Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or Battlestar Galactica: 2003.
Another Road not Taken
Chapter1: Close Encounter
July 15th 2005
Sol System
Earth
Glastonbury
Stonehenge / Avalon
It had been six months since the fall of the Goa'uld Empire and the destruction of the Replicators. The Jaffa Rebellion had reformed into the Free Jaffa Nation after declaring the planet Dakara as their capitol. During this time the Tau'ri had shifted priorities to Atlantis and the war with the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy.
The Daedalus, the first DSC-304 built had been sent to render aid to the Atlantis Expedition while the Prometheus and the only other BC-303, the Astrea remained behind to continue operations in the Milky Way. The Astrea had been launched back in 2004 following Anubis' attack prior to the technology donated by the Asgard.
However on this day the members of SG1, namely Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Doctor Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran and Teal'c had successfully accessed a hidden chamber beneath Stonehenge on Earth created by the Ancient known as Merlin. Amongst the large number of gold and priceless artefacts was something none of them expected to find...
"What is it?" Cam asked as the crystal on the machine lit up and displayed a hologram.
"It's a map," Daniel answered truthfully.
"A map to what? Treasure?" Vala asked suddenly cheerful.
"If I'm reading this right...it's describing a ZPM," Daniel replied.
"A ZPM? We could always do with another one of those," Cam mused.
"Does it say anything else?" Vala inquired further.
"The rest of it is too badly worn out," Daniel shook his head.
"Isn't that the Lagoon Nebula?" Cam asked as he pointed to the cloud-like hologram of the galaxy.
"Yes it is," Daniel nodded.
"Does it even have a Stargate?" Cam asked.
"It should," Daniel nodded.
July 21st 2005
Origin System
Kobol
Mountain Range
Tomb of Athena
Silent and locked away within the side of a mountain on the planet slept a device which had remained inactive for nearly five thousand years. Its circular frame suddenly started to spin and locked into place. Its chevrons powering up in preparation for the purpose it was created for. It was a relic of a long-gone advanced civilization known to most of the galaxy as the Ancients.
It went by many names...Atria Porta, Chappa'ai, Ring of the Gods, Ring of the Ancestors, Circle of Darkness...to most that know exactly what it is and what it is capable of it is known simply as...the Stargate.
The seventh chevron locked into place and blue energy distorted the air, lancing out before pulling back and stabilizing into a water-like surface in the centre of the frame. The hum if gave off echoed through the chamber for several long seconds before seven figures emerged from the event horizon and the gate shut down behind them.
Teal'c had returned to the Jaffa having accepted the position as councillor of the Free Jaffa Nation along with Bra'tac. The Jaffa were becoming increasingly distrustful of the Tau'ri lately and Teal'c wanted to maintain relations between the two factions of the galaxy.
"Is this it?" Cam asked as he looked around the chamber.
"It looks like it," Daniel nodded and stepped forward.
"Colonel, there's a door over here," Sergeant Baker spoke from the far wall.
"Let's see if we can get it open," Colonel Reynolds said as he and the rest of SG3 moved towards the stone door.
"You might want to hold off on that," Daniel spoke up stopping them.
"Why?" Vala asked him and blinked when he pulled down the right arm of the archer statue in the room. There was a rumbling sounding through the chamber until the floor below them opened up and revealed a staircase.
"That's why," Daniel replied.
"SG3 will remain here and guard the gate," Reynolds nodded.
"We'll be back shortly," Cam told him before the members of SG1 descended down the stairs. They passed through a set of rooms filled with what looked like crates of Lantean architecture before finally reaching a larger chamber with one very recognizable machine in the center.
"Daniel...is that what I think it is?" Cam asked as he stared at the machines.
"If you mean is it a Puddle Jumper then yes it is," Daniel nodded in confirmation.
"What's a Puddle-whatchamacallit?" Vala asked.
"An ancient ship designed to fly through Stargates," Daniel answered. "I've seen the designs for them and Jack even flew one of them last year against Ares."
"Sweet," Cam smirked.
"How much is it worth?" Vala asked after a moment.
"Vala..." Daniel shook his head at the question.
"What's it doing here?" Cam asked as he saw examined the craft.
"Janus built one after he returned to the Milky Way so someone else must have as well," Daniel shrugged. "I'm more interested in that," he said after a moment and pointed to the console on the side. He quickly stepped up to it and saw it activate a moment later. "If I'm reading this right then I think we've got the location of another Ancient facility...some kind of outpost if I'm not mistaken."
