UNSC Rise of the Tau'ri (English Version)

by Kagaho0

When the spirit of fire fled the world of Trove, they did not expect that an improbable event would upset their future and that of the inhabitants of Earth. The survival of humanity could well depend on their decision.

6. Chapter 6

Author's note
I come to you with a new little chapter, I hope you will like it!
I made some changes in the previous chapters, especially in chapter 5, so I recommend you reread it.
I wish you happy reading, I did my best!

English is not my natural language, so I apologize in advance if this is difficult to read.

Chapter 6
In a kingdom of light, where everything surpassed imagination. It was an indescribable realm with implications beyond comprehension, a place where only a few rare chosen ones could claim to reach. Path to cosmic enlightenment, this higher level of existence was the fulfillment of all life! But while this level of evolution transcended the limits of the possible, numerous strict rules governed those who found themselves there, for such power entailed a responsibility commensurate with the feat of ascension.

But at that moment, this dreamlike place of celestial serenity was shaken by a wave of turmoil and discord.

"It's intolerable!"

"Calm down, please!" What's done is done, we cannot change the course of events without intervening directly and you know that it's forbidden!

"But someone has already intervened!"

All the individuals present turned towards one person in particular, and while they were all beings of pure energy, this person was a man. A man who seemed particularly detached from the conversation.

"Janus!" Do you realize what you have done!?

"I only turned on a light!" Nothing more! As for whether they will be able to reach it and use it, that's up to them!

"Far beyond that, it is the events that will follow that concern us!" If they manage to bring HIM back, his presence will WAKE HER UP!

"I don't see what the problem is!" This time-traveling ship brought them technology far superior to what they had, and things went much better than you all announced! They are more than capable of handling everything they have to offer!

It's not them who concern us! What do you think the other races will do when they find out SHE is there?!

"Assuming, of course, that our descendants are stupid enough to shout it from the rooftops!"

"It doesn't concern us anymore anyway!"

Ganos Lal! Are you on his side? This time, all eyes turned to another being of light, who was a woman.

No! I'm just saying that Janus's actions are of the same ilk as when you "Hid" the Earth from parasites over the past millennia!

Silence fell at this statement; it was true that some of them had given a little push to preserve their heritage, and the others had never done anything to stop them or to punish them. Consequently, taking measures against Janus's actions would seem somewhat hypocritical.

"We can't do anything about it anyway, all we can do now is watch and hope for the best!"

Whatever the outcome!

…..

Moving, cataloging, organizing— for many people, these kinds of tasks were a chore they wanted to get rid of as quickly as possible, but for others, it was a true pleasure, akin to that of small children on Christmas morning. Since his arrival here, he had been repeating the same pattern endlessly and showed no signs of being tired.

"Doctor Jackson, didn't you leave with your team?"

The archaeologist of the SGC's flagship team turned to his interlocutor as he finished filling yet another wooden crate, "Commander Iso!" No, I'm not really a fan of that kind of thing! Waving to the young woman he was working with, she left with her notepad, leaving Daniel with the commander of the Abydos base. "How are they doing?"

"As good as expected!" That's all the man could find to say as he came to stand beside the SG1 member, both of them looking at the rather substantial pile of various objects of all kinds. "Who would have thought there would be so many things hidden under this pyramid!"

"Yes, even several months after the discovery of this secret passage, we have barely cataloged half of it!" Massive gold ornaments and engraved tablets, Ra had stored a true treasure.

While at the UNSC base, Daniel continued to indulge his archaeological passion, in the skies over Abydos, three fighter jets of a strange design could be seen flying in formation as they performed various maneuvers, each more complex than the last, which would normally be impossible for aircraft of a standard design.

Its shape and the orientation of its wings strongly resembled those of the Goa'uld Death Glider. Propelled by a pair of modified jet engines with aerodynamic spike thrusters for high-altitude maneuvers. It also has a rocket engine for additional thrust in space. Unlike other terrestrial jet fighters.

"These devices are flown with endless pleasure!" Jack O'Neill had rarely enjoyed a mission this much. When they were given the mission to test the first prototypes of the new UNSC fighters derived from the retro-engineering of the Goa'uld death gliders, his pilot instincts had screamed that it was going to be awesome! And he was not disappointed!

"They're just prototypes, Colonel, the F-302's weapon system isn't even fully operational yet!" Samantha Carter was obviously just as pleased as O'Neill to pilot the multi-role interceptor fighter, which was equally capable of atmospheric and space flight, but among the three of them, she was probably the only one who was fully aware of the work that still needed to be done on these aircraft for them to be combat-ready.

"Come on, Carter!" "Just enjoy the moment, it's not every day that you have such a maneuverable device in your hands!" Clearly, absolutely nothing could break Jack O'Neill's good mood at that moment. "Teal'c, you who have piloted death gliders, what do you think of these little gems?"

"These devices are just as effective as a glider, or maybe even more!" "But without operational weaponry, it is impossible for me to answer you correctly, O'Neill." Strangely, the other two members of SG1 were expecting this response from their Jaffa friend, pragmatic, frank, and direct.

"F-302, this is the command center, do you read us?" The radio call refocused SG1's attention, reminding them that they were on a mission even though they were enjoying it a lot.

Carter then took the initiative to respond, "This is SG1, we read you!" For a few seconds, there was a pause.

"The results of the atmospheric flight are very conclusive and satisfactory, you can move on to the extra-atmospheric test!" And this news only made Jack and Sam even happier.

The 3 craft began a direct and extreme ascent into the upper atmosphere, heading straight for an exit into outer space, the aerospike thrusters coming to life with fury. The 3 Earth fighters reached orbit in just a few seconds, the inertial dampeners protecting SG1 from such speed.

"It's incredible!" Although the feat just accomplished by the developing hunters was remarkable, they were in no way responsible for Captain Carter's amazement. For before their eyes, the sight of the ha'tak ship stolen from Apophis was revealed to them, and it was precisely the state in which it was found that surprised Sam. The powerful Goa'uld warship was largely stripped, with numerous small UNSC ships tackling the task of dismantling the flying pyramid down to the last piece. Clearly, the UNSC intended to recover and reuse every last component. Even the stoic Teal'c could not remain unperturbed at the sight, he who had traveled and fought aboard such a vessel, seeing one being torn apart like a mere toy gave him a certain satisfaction in the burgeoning feeling of having seen someone spit in the face of false gods by transforming one of their symbols of power... into his!

And while the members of SG1 were each busy with their mission, none of them suspected the adventure that awaited them very soon.

(Cheyenne Mountain / Earth)

General Hammond looked skeptically at the pot in front of him while the people across from him were, on the contrary, very excited. "It's just a plant!" That's all he could find to say since that's exactly what it was.

"Yes, General, but just 20 minutes ago it was just a tiny little seed, nothing at all!" At this revelation, George looked up in surprise at the botanists; indeed, it could be of interest. "General, this plant found on P6J-908 could be the solution to world hunger, or even allow us to drastically accelerate our terraforming process!" We could make Mars habitable much more quickly than with the current UNSC technology!

But before anyone could add anything, the base alarms blared loudly throughout the Building's premises: "External activation of the Stargate!"

"Gentlemen, I will await your report!" That was all Hammond said to them as he left down the corridor, navigating between these men while armed soldiers among them ran towards the boarding room, while George headed towards the gate control room. "Walter?"

Sergeant Major Walter Harriman was a bespectacled man and the technician of the Stargate in charge of numerous systems, including the Iris. "It's the identification code for the Abydos Base, Sir!" It's the scheduled time when SG1 was supposed to return.

"Open the Iris!" The order from his superior was all Walter needed to place his hand on the palm reader, the Iris opening instantly afterward. Hammond had already left to welcome his main team as they were already crossing the event horizon.

"Mission accomplished, General, and I would even dare to add, sir, that I would only want missions like this from now on!" The good mood of Colonel O'Neill was clearly shared by all the members of SG1, which brought a smile to George's face. He knew how much Jack and his team would appreciate it; in fact, that's why he had chosen them to accomplish it.

Sorry Colonel, but things have changed around here. "Meet in the briefing room in 15 minutes!" With a salute, the entire team headed to the locker room to remove their gear.

(Briefing Room/Cheyenne Mountain/Earth)

When SG1 arrived in the briefing room, General Hammond was already waiting for them, seated at the head of the table. "Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats!" Following the orders, each one settled around the large table, their interest visibly piqued by the urgency of this meeting. "Sorry to have to call on you again, but something unexpected has happened..." At the same time he uttered his sentence, Hammond distributed documents to his men. Seeing that everyone had opened it, he continued, "About 12 hours ago, the computers at the Alterans outpost received a distress signal, a signal of Lantian origin!"

At this news, the members of SG1 looked up from their files, staring at their General as if he had a second head, their eyebrows raised in disbelief so high that they almost reached their hairline. It was finally Daniel who managed to regain his composure. "By signal of Ancient origin, do you mean like a technology or base that would beep?" His facial expression matched his incredulity perfectly.

"We don't know anything about it, Doctor Jackson!" Faced with the lack of information, SG1 looked at each other very perplexed, and it was finally Carter who spoke up.

"Well, we know that the technology of the ancients is extremely durable, even after spending millions of years under the ice, the outpost in Antarctica is in perfect working condition." There was a relatively long moment of silence that allowed each of them to go through the entire file, and it was finally she who spoke again, "At this time, it is impossible for us to determine the nature of the origin of this signal."

