith across dozens of worlds when he was a Runner and then he added even more to that count know that he has access to a Cyclone armor.
Ronon has a reputation in the ADF and so to see Ronon himself among the people of Neo-Macross was slightly shocking.
Rick put those thoughts away as Ronon approached Rick and said, "You Rick Hunter?"
"Yep. I'm Rick and you must be Ronon Dex. You're taller then I thought you would be." Rick said back as he had to slightly tilt his head a little bit upwards to look at Ronon, that is how large the monolith of a man is.
"I thought you were assigned to the Macross. I was just curious to why you are here in Neo-Macross instead of being on the Macross." Ronon asked.
"Oh, well I am assigned to be giving some practice lessons to some of the newest Destroid pilot recruits for the ADF, seeing as I am one of the best in the ADF. My job is to go in and absolutely humiliate them, so that they will understand that even in their Destroids, they are not invincible and can be defeated. Understanding that little fact will keep them from being overconfident and will hopefully keep them from being killed stupidly in combat." Rick explained.
"Really? They asked one of the best pilots in the ADF to leave the Macross and come here to simply kick the crap out of some snot nosed brats?" Ronon asked, unable to comprehend that logic.
"I know right. However much I dislike the orders, I am going to follow them." Rick said as he and Ronon started to lapse into comfortable conversation.
"So, mind if I come along? I'm bored and got nothing better to do. Watching a bunch of arrogant recruits get their clocks cleaned might be funny." Ronon said.
"Sure. Who knows, you might want to get some lessons about being a pilot." Rick said as he started to walk towards the ADF training field with Ronon right behind him.
"Maybe. I have been thinking about how to increase my skill set. I am no scientist, I cant help my team out besides being a muscle man. This might be the thing I am looking for." Ronon said as he took a bit out of his ruby red apple with a crunch.
"Well, if you are looking to increase your skill set, being a Destroid pilot is actually a lot less complicated then you think. Since the Destroids rely on mental commands now, piloting a Destroid is a much simpler endeavor then the original Spartan's or Tomahawk Destroids. Those things had around 170 different controls and were slow and in addition had a few software problems. By contrast, piloting a Morgan or Ascalon Destroid is a much easier task. Really, Destroid training right now is just teaching the trainees how to act in combat situations as if they are Marines or Black Ops. Since you are a veteran solider, that means a lot of the skills and raining you have received will easily transfer over to Destroid piloting. The only difference is now you have more firepower then most battle groups. But the movement, targeting and the such is very similar to being on the ground or using a Cyclone." Rick explained as the two continued to walk to the training area.
"Really?" Ronon asked, slightly surprised that Rick was telling him that piloting a Destroid is no big deal and really easy, a very shocking revelation considering how complex a Destroid is. Repairing Destroids have to be done using repair beams and Replicators, since they are so complex they cannot be repaired in a reasonable amount of time if human hands are used.
"Yeah, Destroids are designed to be super-user friendly and easy to maneuver. The problem with many of the first gen Destroids is that they were very complex and hard to maneuver, they couldn't react fast enough to threats. However, with the addition of Ancient, Asgard and more advanced Robotechnology, Destroids have become insanely easy to use these days." Rick said as they finally came upon the ADF training facility.
The ADF training facility is massive, having eight massive bays, each one being 300 feet wide, 400 feet long and 100 feet tall, all connected to to a massive area around 20 acres in diameter.
However, the entire training area is monitored and units inside the area are commanded from the command center, where there is also a large number of class rooms, firing ranges and other facilities for the trainees.
Surrounding the entire area is a 13 foot tall fence to keep out civilians for the safety. The only way in is through the twelve different gates spread throughout the fence.
Rick and Ronon walked up to entrance three where four ADF members stood sentinel.
"Stop. Scan you ADF ID and stat your name." One of them said.
Rick and Ronon both swiped their hands over the glowing holographic screens presented to them.
"Rick Hunter."
"Ronon Dex."
After stating their names, the screen beeped and the guard said, "Alright. Lt. Hunter, Ronon Dex, you can go in."
The barrier opened slightly and allowed the two men inside and then quickly closed behind them.
