O'Neill on the bridge of the Enterprise, "All ships fire!"
Multiple bursts of energy came from the Old Ones toward Earth, similar bursts of Energy but fewer in number came from the ships of the Alliance Guard. The Old Ones were ignoring the ships as Earth was the primary target, destroy it, and they could care less about the remaining ships. Alliance ships moved to intercept bursts as much as possible.
"Activate the Hyperspace Disruptor Satellites!" ordered O'Neill.
"Activated sir!" replied Marks.
As the bursts of energy struck the shields around Earth, it began to glow a bright white. As the energy depleted, Earth could be seen intact.
Landry in Altera, "How are the shields?"
"We lost the Pacifica shields entirely, and we have lost two levels of our own," replied Carter.
"How long till those shields are recharged?" asked Landry.
"Three minutes, we can lose no more than eight more levels of shielding in the next 3 minutes or we won't be able to sustain the shields," shouted McKay.
"That was the first shot and it took down twelve levels of shielding!" shouted Landry.
"I know!" shouted McKay.
Back on the Enterprise, Janus spoke up, "You hurt them. Our Anti-Ascended beams just tore through them. We won't get another easy shot at them like that again."
"How much damage did we do?" asked O'Neill.
"I believe you took out about two hundred thousand," replied Janus.
"All ships fire at will!" ordered O'Neill.
Ventrell spoke up, "Sir a second wave of attacks is incoming!"
"All ships try to intercept as many of these bursts as you can!" ordered O'Neill.
Landry over the communicator, "Commander O'Neill, our shields are not going to hold against that kind of blasts!"
"Get your shields back up as fast as you can we are trying to buy you time!" ordered O'Neill.
"Sir, we have lost twelve ships from the Asgard Fleet!" shouted Ventrell.
"We have them, they were beamed here for safety!" spoke Landry over the open communication channel.
O'Neill spoke, "Marks intercept that energy burst!"
"On it Sir!" replied Marks.
Donovan over the world alert system, "As many of you have felt, the attack has begun. That was the first wave, a second wave is imminent. If you are not currently in a bunker please make your way to a bunker as fast as you can. The Alliance is trying to protect the planet as best as they can, but shields are dropping at an increasing rate. The safest spot for everyone is inside a bunker. Let me remind you each bunker has it's own shields. If you are not in a bunker please make haste to get the nearest one!"
The Enterprise shook violently with the impact of the burst, however, shields held. As the wave of bursts that passed through the ships struck the Earth.
"Shields?" asked Landry.
"We lost seven more levels!" shouted Carter.
"Charge them faster!" shouted Landry.
"We are already pulling every single drop of power we can, the conduit in this city is running at one hundred fifty percent of its capacity," shouted McKay.
"If we can avoid losing three more levels of shields in the next two minutes we will have them being recharged!" shouted Carter.
Landry to Sheppard, over the communication channel, "Can you give us any additional shielding?"
Sheppard responded, "We are pulling every bit we can toward the shielding but it's going to be another two minutes before we can reestablish shields."
Ships around the fleet continued to fire their Anti-Ascended beams, however, the Old Ones knew what they were dealing with now. They were scrambling to avoid them at all costs. While the initial attack was successful, the following attacks were less successful. Only a small handful of additional ascended had fallen.
O'Neill sitting down in the command chair, it reclined back immediately at his touch. He reached out to the Asgard Core, then to every Asgard core across the fleet. Drones loaded with the Mark IX warhead were launched from every ship. Each ship poring out ten thousand drones at O'Neill's command, nearly forty million drones were launched. Those on the bridge of the Enterprise could see the strain on O'Neill. The drones streaked around the Earth striking Old Ones as often as they could and taking out as many energy bursts in the third wave as possible. The Old Ones were to spread out now and to fast for the drones to make significant strikes.
Sheppard could see a single large energy burst that had already torn through two ships headed directly for Altera. He activated the emergency beam evacuation. Then activated the wormhole drive and jumped the Pacifica directly in the path of the burst.
Sheppard over the communication channel, "Get those shields up!"
The burst hit Pacifica, which only had established one shield back from recharge. The burst tore through Pacifica destroying the station and dissipated.
Donovan over the world alert system, "We have lost the Pacifica station in orbit. I am being told most of the crew were beamed to Altera in an evacuation. We were able to bring you footage of the Alliance Guard using drones to attack the Old Ones, we do not know at this time how successful the attack was."
