Emergency - Earth

-McMurdo Base, Classified Air Force Barracks-

Cameron ignored the little twinge of pain that came from his lower back. He hadn't spent so much time retraining and recovering just to let a little workout soreness stop him now.

The cold of McMurdo wasn't ever something he really enjoyed, but when he'd get heated up from his workouts it sure as shit felt great.

He'd just changed back into his BDU's after cooling and drying off when the alarm sounded. It wasn't the typical alarm, yet was the one specifically designed to strike actual fear in just about everyone. The piercing air raid siren was suddenly interjected and pushed aside for a familiar voice. "This is General Bradford to all McMurdo personnel. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. All pilots report to your CAGs and flight leads and ready for takeoff. All other personnel to ready stations."

The alarm kept going, it was an unending sound that Cam had heard too many times in his career.

But it wasn't supposed to happen here, not at one of the most not-a-secret military complexes in the world.

Cam ditched his personal bag and made a dash out of the locker room to an influx of well trained personnel coming right at him. Most sped right past him to get their gear, but these weren't pilots.

"Cam! The hells happening?"

"Fuck if I know loot." Cam replied to a lieutenant acquaintance who moved past. Cam broke into a calm run and past more people, scientists, admin personnel, and the odd soldier or two.

"I repeat." The General's voice came back over the speaker "This is NOT a drill. Pilots receive orders from flight leads."

Cam ignored that HE was a flight leader and just kept going. The ready room was just ahead which led to where he could change into his gear.

He opened the door to a flurry of screaming and shouts that barely cut through the sound of the alarm. The CAG was an older Colonel named Stone, and his voice was now that of a drill sergeant. "...your gear and take off double time! Instructions will be given to flight leaders on take off! AWACS and conventional support will come online as we move! Don't stay here, get in your planes, listen to the crews for your take off and get in the air now!"

Cam again didn't worry about listening too much, just like the other three dozen pilots he knew when to follow orders.

Despite that, he still had a pretty sharp mind in his melon head, only reason conventional forces would be used is something huge – like an invasion. The pilots around him asked a cacophony of questions and he just shrugged in reply. He'd find out soon enough once he got in his plane.

"... contact with Prometheus, but radar is picking up three massive targets."

Cam had just put on his flight helmet and turned on the radio to the frantic sounding CAG briefing flight leads. He turned to the aircraft tech who'd rushed him into the plane without even going through full checklist. "Sarge! The hell is..."

"Orders are immediate sortie!" The tech sergeant replied, he reached up and pulled down the airtight cockpit and slapped it a couple times. Cam could barely hear him past the airtight seal "Godspeed sirs!"

Cam instinctively flicked his onboard switches and paid attention to the navigation computer telling him what path to take for take off. His copilot Jake Dunn behind him did his own abbreviated preflight checks. He just had to taxi out of the hangar and almost immediately VTOL up and out. It was so simple he could afford some bandwidth to listen to the radio.

"... any intel on targets?"

"Negative flight lead, three Ha'Tak spotted in orbit and engaging Prometheus, best guess is they've launched every last fighter they've got and are coming down worldwide. Dagger and Darkstar Titan squadrons are to protect the Continental United States. Perseus and Dante squad protect McMurdo until further orders."

Cam recognized his fellow flight leads' voices. The answers to their questions chilled him. He bit back the harsh reality of only just being put back into active duty after getting shot down by these fucking Goa'uld. He'd think they'd be concerned after being torn to shreds by the ancient defence platform, Instead of launching this surprise attack.

"Conventional forces are scrambling, all air traffic is being routed to the nearest airports and military is the only thing allowed in the air. AWACS support is online, all conventional forces have been updated with IFF recognition. Our boys won't be shooting at you."

"That's a relief." Jake mused. "You frosty Shaft?"

"Ice cold, Steak." Cam replied as he begun his taxi out, he thanked his fellow leads internally for asking the right questions so he could focus on getting in the air. It was only another two minutes, even as he heard other F302s take off and sonic boom into the skies, for his plane to get into the right area.

He called in his callsign on the general frequency and got an immediate permission to take off. Cam braced himself but the inertial dampeners did a great job keeping his body from feeling the brunt of his emergency VTOL takeoff.

Once he'd cleared a hundred feet he switched to his RamJet engines and let the crazy forward swept wing design lift him into the air. The other F302s that had already taken off we're heading up into suborbit, Cam knew the low drag and atmosphere that high meant he could push the plane to its higher speeds.

"This is Darkstar Titan flight lead 'Shaft', in the air and calling out roll call."

" 'Steak' locked and loaded" Jake replied.

One by one his wingmen replied in kind, 2 hadn't taken off yet, but with the piercing cry of the air raid siren still cutting though his head, the din of collected but not calm soldiers, and the tense soreness from his workout, he knew today was going to contend with the worst of his life.

-Flight PJA-632, Somewhere over Ohio-

"Not quite my taste." Elizabeth fought her disappointment at the almost tasteless domestic beer. The private jet she'd "loaned" from a lobby friend was very well stocked. Significantly more than the C130 Transports that Jack was fully ready to have them 'hitch' a ride on. How Jack had convinced her to switch from Dom to domestic to "expand horizons" though...

Jack for his count looked equally disappointed with his Dom Perignon. He was less generous with his words. "Does anyone actually enjoy wine?"

Elizabeth shrugged, the comfortable open space in the plane had couches and neither was strapped into the dozen flight chairs available. Both of their escorts were off to the side playing cards between the four of them. "It's an acquired taste." She sipped the beer again. "I'd need a few more before I could think I enjoy this."

"See? You do understand. Simple tastes." Jack replied. He looked down at his glass of wine. Elizabeth saw him contemplate it with a look that was anything but simple. "Marinade'd be good with this. Barbecue once we get a day?"

"I'd like that." Elizabeth nodded. "You're not marinating it in two hundred and fifty dollar wine. This beer would probably do better."

Jack smiled at her. "See? You're not pretentious at a-"

A sudden warning beep came over the PA, Elizabeth turned her head towards it and sighed. "Probably just turbulence."

Jack made an exaggerated motion of moving his head back and forth. "Doesn't feel like it." He got up and put his wine back on the clasping tray next to his seat. "Might want to buckle up."

Elizabeth didn't question Jack, and instead moved to the seats with a seatbelt and buckled herself in. Her two guards sat beside her and gave her reassuring nods. She watched Jack walk toward the cockpit, and after a knock was let in.

It was a tense time, Elizabeth checked her watch, Jack was inside almost three minutes when he and his own guards came out - he looked pale and completely serious. "Doctor."

Elizabeth noted his tone - they'd been on first name basis for a bit now, whatever it was that had happened had spooked him. To this point nothing had been able to cause this reaction. "General?"

"We've got hostiles in orbit. Three Ha'tak. Pilot is ex-Air Force and we've got orders to touch down ASAP."

Elizabeth felt her body tense too. Three Ha'Tak were intensely dangerous. "What's the situation? Have they-"

"They're attacking." Jack replied, he brought up his arm and a hologram came up. The guards next to her had been briefed on the mass effect technology but they still balked at Jack's actions. "We're at least twenty five minutes from the nearest airport, and we've got 200 plus bogies coming at the US, more globally. We might have to ditch if things get bad."

The hologram showed a quarter section of the continental US east coast, with their plane just north of the Ohio-Kentucky border. What looked like a blob of dots approached, spreading out across the east coast, with some heading north and to the mid west. "What are those?" Elizabeth asked. "Gliders?"

"And Al'Kesh." Jack replied. "Pilot's about to go full evasive but there's a lot of bad coming our way."

Elizabeth watched as Jack suddenly turned, one of his guards handed him a large bag. Jack turned back and handed it to her. "Check that, get this on quick as you can."

It was some kind of backpack. Elizabeth wondered for a second before it dawned on her "Wait, this is a parachute."

Jack didn't reply and instead walked up towards the pilot's cabin and instead grabbed another backpack. "How are we supposed to parachute out of a jet?"

Elizabeth felt one of the guards next to her take her shoulder and said confidently. "Ma'am, you need to get this on."

She turned to the guard, he'd been with her since day one of this godforsaken war. "Elliot."

"Come on, ma'am."

Elizabeth started to get up as she felt the plane shift to the right. Ahead of her she spotted Jack on his Omnitool as his own guards helped him into his own parachute. This was the worst time for this, where had these Ha'Tak come from?

—Prometheus Bridge, Orbit of Earth—

"Our weapons aren't having an effect on the Ha'tak! Shields down to forty three percent!" Marks heard the weapons officer cry out as he fired. Pendergast had made it to the bridge, and Marks was using every maneuver he could to give their weapons a view on the fighters and Al'Kesh screaming down into the atmosphere, in his head he'd already abandoned any idea of taking on the motherships.

"Keep targeting the strike craft! Ignore the motherships!" Pendergast ordered, then keyed his comms. "Novak, give me all reserve power to shields! All non-essential personnel to escape pods and fighters are to hit atmo and engage gliders!"

