Robotech: The Stargate Saga Version 2.1
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and universes that I am about to mangle around and mash together for my own demented author amusement – sadly all Robotech and Stargate characters and concepts remain the property of Harmony Gold and MGM respectively – I am merely borrowing them and make absolutely no profit from their use. As a result, please keep the legal attack dogs – also known as lawyers – firmly muzzled and on a leash as I have no money to give to anyone.
Chapter Sixteen
Goa'uld Ha'tak
Abydos Orbit
That Same Time
"My lord, the squads ringed to the surface report that they are encountering very heavy resistance from the unknown forces in the pyramid complex. We have been able to prevent them falling back through the Stargate but have yet to defeat them."
Sitting in his throne at the back of the peltac Lord Terril – planet and ship lord in service to Ra – raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at the report from his First Prime Valok. As soon as they had arrived in orbit above Abydos to deal with the intruders who dared to try to rob Ra – and himself since he normally ruled Abydos in Ra's name – he had had two squads of Jaffa ringed down to the surface. It should have been more than enough to deal with the invaders.
"Why have they not defeated them yet?" he asked confused as between the squad sent through the Stargate by Ra and the force, he'd ringed down the unknown force should have been swiftly overwhelmed.
"The enemy is extremely skilled my lord and are expertly using the layout and structure of the gate chamber as cover. Their armour also appears to be able to withstand at least one direct hit from a ma'tok and are almost completely impervious to zat'nik'tel fire.
"However the tide of the battle is definitely turning in our favour my lord as our greater numbers are allowing us to outflank the enemy."
"Let me know when the battle is concluded. Also remind your fellow Jaffa that Lord Ra wants at least some of the invaders alive for questioning. It would not be wise to disappoint him."
"Yes, my lord."
As Valok began to carry out his instructions Terril leaned back on his throne and thoughtfully considered the report. From what Valok had said about the armour that the intruders were wearing it was pretty obvious that whoever they were they were not Jaffa. Nor had they been sent here to steal from Ra by a rival System Lord or especially ambitious underlord. No whoever they were they were something new as no Goa'uld – not even the likes of P'tah or Hephaestus – could manufacture armour that was resistant to the plasma bolts from a ma'tok and which appeared impervious to the electron stream from a zat'nik'tel.
Terril had to admit, to himself at least, that he was born impressed and intrigued by the intruder's armour. When his forces defeated the intruders – through sheer force of numbers if nothing else – he would have to ensure that at least one set of the armour was delivered to him so he could analyse it. Analyse and duplicate whatever made it so durable as it would be a useful new tool for his small army. A tool that could take him that little bit closer to achieving his long term goal. The same goal that all minor Goa'uld – regardless if they were a mere supervisor to a planet lord, a ship lord to a fleet lord – desired to achieve.
Ascension to the coveted rank of System Lord.
A sudden crystalline chirp from the sensors brought him out of those thoughts. "Report."
"My Lord the Stargate on the planet just reactivated," Valok reported, "enemy reinforcements are coming through along with some type of attack device that appears to be armed with pulse weapons."
Interesting, Terril thought clearly the intruders didn't plan to give up without a serious fight. Though what did Valok mean by attack devices armed with pulse weapons? An attack drone of some kind perhaps? It wouldn't be the first time after all that they'd encountered something like that. Human societies that had advanced beyond their species station in the order of life i.e. as servants and worshippers to the gods had been known to use such things. So had the Asgard in point of fact.
He would find out later.
"Send down reinforcements of our own."
"Yes, my lord," Valok replied as he gave the appropriate orders for another two squads of Jaffa to ring down to the planet. It was at that moment that the ship's sensors began sounding an urgent warning. "My lord sensors indicate that there is a gravitational disturbance forming seventy thousand kilometres off our port beam."
Terril raised a manicured eyebrow. "What kind of disturbance?" he asked a moment before a slight but noticeable jolt ran through the ship. "What was that?"
"Unknown shock wave from the distortion my lord. My lord, the space in the centre of the distortion appears to be twisting."
"Show me," Terril ordered, keeping his voice calm and in control, it wouldn't do after all to be seen to show both his sudden confusion and concern. All his instincts after all, the kind that had let his kind survive the predator infested waters of their ancestral homeworld, were screaming at him that something was wrong that whatever was causing the distortion represented potentially mortal danger. He couldn't however show any of that to the Jaffa as it would invite them to begin questioning his divinity after all what did a god have to fear?
