Darkness
Awareness returned where there had been none, cold eyes opened to darkness and confusion, wracking pains struck their head as the faint outline of memory began to return, wrinkled hands flew to his throat as the sense of asphyxiation assaulted them, their last dying thoughts being relived in their mind.
Panic subsided as they realised they could breathe, they were no longer exposed to the hard vacuum of space but trapped in a small dark space, hands reached out and felt the walls of his prison, anger began to form in his mind but then his memories began to flood in, pain, loss and suffering.
"Sheba!", Dry aged lips spoke again, he had watched as she died along with the rest of the bridge crew, suffering her agony as she clawed at her throat, her Viper had been grounded in an earlier battle, he didn't know what was worse, her dying instantly from Cylon fire or being forced to watch the light fade from her eyes himself.
He lied to himself, better she had died instantly in her viper where she belonged than a slow death right before him, his own hubris had brought her death and those under his command, was this darkness his forever punishment?
Curse the Cylons and the traitor Baltar, he remembered now, the fall of the Colonies while he was still returning from the battle of Molecay, only to find out from the terrified transmissions that they were too late, then the others had arrived, golden pyramids that unleashed their vengeance upon the Cylons, he formed a bitter smile at the memory.
It was then his ship had spotted Baltar trying to slink off, the coward didn't even have enough spine to die with his new masters, Cain would not let him escape his fate and so ordered his battered ship to chase after him, the scarred and ancient Pegasus had chased the traitor down, it was her last battle.
Flashes of the fight came to him, the ship dying but taking Baltar with them, now stuck here in this purgatory we began to rethink his actions, the cost was too high in the end, watching his only child die and his ship along with him.
A loud clunk tore him from his rumination, bright lights flooded his eyes, he closed them as it stabbed right into his brain, noises started to be heard, muffled at first but they soon resolved to the sound of language, similar but different from the one he knew.
His hands gripped the now exposed edge and tried to haul him up to no effect, his strength was gone, "Help him up"
Hands reached in and hoisted him upright before lifting him onto a waiting bed, a tired sigh escaped his lips as darkness encroached again, he slipped into unconsciousness.
….
"How is he doctor?", Greenhill asked as the ancient admiral was examined by Demos.
"Physically, he should recover, the machine is nearly magic but he was dead for five thousand years, as far as I am concerned this should not be possible", Demos looked at the various machines hooked up to Cain, "He simply needs rest for now"
Greenhill nodded and turned back to the sarcophagus, "What about the rest of the crew, now we know this works?"
Demos turned away from Cain and let two nurses wheel him out of the room, "We tested already with what we believed to be a low level crewman, he revived successfully like Cain here but is still unconscious, the trauma of being dead and revived after so long will take time to overcome"
Demos moved over to stand beside Greenhill, "We'll be doing the bridge crew first then working our way through the most intact bodies, the rest of the ship suffered more damage and the bodies are less intact"
Greenhill looked to Demos, "Will that matter?"
Demos shrugged, "According to the Terrans the machine will work on anything not too far gone, as long as the brain is intact, unfortunately the crew in the midships areas were mostly mangled by the damage to the ship and the passage of time"
"As long as the technical experts are intact, that's all that matters to us", Greenhill turned back to the sarcophagus, "Cain's knowledge will also be useful", Greenhill rubbed his chin, "The files mentioned his daughter was onboard, having her will ensure his cooperation, revive her next"
Demos nodded and took a folder from a nearby table, "Let's see, Viper pilot, was assigned to the bridge after her fighter was damaged, her body is intact"
Greenhill was amazed at how much data Leoben had extracted from the computers onboard the ship, too bad they completely lacked technical information beyond simple repair guides, the old Colonials took their information security seriously.
"How long until they are all done?", the Terrans wanted the sarcophagus back eventually.
"Probably two months at least, Cain and the other man took hours in that machine each"
"Keep me informed of any change in the status of those two men", Greenhill nodded to the doctor and left the room, he hoped this effort would pay out in the end, it would boost their ability to reverse engineer the systems on the Pegasus past what they already achieved and Cain's knowledge of strategy and tactics using those systems would be invaluable, it also had the benefit of reducing their dependency on Terran weapons and systems.
Soon the Colonies would be the ones exporting weapons and other things, they were already making progress on the other members of the new human alliance, Colonial industry would be up to the task of supplying those nations with ships and weapons, he would make sure of it.
Euronda
1st October 2065
Jack looked around the dusty control room of the Eurondans, they had been invited over after a few days of radio contact through the gate, the Eurondans happy to have reconnected with their 'kindred', and Jack was happy to let them continue to believe that.
Their host, Alar, waved around the room, "From this room we conduct our national defence", strange pods with green canopies were arranged around the room and in the middle was a planning table like something from world war two, triangles representing enemy contacts were pushed around with sticks as Jack watched.
Alar saw where jack was looking, "Each station is capable of piloting a formation of unmanned aerofighters"
"Remote control?"
Alar smirked as Jack walked closer, "The hand controls are secondary, targeting and vectoring occur as a result of direct neural interface"
Jack raised an eyebrow, "Carter?"
"Think of it as a more advanced version of a neurohelmet"
Jack nodded, they had let him try out a mech a few months ago, apparently he didn't have the aptitude for it.
"Would you care to try the system Colonel?", Alar asked him.
Jack gave him an insincere smile, "I'll pass for now"
Alar had been giving them the tour, so far he had seen dusty corridors and more dusty corridors, along with a smattering of other rooms, like the vast stasis room and Alar's office, so far we wasn't impressed.
Alar waved them on, it was time for dinner, they were brought to a large dining room, like something out of an old manor house except stuffed into a bunker on an alien planet, Jack looked up, there was even a chandelier, he took a seat in the high backed wooden chair as Alar moved over to a drinks cabinet, he handed a bottle of clear liquid to a servant who began to pour the drink into preset glasses.
"I intended to save this bottle to toast the end of the war, may the friendship between our worlds be the first step toward that end, to friendship", he raised his glass in a toast.
"To friendship", Jack mumbled out, the ceremony was grating on him, he raised his glass and tried to drink from the oddly cut top, the drink had the flavour of a nice gin with a good kick.
They engaged in small talk for a while and eventually brought the conversation onto the track Jack wanted, power generation, something they knew the Eurondans would be having trouble with in the future.
"Our defence field provided protection from the enemy bombers, as long as it stands we are quite safe", Alar finished answering one of Carters questions.
"Your power generation requirements must be enormous", Carter asked, getting the conversation going in the right direction.
"Do you not utilize controlled fusion on Earth?"
Carter nodded, "Several forms actually, deuterium – tritium and protium reactors are the most common"
Alar seemed impressed, "He have not been able to manufacture hydrogen only reactors, such information would be of much value to us, our own supplies of Deuterium Oxide are beginning to run low"
"We have tons of the stuff back on Earth", Jack gave the offer, "We would be willing to trade for access to your technology, especially that beta whatever drug you had"
"Beta-cantin", Alar's second, Farrell, a rather severe faced blonde woman told him.
