Kadzuki Kurokami: Reassure me, you don't think I spent 4 chapters pulling the strings of all events to send AR-1, Hakuno, Fenrir, and a very specific Wraith into the Altera Galaxy for... for absolutely no reason?
Author's note: thank you for your continued support.
Delmak's Invasion
Altera Galaxy, on board the Aurora-class Asuran Battleship Sirius
There was a moment of silence. All eyes were turned towards the hideous silhouette of the hive-ship. The techno-organic hull of the gigantic ship resembled a bluish-gray insect's shell.
Finally, Ronon Dex spoke to the starship commander.
"Well, what are you waiting for? These are our enemies, let's destroy them!"
Hakuno Kishinami seemed to think a few moments and then pressed a crystal key of the Ancient Panel in front of her. A flat hologram appeared, showing a diagram of the Sirius, the drones' launcher appeared in red with, for each of them, the state of the drone stocks in a small separate window.
"Few drones left."
A moment unsettled by Kishinami's response, Ronon shrugged.
"Well, let's get back to Pegasus. The Hive-ships are not capable of intergalactic flight... abandoning them here is a fate worse than death."
"I'm afraid we can't leave immediately, Ronon Dex."
All eyes turned to the hologram of Fenrir. The Asgard slowly blinked his huge all-black eyes.
"Sirius hyperdrive has suffered significant stress. I do not recommend opening a hyperspace window before a full check."
"What are we risking?" asked the Satedan.
It was Rodney McKay who replied. The irascible Canadian had connected his tablet to a console and was busy checking the hyperdrive. Without looking up from the screen, he replied with biting irony.
"Oh not so much. If we're lucky, we'll explode as soon as we power up the hyperdrive. At worst, we could be stuck forever in hyperspace... adrift... with no hope of returning. We have just survived an emergency hyperdrive, I vote not to try again until we are really in danger." McKay paused briefly, and looked up at one of the screens that displayed an image of the enemy ship. "But the Wraiths won't have this kind of problems. Their hyperdrive is techno-organic. As a living organ, it heals... and very quickly. We have all seen how quickly fire's impact on the Wraiths ships' hulls closes rapidly. It is because of the regenerative abilities of their ships that the Wraiths has never used energy shields."
John Sheppard spoke. He had not stopped watching the Hive-ship and began to wonder at the Wraiths' lack of responsiveness.
"They still haven't opened fire... I think they must be more shaken than us by this unplanned journey. After all, we have maps and a minimum of information. But for them, it's an unknown galaxy millions of light-years from home."
"You speak like the Wraiths could be frightened," mocked Ronon.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sheppard turned to his friend.
"They can be terrified, they can be sad, and they can be desperate. They suffer and experience joy. They admire the beauty of the stars and understand poetry."
Before being captured by the Genii, John's opinion was not very different from that of the Satedan. But the Genii had used a Wraith to torture him... the latter (hungry) was forced by their jailers to feed on Sheppard's vital energy, gradually turning the Tau'ri into an old man.
After each session, they were brought back to their cells and could chat.
These discussions allowed Sheppard to understand that the Wraiths were not 'monsters', nor were they some sort of 'generics bad guys'. They absorbed the vital energy of humans because... if they did not, they would starve to death!
To escape, John had to sacrifice most of his vital energy to restore the Wraith full strength and fighting spirit. The space vampire could have abandoned him. But, on the contrary, the Alien returned after eliminating the Genii defending the Stargate and given him back his vital energy and youth (1).
Since those events, John had had plenty of time to reflect. His imprisonment by the Genii was in fact a parable of the situation of Pegasus at whole. The Wraiths did not ravage entire planets slaughtering the population because they were evil... but because humans were the only species the Wraiths could feed on.
Sheppard turned to Teyla Emmagan, the only AR-1 member who had not participated in the discussions. The young Athosian, with sun-kissed skin and blond hair, was watching the Hive-ship intensely. John knew her well enough to know that she wasn't just looking with her eyes...
"Teyla what do you feel?"
The young woman flinched. She was a Wraithkin, her ancestors had received some Wraith's DNA... Being a hybrid of human and Wraith, she had the telepathic abilities of the Wraiths, although her gift was small compared to those of these cosmic vampires.
