A/N: Hey guys, I have a new title page uploaded for Golden Dawn. Credit goes to Frinkysig on Instagram for the awesome work, and she will be doing character portraits as well. Her link is in my author bio page since Fanfiction hates links.

Stargate: Bleak Twilight

Chapter 26: Alliance

Chi You drummed his fingers on the command chair of his shuttle craft as it descended from his flagship Neh'tal toward the capital planet of the Kauri Republic. He had commed the Republic Defense Forces when he arrived in system, and they had agreed to a diplomatic conference. His scans showed that despite being a three planet nation, the Kauri had truly impressive numbers and technology to fight any major Goa'uld incursion, being even more advanced than them. He reflected with pride how the Kauri were under his rule, and how far they had come. The Goa'uld warlord supposed it was like watching a child grow up, watching with interest as the shuttle landed, an escort of black uniformed Kauri soldiers lined up with lasrifles on the pad. A cortege of officials stood nearby, but it was the man in the suit that drew his attention as the Goa'uld warlord got up from his seat and walked down the boarding ramp. Chi You stood in front of the man and waited, his blood red scale armor a sharp contrast to the soldiers nearby as the President of the Kauri Republic extended his hand.

"Welcome Lord Chi You. I am President Chung Ha Joon." Chi You clasped his hand as his eyes flashed. The Chungs were one of the nine original clans that held influence in his old domain, and were obviously influential here.

"I greet you in the name of my Domain, Mr. President. I come in peace to offer an alliance between your Republic and myself." Chung smiled as he released Chi You's hand, gesturing toward the air car nearby.

"I would like to hear what you have to offer. Please, this way." Chi You nodded as the two men walked in and headed toward the Presidential Mansion.

"An interesting proposal. One that will have to go through our Senate of course, but I think it holds merit." Chung said as he reclined in his chair.

"I think it is the best plan to ensue peace. All true warriors seek it, and I think the proposed organization will be the best method to achieve it." Chi You said from his place near the window, his hands clasped behind his back as he turned to face the President.

"Your legend as a warrior of unparalleled skill and fair leader still resonates with our people, my Lord. Even if we are now independent and fight off other Goa'uld, your influence is still present. Without you, we would have been slaves to other Goa'uld warlords."

"Which is why I wish to preserve your independence. Eventually the Goa'uld would destroy you once they united under another leader like Ra. They have made great technological advances especially in hyperdrive travel, and might even be able to match you now. And even if they do not destroy us, the Alesian Empire represents an even greater threat to our sovereignty. Divided, we will all fall. United, we can present the greatest military potential to face any threat. Even that of the Alesians, given enough time." Chung nodded in acceptance.

"This Alliance of yours appears to be a solution. We have noted the disunity of the Goa'uld with a certain sense of contentment, but we know this cannot last. We must have allies if we are to survive indefinitely."

"Yes. Hebridian, the Tok'ra, and even some of the rebel Jaffa have joined the Alliance. I did try to convince the Tollan, but they were adamant in their neutrality. The fools. Do they really think the Goa'uld would ever leave them alone? Or the Alesians?"

"They are isolationists, Lord Chi You. I am well versed in their stupidity, since more than a few Kauri also hold this view. It would assuage many of them if there was a clear leadership structure that would guarantee that the Alliance would be defensive in nature." Chung was more than a little surprised at Chi You's next words.

"I can agree in a limited sense. While it would be foolhardy to be so passive on defense, it would deter the idea that I might be using this solely for my own benefit. Which is why I will not be it's Grand Leader."

"You won't?" Chung asked.

"No. I propose to be it's military Executor, but it's political leadership should be held by one of the other heads of state. I am not so well versed in politics. But I am a very capable warlord and general. It was enough for the Goa'uld Domain, but not for a multi-planetary coalition. I propose a meeting in a few months time provided the Kauri Senate ratifies the Alliance."