Once inside, the two quickly made their way to hanger bay three, where the class Rick is supposed to be destroying is located.
"Alright, after I am done beating these guys I'll show you how to pilot a Destroid." Rick said as he walked in front of the group of 10 trainees.
Once in front of them, Rick started speaking.
"Hello, my name is Lt. Rick Hunter, although you can call me Sir. Today, your lesson is very simple. You will get in your Destroids and I will as well. I will leave first and go find a place to wait. You will all wait for five minutes and then come in after me. Your mission is to destroy me and my Destroid. Simple. I will be trying to destroy you in return. Victory and defeat conditions are simple. If you all mange to destroy me and my Destroid, you all pass the test and not have to pay for you meals for the next three day. If I manage to obliterate you all, you will be made to clean your Destroids by hand for the next three weeks, along with paying for me and my team's meals for the next week. Any questions?" Rick asked.
No one said anything and so Rick said, "Alright, get in your Destroids. I'll get in mine and once I am out of the hanger, start the clock."
The trainees all quickly headed to their Destroids, which where comprised of ten Morgan class Hovertank Destroids, each one having the same green cameo color scheme to their entire frame.
Rick himself, now clad in his red and white pilot suit, went for a different Destroid, a Ascalon class Destroid. He walked on the catwalk above the Destroid and went down onto the Destroid's frame where the cockpit was located. He quickly jumped into the cockpit and pressed his hands against the two circular control pads, causing the reactor's buried in the Ascalon to ignite, sending forth tremendous power throughout the frame.
Rick clicked the right side of his helmet and a a black visor came down to cover his eyes as the connect port connected the back of Rick's neck, causing him to gasp a little. No matter ho many times he does that, it still feels weird. The AI assistant for this Destroid was Ava, his personal AI he took from his Pendragon and brought with him.
"So, we are going to be playing around in a ground pounder's mech today?" Ava said with a smile on her face as she crosser her arms across her chest.
"Yep. I helped perfect these things you know. Should be no problem to beat those punks." Rick said as he mentally checked over the Ascalon's frame for any faults and when he found none, he sent a command to the refueling tubes connected to the Ascalon.
The three tubes disconnected from the back of the Ascalon with a hiss and once the tubes where gone, the armor of the Ascalon shifted to cover the small holes the refueling tubes connected to.
Rick slowly moved the Ascalon forwards, the two large humanoid hands modeled after a human's hands flexing as Rick began to get himself situated with the Ascalon.
After a few exercises to help familiarize himself with the Ascalon, Rick had the Ascalon walk over to the Destroid weapon rack and pick up a GU-221 Gun Pod. With the Destroid fully armed, Rick moved the Destroid over to the hanger bay opening.
For this exercise, all the weapons on the Morgan's and the Ascalon had been replaced with extremely advanced fake laser weaponry. Whenever a missile or cannon is fired, it sends out an electronic signal that the computers back at the command center register and then calculate how much damage that would do in real combat, this way the troops can fire their weapons and not kill each other.
Rick then said, "See ya in five minutes."
With that, Rick sent his Destroid running forwards, the massive size of the machine causing the ground to shake as loud booms where heard whenever the Ascalon's feet hit the ground.
Rick immediately had the Destroid go for a section of the training area where there was a large opening to a cave. Once he was there, five minutes have already passed since he left the hanger and now the trainees where more the likely coming right here for him, but that was all according to Rick's plan.
Rick had the large Ascalon run into the cave and once inside, used the newly installed grappling anchors on the back of all Ascalon's to move himself to a large overhanging ledge that looked like it could support the Ascalon. Once up on the ledge, Rick shut down all of the systems of the Ascalon and started to run off of emergency power, as well as powering up the Shadow Field to he point the trainees wouldn't be able to see the Ascalon on the sensors without boosting their power a significant degree. Combined with the dark shadows that blend in well with the black pain scheme of this Ascalon, seeing the giant mecha by sight will be incredible hard to do unless a stream of light manages to hit the barrel of the GU-221.
With himself now basically invisible, Rick settled into his Destroid and began to wait.