"It's strange, John, there's no Queen aboard this hive."
John frowned, quite surprised. Most of the Hive-ships were commanded by Queens... a hive without a queen was an anomaly. Aboard a Hive Ship, all the crew (even human prisoners) was connected to a fluidic system that fed them in exchange of DNA samples that the central biocomputer memorized. It seemed disgusting to a human, but this system had an advantage. When a queen was connected to the fluidic system, her DNA boosted some function of the Hive-ship, particularly the cloning plants. Without the DNA of a queen, cloning plants produced far fewer Warriors and Workers... and very little or no Leader.
"Are you sure?"
The young woman replied with a smile.
"At this distance, I cannot miss the presence of a Queen. In fact, I would have to fight her to prevent her from reading my mind."
Teyla Emmagan's gift was unfortunately two-way. If she perceived the thoughts of the Wraiths and even their mere presence, the reciprocal was also true.
"The Wraiths are agitated. Not the Warriors and Workers, of course. These Wraiths feel nothing. But the Male Wraith Leaders were upset until a moment ago. But now I feel that they are calming down. They have a charismatic leader who has restored calm onboard."
John nodded. The Tau'ri had studied the hierarchical structure of the Wraiths and divided them into three main castes. Their society was very similar to that of social insects, except that it was 99% male. The rare females were the Queens (Princesses, Queens, Sovereign queens), the majority of males were drones deprived of their own will, cloned en masse. These masked males were telepathically controlled. They formed the crews of the Wraith's starships, the pilots of their Darts, the armies, and also the working force used by the Wraiths. Between the Queens and the Drones, there was an intermediate caste, the Leaders. These were the officers of the armies and ships, but also the scientists. Capable of independent thinking, they were emotionally very close to humans.
As he reflected on this, a voice was heard. One of the Asuran officers had just turned to Hakuno. "Commander, the Wraiths hail us."
"On screen," simply replied the High Councilor.
The Wraith that had just appeared on screen was a typical specimen of his species. His skin was pale, slightly greenish. His white hair was very long and fell lower than his shoulders. His goatee was just as white as his hair. Around the left eye, the Wraith had a very characteristic, star-shaped tattoo.
While the commander of the hive-ship greeted Hakuno by calling her "High Councilor Kishinami", John leaned towards Teyla.
"Unless he has a twin brother, it is the Wraith who was in the cell next to mine, when I was imprisoned by Kolya (2)"
The Wraith must have had good hearing because he turned to John and smiled at him.
"You're not mistaken, Lieutenant-Colonel John Sheppard. I'm your former cellmate."
John hesitated for a moment and grinned.
"Life is strange, I was just thinking about you. And we meet again... in another galaxy."
The Wraith laughs.
"It's nice to hear you haven't forgotten me."
Hakuno and the Wraith leader had a lengthy conversation, mostly dominated by the albino space vampire as Kishinami was not a very talkative one. However, she did send a file containing all the information they knew about the Altera Galaxy.
"The information is quite extraordinary," remarked the commander of the Hive-ship. "But do you think our arrival in this galaxy was a mere accident?"
The question was directed at Hakuno, but McKay looked up from his tablet.
"You seem to be suggesting that someone sent us here. Who? And for what reason?"
"Finishing our journey in a mapped galaxy had only one chance in more than several billion to arrive."
Teyla nodded.
"I quite agree with your friend, John."
The American officer jolted.
"Friend? Well, I wouldn't go that far... after what happened to us, we're no longer strangers. I would even say that I trust the word of this Wraith and that I have a rather favorable a priori. But I don't even know his name..." Frowning, John turned to the screen. "By the way, do you have any names?"
The Wraith answered in a friendly manner.
"I have a name. Normally, only Queens have names. For a Leader to receive a name, he must have achieved a completion that brings him out of the anonymous mass. This name reflects this completion. Unfortunately, we only communicate our names to members of our race... and only to those we consider our close friends. I hope you won't mind if I don't give you my name."
John smiled mockingly.
"Then we'll have to find a nickname for you. What do you think?"
The Wraith yawned ostensibly... without putting his hand in front of his mouth.
