So finally the next chapter is here. I really don't know when the next one will be out so don't get your hopes up. I can finally understand the delays some authors have between each chapter.

Anyway enjoy andi hope you will find this new chapter to your liking.

Lord Nomad

Chapter 15

Cyrranus System, in orbit of Gaiatena.

The 25th fleet had suffered greatly during the attack from the Neo Cylons with the loss of several ships and the crippling wounds inflicted on several others. Thankfully the fail-safes implemented in each Terran Ship had functioned properly and the crew of the destroyed ships had been beamed on the rescue capsule designed to store their dematerialized bodies and minds.

However the same could not be said to the planet below as the Neo Cylons had been able to wreak serious arm to the Capital and it's surroundings. The defensive measures initiated by the 13th tribe were at first successful in their assigned task, but they gradually felled when the boarding capsules sent from orbit to the surface disgorged their contingent of Neo Centurions which made mince meat of the Home Guard dedicated to the protection of the defenses installed millennia ago by their ancestors.

With the land based Plasma Cannons disabled one by one, the Capital City endured more and more under the heavy bombardment until the last Neo Basestar was destroyed. The damage was severe and the Tribe's rescue operations had begun but were rapidly overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties and the remnants of the Neo Centurions still wrecking havoc in the city.

2 days after the Cylon's defeat, Admiral Delterre was still receiving reports from his fleet' captains concerning the casualties and damages when his aide came to inform him of a message from the 13th Tribe's Council. Apparently the Tribe was requesting their aid in repairing some of the damage brought by the cylon's attack on their planet. However granting their request was for the moment impossible.

As Director Pedersen told the Council before they made their decision, when they voted to refuse formal contact with the Terran federation, they also removed the possibility of help coming from them. The non-interference directive, created with lessons learned from the Asgard and Alterans allowed only Planets having reached the correct stage of Galactic awareness to join the federation for membership either by their own petition or by invitation. However if the legal government refused the invitation, the assistance that could be provided was limited to humanitarian help.

The request from the Council would have to be unfortunately partially refused, as they not only asked for medical and food supplies but also for military aid to defend their planet. The medical aid would be granted by giving duplicated native medical supplies in large quantities but both Admiral Delterre and Director Petersen formally refused to give the expected military aid. The 13th tribe 's response was to invite them to negotiate the pursuit of relations between the two governments, which the Director and the Admiral accepted.

As the two men were the highest ranked in the fleet's military and civilian hierarchy and due to the high probability of Cylon presence on the planet, the first contact shuttle was escorted by a squadron of Arrows and a cloaked Marauder with two special forces teams ready to deploy also cloaked in order to guard the two Terran representatives discreetly.

The shuttle landed in the plaza mimicking it's arrival days before only this time the guards assigned to them were busy clearing the way to the Great Hall from the crowd that waited for their arrival. The two officials were able to understand thanks to their translators the demands shouted at them from the sidelines and if these demands were any indicator to what awaited them inside the Council Hall, Pedersen was thankful to the Admiral's foresight in assigning the Special Forces to guard them.

As if the crowd's yells from their arrival were not proof enough of the rising tension, the echoing roar coming from the Council hall finished to convince them that the ensuing negotiations would be anything but peaceful.

They entered a council hall in the middle of a shouting match between several factions, which fell quiet when they noticed the arrival of the Terran Delegates in their mist. The tension present in almost every Sage's face was even more telling than the absence of First Sage Haram. Unfortunately, replacing him was the Sage heading the front against the Terran Federation during the first meeting, Marite.

Admiral Delterre calmly took his place on the raised table reserved for them while Director Petersen continued on his way to address directly the assembly.

"Sages of the 13th Tribe, as you wished we are here to reopen negotiations with your people to maintain a formal contact with your world. We, as representatives of the Terran Federation are saddened by the attack that occurred and wish to convey our sincere condolences for the deaths endured during the Cylon's invasion of your world. We again offer our help to the maximum of our capabilities to ensure that no new tragedy befell your people. We are ready to supply as much food and healing supplies as necessary …"

The new First Sage suddenly stood up brandishing his hand in a move clearly designed to violently cut Director Petersen's speech and yelled his response.