Alar nodded, pleased, "In return for help I can offer our entire technology database to the people of Earth, our aerofighters and stasis technology among them"
"We'll lets not waste time then, our base has some Deuterium already on site, what do you say we set this deal off with a bang", Jack stood up.
"The Eurondan people owe you a debt of gratitude Colonel, I shall instruct my people to prepare a copy of our database for your use", Alar stood and offered his hand to Jack, internally disgusted he still took it and shook.
"Carter, Daniel, head back to the base and tell them to get the Deuterium ready to ship, the rest of us will stay here for now"
"Sir", "Jack", Daniel and Carter nodded and disappeared down a dark corridor, phase one was complete.
…
"Sir", Carter saluted as she entered the briefing room, Hammond nodded and directed her to sit, around the room were the members of SG teams two, seven and seventeen, all eyes trained on her as she moved to sit, Daniel filed in behind her.
"Report Commander", Hammond was brusque and down to business.
Carter pulled out her pad and connected it to the holo projector, a wire frame of the Eurondan bunker appeared, her pads sensors and auto mapper having scanned the facility during the tour.
"I counted fifty personnel on the base, there's probably another fifty we didn't see, only a few of those were armed most of the rest were workers of some stripe or pilots for their drones, no heavy weapons or other serious defences"
Carter pressed a button on her pad, names of the rooms appeared as well as locations of security checkpoints, "The gate is at the end of a tunnel, once we get past that and into the base proper there are no other choke points"
Hammond nodded, "Good work Commander", he turned to the other team leaders, "Major Kawalsky's team will transport the Deuterium containers through the gate, once they neutralise any security on the far side SG seven and seventeen will go through and assault the base"
Hammond gave each team leader a look, "Remember, lethal force is only authorised if the situation deteriorates enough you cannot take the base otherwise"
The team leaders gave him affirming nods, "Very well, the mission is a go, you leave in one hour"
…
Kawalsky walked through the gate right behind Carter, he was pushing a hand truck with a steel barrel in front, loaded up with reactor fuel, the fuel was real, they intended to take their time removing the secrets from this place so would need to power the shields while the bombers pounded away outside.
"The first load of Deuterium", Carter was explaining to the three people guarding the gate, she was talking to the blonde woman at the front, Kawalsky noted their sidearms safely contained in hip holsters, he pushed his barrel to the side as the rest of SG-2 came in behind, all pushing barrels of their own.
A nod and a hand signal had them drawing their Zat's as Carter distracted the Eurondans with chatter, he silently raised the weapon while two of his men did the same, he picked the right most target and a single blue electric bolt flew out to strike true, the others finding their targets also.
The three Eurondans collapsed to the ground, "Warren, Casey, drag them out of the way and get some binders on them"
Kawalsky raised his radio to his lips, "Clear to proceed"
Soon large stomping forms came through the gate, the power armoured heavy teams SG seven and seventeen, he gave a nod to Carter and she raised her own radio, time to get this party started.
….
Jack raised up his radio, "Sir, the Deuterium has arrived, we should be finished soon", Carters voice came through.
"Good work, Commander, we're all ready to make the trade here"
He put the radio back and looked around the command room in the bunker, Alar was standing nearby and heard Carters voice, "Excellent news, I shall have the data base prepared immediately", he wandered off to talk to some technicians.
Jack watched his retreating back and turned his head again, locking eyes with Teal'c and Jolinar a slight nod of his head had them taking up positions at the two doors into the room.
Jack watched them move off and started to wander around taking note of everyone in the room, marking his first targets, the two security guards standing in a corner, moving back he gave Teal'c and Jolinar another nod, this time three fingers were raised on his hand, out of sight of the Eurondans, his other hand ready to grab the Zat on his holster, he slowly lowered them one by one, time to move.
The Zat was up in an instant, electric bolts taking down the two guards before anyone knew it had happened, Tealc' and Jolinar letting their own weapons speak as Jack moved on to his next targets, the Eurondans didn't even know what hit them, Jack moved forward had shoved Alar against the table, a zip tie later and he was shoved onto the ground, a shocked look gracing his face.
"Cover the doors", He shouted out as he moved to police the downed Eurondans.
"Why", Alar croaked out, "We gave you everything you wanted!"
Jack snorted, the sound of a Zat being fired by Teal'c cast a blue glow around the room, "The truth is Alar, you don't have anything we really want, if it was up to me we'd have let you lot to rot"
Jack pulled a zip tie hard around the wrists of the brain damaged drone pilot, "I don't understand, why did you come here then?"
Jack moved on to another Eurondan, "Don't you know, were here to end your war", Jack turned back to look at Alar on the ground, "We're moving you all out of here and letting those other people win, we'd prefer to deal with them than your racist lot"
Alar paled, "No!, everything we fought for, died for, it will all have been for nothing"
Jack smirked and stood up from over the Eurondan he had just tied up, "Yeah, kinda sucks for you all right, a nice clean new world with no poison, sensible people watching over you, yeah I can see the difficulty"
Alar clammed up and Jack shook his head, "O'Neill", Teal'c's deep voice reverberated in the room, "More enemies approach", The large man ducked back from the doorway as globular blue enemy energy weapons fire impacted the doorway.
Jack rushed over and added his own fire to the mix, forcing the Eurondans down the corridor back into cover, "We'll need to hold here until the rest arrive", he looked over to the other door where Jolinar was shooting away at some unseen target, "You alright there Jols?"
"The corridor is long and without cover, I do not require assistance at the moment"
They spent the next few minutes trading fire when they heard it, the stomping of heavy metal feet pounding ever closer, then the distinct sound of Zat's firing, he watched as the Eurondans in cover they were shooting at turned to fire on something else, a storm of Zat blasts quickly dealt with them as the large forms of power armoured troops rounded the corner.
"Jenson, having fun?", Jack asked as the armoured soldier came closer.
"Quite a lot so far, SG seven has moved to secure the reactor room and dormitories, we should soon have this wrapped up", The Major gave Jack a nod and moved his men on towards the corridor Jolinar was firing down, behind him came Carter and SG-2, they moved in and quickly bound the unconscious Eurondans.
"Sir", Carter saluted, "We already started to move the prisoners through the gate, we have a temporary camp set up on P9T-191 to handle them for now, high security", it was a world just outside the claimed area of the Union, close enough to get there with ships quickly.
Jack nodded, "Right, as soon as the base is secure we can let the techs come through the gate, we want their entire database, then we start defrosting those icicles in there", he nodded towards where he thought the stasis rooms were located, "After that it's up to the diplomats to see if they can contact the other faction"
Union Building
Council Chambers
Earth
2 Days Later
The sun cast shadows in the room as the men and women who steered the course of the Union took seats around the large table in the centre, a crescent shaped design to allow them all to examine anyone called up before them.
The chairman, Royce, cleared his throat and the session started, "First item on the agenda, Euronda"
Royce hit a button on the intercom, "Send in Colonel Redfield", he was the intel officer responsible for briefing the Council.
The dark haired forty year old Colonel made his entrance, "Councillors", He saluted.