"If it makes the conversation easier..."
"In that case... Todd!"
"Why Todd," McKay retorted.
"It was a friend's name in high school, he was very pale."
"We should vote for the name given to the Wraiths leaders."
Hakuno lost interest in the dispute between the leader of AR-1 and McKay and turned to the screen.
"Todd, you didn't attack."
The Wraith answered with an amused smile.
"I'm seen as a good strategist among my people and, for me, fighting against you in such a situation would be tantamount to suicide. Sheppard will confirm that when I am imprisoned with someone, I seek to escape with his help rather than try alone."
"I see."
"I propose an alliance... valid until we are back in Pegasus, of course. Let's help each other and survive together instead of dying on our own."
"Ally" confirmed Hakuno, nodding.
This declaration of alliance was timely because...
"Opening a of a hyperspatial window detected!"
One of the Asuran officers had stiffened in his chair and his fingers were running on the luminous keyboard of his Ancient Console.
"The hyperspatial technology used is the same as ours." He hesitated before correcting. "The same as the Lantean."
All at the same time, Teyla, John, Rodney and Ronon turned their attention to the screens. They saw several openings emitting an intense greenish light. Ships emerged, decelerating unrealistically by re-entering Einsteinian space.
The Tau'ri had never encountered such vessels. Competing in size with a Hive -ship, they looked like rings. The front even had a kind of bezel. However, but these spaceships was rather oval than round and had thrusters at the back. Moreover, the center of the 'ring' was not empty but enclosed a very luminous mass that will be the energy source of these strange spaceships.
The ringships had just emerged but, immediately, they raised transparent energy shields while maneuvering to encircle the two intruders' ships. At the same time, they deployed swarms of fighters.
MacKay was so excited about what he found while reading the sensors' report that he forgot to panic. On the contrary, he began to speak in an excited tone.
"These shields look like a slightly less advanced version of the City Ship-class shield. Their thrusters and sensors are also typical of the Ancient Technology. They even have Transport Rings, a technology the Goa'uld copied from the Ancients!"
"I think we just met with the Ori," Sheppard whispered.
Milky Way, orbit of Delmak, capital of Apophis' dominion
Several hyperspace windows suddenly appeared and - as usual- vessels came out, seeming to give a violent brake by reintegrating the four-dimensional space.
The fleet that had just appeared consisted of a dozen Transport Ha'tak (full of Jaffa ready to land on Delmak and conquer the planet in the name of their god). These vessels were unmistakable with their orange central tetrahedron and rounded external superstructures. Maneuvering flawlessly, they deployed in an arc of circle while releasing squadrons of Death Gliders and Al'kesh heavy bombers.
A moment later, a new window opened and a Combat Ha'Tak came out. The starship was slightly larger than the troop transport version, with a yellow central tetrahedron and angular superstructures. This type of Goa'uld's Mothership had better weaponry, better propulsion and better shields. However this Ha'tak was not an ordinary model... on each side of the tetrahedron, reminiscent of an Egyptian pyramid, the symbol of Ba'al was visible.
The flagship of this Systemlord had been offered as a 'gift' by Anubis at the time they were allies (in fact part of the alliance's bargain between the two Goa'uld). This starship had been improved by the incorporation of some Ancient's technology.
In Goa'uld dialect, the bridge was called 'Pel'tak'.
It was not a large bridge with many hands. Most operations were automatically managed by the mainframe. There were only three consoles, the command altar just in front of the trapezoidal window that also served as the main screen and behind it the weapon console (recognizable by the two blue quartz half-globe that the gunner manipulated to point the Staff Cannons of the ship) and the communication console in the shape of a semi-circle.
Jaffa in chainmail, skullcap and gray cloth cape were standing at attention behind each console, ready for action, but only the officer in front of the command altar was using the touch keyboard to give orders to the computer. He looked up at the window in front of him as the image from the outside disappeared as if swallowed by a flood of mercury. Now the screen showed a wire frame model, a representation of Delmak's orbit. Hieroglyphs flashed in red.
"My Lord, the computer reports the presence of four Ha'tak Transports, an armed space station... as well as the flagship of Apophis."