The holographic tactical display blinked into existence and Terril leaned forward slightly on his throne to look more closely at it. As Valok had said there was a gravitational disturbance of some kind a short distance away from the ship. It was distorting subspace in a way that he had never seen before, nor had any other Goa'uld in his particular genetic lineage, and was beginning to emit both phased gravitons and beta-phase tachyons a type of particle that just couldn't exist in normal space for more than a few seconds before breaking down turning into a mixture of regular tachyons and Cherenkov radiation.
Interesting what could be generating this and for what purpose, he thought a moment before the readings spiked and another gravity wave rattled the ship. Subspace twisted sharply then the distortion vanished leaving behind a bubble of subspace energy for lack of a better term. The bubble suddenly expanded sharply until it was over fifty kilometres in diameter and sensors showed something forming inside, something reintegrating from a subspace realm. There was too much interference from the bubble's subspace distortion field to identify what it was.
Then the bubble flashed and evaporated in a pulse of blue light and Cherenkov radiation. In its place there were now three unknown alien warships, two of which were a little smaller than his Ha'tak though the third dwarfed it by a considerable margin. All three of them had incredibly high power readings, readings that were not normally seen this side of an Asgard vessel though these readings were still a bit weaker than those from an Asgard ship. As he watched all three fired various lateral thrusters bringing around their bows and their main weapons...
...to point right at him.
Abydos Pyramid
A Few Moments Earlier
Delwin winced as a glowing whitish-gold glob of alien plasma impacted the stone column that he was taking shelter behind while he was changing the almost exhausted power cell of his laser rifle. The impact sent forth a pulse of sparks, smoke and triggered a shower of molten and semi-molten fragments of sandstone in all directions. Including down on him, the fragments bouncing off his armour and producing a sound almost like heavy rain hitting a roof inside his helmet.
It wasn't anything that the Tristan armour couldn't withstand but the fact that it had happened at all, and the fact that he was having to change his rifle's power pack, was a sign of the fact that this mission was rapidly going to hell in a handbasket. The Stargate had shut down a few seconds after the second group of alien - if that was right as these guys looked very human but then so did the Zentraedi if you discounted the fact that in their natural form they were fifty to sixty feet tall - soldiers had appeared from those teleport ring things. Since then his squad and the aliens had been exchanging fire, filling the air alternatively with plasma bolts and lasers. Individuals on both sides had been hit, had been wounded and even killed, but they were very much in a stalemate situation especially as they needed to dial out to Earth to retreat back to Fort Minotaur.
The aliens seemed to realise that as well as whenever one of them attempted to reach the dialling device they would be forced to duck back into cover by a deluge of plasma bolts. Really should have brought some grenades with us, he thought, making a mental note to suggest that future expeditions through the Stargate, especially military ones, bring along some grenades and not just rely on their laser rifles and pistols. After all, while they were very effective weapons they ran out of juice quite quickly in a prolonged firefight - which STORM Commandos weren't really meant to engage in as their modus operandi was quick, surgical strikes - like the one they were currently engaged in. They would need to bring some grenades, more power packs and possibly even something like those particle beam rifles he had heard were undergoing final testing at RRG Brisbane along in the future if fights like this were going to be common.
The fresh power pack clicked into place and the rifle lit back up as power began flowing through its circuits again. Another plasma bolt struck near him as one of their opponents fired again even before the smoke and sparks from the impact faded he leaned out of cover and returned fire. The beam lanced across the distance almost instantly and struck the alien dead over his heart. The alien screamed as he was thrown backward by the impact and collapsed lifeless to the floor heart cooked or outright vaporised by the laser.
It was at that moment that the Stargate began rumbling and the inner ring began to rotate, the chevrons locking in place and crystals lighting up. Great more alien reinforcements, he thought as the gate finished dialling and the initial unstable vortex burst into existence with the by now somewhat familiar ka-woosh sound. The vortex stabilised and seconds later four hovering objects emerged from the gate and Delwin starred in a mixture of surprise and shock as he recognised them.
Kestrel assault drones.
To say he was surprised to see them was an understatement. The Kestrels were a brand new breed of AI controlled attack drone that had recently been revealed by the Robotech Advanced Robotics Research Group in Edinburgh. They were designed both for ship security and to support infantry assaults on fortified enemy positions. He didn't think that Fort Minotaur had had any of them issued to them yet.