"Colonel, can you detail the results of our Euronda operation so far", Royce asked.
The councillors opened top secret folders waiting in front of them, including their only non voting member General Aleksander Kerensky, "Efforts to remove the populace are proceeding as planned, there were less than ten thousand people in stasis at the time we captured the base", Redfield paused, "However, attempts to contact this other faction have so far met with failure, they have continued their bombing campaign against the Eurondan bunker"
"What about their technology?, this Beta-cantin seems to be a powerful drug that can repair damaged tissue near instantly", Councillor Wei asked, he had his fingers in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry.
"We recovered their entire database, while most of their technology was inferior to our own there were some useful items like that drug and their neural interface technology", Redfield nodded to Wei.
"Is there a risk we will loose the bunker before recovering everything?", Councillor Dussel asked, a hint of concern laced her voice intertwined with the standard greed of a politician.
Redfield shook his head, "No ma'am, while this other faction has increased its bombing runs due to a lack of fighter cover we estimate it would take several weeks to break through the shield with us supplying fuel to its reactor, we should be finished before it becomes a concern"
"I received an initial report from our research teams in New Mexico", Councillor Pavlova spoke, "They reported that they could use some of the design principles on our own shield domes, increasing their efficiency and letting us begin mass production, they told me that by next year every major urban area could be protected"
"That would be most welcome, along with the new anti orbital pulse cannons it would make our worlds costly to invade", Kerensky nodded to Pavlova.
"We can allocate additional funds to speed up the project, right now we would be hard pressed to stave off a Goa'uld assault, having our cities shielded would prevent any kind of fly by attack", Councillor Kumar added.
"Leave that up to Parliament, once they vote on it we can assign funds", Royce nodded to Kumar, "Lets move on to the next item on the agenda, the Minotaur project"
"The ships are shaping up to be our most powerful to date, our best scenarios have us beating a Ha'tak two on one nearly all of the time", Redfield spoke.
"The project is successful and will provide us with five powerful ships, but there is a danger apparent in this project, the Colonials have hundreds of ships as big and bigger than the Minotaur, it wont be long until all their ships are equally as powerful", Pavlova spoke, "It would cement their supremacy in the alliance"
Wei shrugged, "We're the ones supplying the weapons, but I see your point"
"Don't forget the Pegasus", Dussel said, it had been a surprise to the whole Union when the Colonials had revealed its existence, it also meant their tech advantage was slowly slipping away.
"Soon their ships will be using their own weapons, the balance of trade will shift in their favour, they are already making great inroads with the other alliance members thanks to their massive industry", Kumar added.
"By selling their ships outfitted with our systems, but you are right, that will change once they crack the technology of this Pegasus", Wei sighed out, "Colonel, what is the latest report on that front?"
Redfield nodded, "The Colonials managed to crack the shield and reactor tech of the Pegasus thanks to help from some of our experts but are having trouble with the weapon systems, we don't expect them to equal the performance of the originals any time soon, the model currently under development is only as powerful as a naval PPC and is short ranged", he grimaced slightly, "But comes with a higher rate of fire, it will be several years before they fully copy the technology"
"So they will be buying our weapons for some time yet but the lack of a heavy ship to counter their own large fleet is something we must solve", Pavlova spoke.
Royce cleared his throat again, gaining the Councillors attention, "A project is already underway to solve that problem", Royce nodded to Kerensky, "Ever since we examined the Pride we have been building yard space able to handle sips of that size, we already have twelve docks able to handle ships up to fifteen hundred meters of length"
"Why were we not informed?", An indignant Wei demanded.
Royce raised an eyebrow, "You were, the shipyards are for our Mammoth project, the super heavy freighter design tendered to the private sector", Royce shrugged, "The yards are currently under construction, the intent was to always use them to build large warships"
Wei's cheeks turned red, "Ah yes, that slipped my mind"
Royce smirked, "Anyway, thanks to the Pride and now the information we gained during the Minotaur project we already have the first drafts of a battleship class vessel for the fleet, we expect to soon start production and we have plans to expand our construction facilities in the future too"
Royce looked to the other councillors, "The Colonials are also only having success selling their Viper fighters simply because it can be easily dismantled and shipped through a gate", He pulled a file out of the folder on the desk, "Meanwhile we have requests to sell our Corvette class ships to both Orban and Tagrea, the negotiation is currently ongoing"
"The Kelownans are firmly in the Colonials camp thanks to our approach with them but the other two nations have already bought up our old stocks of weaponry and several Angel fighters in exchange for Naquadria"
"We need a counter to the Colonial Viper, those Langarans are the only ones to buy our fighters so far, we need a cheaper and lighter alternative to the Viper", Kumar spoke up.
"A firm in China is currently entering the testing phase for a new light fighter class, it would be easy enough to grant them licence to export", Wei nodded to Kumar.
"Lets table that discussion for now", Royce nodded to Colonel Redfield, "You may leave Colonel"
The man saluted and made his way out, once Royce heard the sound of a shutting door he looked to the other councillors, "Aleksander, you have the latest report from Major Zavech?"
Kerensky nodded, "There were some slight delays thanks to the evacuation from Abydos but he has entered the human testing phase with the newest variant of his treatment, it now includes DNA from the ancient woman found in the Antarctic"
Things had sped up after Zavech's new facility on Earth had been set up in the wake of the Abydos attack, better equipment and scientists had sped up progress and his new location allowed for volunteer testing but right now it was military only.
"Results already?", Dussel asked, surprised at his progress.
Kerensky smiled, "The Star League had already forayed into genetic engineering and using the Jaffa template he was quickly able to adapt things for normal humans, Zavech was very experienced in the field back home"
Royce nodded, "What about the results, how effective is this treatment?"
"Strength and durability on par with a Jaffa, the additional DNA from the woman also grants limited regeneration of cells, speeding up healing near a hundredfold, not on par with her abilities but a major improvement to a soldiers ability to function during a battle, wounds would heal in mere hours"
"Impressive, does her healing ability affect ageing too?", Councillor Kumar asked.
"Zavech was on the fence about that, he estimated at least a two hundred and fifty year lifespan if his current understanding of the healing ability is accurate, right now we can only guess"
Royce nodded along, "Any problems during the testing?"
"None so far but Zavech will not be sure until more is done, right now there are ten subjects from a variety of ethnicities and genders, he will also need to test for any fertility problems and how the treatment will react to pregnancy, he needs additional funding and to open his testing pool to more people"
The Councillors shared a look, self interest and greed obvious to any observer, annoyance another, "Everyone will want it, there's no way we could stop that once knowledge of its existence gets out", Dussel pointedly spoke to the rest, she was the most outspoken of the Council.
Royce sighed, "Tell the Major he can have everything he needs, we'll need to start thinking of how we'll be deploying this treatment once testing is over"
The world was changing faster than anyone before could fathom, all they could do now was hold on to the reigns as tightly as they could.