He didn't have to wait for long, because not seven minutes later, the group of ten Morgan Hovertanks all came barreling into the cave, not bothering to raise their forearm shields or even take precautions to make sure Rick wouldn't be able to detect their approach.
Shaking his head in dismay at their idiocy, Rick quietly aimed his GU-221 along with Heavy Beam Cannons on the back of the unit towards the trainees, prepared to start a massive firefight.
With a single mental command, all hell broke loose.
The Heavy Beam Cannons shot forth, striking the back of one of the Morgans. Being caught completely unprepared, the Morgan's shields were quickly shattered and once they were, Rick sent forth a barrage from his GU-221, hitting the Destroid dozens of times in the back before the Morgan could even react and before the other trainees could do anything, the one that Rick was attacking went still and shut down, signalling the Destroid would have accumulated too much damage in real combat and so is now out of the game.
With his cover now gone, the reactors of the Ascalon roared to life, bringing the unit back to full readiness.
Rick had the Ascalon jump down to the ground, causing a large eruption of dust and debris to be flung everyone, leaving the trainees unable to fire at Rick.
Using their confusion, Rick launched a barrage of missiles from the missile racks on either side of his Destroid to fire a set of seven missiles per each missile rack.
The two groups of seven missiles struck two Morgans each, their shields straining to hold off against the electronic missiles.
Before they could regain heir strength, the four x 15 mm auto cannons located in the Ascalon's chest roared out, the four streams of fake ammunition striking the Morgans and causing tremendous damage before the pilots could react and so two more Morgan's shut down, their pilots also out of the fight.
By this point the trainees all finally began to react and so started firing at Rick, however they were all panic firing and so their shots were by no means accurate and so only a few shots actually connected, causing the shields of the Ascalon to be slightly depleted.
However, Rick had a plan and so disengaged and had his Destroid run away from the trainees, the black color scheme of the cave helping the unit blend in with the darkness surrounding them and so many of the shots the Morgans sent after Rick missed by a lot.
Once far enough away from the trainees, Rick had his shields start recharging as he took out a map of the caves to plan for his next trap.
About a minute away from his present location is a large open chamber with large stalactites on the roof which Rick can use as makeshift shields to block the firepower of the Morgans.
With his plan all laid out, Rick got his Ascalon running once more, headed for the chamber.
Luckily, the Morgans were nowhere in sight and so Rick was able to get to the chamber with ease. Once he was there, he used the anchors once more to get his Ascalon to top of the chamber, where he broke off a number of stalactites and used them to block the entrances to the chamber except from one way.
With only one way in or out, now Rick knew where the trainees would come from.
Tearing out another pile of stalactites, he created a makeshift defensive wall to protect himself from the trainees firepower.
With himself now ready for combat, Rick did the opposite of what he did last time and turned off his Shadow Field completely and raised his reactor's activity, basically calling out for the trainees to come get him.
Knowing they will be here any moment now, Rick aimed his Heavy Beam Cannons down the hallway the trainees were sure to come down and pushed them beyond the safety limit, allowing him to take down two of the Morgans in a single shot, however the cannons will fry themselves and he will gt only one shot per cannon, so he had best make that one shot count.
Rick had his finger around the mental trigger in his head and was ready to unleash hell.
After waiting for a few minutes, Rick saw the forms of the trainees Destroids starting to come into view and the moment they were completely in view, his Heavy Beam Cannons roared out, their electronic signals striking the Morgan Destroids and taking down two more Morgans from the combat exercise, leaving only five left.
The remaining five trainees were quick to respond, one of them shifting their Morgan into the guardian mode of the Morgan and aimed their large 72 mm particle cannon at Rick and was about to fire when Rick launched all his missiles at once, hitting three of the other Morgans with his remaining 32 missiles.
The Morgan that had shifted into Guardian mode fired his cannon, the large weapon sending forth a electronic signal that would have nearly retired Rick in a single hit had the attack actually hit Rick.
With speed and agility only developed after two years of brutal combat against the Wraith, Rick narrowly avoided the attack and as a counter attack, raised his gunpod and fired a seven second long burst at the Morgan, the long stream of electronic signals hitting the Morgan and knocking out her shields after the first five seconds, with the remaining two seconds needed to knock it out of the exercise.