"Commander O'Neill how did you get here?" asked Landry.
"Sheppard beamed everyone out," replied Jon O'Neill.
Harriman was shaken, "Sir Pacifica has been destroyed."
"Any sign of Commander Sheppard?" asked Landry.
"No Sir," replied Harriman.
Landry to O'Neill on the Enterprise, "Sheppard sacrificed himself and Pacifica to buy us more time."
O'Neill forlorn, "Understand, get those shields back up as soon as you can!"
"Marks move us to block that energy burst there," ordered O'Neill.
Over on the Vanir, Thor gave the order, "Move to intercept that energy burst for the Enterprise!"
Thor looked at his helmsmen, "Why are you not following my order?"
"The Targi, is intercepting," replied the helmsmen.
The Asgard ship Targi moved barely in time to block the energy burst, as the ship was destroyed.
Thor angry, "We were in the optimum range to intercept, the Targi barely made it."
"Sorry Commander Thor, but the Asgard council, has given us orders, you are to be protected at all costs," replied the helmsmen.
"I am in command of this ship and you will follow my orders," replied Thor.
"Not if it endangers your life, sir. You are the last of the original Asgard, your life is worth a billion of the rest of us," replied the helmsmen.
Donovan over the world alert system, "As you can see the Alliance's DN-1103's are making sacrifice runs to intercept and block as many of the attacks as possible, while shields recharge here on Earth."
On the Enterprise, Ventrell spoke, "Sir most of our ships are without shields."
"Janus how are we doing on taking out the Old Ones?" asked O'Neill.
"You have managed to taken out about another fifty thousand," replied Janus.
"Just fifty thousand?" asked O'Neill.
"I wish it was more," replied Janus.
Back on Altera Carter to Landry, "We are losing the shields, too many bursts are reaching the planet sir, we are now down to thirteen levels on the shielding. Our recharging won't be able to keep up!"
"Make that ten levels we just lost another three levels," spoke McKay.
"That quickly?" asked Carter.
"Apparently they are getting through in North America and Europe significantly," replied McKay.
"Commander O'Neill we are going to be losing shields in the next few minutes," replied Landry.
"I have an idea!" shouted Jon O'Neill.
"Let's hear it?" asked Landry.
"Drop all the shields back to Altera. The bunkers have their own shields and have been built to take significant damage, let them stand on their own. Stop using the ships to intercept the bursts let them hit. Have the ships concentrate on taking out the Old Ones. We are not going to win playing defense," spoke Jon O'Neill.
"People will die in those bunkers," replied McKay.
"I know, but this is our only chance," replied Jon O'Neill.
Landry pondering, "Your right! Commander O'Neill, I'm pulling shields back to Altera only, your ships need to concentrate on taking out the old ones, and let the blasts through."
"I heard that plan, I don't like it, but I have to agree with Jon on this one," replied O'Neill.
"Same here Commander," replied Landry.
"Altera to all military personnel outside of the bunkers, get to a bunker as quickly as you can. Shields are dropping, you need to get to safety!" shouted Landry over his communicator to ground troops.
Donovan over the world alert system, "I am being told we are losing shields around the planet. If you are not in a bunker it is imperative that you get to one now!"
Energy bursts began to rain down on the planet. North America, Europe, and Asia were the primary targets with the largest populations. New York, London, Moscow, and other major cities were quickly leveled. Many of the inhabitants were in bunkers. Everyone hoped they would survive. Around the planet, the remaining two thousand ships of the fleet were maneuvering around the bursts and firing as well. The F-71's were firing at will, but it took a number of F-71 blasts to take down an Old One.
"Thor signal the remaining ships guarding the alliance worlds to attack, we need everything," ordered O'Neill.
"Agreed Commander O'Neill," replied Thor.
Thirty seconds later the remaining one thousand ships of the Asgard fleet appeared behind the Old Ones and immediately opened fire. This caught the Old Ones off guard and thankfully managed to take out a large number of Old Ones.
"That really helped. We only have about seven hundred thousand more to go," replied Janus.
"Status?" ordered O'Neill.
"With the reinforcements, we have about twenty-nine hundred DN-1103's still fighting. We're down to twenty-two thousand F-71's. Altera's shield is still failing, it appears they are going down slower, but they can't recharge fast enough," replied Ventrell.