Marks perked his ears up at that - those weren't orders from a confident captain. Regardless he just kept quiet and spun the ship around hoping to spread the damage incoming from the Ha'Tak across their emitters. He watched sheets of Railgun fire rake across the now over 300 gliders pitching into the atmosphere, one explosion after another but they were too spread out to do any real damage. What missiles they had crashed into Al'Kesh, shattering shields and punching holes punctuated by vivid explosions.

It didn't matter with three Ha'Tak in orbit. It'd take a dozen mark eights to even dent one of those things and they just didn't have the firepower.

All he had to do was wait for the ancient defense platform to fire up... if it even could.

- Antarctic Ancient Defence Platform, SG-Laboratory-

Tests, examinations, probably magnets, and the odd call back to his newish friends in school had been the last months of his newfound youth. "Jon" Jack O'Neill JR as they'd taken to calling him hadn't really had much time as a teen before they pulled him back into the fold, but to be fair there was really only one reason he wanted to stick around, and it wasn't entirely polite to discuss.

Now though, the man he'd come to respect as a doctor equally as passionate and kind as Janet was holding him back with a damned lieutenant taking his side. "There's no way lad, you've tried and every test ends the same. You try any harder and you're likely to end in a coma."

Jon turned to Carson and hissed "Older than you Carson. And we don't have the luxury of safety!"

"Sir, the doctor has a point." The lieutenant they'd given him to take care of his needs was just as adamant. Jon eyed him up and down - maybe a little more up. "Doctor Zelenka is still trying the manual override. We should give him-"

"No!" Jon yelled back at him, he knew he sounded bratty but that didn't matter anymore. The ice walls of this cavern echoed his cry, even over the muted alarm from the outpost above them. The rest of the typical scientists and soldiers who'd spent so much time here had went to their action stations, a few around the chair on the other side of the sealed airlock, while most were on this side where Carson literally held him back.

"We have to give them a chance. And even if they don't succeed, I've had more experience. I mean, I've already fired one!"

Jon growled and fought back - even trying to do some weights hadn't worked out that well, not when his days were spent trying to unlock the secrets to control ancient weapons platforms. "You nearly hit a cargo transport! I can do it, just let me go!"

"Jon." Carson said quietly. Jon quieted and listened. "With the changes Loki and Thor made to your brain, I can't even imagine what using that thing to its full potential will do to you. It nearly killed General O'Neill and you and he aren't too dissimilar."

Jon understood he logic, he knew Carson was technically right. He just didn't care. But maybe he was doing this the wrong way, especially if he truly didn't care. "Dammit Carson." He sighed loudly, making a show of his giving in. "Fine. Let the brainiacs try. But promise me you'll let me try if they fail."

"I don't think we'll have much a choice" Carson turned to one of the screens behind them, it had a map of the world and red blips of all the Gliders and Al'Kesh coming into the atmosphere.

—The White House, Washington DC—

President Henry Hayes had been pulled from the session of Congress he was in to the emergency war room. There was no doubt about it - Earth was under attack again.

Mere months had passed, not even really enough time to grieve the fallen from prior. His pulse quicker as he looked over the screens, all showing red and blue blips, as well as three larger blips in orbit. "Somebody give me a rundown now! And get any emergency line to our Allies up." He turned to the Joint Chiefs who'd also been here, with the exception of General Hammond who was in Area 51. "What kind of fight are we talking about?"

The joint chief of the marines turned to him and pointed at the hologram generated by the crazy mass effect took thing. Hayes didn't need to know much about it beyond it worked, and the tech nearby seemed confident about it. "As you can see sir, three Goa'uld motherships are in orbit. Unlike the last time, they are launching what we suspect to be every last fighter toward us. Over five hundred gliders, and nearly two hundred larger craft. Likely bombers and troops transports."

"What about the ancient weapons platform? Is it online?" Hayes asked, again, he only needed to know its existence rather than the intricate details.

"They've been alerted, but initial reports are that they are not prepared for a potential assault. We're on our own, and Prometheus is badly outgunned."

"Get them on the line." Hayes ordered. He wasn't elected to make simple decisions and now came one he'd had to make before - didn't make it easier.

—Prometheus Bridge, Orbit of Earth—

"Shields at 20 percent! We can't take much more of this!"

Marks tried desperately to spin Prometheus around to spread the damage from the near constant barrage of plasma fire. They'd last maybe another 2 minutes At this rate.

"Everyone except senior officers abandon ship." Pendergast said over the PA, his voice was surprisingly calm. "All non senior staff abandon ship." He turned to the bridge staff, most of whom were command rank. "We can't win, but we can help our boys down there. I want a short range hyperdrive jump right before shields fail."

Marks angled the Prometheus into a more stable orbiting angle. They'd need it to have a good hyperspace direction. He felt the reverberation of nearby escape pods explosively launching. There might be 7 people left on the ship by the time they escaped.

—Titan-1, F302 somewhere in suborbit over New Jersey—

"Titán wing, AWACS is giving us several fucktons of bogies down the east coast. They're scattering - looks like a free for all formation." Cam cursed quietly under his breath - that meant they were likely just going to open fire indiscriminately. Jake called out radar contacts. "I've got 14 flights of fighters from Andrews, Langley, National Guard… we're throwing everything we've got.

Cam switched to a full squadron frequency. "I want us to focus on Al'Kesh, let the skyboys deal with those gliders."

He got acknowledgements from his wing, but Cam knew today was going to go badly no matter what. At sub-orbital flight, they'd intercept the mass of gliders and Al'Kesh miles in the sky before any real risk to the ground. How an F22 would fare against a Glider Cam had already done he math in his head - it'd boil down to the pilot and whether missile locks were even possible.

The curvature of the Earth looked so peaceful from up here. Cam looked up and could see the darkness of space... but up ahead in the distance he saw flashes of light as Prometheus desperately tried to hold back the Goa'uld. The ancient drones would come in handy now.

"Pick your targets, I want ripple fire on those Al'Kesh. Bring the snakes down before they get a shot on the ground."

On the computer in front of him, Cam could make out the individual blue targets turn red as the synchronized systems worked to ensure they fired in a balanced volley - hoping to kill as many targets before they hit deep atmosphere.

"Closing on targets... Max range in 13, engagement range in 25. Cut your rockets and go RamJet to flank those Al'Kesh, come at them from the sides, don't engage top or bottom."

His squad knew what they were doing, and it was a testament to their training that none complained about his needless advice. Cam waited the 13 seconds left with baited breath and pulled the little safety latch off his joystick. "Titan-1, Fox 4-4."

He pressed the fire button and felt the gentlest release from the craft, it wasn't audible over the ominous rush of air flowing past them.

A half second past when he heard another soft roar, the air was so thin up here it barely could register. Streaks of smoke blinded him until his optics compensated. Four missiles left his craft leaving him with two spare, and to the sides he watched as dozens more rushed ahead.

At this speed they'd zoom past the Goa'uld craft, so he switched to RamJets and pitched the craft into a slide, it'd only last just long enough for-

Steaks of yellow plasma suddenly flew back towards him, the Al'Kesh were returning fire and explosions dotted the skies ahead. Cam focused on his optics and brought his guns to bear on his chosen Al'Kesh. They'd intercepted several of the missiles but with their ripple fire it wasn't as effective.

"Fire at will! Call out peels and focus on Al'Kesh!"

The gravity in the cockpit shifted all over and Cam could feel his guts straining. The horizon jerked forward and his Al'Kesh lined up perfectly, it's gun pointed at a wingman. He heard screams of his wingmen, calls for support, bogies down, or just chaos. Cam didn't hesitate and fired his guns. Twin streaks of railgun fire spat out and dotted a line across the side of the Al'Kesh - already smoking from two missile hits.

The gash of railgun fire seemed to hurt the Al'Kesh as it stopped moving erratically and began to list sideways, Cam wasn't about to leave it wounded and instead focused his sights while yawing to the right in a ballerina like twirl.

He had 37 seconds worth of railgun fire and he wasn't about to leave things to chance. The Al'Kesh crumbled under the focused fire and finally exploded with a magnificent boom.

Around him, Cam heard more and more bogies down, but his scanners still had them badly outnumbered.

"Got a bogey a seven o'clock high, move Shaft!"

Cam kept the twirl going and sighted in on the next target, a Glider spinning to engage him. Jake had given him perfect info on the incoming attack. He spun his F302 until it was basically flying backwards and fired short bursts, the Glider returned fire but neither scored a hit at such a long range. Cam forced himself to focus and followed his reticule - he gave the trigger a light tap and another burst flowed out of his plane. He was rewarded with several small explosions on the glider's left wing tearing it off, and it went into a flat spin.

It wasn't until Cam pitched up to dodge any potential attacker behind him when he realized that of the three dozen Al'Kesh, They'd only shot down seven with the rest ignoring his flight. Even most of the gliders didn't seem to care about his attack.

No, they all headed straight down toward the East coast. "Christ, they're not engaging. They're going for the planet! Make 'em pay Titan! Down them at all costs!"

-Flight PJA-632, Somewhere over Ohio-

"Alright, listen to me very carefully." Jack looked at Elizabeth dead in the eyes. "I heard you and you're right. Parachuting out of a jet is suicide, but we've got an Air Force flyboy at the helm and he's gonna do some fancy maneuvers."

