Chapter 1 Goodbye

President Samantha Carter, the 1st President of the Tau'ri Alliance stood outside of the massive capital building of the Tau'ri alliance. Before her was the finished capital city of the Tau'ri from this city 10 worlds with populations in the billions and dozens more with smaller population was ruled from. In truth since the Tau'ri alliance formed almost 15 years ago in October 2020 the control of the Tau'ri now spread over 35% of the Milky way galaxy and 20% of the Pegasus galaxy. From the massive building behind her representatives from worlds like Lanagara the first world to join the Alliance, Valhalla the 1st world colonized by the people of Earth and then later by New Athos and New Sera the first two worlds to join the alliance from outside the Milky way galaxy made the laws to govern the Tau'ri alliance.

Carter let out a heavy sigh, life was so much easier when she was a member of SG1 and only had to worry about the next threat to come out of the stargate. Now as President she had to deal with all the political crap that made her want to rip her hair out. Still she had to admit deep down she did enjoy being President and forging the path that the Tau'ri would follow.

So many things had changed over the past 15 years, back in 2020 when the world first learned about the Stargate program space travel was the stuff of science fiction. Now ships ranging from massive warships, to cargo ships and luxury space liners departed the major worlds of the Tau'ri alliance every day. Since that day in 2020 the people of Earth who came together as the Tau'ri alliance had spread across space uniting with smaller worlds growing and advancing. Now with peace treaties such as the treaty of Gaia and smaller worlds joining them, the Tau'ri alliance controlled 30% of the Milky Way galaxy and was the dominate power.

They hadn't reached the level they were at now without conflict only weeks after the unmasking of the Stargate Program and the official formation of the Tau'ri alliance a group of 12 human worlds called the 12 colonies of Kobol carried out a nuclear strike on the 1st colony world of the Tau'ri, Valhalla. This sparked a 4 year long war which ended in an overwhelming Tau'ri victory. Next came conflict with a much smaller and weaker power called the Empire by their own people but called the Empire of the Race by the Tau'ri. The conflict for the liberation of a single world, Ovea lasted a few hours and was another Tau'ri victory. The victory of Ovea gave the Tau'ri access to a rare metal, Zephray which was keep to provide them the missing link to make power sources known as ZPMs.

Tau'ri space ranged outside of the Milky Way galaxy spreading to the Pegasus galaxy where after the defeat of the Wraith, the Tau'ri became the largest organized military power in the galaxy. There was dozens of smaller powers some of whom had space flight but thousands of years of harvesting by the wraith had left their populations small and technology backwards in comparison to the Tau'ri who had built on the legacy of the Asgard and the Ancients. They where the 5th Race and they where taking up the role left to them by the Asgard and by the Ancients.

"President Carter are you alright?" Said her long-time aid, Walter. He had a look of concern over his face as Carter nodded her head.

"I am alright, just thinking." admitted Carter

"I understand Madam President." Said Walter "If you need anything."

"I will be fine." confirmed Carter as she looked at area around her again. It was a beautiful day, a perfect day in truth but it was a day of sadness and morning. The main boulevard leading from the spaceport of the combined Tau'ri Capital city on Earth was lined with people on either side of the street. The civilians stood in grandstands while in front of them columns of Tau'ri soldiers all in their dress uniforms stood at ease. She saw a lot of them waving the blue and silver flag which had become the symbol of the united Tau'ri. The Tau'ri flag flew from polls lining the buildings of the way but they were joined by pure black flags. The entire massive floating city which was the heart of the Tau'ri government was at a standstill, in truth every world of the alliance was at a standstill as the images where broadcasted out across the galaxy and beyond.

At the center of the city stood the Tau'ri congress building, the massive building with its stone columns was where the representatives and senators of the different Tau'ri worlds came together to govern. Now massive black banners hung from in between the columns with a single larger Tau'ri banner hanging from the center main entrees. It was here that President Samantha Carter stood alongside the leaders of the Tau'ri and other powers in the galaxy. The Nox, normally a shy race had come out in force for this event, the Tok'ra had sent a delegation along with every free Jaffa and Lucian Alliance faction had sent a delegation. The President of the 12 colonies the newly elected Gaius Baltar stood beside his wife who was in truth a humanoid Cylon. A Cylon delegation was here as well along with the Prince Unia of Ovea, his insect body standing out in the crowd.