Now, there was only one Morgan left and this one wasn't taking any chances with Rick. The pilot having his Morgan transfer all energy into the shields and then charged forwards towards Rick, his gunpod discarded completely.
Rick had his Destroid do the same and then raised his Destroid's arms up in defensive manner as he prepared to engage in melee combat with this trainee.
The guy came in fast with a hard left forwards punch that Rick dodge by barely moving his Destroid a little to the right, the punch flying past Rick's Destroid's visor face by only a few feet.
Rick retaliated with a hard right punch to the chest of his enemy Destroid, whereupon he activated his Destroid's wrist mounted 25 mm cannons and unleashed point blank firepower into the unprepared trainee's chest.
The shields shattered quickly as Rick had transferred all energy into his wrist mounted cannons and combined with the fact it was at point blank range, the effect was astonishingly devastating to the shields of the Morgan.
With a loud thud, the last Morgan fell to the ground, unresponsive as it's pilot cursed a storm for his defeat.
Rick smiled as he heard on the radio, "Exercise Bravo for trainee team Sigma 7 has been completed. Sigma 7 has been eliminated and so Rick Hunter is the victor of today's training exercise. All units return to base immediately for debrief."
Rick watched as the Morgan's all reactivated and then all left the room, headed for the hanger.
Rick was right behind them, quite satisfied with how he took down the trainees so efficiently and quickly. It just proves he has gotten a lot better since he signed up for the ADF.
With quick and powerful strides, Rick arrived back at Hanger Bay 3 and once there, returned his gunpod back onto the rack and then moved the Ascalon back to it's berth and docked with the berth. Once docked and connected, Rick disconnected Ava from the Ascalon and placed her into his Infiltrator on his right arm.
"Well that well. You didn't even need my help." Ava said as the cockpit opened up.
"Yeah. Those guys only knew how to make the Destroids move and fire the guns semi-accurately. They need a lot more training before they are allowed to pilot Destroids into combat." Rick said as he climbed out of the cockpit and got onto the catwalk behind the Destroid and walked away, heading for the elevator which leads to the ground floor.
"Well to be fair, you are one of the best Aces in the ADF, as well as having two years of combat experience to draw upon. They just didn't have the time to refine their skills enough to allow them to face you." Ava said.
"Yes, but at the same time they didn't work together as a unit. If they had actually worked together and had stopped to try and work out a plan, they might have been able to win. Instead they all worked by themselves and fought by themselves. Hell, that last trainee literally threw away his weapons and tied to fight me in melee combat. That is stupid, no enemy soldier is going to throw away their weapons and fight in an honorable fist fight. In battle, you do whatever it takes to get home alive, even if it means fighting dirty." Rick said as the two of them got off the elevator and got onto the ground floor, seeing the trainees all lined up and standing at attention while Ronon looked on in amusement as the training officer was tearing the trainees a new one.
"Congratulations Sigma 7, you have set a new record for mistakes done in a training exercise. You have all displayed a level of incompetence and inability to function as a unit that is beyond my mortal mind to even fathom. Jonson, what the fuck were you thinking when you threw away your gunpod and tried t fight in melee?! If that had been a real fight you would be nothing more then ash floating away in the wind and more importantly, you would have lost us a important piece of hardware! You are lucky I don't drum you out of the corp right here and now! Next time use what little brain cells you have in that tiny head of your's! Understood?!" The officer roared out.
"Sir yes sir!" Jonson shouted out.
"All of you, report back to room VC-56 and get yourselves ready for your debrief in thirty minutes. Dismissed!" The officer shouted out.
Team Sigma 7 all saluted and quickly left the hanger, heading for the assigned room in the main facility.
The training officer turned back to Rick and said, "Thank you Lt. Hunter for showing these worms just how bad they really are."
"No problem sir. Just doing my duty." Rick replied as he stood ram rod straight.
"Well anyway, I am due for a debrief soon. The range is yours. Good day Lt." The training officer said as he walked away.