Fortunately for them, the UNSC was just as eager to get to the bottom of this story. "However, the Admiral is just as intrigued as we all are..." Hammond then turned to O'Neill, "Colonel, in one hour you and your team will board a Pelican in the upper hangar that will take you to New Mombasa, in the south of Kenya in East Africa." There, you will board the heavy-class Paris frigate, the UNSC Prometheus. You will join the crew and the teams that have been selected to investigate and recover what can be!

"At your orders, General!" And Jack had no desire to protest, partly because the technology of the Ancients was incredible enough that even someone like him would be interested, but above all and especially because the prospect of traveling in a spaceship was simply too awesome and exciting to pass up.

The SG1 team stood up to salute their superior and finally went to prepare for the long journey to East Africa.

(Sky/Naval Shipyard 200 Km from New Mombasa/Earth)

Each of the SG1 members knew that the journey would be long, yet the weariness of the trip was starting to set in, and they were eager to arrive. "We have arrived at the Shipyard, prepare for landing!" As the pilot uttered these words, the rear ramp of the Pelican opened, letting in a cold draft that made everyone on board shiver.

"Impressive!" The feeling of admiration in Jack's voice was shared by Sam and Daniel as the sight of the very first warship built by humans unfolded before their eyes. Teal'c, on the other hand, was not impressed, but he was not disappointed either; he preferred to reserve his judgment for the moment when he would witness the offensive and defensive capabilities of the Tau'ri ship.

"Why didn't we board one of the ships from the shipyard in America?" The journey would have been shorter! To Daniel's question, Jack looked at him in a way that could be translated as "you're only noticing this now," but fortunately for the archaeologist, Sam cut off any possibility of a sarcastic remark.

"All the shipyards have fallen behind schedule, the UNSC Prometheus is the only warship truly completed, and even then most of its systems haven't been tested outside of simulations!" Daniel nodded while Jack looked at Carter, wondering how she could know that.

The Pelican's thrusters intensified as the transport began its descent and landing maneuvers on a designated platform. Sam, once again since she had boarded, noticed that the Pelican was also equipped with inertial dampeners, feeling no vibrations throughout all the maneuvers of the craft.

Venturing out of the transporter, the Frigate was even more impressive up close. But as the members of SG1 stood frozen, gazing at the ship, they did not notice the person approaching them. "I see that you like the view, Colonel!"

Breaking out of their trance, SG1 focused on the newcomer, Major John Sheppard. "Major!" "Are you also part of the journey?" John and the military members of SG1 exchanged an official salute before finally shaking hands once the hierarchical protocols were observed.

"Indeed, Colonel, I am happy to work once again with all of you!" And this feeling was shared by the SGC team as each expressed their own joy accompanied by their own smile, even the stoic Teal'c respectfully bowed his head forward with a smile on his face. Since the rescue mission on Chulak, SG1 had come to know the man, and he was exactly the kind of person they adored—someone reliable, ready to risk his life to save that of his comrades, even if it meant disobeying orders if necessary.

As Sheppard guided them towards the ship, they learned during the conversation that he had volunteered to come and greet them. Thus, we could find SG1 inside the warship, in the elevator going up towards the bridge where Colonel Lionel Pendergast, commander of the Prometheus, was waiting for them.

It didn't take long for the elevator doors to reveal the level where the Prometheus' command center was located. Sheppard took the lead, and they quickly arrived on the bridge. Seated in the command chair at the center, Pendergast stood up as SG1 crossed the threshold. "Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter, Doctor Jackson, Teal'c, delighted to meet you!" It's an honor to have SG1 on board!

"Colonel, how is the ship holding up?" "Is this little bird ready to take flight?" Faced with Jack's enthusiasm, Pendergast could only smile; he had to admit that he was looking forward to launching his ship, even today, he still found it hard to believe that Earth had real spaceships and even more incredulous that one of them was under his command.

"We were just waiting for you!" He exclaimed joyfully as he took his seat, "Major Grant!" Major Delouise! Arthur! Are all the systems operational?

"All systems are operational, Sir!" At the same moment, the person who had uttered this phrase - namely the ship's AI - appeared on the mini-holotank. It was a third-generation AI that represented a man in light blue knight armor, with lines of code flowing calmly and smoothly across its body.

Excellent! In what we take our flight! The sub-light engines came to life, initiating the vertical ascent of the frigate. The crew and SG1 had the opportunity to see the landscape change, the construction site structures disappearing to give way to the low atmosphere clouds. Arriving at an altitude of 5000 meters, the ship changed orientation, its nose pointing straight up into the sky, then the imposing engines ignited with fury, propelling the Prometheus into space in less than a few seconds.

The infinite darkness of space and all those twinkling stars were the most beautiful sight they had ever seen. The ODPs passed by the bridge window so quickly that they could have missed them by blinking, the moon more visible from where they were than anywhere else. Soon, the sight of the imposing Spirit of Fire reminded them how small a frigate like the Prometheus was compared to the troop transport.

Colonel Pendergast, delighted to see you and your ship in space! Where you belong!

The voice that came through the radio brought a smile to Pendergast's face. "Thank you, Admiral!" The Prometheus is operational and fully ready to begin its mission!

In that case, I wish you and your crew a good trip! Come back to us safe and sound!

"Thank you, Admiral!" Prometheus, terminate! Outside the ship, the dark portal of Slipspace opened as the Prometheus rushed into it, beginning its long two-week journey to its destination.

(Prometheus/ 1 week after their departure)

Jack O'Neill didn't think a week aboard a ship would pass so quickly, but he hadn't seen it go by. During the journey, each member of his team had been assigned a task to accomplish aboard the ship, and his and Teal'c's task consisted of inspecting the various equipment and security devices aimed at defending the vessel in case of boarding. "Sheppard!"

"Colonel O'Neill!" John entered the elevator to stand next to Jack, the silence settled in and, despite themselves, began to create an awkwardness that Sheppard was happy to dispel. "Are you going to have lunch with your team?"

"Yes, for the past week Carter has been spending her time studying the ship's distortion engine, Daniel is obsessed with studying the Ancients' language, and Teal'c and I are spending our time with the ship's security team!" Jack replied, putting his hands in his pockets, and finally turning to Sheppard. "And you?"

"Same as you, sir, it's excellent for team spirit!"

O'Neill looked at John, confused, for a few seconds before a small light went on in his mind. "I had forgotten, you're joining the SGC in command of your own SG team! Congratulations!" Congratulations!

"Thank you, Colonel!" John had responded with a voice and an embarrassed expression on his face; he really wasn't used to this kind of thing. It must be said that in the old air force, there were quite a few people who didn't see him – and didn't want to see him – rise above the rank of Captain. "If you want, I'll introduce them to you one day, Colonel!"

But Jack had something else in mind. "Hey, I have a better idea, what if we all had lunch together!" It will be the opportunity for all of us to get to know each other! At the same moment, the elevator doors opened on the floor where the mess was located, and Sheppard could only nod affirmatively, understanding that Jack would not accept a refusal.

Arriving at the MESS, Jack and John were joined by the Major's team. Their trays full and in hand, they headed towards the table where the other SG-1 members were waiting for them. It was then that Sheppard chose to greet everyone by making introductions.

"Here is Colonel O'Neill's team, Captain Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c….." At each introduction, the members of SG1 gave a small wave to distinguish themselves and greet the newcomers, except for Teal'c, who, with a smile on his face, respectfully bowed his head forward as usual. "... SG1, allow me to introduce the members of my future SG team, Captain Alicia Vega, Lieutenant Aiden Ford, and Dr. Alison Porter."

Still standing with their trays in hand, each of them gave a small nod with their own smile on their faces, although theirs were a bit more awkward, the fact of facing such a well-known veteran team made them uncomfortable. Sitting across from SG1, each of them seized this opportunity to get to know their work colleagues.

(At the same time / Earth)

Professor Ellen Anders quickly passed through the metal and explosive detectors and entered the atrium of the large, vaguely conical structure. Officially designated UNSC HighCom Facility B-6, the sprawling edifice nicknamed "The Hive" loomed over Sydney from the north side of the harbor, with Anders catching raindrops as the distant flashes of storm clouds from the west illuminated its polished surface.

Naval officers and non-commissioned officers, as well as a number of civilian officials from the EUG, were bustling normally and calmly in the vast, tree-filled atrium as they did every day since the building's construction, or at least as close to normal as possible inside this building. None of them paid the slightest attention to the ONI officer in his service uniform who was moving quickly across the floor.

"You are expected, Madam!" said the receptionist, a young chief petty officer, as she arrived at the second door controlling access to the elevators serving the building, giving her a brief glance before checking a part of the two-meter-long curved holographic screen in front of her and, with a wave of her hand, extending an appointment link from her desk console to the screen to verify. "They authorized you to go down upon your arrival, elevator six."

"Thank you!" she replied courteously to the woman who had already turned back to her screens. Quickly passing in front of her, she continued to the second set of secure doors that separated the more casual area of the atrium from the access points to the "work" zones of the Hive. No one noticed or looked specifically at her as she placed her hand on the scanner, the eye visors of the guards directly connected to the local COM network displaying the relevant biometric details from her personal file while the computer compared her fingerprints to the list of authorized entries. Once they were sure she was indeed who she claimed to be and not an intruder wearing a very good mask, the armored Perspex opened and the team leader gestured for her to pass. In reality, the basic security check in the building was performed by a housekeeping AI named Sophia - who had confirmed her identity the moment she crossed the building's doors with a number of biometric systems among the bewildering array of biometric systems carefully hidden in the gardens, but due to a mix of paranoia and inertia, backup human checks were firmly entrenched - and that was something her mind warmly approved of.