"Where?" Cam questioned.
"It's in a nebula here in the Milky Way...we'll need to match this up with a star chart," Daniel answered as the console shutdown. "However I did find something here that's useful," he added and a second later an arm-sized crystal rose out from the center of the console. "A ZPM," he said simply.
"That's what we're looking for," Cam nodded with a grin.
"Colonel Mitchell, we have a problem up here," Reynolds' voice sounded through the radio.
"What kind of problem?" Cam asked right before the sound of an explosion rumbled through the mountain.
"We're under attack," static filled the radio. "They busted right through the door-zzzzzz-we've lost the gate-room," gunfire echoed a second later.
"Colonel, bring your people down the stairs now," Cam ordered as Daniel and Vala quickly rushed into the Jumper. He turned quickly and took cover at the door as the members of SG3 quickly rushed down the stairs.
"I'm sorry sir there were too many," Reynolds explained as his team took up position and aimed down the corridor. "Some blond woman and a several robots attacked us. They look like they came right out of the Terminator films only without the replicator armour."
"Daniel! We need that ship up and running now!" Cam shouted into the radio as several of the robots appeared from the passage.
The five opened fire, spewing bullets across the corridor and gunning down the walking machine. Its armour deflected some of the rounds however the weapons that the Tau'ri used were designed to penetrate the dense armour of Jaffa warriors so they were easily penetrated.
"We can't hold this position!" Reynolds shouted over the gunfire.
"Fallback to the Jumper!" Cam ordered as several more robots appeared down the corridor. One by one the members of SG3 retreated inside the Ancient Gate-ship followed by Cam who threw a grenade down the corridor before he ran. He closed the door on the way in and sat down at the controls with SG3 sitting in the back compartment.
"Where's Sam when you need her?" Daniel muttered as the systems came to life.
"Now what?" Cam asked.
"How about door controls?" Vala mused. The ceiling above them retracted and sunlight filled the chamber. "There you go," she smiled.
"Okay let's get the hell out of here," Cam said quickly and the Jumper rose from the floor. It continued to ascend and once it was clear, it accelerated up into the clouds towards orbit.
"This thing doesn't have a Hyperdrive and the gate is no longer accessible. What do we do?" Reynolds asked.
"Cloak the ship first before we're spotted," Daniel told them.
"I got it," Cam nodded and the Jumper disappeared from sight. "I've never been so thankful for having a needle stuck in my arm."
"Gene therapy has only been given to a handful of people in the SGC," Daniel told him. "You should consider yourself lucky that you were selected first...a lot of people are waiting for their own."
"I hate to break this up but is that one of your ships?" Vala asked them as she pointed out of the window. Sitting in orbit above the green planet below was a single ship that seemed like a starfish with missile and launch tubes spread across its arms. The vessel was massive, easily twice the size of a Ha'tak though it was still much smaller than a Wraith Hive-ship measuring two kilometres long.
"No...that's definitely not one of ours," Cam blinked and brought up the heads-up display.
"We're cloaked right?" Vala questioned.
"Yes," Daniel nodded.
"We're still cut off from the Stargate and if they're the same people that attacked us then we're in trouble," Reynolds commented from the back.
"The SGC will dial in when we fail to check in and they will send help. All we have to do is wait," Cam spoke up.
"At least we've got the ZPM," Vala said cheerfully as looked over at the power source.
July 22nd 2005
Origin System
In orbit above Kobol
USS Prometheus
Main Bridge
Space tore open and dropped the small Tau'ri vessel back into normal space. It collapsed behind the battlecruiser and the Prometheus drifted for a moment before its sub-light drive activated and eased the ship forward towards a stable orbit and the alien warship in orbit.
"Major?" Colonel Lionel Pendergast asked upon seeing the new ship.
"It's estimated to be just over two kilometres long and I'm detecting multiple hangar bays. Scans show multiple missile tubes and some kind of fighter launching tubes along the arms. No shields detected," Major Paul Delouise reported.
"What about SGs 1 and 3?" Pendergast questioned.
"Receiving a signal now Colonel," Delouise responded.
"This is Colonel Cameron Mitchell, authorisation code beta-three-seven-twelve Charlie. Prometheus, are you receiving?" Cam's voice sounded through the comm.
"Code is authentic," Delouise informed.