"Nice guy. I like him." Ronon said as he walked over to Rick.
"Yeah, he's cool. Well, let's get started on your lesson." Rick said as he led Ronon over to a Gawain Destroid, which has two seats in it.
Rick sat in the back and after Ronon got into his piloting suit, Ronon took the front seat.
The Destroid's reactors ignited with a roar and Rick said, "Alright, take us out of the hanger and then switch is into Battleoid mode."
Ronon nodded and then sent the mental command, a little startled when the Destroid responded, quickly hovering about the ground at three feet and then moving out of the hanger at great speed, but he quickly adjusted and brought the Gawain under control.
"A lot different from a Cyclone isn't she?" Rick asked with a slight teasing tone in his voice.
"Yeah. A lot different." Ronon said as he checked out the world using his newly enhanced scenes thanks to the mental interface system.
"Alright. Now, send the command to switch into Battleoid mode." Rick said.
"Okay." Ronon said as he sent the command and instantly, the process of mechamorphosis began.
Metal plating moved and shifted as the hover-jeep began to transform, changing from a hover-jeep into a tall humanoid mechanized figure.
Ronon gave out a loud exhale as he said, "That was different."
"Yeah. Transforming in Cyclone armor is way different from being inside a Veritech type mecha as it transforms. The sense of being inside a giant metal coffin as it shifts around you knowing a single error in coding and you'll be turned into a red paste that'll have to be scrubbed out of the mecha. It takes a lot of guts to pilot a Veritech." Rick said as he remember the first few times training in the old Veritechs and feeling that slight sense of fear every time he transformed his Veritech. It lessened in time, but it still existed in the back of Rick's mind.
"So, this is what you feel whenever you fight?" Ronon asked as he held the Gawain's hands close to the monitor, turning the as if they were his own hands.
"Yep. There nothing quite like it. The feeling of merging with a giant mecha, the cold metal outer shell that becomes your new skin, the feeling of raw energy roaring in your veins as the reactor burns in your chest, seeing, hearing and feeling the world in a way that no one can possibly understand without going through it themselves. Being a Destroid or Veritech pilot is like nothing else in the universe." Rick explained as he leaned back in his seat, remembering how it felt to pilot the second generation of mechanized units for the first time all the way back in the Siege. That had been something that would likely stick around for the rest of his life.
"Damn. I got a new respect for you guys now." Ronon said as he continued to marvel at the feeling of piloting the Gawain.
"Thanks. Now, let's go through some exercises to try and let you get used to the Gawain." Rick said he began to coach Ronon on piloting a Destroid.
One of the strangest friendships in the ADF has been forged today, however events of a greater impact are happening.
Time: 1400 hours. Location: Unknown Planet.
Dr. Richard Woolsey was currently enjoying his life as he took a sip of his steaming cup of coffee while reading the latest book he got downloaded onto his Infiltrator when he went to the SGC to give his yearly report.
Currently he was on-board the newest warship built by the Tau'ri, a Third Generation Daedalus class warship, the Havoc. Her Captain is a Traveler woman named Katana Labrea, a younger captain, but so far she has shown excellent ability to command this warship.
Woolsey was on a mission to met with various governments around Pegasus and establish good relationships with them. Atlantis may not need allies due to being self sufficient since the Alpha Bases are online, however it is still a good idea to establish good will among their neighbors.
Currently they were over a unknown planet. A recent trading partner said to come here as there was something on this planet they might be interested in. Right now, a deep level scan of the planet was being done to find anything of value.
Just then, a loud banging at Woolsey's door let him know someone was entering as a crew-member burst in Woolsey's room.
"Sir, you have to come see what we found on the planet!" The crew-member said.
Woolsey quickly followed the crew-member to one of the holographic screens on the bridge of the Havoc and gasped at what he saw.
It was a city ship. A exact replica on Atlantis, minus all the changes the ADF made to Atlantis, but besides those, this city ship is exactly the same. However, the shear amount of damage done to the city ship was also something to be astonished about.
Almost every single spire of the once mighty and beautiful city ship has been destroyed, with only the main tower left intact. For what little the Havoc has gathered, almost every single system on this city ship is offline, with only small amounts of power coming from the tower, leading the ADF crew to believe that the ZPM powering this city ship is almost completely depleted.