She quickly headed towards elevator shaft number six and the car that was already waiting for them, the door closing behind her as they entered.

But the elevator wasn't moving.

"Good morning, Madam," greeted the timidly seductive female voice of the building's AI as the car door locked with an audible thud.

"Good evening, Sophia," she replied pleasantly as she passed the next stage of the security checks inside the express elevator, a retinal and DNA test, placing her chin on the scanner and letting the brief flash of light unfold as a small needle pricked her finger for a blood sample to test her DNA. "How are you today?"

"As every day," she replied cheerfully as the DNA and retinal scans blinked green and the ground seemed to have "collapsed" beneath them, the elevator descending rapidly into the almost perfect void of the shaft at high speed.

She braced herself as her weight suddenly doubled while the elevator began its deceleration sequence, Anders did his best to ignore a sustained 2G deceleration. Finally, however, the doors in front of the elevator opened again as the force stopped at the bottom of the shaft, and Ellen took a moment to collect herself before stepping out confidently.

Shaking her head once, she plunged into the marble and oak-paneled corridor, lined with countless canvas works and holographic art, admiring the quality of the work along the way. Molecular duplications of masterpieces were lined up next to other strategically placed holographic panels, camouflaged as windows, presenting an almost perfect series of live views from the cameras on the upper levels of The Hive, far above, to hide the reality of underground existence from those who spent a significant part of their lives down here. Returning and greeting a number of junior officers, she made her way through the enclosures and memory offices until reaching a final corridor, coming face to face with a pair of military police with their hands on their sidearms. Their standing orders were to shoot first and ask questions later to prevent any armed person from entering the room, but Ellen could easily see that these orders were in conflict with their sense of self-preservation. Someone - probably Sophia - had warned them of her arrival, which meant that both Marines were fully aware that in front of them stood one of the most important people in the UNSC, and that if the slightest harm came to a single hair on her head, a court-martial would be the least of their worries.

And so, although they had hidden it well, the two men showed relief when Anders gave them a slight nod of greeting as she passed through the doors. This part of the building was different from the others; the corridors were completely white, from floor to ceiling, and Ellen was slightly surprised by the impeccable cleanliness, especially since she knew full well that every ten meters, reinforced doors could descend from the ceiling to lock down the entire floor.

Walking past several offices, she finally arrived at the one that interested her. Knocking once, she entered before even receiving a response, "Finally, I wonder if I prefer this kind of meeting on the Spirit of Fire!" This unofficial greeting brought an amused smile to her interlocutor, mainly because he felt the same way.

"My ship is also missing me, Ellen, but for the past week, I've been back-to-back in meetings with the high levels of the UNSC hierarchy, and I'm starting to get fed up with the back and forth, not to mention that top-secret topics like the ones we're going to discuss today require maximum discretion!" Cutter turned away from the files to rise from the desk where he had taken his place and came to greet the person he trusted most in this world. "Serina has already prepared everything we need, we were just waiting for you!"

Anders just sighed in response, she understood James very well, but when the large flat screens on the wall and the holographic table lit up, any thought of complaining about the building's immensity vanished instantly. "How is Dr. Jackson?"

At Cutter's question, Ellen briefly diverted her gaze from the screens. "Very well, he is part of the team sent with the Prometheus to investigate this strange signal!"But the withdrawal was quite brutal, I had the sarcophagus sent to a maximum security zone!

"Now it seems obvious to me that a device with such healing capabilities must necessarily have such harmful side effects!" James was right, Ellen herself found it obvious now that she thought about it, in fact, she had even hypothesized that it was these side effects on the mind that had made the Goa'uld so evil.

"It's really a shame, medicine could have reached a whole new level thanks to him, but I guess you can't have it all..." She then moved to start tapping on the keyboard of the holographic table, materializing the image of a Spartan MJOLNIR armor. "... I must admit James, when you told me you wanted to launch the Spartan 3 program, I initially thought we were going to do things that were more than questionable and immoral again!""..." Then, beside the armor, various other images appeared: "… but a new field of perspective has been opened to us!"

"Why are you showing me images of the orbital elevator?" Cutter didn't see where Ellen was going with this; the elevator was already operational and had nothing to do with the SPARTAN program.

"Do you remember the Orbanians?" Ellen had chosen to respond to James's question with her own question, which was becoming a habit every time they had this kind of top-secret meeting.

"If I remember correctly, it is to this people that we owe our Naquadah generators, and it is also to them that we owe the implantation of liquid Naquadah in our deuterium fusion reactors." It was a name that had been coming up very often lately, enough for him to remember it despite all the tasks that his position as fleet admiral entailed.

Serina then appeared on the holographic table, holding energy particles in her hand. "This people also showed us a completely different and innovative application of a technology we already master, but which we had never even considered ourselves... Nanotechnology!"

Anders thanked the AI of the Spirit of Fire with a nod, "We use nanotechnology for various purposes." Reactive nanohydrocarbons or even various nanometric-scale materials such as carbon nanofibers, which have become the norm in construction due to their great durability and strength, carbon nanotubes enable the construction of enormous structures that would be impossible with conventional materials, like space elevators.

Serina waved her hand, and the particles rose into the air and began to enlarge. "The Orbanians used nanites—microscopic machines the size of a cell—as a means to educate their people."

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the things that also aged Colonel O'Neill during a mission?" Ellen could only nod with a defeated grimace, conceding Cutter's point.

But Serina had a ready answer: "Nanites are machines, Admiral, no matter their size, they do what they were programmed to do!"

James could indeed admit that Serina was right. "So you want to replace the enhancements with these Nanites?"

"Don't replace James, use him!" Ellen signaled to Serina, who displayed the various augmentations being performed on the Spartans. "We want to program and use the Nanites to facilitate the incorporation of augmentations on the subjects and heal the damaged cells during the process, which would eliminate all risks of failure... at least in theory!"

And it was precisely the "in Theory" that posed a problem for James. "But!" he asked.

Serina then continued "The problem with Nanites is their programming, to put it simply, if you don't tell a Nanite that it is not allowed to do something, it will assume it can!" As you can imagine, it will take us time to anticipate all the harmful freedoms they might take.

"Which could very well happen sooner than expected!" Cutter looked at Ellen with an eyebrow raised at the exclamation of the ONI leader, then she displayed the image of an unknown woman to James. "I present to you Elisabet Sobeck!" She is an extremely brilliant and talented American scientist, roboticist, and engineer! I believe I have never met anyone as intelligent in my life, maybe even more than Catherine Halsey or Captain Carter!

"And by 'sooner,' do you have an estimate on the application?" I don't want to seem impatient, but the exceptional skills of the Spartans and the accessibility the Stargate offers us would allow us to be more decisive on the field. Ellen couldn't contradict Cutter on the effectiveness of the Spartans; every time they were deployed on the field, the battles had turned in their favor... that is until the Covenant destroyed their ship and seized air supremacy!

"We have already produced an initial batch of Nanite, but their programming will take time. However, Professor Anders does not underestimate Dr. Sobeck's skills; nevertheless, there is still a lot of work to be done!" Ellen thanked Serina once again and explained more precisely what she expected from the Nanites.

"Ensuring that these little nanorobots facilitate the incorporation of enhancements is just one of the most complicated steps; the second one might even be more so... getting the Spartan III bodies rid of the Nanites!" Ellen paused, ensuring that James had her full attention. "Initially, we had planned to simply program the Nanites to deactivate once the enhancements were made, which would leave millions of microscopic robots inert in the bodies of our super soldiers. However, Dr. Sobeck raised a concern that made us reconsider..." And what if one day, we were to encounter an enemy capable of reactivating and reprogramming the nanites at their whim?!

James nodded appreciatively at this way of thinking, his esteem for this Élisabeth Sobeck skyrocketing. Ellen continued, "What we want to do is ensure that once the enhancements are made, the nanites head towards the Spartan's digestive system and deactivate there, so they can be expelled through urine or feces, which will further complicate their programming!" She paused once more to catch her breath. "Since we want to purge them from their bodies, we will have to prohibit them from replacing cells with nanites and thus force them to be repaired. We will also have to prohibit them from replicating like the one on Argos – the planet where Colonel O'Neill aged –" We will also have to ensure that they don't purge all at once, otherwise, our Spartans risk ending up with a block of steel clogging their intestines!

All of this seems extremely complicated to me, Ellen! That's a lot of "ifs"! And it was safe to say, they were going to ask these things to make up for all the flaws in their augmentation method, there were literally a thousand and one things that could go wrong.

Ellen then turned to James "I agree with you, James, but when we manage to master these things, we will be able to transform already trained veterans into super-soldiers!"

An enticing prospect indeed!

But obviously, it wasn't going to be the day before tomorrow.

(Prometheus/ 2 weeks after their departure)

"Carter!" "You spent the last two weeks locked up in the machine room, don't you want to do anything else!" The female member of SG-1 team only briefly turned her gaze towards O'Neill before returning to her computer screens, but not without an amused smile on her face.