Elizabeth had gone a shade paler, but she focused on him - good. To the side he already knew the bodyguards and soldiers who'd accompanied them knew what was going to happen.

"Okay, but what about everyone else? There's only two parachutes."

Jack hesitated for a second, but it was completely on purpose. "That's not mission critical. This plane isn't even meant to have chutes, but you and I qualify for special care. Never had to think about it before but this is how it works." He sighed. "The pilot is going to cut engines and pitch the plane up, we'll slow down fast and eventually reach a safe jumping speed since the jets won't be on. We'll only have seconds before the plane starts falling and gravity throws us into the ceiling." Jack turned his omnitool back on. "Those gliders will be here in minutes. If they open fire this plane won't survive. Once we jump, pilot tries emergency landing. Clear?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes and shook her head gently as she bowed as in prayer. "No. No why don't we just try emergency landing now?"

"No time." Jack replied. "And no choice, you've got a minute and a half of free fall so get ready. Once you jump, wait 5 seconds and then pull the ripcord. It's going to hurt like a car crash but you'll land. Use the pull cords to steer and aim for soft ground."

Jack felt the tug of the plane starting to pitch up. He gave the men around him a look. Everyone but one of the guards gave him a steely look back. The one guard looked like he was going to puke.

"I-i-i... I just... "

"I know." Jack took her by the hand. She looked ridiculous in her professional wear with the straps of a military parachute around her legs but Jack looked equally ridiculous in his dress blues. He took his hat off and reflexively put it in his jacket.

He pulled her up firmly but gently and led her to the door. One of the airmen nearby had strapped himself to a brace near the door to help them jump out.

"Wait wait wait... how do you even open the door?" Elizabeth asked. "Planes. You can't open in flight..."

"You're right." Jack replied. He pulled her hand over to the side of the door where she could get a grip. "I have to break it open. Omnitool" He held up his right hand. "Hold tight, do as I say and we'll make it." Jack was confident in his own slim chance, but he needed Elizabeth to listen. "Hold on, plane's going vertical."

"General! We've got bogies inbound! Cutting it close!"

Jack saw Elizabeth's eyes go wider at the pilots screams - it was as if the realization finally hit. He kept his voice calm even as his heart rate went up. "Copy that! Just get this plane down after we jump!"

The soldier behind Elizabeth gave him a hurt look, but then softened realizing what Jack was doing. He opened his mouth as if to speak and breathed "General I..."

The plane kept pitching up. Jack could hear things falling in the plane as the engines suddenly cut out and the rush of air softened. A glass broke and things shifted all over. The rest of the soldiers had strapped themselves in and braced.

Jack could feel the deceleration and held on. He kept one hand on Elizabeth's shoulder ready to pull or push her out. The other was ready to engage the omniblade. It was getting harder to stay upright but Jack knew it wouldn't be much longer. He looked out the window and saw the rocky plains of Ohio below - not the ass end of nowhere but definitely lived on one of the cheeks. "Liz, get ready."

"How?" She hissed back at him. Jack gave her a surprised look at how she'd regained her composure. "This isn't what I signed up for."

"None of us did." Jack replied, but looked over at the soldier behind her who gave him a silent nod of approval. "Godspeed airman."

The soldier seemed momentarily lost for words as he held on, the plane shifting gravity was incredibly noticeable now. "I-I... I don't..."

Jack nodded to him and bowed his head. No time now.

Elizabeth hadn't ever thought of doing something as crazy as skydiving. Sure she loved camping and sometimes she wondered what it'd be like to explore through the Stargate. Not so much after seeing soldiers come back with burns, gunshot wounds, and patched back together with gods knows what technology. She'd been training, reading and going through exercises. This was different.

"Jack, I-"

He didn't let her finish a and instead interrupted. "Liz, breath deep and hold on."

She was about to continue when she saw Jack take in a deep breath, then made a gesture with his hand. A bright orangey yellow blade jumped out of his wrist. He slashed at the door and the sound of tearing metal was high pitched and sounded like screeches. She barely got the first syllable out before a loud series of bangs came from beside her and Jack held onto her tightly. She gripped back just as hard.

She just barely heard a scream from inside as the damaged door gave way and popped open with an ungodly whoosh. Elizabeth tried to scream but it was washed out by the wind. She just felt as Jack pinned himself along the door and pulled her along as they jumped out.

There wasn't any noise coming from the plane that sounded mechanical or like an engine, not that she was sure she could hear anything beside the whoosh going past.

The wind ripped at her face and she closed her eyes defensively. She lost her footing as Jack pulled them both out and the sudden feeling of weightlessness caught her.

She wasn't on the plane anymore, and she was spinning around. Jack had held on but she could feel his hands digging into her shoulders painfully. He pulled her into an embrace as she dared try and open her eyes and could just barely make out his voice in what felt like a distant scream despite hit mouth right next to her ears.. "Brace! Brace!"

Elizabeth did as she was told and flexed her entire core, ready for any-

The sudden jolt throwing her into the parachute straps on her legs hurt like she'd been hit by a deer. Her insides complained but having braced made it tolerable. Jack was gone, and she finally recovered enough to get a sense of her surroundings. It almost felt like she'd just woken up, did she pass out? She was falling at a decent speed, but the parachute that had nearly emptied her insides out her bottom was now the only thing keeping her from free fall. A pair of cords dangled near her head, and Elizabeth finally snapped to. She had to push aside the fear. So she grabbed the cords and began to pull, trying to figure out what they did.

Jack gulped in air hard and forced his neck to pulsate. It's been years since his last jump and that yank never got softer, but his bones sure did. He fought the blackout and managed to stay conscious through the jolt and yanked on both of his steering cords. The parachute flapped and held him up more, Jack needed to slow his approach down so he could make out where Elizabeth had gone.

Jack had fully recovered and searched around the sky, the parachutes were dark green and easily noticed against the bright blue sky. He made out Elizabeth maybe 400 feet above him - steering wildly but fast enough that he could wait up for her.

High in the sky though he did make out several small fast moving dots. Jack looked to where they seems to be converging and -

Even at this distance he could make out the distinct bright yellow plasma that spat out of them - right towards...

The spray of ignited fuel was unmistakable. Jack had seen it so often in his life it was like his own body. But at this range he could make out the jet they'd just jumped out of start to spin and disintegrate. The gliders had hit one of the engines, and now sprayed it down with more fire just to be sure.

Jack watched in quiet horror as the planes spin left a trail of fire and smoke, eventually detonating in a huge plume of lit fuel and shrapnel.

"Fuck..." Jack whispered under his breath. No one could hear him, and suddenly he closed his eyes and repeated himself louder. Again, nobody could hear him.

—Titan-1, F302 somewhere in high atmosphere over New York

"All pilots! This is Air Force General George Hammond."

Cam only paid enough attention to get it, as he locked up another glider ahead of him and shifted his left vtol engine on so he could evade the return fire. He'd taken two grazing shots, but some of his wingmen weren't so lucky.

He heard a bit more from Hammond but focused another short burst, then two more before connecting with the glider that had turned to face him.

Now the F-22s and F16s screaming up from the ground had opened a massive ripple fire of missiles as well, but the gliders and al'kesh were prepared and fired defensively. Cam could see the IFF denoting 'Knight Wing' as the incoming friendlies.

'Christ, I can see Manhattan from here.'

"Be advised the Goa'uld are attacking any targets of opportunity - we have confirmed reports of 17 airliners down to enemy fire and cities being strafed. Repeat, Total Warfare, worldwide, they're firing indiscriminately! Take them down at any cost!"

Cam turned to Jake "Get me comms on friendly regulars!" He switched his focus and pulled back - his original flight was down three planes but he could still do damage. "Titán wing give me a weapons and rocket booster check - I want focus fire on al'kesh only! Leave the gliders to the skyboys!"

He got acknowledgements and looked forward, the explosions were mostly shot down missiles, not enemy bogies. Even the ripple fire wasn't enough, but a few came through thinning the 200 odd enemy craft.

The biggest problem now was that they were splitting up, Cam finally got a green light from Jake as he could make out the DC coastline. "Titan to Knight Wing, this is Titan 1 to Knight 1, copy?"

"This is Knight 1, your IFF reads clear Titan. NORAD has you in flight lead, orders?"

Cam gulped as he realized he was likely the flight lead in charge of defending the entire east coast - Colonel rank had given him that curse.

He only hesitated a half second before barking orders. "Knight wing, ignore the larger targets! They are shielded and need focus fire Titan is providing. Smaller targets are Mach 3 in atmo and just as maneuverable as your planes. Their cannons can rip through your hulls but only have a kilometer effective range, Expend all missiles now." Cam took a breath and then hissed "Their pilots are shit tier. Flank and dogfight for maximum effectiveness. Guns guns guns! Over!"

Instead of a voice acknowledgement, Cam got back a green light signal. Knight wing had pushed up high into the skies to engage and were spreading out to meet the incoming barrage of fighters. The Al'Kesh seemed to keep moving towards the big cities. Cam understood now this wasn't a real invasion, not when it was only time until the ancient drone platform would fire, or Loki would send support.