"Hard to believe isn't it." Said Doctor Daniel Jackson as he stood beside his president, former teammate and life long friend, beside him stood another former member of SG and the current Vice President Jonas Quinn. All of them where in their best cloths, black suits, pantsuits and dresses. Teal'c and other free Jaffa nations where wearing their traditional robes colored a deep black in respect for Tau'ri customs.

"It is." confirmed Teal'c as he stood to the other side of her. Beside him stood now General Mitchell former head of SG1 now head of Stargate Command. Another General, General Sheppard commander of all Tau'ri forces in the Pegasus Galaxy stood beside Michael with former members of his team. The military members wore their uniforms with black bands over their arms.

"At least he went out in a way he would have found…funny." said Mitchell as a sad smile crossed his face.

"Truth." confirmed Carter as the sound of horse hooves on pavement reached her ears. It shouldn't have been possible for her to hear the sound being so far off but she did. Then he appeared at the far end of the road, he was only a small outline of figure on horseback, the TV cameras and multiple screens brought him closer into view. It was a single soldier on a black stallion, he wore the dress uniform of a Tau'ri honor guard, all black with silver bands and no rank markings. With a quick movement the man on horseback drew an old fashion cavalry saber and raised it up.

"Battalions!" he yelled as his order was picked up by the thousands of Tau'ri soldiers lining the road. Then he brought the sword to his shoulder. "Attention!"

With that all of them snapped to attention, their rifles slamming against shoulders and everyone coming to attention. Officers had given swords for this moment and stood before their lines with swords resting against their shoulder. Flag barriers stood by each Battalion, three flags each, one barring the symbol for the division that the battalion were here today, one being the home nation or world that first formed that division and lastly the blue and silver Tau'ri flag. Behind the rows of soldier's grand stands had been set up and they were filled to capacity with civilians who had come out this day.

"Present arms!" ordered the officer on Horseback as they thousands of man and women in uniform presented arms.

The rider moved forward passing by the ranks the sound of the horse's hooves on the road rung through the air, when he had gone about a hundred yard a large column of men and women came around the corner where he had been. Each one of them holding a flag of the a member of the Tau'ri Alliance be it a national flag or a world flag. With the Tau'ri flag in the front, hanging from each of the poles was a black ribbon.

Behind them came four pairs of tanks rolled down the street their gun barrels aimed high and their commanders standing up in their copulas. Behind them came more military vehicles and soldiers in formation, these men and women marched in perfect formation with bayonets attached their rifles shinning in the sun. Military bands followed behind the soldiers each playing a mournful tune. The band members like all the soldiers and the civilians whore black arm bands on one arm. Hanging form high rise buildings where more black banners and the Tau'ri flag. After the band came a group of free Jaffa warriors who had their staff weapons held straight forward pointing down. There sign of respect and like the Tau'ri they were in here to honor as well.

Then it came around the corner, another group of soldiers followed by more soldiers only these where on horseback and formed a V shape formation in front of another body of men, women and horses. Three of them carried flags, the center one being the Tau'ri flag with the flag of the United States of America to one side and on the other side the flag containing the seal of Stargate Command. The other four soldiers marched on either side of the flags with swords raised.

Carter's heart felt like it had taken yet another blow as she saw the six-draft horse team pulling an old fashion artillery caisson. Of the six horses only three had riders, the rest had none but it was what they were pulling that mattered. Sitting on the caisson wrapped in a Tau'ri flag was a single casket. Marching to the side the casket was an honor guard of seven soldiers on each side. Behind the coffin walking came the family members, in truth she and so many people standing with her right now should have been with the family but duty placed her here. As the casket passed the civilians began to toss flowers over the heads of the soldiers and unto the road until it became covered with flowers. Soldiers where breaking down in tears as they watched the casket pass.

Sam didn't say anything as it entered the large rounding round which surrounded the capital building, tanks and other vehicles sat there with their barrels raised in salute. Their commanders and crew standing outside at attention, tears clearly visible on some while others fought them back. Unit after unit passed by all in their best parade ground formation and with perfect uniforms as the first fly overs began. The first was the Adder attack helicopters followed by larger and larger ships, even massive battleships where taking part as the Tau'ri said goodbye.