Unlike the Pel'tak's side walls, which were covered with gilded metal moldings decorated with Goa'uld hieroglyphs, the back wall was entirely black, except for the symbol of Ba'al. Attached to this wall was a black throne on a platform between two gilded metal braziers. Two Jaffa of the Systemlord's guard, armed with Ma'tok Staff, framed the platform.
There sat a man of the Mediterranean type with a short, well-trimmed beard. The tyrant was dressed in a brown leather coat and a black and brown brocade tunic tightened at the waist by a wide belt. He crossed his hands under his chin. One of his hands was 'gloved' by a strange golden metal jewelry, a Kara Kesh (a Goa'uld hand device).
Ba'al smiled mockingly as if he wasn't taking himself quite seriously. Then his eyes illuminated with a yellow light.
"The snake is therefore at his lodging, I would not have made the journey for nothing. Kal kel m'al Apophis? (Ready to die, Apophis?)" He said with that voice so characteristic of a Goa'uld.
The Jaffa helmsman continued to read information from the mainframe.
"Kel Tol, satak onak Ba'al (I beg your pardon, great and powerful god Ba'al), but explosions are occurring on the surface of the planet."
Ba'al laughed mockingly.
"I see our friend Gilgamesh has found something to look after while waiting for our arrival."
Several million kilometers away, aboard Apophis' flagship.
The Pel'tak of Apophis' mothership was larger and darker than that of Ba'al's Ha'tak, only lit by a few scattered braziers. It's important to note that this ship blueprint was designed by Sokar, a Goa'uld who did not pose as a god, but as the biblical Devil. Sokar had a penchant for fire and darkness and ironically met his end in a deluge of fire.
Another notable difference was that the Jaffa standing behind the consoles wore red chainmail, while the two guards on either side of the throne had helmets shaped like a cobra head, with the hood deployed and glowing red eyes. They were known as the Necropolis Serpent Guard, the elite of Apophis' army.
The helmsman paused to look at the icons surrounded by Goa'uld hieroglyphs, which could be translated as "Danger! Danger!" He then turned to the false god.
"Shree Apophis! Kree no tel!" (Lord Apophis! They are approaching!)
The Serpent King rose from his throne. Like Ba'al, he was a man of the Mediterranean type, dressed in red armor, and the outline of his right eye was burned. This wound was partly hidden by a metal plate that held the damaged part of his face in place... Despite long stays in a regeneration sarcophagus, Apophis had not managed to completely erase the stigma of the torture Sokar had inflicted on him.
The Systemlord pushed out of his way the Jaffa who officiated at the communication console and manipulated the touch keyboard with his hand glove by a golden Kara Kesh.
His eyes lit up with a golden and supernatural light.
"Aray Kree! Kree tal shal mak! (Stay what you are! Identify yourself!"
The image on the window/screen changed, wavering like mercury before recomposing itself in the form of Ba'al's mocking face.
"Chal hol, Apophis!" (Greeting, Apophis!)
A pout of disgust appeared on the face of the Serpent King.
"Ba'al... despicable impudent, is it you who dares devastate my capital?"
His rival shrugged his shoulders while smiling in a falsely innocent manner.
"You've angered one of my friends. Isn't it my duty to help my friend when he was bitten by a lowly snake?"
"You, you have friends? Ka kek! (Lies!) Don't mock me Ba'al! You have no friends, just idiots who trust your word and you always end up backstabbing!"
His rival squinted; all trace of amusement had disappeared on his face.
"You will regret trying to manipulate Gilgamesh. You thought you could use him against the Tau'ri... but the King of Uruk is not a puppet. Count the days you have left to live. I have only one advice for you: Bet! (Surrender!) This is the only way for you to soften your punishment."
But Apophis replied with a scornful smile.
"Kegalo, hasshak! Arik tree-ac te kek (Silence, weakling! We do not surrender, even in death.)
"If that's what you want, I'd hate not to make you. Then we have nothing more to say to each other!"
With these words, Ba'al interrupted the communication.
Apophis changed the frequency, to communicate with his fleet.
"Rin Tel Nok!" (Protect me now!)
Aboard Ba'al's flagship at the same time.