"I know, Colonel, but this is the first time we are in a spacecraft capable of faster-than-light travel!" Until a few years ago, this kind of technology was the stuff of science fiction! For Samantha Carter, studying the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine was an endless pleasure; there was so much she didn't know about this technology that she could spend day and night on it if she didn't need to sleep or eat.

"Colonel O'Neill is right, Captain!" The two SG-1 members turned towards the newcomer. "Colonel O'Neill, I am Sergeant Matthew, chief engineer of the Prometheus!" He introduced himself with a military salute, which was returned by Jack.

"Sergeant …" But Jack stopped in the middle of his sentence as his attention was drawn to the strange creature in the engine room. "What the hell is that thing?"

Matthew turned to see the levitating creature who seemed to ignore everything happening around it, focusing solely on its work. "Don't pay too much attention to the Huragok, Colonel; they are not dangerous and are almost entirely devoted to their work!" Repair the ship in case of damage! He reassured Jack with an amused smile, he too had had trouble getting used to these creatures, but after noticing their docility and especially their efficiency, he had found the calm of the work environment very pleasant. But before he could continue, the phone in the engine room rang. "Engine Room?" there was a few seconds of silence as the Sergeant listened to what was being said to him "Very well... Colonel, Captain, your presence is required on the bridge!"

(Prometheus / Bridge / a few minutes later)

When Sam and Jack arrived on the bridge, they noticed that Daniel, Teal'c, Sheppard, and his team were already present. "I see we were the last ones to arrive!" What's going on? Jack could see that many crew members were hurrying to their workstations.

Major Grant, the officer entrusted with the responsibility of the ship's systems and crew, was the quickest to respond, "We have arrived at our destination, we will soon exit Slipspace!"

True to his word, the light of the slipstream exit portal was clearly visible in the darkness of the dimensional subdomain of the eleven-dimensional alternative spacetime. The Prometheus reached the exit in a matter of seconds, the slipstream darkness replaced by the deep black speckled with stars of the void of space. The Paris-class frigate floated calmly as the people on board gazed at the absolute void before them.

"Major, are we really at the right coordinates?" Pendergast had asked Grant the question without taking his eyes off the bridge window, uncertain of what he should have seen, given that they had no information about the unknown signal that had brought them here.

"Affirmative, Colonel, we are at the precise coordinates!" A wave of perplexity spread among the people present; the prospect of having made such a long journey only to receive a disappointing result was extremely displeasing to them. Fortunately, Arthur had already started scanning the solar system.

"Sir!" "My detector signals that we are in orbit around a planet... it's behind us!" He said as he materialized on the mini-holotank at the same time he uttered these words. The people present sighed in relief at this knowledge but also reproached themselves for not having thought to use the ship's detectors before jumping to hasty conclusions. But in their defense, it was their first real experience in space.

"The engines at reduced power, maneuver to face her!" Ordered Pendergast calmly. The two imposing engines of the Prometheus came to life as the frigate's nose changed trajectory, the stars through the window moved at a rapid pace, and soon an enormous sphere—revealed to be a gas giant—came into view for all to see. "Are the detectors able to pick up that famous signal?"

The lines of code moved rapidly across the knight's body for barely more than a second before he responded, "Affirmative, Sir, however, given that it is a Gas Giant, it is impossible that it originates from the planet…." Arthur disappeared from the holotank to reappear on the holographic table, a representation of the planet and its moon appearing with him. Pendergast turned and got up from his seat to come around the table, accompanied by SG1 and Sheppard's team. "According to my sensors, this solar system has very few planets and is divided in two by a significant asteroid belt. The signal is coming from one of the three moons orbiting the planet in front of us... to be precise, from the orbit of one of them!"

"Major Delouise, set the course towards these coordinates!" Ordered Pendergast. The Frigate's engines roared to life, propelling the ship at cruising speed, straight towards the moon that harbored the object of their desire. Soon, the moon became visible to the naked eye, and with the sight of the infernal red of the continents and the vast ocean of molten lava, if this planet had ever been habitable, it was clearly no longer the case now.

"There!" Exclaimed Carter, pointing at a rather large object in geostationary orbit, the Prometheus reduced its speed and approached for a better view. "Can we scan it?"

"It's already in progress, Captain!" Exclaimed the AI, and a few seconds later a holographic representation appeared beside them on the table. "According to all likelihood, it is a ship!"

Jack looked at the hologram, squinting his eyes. "Teal'c, have you ever seen one like this?" he asked, turning his head towards the man on his right. he asked, turning his head towards the man on his right.

The Jaffa looked at the floating image for several long seconds, visibly searching his mind for any memory of such a device. "No!" In my entire life, I have never seen a vessel like this one! He exclaimed, straightening his posture upright.

So it's not Goa'uld! …. According to the scanners, this ship is 3000 meters long! Carter couldn't hide the incredulity in her voice; even the Spirit of Fire, which was the largest ship she had ever seen, was 500 meters shorter than the one in front of them.

"Signs of activity?" Pendergast's question turned all eyes towards Major Grant.

"No sign of activity, my colonel!" He is, shall we say... adrift! The woman's words caught everyone's attention, directing it towards the inert ship visible through the bridge window.

"I suggest we go see it up close!" All eyes turned to Sheppard, as the man tensed in response to the surprised looks the others were giving him, finding their reaction strange. "What!?" We came for this, didn't we?

"Sheppard is right!" "If this ship is indeed the source of this signal, then we came for it!" O'Neill exclaimed, turning to Lionel Pendergast, since he was the commander of the Prometheus, the decision belonged to him.

Pendergast seemed to think as his gaze passed over each of the two teams present. "Very well, Colonel!" Your team and Major Sheppard's team will go take a closer look at it, a Pelican will be waiting for you in the hangar in 10 minutes!

With a nod of thanks, they left as one man towards the armory to equip themselves.

(Prometheus/Armory)

Having been accustomed to this kind of ritual for a long time, they took little time to equip themselves in an UNSC BDU specifically designed for missions in outer space, thus being fully ready to face any potential threat. They therefore left the armory, heading towards the door and down the corridor towards the front of the ship. Since the hangar was on the same level, it didn't take them long to get there. When they entered, they saw that it was almost empty, except for a single tactical pelican waiting while the pilots prepared the ship for departure.

"Captain, I suppose you have been informed about this mission," said Jack, trying to gauge the young man's reaction to determine how stable he was, as he knew that some people might have difficulty handling the pressure of the unknown.
"Yes, sir," replied the young man, looking the colonel straight in the eyes without moving. This showed Jack that the young man was not unstable at the moment, but he still decided to keep an eye on him as a precaution.

"Very well, then let's get this bird moving." said Jack as he and his team began boarding the craft with his team and Sheppard's team taking their places while Teal'c closed the ramp behind them.

"Yes, sir," replied the co-pilot as he began to start the engine. "Launch Control, this is Pelican-029" Bravo, ready for takeoff," the pilot announced over the radio while idling the engine, waiting for takeoff clearance.

Pelican-029 Bravo, launch authorization granted. Stay safe out there. And with that, the hangar door opened as the pilot accelerated the engine, propelling the craft into the darkness of deep space.

At a fairly rapid pace, the Pelican quickly came within range of the imposing vessel. Carter joined the pilots and Jack at the front to get a visual of the craft. Being in orbit on the daylight side of the moon, the sunlight allowed for a good view of the ship's surface. The Pelican moved very slowly, surveying the hull of the ship, allowing them to get a better view of the condition of the craft.

"It looks like it took a few hits, but at first glance, nothing too serious!" Carter's analysis was accurate as black impact marks from energy weapon fire were visible here and there on the hull, however, there were no breaches or missing parts to report.

"I wonder where we can board?" Sam looked at O'Neill, unfortunately, if this ship had hangars, it was more than likely that they were closed and therefore difficult to open given their lack of information on the technology of this ship.

But fate seemed to want to prove him wrong. "The hangar doors are right there, sir, wide open!" Faithful to the words of one of the pilots, the Pelican arrived in front of a large opening specifically designed for transport landings.

"Settle down, Captain, there seems to be a control panel, we can close the doors and pressurize the hangar!" ordered Jack, pointing to a door leading into the ship with a kind of wall-mounted interface on the side.

"At your command!" Delicately, the Pelican pivoted 180 so that the ramp opened facing the control panel.

"There is neither breathable atmosphere nor gravity!" "Put on your helmets and magnetize your boots!" Following Jack's orders, everyone in the Pelican – including the pilots – hurried to equip themselves so as not to die the moment the transport ramp opened.

MA40 at the shoulder Jack, Teal'c, and Sheppard descended first, checking that the place was indeed deserted and safe. Their boots firmly anchoring them to the ground, they spread out around the Pelican, finding that not only was there no danger, but the hangar was quite large. Jack gave the green light, "Clear the area!"

Sam and Alison Porter stepped out in turn, reaching the control panel in a few seconds. Once the panel was revealed, Carter and the professor exchanged a look. "Sir, it's the Alteran language!" The people behind them exchanged glances in response to Alison's words.

"I will try!" Exclaimed Daniel, trying to translate the instructions. Daniel and Alison's teamwork proved to be rewarding when the hangar doors closed and they all felt the atmospheric pressure weigh down on their bodies once again.

"The air is breathable!" Carter informs them as he removes his helmet, the others following his lead.