It was the sound of horse hooves that finally got to her as finally a group of horse mounted soldiers moved into the area right in front of her. Unlike the other units which had peeled off to either side this one stood as two columns formed and finally an old fashion gun carriage being drawn by six pure white horse with only three riders moved up between the columns of mounted soldiers. As it passed each of them drew a saber and placed it first in front of their face before resting it on their shoulders. On either side of the carriage marched four soldiers in the honor guard uniform of the Tau'ri. Flying from the back of the carriage was the Tau'ri flag along with the flag of the United States of America, a sign of which military he had joined all those decades ago until it was folded into the new Tau'ri military. Another horse was behind them this one without a rider and the boots turned backwards in the stirrups. A flag draped coffin sat on the carriage as the one of if not the greatest hero in the history of the Tau'ri arrived, General Johnathan O'Neill better known as Jack O'Neill had arrived at the Capital where he would lie in state.

"He went out the way he would have wanted, I think." Said General Mitchell as the honor guard moved to carry the coffin containing General O'Neill into the building. Each one of the guard dressed in an all black uniform, not in Navy White, Army gray, Marine navy or Air force Royal. These honor guards wore black and handled the coffin with white gloves. "Fishing."

"Indeed." said Teal'c with as much emotion as anyone had heard in his voice, as Sam had to give a sad smile. Jack had been found dead on his lake side cabin dock with a fishing pole in his hand and a beer sitting beside his folding chair. An autopsy by the Head of the Tau'ri Medical Center and some of the best doctors on Earth had confirmed that the 84 year old General had died in his sleep while taking a nap while he fished off his dock.

"It is just a shame, his generation and ours in some parts will not be able to take full effects of the new medical technology." Said Sam before shaking her head. "Then again, I could see Jack causing a lot of trouble if he lived another 75 years."

"Indeed." Confirmed Teal'c as the coffin was lifted off the carriage and onto the shoulders of the eight men who would carry the coffin up the multiple flight of steps toward the congress building. The path was protected by another line of soldiers each one of them holding either a rifle or a flag of a nation of the Tau'ri. As the Coffin passed the flag was lowered slightly as a sign of honor for the man who was passing them by. Behind the thin honor line were the members of the Tau'ri house and Senate, other governmental officials and foreign leaders.

The steps leading up to the entrees to the hall where flanked by soldiers from different units, as the coffin of the fallen General and Hero of the Tau'ri passed they snapped to attention. Carter held her breather and fought back tears as the coffin carrying her friend and teammate passed by. Behind the coffin walked Jack's clone who had become basically a son later on in life. Younger jack was joined by his wife and kids, Jack's Grandchildren.

"Sam." said Jack as he hugged the President who went around to hug the rest of the family.

"Aunt Sam." said the oldest of the three children, Samantha O'Neill with tears as she hugged her the woman who was family in all but name. "Grandpa is gone."

"He is, now we have to be strong for him." said Sam as she joined the rest of the O'Neill's on their way up the stairs. They passed through the columns which graced the outside of the building and entered one of the main halls leading into the rotunda. Since Jack was a military man he entered through the military hall where statues, busts and other artwork of great military leaders and heroes where displayed. They passed through the artwork such as paintings of George Washington, a Statue of Alexander the Great, General Sun Tzu along with others. Then they entered the main rotunda where more honor guard stood waiting three rings. The inner most guards stood around a resting place where the coffin containing the body of General O'Neill would lie in state raised swords to present as other guards brought the body to a resting place before backing up and snapping into perfect salutes. Behind them in the second ring, more guards stood with old fashion bolt action rifles with bayonets fixed and at attention as well. The third and largest ring which ran around the entire length of the circle shaped room with only gaps being for the four hallways leading into the room. They held the blue and silver flags of the Tau'ri or the flags of the Tau'ri armed forces.

Carter and the others formed a large group between the guards holding the swords and the ones holding the rifles. Carter, the former members of Sg1 and Jack's family in the center however other close friends from Jack's life where also presented along with high government and military officials. They crowed into the space until they formed a half circle around the coffin. On the other side where religious leaders from all the major religious of the Tau'ri, not just from Earth but from Lanagara and the other worlds in Tau'ri space. Even so since Jack was a roman catholic even if he wasn't a practicing Roman Catholic the Pope himself would have the longest prayer over the body.

On the Tau'ri world of Valhalla like every other world within Tau'ri space billions of people where watching the state funeral for General Jack O'Neill. Flags flew at half-staff and governmental buildings where draped in black, watching from his office was the General in command of all Tau'ri forces in the system, General Young. He stood watching the proceeding on his holographic TV in his office with a drink in his hand.