The Systemlord rose and asked the Jaffa behind the communications console to broadcast his orders to all the ships of his fleet.
"Kree, Jaffa! Mol kek. Tal shak! (Attention, Jaffa! Kill them all. Attack!)
Ba'al was enthusiastic, he had a two-on-one power play and despite a smaller size, his Ha'tak was far more powerfully armed than Apophis' Mothership.
The tactical situation was complicated by the presence of an asteroid barrier surrounding Delmak. It was the remains of the moon Netu. In 1999, the Tok'ra attracted Sokar's flagship near Netu before... blowing up the moon (3)!
This asteroid belt was not continuous, there were breaches and Ba'al fleet was heading for a free space between two shoals of space reefs.
Except that...
It was a predictable maneuver and Apophis had integrated these asteroids into his Delmak defense plan.
Suddenly Death Gliders appeared, emerging from the belt. Their arrival took by surprise the squadrons of scouts. In the first seconds of the fight, several dozen Ba'al's starfighters exploded, hit by golden plasma projectiles.
The fighting turned into a confusing melee streaked with gunfire, punctuated by explosions when reinforcements' squadrons threw themselves into battle. Swarms of starfighters were trapped in a swirling fight, both hunter and prey, pursuers and pursued.
Sat on his throne, Ba'al rubbed his chin pensively.
The Death Gliders had simultaneously attacked his fleet on both flanks, a classic tactic that the Jaffa called Kel'tesh. The Systemlord had to admit that Apophis had masterfully performed this maneuver, using the asteroid belt to hide his fighters until the last moment before launching simultaneous attacks.
Nevertheless, his own Death Gliders were much more numerous and they were covered by the support fire of his fleet that lightened the ranks of fighters who continued to emerge from the asteroid belt. On the contrary, Apophis' starfighters had only benefited from the surprise effect, a momentary advantage that had now ceased to take effect.
Suddenly an alarm sounded. Several red icons had just appeared on the screen... behind Ba'al's fleet!
An observer who stood there in the cosmic void would have seen several groups of blurred shimmer appear, a little like mirages. They condensed into a fuzzy form, like a translucent purple glass structure. Before densifying into... Al'kesh bombers! Several squadrons had just cut their cloaks, becoming visible again.
The long-range bombers immediately plowed on Ba'al's fleet, dropping plasma bombs which violently shook the Ha'tak shields.
Ba'al struck the armrest of his throne.
"It's a trap!"
He was not aware of plagiarizing a famous fish-headed admiral.
The false god turned to the communications officer.
"All Ha'tak deploy reserve Death Gliders."
The Systemlord was not a beginner in space clashes. He was also aware of the art of trapping others. So he kept some of his fighters on board the Motherships, safe and ready for deployment. It was always necessary to keep an asset well hidden, just in case something unpredictable occurred.
As the first Death Gliders took off to pursue the Long Range Bomber, Ba'al could smile again.
Well-armed, well-armored, and equipped with shields the Al'kesh outperformed the spacefighters who hunted them. Nevertheless, the bomber's belly turret fired only below it. Very maneuverable and very fast, the Death Gliders had no trouble escaping the shots of the Al'kesh... and, as a group, they were more than capable of smashing them to bits.
Well... in the end this surprise attack was just a minor setback.
Ba'al would never admit it in public, but the Serpent King had just humiliated him by being smarter than him. Although he detests this upstart, the Phoenician god impersonator had to admit that he was impressed by the combativeness and creativity of his opponent.
Like many others before him, having cornered Apophis, Ba'al thought to hold him at his mercy. Except that the serpent-god had quickly turned around to bite him cruelly. None of this was catastrophic. Certainly his losses were higher than expected, and his enemy had succeeded in preventing the landing of reinforcements... for now at least... but the difference in power between their two fleets made his victory inevitable.
As Ba'al tried to persuade himself that things were now going to turn to his advantage, a cold sweat ran down his neck. The Goa'uld felt in confused way that Apophis had not yet played his best card.
On the surface of Delmak, at the same time.