"So it's a ship from the Ancients?!" Asked Aiden Ford, more as a statement than a real question. Jack would have wanted to say that it was too early to assert it, but the particular language made any demystification impossible.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the door that led to the ship, which opened abruptly, and Jack shot a critical look at Daniel for not warning them. "Sorry!"
"Keep the Pelican operational, I want to be able to leave here as quickly as possible if there's a problem!" Receiving confirmation from the two pilots, Jack took the lead and illuminated one of the two corridors. "Very well, stay on your guard!" We don't know what we're going to encounter!

(Prometheus/Bridge)

Lionel Pendergast could be found standing in front of the large bridge window, looking almost hypnotized by the volcanic moon in front of him. "Sir, we have received a communication from Pelican-029." Bravo, they inform us that they have boarded the vessel and have begun its exploration! The commander of the Prometheus simply nodded, showing the AI that he had heard it. "A problem, sir?"

Pendergast, emerging from his thoughts, returned to the holographic table. "I was just wondering if there was a Stargate in this system?" Arthur displayed a representation of the system, his small silhouette walking calmly amidst the slow-motion images.

"The only planets that might have been able to possess one are the moons of this Gas Giant ..." Then the table suddenly changed to display the planet and its three moons. "According to my hypothesis, an unforeseen astronomical event must have made their environment uninhabitable, but thousands of years ago, life must have been prolific on at least one of them!"

But before he could say anything, Pendergast lost his balance just as the ship shook violently, and it was only by grabbing onto the table that he didn't hit the floor. In space, two pyramid-shaped ships with two large wings extending from the base, which curve towards the cockpit at the head of the ship, unleashed a continuous stream of plasma fire on the frigate. Tau'ri causing immense damage to the entire structure until a concave energy wall suddenly stops the projectiles.

"At the report!" What's going on?! Demanded Pendergast as he made his way, somewhat unsteadily, towards his Commander's chair. Reaching it, he sat down and turned it just in time to see the armored curtain finish closing, protecting the bridge, with screens coming to life to display what was happening outside with incredibly astonishing realism.

"We are under attack, sir!" According to the information we have, the shape corresponds to a Goa'uld Al'kesh bomber! To prove his words, the image of the ship appeared. "I took the liberty of activating the shields!"

"You did well!" Approved Lionel, but his face bore a constant frown. "How come we didn't detect them earlier?" He asked as numerous sparks and clouds of smoke crackled all over the bridge.

"We only detected their presence after they started shooting at us!" They most likely have optical camouflage technology! Pendergast grimaced violently at this, mentally reproaching himself for not having ordered to keep the shields activated as a precaution, especially in unknown territory.

"What is the extent of the damage?" He asked, turning his head towards Major Grant, as the woman's hands furiously hovered over the controls at the control station in front of her.

"We have numerous breaches in the hull at decks 3 and 5, we have sealed them off!" The majority of our weapon systems are out of service and the shields are only effective at 65%!The long-range sensors and communications are also down! Really not good indeed, despite the shields the whole ship kept shaking. They couldn't stay like this!

"Don't you have any good news?" Asked Pendergast to no one in particular, addressing anyone who might have a solution to propose. Fortunately, Arthur came to his aid.

"The systems that control the Archer missiles are still operational, sir!" May I suggest retaliating! And Pendergast was more than delighted to give that order.

Outside the ship, the panel of the A-archer pod slid back to reveal the missile battery as one of them came to life and shot off at a dizzying speed towards its target. One of the Al'kesh attempted to evade the missile as it performed numerous evasive maneuvers, but the missile's guidance was not deceived as it arced at an improbable angle and crashed into its target. The missiles struck the rear of one of the bombers, hitting its thrusters, causing enough damage to bring the Goa'uld ship to an immediate halt. Goa'uld, now unable to move, the subsequent missiles had no difficulty reaching their target, ending the bomber and its Jaffa crew in a brief fireball.

"Sir, I detect a particular energy signature, the second Al'kesh is about to enter hyperspace!" Arthur's alarmed voice matched the situation perfectly.

"Target the second ship immediately!" He must not be able to reach his superiors, or we are sure to see Goa'uld motherships arriving within the hour! But unfortunately, it was too late; barely had he finished his order when the remaining bomber dove into its hyperspace window.

"Oh no, it's not true!"

(Lantian Ship/Exploration Team)

Jack was pacing the corridors of the immense ship in the company of Teal'c, Daniel, and Alicia Vega. Given the vastness of the building, they had decided to split into two groups, respectively under his command and that of Sheppard. By mutual agreement, they had decided to tackle the floors one after the other. Jack had to admit that the Forerunners were sacred architects, but even with their advanced technology, he could see a great resemblance to modern human architecture, especially since the UNSC existed.

"This place is as big as this?!" Asked Vega, and the SG-1 members looked at each other, having also noticed something strange.

"We've already been here!" Teal'c exclaimed, looking at one of the small glowing sticks exhausted at his feet.

"Sheppard, do you read me?" Asked Jack on the radio, "Sheppard?" He insisted in the face of the lack of response, the three men in the group looked at each other but none understood when Alicia Vega charged Jack with all her strength, sending him against a wall before then throwing herself at Daniel. Jack would have severely reprimanded her if, barely a second after crashing into the wall, a plasma bolt hadn't passed through the spot where he had been standing just moments before; he immediately understood that she had saved his life.

Teal'c had already started to retaliate, with Jack following suit immediately. Fortunately for them, they had found themselves at an intersection, which allowed them to take cover, unlike the Jaffa in front of them. Their lack of cover could have been a tremendous advantage for the Tau'ri if their enemies hadn't been so numerous. Jack and Teal'c heard more gunfire behind them and briefly turned around to see Captain Vega retaliating. Focusing on the threat in front of them, they used short but precise bursts, which allowed them to eliminate the enemies very quickly.

Turning just as the last Jaffa hit the ground, Teal'c and O'Neill realized they had nothing left to do, Captain Vega having demonstrated formidable efficiency. The male members of the team looked at each other, impressed. Clearly, Sheppard hadn't chosen just anyone when he assembled his team; she was a true sharpshooter!

"Thank you!" "Thank you!" exclaimed Daniel, and Jack also expressed his gratitude with a nod, closely followed by Teal'c. Daniel approached one of the ladders that led to the upper floor. "They seem to be coming from upstairs!"

O'Neill grimaced, if the Jaffa were higher up in the ship then they probably had control of the ship. "Teal'c, do you know them?"

"This symbol is the mark of Ares, but I have rarely encountered these Jaffa!" He exclaimed, crouching next to one of the still fresh corpses. "It's a minor Goa'uld, it doesn't belong to the High Council!"

Jack sighed heavily in frustration; these Jaffa hadn't just fallen from the sky, there had to be a ship nearby. "Prometheus, do you read me?" Once again, only a crackling noise answered them, "Prometheus?!"

"Colonel O'Neill!" Sheppard's voice came through the radio, bringing a wave of relief among those present. "We ran into Jaffa during our exploration, Colonel. They cornered us, and we had to take refuge in what looks like a control room !"

"Received, we're coming right away!" Do you have a way with this room to guide us to you? But thanks to this room, the other team seemed to have obtained much more information about the situation they were in. Carter then chose to take the conversation.

"Negative, my Colonel ! The upper decks of the ship are teeming with life signs, and a large number are converging towards us right now, you will never reach us !» Jack sighed heavily once again at this even worse news. "But Major Sheppard has an idea, he suggests venting the air inside the ship !"

"It's a good idea!" Jack had to admit that it was even a very good idea, nodding in confirmation, Teal'c, Daniel, and Vega hurried to put on their helmets. But as usual, it was never simple.

"Unfortunately, there is another hangar where the ship the Jaffa arrived in is located. You must go and eliminate those inside at all costs; we cannot let them escape and alert reinforcements!" Jack nodded, signaling to his team that they had work to do.

"Received, guide us to that hangar, and try to see if you can use this ship's communications to contact the Prometheus, I'm not getting any response to my calls!" Receiving an affirmative response, Sam guided them and it turned out they weren't far at all. As they arrived in front of the door, Jack nodded to Teal'c, signaling him to take the lead. When the door opened, there were no Jaffa in sight, but Carter informed them that they were inside their ship. "Teal'c, do you know this type of vessel?"

"It's an Al'kesh, a Goa'uld Bomber!" A lightweight model." And Jack questioned him about this "model" thing. "The Alkesh comes in two different types, the first – the one we have in front of us – and the smaller one, it is about 35 meters long and is more powerful than the death gliders while remaining incredibly fast and maneuverable..." He paused, continuing to examine the hangar. "The second model measures 69 meters in length and is more powerful; however, it is less maneuverable but compensates for this with an energy shielding system."

"Not bad for a light model!" Jack exclaimed while admiring the bomber. "Where do we enter?" And Teal'c guided them towards the entrance of the ship. "Teal'c, Vega, you will go towards the back of the ship." Daniel with me, we'll take control!

Engaging in the Al'kesh, they separated. When Jack and Daniel arrived at the entrance of the cockpit, they hid behind the black, polished walls, different from those covered in hieroglyphs, because there was only one Jaffa at the control station of the bomber. He seemed busy manipulating something and didn't even seem to pay attention to his surroundings. Jack was almost sure he could walk up to him and shoot him in the head, but as they say, better safe than sorry. He didn't want a snake to fly out of its symbiote pocket once it left its host. He sneaked up behind him and raised his MA40 equipped with a silencer, firing a shredding bullet right where the spine connects to the base of the skull, killing the Jaffa in one shot. Then, once he was on the ground, he fired a burst at the belly, eliminating any chance of the symbiote surviving.