"Here's to you General." said General Young as he raised a glass to the honor of the fallen hero of the Tau'ri. Shaking his head slightly he remembered when General O'Neill then director of Home World defense had offered him the chance to take part in the Destiny program to discover the greatest secret in the galaxy. It was a program that the Ancients themselves had started but never got a chance to finish and the Tau'ri planned to finish it. They did have some major setbacks, first with only getting a small team to the Ancient Ship the Destiny and being stranded on countless trillions of lightyears away. He had taken command of that small group which after a stay of multiple years in cryo-sleep they had been rescued they had come back to a very different universe. The nations of Earth had come together to form the Tau'ri and the stargate program which had been the most carefully guarded secret was public knowledge along with a full-scale war with another power in the galaxy.

Even as the Colonial War waged on the deep seeded need of the Tau'ri to reach out to the next horizon was still burning. Their rescue came from supergate which had been built by the ancients to transport a crew to the Destiny for the final part of their mission. Now the Destiney sat beside that supergate in the distance part of the galaxy. The plan was originally for the Tau'ri to repair the ship and finish the mission but it was soon determined that the ship had been left unmanned for too long and it was beyond the point of repair. The Destiny the ship which had been launched millions of years ago by the ancients wouldn't go any more. Still the need to finish what the Ancients had started filled the minds of the Tau'ri and a new plan was formed.

They couldn't send a new ship through the Milky Way Supergate capable of replacing with the Destiny and finishing the mission. So a new type of ship was designed, the Prometheus class deep space recon ship, a ship which could be cut up into small parts sent through a supergate to the far side of universe only to be reassembled. Once reassembled it would be able to finish the mission of the Destiny. The problem was that even with the Milky Way supergate because of the great distance they had to cover to the Destiny Supergate the parts that could be sent through was too small meaning that the Milky Way gate couldn't be used to send the broken up recon ship to the Destiny Gate. So instead of building a single Prometheus class ship they were building two.

The first, the Prometheus II named after the first warship the Tau'ri had would carry out a mission to a distance galaxy called the Torch Galaxy. Using that as a launching point they would build a supergate and send the pieces of the second Prometheus class ship, the Destiny II to the Destiny Supergate to be put together and launched to finish the mission of the original Ancient Destiny.

Young had just finished his drink when the phone on his desk rang, this was a new holographic video phone and was actually built into his desk. He had a mobile version of coarse, but the hard line was more secured and therefor was used for classified matters. He tapped the phone pad only to see the last face he wanted to see, Dr. Rush.

"Rush, what do I owe the honor of the call?" inquired General Young as he looked at the man who he had butted heads against, to call it mild while on the Destiny.

"Why have we delayed the launch of the Prometheus II it is ready to go." Said Rush who had an unending drive to finish the mission of the Destiny.

"Rush, you have seen the news, haven't you?" inquired Young "We delayed the launch by only a week, most of the key people are at the funeral right now including the head of the mission Dr. Jackson."

"The delay wasn't needed, we could launch the ship and then using the onboard stargate people can travel back and forth as needed." Countered Rush "The Prometheus is ready, we should return to the time schedule."

"Rush, you have almost a year in travel time to the Torch galaxy it should actually be 18 months, but high command is giving you 4 ZPMs right off the assembly line so be happy with that." stated General Young as Rush glared at him. Both of them knew that while not up to the level of their ancient counterparts the current generation of ZPMs created by the Tau'ri was by far the biggest source of power that the Tau'ri had. The current generation of ZMPs took almost a year to make using Naquadah and other elements with the key part being the element Zephry found only on the allied world of Ovea. So far less than 40 had been produced and most where going to the warships of the Tau'ri fleet, four for this mission meant that 10% of the current stockpile of ZMPs where in a single project. "A week delay will not make any deference."

"Very well." said Rush in a resigned voice as if he had a choice. "I guess I will review the recon data from our target locations."

"Still no sign of any life in the area?" inquired Young happy that Rush was acting his age.

"No, of the 9 recon drones we have sent, none of them have detected any sign of advance life." Admitted Rush

"So no ships in hyperspace, no radio or other communication broadcasts?" inquired Young, this was strange and didn't sit right. "The probes detected nothing?"