The sector of the Chappa'ai (Stargate) and the ancient palace of Sokar was for the time being in the nocturnal hemisphere of the planet. Several fires were visible from the sky. Similarly, the shots of Ma'tok staffs illuminated the streets, crossing in mid-air, falling from the windows, rising from the streets
Urban battles were hells.
The front line was only as wide as a street, the objective of an offensive was a group of buildings just a hundred meters away... and yet there were no less soldiers engaged in this kind of clashes than in battles that spanned hundreds of kilometers.
Initially, Ba'al's troops had advanced rapidly. The warriors of Apophis in front of the Chappa'ai had been massacred by Gilgamesh and they encountered little resistance.
But Delmak was one of the most populated worlds in the Milky Way and its population of Jaffa was fiercely loyal to the King Serpent. More and more warriors in red chainmail converged towards the palace district. They hid in apartment buildings, sheds and factories, turning each building into a well-defended fortress.
Ba'al's Jaffa's tactic was to shoot at the windows to force the defenders to take cover and then send volunteers to attack. They had to get close enough to throw grenades at the windows of the first floor. Once the warriors protecting the first floor neutralized, the attackers climbed the stairs and threw grenades into the rooms of the second floor. And it went on, room by room, floor by floor... it was not uncommon for the Jaffa in grey chainmail to die to the last before reaching the top of the building.
In other places, it was the Jaffa in red chainmail who counterattacked, and this time it was up to them to advance in the streets in the middle of the shots that crossed each other in all direction, they then had to throw grenades through the windows, It was up to them to climb the stairs and fight back against the defenders who occupied the upper floors.
In some particularly contested areas, each capture of a edifice was immediately followed by a counterattack, and some buildings changed ownership every two hours.
The group of Jaffa in grey chainmail was entrenched behind a barricade of rubble that stretched from one building to another, completely blocking the street.
They were lucky to have a Staff Cannon. The weapon externally resembled one of the guns used during the American Revolutionary War: a metal tube on a wooden chassis with spoked wheels.
The nearby buildings had been conquered an hour earlier, but advancing further along this avenue was risky. One of Apophis' tank had settled on one of the elevated track. It moved on the portion of the route that was intact to shoot at the positions of Ba'al's army before retreating to take cover, also harassing the troops advancing in the parallel streets.
In addition, the avenue stopped two hundred meters away, on a huge hangar that the Jaffa in red chainmail had transformed into a fortress.
Ba'als warriors had attempted a direct assault but it had been a bloody failure. The defenders had installed some Tacluchnatagamuntoron (4) in the nearby streets and around the openings.
They had no choice but to use their cannon at the building and methodically destroy the enemy fortress before they regain their lead
"Look here!"
One of the Jaffa pointed to a side street. A strange object floated in the shadows. It looked vaguely like an octopus. The body was semi-hemispherical with a kind of yellow eye, while underneath hung tentacle-like metallic appendages.
Recognizing a Reconnaissance Drone, the Goa'uld's equivalent of the Tau'ri MALP, the Jaffa fired. But the Drone had a shield and survived long enough to take cover.
As the Jaffa hesitated to follow the robot, a whistle made them look up.
A Tel'tak flew over them... a plasma bomb was spit out from one the front ejection tubes.
The next second, the street and nearby buildings disappeared in a powerful explosion. The drone had 'painted' the position occupied by the cannon and called a bomber to eliminate it.
Having succeeded in its mission, the Tel'tak was moving away quickly to escape the shooting that was coming from the ground. But it survived only a few seconds to its victory. A horizontal flash caught up with the small fleeing starship and instantly transformed it into a rain of burning debris that fell towards the surface of the planet.
GIlgamesh's Vimana had just appeared above the battlefield. Having cut his cloaking device, the flying chariot of the Indian gods fired several dazzling flashes towards the Death Gliders strafing Ba'al warriors in the nearly streets. One of them exploded, the others dispersed and fled at full speed.
At first, the Jaffa pilots converged on the Throne of the Heaven-soaring King and dared to shoot the One and Only King... but their weapons could not damage a Noble Phantasm. The Wedge of Heaven had had fun chasing these impudent insects and slaughtering them, tracking down the Death Gliders and destroying them one after the other... but no matter how many enemy fighters the King shot, their numbers didn't seem to decrease. Moreover, the Jaffa feared him now, and fled at his sole sight.