He locked into the first Al'Kesh, one heading towards Pittsburg and accepted that this was an attack of nothing but terror. "Titan wing, fire any remaining missiles! Take those Al'Kesh down now!"

- Somewhere near the Ohio/Kentucky Border-

Jack came down towards the ground where Elizabeth had landed. He prayed that she'd had the wherewithal to at least duck and roll on impact, since he knew she probably wouldn't flare it. A few broken bones and scrapes were better than pancaking on the ground though. Jack was relieved when he saw her chute in the distance, she'd been caught in some trees and Jack flared his chute up and back, slowing down enough that he wouldn't get caught in them himself, but land nearby.

As Jack touched down, he ran forward. His left leg instantly gave him a sharp pain - the parachute had done more damage than he imagined at first, but he grit through it and detached the chute from his back. He could feel bruises on his shoulders and inner thighs. This was not something he expected to ever have to do again.

His best guess was that they'd landed somewhere in the ass end of Ohio, a long distance from just about any life that didn't drive 2 hours to work, or had a rural farm that meant they'd be mostly away from civilization - at least how Jack and Elizabeth knew it.

Jack checked his omnitool - there was a signal but it was weak. Satellite coverage must be low - if there were any satellites left.

He heard Liz screaming ahead -it wasn't out of panic, but it was more out of the fact that she could see him and needed help getting down. The chute had caught on the tree branches and Elizabeth dangled a good six or seven feet in the air. "Jack! Jack!"

Jack moved forward, he ignored the pain in his leg and focused. It was harder to ignore the limp but he didn't have much choice. "Hang on!"

"I'm already hanging!" Elizabeth snapped back. "Get me outta this thing!" Jack moved underneath her, the ground was hard and while the drop wouldn't kill her she might get hurt. "Are you okay?"

Jack nodded, but he could see that she'd noticed his limp. "I'm good, there's a pair of buckles on the shoulder straps. you need to let them go at the same time and you'll drop okay?"

"Uhh yeah yeah okay." Elizabeth looked at her shoulders, the straps connected to her shoulders and the under leg straps. She hesitated. "Help?"

"I gotcha."

Elizabeth nodded down to him, then yanked on both buckles. She yelped as she suddenly dropped and Jack did his best to catch her as she fell. Thankfully she wasn't too heavy and Jack broke her fall - rolling as he did. It twisted his already hurt leg even more and a grunt of pain left his mouth as he did.

They'd become a tangled heap of limbs on the ground, but it was only a moment before they pulled each other up and Jack leaned against the tree she'd gotten caught in. "You okay? Any injuries? Dizziness?"

"I just jumped out of a plane…" Elizabeth muttered to herself. She turned to look at him. "The Goa'uld… i saw it. They didn't make it."

"Yeah." Jack replied tersely. "Nothing we could do... " he sighed heavily. "I've still got comms. But we can't radio for evac until the skies are clear - we'd just risk more."

"Yeah... " Elizabeth said as she looked around. "yeah… I saw some houses or a barn or something in... " she looked around even more desperately. "I dunno, I'm kinda discombobulated here or…" Elizabeth caught her breath as she fought back what looked to Jack like a gasp, or maybe a sob. "What… what can we do?"

Jack shook his head. "What can we do? We're out of this fight." He looked up to the sky. "All we can hope is we prepared enough."

—Titan-1, F302, 40k feet above Baltimore-

"Fuck fuck fuck..." Cam cursed as he saw his ammo reserves go down. He only had a few seconds left of fire and there were still plenty of Al'Kesh.

He didn't even have time to admire the spectacle that was gliders in all out dogfights with F22s and F16s.

"Command this is Titán-1, we are approaching zero offense, what are our orders?"

The distinct glimmer and shine of cities below was unmistakable. They'd whittled down about half of the Gliders and nearly two thirds of the Al'Kesh but they'd still punched through to the cities. They'd already begun to open fire on the ground - and at this distance they didn't need accuracy to hit hundred square kilometer targets.

There wasn't any response for an unreasonable amount of time, so Cam boosted a little closer to the massive fur ball that had erupted over the east coast. The F22s and F16s were forcing fights with the Gliders using bait and peel tactics. Cam watched as one F16 spun like mad dodging incoming fire from a glider behind him. He wouldn't last long without help.

Cam swooped in and came up right behind the glider, he balanced the risk, saving his friendly or-

"Gotcha!" Cam hissed as he held a half second burst, the railgun fire skittered across the top of the glider who hadn't seen him come in and tore the cockpit apart. It was the aerial equivalent of a headshot and the glider stopped moving evasively and just spun out of control - the pilot had been ejected out in the shattering of his cockpit, what little was left of him.

"Titán wing, this is General Bradford."

Cam paid attention, with both Hammond and Bradford running things his was quickly turning into a chain of command cluster.

"All spent F302s are to RTB for hot swap to Area 51, Nellis AFB, Or McMurdo. Double time."

There wasn't any other option, no other AFB could possibly refuel and rearm them. "Roger that." Cam took a second to himself and made a decision. "Knight Wing, this is Titan. We are bingo ammo and falling back. Give em hell flyboys!"

He heard a simple acknowledgement back. In a situation like this he knew the flight leaders would fall back on their training. Just like Cam was now in pulling out with just a bit of ammo left in case something engaged them on the way back.

Titan wing followed his orders and pulled out of the fight. Cam saw explosion after explosion on his HUD. Every so often one of those was accompanied by a blue blip fading on his radar. The promotion from getting shot down last time didn't mean much, not when over a hundred alien fighters and bombers were about to strafe the east coast of the United States.

-Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain-

Major Davis was watching the battle go on above the Earth from his omnitool - he'd seen it and he knew others across the world would have seen it as well. He'd hoped that the Ancient Defense platform was capable of firing but at this point it didn't seem feasible. The entire mountain had gone on high alert and he'd ordered everyone into the underground bunkers, including those manning the air defences as he suspected that they wouldn't need them. The rest of Stargate Command's administrative and command staff flowed around him like water. The Stargate was still open to Ba'al's world, but it wasn't exactly a place he'd want to evacuate people to.

He hadn't let anyone tell the team on the other side about the attack - they were focused and had a mission. Their fire support had ended and now it was just awareness of what was going on. The Salarians had jumped in as a surprise reinforcement and were looking to capture the entire world. To think that two world invasions were happening at the same time.

Live video feeds were coming in from a dozen cities across the earth - the east coast was on fire as journalists and reporters ran amidst fires and broken cityscape, Europe had less direct attack, but their readiness hadn't been anywhere near as alert and the EU had declared a state of emergency. Typhoon and Eurofighters were barely a match for Gliders, not that many of them were prepared for a fight. It was mostly American and UN assets that tried to stem the tide of incoming forces - the Russians were faring better but the Goa'uld hadn't sent as much against such a barren tundra. Every report he heard from command was bleak - the US was swarming with Gliders and Al'Kesh along the east coast, with USAF and Marine Fighter forces holding back the worst of it.

What shocked Davis was that one Ha'Tak had focused its fighters and was moving towards the Far East. China, Russia, Japan - all had reported Glider and Al'kesh attack. But they were a distraction, he knew from his own war games what he'd do if we were tasked with invading Earth using Goa'uld technology. The Ha'tak were moving into position, one over the US, one towards Europe, and the one over Asia.

Maybe it was attracted to technology, Antarctica wasn't being targeted by more than just Al'Kesh and Gliders, but maybe they were avoiding the Ancient Defence Platform.

As if to confirm his suspicion, his omnitool vibrated from an incoming call. General Hammond. He picked it up wordlessly as the image popped up in front of him. He kept the call away from the control consoles - not quite private but a conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"Major Davis, Area 51 hasn't come under Glider or Al'Kesh attack yet. I assume Stargate Command is still untouched?"

"Yes sir." He nodded. Of course Hammond knew - he'd come to him with the concerns ever since they'd defeated Anubis and realized the Goa'uld would learn from the mistake. "I've already evacuated the surface. We're deep underground, we'll manage."

"Odds are you'll be buried." Hammond explained. "Area 51 is evacuating whom we can. We don't have the same kind of protection here." He sighed. "We're in the hardened bunkers but it's not the same. We're evacuating scientists and engineers. Janet flights are staying low, and F-302s and X Fighters are on full sortie."

"Understood." Davis knew what Hammond was saying - Hammond was laying every card on the table. "We're still connected to Ba'al's planet. We haven't told our strike force about the attack yet."

"Don't." Hammond said with confidence. "Cut the connection, dial the Alpha Site, and evacuate as many as you can."

Davis looked around - the staff around him were frosty and relaying orders, moving people around in the base, and making room for all the civilians and non-Stargate military personnel. Everything told him to prioritize like Hammond had. "Copy," He turned to Hammond's holographic face again. "General... it's been an honor."