"In their defense the areas they are monitoring and gathering information on are all around black holes which we need to power the supergate." stated Rush "

"Still it is concerning, more recon will be needed." said Young as he thought about it, launching probes wasn't an option. The Prometheus would actually beat them to the Torch galaxy, then it hit him. "I will recommend that once we get near to the Torch galaxy we send some of the ships we are carrying out to do more recon."

"Very well." said Rush Looks like our primary spot to assembly the gate will be the best."

The image on the screen changed to show a map of the planned construction site for the supergate. Instead of one large black hole there was instead 4 smaller black holes which according to the report moved around each other in a cosmic dance. A glowing dot in the center showed where they wanted to build the gate.

"The four black holes will provide all the power we need but they will be far enough away from each other that we will not experience any time dilation when we build the gate." Added Rush as two routes where highlighted. "This may matter to you but the black holes will protect the sides meaning that there will be only two ways toward the gate."

"So we can mass our defenses to protect that bottleneck." Stated Young "But won't these black holes in time crash into each other and effect the gate."

"Yes." confirmed Rush "However that is millions of years in the future."

"Alright, the other sites are just as good?" inquired Young

"Not as good as this one but they would work if we have too." Stated Rush as his image reappeared on the screen. He visibly checked his watch before looking back at Young. "I will let you go, I need to get something to eat."

Without another word Rush's image disappeared as Young let out a resigned sigh.

"Goodbye." said Young to the already black image, Rush was never that personal and that had not changed across the years. "Maybe when he is a couple of galaxies away from me he will finally be out of my hair."

After the former ceremonial the great hall where General O'Neill lied in state was open to the public and those who had been waiting outside entered to say their goodbyes to the hero of the Tau'ri. While thousands passed by above them the elite and powerful moved down below the great hall to the dinning hall. The hall was where large formal dinners as well as feeding the massive amounts of people who worked in the building. All the tables where covered with the best table covers and the best chefs from across Tau'ri space where working together to feed the guests of this private wake.

Standing in the far corner watching all the political and military leaders talk stood a young man in a Tau'ri marine dress uniform. He watched the crowds 90% of whom had never actually met the man who they where honoring, in truth he had only meet General O'Neill a hand full of times but still the loss likely hit him worse then most of the people out there. Yes, from his location he could see the core of General O'Neill friends and loved ones where gathered in a tighter smaller group. He could see his childhood friend Samantha O'Neill standing with her namesake President Carter. He remembered when he and Sam where kids running around Atlantis with the small handful of other children.

"Back then Life was so simple." whispered Torren John Sheppard. That was before he learned that the man he called his father wasn't his biological father but had actually killed him. Yes it was an accident and he didn't blame him for it but it was still a shock to learn that the man he called Dad had shot down the Wraith Dart who's wreckage crashed on his father killing him. Even after he learned that he still took the last name of the man who had raised him like his own son, John Sheppard. He turned his brown eyes toward his father and mother who stood talking with Uncle Ronan and Uncle Mckay. The four of them had made up Atlantis first recon team, more commonly called SGA-1. His little sister, Elizabeth who looked like a young version of his mother only with the darker hair color of her father, John was talking with the younger O'Neill kids.

"Did you say something?" inquired the person beside him, Ashley Williams. The two of them had meet on the battlefields of Tauron and had stuck together almost ever since. Both had gone to college at Daniel Jackson university and pushed as hard as possible to get top marks in their field. They had skipped summer and holidays breaks to instead spend time in different specialty schools ranging from parachute jump school to zero gravity combat training.

"Talking to myself." answered Torren as Ashley nodded her head. She looked over in the direction he had been looking, toward General John Sheppard. To her he was almost as big of Hero as the man who was lying in state above them, he had fought against the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy and won.

"Well as long as you don't start answering yourself we should be good." stated Ashley as she took a drink. "Have you received your assignment yet for the fleet?"

"Not yet, I just got promoted so who knows what I will get." Said Torren as reached up and touched the golden oak leaf on his collar. He was slightly young to hold the rank, being only 29 but the war raised everyone's ranks pretty fast and unlike most he had stayed in after the war. He was a Major now, which meant he was a middle of the road off officer. He would normally be in assigned to command a company of between 80 and a 150 men but he had taken the special forces route and would likely command a much smaller group.

"I don't know either, not if it is just oversight or something else." stated Ash

"Likely deciding what to do with us." Stated Torren "The three of us, you, Sam and I all requested to be on the same ship together. So they need to find a slot for the three of us."