"It's good to hear from you, Shaft," Pendergast responded. "What's going on exactly? When we dialled the planet we barely managed to hear what you were saying."
"We found the ZPM and an Ancient Puddle Jumper near the gate. However we were ambushed and forced to escape in the Jumper by some kind of killer robots," Cam replied.
"Replicators?" Pendergast questioned.
"Not unless they're building them out of regular old metal now," Cam replied. "We're cloaked and cut off from the gate. Request permission to come aboard Colonel?"
"Permission granted," Pendergast confirmed. "You are clear to land in bay two, report to the bridge as soon as you can."
"Roger that Prometheus," the channel closed a moment later.
"Sir, the alien vessel seems to have spotted us," Delouise informed. "They're launching fighters and powering up their weapons."
"Shields up, standby weapons," Pendergast gave the order. "Open a channel; I'd rather not start a shooting war...not after we just finished overthrowing the Goa'uld and the Replicators."
"Channel open," Delouise said.
"This is Colonel Lionel Pendergast of the Earth ship Prometheus to alien vessel; we are on a mission of peaceful explo-" he was cut off.
"They're firing," Delouise said suddenly.
"Major Delouise, standby all railguns for defensive fire," Pendergast ordered.
"All gun ports are open," Delouise informed. "Inbound missiles," missiles swarmed out from the large number of attacking fighters that descended on the small Tau'ri cruiser.
"Fire," Pendergast ordered as he saw the wave of fighters approach her ship.
The twenty-four railguns littering the battlecruiser's hull began spewing out magnetically accelerated rounds a second later and quickly swatted away their targets. The Asgard-designed targeting computer kept track of the swarm of attacking fighters and swatted them away with the railguns after the missiles were dealt with. One or two made it through and detonated weakly against the shields, the missiles having been designed to break through armour instead of energy shields.
"The warships are firing," Delouise reported. "Radiation signature detected, they're launching nukes."
The starfish-shaped ship angled and unleashed a hailstorm of missiles down on the Tau'ri vessel and struck the energy shields in a blinding light. More missiles soon followed the barrage from the fighters, some of them nuclear and the railguns struggled to intercept the more numerous warheads. Another three missiles slipped through and detonated against the energy shields of the Tau'ri battlecruiser.
"Shields are holding for the moment but there is just too many of them," Delouise stated. "We're going to run out of ammunition before they run out of fighters and then they'll have a clear shot at us." Even with the Asgard-designed shields they all knew that the shields wouldn't hold against a sustained attack by a numerically superior force like the one they faced now.
"Ready a pair of mark VIIIs for launch," Pendergast ordered.
"Ready and loaded," Delouise informed.
"Fire," Pendergast gave the order.
Two hatches on the ventral neck of the Prometheus opened slowly and a pair of missiles quickly streaked out. They turned in unison and quickly accelerated towards the alien mothership only to be shot down moments later by a passing alien fighter.
"They're just going to keep on using their fighters as a defence screen," Cam commented as he and the members of SG1 stepped onto the command bridge.
"Welcome aboard Shaft," Pendergast nodded in greeting.
"Sir, they just hit us with some kind of signal...I think it's a computer virus," Delouise reported.
"Neutralise it," Pendergast ordered.
"Done...thankfully it couldn't seem to penetrate the firewalls," Delouise sighed in relief.
"...Major, can you get a transporter lock on a set of coordinates inside the alien ship?" Pendergast asked.
"Yes sir," Delouise nodded. "If I use the same deactivation code as the one used on the Daedalus from a week ago...I have a lock."
"Do it," Pendergast gave the order.
Suddenly and violently the alien mothership exploded at the neck. Its arms were thrown away into a decaying orbit as the fireball at its center died down in the vacuum of space. With their mothership destroyed, the alien fighters started disappearing in flashes of light one by one.
"Enemy fighters are withdrawing," Delouise informed. "Their method of FTL is giving off the same radiation signature as a wormhole from a Stargate...odd."
"Break us out of orbit and set a course for Earth. Something tells me I've got an interesting report to make," Pendergast sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
Just another day in one of Earth's most insane command posts...
Author's Notes:
Well this is my new story and the first update of 2011. Do you like it so far? Earth currently operates three capitol ships, the Prometheus, Astrea and Daedalus. I created the Astrea because the Prometheus is the only BC303 and I wanted to add it in (with a little help from Just-a-crazy-man), especially since no ship was built in 2004.
Please Read and Review.
See Ya Later…