"Don't give me that sentimental bull now Major." Hammond said. "This is bigger than Earth, but you know as well as I do that-" An alarm cut Hammond off, and he turned to the side. "Major! We've got incoming! Get every-"

A flash of light on the omnitool and then the signal cut out. Davis winced from the flash, and then looked over to where Walter had a big red flashing light on his own monitors. "Major! We have incoming! Ha'tak has opened fire from orbit!"

Davis didn't bother bracing. he knew what it would feel like. "Sergeant…" The ground shook suddenly, and little streams of dust fell from the cracks in the ceiling. Davis heard a din of people yelling, a mixture of soldiers issuing orders and acknowledgements, and civilian scientists and engineers panicking. "Shut down the gate. Dial the Alpha Site."

Walter turned to him for a moment. "Should we inform the team on the other side?"

"No." Major Davis said. "They have their mission. Let them be." He faced Walter directly. "Get all non-essential personnel out first, then scientists and engineers."

Walter nodded and turned to the screen. Davis appreciated how easy Walter made things. But what was coming would be hard decisions.

—Titan-1, F302 somewhere in suborbit over Montana-

Cam saw the yellow bolts of energy come down on the Planet. Nellis was the closest base, but he and what remained of his wing weren't even half way by the time he saw the shots raining down. "My god. No… no no no no…"

"Tracking. Triangulating..." Jake said. Cam quickly came to his senses and focused. "Fire is spread out - i'm tracking shots towards Area 51, NORAD, and…" His voice caught for a moment. "Oh god, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas… heavy civilian targets."

"Shit shit shit." Cam muttered. "Afterburners, can we go any faster?"

"Not a chance. We're already risking the armor plating from friction" Jake replied. Cam watched more of the shots streak down through the atmosphere and slam into the ground. At this distance it was almost beautiful despite the sinking feeling. "We're 5 minutes from Nellis - they've got hot swap crews ready, 15 minutes for us to get back into the air after touchdown."

It was too long. Cam knew that they needed a miracle at this point - whether it would be provided by Loki or the Ancients at this point he didn't care.

- Antarctic Ancient Defence Platform, SG-Laboratory-

Jon could hear the radio calls, as well as the alerts over the radios of the soldiers nearby. Carson had been working on the remote connection to the chair - desperately trying to get something to run on it. The scientists had moved away from the chair and were off to the side alongside Carson. Jon had decided a few minutes ago, but he needed space and just enough leverage…

It was simple enough, get a gun, seal the airlock to the chair room, and do what needed to be done. Jon looked around and saw that the Lieutenant was right by the door with his MP5, sidearm, and knife all ready to be pulled if needed. Carson's remote access console was outside the room too, and Jon realized he needed to get Carson closer to the door.

He moved over to the console next to Carson, the Doctor turned to him for a moment and quietly said under his breath. "I know, I'm trying. I've managed to channel the biometric sensors to our equipment but we can't get enough resolution on our scanners."

"In American?" Jon replied - he wanted to annoy Carson enough that he'd do something extreme - or at least consider it.

"We can't get enough information to the chair for it to accept any commands." Carson explained - he didn't take the bait but sounded sharper.

"You know there's a better way." Jon said. "You hear what all these radios are saying? We can't wait."

"I… I can't." Carson said. "Anytime I've sat in that thing it's broken something. And your brain is too underdeveloped to survive it." Jon could see the slight panic on his face. "I don't… i can't…"

"Carson." Jon said calmly. He looked over to the chair room. "Let's at least check it out - maybe we can split it or something, come on, this is important."

Carson was distraught, but he was clearly done. "ALright, alright. Lieutenant, please open the main doors."

Jon carefully planned his strike - the Lieutenant would have to let go of his gun to open the door, and thank the ancients he hadn't looped it around his neck, instead attached to a lanyard on his vest. A sufficiently hard yank and it'd snap releasing the weapon. Carson would be trickier though, so Jon eagerly stepped ahead of him where the Lieutenant had pulled his keycard out.

The Airlock style door slid open, Jon ignored Carson's complaint to wait. Instead Jon nodded at the Lieutenant and leaned forward. His strike was unexpected, and it wasn't like the scientists in the room could do anything about it. Without the heft of his adult body, Jon had to aim high with a palm strike into the LIeutenants face, an uppercut that snapped back his head. With Jon's other arm, he grabbed a hold of the hanging MP5 and held on.

The lieutenant fell back, and the lanyard was tough enough to hold him from falling. Jon braced himself and pulled as hard as he could, finally hearing both the Lanyard snap and Carson yelling in surprise. In the same pulling motion, Jon pulled up the MP5 to his shoulder and flicked off the safety. "Back off!" He aimed it to the side of Carson- enough to threaten. Other nearby scientists also fell back - making surprised noises.

The Lieutenant regained his footing and was about to charge at Jon, but he'd been ready fo it. Now inside the chair room, Jon aimed at the door control panel to the side and fired a burst. The bullets tore apart the electronics, and as he knew from working with these scientist types for so long, it triggered a lockdown procedure where the airlock door shut and would require a manual reboot to open up again.

"Jon! Jon what the hell are you doing!?" Carson screamed through the door, tugging at it to pull it open. In mere seconds he'd accomplished the first step of his goals, but now came the hard part.

"Doc, He's shot out the door! Zelenka! I need a manual override here!"

"Sorry Carson." Jon replied absentmindedly, he focused on the chair. "No other choice now."

"Dammit Jon! It'll kill you! Without the Ancient knowledge you don't know what you're doing!"

Jon knew that, something about the chair made it nearly impossible to control without that knowledge. Most people could turn it on, but couldn't even feel anything to control. He and Carson were different… they were evolved enough to feel control, but it was either chaos like Carson, or painful for him. Jon also knew that there weren't many people with even the glimmer he saw in dreams. With his older 'twin' busy, there weren't many people who could even attempt this. "Gotta try." Jon stepped forward towards the chair and sat down. He closed his eyes and focused.

Nothing. But then again it'd done this before and he knew he had to do more than just focus.

- Par'jat, Middle of Battle-

Miranda groaned and held her eyes shut for a moment to hold the strained feeling at bay. Biotics at this level were definitely a chore, even more when she was hanging onto John's limp body from a 30 story fall. The landing was bad enough, but now she had to figure out the best way to the Stargate.

"Miranda! This is Shepard, Come in!"

"Busy here." Miranda replied tersely - this was already bad enough carrying John and stressing her biotics, but having to carry him to the Stargate?

"We have to go, Ba'al is launching an attack on Earth."

"What?" Miranda paused at that, she held John up and looked around - there were plenty of entrances to other buildings nearby as well as tunnels into the ground. Her omnitool was busy trying to map a route to the Stargate from here.

"Carter, she's in bad shape but she told us. We're going back as fast as we can but we can't wait for you. Get through the Stargate and warn Loki!"

"I…" Miranda thought about it. "I was going there anyway…" The idea that Ba'al was attacking Earth, an early 21st century Earth no less. "I.. Yes. Yes. Go!"

Miranda shook off the feeling and refocused. Stargate. Now.

Fullerton peeled off his helmet and groaned in pain- the staff blast had superheated one side of it to the point his hair had sort of melted and his skin had burnt. The medigel autospray kept it from being unbearable, but there was no way he could keep it on. "Covering fire!" He held his Avenger above his head and blindfired towards the Jaffa and Husks that had opened up a staff cannon and pointed it at his team. The little cover there was from walls, tables, and the odd crate here and there wasn't much, but it'd have to do for now.

The crate he'd hidden behind took a direct hit and exploded into a shower of debris. His shield flared and he scrambled on the ground towards the rest of his squad - the 3 men that remained. Parker had passed out from taking a direct staff cannon shot to the chest - his vitals were still active but the HUD told Fullerton that the Stargate soldier was barely hanging on after getting cooked.

A stray Zat shot landed near his leg and he felt the electrical numbness crawl up into his thighs. He'd already been caught out on a bad overextension and the Jaffa and Kull were making him pay. He rolled over and held out his sidearm - ready to die fighting.

What surprised him was seeing a sudden blue flash above the Jaffa position where the Staff Cannon was - and then the Jaffa screaming as they were pulled up and flung around the singularity. Where the hell did a biotic come from? He didn't waste the opportunity and opened fire - focusing on the Jaffa while he watched Anti-Kull blasts take out the clearly surprised warriors.

The numbness in his legs started to leave him, Fullerton crawled over to where his squad was - one of them had stopped firing and helped him up. "Lieutenant! We've got Salarians coming in to reinforce!"

"Salarians don't do biotics…" Fullerton said - his body ached and the medigel on his face still stung. "So who…" he turned to where he saw a friendly IFF come up on his HUD. It showed a familiar name. "Lawson?" Through the smoke and debris Fullerton made out a woman in a tight uniform dragging a soldier on her shoulder. He noted another IFF from the guy she carried, but no life signs. Even though his name showed up as Sheppard, Fullerton could tell it wasn't 'the' Shepard.

She looked pale - way more pale that she should have, but not utterly dead like the man she carried. "Lieutenant!" She said as she struggled forward.