"YOU are sad? YOU offer condolences to our people? If it were not for you and your damned fleet the Cylons would never have found Gaiatena! We would be at peace, thousands of our tribe's guards and civilians would not be dead and our cities not burned from orbit! Because of you, our most revered Leader, First Sage Haram, was killed while trying to beg these things for mercy. We do not wish your help but we are not in a position to refuse it. And when we ask you for help to defend our planet, your response is to hide behind excuses. YOU are responsible and as such you WILL have to account for the damages you caused with your arrival."

As Marite finished his words, he motioned for the guards at the doors to come. "You are hereby under arrest and will be under guard until such a time your Government and your Fleet has finished helping our people. You will provide us with everything you have and until such a time as the Cylon threat exist you will remain our protectors."

Not believing their eyes at the casual display of arrogance, the Terran representatives were stunned. However barely seconds after the order at been given and seeing the frozen body of his compatriot, Admiral Delterre raised his hand and gave the agreed upon signal to the Special forces team acting as their invisible guards.

In front of a screaming audience, the Red ghosts materialized from thin air and assumed a guarding position around the 2 officials, erecting specially designed force shields as they did.

The crowd which was seconds ago screaming obscenities at the top of their lungs had been silenced instantly by the incredible display and looked hopefully in the direction of their new leader only to discover a stammering wreck in his place. While before the First Sage was pumped full of his own importance, the appearance of armed Terran guards defying his orders had quickly deflated his ego and left him frozen in stupor.

Admiral Delterre made a simple hand sign understood immediately by the soldiers who moved, allowing him to be seen by the entire Council. He assessed them all with a cool gaze before speaking in a tone of voice that suffered no argument.

"We came to your world in good faith, to meet with your people and open peaceful negotiations on behalf of our government and the government of your fellow descendants of Kobol. We were hopeful to become friends with you but we were met with distrust and fear and asked to leave which we did! "

Too stunned to talk, the Council could only watch while the Admiral dressed them dow.

"We are not the ones who brought the Cylons to your world. Had we been their primary target they would have brought the full might of their fleet against us directly instead of laying siege to your world from orbit using the better part of their forces to delay us. We are the reason your planet is not currently under Cylon rule and how do you repay us? Blackmail, betrayal and hostage taking!"

The entire audience stood agape with more than a few looking down in shame at the words leaving the Admiral's mouth. Director Pedersen had quickly shook off his shock and was standing at attention near Delterre, silently giving his support to the military man and pining under a cold stare each member of the Council in turn.

Before Marite could even began to open his mouth, the Admiral turned his back on him and left the front to allow the Civilian envoy to say his piece. "I am sorry to add that from this moment on and until the people of the 13th Tribe decide to change the leadership chosen to represent them, the Terran Federation will not maintain any form of contact official or otherwise with your government."

Seeing the guards still trying to reach them, the Admiral signaled the General's Glory in orbit via his wrist mounted communicator and the whole party vanished in the bright light of Asgard transporters leaving the gathered Tribe's men dumfounded in the great hall.

In orbit over the planet, one of the ships of the 25th fleet released a satellite, which immediately cloaked and placed itself in orbit. Soon afterwards, the entire fleet left the system continuing their journey exploring the space between the Terran Federation and the Cyrannus system.

Terra, Capital of the Terran Federation

The senate was in full session with the representatives of every world in the Terran Federation in attendance to deliver the formal response to the Free Jaffa Nation. The Jaffa Ambassador was in attendance to formally receive the Senate's response but was more than surprised to discover that the Council had sent someone to "assist" him directly from Dakara. He was however more surprised to discover the individual chosen to replace him since he was a Jaffa originally from Kardak, one of the leading worlds of the Chartiq sector under the control of Councilor Rya'c.

Taking his seat at the place reserved for the visiting dignitaries, he calmly waited for the final response, even though he was already well aware what the decision would be. No government would willingly accept the blame for the actions of the other party, moreover if said government was the more powerful one.

His insight was proved correct a handful of minutes later with the speech delivered by the Senate chairman in flowery words designed to take the edge off the refusal but with enough firmness behind them to make the Jaffa Leadership understand the Terran's position. Evidently every demand was refused and further economical restraints than before had been enacted which effectively cut trade between the two nations to nothing. As he accepted the formal letter from the hands of the chairman and prepared to leave, the special envoy stood up and cleared his throat demanding the attention of the assembly.