"We found here a little over thirty minutes ago. I never would have thought that another city ship was built by the Ancestors." Katana said as she walked over, clad in her Captain variety ADF uniform.
"We never found any mention that the Lanteans ever built a second city ship either. I mean, the resources needed to build a city ship must be enormous, so building them during the war with the Wraith is out of the question, but they did have many more millennia to build them during the time between their arrival in Pegasus and the beginning of their war with the Wraith. It stands to reason they might have built a number of city ships to help them with their task of protecting the developing societies here in Pegasus. I just never thought we would find something so important, here on this planet." Woolsey said as he studied the images being shown to him.
"I have contacted ADF High Command and they have given us our new mission. You are to negotiate with the people of this planet to allow us to have their city ship in exchange for agriculture, a new city, a ADF ID code so they can come to Atlantis in case of an emergency, a means to detect the Wraith and a way to defend themselves in cause of Wraith attack." Katana said.
"Understood. When am I going down?" Woolsey asked, already thinking of ways to negotiate for control of this new city ship.
"In around an hour. Dr. McKay, Zor, and Lang are coming here on-board the Macross to scan the city ship and once we are given it, we are going to see how much it will take to repair her." Katana said as she turned towards Woolsey.
"Understood. I maybe no scientist or engineer, but I can already say from the limited scan we have of the city ship, she is going to take a long time to be repaired." Woolsey said he went to prepare himself.
"I can't disagree with that." Katana said as she stared at the limited scans of the city ship, the damage she has taken something Katana couldn't wrap her mind around. The city ship should not have survived, but she did and now the ADF would negotiate for her control and then they will begin the long task of returning this city ship to her former glory.
Eventually Katana turned away and began barking orders out for her crew, intending for this place to be ready for when Captain Gloval and the Macross arrived.
Time: 1500 hours. Location: Unknown Planet.
The Macross exited her Hyperspace Fold Sphere without fanfare, the massive warship coming to a stop near the Havoc.
The Macross looked much different from when last she was on a mission. The Macross now had a dark black hull plating that allowed her to blend in with the blackness of outer-space with ease, while her bow sections was completely redesigned. Now her booms where hexagonal in shape, with the large orange tips at the very end of her booms. Her bridge was also redesigned, with the bridge now much smaller and learner, more held against the hull and now not such an obvious target. The Prometheus and the Daedalus class aircraft carriers had been rechristened as the Dominator and the Liberator, respectfully as they have been rebuilt into ARMD type carriers, but much narrower and larger as well, while also boasting the immense technological advancements made by the ADF. The rest of the Macross is now much sleeker as well.
All-in-all, the Macross is an entirely different kind of warship then what she was before. Stronger, tougher and with a whole lot more weapons of which to unleash towards anyone dumb enough to face her in combat.
Katana was in shock as the massive Super-Dimensional Fortress class warship flew into view of herself and her crew. The Macross was massive, easily larger then her warship. When she had been in training, she had learned about the massive size of the SDF class warships, however hearing about something never prepares you for the moment you actually see or experience it. The Macross is by far, one of the largest warships she has ever seen. She has seen the Aurora class warship her people had found before and that thing is a massive warship itself, but those are outclassed in size by Hive ships, which are insanely massive in size, but even Hive ships are smaller then the Macross. A Hive ship is generally 5,545 meters in length, while the Macross is now 5,750 meters in length, making the Macross larger then even Hive ships.
Katana just looked on in awe as the Macross flew into position near the Havoc, the larger warship easily covering the entirety of the Havoc in her shadow. Then her comm officer said, "Ma'am, we are getting a transmission from the Macross."
"Accept it." Katana said as a holographic screen formed near her.
On the screen is the face of Captain Henry Gloval, legendary command of the Macross.
"Captain Katana, what is Dr. Woolsey's status?" Gloval asked.
"He is ready to head down to the planet and make contact with the locals leadership." Katana said back.
