Harry Potter and the Starship Gryphon

Chapter 8

The Avalon Navy Vessel Basilisk tore through space in pursuit of a Goa'uld Ha'tak which had been attacking an inhabited system within which the Basilisk had been undertaking a survey as part of its patrol route. Captain Hermione Granger had immediately ordered the ship to attack the Goa'uld vessels. Within minutes the Alkesh bombers and Death Gliders were no more and the Ha'tak was racing out system.

The Basilisk fired a volley of plasma and energy torpedoes from its forward launchers and the larger vessels shields flared at the impact but did not fail.

"Weapons, switch dorsal and ventral Rail Guns to forward firing mode and fire a full barrage."

Lieutenant Janice Longbottom looked to her Captain as she reconfigured the eight rail guns and pressed the launch key releasing the 10cm metal balls at near lightspeed to strike the Ha'tak and ripping through its weakened shields and into its hull. Explosions tore the ship apart as the projectiles tore through the inner workings of the Ha'tak. With the Goa'uld defeated the Basilisk did not return to its previous task but jumped to hyperspace to report on the first actual engagement against the Goa'uld.

On Avalon, the Starship Gryphon was ready for its shakedown cruise after the completion of its rebuild and the crew had completed the pre- flight checks and now awaited clearance for launch.

Commander Luna Lovegood had accepted her assignment as First Officer of the Gryphon as she wanted to command one of the five new Starships under construction and needed the experience to be considered for the posts. The Gryphon now needed a crew of 75 plus 170 House elves working the farm and Damage Control. Most of the weapons were in their own pocket dimensions and could be brought into normal space when needed. Now Luna was seated alongside Fleet Captain Harry Potter. The arrival of the Basilisk in the skies above the spaceport caused Harry to abort the take off and leave the ship to discover why Hermione had returned before her patrol was complete.

While the command staff of the Avalon Navy discussed the results of the recent engagement Luna gathered together the six cadet officers who were assigned to the Gryphon for their graduation cruise.

"Since our launch has been delayed I have decided to give you an overview of the new Gryphon. We are now aboard the flagship of the Avalon Navy and as of today the fastest and most heavily armed. Point Defence consists of sixteen Twin 20mm Turbolaser cannon mounted on the engine nacelles. Next we have ten 10cm Rail Guns and eight 5cm Rail Guns mounted on the upper and lower hulls and can be configured to fire forwards and to the rear." Luna paused and looked at the cadets who seemed to be attentive to her speech. "We have four Torpedo Launchers in the Bow and two in the Stern. Our primary Energy Weapon is a Type 6 cannon in a Ventral turret with a firing arc of 360 degrees. In addition, we have two bow mounted Spellfire cannon and two dorsal mounted ion cannons in a retractable turret. We still have the Firebolt missiles now mounted in two rapid fire launchers mounted in ventral turrets. Our Defensive systems include triple shields and an armoured hull which will deflect most of a Ha'tek's firepower even without shields. The Gryphon is now faster and more manoeuvrable and has three ZPM's backed up with six reactors which will increase power to 145 percent of normal. Okay return to your launch stations as the Captain is on board and we will recommence launch countdown."

Three hours later the Gryphon lifted away from the planet for its shakedown cruise and once in hyperspace Harry invited Luna to join him in his Day Cabin for dinner and they discussed the fact that the SGC had not yet made any contact.

Two days into the mission the Gryphon entered Goa'uld space under cloak and watched as several Alkesh escorted a convoy of forty-six cargo ships towards a damaged Ha'tak which was undergoing major repairs and upgrading with more plasma cannons which were also larger with probably more effective.

Harry watched from the bridge of the Gryphon which was motionless at 100,000 km from the Ha'tak.

"Ready all weapons. Shields to full combat strength. Activate all rail guns to fire forward at full automatic as soon as I give the order to fire. Target the Alkesh with energy torpedoes and the cargo ships with firebolt missiles. It's time to show the Goa'uld that they are not the strongest anymore."

The Gryphon began to move towards the Ha'tak and the cloak dropped revealing the ship to the Goa'uld seconds before the ship opened fire with its rail guns. The metallic spheres tore into the hull of the Ha'tak rendering it into scrap. Meanwhile the Gryphon launched missiles and torpedoes at the convoy of cargo ships which had begun to scatter in panic at the appearance of the unknown vessel that had de-cloaked in front of them and destroyed the recipient of their cargoes. The firebolt missiles were soon locked onto their targets and the on-board sensors enabled them to manoeuvre after the fleeing vessels. Within minutes the last cargo ship was destroyed and the Gryphon vanished into hyperspace.

A few hours later Harry and Luna were having dinner in his cabin and were discussing the lack of contact with the SGC and Earth.

"If they delay contact for too long we may find Earth in real trouble since they have no space defence." Said Harry.

"I hope they get in touch soon Harry. All our ships can take out several enemy ships with ease but if the Goa'uld join forces we will be heavily outnumbered and won't be able to defeat them. With the SGC teams we will be able to give them better equipment with which to operate through the gates." Said Luna as she took a sip of wine. "we will soon have more ships but I hear that Captain Black has started construction on a vessel designed for stargate transit?"

Harry laughed and took a sip from his own glass before replying.

"Yes, the new type 01 Gateship. It's a two-person fighter with atmospheric and space capability and enough firepower to take out an Alkesh with ease. We had planned for a few of them to go to the SGC but most will become our newest military force, the Avalon Strike Force with at least thirty-six of the Gateships in six squadrons."

Harry took another sip from his glass before speaking.

"We are building up our military strength as rapidly as possible and will have more than twenty Starships within the next six months. Of those ten will be Gryphon class. Okay Luna we will be back at Avalon in a few weeks and with any luck one of those ships will be ready for you to assume command."

Luna grinned and thought about the fact that Harry thought that she was ready to take command of her own ship.A ship which was capable of taking out the Goa'uld.