Furious at the slight made against his position as Ambassador, he was ready to order him to sit down but was too late to stop him. However his anger disappeared instantaneously when the topic discussed became clear to him and was replaced by incredulity and fear.

Standing calmly at the podium, the envoy started his speech to the astonishment of the Senate "Mr. President, Mr. Chairman and Senators I stand before you not as a representative of the Free Jaffa Nation, but as the personal envoy of Lord Ryac of Chulak, Leader of the Reformist movement. "Seing that he had the undivided attention of the assembly, the envoy started his declaration.

"Since the start of the Free Jaffa Nation, Master Teal'c and his Son Lord Rya'c had always considered themselves close friends of the Federation and always strived to emulate the shining example of democracy displayed by our Terran Allies. But since the death of Master Teal'c, the principles upon which was built the Free Jaffa Nation had been trampled by opportunistic Jaffa more interested in their power than the well being of their fellow Jaffa Brothers. Master Ryac had always hoped that the situation could be salvaged but with the ascension of Lord Keffu as First Prime of the council, his confidence in a return to the old Free Jaffa Nation ethics as crumbled and the wish of the council to pursue war with our friends was the last straw. "

Taking a pause for effect the Jaffa ended his speech "By popular vote, the member worlds of the Reformist faction wish to petition formally the Terran Federation for Provisional Membership in the Federation."

The Senate erupted in whispers as some of the senators stood to applause the bold move made by Rya'c of Chulak for the stroke of genius he had done. Using the mounting tensions to segregate his territories from the Council's influence when he knew that no sane Senator would oppose their entry. After all, war was all but declared for now and taking a part of the enemy's forces now would be very beneficial.

Fortunately for Lord Rya'c, the Terran intelligence had delivered many reports over the years about the political unrest in the Jaffa Nation since the emergence of Keffu's faction and ever since his ascension as the First Prime such reports were re evaluated almost daily. When the possibility put forth by the intelligence analyst of a secession in the Jaffa Nation, reached the hears of the Joint chiefs of staff, the decision was made to prepare for any possible opportunity to decrease the chance of a hostile takeover or retaliation to the seceding states.

To that end, four hundred defense satellites, each equipped with a heavy plasma beam capable of dissecting a ha'tak, twelve hundred squadrons of arrows and the needed personnel to maintain them and sixteen battalions of Troopers were ready to be deployed as soon as the order was given. The only problem caused by the sudden decision from Lord Rya'c was the complete unavailability of dedicated starship fleets to defend the newly accepted provisional members. With the lobbying of peacemakers senators against the increase of the military budget, the backbone of the entire Terran Army projection capabilities, the space fleets, had been maintained at the same number for the last decade. A fleet could not be relocated this quickly and in prevision for the worst, the order was given to the newest ship of the line of the Space Navy to prepare to assist via wormhole drive if the Jaffa Council decided to retake by force the "rebelling" Jaffa.

At the same time Lord Keffu was given the news about the defection in his ranks, the order was also given to deploy the massive defensive installation on the newly accepted Provisional member worlds via stargate. By the end of the day, and before any sort of plan for retaliation could even be decided, either a satellite system or an Arrow squadron or even both, protected every world of the Reformist movement.

Chulak, Chartiq Sector.

Rya'c was finally sitting down for some rest after almost 2 days without sleeping. After making the decision to secede from the Free Jaffa Nation, the process had rapidly accelerated with all the preparations completed in secret with only the highest level of his councilors aware of the impending announcement in front of the Terran Senate.

Decisions after decisions had been made; plans chosen and discarded as soon as they were created until everyone agreed.

The following morning the proclamation was made to the general population declaring at the same time martial law and a blackout on gate travels and communications. To further secure the system against spies alerting the Jaffa Council a communication disruptor blocking every single communication wave in the system was put in place so that even if a spy used a legitimate communication array no signal could come through until the arrival of the Terran Federation.

The news of the secession from the Free Jaffa Nation was met originally with dismay and panic but after every fact was made public the tone changed to relief. While the average Jaffa did not have the level of education present in the Terran Federation, the Jaffa of the Chartiq Sector were generally far more educated to the reality of the Galactic politics and no propaganda was made to instill them with a false sense of superiority clouding their judgment. This fact made them all the more relieved to hear that they would be joining the Federation knowing the absolute fear the defenses installed by the Terrans caused in the ranks of the Jaffa of Keffu's army. Defenses that would soon protect them as well!