"Understood. Send him down and have him initiate contact. The ADF is very interested in the city ship. The Macross is going to send down McKay, Lang and Zor to the city ship the moment Dr. Woolsey strikes a deal. Your orders are to remain in orbit and guard the planet to make sure the negotiations go off without a hitch, while also providing a quick get away in case things go bad." Gloval informed Katana.
"Understood. The Havoc will be ready to react the moment things go bad." Katana said as Gloval nodded and then disappeared from view.
"Dr. Woolsey, are you ready?" Katana asked as Woolsey walked onto the bridge.
"I am as ready as I'll ever be." Woolsey said as two ADF marines walked over to his sides. They will be his personal bodyguards to protect him while he his negotiating.
"Understood. We will be beaming you to a position around three minutes from the village that is nearby the city ship that way you won't scare anyone. You'll have to walk the rest of the way to the city ship. Good luck." Katana said as Woolsey disappeared in a flash of light.
Katana then sent a silent prayer, hoping Woolsey will get out of this one alive and with the city ship in their position. Having another city ship can go a long way to making the lives of the ADF much easier for everyone, as well as making the fight against the Wraith a little bit easier.
Time: 1700 hours. Location: Tower.
Woolsey mentally gave a cry of joy as he and his two companions finally arrived at the tower after hours of walking.
"Note to self, start heading to the gym." Woolsey thought to himself as the group f three approached the tower.
"Halt! Stat your intentions foreigners!" A guard shouted.
"We are here to talk to the leaders of your people about the possibility of trading with you and your people." Woolsey said back.
The guard vanished back into the tower for a long while, but then eventually came back and said, "Very well. You can enter the tower."
A door then opened near Woolsey and his group and they walked inside, led by four guards.
Thy walked through the halls of the tower for a while, the similarities between this city ship and Atlantis slightly unnerving, especially since there were tapestries and other differences here and there that would never be allowed back on Atlantis.
Eventually they came to a large hall that looked exactly like the gate room back on Atlantis, with one difference, there is a control chair right smack dab in the middle of the room.
Sitting on the control chair is a young woman with golden hair with blue-green eyes dressed in a medieval gown of sorts.
"Greetings friends. My name is Mara, ruler of this planet and Lord Protector. What brings you to the Tower?" She asked.
"My name is Dr. Richard Woolsey and I am a diplomat from the Atlantis Defense Forces. I have come here to negotiate for the control of this tower." Woolsey said, shocking all in the room.
"You come from the city of the Ancestors?" Mara asked.
"Indeed we do." Woolsey coolly replied.
"Then prove it. To control the city of the Ancestors, one must have the power. Sit in the chair and prove to us you actually do control the city of the Ancestors." Mara said, pointing to the control chair.
Woolsey then looked to Major Hawks and said, "You have the gene correct?"
"Yes sir. I have the gene naturally." Hawks replied.
"Alright. Well, please go sit down and prove to them we are who we say we are." Woolsey said.
"Yes sir." Hawks replied as he then walked over to the control chair and sat down, the chair responding to the presence of the Ancient gene and reclining backwards while lighting up, causing shock all throughout the room.
"You do indeed possess the power of the Ancestors." Mara said in slight disbelief.
"Indeed we do. Now, may we move on to negotiation of this tower?" Woolsey asked.
"Yes. Come, let us negotiate." Mara said as she led the way into a room that looks exactly like the meeting room from Atlantis.
"Alright, let me begin. The ADF is prepared to construct for you a new city with a new capitol, large fields, means to defend yourselves from the Wraith and detect the Wraith, a means to call the ADF in the event of an emergency as well as a ID that will allow you to enter Atlantis in the event of an emergency and finally better agriculture so your people can thrive, all in exchange for control of the Tower be given to the ADF." Woolsey said to Mara.
Mara thought long and hard about the offer. It was a very good one, all that in exchange for a lonely tower that they were fast loosing the ability to even use anymore.
"If the ADF gives us better medicine, as well as a Doctor to help us in addition to all the other things you promised, I will accept the offer." Mara finally said after a while.
Woolsey thought about that little requirement. It wasn't hard to do. They could create a medical Replicator and station him here on the planet along with the means to create medicine to help the villagers. It wasn't exactly a game-breaker.