Volia
4th October 2065
Chad knocked on the metal door of the woman he had been seeing for several weeks now, it was a first for him, these things usually ended in one night stands after a night on the town but the alien woman had been persistent and he regularly visited her, mostly it was some local food and conversation, other times it was more.
She opened the door, her usual smile was gone from her face, after their initial encounter during the battle she had shown him a wide array of emotions, far more than supposed emotionally suppressed people should have, he had chalked it up to the new formula devised back home to wean the Aschen off it but he was starting to doubt that, now that he looked back with hindsight.
Nyxion stepped back and let him enter, "We need to talk", she was blunt today.
Chad nodded, he was starting to worry now, she said she was on the Aschen equivalent of the pill, he hoped she wasn't lying, he took a seat in the plain chair and she sat down across from him.
"Chad", she started to speak, a hint of sadness was on her face, "I've been lying to you"
Chad raised an eyebrow, "How?"
She sighed, "Let me start at the beginning, I was assigned here to keep an eye on the governments activity on the planet, my job at the comms centre allowed me to send messages back without being detected"
She took his hand in hers, "Nothing much happens here but that changed when Mollem arrived, he had no idea the gate connected to other planets than here and Aschen prime, it was a surprise to everyone when your team arrived"
A flash of anger travelled across her face, "I should have knows something would go wrong", another sigh, "Harvesters don't normally carry weapons but Mollem brought a bio bomb along, I don't even know if the government approved that"
Chad just nodded, what the hell was happening?
"Then your people invaded and I was cut off from everyone back home", she looked into his eyes, "Didn't you wonder why I was so open with you, so emotional?, I was never on the Proterzium, my group knows it's just a method of government control"
Chad just nodded again, the reality was he only wondered about it a few minutes ago, not that he'd let that slip now.
"That day in the comms centre, it was the most frightful of my life, I don't know how I kept it together when you burst into the room but I knew I needed to keep pretending, I had no idea who you were", she shook her head.
"I needed to find out though, that's why I got close to you, all those questions I asked about your home planet, I needed to know if I could trust you and your people", she squeezed his hand, "I now know I can"
"I am part of a rebel group back on Aschen prime, those who forgo the drugs they mandate, who can see the corruption and the evil acts performed by those above, my mission was to monitor our actions here but since you arrived I have been cut off"
"I need you to tell your superiors, I can get them in contact with the resistance on Aschen prime"
She stood and moved closer, leaping into his seat and hugging him, her face against his chest, "We had nearly lost all hope but your people could turn the tide, help us take down the corrupt government"
Chad just nodded and pat her on the back, how the hell did he end up in this situation, he sighed, he'd be stuck digging latrines when he told Hope about this and Brown would probably invent an even worse punishment.
Colonial Medical Facility
Pallas, Elysium Plains Dome
Greenhill knocked on the door of the private room, a muffled, "Enter" sounded out and he let himself in, standing at the window on the far wall was a tall man, his back straight and hands clasped behind his back, Greenhill could only see the back of his head, the grey hair was thick.
He wore a strange uniform, a brown jacket over tan trousers, a woman was in the rooms only bed, still recovering from the sarcophagus, Cain's daughter Sheba, she was currently sleeping, the occasional sound of a beep could be heard coming from the machines hooked up to her.
"I almost don't believe this is real", Cain spoke, "A Cylon plot?, a strange dream as I die back on the Pegasus?"
Cain turned around, his eyes bored into Greenhills, "Is that more fantastical than the Colonies being formed again, creating their own Cylon and repeating the war?"
"I assure you Commander, this is very real", Greenhill moved over to the side table and placed a folder down on it.
Cain turned back to the window, "I came here as a boy, back during warrior training", his eyes traced a distant crater, "Even the name is the same, can you explain that?"
Greenhill sighed, "No, I cant", he looked to the woman in the bed, "How is your daughter?"
Cain turned to look at her, a crack appeared in his stern expression for a second, "She'll live", he moved over to the bed and sat down beside her and took her hand in his.
"What do you want Greenhill, you already have my ship, what else is there?"
The old man still had fire in his veins, even despite his age, it was a shock to Greenhill and the others here when they learned of his age, the old Colonials had longer lifespans and Cain was over a hundred years old, but that was changing at home thanks to the Terran genetic treatment.
"Experience, we have no idea how to use the systems on your ship properly, teach us everything you know about them, your tactics", Greenhill tapped the folder, "We know very little of the ancient Colonies too, tell our historians your story"
Cain let out a harrumph, "Why bother, my Cylons are long gone and yours are already defeated, let me rest, live out this returned life in peace"
"The war isn't over Commander, we have another enemy, one that threatens every human in the galaxy, the Goa'uld"
Cain raised an eyebrow, "Never heard of them"
Greenhill opened the folder and showed the Commander a photograph, a Goa'uld Ha'tak taken by a Terran ship during the battle of Abydos, "They are more powerful, than we are, control most of the galaxy using their armies of Jaffa slaves and steal human bodies to wear like clothing, they are a far bigger threat than the Cylons ever were"
Cain took the picture in his hand, "I've seen them before, after the Colonies fell they came and destroyed every bit of the Cylon empire"
"Right now we don't stand a chance against them, we need your help Commander, the knowledge your crew have could be put to use in helping us recreate your technology, a word from you is all it would take"
Cain sighed, still torn on what to do, Greenhill opened the folder again, "We can give you a home here in the Colonies too, for you, your crew and your daughter"
"I am a man of action Admiral, can you give me that?"
"Command of a battlestar?", Greenhill paused, they merely wanted his expertise but that could work, "If you swear loyalty to the Colonies and join the fleet, I could grant you a command"
Greenhill rubbed his chin, the mercury class Pegasus was looking for a new commander, Admiral Kronus was about to retire and the smart money was on Helena Cain getting the job, he shook his head at another strange coincidence, he wondered if she was somehow related to the man in front of him.
The original Pegasus was retired a few years ago, with things the way they were now it would probably be upgraded with the rest of the mothball fleet, doing those ships first made the most sense, they could keep their current deployments going while the upgrades happened then rotate the newer ships in when the others were done, he could move the Pegasus to the front of the que, they'd need to change the name though.
Cain was on his feet in a flash, the spry old man was standing in front of Greenhill suddenly, a hand gripped his wrist, "You have a deal", Cain's eyes bored into his, "I was meant to die in battle and you took that from me, I thank you for saving my daughter but you owe me a proper death"
Greenhill gripped Cain's wrist back, "With the way things are going that wont be hard to make happen, give me a few days to ask around and I'll get you into the fleet, Commander"
Volia
5th October 2065
Eyes were glued to sensor screens as the crew of the scouting task force waited, it was time, outside the ship the orbit of the planet was treated to a dazzling display as bright lights illuminated the planet below, large shapes were left in their wake, ships both Terran and Colonial, the massive fleet had arrived, the next phase of the war, about to begin.
Tjaru
A swirling blue portal opened millions of kilometres beyond the planet, a small shape darted out and quickly turned invisible, its engines propelled it towards the world, scanners reaching out and picking up every detail, their master would not be pleased with what they found.
…..