Dakara, Capital of the Jaffa Nation, 4 days later

Lord Keffu was a patient man. He had waited a hundred years to take control of the Jaffa Nation and had succeeded. If he had to wait millennia to conquer the Terran Federation he would do what was needed to achieve his ambitions. No goal was too far for him and he will prove to them all that HE was worthy of worship, unlike those arrogant Goa'ould whose belief in their superiority had allowed them to become too complacent and ultimately lose the power they had gathered.

He turned around from the balcony he was facing and once again he looked at the tactical map displayed by the terminal in front of him. His generals and direct subordinates were watching him nervously, waiting for his decision on the plan of attack they had prepared to take back the territories held by the reformist faction. The plan was straight forward: four hundred Ha'taks, a thousand Alkesh and a hundred troop carriers dispatched on the principal worlds of the traitorous faction by order of importance, starting with Chulak their capital. Such an invasion force had never before been seen in this galaxy, not even when the System Lords had free rein of it and he was sure that with such a show of force, the seceding worlds would soon be under control with loyal governors again. He had however changed the disposition of forces a little, preferring to devote a quarter of this force to the sole task of retaking Chulak, hoping that the rapid conquest would shock the other worlds to a more peaceful surrender. After all, he had no wish to destroy useful planets since his ultimate goal was the conquest of Terra and its technology. For this he would need all the industrial power available in the Empire, and the reformist faction had worlds specialized in industrial production, more so than his own territories where his traditional stance had slowed, he admitted, the industrial production of his territories. However the benefits had been plentiful for him and his allies since the educational drop had allowed him to assert more control over the Jaffa population in his domain.

With a last look at the tactical map, he gave the final order to his generals to depart to their ships. The attack will begin in barely 10 hours and from his estimation of the Reformist's forces he expected the battle to last for 2 hours. In just 12 hours he expected to be the master of the entire Jaffa Nation and nothing the Terran Federation did would forbid that. He made sure of it.

Chulak, Chartiq Sector 5 hours before.

The Stargate opened in its usual display before it began literally expulsing people. The first arrivals were not even seen by the Jaffa guarding the ring as they were out of phase and immediately sent the go ahead to the battalion coming through to secure the Capital world of the reformist Jaffa. For 2 hours straight, Terran Fishers streamed through the vortex and started rematerializing the troops they carried as well as their equipment. The same display was replicated in over 15 worlds of the newly entered provisional member and as soon as the Troops had been transferred the Defense satellites dedicated to planetary protection were dispatched automatically guided to their necessary position for optimal coverage in orbit.

The 207th battalion HQ was being built piece by piece via drones unleashing an army of nanites in the flanking mountains surrounding the Jaffa City, allowing the newly built command center to benefit from the mountain's protection and separating the Terran Army from the Jaffa quarters. While the Terran commanders had faith in the Jaffa Leadership of Rya'c, they still feared spies and saboteurs from Keffu's fanatics to harm their efforts and the necessary separation and security of the planet's new defenses was given priority. Under 10 hours, the headquarters were fully functional and manned by the Terrans Space Troopers with 18 plasma cannons placed in strategic positions and ready to repel a space invasion from space. The security against intrusions and spies was assured by the fact that the headquarters were completely isolated without any natural entry points. The Asgards transporters were used as doors for the whole headquarters allowing the security personnel to screen and disarm every non Terran Personnel entering the facility assuring with the 2 meters wide reinforced Naquadah walls and a shield the total impregnability for the Terran principal headquarters in Jaffa Territory.

Atropos, Ilempiri Homeworld, Terran Federation member.

Prince Tarik Klot was looking a last time through his wardrobe, silently cursing under his breath while mentally running a checklist for his backpack. Sullenly, he glanced again at the holo screen on his desk displaying the new orders cancelling his leave and assigning him as the XO on the "Bounty Hunter", the newest ship whose Prototype had just cleared the final testing in secret three weeks ago.

At least, he mused tiredly, the orders came with a bonus, an elevation to the grade of Commander of the Special Forces, Hunting Division.