"Teal'c, Vega," "Did you encounter any resistance?" Teal'c then informed Jack that there were only 2 Jaffa in the ring room, which Captain Vega eliminated without needing his help. "Sheppard, we have eliminated the Jaffa, you can vent the oxygen from the ship!"

…

"At your command, Colonel, you are just in time, we weren't sure the door would hold much longer at this rate!" He said as the sound of stick weapons firing was heard behind the door, honestly, a few more minutes and he was sure the door would give in. Making a sign to Carter and Porter, he saw them manipulate the consoles, eliminating the oxygen everywhere except here. He then turned to the screen that displayed the life signs throughout the ship and noticed that they disappeared one after the other; soon, only they remained, Colonel O'Neill's group and the two Pelican pilots. "My colonel, we are the last signs of life on board!"

"Perfect, they have joined you!" "You can restore breathable air!" John nodded his head out of habit, and Carter did it immediately.

"Are you managing?" "Are you managing?" Sheppard asked as Sam and Alison struggled to bring all the systems back online.

"Surprisingly well, actually. The ship seems to be in good condition, and to be honest, it has been very cooperative with us so far!" Carter had to admit, however, that the knowledge Alison had obtained in Antarctica was invaluable; if she had been alone, they would have been in deep trouble.

"Have you found where we could see the plans of the Ship?" John then asked, if this ship was really that big, he didn't really want to waste time looking for where to go to find out what to do, especially with Goa'uld around.

"Yes, right here, Major!" And Sheppard followed Porter to start analyzing the different possibilities available to them. It took the Colonel's group more than 15 minutes to reach them, and they stopped for a few seconds in front of the number of Jaffa corpses suffocated at the entrance door.

"You weren't joking when you said it was all about timing!" As they headed towards that room, they had found many bodies; Carter hadn't exaggerated when she said they would never make it here alive. He then turned to Sam, "So, how does it look?"

"Well, Dr. Porter is really very skilled with Alterran technology; she managed to reactivate most—if not all—of the ship's systems!" Jack was reassured and very pleasantly surprised. But Alison had learned much more than Sam thought.

"In fact, I did a complete diagnosis of the ship, I even found its name!" Exclaimed Alison, making the other people present blink in surprise, Jack then gestured for her to continue, himself curious to learn more. "This ship is called the Tria!"... "According to what I could gather, almost all the systems are in perfect working order!" She took a moment to do some manipulation on her touchscreen tablet computer, "… From what I could gather, almost all the systems are in perfect working order!"

"If this ship works, why didn't the Jaffa leave with it?" Alicia Vega had a good point from Jack's perspective, but they were all forgetting something important that Sheppard reminded them of.

To use the Ancients' technology, you need the ATA gene, and from what we know so far, there is only one other people in the galaxy who possess it! "We can barely turn on the lights without this gene!" John was right, and the prospect of recovering this ship was becoming more and more promising.

"Can we make this ship move?" But when Jack uttered the last word, the grimace on Dr. Porter's face was the answer even before she spoke.

"Unfortunately, one of the only things that is broken is the hyper-propulsion system; it is irreparable. That's probably why it was abandoned and left to drift!" Jack lowered his head in dismay and looked at the members of his team who were just as disappointed as he was.

"Well, anyway, we need to start by reestablishing communication with the Prometheus!" Can we use the ship's communications? Sam headed towards a console where she pressed a few buttons.

"Go ahead and try, my Colonel!"

"Prometheus here, O'Neill, do you read me?" For a moment, a faint crackling of static filled the silence.

"This is Prometheus, it's good to hear from you!" A wave of relief calmed them instantly, the fear that Goa'uld ships could have destroyed the Prometheus swept away immediately.

Jack hurried to inform Pendergast, "We came across Jaffa searching the ship, be careful, there might be ships nearby!"

"We're already aware of that, Colonel, we were attacked by two Goa'uld bombers!" The Tau'ri aboard the Tria exchanged worried glances as Jack, for his part, lowered his head once more, moistening his lips, fearing the answer to the question he was about to ask.

"And are there any damages?" He asked, and the answer was worse than he had imagined.

"Enormously!" "We have lost the weapons, communications, and long-range detectors, the shields are only functioning at about 50%, and we also have some breaches in the hull!" Far worse than he had imagined. But even though it seemed hard to believe, the situation was about to get even worse "... And worse, we could only destroy one of the Al'kesh, the second managed to escape into hyperspace, so we can expect warships to arrive very soon!

"Oh, no way!" Jack exclaimed with annoyance, taking a deep breath, he reestablished contact. "We, we managed to eliminate the Jaffa who were on board, the ship – the Tria – is under our control, but its hyperdrive is down, this ship won't go anywhere!"

"So there's no point in you staying there!" "Come back immediately, we need to leave before the Goa'uld return!" Ordered Pendergast, and now that he was aware of the entire situation, Jack truly agreed with him, especially after learning that Goa'uld ships were most likely on their way.

"We can't let the Tria fall into the hands of the Goa'uld!" Everyone turned to Alison, surprised by her sudden outburst, which seemed completely out of character for her usual calm demeanor.

"It's precisely for situations like this that self-destruct systems were invented, Doctor Porter!" And Jack had to admit that Lionel was once again right.

"You don't understand, when we tried to create our shields, we made an effort to make them as powerful as those of the outpost in Antarctica and we failed. Believe me, I spent two weeks aboard the Prometheus studying them, and having been part of the teams that worked on the stolen Ha'tak, our shields are at best equal to those of the Goa'uld!" On the other hand, I can assure you that those of a ship like the Tria are light-years more powerful! We can't leave it to the Goa'uld nor destroy it, it is our best chance to one day gain the technological advantage that will compensate for the Goa'uld's numerical superiority! We absolutely must bring it back to Earth!

Everyone continued to look at Alison even after she had finished her presentation. Alas, Pendergarst had to remain realistic. "I'm sorry, doctor, but if its hyper-propulsion is out of order, I don't really see what we could do about it!"

"There might be a way!" This time, everyone's attention turned to Carter with extreme concentration. "There is an Al'kesh in one of the hangars, and as Teal'c told us, it has its own hyperdrive..." She turned her gaze towards the Jaffa, who confirmed it with his usual nod, "… if we manage to reroute the systems to the hangar panel, we can then make a connection so that the bomber can serve as a relay."

"This ship is much larger than an Al'kesh, Captain!" Jack's remark was quite pertinent, Sam had to admit it; she really wasn't sure it could handle the load of such a large device, it could very well explode.

"This plan has a chance of working!" Carter and Jack's attention was drawn to Teal'c as he continued, putting his hands behind his back "… For a ship as large as the Tria, we will probably have to make the journey in numerous short-distance jumps to give its engines time to cool down if we want to reach the Tau'ri, but at least we will be able to leave this system!

"And how long do you think you will be able to do it, Captain Carter?" Pendergast had asked the question before Jack had the chance.

"I don't know, several hours!" An estimate that was not at all to Jack's or Pendergast's liking.

"We might be able to buy some time!" This time their attention turned to Sheppard as he came next to Carter, positioning himself to the left of the console where she was. "You did say that apart from the hyperdrive, all the other systems of the ship were operational?" He asked Alison, who confirmed it, "When we arrived in the solar system, Arthur told us it was cut in two by a massive asteroid belt..." The Prometheus's AI interrupted the conversation, cutting John off to confirm once again, "... so if the sublight engines work, we could send the Tria and the Prometheus to hide over there, that way, even if the Goa'uld come back, the time they spend looking for us will be extra time for Porter and Captain Carter to make this diversion, and it will also give the engineer time to repair the Prometheus!"

Sam and O'Neill looked at each other, Sheppard's idea was really very appealing but Jack couldn't make this decision alone. "It's up to you, Pendergast?" There was a long moment of silence during which Lionel weighed the pros and cons.

"Very well ! If the Tria is as important as Dr. Porter says, we cannot pass up such an opportunity. We are moving ahead, we will send you the exact coordinates once we have found the ideal location. »

With a nod, Jack resumed speaking. "Very well, Carter and Porter, get to work!" Teal'c, you join the Pelican and the men who stayed there, take everything you need and go aboard the Al'kesh to start preparing it so that everything is ready when it's time to connect it to the panel! Daniel, Sheppard, Ford, and Vega, you come with me to the bridge, we will pilot this bucket to the rendezvous point, then Daniel, you will come back here to help them!

It took O'Neill's group more than an hour to reach the bridge and figure out how to operate the Tria, but more than two hours later, the Prometheus and the Tria were in the middle of the asteroid belt, hidden from everyone's view, with technicians spread out on board both ships to repair them as quickly as possible.

….

A perverse pleasure coursed through his veins as he tortured the Jaffa under his hand with his Kara'kesh, but this pleasure was merely a distraction to forget the immense frustration he felt as this miserable Jaffa – the pilot of the Al'kesh – returned empty-handed, leaving an invaluable treasure at the mercy of an unknown ship. This bunch of fools, if this ship indeed belonged to the race that had built the gates as he thought, then they absolutely had to seize it.