The Jaffa and Kull who'd been thrown around by the Singularity were all dead at this point. The singularity stopped after a few more moments of them flinging about and they fell to the floor with unceremonious thuds. Fullerton tried to move but his legs could barely hold him up at this point so he motioned to the Sergeant carrying him to turn. "Lawson? Aren't you one of Commander Shepard's team?"

"I'm with him yes." Lawson walked up and then laid the man she carried on the ground against a broken piece of wall. "We need to get to the Stargate." She motioned to the clearly dead man on the floor. "He's got maybe 20 minutes, can you escort us back?"

Fullerton looked at her, then to the dead guy on the floor, then back to her. "No disrespect to the dead, lady…"

"He's not dead!" Lawson snapped. "But he will be soon - Who's in command here?"

She spoke with an air of authority, but Fullerton knew where she came from. It was all the gossip - especially with outfits like that. He focused - no time for that. "Colonel Dixon is - we're down 3 men and i've got injured of my own." He motioned back. "Path should be clear now, but gods knows what's coming at us."

"Help me get him back or make a hole then." Lawson spat.

Fullerton was in no condition to argue, but his men were likely still alive due to her showing up. The Salarians were dropping in now, so maybe it was the time to pull back now. "Alright, we're falling back." He motioned toward the other two soldier who were still in good shape. "Masterson, Rupoli, grab Parker and this Sheppard guy." He turned back to Lawson. "I figure you're better suited to watch our backs, gimme a few minutes and I'll be good too."

"Thank you, but we have to hurry." Lawson said. "There's…" she paused for a moment before just moving ahead. "Stay behind me."

Fullerton held back his snappy comeback and just accepted it. His fight was over for now, he only hoped the Salarians could get a real foothold here.

Dixon hadn't worried too much when the Stargate shut down. Earth probably just wanted to ensure the gate wouldn't shut down by accident, or even just give them a chance to retreat if needed. The missile support had been a fulfilling experience - one he wouldn't mind feeling again. The roar of hellfire missiles flying past definitely gave him that testosterone rush he loved.

What he didn't was the casualties reports - nearly every team except Gate Security had lost at least one, with at least two dozen others injured. The fight was always going to be hard since the close quarters fighting meant that even with their Anti Kull weapons, fights got brutally close. Add to that their use of Staff Cannons, Zats and better knowledge of the terrain and Dixon knew he had at least a few letters to write home.

He spotted them through IFF before visual. Fullerton's crew was coming back minus several soldiers. It was to be expected, they were going balls deep to push the Goa'uld back. What he didn't expect was the addition of 2 names he recognized - one of them flatlined. "Jesus." He moved towards the signal- soldiers around him watched and covered the exits. "Make a hole! We've got VIP coming in!"

Miranda looked pretty much the same as she did the last time Dixon saw her, after a fight, sweaty and angry. Major Sheppard on the other hand looked dead. Not tired, just dead. Dixon winced at the burnt chunks left of his chest. Miranda didn't waste time as she got into audible range. "Dial the gate! We need to get to Loki's ship!"

"Whoa." Dixon replied. He motioned to John. "Are you alright? We're getting ready to fall back, but the Salarians are dropping in all over. We might not have to-"

"I don't have time!" Miranda hissed. Fullerton's crew set down the other soldiers and let the medics who'd come with them begin their triage. Except for the one soldier who held onto Sheppard's body. "I have maybe 10 minutes to get him to Loki. It's his only chance."

Dixon had seen crazy medical marvels over the past few months. He'd even accepted some implants himself but nothing too invasive - he didn't want his wife to find new bones in him or something. He gave John another look, his eyes were blank, he wasn't breathing, and his chest was literally peeling burnt charcoal. "Okay." He wasn't going to question it, he just rolled with it. Dixon turned back to the gate. "Hey! Rodrigo! Dial the Asgard Ship! Let them know we're sending our casualties!"

"Thank god." He heard Miranda mutter under her breath, then out loud. "Good. Listen, i have one more squad mate out there. He's… combat enthused, so i'll make sure to let him know to work with your men."

Dixon nodded and saw her tap some stuff on her Omnitool, which then transferred to his. "Angry guy huh? Yeah I can deal with that." He accepted the transfer and raised an eye brow at the name. "Grunt?"

"You'll understand when you meet him." Miranda replied and then moved off towards the Stargate.. Dixon ignored it and instead focused back on his omnitool - his squads were starting to pull back but the Salarians were dropping in all over. If Loki could revive the burnt roadkill that was John Sheppard now, then maybe his own soldiers might have a chance. The mixture of Frigates and Fighters in the skies were tearing apart the Goa'uld Resistance, while the overwhelming numbers in space had managed to flip the fight around - the Ha'tak were either crippled or ran. This fight was almost definitely going to end soon, but picking up the pieces was up to the Salarians and Stargate Command now.

Fow now, Loki would have to do. Dixon changed his map to a larger scale and saw that most of the Salarians were dropping in at crossroads- they were trying to take control of the infrastructure without necessarily killing all the Jaffa in the way. The Salarian Fighters easily mopped up the Gliders, while Frigates chased off Al'Kesh that were also falling back - most engaging their hyperdrives and running without compunction.

Dixon was used to war, but at some point he realized that getting this used to it was probably a bad thing. Oh well, "Alright Troopers, link up with the Salarians and clear this place out. I'm callin' the Penthouse as long as we don't blow it up first."

Miranda took John from off the shoulder of the Soldier who'd helped her carry him to the Stargate and gave him a quick nod. She checked her omnitool quickly and saw Grunt's IFF still active, still running around, still probably terrorizing the Jaffa. She hoped Dixon would The chevrons spun and she recognized it as the location where Loki had their fleet. She wondered if Loki even know about Earth - how could he not?

There was so much going on in her head - was this AI accurate? Was John still clinging to life deep in his mind or was he really gone? Waiting for the Stargate gave her the time to think - and she was frustrated at how quickly she could think. She'd pushed him hard - not so hard he couldn't handle it, but had she misjudged his determination? Staying behind and fighting an entire platoon of enemies on his own - all upgrades notwithstanding, why? His biotic display was incredible from a technical standpoint - not the strongest she'd ever seen, but he kept it going well and far beyond anyone she'd ever seen - even Asari Matriarchs.

Excuses, reasons, justifications, all of them went through her head until the last Chevron locked and the Stargate popped open. She saw the technical officer who'd engaged the gate plug in some numbers into his omnitool, and then waved over to Miranda. "Go ahead! More coming behind you!"

Miranda nodded and pulled John's body along - the smell of this place was little more than dust, ash, and that distinct metallic haze that heatsinks gave off. She wasn't going to miss it as she stepped into the event horizon.

The strange flash of going through the Stargate crossed her eyes and then the light change forced her to blink as she stepped onto the cargo deck of the Sleipnir. She looked forward and saw several medics approaching, as well as cargo technicians and others milling about.

"I nee-" before she could even begin to make sense of her sentence, John's body suddenly flashed next to her - he'd been beamed right out of her arms. "What-"

Flashing lights began to strobe, and an audible alarm. The computer's female voice came over speakers. "Attention, All hands to battle stations. Hyperspace Jump in T-Minus 1 minute, Secure all moorings and man your posts. "

Everyone around Miranda was just as confused, she looked behind her as SGC and Alliance soldiers began to trickle through - immediately dumbfounded at the barrage on their senses. Miranda wondered what the hell was going on.

-Asgard Research Vessel Sleipnir, Datacore-

It wasn't a mistake. It wasn't even an oversight. It was just his own overanalysis of the situation which led to a decision - one that Ba'al had apparently taken advantage of. Earth had repelled an invasion capable of wiping out their civilization with an overwhelming force that he'd heard reports of Jaffa calling the "Tau'ri" the "GodKillers". The idea that Ba'al would suicidally attack - it didn't speak of a power hungry and deceptively intelligent being. Especially with the knowledge that Loki was here working with them. Every report, all intelligence, everything that Ba'al would have had access to…

Carter. Loki realized with a moment's pause. He must have broken her and had her knowledge. Instantly he set aside his next free moment after protecting Earth to compensate for that. But Earth? They had other weak spots - why not attack the Quarians? The Mass Effect races had little in the way of protection - it would be childs play to raid them with his better Ha'tak than the Goa'uld. No, to throw that many resources in the way he did - that spoke of nothing but spite. Earth wasn't even that important in the tactical sense, Stargate Command could easily be moved elsewhere. But strategically? The humans had a level of determination that fell victim to their emotions easily.

Guardian had compiled a very succinct report of everything that had happened on Par'jat. It was only a dark foreshadow of what Loki expected most humans to feel in the coming days. So much was happening at once that even he had trouble trying to keep it all flowing properly. in just under a minute they'd go to Hyperspace - and a few minutes later Loki would find out if his repaired plasma cannons really were still the bane of the Goa'uld.

A message pinged on his screen - Miranda Lawson was approaching his command center. Loki turned on the holographic interface he used for the Coalition and went back to his countdown - three cargo ships had been docked, with various others transferring materials or manpower. He'd estimated a minute to have everyone emergency release, but if his focused long range scan was accurate, Earth was in bad shape. They hadn't been able to fire the Ancient weapon yet, nor did Loki really believe they'd be able to again.