The Special Forces were an oddity in the armed forces of the Terran Federation. While the two main branch of the Terran Army were specialized in their role, the Special Forces were a jack-of-all-trades, smaller in size, but with the ability to accomplish tasks more delicate in nature.

What few people outside of the upper echelons of the armed service realized was that the only public face of the Terran special forces the general people knew was the SED: the Stargate Exploration Division which represented only 15% of the deployed Special Forces personnel. In truth the Special Forces were divided in five Divisions, each specialized in a different way: Exploration, Protection, Intel, Hunting and Commando.

Each division had developed during its existence variations of the ships of the line available to the Terran Army. The "Bounty Hunter" was in appearance like almost every Cruiser Class ship of the line, however modifications had been made by the Hunting Division to suit their needs and improve key functions necessary for their missions. Longer by 10 meters, thinner by 2, the ship was made to be unnoticeable by the enemy ships as well as the allied ships of the Federation. The armament was limited to one Drone battery leaving more space for a Marauder, Triplicates stealth systems and extended power generation. This type of ship had only one type of purpose: enter enemy or allied territory unnoticed to accomplish wet works missions and leave similarly.

Tarik finally closed his luggage and checked a final time his rooms in the Palace. He looked a last time at the picture of his family, the Royal Family of Ilempiri, ancestral rulers of the race and last survivors of the purge ordered by the Goa'ould when they took over the world. His father was the last survivor of the line secreted away a thousand years ago by the last king's bodyguard so that one day their civilization could be restored. The Ilempiri had been a peaceful and advanced civilization at a technological level equivalent to earth in the 90's, until the Goa'ould discovered and enslaved them to take them as host due to their physical abilities. But while the Ilempiri appeared at first for the Goa'ould like the perfect hosts due to their average lifespan of over 200 years, their physiognomy had one glaring defect for the Goa'ould, their complete incompatibility with a symbiote whose implantation caused its death.

The Goa'ould after realizing that this race wouldn't submit by the usual means developed a drug they called Roshna and made the entire race dependant on it to enslave them further. It was only thanks to a Terran Federation scientist that found a cure to the Roshna that the Ilempiri were able to shed the chains that enslaved them and allowed them to rejoin the stars as a race once more.

20 years after their liberation, the Ilempiri entered the Terran Federation as full members and since then had invested every effort to fortify the interstellar state, knowing that their survival in the front of the dangerous universe they lived in came from the unity they shared.

Tarok left his quarters, leaving a letter for his mother, knowing that she always worried for him when he was on duty and far from his ancestral planet. He sometimes wished his parents understood his drive to make his career in the army at the expanse of his duties as one of the Royal Princes like his brothers. But as the yougest of the Ilempiri Princes he had to set an example for his people. By his enlistment in the Terran Federation Army he bolstered the recruitment on the planet by 45% and the number increased each time he appeared in public in uniform at his Father's side.

The only problem the general public had with him came to the Special Forces branch he was a member as each of his missions were classified beyond even members of the Royal Family. It was a source of great discomfort for his parents to never know what kind of work their son was doing although they had a small idea. The upper members of the Military hierarchy of each member world had at least an inkling of the work every branch of the military specialized into. The hunting division was like its name enthused specialized in the disposal of potential threatening individuals or factions whose goals went against the Federation's security, even though many thought of their work as immoral, politicians knew that it was necessary. Furthermore to avoid any abuse of the system from interested parties, every target was selected personally by Three Triumvirates, each one anonymous from the other and presented to the Shadow Council which voted in assembly with every member having a veto right of 6 months. Thanks to this division, many terrorists groups and would be Goa'ould revivalist had been eliminated before they became a problem.

He finally reached the transport room of the Palace and signaled the technician posted there to beam him out. A second later he stood in front of the Stargate, having used his military pass to cut the line of travelers and inputted himself the coordinates remotely to the gate, bypassing the terminal thus avoiding the tracking and logging of his destination to the secret planet of Alcantra, Home world of the Sodan as well as base, training camp and Shipyards of the Special Forces.

New Kobol, New Colonia.

President Lee Adama watched the last polls come in from the referendum he had commissioned and debated for a week.