Netu cast a red glare over the cities of Delmak, in the distance the forms of Ha'tak's stood out against the squat buildings around them, dozens of the ships were being constructed in that factory alone and many more around the world, millions of Jaffa and slaves worked under the tyrannical rule of the most hated Goa'uld, Sokar.
Sokar sat on his throne, towering above the rest of the room he watched as the glow of industry powered his revenge, no other Goa'uld had such a concentrated manufacturing centre, apart from Ra, Khnum was the only such world Ra would allow, and only for himself, now he was dead and Khnum was a battleground between Heru'ur and Apophis, its massive potential wasted by their petty squabble.
An eerie smirk appeared on his pale face, he pulled back his rich red robe, while they squandered their power fighting each other, Sokar was amassing the largest fleet known to the Goa'uld, soon none would be able to stop his rise to supreme system lord, not Apophis, Heru'ur or the other petty lords watching on with avarice.
His fleet was not his only advantage, not having been bound by Ra's edicts since he was presumed dead aeons ago, he had been advancing his technology beyond that allowed to the others, his ships rivalled Ra's best and everyone was equipped with a cloaking device, something the others had no counter for.
His smirk grew, even his Jaffa were superior, honed by his rigorous training and knowing the price of failure was more than simple death his fanatical Jaffa would be unstoppable against the rabble used by the others, they were also far better equipped than the poor excuse the other system lords fielded.
Sharpened teeth became visible as the self satisfied smirk grew again, black veins pulsed across his bone white skin, demonic eyes took in his domain with satisfaction, he would have his vengeance against the others, soon.
An alert came from the nearby communication orb, the party he had sent to find out why Ptahmose had failed to contact him, he was regretting reaching out to the corpulent Goa'uld, but he needed more naquadah to fuel his expansion, but Ptahmose had failed to live up to even his lowered expectations.
Sokar stood from his throne and swept down the short staircase, he moved to a side room where a large console and display were waiting, a few seconds later and one of his many Jaffa appeared on the screen.
"Report", his distorted voice ordered.
"My lord", the Jaffa bowed on screen, "The planet had been attacked, there are no survivors"
A hiss came from Sokar's throat, a few pushes of buttons and he seized control of the Tel'tak's sensors, data appeared on screen, images of the crater where once Ptahmose's palace had resided, scanners checked the signatures picked up, a naquadah bomb, ionized particles in the atmosphere also indicated evidence of orbital bombardment and the stargate was missing.
The bomb signature was the standard type used among the Goa'uld, he recalled what Ptahmose had done before his death, his raid on the humans of Rhosos had been interrupted by someone else, his future slave stock stolen before Ptahmose had completely stripped the planet, another system lord perhaps?
To make up for his shortfall and escape his upcoming punishment for failure he had instead decided to acquire slaves from the next closest world with no master, Abydos, Sokar had a feeling that wasa mistake in the making, there was no way Apophis or Heru'ur would leave that world alone for long, there was still the question of what happened to Ra and that was his last known location.
A scenario began to form in his mind, Apophis, his most likely suspect, had already sent forces to Abydos and the fat fool Ptahmose had blundered in and been exposed, he must have fled back to Tjaru and brought the wrath of Apophis down on him for his failure to pay homage when Apophis had taken over those sections of Ra's domain.
Total destruction of Ptahmose and all his holdings were then assured, the only question remained is if Apophis learned of Sokar's plans, was he even now preparing to attack or improve his defences against any action by Sokar?, or rally the other lords to present a united front against him?
He could not allow that to happen, he brought up the transmission, the Jaffa was still cowering in fear, "Return to Delmak at once", he hissed out.
"Yes, My lord"
Sokar cut the transmission, his mind whirling at possibilities, there was only one option, he would need to accelerate his timetable, he didn't have the amount of ships or men we wanted but he still had more than the others, especially Apophis and Heru'ur, his two first targets, and with his advanced technology and cloaking devices, they would soon be on their knees before him, a sinister smirk graced his pale lips, sharpened teeth showing through, he would make them suffer for his previous defeat, Apophis and Cronus especially.
Volia
McKenna's Pride
Briefing room
The leaders of the fleet had gathered on the Pride, they had finally arrived and were catching up with the latest intel from the planet below, the existence of a rebel group among the Aschen was causing waved on the fleet and back home, it was something they were going to exploited for everything it was worth.
"Can we trust this Nyxion woman?", The eldest member of the fleet, Admiral Ferore of the Colonies of Kobol asked, he was actually feeling better than he had in years, the genetic treatment had restored a vitality he had forgotten even existed and the prospect of battle had his blood flowing more than since he was a young man.
"Trust and verify for now, nothing she can tell us will affect our plans anyway, if this rebellion is real we can use them to prop up a post war government", Rooks mused.
"We'll need a way to contact them in the future, we cant use the comms facility on Volia for that purpose", Borman rubbed his chin.
"Any transmission we sent will be intercepted by the Aschen, we'll need to revisit this matter in the future, for now we'll concentrate on their colonies", Rooks pressed a button and a holographic map of Aschen space appeared over the table.
"We'll be splitting the fleet from this point on", Rooks looked to Borman and Ivanov, "Our two carriers will be forming battle groups for operations on the far side of Aschen space, I want you to hit their logistics network and targets of opportunity, the new bombers will be key for this"
He nodded to Ferore, "Admiral Ferore has also agreed to assign a battlestar to each battle group, the rest of his forces will be staying with the main fleet"
"Valkyire class, the Solaria and Tethys", Ferore nodded back.
Rooks continued, "I'm also forming four scouting formations based around our Castle class frigates", Part of the few Terran ships equipped with subspace sensors, "We'll be using them to sniff out Aschen targets"
Rooks mentally tallied the numbers in his head, The CBG's would be taking two cruisers, four destroyers and four frigates each, twenty two ships total, and add another twelve for the scouts, he was giving the Castles two Shield class frigates each, in case the Aschen spotted them, he planned on using the Corvettes to patrol the captured Colonies, they probably wouldn't be much worth in a fight against the Aschen but everything was one jump away, the Corvettes would do as tripwire forces.
"For the main fleet, we'll be splitting into three task forces, two based on our heavy cruisers, the Muraca and Rondeau", they were star league ships that arrived with Kerensky, a Lola III and Essex II respectively, here they got reclassified as heavy cruisers, they would do until more of the Venus class were operational.