Gilgamesh usually used the Vimanalike any other Noble Phantasm behind Gate of Babylon, controlling it by thought and bombing his enemies with a barrage of swords... but his energy dropped too fast if he kept using Gate of Babylon. The long conflict against the hordes of Jaffa in red chainmail had drained his mana reserves.
So, this time, Filgamesh wore the pilot helmet connected to the control column and fought using the offensive and defensive weapons of the old flying ship.
As he passed over a part of the city where the Apophis' Jaffa was entrenched, a mass of light detached from under the Vimana. It fell to the ground and... A dazzling golden light appeared when it came into contact with the ground. A fireball formed radiating furnace heat. When it collapsed on itself and disappeared, the weapon left a vitrified crater, perfectly circular and very deep, where there were several buildings full of armed Jaffa.
However, even a Hero like Gilgamesh could not afford to let his guard down for a single moment.
Shots came close to the Vimana. The attacks came from one of the Ha'tak landed on pyramids scattered throughout the city. Of course, the King flying throne was a Noble Phantasm, only magic or a Servant could damage it. Nevertheless, if a Staff Cannon designed to destroy a spacecraft smashed the Throne of the Heaven-soaring King, the comparatively tiny flying object would be catapulted out of its path and could even hit a building. Gilgamesh had no desire to be humiliated like this.
Gilgamesh again activated the Vaishnawa (the cloaking device) and the flying chariot of the Indian gods disappeared, moving away from the fight.
The situation was blocked by a bloody stalemate, neither side having enough strength to push the other.
Even the presence of the One and Only King was not enough to unlock the situation. He had killed thousands of opponents, and hundreds of fighters, tanks, and bombers... but Apophis was a tyrant ruling dozens of planets, his army was huge.
On the former orbit of the moon Netu.
"Casualty list! Status of the ships!"
Ba'al was addressing the helmsman, the latter manipulated the tactile keyboard of the Command Altar and on the porthole a wave of mercury chased the image of the battlefield to replace it with a diagram of the fleet. The squadrons of Death Gliders, Tel'tak and Al'kesh were carefully aligned between the silhouettes of the Ha'taks.
Nevertheless, several squadrons were only black silhouettes (squadron eliminated) while others flashed red (significant losses). Even the Motherships had areas colored orange or red, which corresponded to damage.
Ba'al rubbed his chin, unable to completely hide his worry. They had suffered heavy losses even though they had not yet faced the enemy Ha'tak!
"Where is Apophis?"
Again the image changed on the screen. A red icon approached the gap between the asteroids. The computer displayed next to it a brief list, Apophis' Mothership, some squadrons of Death Glider, Tel'tak, and Al'kesh.
"Only one ship?"
"Yes My Lord, Apohis' Mothership is heading towards us. The four Ha'taks have stayed behind, they seem to protect the orbital station."
Ba'al frowned and rose to get closer to the screen. Apophis' tactics were easy to understand. The Serpent King would close the breach in the asteroid belt. And as his fleet had been delayed by the squadrons that the Serpent had sacrificed to weaken them, he would be there before them. Great job! Now, because of the asteroids, Ba'al could not deploy his fleet to encircle Apophis' Mothership.
It was a good plan. Apophis' flagship was large and well-armed. In a frontal battle against the Ha'tak, he had a good chance of destroying several ships before being destroyed.
Except the whole stratagem make no sense... Apophis was certainly brave and quite capable of taking the lead of his troops in combat. Nevertheless, the Serpent King had no reason to sacrifice its flagship while four of its starships were nearby.
Ba'al was certain, it was another trap. The serpent was cunning and he had carefully prepared Delmak's defense. He sought to trap him by playing the bait. But the Phoenician god impersonator could not yield to his opponent's plan.
How to counter Apophis?
The obvious answer was to divide his forces. While some ships "amused" the snake in a frontal attack, the others would pass through other breaches of the asteroid belt to flanking him. But the false god changed his mind... what if that was what Apophis expected of him? If he dispersed his forces, each group would be more vulnerable than if all his ships supported each other.
No, he was going to accept the frontal confrontation that Apophis proposed.