This was too early - his study into the Ancient genetics was only beginning. And now John Sheppard came back to him plasma grilled meat - his mind only held together by a shackled AI. Loki expected him to get damaged over time - all creatures who followed Shepard did, but this suicidal 'last stand' as his first move was completely unexpected.

There was no time to examine that yet - Loki cut off connections to the cargo ships and left them a message that he'd be back once he dealt with the attack on Earth. He then accelerated the maturation process for one of John's clones and ordered Guardian to prepare the body with the same implants that John's original body had. With another motion, he dedicated a bit of processing power to speak with Miranda.

She stormed into the command center and looked at him. "Loki! How did…"

"Guardian has told me everything." Loki said - then kept focusing on the calibration of his weapons. He quickly assessed the difference between disabling the Ha'tak compared to simply destroying them. Without the focused high energy weapons the Asgard had most recently designed, it was difficult to tell. The Anubis upgraded Ha'tak Ba'al fielded might withstand a disabling shot, whereas a higher power shot might just disintegrate them outright.

"So John…"

"He will recover." Loki replied. "Earth is my focus. Please remain here - there are no other command level staff aboard and you will be able to speak with the crew more effectively then I."

The Cargo ships did as he expected and blew their emergency couplings. The construction ships where the latest Turian vessel was being upgraded also backed off - every ship in the area seemed terrified of the idea that this Asgard Vessel was going into combat.. Loki knew better- this was just a research vessel the other Asgard had marooned him on to do his research in peace, and keep the rest of the galaxy safe. Thor's mercy felt ironically cruel.

"Okay." Miranda said. "I… I can do that." She looked around. "Is there a console i can use to monitor those onboard?"

As soon as she finished, a holographic console appeared in front of her. Loki knew that he needed them to think they were doing something - Miranda could at least relay what was going on.

Thirty seconds - it wouldn't be long, and now more messages came in as people began asking questions. Loki relayed them to Miranda and gave her any relevant information on the screen as well. She tied her omnitool to the console and Loki was relieved that she didn't seem to question his non-answer about John.

- Antarctic Ancient Defence Platform, SG-Laboratory-

Carson watched as the young Jon O'Neill began to shudder - even at this distance he could make out the small trickle of blood coming from his nose. Zelenka was busy plugging in the manual override which apparently took minutes worth of time. "This is taking too long. He's dying in there!"

"Doctor." Lieutenant Ford gave him a hard look. "This place was built with safety in mind - there was no telling what those drone things can do." He turned to the window where Jon inside was twitching, and the lights on the chair glowed. "I should have seen it coming. That kid… he's not a kid." Carson heard him curse under his breath - a part of him agreed, he should have seen it coming, but then again that 'kid' had more experience than both of them.

"Almost - almost have it." Zelenka said. He fiddled with the panel and then eventually said something in Czech, "Got it!"

The door slid open, and Lieutenant Ford was the first one in. As Carson approached, he could see that Jon was linked with the Ancient computer, his eyes were closed, his nervous system was clearly under extreme stress. "Don't touch him!" he yelled out instinctively.

Ford slowed his approach and turned to Carson, even as he crouched and picked up his MP5 again. "What's he doing?"

"He's linked himself to the machine." Carson said as he got closer. He knew this kind of connection was possible, but without the knowledge of the Ancients to go along with the Ancient Gene, it was like trying to operate a jetliner while only having the keys to the ignition. By hitting every button possible, it was theoretically possible to get it moving. It would just put tremendous strain on whoever did it. "If we pull him out it might cause permanent brain damage."

"So what now? Just let him do it? You think he can do it?" Ford asked. "Fire the drones? Radio calls aren't good, we're getting torn up out there.."

"We can only hope." Zelenka said- he adjusted his glasses and shook his head. "Thought of Goa'uld Ha'tak and what they could do to the world." He turned to Jon, while Carson found himself conflicted. "I would believe General O'Neill would do this same thing."

"I know." Carson said. "But I don't believe in trading lives." He moved over beside Jon who didn't seem to notice them at all. "Come on Jon, don't get lost in there. You absolute bloody dobber."

Jon could feel the tingling of each of the drones along his spine - or was it his? The cage they were stored in - there was a long spire that went down and it was difficult to tell the difference between… the twinge of pain came back, and Jon refocused - there wasn't any other option, even if he forgot how he'd ended up here.

He could feel the drones, he knew what they needed but finding it was hard - like trying to eat his way through a haze of jello. Jon needed to claw his way up - the Goa'uld, they were in space, they were in the air.

As soon as he started to think about scanning the skies, a deafening screech of a million transmissions slammed into him like a freight train. His senses didn't make.. sense anymore. The pain he felt was like getting kicked in the head, but it was just sound.

There weren't many drones - this push had knocked free some old memories… or was it just a record in the chair? Did he recognize him despite his change?

No, focus Jon. focus!

he narrowed the scans as much as he could - the agonizing screech dulled, but there was still too much. He could only really focus on one thing at a time - as soon as he began to make out the Goa'uld in the skies, the Drones began to shut down. As he tried to think about both things at once, he felt like copper was running through his lungs. This wasn't working - he just couldn't think hard enough.

So instead he decided that he'd have to do it slowly. Jon focused everything he had on the drones, dumping every ounce of power he could in. Maybe a few dozen, not much more than that. But he knew how powerful they were, it wouldn't need more. More focus, more power, he could smell the light coming from them, the taste of the energy within them was distracting, so Jon instead focused on the weird gravity engine the drones used, power dumped into them and the light shone brighter and brighter.

The copper was still around him - he felt like a statue was trying to rip its way out his skeleton. Every new sensation was a distraction, he couldn't stop and think about it- all he could think was the engines. The engines…

-F302 Titan-1, Nellis AFB, Tarmac-

"Get clear! Get clear!" Cam screamed over his radio - the Hot Swap crew had worked faster than he'd seen anyone else do their job. The fuel gauge on his HUD read 94% and he wasn't about to wait any longer. "TItan 1! Priming engines!"

"Give em a few more seconds…" Jake muttered. "Ha'tak aren't moving to target us, Skyboys and land defenses are holding on the East Coast - West Coast is…" He gave a strange noise that Cam couldn't quite describe. "They're gone. Just get us in the air. Crews are clear."

"Roger that." Cam didn't wait for the tower to give him the go ahead - he just knew he had a full complement of Missiles, Railgun Ammo, and fuel. He pushed the thrusters as far as he could and gave just enough space for the rocket booster to angle up enough. "Hold on, we're cracking these inertial dampeners."

Jake didn't reply, instead he just gave another groan as Cam flicked on the rocket booster and they felt the gees as the F302 took off into the skies.

Cam listened in on the radio. The rest of the surviving Titan Wing was preparing to take off and everything told him he should wait for them. But he also saw reports of the fights along the midwest all the way to the East Coast. Gliders were attacking major civilian targets, and hunting down any planes in the skies. The few Al'Kesh left were focused on fighting Military Planes, and reports of troop transports landing across the world came in too.

He made the executive decision and went on the squad radio. "Titan Wing, Once you're back in the air, focus on hunter killer. Take down any gliders you can, support the skyboys. You are free to engage at your limit."

No response for a few seconds as Cam angled the plane up and pushed towards high atmosphere so he could move faster. Yellow bolts of plasma flew past the plane, but Cam didn't even have to dodge them. At this range, the Ha'tak could easily shift fire from Area 51 to Nellis or even his planes, but they were being thorough. Nellis had only accepted reserves for emergency situations, they didn't actually repair or keep any high level technology there.

The Goa'uld seemed focused on high technology and the densest concentration of civilians - almost as if they didn't care about the military response. Each one of those shots could easily glass an entire block - Cam pushed it out of his head. He pushed Area 51's relative indefensible position out of his head, the fact that NORAD and the SGC would probably survive, but end up under a mountain of molten rock… The Asgard, the Alliance, someone had to come soon. All he could focus on was saving who he could.

Neither he nor Jake said anything as he reached low earth orbit and pushed the engines to their limit. The F302 shuddered from turbulence - even through the Inertial Dampener. As a younger pilot - 4 hours with a little extra on a jetliner to get from Nellis to the East Coast. Now? This plane could achieve orbit on its own even without inertial dampeners - less than 10 minutes and he could cross the entire continental united states without the heavy friction of the atmosphere getting in the way.

Radio chatter came back to life, Cam could hear Marine and Army ground defences calling out targets and requesting air support. The Air Force lines were completely jammed - so many requests, pilots and CAGs with reports. Cam had to block it out and instead focused on the radar signatures AWACs was providing.

The East Coast had fared better, but Cam noted immediately that high profile cities had taken the brunt of the assault - Washington, Langley, and especially New York. The gliders had been thinned out, but since they were just faster than any terrestrial craft, it was a frustrating fight for the Skyboys. F302s were better in every respect, but there just weren't enough of them.