"And Sam isn't even military." Stated Ash before shrugging. "Well not fully, she volunteered for this expedition to this Torch galaxy and has taken some combat training but she is a doctor not a warrior."

"Truth." said Torren as he took a drink. "We will just have to wait to see where they put us."

Acacai Lefeld formal Acacai Davas looked at the crowds around her with a little bit of worry. She was likely one of a handful of Colonial citizens on Earth at the moment and she was likely the only one who wasn't a member of the diplomat party with the President. She was a former Colonial Army private who had meet her future husband on the battlefield when captured her and her best friend.

"You ok Acacia?" inquired Robert as he stood beside her in the long line to wait to see the coffin of General Jack O'Neill as he lied in state. Robert along with other members of his unit the 101st airborne had been chosen to take part in the ceremony and she had come to Earth with him.

"Just a little worried." admitted Acacia as she lowered her voice. "I know how some people feel about Colonials."

Robert smiled and nodded his head in understanding, even years after the war between the Colonials and the Tau'ri there was still a lot of hard feelings between some of the general population. Robert being Tau'ri and most of all a Tau'ri soldier wasn't welcomed on Sagittarian which still had terrorist groups trying to overthrow the new religious freedom laws and reclaim the holy world of Kobol or as the Tau'ri called it Vahalla. It was the religious differences and control over that world which had been the root cause of the war which left 75 million colonials dead with a tiny fraction of Tau'ri dead. Most of the Tau'ri dead came from the Colonial Nuclear strike on Vahalla which had started the war.

"Don't worry about it." reassured Robert as he put his arm around his wife of only a few months. "Remember you are Tau'ri too now."

"I know." admitted Acacia, she had become a duel citizen when she had married him. She smiled at the memory both of the day and the fact that they didn't have to deal with the whole duel religion thing anymore. She hadn't converted to Robert's faith and he wasn't worshiping the Lords of Kobol so a duel ceremonial was done. She had worn a silver dress which fell in line with the traditions of her faith instead of the common white most Tau'ri seemed to have. He wore his dress uniform instead of the traditional robes that a groom wore in the colonies. There where countless smaller trades back and forth but it was still the happiest day of her life so far. "Sometimes I forget."

"I understand." said Robert with a smile as they reached the first set of stairs which would take them up to the capital building. "I still have issues with your bathroom system in the colonies."

That brought a smile to Acacia's face as she remembered how Robert like so many other Tau'ri freaked out when they have to deal with the colonial habit of just having a single large public bathroom in businesses instead of one for each gender. A little more at easy Acacia's eyes began to take in the view around her.

Acacia was still amazed as she looked around at the Capital city of the Tau'ri. It was far beyond anything that her people back home could do. The tall skyscrapers which reached up toward the sky with almost impossible thin points and graceful points. All the technology would scare to death almost everyone of a certain age in the colonies, the older generation still feared Technology because of the Cylon war. The younger generation, herself included didn't have that fear technology like their seniors however since contact with the Tau'ri more and more Colonials lost their fear of advance technology.

In truth more and more Colonials where adopting more Tau'ri line of thinking, she wasn't the first Colonial to marry a Tau'ri. She was among the first but not the first and according to the news, more Colonials where attempting to sign up with join the Tau'ri military then signing up to join the shadow of what remained of the Colonial Military. Tau'ri credits sometimes called Tau'ri dollars where worth more than Colonial Cubit and accepted every place in the colonies. Some business on Aquaria where the Tau'ri had their largest base accepted only Tau'ri money.

It wasn't totally smooth even years after the official end of the war there was still Tau'ri military operations against religious terrorists mostly on Sagittarian and Gememon. It was hard for the religious die hard to accept freedom of and from religion, even so the writing was on the wall. More and more people in the colonies where openly following different religions something that would have been unthinkable only a decade ago. Some of the new faiths where homegrown and predated the Colonial/Tau'ri war but where now in the open. Still others had taken some of the Tau'ri religions which they had picked up from interaction through soldiers, official missionary trips where illegal for both sides under the treaty but it still got through. Some had even started placing Tau'ri religious symbols beside those of the Lords of Kobol. It wasn't uncommon now to find statues of Tau'ri religious figures next to those of the Lords of Kobol on dinner table. In the apartment they had on Libran, there was both a crucifix and a statue of Zeus at the end of a hallway.