After their successful installation on New Kobol, and the influx of survivors coming from the devastated colonies finally settled in, the political tension had started to rise in the government. While the inclusion of the survivor's leaders in key positions in the administration had been successful in quelling the first protesters, the call of the opposition was growing more virulent each week and many in the government believed the situation would explode well before the Presidential elections in 9 months.

Faced with a growing discontent due for a part to the disproportions in the Quorum where the 12 delegates supposed to represent the population were more and more looking for a way to keep their positions instead of seeking solutions to the problems appearing with the planet's colonization and due in an other part to the disrespect shown by key factions of zealots which believed the Terran Federation liars and wanted to rupture any contact with them, considering them non believers and no better than the Cylons since they believed for the most part in only one god.

With the fall of the entire political structure of the Colonial Government, the President had decided to launch a general referendum seeking exceptional powers to establish new articles of colonization since the previous ones, created with the idea of joining twelve worlds together against a common enemy was no longer viable. With whole worlds barely represented in the population and the too present religious aspect becoming rapidly a gangrenous weight in the thinking process in New Kobol, Lee Adama hoped that the new articles of colonization would allow the formation of a more stable form of government even if for that he had to lose the presidency.

An aide entered and gave a single nod to his questioning stare. The President let loose the breath he was holding and took one of the two speeches he had prepared in advance in case of victory or defeat.

With the backing of the entire colonial population, he finally had the legitimacy to oversea and led the reformation without the obstacle that the zealots represented.

Appearing in front of the cameras, he smiled calmly at the reporters standing and shouting their questions at him. He stopped them with a simple gesture of his hand and cleared his throat to silence the last murmurs.

"My fellow Colonials, 4 years ago we lived through the worst tragedy our people had ever endured. Our civilization, our way of life, fell. Not to an enemy from far away, from a stranger, but to our own creations. And we survived! "

President Adama put his palms on either side of the stand and leaned forward staring intently into the lenses of the cameras. "We survived the attacks; we survived the privations but most importantly our civilization, our culture survived. But it comes a time when survival must come to an end and for evolution to begin. The Articles of Colonization were created at a time of great strife were unity was more important than liberties and it is time that those Articles be allowed to evolve into new Articles of Foundation."

Leaning back he continued" We can't recreate the Colonies of Kobol! But we can preserve our culture and our way of life by remembering that above being Sagittarians, Virgons or Capricans, we are Colonials! We are humans! We are New Kobolians! So Say we All!"

Leaving the room after the resounding echoes of the assembly's response, Lee entered his office to start the interviews to answer the various questions asked by the reporters. He let out a shuddering breath in the privacy of his own office, knowing that the battle had only begun.

Chartiq Sector, 15 hours later. Jaffa invasion Fleet's attack +2 hours.

The orbit of Chu'lak was full of so much debris from the dying ships that someone could go from the planet to the edge of the system just by jumping from one to the other.

The battle was still raging even thought the defensive satellites had almost all been destroyed by the Jaffa fleet literally throwing their ship at them. The casualties in the Arrow squadrons were high in spite of the safety capsules installed in their fighters and after 2 hours of combat the pilot's minds were starting to bow before the task.

The Jaffa assault ships had landed more than 10 000 troops already and reports of open warfare in the street were abundant in the Terran HQ were the entire sector's reports were coming in.

5 Reformist worlds had been captured already and the Terran HQ was on the point of being overwhelmed by the Jaffa bombardment from the 40 remaining ships in orbit of the capital world.

The defense satellites had accomplished their work well, however the Terran strategists had not counted on the Jaffa commander's willingness to sacrifice ships just to take down the satellites. The Arrow Squadrons had enabled the Terran army to gain some time until Navy reinforcement arrived, but hope was starting to wane, as the ETA of any fleet at flank speed was not until an hour.

Above the skies of Chu'lak, a massive wormhole opened allowing a massive ship to enter the system almost on top of the bombarding Jaffa Ships. Obscuring for some of them the light of the system's sun.

The monstrosity, for it could only be that in the mind of superstitious jaffa, seemed to look at them like a predator looking at his prey: the absolute confidence that it's place in the food chain was way above them.

On that day, the galaxy watched as the Terran Federation proved once and for all that their enemies were right to fear them.

On that day, the Vultur Griphus showed them exactly why it is not a good idea to awaken the sleeping dragon.

And on that day, the Jaffa finally understood why their former masters lost against the Tau'ri.