Cam cut the chatter on his radio down to only the local flight squads - Knight Squadron was gone. Whether they'd RTBed due to no weapons or fuel or were just gone he didn't know, but all he saw now was a mishmash of various flights, from Air Force, Marines, Air National Guard, and even Canadian IFFs - seems they'd come down to help even in their aging Super Hornets. He pinged his entrance into the theatre, which given the speed of his craft was basically the entire east coast. He received a message from Eastern Air Defence Sector - he was being given full command of flights - whoever was on the command decks was paying attention.

It didn't take long for Cam to get affirmative pings from various pilots - it was information overload and he quickly turned to Jake. "Block incoming for now, and see if you can find me an Al'Kesh." Jake gave him an affirmative reply and Cam then focused on the screen.

47 Gliders remained according to AWACs over the East Coast. They were doing very long strafing runs, focusing on those high profile targets but indiscriminately firing on the cities below. No friendly civilians planes remained in the skies. Only Military flew and already whoever was still in command had them doing defensive flights - there was no hope in chasing them down.

Cam agreed, but he also knew that they needed more focus. He used the display ahead of him to mark targets - he ordered all flights to converge and hit high altitude on their nearest major cities - it would leave the suburbs and smaller cities uncovered, but he could tell the Goa'uld weren't going for small targets unless it was just an opportunity. He then turned on his radio for everyone. "This is Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Flight Lead for the Eastern Seaboard. Orders are to fly a max altitude hold pattern above your nearest major cities. When enemy planes approach, divestrike and take them down by any means, over."

He noticed how the affirmative pings he got back were delayed - these pilots were probably just as desperate as he was to take these bastards down, and even more they were probably in shock from seeing the West Coast take orbital fire. But Cam had to make these decisions. He hadn't been promoted and put in such a responsible position without knowing he was capable. He saw a confirmed Al'Kesh moving south along the coast towards the Carolinas and set an intercept course.

"Hey. Hey!" Jake suddenly yelped.

Cam turned - they had another minute to intercept the Al'Kesh. "What is it?"'

"Look south! Are those… Jesus Christ they are!"

Cam flipped hsi camera on the HUD over - Jake was able to twist his neck to see, but it was recognizable right away. Cam remembered watching them while half dead on the antarctic ground. He couldn't help it and screamed "Yes… YES!"

-Asgard Research Vessel Sleipnir, Datacore-

Loki's scans of the planet surprised him - someone had managed to fire a volley of Ancient Drones from the defence outpost in Antarctica, but they weren't moving like his records said they would. They flew straight up into the sky as if they were dumb fired, not the smooth flow that one would expect. It wasn't until they reached orbit that they seemed to stop for a moment, and then make a brutally hard turn towards the nearest Ha'tak.

93 seconds. That's how much time it would take to get to Earth. Every single department on the ship had reported ready, but it didn't matter anymore. Scans of the planet were less than ideal. Whether Ba'al had struck out from his own knowledge or if Carter had cracked he didn't know, but it didn't matter anymore.

Loki watched on sensors as the Ha'tak under fire somehow managed to dodge the drones that didn't seem to have any real guidance system. What was happening? It was almost as if someone could only… Realization struck Loki. The Humans must have put someone on the chair with the Ancient Gene with only enough mental prowess and knowledge to give the drones the simplest of orders. This was proven when the drones again shut down, but then turned hard around and this time plowed into the ring structure of the Ha'tak, tearing it apart like as if it were leaves. Their shields did nothing to protect them.

The drones had survived the strike and now were again dormant. In that time, Loki dropped out of Hyperspace near the moon - He was being cautious to ensure that the Ha'tak wouldn't get any lucky shots on his ship.

Loki sent a message to the Ha'tak. He did his best to sound like Thor and give the Goa'uld a single chance to surrender. Realistically Loki would have rather just atomized them, but he figured the humans might appreciate the appearance of an effort to capture them. While the message went out, Loki locked in on the closest Ha'tal with his plasma cannons. Earth was clear as he approached from an extremely oblique angle - his shots even if they missed wouldn't hit the planet.

He gave the Goa'uld mere seconds to think before firing. Blue plasma spat out from the two functioning cannons on the Asgard Research Vessel - not as mighty as the Beam Cannons Asgard capital ships sported, but Loki hadn't been given access to such luxuries.

The plasma impacted on the Ha'tak, its shield buckling and scorching the hull. Loki didn't hold back and kept firing - even as his sensors painted a real picture of what had happened to Earth.

"Oh my god." He heard Miranda mutter as she watched through the windows of his command ship. "How much damage they've done?"

Loki shared his sensor data to Miranda's console. He could already tell that significant damage had been done to Earth's infrastructure and the most important locations. The mountain above Stargate command had been reduced to molten rock and glass, Area 51 was a series of molten craters, and cities along the west coast of the United States were nothing more than a firestorm.

The East Coast was much like Europe - swarming with Gliders and Al'Kesh. Loki could pick up troop transports that had dropped into the most industrial of cities, New York, London, as well as locations in India and China. The Ha'tak had bombarded Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Area 51, and Stargate command in the United States.

Europe had Paris, Stockholm, Munich and various other large population centered hit from Orbit. Not as intense as the US targets, but they were burning nontheless. Japan had taken a bombardment as well. Russian secret bases had been targeted, and the Ha'tak that had clearly been the culprit was now under fire from Loki - instead of returning fire on the Asgard, the Ha'tak took it's final shots at the planet. Loki was disgusted at the spite of these parasites.

The Ha'tak shields failed as pair after pair of shots hit it - eventually evaporating into nothing, and the next pair of shots hit the Ha'tak near the center of the pyramid structure tearing through it like a fireball through paper. The Ha'tak listed, and power went out. Loki held his fire after that - the Ha'tak had been crippled and wasn't going anywhere.

The last remaining Ha'tak hadn't stayed still, it was moving towards the antarctic now - cely trying to get a shot at the base that had fired the Drones. The drones meanwhile had begun to follow the Ha'tak, but it was going to take at least a minute for it to catch up if they could even aim it well.

"We need to help them on the ground - this is 21st Century Earth, their fighter craft aren't going to hold up against those Goa'uld."

Loki didn't reply to Miranda, but he did send his plotted course. The Sleipnir would go into atmosphere, close enough to use the transporters against the Gliders and Al'Kesh. Unlike the upgraded Ha'tak, they were still susceptible to that kind of overwhelming attack.

But that didn't change that Earth had been rocked by not an invasion - this was an attack of terror and spite. There would be plenty of Jaffa to interrogate after, one of them would know where Ba'al went.

- Normandy SR-2, CIC Deck, Near Relay to Earth-

It'd been half an hour - and Normandy was finally approaching the Earth Relay. Doctor Chakwas had sent him an update on Carter - she was in a medically induced coma, and compared to recent scans, she was in bad shape. The crew on the CIC with him was deathly quiet, nobody asked where Grunt, Miranda and John were.

The last they'd seen before disengaging from the battle was that the Salarians had brought even more reinforcements in - Shepard couldn't imagine how they would lose at that point. Shepard forced himself to ignore the fates of his squad - he gave Miranda charge and he trusted her to do it. With upgraded Turian and Human Frigate support - it'd be mere hours to take over the main complex completely. It would be a major boon - everything EDI's analysis of the scans told him was that they'd find large amounts of refined materials, and the planet itself was resource rich - the kind he used to mark with Probes for mining companies to pay him a finders fee for.

Now he was mere moments from Earth - the only noise from the CIC was the beeping of sensors and displays. The fight hadn't been enough to stress him that badly, but he also hadn't bothered to get more information from the others - they were alive, Carter was back, but Earth... Earth was the only thing he could think of.

They approached the relay and Joker came over the radio. "Hitting the relay in 5-4-3…"

Shepard turned to the main display where EDI popped up - as if anticipating him. "EDI. Give me sensors sweeps as soon as you can." He said as the ship entered teh relay, and a few moments later, popped back into existence on the edge of the Sol system. EDI's sensor scans came up and Shepard focused - the scans were taking a few seconds but-

"Asgard Ship detected. there's alot of interference coming from Earth." EDI said.

"Joker, top speed to Earth!" Shepard ordered. He looked at the map. There were two broken Ha'tak in orbit, and a third one falling into orbit. The ship's FTL turned on and zoomed towards Earth, sensor readings came back with more details. There were strange energy readings chasing the Ha'tak, while the Asgard Ship moved into atmosphere. There were plenty of other Goa'uld sensor readings in the air above the planet as well. Resolution got better and better as they approached, and the view of earth…

"Oh my god." Kelly whispered to the side where her console was. "Is that… the planet's glowing…"

Shepard zoomed in on the planet - places he recognized - the West Coast, Japan, spots all over the planet… in flames. "Oh god." he quietly muttered. He knew better than to react in a big way - the crew needed stability. So he kept his orders calm. "Joker. hail the Asgard Ship. Ask them how we can help and do it. EDI, give me a status report on Earth… soon as you can." He turned to look at the rest of the crew - they all were quiet. This was an image that he wasn't sure any of them ever imagined they see. Earth, with thousands of square miles in flame, wreckage and debris scattered in orbit, burning up on reentry. Shepard thought about having EDI shut it off, but it was just delaying the inevitable.