The space was filled with golden plasma balls. Each Staff Cannon fired projectiles with a power equivalent to several hundred megatons of TNT. Apophis' massive flagship was built around a tetrahedron, resembling a pyramid with three orange faces. The superstructures surrounding the core of any Goa'uld vessel were present in the form of two black superposed Y-shaped plates, bristling with towers which emerged six long fins. However, it was difficult to see the details because the spaceship was surrounded by a bubble of golden light, which literally was dripping with fire under the impacts of multiple simultaneous shots. Apophis' mothership rotated to prevent its opponents from overloading its shields by focusing their fire on a smaller area. Not content with this passive role, Apophis retaliated by concentrating his fire on one of Ba'al Ha'tak whose shields had just collapsed. The shots hammered her armor, digging craters in her hull. The starship accelerated, trying to escape the gunfire, leaving molten debris and trails of frozen atmosphere behind.
Ba'al then commanded, "Let the Al'kesh attack. Yas! (Now!)"
The bombers who had gathered behind the Ha'tak accelerated, bypassing the battle on both sides before falling back on Apophis flagship. The Serpent King had deployed some squadrons of Death Gliders and even Al'kesh but all these ships were already engaged in combat against their foe's equivalent.
The false god smiled as the shields of the gigantic Mothership begin to waver. Breaches appeared and the first shots hit the hull.
At this moment a luminous flicker similar to the phenomenon of mirages occurred between two ships of Ba'al's fleet... another identical phenomenon took place a little further... and a third one...
Blurred shapes appeared, like purple glass structures. The spacecraft became denser and took on the appearance of... Goa'uld Transport Ha'tak! Five Ha'tak had just cut their cloak!
Ba'al stood up, looking at the screen with an expression of disbelief on his face.
"Kree tak? (Is this a trick?)"
He had heard of Ha'tak with a cloaking device, but all ships of this type had been destroyed in the Tobin System (5)!
Suddenly a violent shock shook his flagship. The enemy ships had just fired their first salvo, hitting hard the shield of his Ha'tak... they were not a mirage, these Ha'tak were real.
Furious, Ba'al clung to his throne not to be thrown to the ground. He heard a sound of torn metal and a smell of burning spread through the Pel'tak.
The false god clenched his teeth. Apophis had kept some of the cloaking device ships that Sokar had built or had others constructed to replace those he had lost in Tobin's system. Nevertheless, the Serpent King was cunning. He had never used this stealth fleet so far, making his enemies believe that he no longer owned such ships. He kept secret the existence of this stealth fleet for a moment like this, a moment when this asset would prove decisive! (6)
Ba'al turned his eyes to the screen.
The battle had fallen into chaos. Caught in the crossfire of three of his ships, one of Apophis' Hat'ak restarted its cloak and disappeared. The next moment another ship (or the same?) reappeared a little further and immediately began to fire on one of the starships of the Ba'al fleet. Took by surprise the latter conceded some shots before starting to fight back.
"My Lord, what are your orders?"
Without looking at the helmsman who had just called him in a panicked tone, Ba'al clenched his fists. His voice vibrated with rage when he answered.
"Kel shal lo! (Fight to the death!)"
He had not yet lost, he still had numerical superiority, and the firepower was on his side... he could still win.
(1) This is a summary of the events of Season 3 episode 7 of Stargate Atlantis ("Common Ground").
(2) Acastus Kolya is the leader of a dissident faction of the Genii. The Genii are a minor faction of the Pegasus galaxy. They are a military human nation with 1950's level of technology; they wage (unsuccessful) guerrilla warfare against the Wraiths. The Genii have little friendship with the Tau'ri because they consider that Atlantis belong to the inhabitants of Pegasus... which means of course, to the Genii since they are the (self-proclaimed) protector of the humans against the Wraiths.
(3) Stargate SG-1 Season three, episode thirteenth ("The devil You Known").
(4) Remote controlled weapon firing burst of energy on warm-blooded animal.
(5) Episode 14, Season 4 of Stargate SG-1 ("Serpent Venom")
(6) Author's note: a fleet of stealth ships already appears in chapter 9, but Ba'al never heard of it.