"The last will be based around the Pride", Rooks nodded to Ferore, "A forth Colonial task force will operate alongside the Pride, that will be our heavy fleet"
Ferore nodded again, "I am also donating two Ranger class missile cruisers to both cruiser task forces"
The commanders nodded along, "I'll have the force compositions posted after this meeting", Rooks brought up the map again, zooming in on their first target, an icy marble appeared in holographic form, "Vyralon, this is our first objective, most of the populace live in domes on the surface, they maintain the farms and machinery vital to Aschen food production"
"The latest scans put the population at around one hundred thousand, most of the farming is done using robotics so it has a far higher food output that it would seem at first, still, it shouldn't be an issue for our ground forces"
The map zoomed out to the whole system, "The Orbital space is another issue altogether", Rooks nodded towards a man in the back wearing tan clothing, "Thanks to Agent Jalrow's scouting we have a detailed picture of the Aschens forces in the system", Circles surrounded enemy icons on the map, "They have at least twenty ships in the system including two of their battleships and around the planet itself we counted a dozen of these satellites"
The hologram changed to a cylindrical device with several obvious turrets stuck to it, "Those larger guns are the same as their battleships and Jalrow's sensors indicated it has a shield equal to one of their cruisers", his finger jabbed at an opening on the side, "They also come with several drone fighters, based on the size of the hangar around four"
Rooks looked around the room, "Apart from our strategic mobility advantage it would seem we also have an advantage in weapons range, I plan to lure their mobile assets away from the planet and once dealt with we can destroy those defence satellites at our leisure"
The map zoomed out again, "We'll jump in here", a spot illuminated near the planet, "Out of their weapons range and use our missiles to pound their fleet, either they sally forth or withdraw allowing us to tackle the satellites, after that it's up to he ground pounders"
Rooks nodded to the other men in the room, "The details will be in the briefing packet, study them tonight and we'll go over the plan again tomorrow, dismissed"
The commanders made to stand and Rooks put a hand up for one man, "Captain Baltar, please remain a moment"
The others filed out while Baltar remained behind, "Good work on taking the system Captain"
Baltar nodded, "Thank you sir"
"This war is moving onto a more hectic phase Captain, I'm afraid the ships of your flotilla are not up to the task, your orders are to return to Earth for refit and repair", Rooks sighed out.
Baltar nodded, "Understood sir, I expected as much"
"How is the Dublin?", Rooks asked.
A flash of anger was visible on Baltar's face, "She took a few blows but nothing that cant be fixed, is that why we're being sent back?"
Rooks shrugged, "It's a factor but the big problem is your ships lack of shields, we're fighting a foe with more advanced and powerful weapons and shields, having vulnerable ships around is a fool's errand"
Rooks pulled a folder out from under the pile in front of him, "Here, the Dublin will be out of commission while it's being repaired and upgraded, that's your new command, she'll be waiting for you when you get back"
Baltar took the folder and opened it, Rooks watched the surprised look on his face, "This is a big step up sir, a Venus class?"
Laid out on the page was the nearly complete Venus class, Defiance, she would be complete in the weeks it took Baltar's slow ships to return home, it would be one of the most powerful ships in the Terran fleet with it's new pulse cannons and reactors, a substantial upgrade over the lost Venus.
"We need experienced commanders for these new ships Baltar and you are one of our top officers", Rooks gave him a smile, "You leave tomorrow, if you need to sort anything out now is the time"
"Yes sir", Baltar stood and saluted, Rooks waved him out of the room, soon the Venus would be a common sight, dozens of new yards had already began construction while even more smaller shipyards geared up to manufacture new destroyers and cruisers to replace their current obsolete stock, it was a time of rapid change, but it was necessary as the shadow of the Goa'uld loomed over them.
Volia Surface
The Next Day
Chad's steps echoed around the metallic walls of the street as he walked with his squad mates, the last few days had been a pain, kept isolated and questioned for hours before being released into the punishing hands of Sergeant Brown, his fingers ached from shovelling, his arms tried from countless press-ups and worst of all he had to deal with the snickering of Flint and Williams and their new nickname for him.
"Hey Loverboy, when are they letting your girlfriend out?", Eric grinned at him as they walked their patrol route through the town, in the distance the sound of loud drums and shouting could be heard, they were getting closer to it.
Chad sighed, "A few days, she's getting grilled for everything she knows but she seemed eager last time we spoke"
The Aschen civilians in the town hadn't caused any problems since the end of the battle, they were content to simply continue their lives, but the Volian natives were another issue, the loud noises were resolving into the sound of a large protest, when they rounded the corner it became visible.
Large wooden placards with native script were waving up from the crowd, keeping them at bay was a barricade at the town entrance, shouts and jeers could be heard travelling over while armed marines stood guard with shields and batons at the ready, so far nothing violent had happened but no one was taking chances, if things devolved enough live rounds would be used.
Chad nodded towards the protest, "Whats their problem, shouldn't they be happy we kicked the Aschen out?"
Brad shook his head, "Nah, they loved the Aschen but that isn't the problem", Brad waved an arm towards a nearby farm visible outside the town, "Looks like its harvest time"
Chad gave him a blank look, "So?"
"We blew up all those harvesters, there's no way to bring the crops in", Brad nodded to the protestors again, "Regardless of how we feel about the Aschen they did pay for the crops, those farmers livelihoods are gone because of us"
A look of realisation flashed across Chads face, "Oh, makes sense, so what are we doing about it?", they walked on from the protest on their route circling the town.
"They're talking to the leaders of that mob right now, I heard the Union is going to buy the harvest off them and supply equipment to bring it in", Brad pointed to the sky, "The Pangaran garrison is supposed to arrive tomorrow, I heard they still harvest a lot of stuff manually there, word is they're slated to help save what they can of this one"
"What, by hand?, with scythes and shit?", Eric exclaimed, "I hope we don't get roped into that"
Brad shrugged, "It might happen, there's a whole lot of farms here"
"What are they doing with the food then?, we don't need it"
Brad smirked the smirk of someone who knew more than you, "Did you hear about that new member of the alliance, Vyus, the planet of the old people?"
The two privates shook their heads, "Anyway, they're having food problems with the new influx of people there, we'll probably ship it through the gate to them"
Chad nodded as they walked on, he took in a breath of the clean air, his nose sampling the lack of pollution compared to home, except for the strong odour of manure which seemed to blanket the whole planet, the Volians still made use of animal transport for their dealings with each other while the harvesters managed everything else.
They marched on approaching the ruined spaceport, the shape of the Union class Shoebox stuck up like a sore thumb over everything else, while Baltar's warships had returned home the others had remained, the freighters and jumpship, the marine and mech forces too, like himself, Chad mused.
Workers from the newly arrived fleet were hard at work repairing the damage to the facilities and nearby in a field prefab structures were flying up, this world would soon become the base for thousands of men, a loud rumble from above heralded the arrival of the first of them.
Breaking through the clouds was a massive transport ship, Chad looked up, "Who's that?"
The three men stopped, "Colonial marines, they brought two whole divisions for this", Brad commented as they watched the large landing craft creep closer, it hovered over an undamaged section of the spaceport and gently set down, the three men craned their necks up to take in the sheer scale of the landing ship.
"They sure do build them big", Eric felt his jaw drop, their own Skymarshall was miniscule compared to it.
"Yep", Brad nodded as the men moved away from the space port, loud thumps were heard as ramps dropped around the ship, the sound of loud engines revving echoed around as truck after truck began to drive off, "Combat engineers", Brad noted as he saw what the trucks were loaded with.
"Must be here to build the base", Chad nodded to the large field housing the growing array of prefab buildings, "They unloading the whole ground force here or something?"