"The ADF hereby accepts your conditions that in order for us to gain control of this Tower, we shall build you a better city and capital, give you agriculture, a means to defend against the Wraith, along with detect the Wraith, a way to contact and go to Atlantis in the event of a emergency and give you better medicine as well as someone to use it. Do you agree with this?" Woolsey asked.
"I Mara, High Protector and Leader of this planet, hereby accept the ADF offer." Mara said.
"Alright. We shall send someone down so they can help you design the new city while we begin to build the defense against the Wraith. We will be back." Woolsey said as he then clicked his small communicator in his ear and said, "This is Woolsey. I have managed to negotiate control of the Tower. Send down McKay, Zor and Lang for the process of designing the new city."
Three flashes of light erupted at the far end of the meeting room, depositing said man.
"Alright, let's being." McKay said as he walked over to Mara with a holographic screen and the two began to design the new city.
Date: November 21, 2006. Time: 1250 hours. Location: Tower.
McKay looked out from the Tower at the newly designed city that lay below the Tower.
He and Mara had spent a day designing the city and then it took a day to construct the city using the Asgard Transport beams from the Havoc. After that, the Havoc then created a large Theta station underneath the main capitol.
A Theta station is a large bunker where Drones are stored and launched from, while sensors can detect Wraith from up to 1,000 light years away.
The Theta station can only be operated by Viloth, the Replicator Doctor stationed in the cities medical building. This is to prevent anyone from using the Drones to threaten or harm anyone.
The improved agriculture has also been implemented and Mara herself has the ID device, allowing her to contact or flee to Atlantis should anything happen.
With all their requirements met, the Royal family left the Tower for their new home in the capitol, leaving the ancient city ship to the ADF.
The first thing they did was remove all the dirt on top of the city ship, using the transport beams from the Macross and the Havoc to take the dirt from the city ship and leave it around a thousand miles away in a desert.
Finally unearthed, the city ship was unveiled for all to see and for the ADF, it was not a pretty sight.
The damage was even worse then originally thought. The star-drive's have been obliterated, the shield emitters are all fried, the hull has so many holes that the frame is barely holding together, sensors are gone completely, along with communications. The absolute only thing still working are the Drone launchers, which have a plethora of Drone from which to launch still, but the ZPM is now down to 1% power remaining.
The bottom line is that this city ship needs major repairs to ever be considered usable again.
Already thousands of Replicators and Drones have already begun to swarm all over the city, brought in by the Macross and the Havoc. Their job is to repair the hull, rebuild the power lines, get the shield emitters back online and finally install a Hyperspace Fold Generator onto this city ship since her Star Drives are all beyond repair. After all that is done, they will then take the city ship to Space Station Liberty, where she can be fully repaired.
However, it is still going to take four months to get the city ship well enough to Hyperspace Fold to Space Station Liberty for her repairs, and so until she is well enough to leave the planet, four Daedalus class warships have been assigned to protect her while the Drones and Replicators work to make her well enough to leave.
The Havoc, the Star Fury, the Hyperion, and the Krakatoa are all in orbit, watching for any sign of incoming Wraith.
Zor and Lang are currently attempting to rebuild the main computer system of the city ship right now, however it is slow going.
"Dr. McKay, we need you here in the computer core." A voice said over the comm.
"Understood. I'll be there soon." McKay said as he turned and went back into the Tower.
This city ship may be damaged, but in time she will be repaired and brought back greater then ever before. And when she does, she shall help burn the Wraith from the stars for what they have done to her.
The ADF has given this city ship a name very important in Tau'ri history.
Forevermore, this city ship shall be known as the Alexandria.
May her enemies tremble in fear before and may her allies find shelter in her arms.
And that is that!
The chapter is finally done! I think this is more of a slow chapter compared to some of my other chapters, but I think it works.
The ADF has found the Tower and started to repair it, as well as improve the lives of the locals in exchange for the city ship.
I liked the name Alexandria for a city ship, so that is what this one shall be called from now on.
Not much else to talk about, so as always, if you have any comments, criticism, 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!