She let out a sigh again and looked around, all around people where in tears and had a sense of gloom. Tau'ri where in honoring the fallen General. She didn't know much about General O'Neill only that he was a hero to every single Tau'ri she had met, when word came of his death all the Tau'ri flags where lowered and out of respect President Baltar ordered the colonial flags lowered as well.

"Not the way I wanted to visit the capital or Earth." admitted Acacia

"Me neither, I haven't been here before either." admitted Robert with a shrug "But we have 5 days on Earth before I have to report back to base and you have to go back to work."

"True." Confirmed Acacia as they kept moving toward the main hall to honor the fallen hero Jack O'Neill.

Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau more often called Joker sat in the pilot chair of the TAV (Tau'ri Alliance Vessel) Normandy, before him was Vahalla. As always, the space around the first civilian colony the Tau'ri set up was full, it didn't help that even with the addition of dry docks and ship assembly points across Tau'ri space that this was still the prime world for the construction of Tau'ri Warships. Only place in the galaxy which likely had more traffic was the sol system but that had three populated worlds with Earth and a terraformed Mars and Venus.

Aside from the ships and space stations which protected the world a single massive ship filled the space over the Northern pole of Vahalla. It was a true giant of a ship, by far the largest ship ever constructed by either the Tau'ri or if the records where correct any other race. It was massive in scale with a long narrow front shaped like wedge before it exploded outwards and backwards until it reached the engines at the end. The Prometheus was indeed a sight to behold but it's size was also a front, only a small faction of the ship was actually a normal ship the rest was giant cargo hold capable of holding an entire fleet of warships.

"When do we dock?" inquired Joker as he turned his head to look at EDI, EDI was the onboard AI computer system which ran the ship along with him. The Tau'ri had learned from the mistake of the Colonials and from the almost countless fiction stories about mistreated AI rising up to destroy humanity. Under Tau'ri law, AI like EDI where Tau'ri citizens and had all the same rights as anyone within Tau'ri space. EDI like other AI held rank in the Tau'ri military, they could vote in elections and could be charged with crimes if they did break any laws. They even got paid the same as humans of similar rank. EDI like all AI had a tour of duty length within the military and once that was up they had the option to either reenlist or using a mixture of Asgard and Cylon technology to download their personality and memories into a clone body and living out their lives as a breathing human.

"They have finished loading up the Archimedes class science vessels, they are about to start loading the Hadrian class transports with the supergate parts next." reported EDI as she sat there in her holographic body. In truth the whole ship was her body, but most people interacted better with AI through holograms. "After that comes the Missouri class battleships and Yorktown class carriers, then…."

"EDI I don't need the list only a time line." said Joker

"Two and a half days." answered EDI "They aren't in a rush and we are going to be used as recon ships when we arrive, so we will be last to get put into the cargo hold."

"Last on, first off." said Joker as he leaned back and pulled his hat over his eyes and leaned back a bit. "I am half tempted to take a nap."

"We may not have a Commander at the moment, but it is still against regulations to take a nap while on duty." Countered EDI as Joker waved a hand at her.

"I know, I said I was half tempted to not that I would." Said Joker "Who do you think will get as Skipper anyhow?"

"Since our main goal will be recon and support of ground forces, the safe bet is a marine of some kind." admitted EDI

"Wonderful a Jarhead." said Joker, as a Navy man he was found of the joke about Marines. "Did I ever tell you what Marine stands for?"

"My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment." said EDI stressing the first letter of each word "Marine."

"I guess I did tell you that one." stated Joker with a resigned sigh as he looked out the window, to either side where more Normandy class frigates all of them waiting to dock all of them had both science and marine/special forces teams onboard about half of them had more military teams while the other half had more science teams. "We will just have to wait to see who we get."

"We may have wait a while once the Normandy is docked with the Prometheus only skeleton crews will remain onboard each of the ships until we near the Torch Galaxy, then the crews will arrive by Stargate from our galaxy." stated EDI as Joker nodded his head.

"Well I am not going anywhere." stated Joker, he was staying onboard. It really didn't matter to him and the military was paying everyone who stayed onboard a bonus and beside basic upkeep he like everyone else would have very light duty for the year that they would be traveling between galaxies.