"Status of the Earth?" asked O'Neill.
"It appears twenty-six percent has taken damage," replied Ventrell.
"Now my people!" shouted Lya.
O'Neill turning, almost having forgotten Lya was still on the bridge, she had been so quiet.
"Sir the viewscreen!" shouted Marks.
On the viewscreen were thousands of DN-1103's appearing via wormholes.
"Where did they come from?" asked O'Neill.
"Sir our sensors don't register them," replied Marks.
"Neither do our combat sensors," replied Ventrell.
The Old Ones seeing over twenty thousand DN-1103's appear before paused. These were the ships that had caused significant damage to them. A single blast would cost them their life. Now they had five times the number they had faced.
Donovan over the world alert system, "As you can see on the viewscreen we are seeing thousands of ships having appeared in orbit. I am not sure where these ships have come from, but they appear to have caused a pause on the Old Ones."
"Lya?" asked O'Neill.
"It's an illusion, but one they can not see through," replied Lya.
"I can't tell the difference," replied Janus.
"How long of a pause do we have? How long can you keep this up?" asked O'Neill.
"My people will keep this up till we die if needed," replied Lya.
"The Old Ones are stunned," replied Janus, "You probably have a minute or two"
"How long till shields?" asked O'Neill.
"Shields will be back in thirty seconds," replied Ventrell.
"Lya can you make them look like they are firing as well?" asked O'Neill.
"Every Nox is projecting an image of a ship they see. Whatever it does, the image will do," replied Lya.
"Spread the word we fire simultaneously again!" replied O'Neill.
When shields were recharged, the fleet fired simultaneous bursts of the anti-ascended beams. The Old Ones saw nearly twenty-five thousand beams erupting at them. They scrambled, somewhere hit with real beams and destroyed, while others were hit with illusions.
"Keep it up it's working! They don't know the difference between real and illusion," shouted Janus, "Now it's my time!"
The Ascended beings on the side of Altera, began to let loose their own energy bursts, while not as effective as the anti-ascended beams they were taking out Old Ones effectively. However, this gave the Old Ones definitive targets.
"There goes the last of the drones. Just took to many to block a burst," replied O'Neill getting up from the chair.
Many Old Ones continued to throw energy bursts at the Earth. Without ships trying to intercept them and no shields, it rained down on the Earth. Piece by piece the surface was being destroyed. Anyone caught outside would be killed. Everyone hoped the bunkers would hold, they were buried deep underground and had their own shielding. The east and west coasts of the United States was decimated, Europe was gone, and Asia was falling quickly.
"Sir I'm picking up a large wormhole opening behind the Old Ones," yelled Marks.
"Who is it?" asked O'Neill.
"This is Commander Caldwell of the Alliance Guard, with the Hades, and a few friends!" came Caldwell's voice across the communication channel.
"How the heck?" asked O'Neill.
"Long story, let's see what we can do to help!" replied Caldwell.
"Glad we didn't miss the party! And someone owes me back pay!" replied Lorne.
Out came the Athena and Hades, followed by thousands of drones erupted from the wormhole behind the two ships. The drones immediately opened fire on the Old Ones, chasing them about like the F-71's, however, they had a single weapon an Anti-Ascended Beam. They were darting about at a phenomenal rate. Many of the Old Ones were forced to change targets from Earth to the drones.
Donovan over the world alert system, "This is amazing the two ships that had been missing in actions, the Athena and Hades have joined the battle! They have brought with them what appears to be thousands of drone type craft!"
The confusion began to set in among the Old Ones, first, they continued to see thousands of the DN-1103's from the Nox Illusions, and not able to determine which was real and which was an illusion. The Altera Ascended continued to rain energy bursts down on them, and now they had these drones to contend with. Numbers were still on the Old Ones side, for everyone Old One that fell, multiple drones, multiple F-71's and occasionally a DN-1103, or Altera Ascended fell.
Quctenificaltenfinuhbudswer had stopped fighting his minions guarded him while he contemplated the situation. Thinking the one called O'Neill had been right they had inflicted far more to them than they had thought possible. This made these humans far more dangerous than they had previously thought. The Old Ones had never had to deal with so many battles, just a handful could wipe out a planet with ease, but these humans had learned more than the Lanteans, and could fight back. They needed to take out these ships, and then they would deal with the planet. He wondered if there were any additional surprises these humans had.