He was just a minor Goa'uld, and as such, he didn't have the means to oppose a system lord to take his place, but with this device in his hands, he would gain technological superiority to claim a place among the 12! And those idiots had abandoned him to save their miserable hides, he had massacred the crew himself and intended to make the pilot suffer until they arrived. It had taken the Al'kesh two days to return to him, and it would take half that time for his Ha'tak fleet at full speed to get back there. He hoped that at least the Jaffa who had managed to board could hold off these unknowns until his arrival, and that they would have the decency to die for their god! Given that they had confirmed the ship was disabled, there was a good chance it would still be there when he arrived.

(Asteroid Belt/Tria)

Aboard the bridge of the Tria, which was located in the middle of the asteroid belt, Colonel O'Neill admired the scenery of what the interior of an ancient warship looked like.

"The bridge is quite impressive!" remarked Jack, appreciating the Ancients' taste in decoration. "You know, Carter, when you told us 'a few hours,' I didn't expect it to be 72 hours!"

Sam stood in front of the control panel in the hangar where the Al'kesh was located, holding a tablet in her arms and monitoring all the bypass systems while Teal'c was making the connection in the bomber and Alison was making adjustments in the auxiliary control room. "I'm sorry, Colonel, but we want to use hyper-propulsion designed for a 35-meter ship to propel a 3-kilometer craft!" "If we make even the tiniest mistake, we could explode!" declared Carter while examining the power crystals that connected the two ships.

"For the moment, the Goa'uld haven't shown their faces yet, but that might not last!" If ever, can we use the weapons of this ship to help the Prometheus? Jack asked about the availability of the weapons.

Carter nodded to herself while speaking on the radio. "Not a problem, Colonel, the shields and energy weapons are working very well, the drone stock was completely depleted but since the firing systems of those on the Prometheus were completely fried, we transferred all of them to the Tria, so we have several hundred to retaliate!" replied Sam, speaking of the considerable work they had done in such a short time. "But at least now we know where our design flaw is in the Prometheus drone systems, we can improve them so that in the future they won't be taken out of service so easily!"

Jack began to look around as various people from the Prometheus worked on different consoles. "Sheppard, are you in position?" he asked over the radio. They had decided to separate the Tria from the Frigate in order to attract the attention of the Goa'uld if they came too close to them once they arrived, so he had sent John to the control chair in case they needed drones.

"I am in position and ready to fire, Colonel!" Came the response that further reassured Jack about their offensive capability.

(Prometheus/Asteroid Belt/1 million km from Tria)

Lionel Pendergast was on the bridge of his ship as Major Grant gave him a report on the various repairs carried out over the past three days. While the drone weapon was completely dead, all the others had been brought back online, the shields had been restored to 97%, and communications and sensors had been reestablished. "Thank you, Major!" he said. He thanked her as she nodded and returned to her post. Pendergast then moved to face the window to watch the building-sized asteroids drift slowly and peacefully, oblivious to the troubles of the rest of the universe. "I still wonder how it is that the Goa'uld haven't arrived yet."

The miniature image of Arthur then appeared on the console just behind him, "When this signal appeared, we headed straight here, and it took us 2 weeks of travel!" It is possible that the master commanding these Jaffa is relatively far away as well, but we can still be 99% sure that he is heading straight towards us! It was obvious, but even though the three days offered for repairs were a boon, the fact that they still hadn't managed to combine the hyperdrive of the Al'kesh with the Tria after all this time made him doubt they would succeed, even though Captain Carter assured them it was imminent. He would really like to leave without having to face the Goa'uld!

On his console, Arthur's image froze for a brief moment. "Commander, the radars detect three echoes that just exited hyperspace!"

"Only three ?" That was the first thought that crossed Pendergast's mind as a holographic screen appeared on the bridge window, displaying the three red icons in orbit around the Gas Giant. It was more than likely scouts, to check if they had left or if they had called for reinforcements. "Is there a way to know what type of ship it is?"

"Not at this distance, sir!" Informed Arthur as all the systems of the Prometheus reduced their consumption to remain as discreet as possible, just as the Tria had done long ago. "Commander, I detect numerous signatures dispersing in all directions!"

"Without a doubt, death planes!" As we thought, they are going to search for us everywhere! This Goa'uld seems to want the Tria at all costs! Which wasn't really surprising, this ship was a marvel of technology and they too were going to fight to bring it back to Earth.

…

"They are starting to get dangerously close !" O'Neill's voice came through the radio of the Prometheus. For several hours now, the Goa'uld had been rummaging through the entire solar system, and the fact that more than a dozen Ha'tak and almost as many Khéops class ships had arrived shortly after the first group had made the situation very concerning when the Ha'tak had spread throughout the solar system and the Khéops had even ventured into deep space. And unfortunately, the search patrols were getting closer and closer to where the Tria was located.

"Now would be the ideal time to connect the hyperdrive!" Pendergast exclaimed, according to Arthur's knowledge of the power of the Goa'uld sensors, at this rate he estimated they would find the Lantian ship in 15 minutes.

"Carter and Dr. Porter are running the final diagnostics to make sure we don't blow up!" We're almost there, we just need to buy a little more time! And to buy the time Jack needed, Prometheus had to create a diversion and draw them elsewhere.

"Colonel O'Neill, stay back as long as possible, we will engage in combat and draw them as far away as possible, be ready to come to our aid when we need it!" The SG-1 leader wanted to protest at first, but Jack was experienced enough to know that it was the best strategy to keep the Lantian ship in the best possible condition. "To all crew members, to your battle stations!" He exclaimed loudly as he sat in the commander's chair, the bridge darkening as the armored shutters descended and the blue lights of the holographic information illuminated.

In space, the Frigate's engines propelled the ship at maximum speed, making it emerge from the shelter provided by the belt. As planned, the moment the Prometheus revealed itself, the ships approaching the Tria changed course to head straight towards them.

"1 Ha'tak escorted by 2 Cheops, we will engage first, numerous death gliders will be within our range in a few minutes, sir!" Pendergats nodded at the information transmitted by Arthur.

"Armament control, engage all cannons and target the enemies," ordered Penderghast as the crew sprang into action to defend their ship against the approaching foes.

Outside the ship, the point defense cannons roared to life as they began firing at the approaching death gliders. The first gliders hit by the anti-aircraft guns were destroyed with remarkable precision as the broadside batteries reoriented towards the next gliders in the formation. Before they could enter the firing zone, the first formation of gliders had suffered heavy losses as the next wave advanced.

When they came within range, they began firing their golden plasma projectiles at the ship's shields, but they discovered that the information they had received about the damage inflicted by the Al'kesh several days earlier was no longer accurate and that the energy armor was resisting their attacks. As they began to turn around for another approach, the point defense cannons on the other side of the Prometheus targeted them. Manipulated by a third-generation AI like Arthur, their efficiency was deadly, and they were thus shot down without any difficulty.

"The first wave has been destroyed, sir. What's left of the second wave is retreating," Arthur declared as the coding began to course through his body at lightning speed. "The Ha'tak and the Cheops are engaging in combat!" The large golden plasma bolts struck the Prometheus's shields; while the glider's shots had only caused slight vibrations, the shots from the three warships violently shook the Frigate despite its shields.

"Deployment of all Archer pods, targeting the three designated points Alpha 1, 2, and 3." "Let the portside M2950 Harpoon nuclear batteries target Alpha 2 and the starboard batteries target Alpha 3, load a class M2475 Shiva nuclear missile on the priority target Alpha 1!" He ordered as he entered his nuclear activation codes on the firing console. "Hurry, at this rate we won't last much longer!"

The Prometheus continued to unleash a continuous stream of fire with its point defenses on the three large ships, resulting in negligible effects on their shields, unlike those of the Tau'ri ship, which were beginning to suffer under the continuous plasma weapon fire. On board the gliders that had retreated, the Jaffa smiled at the pitiful attempt of the unknown ship to oppose the power of their god.

"I must point out, sir, that without this shield technology, as was the case on our ships before, we would already be dead by now!" Pendergast rolled his eyes at the AI's comment; even though it was undeniably true, their new energy shielding technology was still not enough to make a difference against the advanced spatial power of other races.

In space, the UNSC Frigate was positioned slightly below the three Goa'uld ships, which continued to fire on it mercilessly. The launchers of the Archer missiles and the Harpoon and Shiva nuclear weapons were open, the thrusters preheated and ready to go. In an incredible synchronization, a true tidal wave of missiles shot forth, smoke billowing from their thrusters, all with a single destination coded into them. The study of the Ha'tak stolen from Apophis had taught them that Goa'uld ships did not have countermeasures, so when all the missiles launched towards their designated target, Arthur already knew that all would reach their destination.

An absurd amount of missiles struck the shields of the three Goa'uld ships, enveloping them in their golden hue, then the nuclear weapons also hit their targets, a blinding flash of light illuminated the darkness of space for a few seconds, burning the eyes of some Jaffa among the glider pilots.

"It's a very disappointing result!" Shortly after the explosion, the three ships were visible on the Prometheus's screens, and everything seemed to indicate that the nuclear weapons had done very little damage to the enemy's energy shields. Arthur, on the other hand, had clearly expected this result.