Brad shrugged, "We wont be doing much until the fleet clears the way and from what I heard, old Rooks isn't going to do shit until his scouting forces get the full rundown on the other Aschen systems, I bet they'll rotate the lads on the ships down to stretch their legs first"
Chad nodded, he knew what it was like to be stuck on a ship for months on end, their patrol carried them on past the spaceport, outside the town on the north side was a large forested area that was flattened during the battle, you couldn't see that bit from where they were though, the forest still looked pristine.
They were nearly half way done when the radio went off, "Base to patrol delta, report in"
Brad pulled his radio out, "Delta here, nothing to report so far, no suspicious activity"
"Confirmed Delta, command wants a word with one of your men though, RTB on the double, out"
Two pairs of eyes turned to Chad who put his hands up, "I swear, I did nothing this time"
McKenna's Pride
A screen on the desk was showing a live feed as several ships disappeared in a flash, Baltar's scouting force returning home, Rooks reached over and turned it off, he looked to the two men in the room with him, Admirals Borman and Ivanov.
"We're setting up our logistic hub here, it's two jumps at most from any Aschen system", Rooks began, "Before we start to move on the worlds themselves I want your two groups to cause chaos in their ranks, draw their forces away from their worlds"
Rooks turned the screen around to show the two men, "Aschara and Sythara are your targets, I want all their food shipments stopped cold", the screen showed images recovered from Aschen databases on Volia, "Aschara has a few hundred million population according to our new source, she told us it's where most of their rich and powerful live, taking that would will be an unrecoverable blow to them but that's for the future"
Rooks nodded to Borman, "It's also home to extensive orbital infrastructure, second only to their home planet", he highlighted large stations on the screen, "For now we'll be leaving them alone but their large automated freighters dock there, they'll be at their most vulnerable when leaving hyperspace so plan accordingly"
Borman reached over and manipulated the touchscreen, "Lots of defences in orbit and nearly one hundred warships", he shook his head, "Hit and run is all we could do, those jump bombers better live up to the hype or this will be a waste of time"
Rooks shrugged, "We need them to surrender, if we can do that with the minimal amount of fighting that's great, if not, we'll see", his finger jabbed at the map, "Drawing their forces away is the best option, our faster FTL is a huge advantage if they bite"
Borman sighed and nodded, Rooks turned to Ivanov, "Sythara, has a population of a few million and is also their biggest agricultural world with tons of automated farms and related agricultural industries like fertilizer production"
Rooks changed the screen to Sythata, another blue and green jewel hanging in space, "Less defences than Aschara but still potent"
Ivanov squinted at the screen, "I can see some possibilities, those stations around the moon here", he pointed to Sythara's large satellite, "Cargo transfer facilities?"
Rooks nodded, "As far as we can tell yes"
"Humph, they are exposed, my first target I think"
Rooks nodded, "Disrupt their logistics, draw their forces away from this region, but you don't need to engage their fleets, while you sow chaos over there we'll start on Vyralon and work our way closer to Aschen prime, hopefully by then starvation will win the war for us"
Rooks brought up a fleet roster on the screen, "I'm transferring two of the scout flotillas, one to each of you, and four additional corvettes, those are our only ships currently equipped with subspace sensor systems, you'll need them to find targets and track enemy movements"
Rooks leaned back in his chair, "We don't know how good their sensors are but it looks like we have an advantage in comms systems at least, our HPG's out range anything they have shipboard and the subspace comms tech we got from the Tok'ra is also superior"
Rooks nodded to the two Admirals, "I'll leave you to sort out the minutiae, your mission begins tomorrow"
All three men stood, Rooks extended his hand, "Good luck Gentlemen", a round of handshakes later and Rooks returned to his seat alone, a tired sigh escaping his lips, years fighting Amaris didn't make this any easier, a pulled open drawer revealed a bottle, he took a small glass out and poured himself a drink, "Let's hope it's a short war", he lifted the glass to his lips and downed the drink.
Colonial Mothball Yards
7th October 2065
A raptor coasted through the wide spaces left between the tethered hulks, it silently drifted past the relics of an age gone past, the huge ships cast a shadow over the small craft as it past on by, shining it's spotlight over the damaged and decommissioned ships.
The light changed direction, casting it's glare into the massive hole in the side of an old Janus cruiser, light shone right through the ship and out the other side, damage from the early days of the Cylon war when the ship was destroyed, the raptor moved on.
Another shape loomed out of the darkness in the lee of the gas giant Ophion, the light turned to it, playing over its grey hull, illuminating a red stripe along the side, it was an ugly looking ship, nothing like the current battlestars, Greenhill had only seen one before, a museum ship over Libran, the pre war design was obsolete when the war began and only two were left, this hulk and the museum piece, they left the Heracles gunship behind.
Lights shone from other areas of the yards, crews preparing the selected ships for transport to the Scorpia yards for refits, he watched as another relic of the war passed by, a Minerva compact battlestar, hated by crews for its lack of armour and flak guns, many were lost to Cylon raiders during the war and all of them were decommissioned as soon as the war ended, now they were being returned to life, shields would make up for the lack of armour and they would need every ship to fight the massive Goa'uld fleet.
Greenhill watched the flash of welders on the hull as they passed, the Scorpia yards were busy upgrading everything the fleet could get moving, all new builds were on hold while the upgrades happened and a new family of designs was being worked on, after that the current stock of ships would need their own upgrades and money was still tight, Rand had given them more Cubits to play with but it was never enough.
"There she is", the yard pilot pointed forward, "The Pegasus"
The spotlight twisted around to shine on the ship, she had seen better days, her armour had been stripped to repair the other Jupiter and Columbia classes leaving her hull a mess of ribs, many of her guns were likewise missing.
"Hmm", Greenhills guest sounded out, standing rigid behind the pilot was the grey haired Cain, still wearing his old Colonial warrior uniform.
"If you think this is bad Commander you should see your old ship", Greenhill said as he turned to look at Cain.
Large repair ships were already docked to the Pegasus, men already onboard preparing it for transport to Scorpia, "The men told me they already had the life support systems back online, we can dock and have a look", The pilot told them.
"I want to see her up close", Cain nodded to Greenhill.
Minutes later a creaky hangar elevator deposited them in the hangar, stale air and other unmentionable smells assaulted his nose when the raptors door opened, Cain strode out like he already owned the ship and placed his hand against a nearby bulkhead.
"She's seen battle, I can feel it", Cain closed his eyes, seemingly communing with the ship, "She yearns for more, she doesn't belong in this graveyard"
Cain turned around and opened his eyes, "Take me to the command centre"
Greenhill nodded and the party got moving, including him and Cain two marines followed along with one more person, Cain's daughter, she walked along quietly behind them, Cain wanted her as part of his crew.
The pilot turned to her as they walked through the hangar, "There's some mark twos in storage in the port hangar, I can show you if you want", she had expressed an earlier interest in seeing the current day vipers on the flight over.
She smiled at the pilot, "Of course, if you'll show me the way", The two disappeared down another corridor, Greenhill sanding one of the marines after them, the rest move on to the CIC.