Quctenificaltenfinuhbudswer calling out to all the Old Ones, "Concentrate and destroy those little ships, then concentrate and destroy the larger ships. Forget the planet until we have dealt with these ships!"
Immediately the change in tactics could be seen. The drones were being destroyed quickly as they lacked shields, a single energy burst could take out many. Some others began to engage the DN-1103's. It would take more concentrated fire on them before they would fall.
Landry over the communicator, "What's going on up there? We're no longer taking fire."
"Seems our friends have decided to concentrate on our ships," replied O'Neill.
Donovan over the world alert system, "Thankfully we seem to have gotten a break. The Old Ones have engaged the DN-1103's directly, and these drones. This will give us time for our shields to recharge."
The Alliance was losing ships at a significant rate, O'Neill turned to Janus, "How are we doing?"
Janus looked at O'Neill, "About six hundred thousand remains."
"Status?" shouted O'Neill.
"Under nineteen hundred DN-1103's and we have about ten thousand of those drone things left," replied Ventrell.
Thor over the communicator, "Commander Landry please open a reverse stargate to New Othalla. Open your doors to the puddle jumper bay."
"Yes sir," replied a confused Landry.
"Thor buddy if you have a secret up your sleeve now is the time?" asked O'Neill.
"I scanned the drones and was able to send the schematics back to Othalla, they have signaled me they are ready, these drones will operate at the frequency needed, and be able to track the Old Ones," replied Thor.
Back on Altera in the gateroom, the wormhole opened from Othalla. At first, nothing happened, but then Lantean drones began to exit the gate, thousands of them began pouring through. Harriman, Carter, McKay, and Landry stood in shock watching them climb up.
"Commander O'Neill here comes the Calvary!" shouted Landry over the communicator.
From Earth's southern pole they could see a stream of drones ascending orbit, far surpassing the attack on Anubis's fleet years ago. The drones spread out and began to engage the Old Ones.
"Sir we are down to seven hundred DN-1103's and the last of those drones the Athena brought is destroyed," replied Ventrell.
Quctenificaltenfinuhbudswer was taken that these humans had yet another surprise. The Old Ones were but back on the defensive.
"Thor how many are there?" asked O'Neill.
"Just over a million, Commander O'Neill," replied Thor.
It didn't take long before the Old Ones began to concentrate energy bursts on the stream of drones coming up from the planet.
"Thor stop the drones from coming through!" ordered O'Neill, "Have Othalla dial the Enterprise Gate! Odai, open the exterior doors over the gateroom, and drop the shield on the Stargate."
The Old Ones watched as the drones stopped from Altera, only to be surprised a few moments later when they began to exit from the command ship of the Alliance. A much shorter distance for them to travel, the Old Ones were on the defense again.
"Janus?" asked O'Neill.
"Five hundred thousand," replied Janus.
"Sir, five hundred DN-1103's," spoke Ventrell.
Quctenificaltenfinuhbudswer to the Old Ones, "Destroy that ship!"
Multiple energy bursts began to erupt targeting the Enterprise.
O'Neill saw the attacks coming toward Enterprise, activated the Emergency beam out. O'Neill turned toward Janus, "Get your people outta here!"
Janus nodded to O'Neill, he and the rest of the ascended went to the Vanir the closest ship.
"Janus what is O'Neill doing?" asked Thor.
"Everything he can I think," replied Janus.
O'Neill reached across the Asgard Cores of all the ships, activating all of the emergency beam outs. Thor found himself in the Altera gateroom. O'Neill disabled the life support systems, disengaged the Anti-Ascended Beams. The Ascended on all ships began to make their way to Earth.
Harriman spoke, "Sir I've detected a large energy buildup."
A single message over the communicator, "Tell Carter I love her! Give the kids a hug for me."
"No!" screamed Carter. Landry catching her as she sank to the floor!
Thor spoke, "Tell him not to do this, there is another way! I'm sorry Janus, my friend."
Thor activated a device on his arm.
Janus turned to Thor, "No!"
White light enveloped everyone. On the Enterprise O'Neill was surrounded by white light, in Altera, everyone was enveloped by the white light, the Old Ones were surrounded as well.