"I think that won't be an issue. The Militarist faction will drool when we start sharing technology. They always like the idea of new ships and weapons to augment our forces." Chung smiled, pleased to see the Goa'uld nod. Chi You was noted to be one of the most innovative scientists and military leaders in the Goa'uld Empire, and he was reasonable unlike so many of his kind. Together, they would be unstoppable.

Alesia Orbit
Alesian Empire Space Station (AESS) Citadel

Aleus Ryos walked along the corridor toward the ship bay, still processing his meeting with Amann as he headed toward his private ship Wayfarer. He felt relief walking out of that office alive, knowing his actions could have easily been seen by Amann as traitorous. His old friend was unpredictable, volatile even at the best of times. And utterly ruthless toward people that wronged him.

He looked out at the window of the corridor, seeing the vast shipyards that surrounded the massive station. Citadel was one of the four largest stations in the Alesian Empire, and was nearly one hundred kilometers tall and thirty kilometers in diameter in the main station alone. That did not count the web of tubes that shot out from it that intersected the vast metal frames that housed the space shipyards for the construction of Alesian capital ships. Even now he could see several ships under construction nearby, the hustle of construction bots and dockyard workers swarming over the hulls as transports unloaded components into "offshore" storage lockers under the watchful eye of patrol ships.

And it wasn't just military ships that were made here, Aleus reflected as he looked at other sections. As large as the Alesian navy was, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the merchant marine. Thousands of ships traveled to and from Alesia and her in system planet Telara on a daily basis. Commerce was the lifeblood of the Empire, and even a race as technologically advanced as the Alesians would never have gotten to where they are without it. Trade formed the bonds between Alesia and it's member worlds.

'It certainly cut down on the dissent at being conquered.' Aleus thought with wry amusement as he turned from the window. He passed by several people, a mix of military personnel and civilians on the way to the shuttle bay, entering it a few minutes later. The Wayfarer was squat and ungainly looking even at a mere 25 meters length. Despite the ugliness, she was quick and agile, and she was Aleus' home away from home. Aleus frowned a bit at the deserted bay, since Wayfarer shared her space with nearly a dozen other smaller vessels, but no one was in sight. His instincts were screaming caution at him as he placed his hand on his plasma pistol, nearly jumping as a soprano voice cut across.

"Going somewhere without even saying goodbye to me?" Aleus turned around to find a tall, blonde haired woman leaning across the wall, her arms crossed as she looked at him with amusement.

"Alexis. Your presence explains why this place is deserted." He said, drinking in her features. She shared the thin, narrow face of her brother, although while his radiated aloofness and ferocity, her features were aristocratic and warm. Her hair came down to her chin, kept deliberately short due to her healer profession.

"Hmm. You always did have good instincts, Aleus. It has served you well. Too bad they did not suggest you pay a visit to me. I am wrought with you, and it is never a good idea to have an Adar mad at you." Alexis said, her small smile ruining the effect her speech portrayed.

"I've had your brother angry at me more than once, my Lady." Aleus smirked as he walked over to her.

"That's true. He does has a tendency to go off on people that angers him. But he isn't the one you should fear. I am a Healer after all. I know all the ways to incapacitate someone." Alexis raised one golden eyebrow. Suddenly it was too much as Alexis burst out laughing, flinging her arms around Aleus as she kissed him.

"I've missed you." Aleus breathed after they broke apart with flushed complexions.

"And you as well. Now that you are back in my brother's good graces, you must come over more often. Or should I go to you?" She whispered, her dark eyes meeting Aleus's own in challenge as she ruffled his brown hair.

"I can agree to that." Aleus said with a smile. Perhaps he could put off his trip for a few hours. After all, he had an excuse from a High Councilor if people asked why he was late.

Tarsus Orbit
AESS Phoenix

"Phoenix control to Wayfarer, you are cleared to dock in Bay 94. Follow the beacons along your dedicated route."