"Here it is", Greenhill opened the door handle, pushing the heavy door out of the way, this room had been stripped too, its computers and other equipment long gone, Cain walked in and moved over to the main plotting table, running his hand over its glassy surface.
"All right Greenhill, what's your plan?", Cain turned to him and asked.
"She needs some work but nothing major, her hull and frame are fine, I plan to use her as a test bed for tech from your ship"
Cain nodded, "Using the expertise of my crew I assume?"
Greenhill nodded, "We've figured out the shields and reactors already, but things like the weapons and thrusters are giving us trouble, your crew would speed that up and they look to you for guidance, all it would take is a word from you"
Cain walked around the CIC, poking at the consoles, "You said the Goa'uld are a threat to all of humanity, do you think those weapons will help, they didn't help the Cylons"
"The weapons we have right now are worse, a year ago we were still using kinetic cannons on our ships, until the Terrans arrived"
Cain nodded, "These Terrans, tell me about them"
"They arrived over a year ago, apparently one of our ships miss jumped to them during the first war, they were still planet bound then but have since advanced massively, we currently have a good trading relationship and military alliance with them, one of our fleets is even helping them out against an adversary"
"And you trust them?"
Greenhill shrugged, "I trust them to fight the Goa'uld, we are also in contact with several other human nations around the galaxy", Greenhill moved over to Cain, "The Goa'uld enslave billions of humans, if they ever got a whiff we existed a fleet of Ha'tak's would wipe us out, they outclass us that much, you can help change that"
Cain nodded, "I said I would", he looked around the CIC again, "I can see the potential here, if this Pegasus can be upgraded then she shall"
Cain put a hand on Greenhills shoulder, "I'll need my crew though and more besides, how long will it take to get her back into form?"
"I'll put her to the front of the queue, the shields and reactors will be simple enough with the armour missing, we can cut the old reactor and jump drive out fast enough, but the weapons will take a bit of time"
Cain smirked, "Well then, lets get to work"
Picon Fleet HQ
Several Hours Later
After dropping Cain and his daughter back at their temporary accommodation Greenhill had spent the next several hours talking with Nagala, getting his plans to fruition, tomorrow they would initiate Cain into the fleet, a backstory had to be invented, they didn't want the public to catch wind of the resurrection of the Pegasus crew, he imagined the problems of people looking for sarcophagi that didn't exist to cure their loved ones, they'd keep it secret for now.
Now he was here for another briefing on the area beyond the nebula, he had reached out to his Terran counterparts in the intel community and they had come through, some information had been passed over but he was told emphatically that it source was beyond top secret and would not be revealed.
Now two massively redacted files sat in front of him, he opened the first, titles with a simple address, P3X-118, he skimmed through the few words still visible under all the blacked out bits, confusion building up in his mind, when the hell did this happen?
The report detailed how some kind of armoured aliens had replaced an SG team, if what he could infer through the redactions was accurate, using holographic disguises, the attempt was stopped but the SG team never returned, an image of one of the aliens was shown, one in armour, a chitin looking material made up the bulk of it and another showing the autopsied corpse of the alien, large compound eyes, insectile structure, it was a horror show, P3X-118 was also a world beyond the nebula.
He'd tell the teams on Pallas to steer clear of that world, he closed the folder and moved on to the next, simply titled nebula incident, again with no timestamp or other identifying information, this report detailed the hostile encounter with a massive alien ship, his eyes boggled at the estimated size, over two kilometres long, bigger than any ship in the fleet.
The unnamed Terran ship attempted contact but was unsuccessful, apparently shots were exchanged before hostilities ceased for some unknown reason that was redacted in the file, with the two ships going their separate ways.
The file was mostly empty, only one photograph was inside showing the profile of the ship, a large crescent shaped rear end connected to a curved front section that stuck out past the wing tips of the crescent, no technical or tactical information at all.
He would discard it out of hand if it wasn't for the location of the encounter, the Celestial Curtain nebula, when looking at it from a top down view of the galaxy it was to the rim from both the Terrans and Colonials and four thousand light years spinward from Cyrannus, he could see a Terran ship checking it out but from his timeline of their recent history he didn't think they did and it raised a lot of questions about the files he received.
His hand reached out and hit his intercom, the pleasant tones of his secretary answered, "Can I help you sir?"
"Elara, see if Nagala has time for a meeting, tell him I have some intel he needs to see"
…..
Half an hour later Nagala threw down the file on his desk, "You think this is credible?"
Greenhill nodded, "There's no point in making something like this up, we need to know if that colossal ship exists and those aliens, they could be lurking past that nebula"
Nagala steepled his fingers, deep in thought, he had been promoted to head of the fleet now that Ferore was on his last adventure, once the old man returned it would be official but for now he had all the power anyway, the title would soon follow.
"There's not a lot to go off from that report, no idea of how powerful the ship is, only that it shot down the Terran missiles, we need to know more, especially if we intend to sent scout ships out that way"
Greenhill nodded, "I suggest we use one of the upgraded ships, the Rycon had just had shields installed"
Nagala nodded, he pulled up the ship on his terminal, a Columbia sub type, she had Terran laser cannons and fusion reactors installed and just recently had shield generators too, also Terran, the Pegasus designed models were still being built on factories around the colonies and the first batch was going to the Minotaurs, still it was what they had for now.
"Commander Tannerson's ship", Nagala read, "He's solid enough"
"We can send him along with a survey ship to poke around the nebula, see if this alien ship is real and find out their disposition"
Nagala nodded, "Alright Scott, the Rycon and the survey ship", he pressed a button on his terminal, "I'll spare some defenders to protect the survey ship too", Nagala scrolled down his screen, "After Fleet review day though, so a few weeks from now", Nagala looked over to Greenhill, "See what the stargate teams can find out in the mean time but make sure they keep away from that planet"
Two light years from Aschara
In the cold dark between solar systems a series of flashes announced the arrival of the Enterprise battlegroup, nineteen ships appeared where there had been nothing but the occasional speck of interstellar dust.
"All ships reporting in Admiral", the comms officer called out, they had arrived just two light years from the enemies second world, Borman nodded to the ensign.
"Contact the Sceptor, tell them to begin active scans of the system", he ordered, the Castle class had the best sensors in the fleet, subspace models better than those on the corvettes, even from this distance it could pick out enemy ships.
Anderson frowned from beside him, "Wont that alert the Aschen to our presence?"
"It will, do you remember how fast their ships are?"
"Three hundred times the speed of light I think", Anderson nodded, "I see, it would take them over two days to get here"
"Exactly, we'll use the Sceptor to get the full rundown of their forces in the system and also send them on a wild goose chase at the same time", Borman turned to the comms officer, "Tell the Sceptor to inform us if any enemy ships enter hyperspace"
Borman and Anderson walked over to the plotting table, a digital map of the system was displayed, constantly updated with data from the Sceptor, "We'll sit here till they bite", his finger traced around a large station orbiting a gas giant deeper in the system, "This looks like a fuel refinery of some type, contact Commander Durant, it's time we put our new bombers to the test"