Obviously he had been wrong.
The Kestrel's changed from their sleek, transport configuration unfolding like mechanical origami - in the way all Terran made robotech battle mecha could - to reveal their weapons systems. Weapons that included rapid fire ion pulse guns, micro-rockets and lasers. They immediately opened fire with their ion pulse guns, aiming at some of the aliens coming out of hiding to aim their staff-like weapons. The aliens went down almost immediately, bodies smoking slightly from the force of the ion blasts that killed them.
The remaining aliens immediately shifted their focus away from the STORM Commandos, firing plasma blasts at the drones. Which was a mistake as not only did the drones, with the rapid reflexes that only an AI could really have as nothing organic - not even someone like Max Sterling - could react that fast, easily evade the shots as they simply weren't where the aliens expected them to be. But it also exposed the flank of most of their enemy to the commandos' guns.
Which Delwin and the remains of his squad took full advantage of. They unleashed a blaze of laser fire that caught the alien soldiers by surprise and took down all but two of them who immediately ducked back into cover. It was immediately obvious that they were calling for reinforcements by some unknown means as the teleportation rings began to descend from the ceiling again. Simultaneously additional reinforcements from Earth began coming through the Stargate in the form of what looked like a full platoon of soldiers - clad in their lighter Gladiator assault armour - from Fort Minotaur's army detachment.
The teleportation rings retracted into the ceiling revealing another group of the alien soldiers. Who immediately collapsed as they were riddled with a wall of laser and ion pulse fire before they could even begin to move from their position. One of the Kestrels - detecting the position of one of the two surviving aliens from the initial attack force - moved around a column. There was a flash of ion pulse fire, and a curtailed scream of pain, then nothing.
After a second or two the remaining alien appeared from hiding. He was no longer holding his staff and had his hands up in the classic posture of surrender.
"Arrest him," Delwin said, emerging from cover. Two of the army troopers immediately moved to do just that while the one with a lieutenant's bars on his armour approached and saluted him. Even as another platoon began emerging from the Stargate.
"Lieutenant Patrixk Sims sir," the lieutenant introduced himself, "glad we were able to get through in time to stop them overwhelming you."
"So am I lieutenant," Delwin answered as the survivors of his commandos emerged from cover. Their own field medic as well as army field medics moved to tend to the handful of wounded and the three who had been killed. "When did Fort Minotaur get Kestrel drones?"
"This morning sir. General Markwell sent them our way; said we might need them and well… we did."
"True. Vwry well lieutenant, what orders have you been given by General Richards?"
"Sir we're to assist you in securing the pyramid and the underground complex. The Zentraedi will have arrived in orbit by now - they'll certainly destroy or drive away any enemy warships in orbit."
"Indeed. How many ships have been sent?"
"Three sir. A heavy cruiser and two destroyers. Though I understand that Commander Breetai has a dozen more ships - including a supercarrier - ready to fold here should the need arise. The Phoenix and the Griffin are also ready to fold here should reinforcements be needed."
Delwin grinned somewhat wolfishly at that - though it was naturally hidden behind the silvering of his helmet visor - as that was a hell of a lot of firepower ready to deploy should the three already be sent here find themselves overmatched. Though he had to admit that he was surprised that Admiral Gloval had made both the Phoenix and the Griffin available for deployment. They were after all the first two new Earth ships to come out of the almost fully repaired Factory Satellite. Each Phoenix-class cruiser was essentially an upsized, upgraded and perfected version of the pre-war Armour-class cruiser. They were currently the only Earth ships capable of independent space folding though he had heard that that wouldn't be the case for much longer as more ships were under construction both to protect Earth - easing their dependence on the Free Zentraedi, a dependence that made many in political and military circles alike uneasy especially as they had been at war with them not that long ago - and to form an escort fleet for the first Angel-class colony ship when it was ready in a few months time.
"Alright then lieutenant begin spreading your troops out throughout the pyramid and the underground complex. Make sure everyone stays in constant contact with one another, I wouldn't put it past whoever our enemy is to have more of those teleportation ring things here and I don't want anymore beamed in surprises."
"Sir, yes sir."