"In reality, this result was entirely predictable, Commander!" Even though they have been improved with Naquadah, it doesn't change the fact that we are in the vacuum of space, which greatly limits the effectiveness of this kind of weapon in an atmospheric environment! The lines of code on the AI's body accelerated reasonably quickly as it processed all the data it was receiving. "However, I detect a large amount of radiation over there!"Their system must be disrupted by it!

"That must be why they're no longer shooting at us!" Pendergast exclaimed as their enemy had indeed ceased fire. We needed to find a solution quickly. "Arthur, will they be blinded long enough for us to load the MAC cannon?"

"Yes, I think we can," replied the AI as it quickly began to review the figures for such a maneuver. In a matter of seconds, he calculated the distance needed for an optimal strike force.

"Arthur, load the Mac cannon and position the ship for firing." "A triple shot," ordered Pendergast as the AI reappeared on the pedestal next to him and saluted while executing the orders.

….

As the two Cheops and the Ha'tak came within range, the remaining death gliders moved further away to avoid being caught in the crossfire. In doing so, the strange vessel began to move to face the approaching warships, which made the glider pilots laugh once again at this feeble attempt to confront the might of their god despite their previous failure.

As the bow of the Prometheus was turned towards the ship Cheops designated as Alpha 2, the cannon at the tip began to glow while the magnetic coils started to charge with energy as the bullet was loaded into position by the system that brought it from the magazine. Once engaged by the piston at the rear, the breach could close for the shot. With the bullet loaded and the coils primed, the projectile was propelled forward through the coils, which accelerated it to a speed close to light as the bullet exited the mouth of the Mac cannon towards its target, the Goa'uld warship of the Cheops class. The warship, which had just recovered from its own weapon targeting capability, failed to fire quickly enough as the bullet tore through the weak shields of the light warship and smashed through the thin armor, ripping apart everything in its path until the bullet completed its journey by striking the liquid Naquadah reactor.

The pilots' eyes were almost falling out of their sockets as they watched the shield of one of the Cheops ships being torn apart by a projectile traveling far too fast to be seen, slicing through the armor as if it were paper.

The vessel remained there for about a minute with a gaping hole in its center, expelling flames fueled by the atmosphere until the reactor became critical, exploding with the force of a tactical nuclear bomb. The explosive force sent debris flying in all directions. As the remaining two ships began to regain their own firing capabilities, the Prometheus continued to strike them with its point-defense cannons.

The new subluminal engines of the UNSC had offered the Prometheus maneuverability never before seen in human history, so it had no trouble maneuvering in a way that would have seemed impossible in the vacuum of space, turning right at a speed that allowed it to distance itself from its enemies before making a 180 looping turn, thus aligning the two remaining ships with the bow of the vessel, which would allow the Prometheus to chain the remaining shots on each of them. Which he did!

The second shell was propelled forward through the coils at a speed close to light as the bullet exited the mouth of the Mac cannon towards the second Cheops, tearing through its shield and hull in the same manner as the first, leaving it with a gaping hole identical to its fallen comrade, to join it a few seconds later in a lovely fireworks display.

The Third Bullet, which had been launched a few seconds after the second, crashed into the Ha'tak's shields, the concave golden energy wall illuminating brightly upon impact, but failing to penetrate, much to the dismay of the Prometheus crew.

"It seems that the shields of the Ha'tak are more resistant to our MAC than those of the Cheops class!" Once again, Pendergast found Arthur's comment unnecessary because the very evidence had just unfolded right before their eyes.

"Do we have this new semi-energy shell similar to the drone for the Mac cannon on board?" Asked Lionel, not really seeing any other option now that their Naquadah nuclear weapon had failed, and the drone weapon system was out of service; it was their last card.

"Affirmative, Sir!" "Affirmative, Sir!" the AI confirmed as it began calculating the time needed to recharge the Mac cannon with the enhancements brought by the Naquadah in the coil and the fusion reactor.

"Reload the cannon with a semi-energy round!" Major Delouise, take command and initiate evasive maneuvers, we must limit the damage as much as possible until the Mac is recharged! According to what had been explained to him, this new bullet was similar to the new drone weapon except that it could not change trajectory; however, it was capable of penetrating shields and had an explosive power equivalent to its size. It had been estimated that a 600-ton shell had an explosive force equivalent to about a thousand drones.

"The recharging of the coils and the energy ball will take approximately 5 minutes and 47 seconds, Commander!" Pendergast simply nodded as he continued to watch the shields of his ship illuminate under the costs of the Ha'tak. "Sir, I have bad news ! It seems that the three ships that engaged us were just a diversion; the rest of the Goa'uld formation has scattered all around us, we are surrounded !»

(Goa'uld mothership/Pel'tak)

Sitting on his throne, Ares watched the unfolding battle with evident displeasure. Even outnumbered, this strange vessel managed to ridicule the power of the Goa'uld by destroying an entire squadron of death gliders and three ships, the signal of the last one—a Ha'tak—just having disappeared. Moreover, the reason for their presence here was nowhere to be seen.

"Let our ships cut off any possibility of escape from this device and have all the Cheops return here quickly!" Focus the fire on that ship but do not destroy it! The Jaffa who was piloting the Ha'tak had displayed an image of the strange ship. "Once their shield is down, target the large rear sections of the craft, those are the engines. Once it is immobilized, board it and capture its crew alive." I want to know where they hid what I'm looking for!

"Yes, my lord, your will shall be done!" The Jaffa exclaimed in a submissive tone as he transmitted his god's orders to the other ships. On the screens, the icons of the numerous ha'tak and Cheops were slowly closing in on the Prometheus, cutting off any chance of retreat.

(Tria/Footbridge)

"Carter, it's starting to get critical over there!" Jack exclaimed very loudly over the radio as he followed the course of the battle on the long-range screens of the Tria. The Prometheus was surrounded by the Goa'uld, which from his point of view could clearly be considered a dramatic situation.

"I would have liked to have more time to redo my calculations and be sure that I didn't make any mistakes. If I had made even a single comma error, we could explode at the moment we cross the hyperspace window!" Jack exhaled heavily; it was indeed a legitimate concern, but he had complete confidence in Carter and was sure she hadn't made a mistake. But whatever happens, they had to help Prometheus so he could escape.

"To begin with, we need to go help the Prometheus!" He is surrounded and they won't be able to enter Slipspace if we don't clear the way for them. It's going to be quite a shake-up, so get ready for battle. Sheppard, are you in position? He asked as Frod and Vega took their seats in front of the consoles on either side of the commander's chair, ready to use the Lantean pulse weapons.

"I am in the drone control chair, ready to open fire, Colonel!" The response was all the signal Jack needed to activate the sublight engines of the immense ship with a single thought, heading straight for the Goa'uld formation. its conventional speed was sufficient to reach the firing range of the Ha'tak in less than a minute.

Bright yellow energy bolts shot successively from the Tria's cannons at a rapid pace towards the flying pyramid fleet with extreme efficiency. The parasites' shields proved inadequate as the pulse weapons tore through them as easily as the now vulnerable Ha'tak hull in just a few shots.

The other ships turned their weapons from the Prometheus towards the Tria, because even if they wanted it intact, they couldn't let it destroy their entire fleet without reacting. Large quantities of plasma bolts struck the extremely powerful shields of the Tria, making them appear dark brown and translucent. Unlike the "bubble" shields used by most races' ships, the Goa'uld fire revealed that the Tria's shields closely conform to the hull of the ship.

Although they proved capable of repelling the sustained fire from the numerous Goa'uld motherships with minimal casualties, the Tau'ri were not willing to let them continue damaging their almost brand-new ship. A hatch located in the upper middle of the ship opened to reveal a compartment from which a large number of drones emerged.

Brilliant as the sun, each of them obeyed the mental orders transmitted by John to split into numerous small groups to strike several Ha'tak at the same time. If powering the drones with a Jumper was deadly, the poor Goa'uld ships had no chance against the hundred very bright little yellow balls powered by the strength of a battleship like the Tria, which charged at them and penetrated their shields and hulls without even slowing down, emerging on the other side and moving on to the next target.

"Glad to see you, Colonel!" Pendergast's voice brought a smile to Jack's face as the sight of the debris from the recently destroyed Ha'tak and the flashes of energy weapons that continued to unleash chaos passed by the large window of the bridge.

"We thought you might need a little help!" Jack joked for a brief moment before becoming serious again, "We are ready to enter hyperspace, but there is still a risk that we might explode at the entrance of the window..." There was a long silence from the Prometheus side, clearly reflecting the same thoughts as the people on board the Tria. "... Be ready to enter slipspace just after us, if we explode, it's up to you to report what happened to Admiral Cutter and General Hammond."

In space, the Prometheus and the Tria advanced at full speed after exploiting the now-open breach in the enemy formation, with the Goa'uld ships in pursuit continuing to fire at them. Carter engaged the hyperdrive and everyone aboard the ship and the Prometheus couldn't help but hold their breath as the Tria plunged into the purple rift of a hyperspace window without exploding.

Aboard the Prometheus, Pendergast smiled at the success of the Tria while the rest of the crew erupted in joy. "Let's not stay here any longer, Slipspace drive online Major, get us out of here!" The dark portal opened, sending the Frigate safely out of the reach of the Goa'uld plasma fire, which missed their target and got lost in the void of space.

-End of chapter-

Here you go, I know I'm not very good but I hope you liked it anyway.

All the characters of Sheppard's team come from Stargate Atlantis.