Night had fallen over the capital of the Tau'ri as a more private get together was happening inside the Presidential estate. In this private get together was only for Jack's friends and family, there was no speeches made by politicians and military leaders talking about his bravery. Instead there was laughs as all of them remembered the good times they had with their fallen friend. In the distance they could see the Capital building where even now crowds of people paid their final respects to Jack.

"I don't remember that, you and Jack played Golf through the Stargate?" inquired Sam with a laugh.

"You wouldn't." confirmed Teal'c "I must admit, you wouldn't have remembered O'Neill and I where stuck in a time loop and Daniel said we could get away with anything so a few times we did."

"I will miss him." added Daniel as everyone lowered their heads a bit.

"So when do you head out on this mission to the Torch galaxy?" inquired Mitchell as he took a pull on his beer. Everyone above age was drinking and their was finger food for everyone.

"I was supposed to take a tour of the ship before it launch in a couple of days however that was pushed back because of this." Stated Daniel "I will head to it through the gate so I have about a year before I assume official command of the fleet. I am concerned about if anything arises military wise, I do not know much about ship to ship combat."

"Well Admiral Hackett is highly experience and he will handle things on that front." confirmed Carter "Your job is to handle any Alien races we meet in that galaxy and you are the best man for that."

"Still I wonder if it would be better for a younger person." Admitted Daniel

"Well you know 60 is the new 30." Added a new voice as Daniel turned to see General Sheppard and his wife Teyla moving toward the group.

"I am 71." Countered Daniel

"So your basically the new 35." Corrected John as Daniel and the others laughed a bit. It wasn't that far off, with the new medical technology the life span of someone in their 20's today was expected to be around a 150 years while newborns could easily see 200.

"No." said Daniel with a sad laugh, all the new technology from the gate was improving the lives of everyone within Tau'ri space but the benefits had come to late to due for the men and woman gathered around them, even John was in his sixties, Carter was nearing 70 and Jack had died at 84. With the new technology they would likely see a 100 but not 150 like the younger generation who where on the far side of the room in a small group talking to themselves.

"So is your son looking forward to taking part in this expedition?" inquired Daniel as he changed the subject back to the mission before them.

"Yes, however…I think he believes he got his new promotion because of who he is." Admitted John as he looked at his adopted son, he stood beside his sister who had Teyla's looks but his darker hair color. Torren, looked a lot like his mother but had the darker hair of his biological father, a few times people had told both of them they look like each other, that had always upset Torren. "Torren is always concerned about that."

"So is Sam." admitted Jack O'Neill Jr. As the Asgard clone he caused multiple flashbacks for the members of SG-1 because he looked just like what Jack did when they first opened the gate way back in 1997 almost 40 years earlier. "She is worried that she gets extra benefits because of who where grandfather was and the connections she has. I tried not to pull any strings for her or any of the other kids but still."

"Still, you never know what someone does behind your back." added John as he looked toward Torren. "I think that is part of the reason the two of them want to due this mission, to step out of the shadow we cast on them."

"Possible, some young Jaffa warriors do take on risky missions to get their own honor and glory." Admitted Teal'c as the parents shared concerned looks, they didn't want to see their children in a risky situation but this mission was that.

"If I may do you know where Torren and Sam will be going?" inquired John as he looked at President Carter.

"Officially I don't know, I am not suppose to look into assignments on a personal level." stated Carter

"Still…" added Jack

"Unofficially the two of them will learn tomorrow that they are assigned to the TAV-Normandy." said Carter "Torren will be in command and leading a recon team based on the ship. Sam will be the main medical and second science officer."

"Let's hope they don't get in too much trouble." added Teyla

"They are our children, of course they will." confirmed Jack as he looked at his daughter.

"I'll keep an eye on them." reassured Daniel to everyone. "Let's hope it is an easy mission."

Carter didn't want to admit it to everyone else, but she had her worries. Something was off about the Torch Galaxy. The ancient records from Destiny said that they had placed stargates in that galaxy like they had on every other galaxy along the flight path of Destiny and the gate ships. They had made contact with the gate networks in the galaxies before Torch and the ones after it as well, but not a single gate addresses they tried in Torch galaxy connection. Something was off about that galaxy, but it was the best place to build the supergate to finish the Destiny mission, so it had to be that galaxy.

"Let's hope." confirmed Carter.

Well I hope you enjoyed the start of the third part of my contact series. This is kind of a refresher of what happened in the past stories as well as saying goodbye to Jack/passing the torch to a new generation. Now until next time please keep reading, thanks Wilkins75.