Goa'uld Ha'tak
Abydos Orbit
Terril was grateful that he was still sat on this throne as the tactical display of the three newly arrived alien warships - warships that had appeared from a form of FTL travel that no Goa'uld had ever seen before - updated as the ships sensors finished their scan and the tactical analysis system gave its verdict. It was a decidedly mixed bag to say the least.
The sensors confirmed that all three ships were heavily armed with a mixture of particle weapons and missiles. Individually they had fewer guns than he did on his Ha'tak - even the biggest alien ship only had six heavy guns and forty-eight secondary guns compared to his twelve heavy guns and forty-eight secondary guns - but that was significantly offset by their power signatures. While the nature of the power source was unknown - it definitely wasn't naquada-based or based on any other power generation method known to the Goa'uld like the antimatter conversion generators used by the Tollan - it was extremely potent as each ship had a significantly higher power signature than even a command mothership. Meaning that their weapons would certainly be a lot more powerful than his and indeed it would be touch and go if the shields would be able to withstand a hit or if the alien weapons just ripped right through like they weren't there.
Strangely the alien warships seemed to lack any form of practical defensive energy shielding. Instead their hulls were covered by thick layers of armour that was made from trinium, titanium, boron and several other materials that their sensors couldn't identify though at least one was a form of carbon that they had never encountered before. The tactical system indicated that the alien armour was designed to be refractive and dispersive. If it was anything like the armour worn by the alien ground forces then it would be very durable indeed.
Abruptly the main console gave a crystalline bleep.
"My lord we are being hailed by the lead ship, audio only," Valok reported.
"Very well I will hear them," Terril replied, already guessing that the alien commander was no doubt going to order him to surrender or be destroyed. It was what he, and indeed any other Goa'uld, would have done if they had had an enemy outnumbered and collectively more than a little outgunned. Not that he had any intention of surrendering though he also knew that they would not be able to stay here, that to stay would lead to their destruction. No he would have to leave, gather reinforcements from elsewhere in Ra's domain, then return to crush these foolish interlopers.
"Yes my lord."
For a moment nothing more happened then hidden speakers crackled to life and a voice, underlayed with an odd timbre like it was being spoken by something incomprehensibly huge, spoke. "Unknown vessel, I am Commander Torkal of the Free Zentraedi Forces. Forces from your vessel have engaged allies of ours on the planet below," the alien said, "this will not be tolerated. Recall your forces and leave orbit immediately or we will destroy you."
Insolence, Terril thought instantly incensed though not particularly surprised by the aliens, the Zentraedi's, words. Though he was surprised that Commander Torkal was giving him the option of leaving and hadn't just demanded he surrender or be destroyed.
"Open a channel," Terril ordered.
"Channel open my lord."
"Commander Torkal I am Lord Terril. This planet is in the domain of my master Lord Ra, you have no right to interfere in our dealing with trespassers. However I understand that you are doing your duty and since I am feeling merciful today I will allow you to leave peacefully if you go now," Terril said though he didn't expect the Zentraedi commander to agree to leave, he certainly wouldn't in their positions were reversed.
He wasn't disappointed.
"Be that as it may you have engaged our allies and will leave now," Torkal answered a moment before a shudder ran through the Ha'tak as a coruscating blue energy beam slammed into their shields setting them a glow and sending a sympathetic oscillation through the artificial gravity field. Otherwise it did no damage. "That shot was a warning, you will not get another. Leave or be destroyed."
"My lord, the other enemy ships are powering weapons and locking onto us," Valok reported, "shields are currently holding but…"
"...they won't last long against three ships," Terril finished for him, having turned his head away from the audio pickup. "What's the status of our ground forces?"
"Destroyed my lord. The enemy has received extensive reinforcements via the Stargate. What are your orders my lord"
"There is no point in staying here at this time. Bring the hyperdrive online and take us to the nearest fleet assembly area," Terril replied, "we will advise Lord Ra and summon reinforcements before we return to crush these fools for daring to threaten one of the gods. However, just before we jump, fire several shots at Commander Torkal's ship."
"Yes my lord. The hyperdrive is coming online and I am setting course for the fleet assembly area over Sek'tor'van."
"Engage the hyperdrive when ready."
"Yes, my lord."
The Goa'uld Ha'tak burst into motion with a speed and fluidity - both of which were born of a millennium's old mastery of gravitic science - that seemed to catch the crews on the Zentraedi warships by surprise. It quickly accelerated out of orbit as its energy emissions suddenly spiked on the Zentraedi sensors a moment before the purple-blue vortex of a Goa'uld hyperdrive generated hyperspace window burst into existence.
As it charged towards the window the Ha'tak aligned one of its dorsal heavy plasma cannon turrets on the Thuverl Salen-class cruiser being commanded by Torkal and fired. In rapid succession several bolts of golden-white plasmatic energy - each bolt as long as a Regult battlepod was tall - shot towards the cruiser. The first bolt striking the Zentraedi vessel on its port flank just aft of the forward sensor dome and directly below the number one dorsal heavy particle cannon turret.
There was a brilliant flash of light as the blast impacted the armour and broke apart, most of it refracting back into space in a rainbow baze of diffusion while the rest spread out over an ablation strip and did no damage. The second bolt hit the same area with the same result, then the third and the impacted section of armour began rapidly heating up as its refractive/disperse capabilities began to be overwhelmed. The forth bolt hit and the armour failed, the impacted hull plates partially vaporising and partially melting under the intense heat of the plasma bolt.
The fifth bolt hit and the already compromised section of armour disintegrated erupting into space as a cloud of superheated gas. The sixth bolt hit a microsecond later, punching through the hull metal beneath the armour to instantly decompress the compartments below. The seventh and final bolt impacted a moment later and punched deep into the interior of the Zentraedi cruiser flooding a dozen compartments across multiple decks with superheated plasma. Secondary explosions erupted as the atmosphere in surrounding compartments was heated past flashpoint and instantly turned into roaring flames spreading chaos and destruction through that part of the cruiser.
Torkal's cruiser yawed sharply to one side from the force imparted by the impacting plasma bolts and the eruption of hull plates, and burning atmosphere, from the impacted compartments. All of which acted like a crude, but effective, thruster that knocked the cruiser off its central axis momentarily. Ion thrusters came to life correcting the sudden momentum though it would take several seconds for the helmsman to stabilise the ship.
Even as Torkal's cruiser spun slightly, momentarily out of control, the two Tou Redir-class destroyers in support of it opened fire on the Goa'uld Ha'tak. It was a pointless gesture of defiance and anger for even as the particle beams left the muzzles of their generating cannons the Ha'tak had entered the hyperspace window and vanished from normal space, the window immediately closing behind it. The dozen beams - which if they had hit the Ha'tak would have severely damaged if not outright destroyed it - passed right through where the window once was accomplishing nothing more than immolating a few unfortunate motes of space dust.
"Damage report."
Commander Torkal's voice cracked like a whip from his position in his ship's command blister. He had to admit he had been caught a bit by surprise by the sudden acceleration of the Goa'uld ship and the fact that it had fired upon them even as it moved to escape into hyperspace. The impacts on the hull had made the whole ship ring like a bell and even now klaxons warning of damage were wailing on the bridge below him.
"Multiple direct hits to port section six on decks three, four and five. All affected deck sections are decompressed and open to space. Collateral damage in all surrounding compartments and their are multiple fires burning in sections five, seven, nine, ten and eleven on decks five, six and seven. Primary power line to the number one dorsal heavy turret severed. Fire and damage control crews responding."
Impressive from a single strike, Torkal thought even as he scowled at the damage. Thankfully there wouldn't have been any crew in the affected sections as they were mostly utility areas but still it wasn't good that the unknown aliens had caused such damage in the first place.
"Where is the enemy ship now?" he demanded.
"The cowards have fled into hyperspace my lord. They're gone."
"They'll be back and they'll bring friends with them," Torkal said knowingly. It was what he, or any other Zentraedi commander, would have done in such circumstances. "Communications alert Commander Breetai of this development and request reinforcements. Navigation move us into orbit and begin scanning the planet. Let's see if we can give our micronian allies more information on what is actually on the dustbowl of a world."
"Yes commander."
Author's Note: Well another chapter bites the metaphorical dust, I hope you all enjoyed it. Things are shaping up nicely for the first major confrontation between Earth and the Free Zentraedi allies and the Goa'uld with the planet Abydos - and its naquada reserves which the former two will soon find - being the prize. Ra is certainly not going to just let them take one of his planets without a fight, though he is limited in what reinforcements for Terril that he can supply due to the ongoing war against Sokar. I hope I have the two sides balanced right as the coming fight is going to be quite a scrap as well as a learning experience for all parties concerned. Until next time.