"Copy Phoenix station. Wayfarer confirms beacon route and tractor beam lock. You have control." Aleus said, looking out the cockpit at the looming station ahead of him. Phoenix was the single largest station in the Empire, with shipyards that could house half of the fleet and then some. Combine that with her sister station Chimera nearby, the planet of Tarsus had over half of the largest shipyards in the Empire as well as significant ground side industrial production. Over 40 billion sentients called Tarsus home, most of them humans with a significant minority of Alesians. The Kingdom of Tarsus was the first of the worlds conquered by the Alesians, and had prospered greatly under imperial management.

Aleus looked out at the mass of shipping moving in and out of the station bays, noting how busy it was. Transports, personal shuttles, patrol craft, and even the occasional warship dotted the nearby space. He could make out two Sentinel class destroyers holding station near an occupied dockyard, the hundred meter long ships bristling with light laser point defense, heavy laser turrets, drone bays, and missile tubes. Aleus narrowed his eyes at the ship they were guarding, his military grade sensors seeing past the cloaking screens that obscured the ship from civilian traffic.

"Squiggles, what's that ship?" He asked.

"Transponder code registering as AES Valkyrie." The female AI answered him.

"Hail General Le'Nae. Her comm frequency is in the computer." Aleus said, leaning back in his chair.

"Comm open." Squiggles said. Aleus smirked as he pressed the transmit button.

"I see you still carry the fine tradition of getting holes blown in your ship, General." He said with a chuckle as he heard swearing answer him. She must have been alone in her office to answer with such invective, he thought with amusement.

"Aleus, I swear I will find you and murder you for that." Renate growled.

"It wouldn't be the first time you tried. Heard about your promotion by the way. Long overdue."

"It's a pain in the ass mostly. All paperwork and politics, despite the assignment of new aides to handle the lesser duties. Amann neglected to mention he promoted me two grades to Sector General instead of Fleet General, on purpose I'm sure. At least I get to still use the Valkyrie as my flagship."

"Ah, which fleet did he give you? 3rd Fleet?" Aleus guessed, not sure which of the various fleets that would be assigned. 3rd and 10th fleet were among the most powerful strike groups in the Empire and were prestigious commands given to Sector Generals, while other fleets such as 8th Fleet and 12th fleet were smaller in scale and were given to mere Fleet Generals.

"10th fleet actually. Galen got bumped to Region General. BuShips Commander." Renate said. Region Generals were just below the two current High Generals, and commanded several fleets in their area of responsibility. Currently there were only seven Region Generals in the entire Empire, three of them fleet group commanders while the other four commanded the bureaucracy that drove the Alesian war machine. The Bureau of Ships was arguably the most powerful of the branches, in charge of ship assignments, development, maintenance, and construction of the Alesian fleet and reported straight to the Supreme Commander of the Alesian Legions, the position currently occupied by General Ayen Theftus.

"Interesting. I'll be taking charge of Vanguard myself." Aleus said, frowning as Renate made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a giggle.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh nothing. Just that the Vanguard has been assigned to the 2nd Legion." She said, snorting as Aleus stared at the comm in horror.

"Oh great." He muttered. The 2nd Legion, also known as the Iron Bastards, were one of the best ground based Legions in the Empire. Few other Legions could match their battle prowess. Unfortunately, they were also the most unruly legion when not in a battle, often picking on constables and other various law enforcement with some degree of success. No sane officer wanted to be in charge of such a group. To make matters worse, the 2nd Legion was one of the first three units formed in the Alesian Empire, one that Aleus himself founded. To say that they would be enthusiastic about his return would be an understatement.

"Indeed. I do hope you enjoy the hangovers...oh I'm sorry...the headaches of command." Renate said sweetly as she disconnected. Aleus groaned as he buried his head in his hands. The Irons would likely buy him rounds of drinks, and expect him to keep up.

Aleus walked along the hallways of the station, the sea of people lit by the garish signs of the marketplace. It had been some time since he had been here, but he knew where he was going as he rounded the corner to find a seedy looking bar. Two guards nodded as he entered, the smoky, dimly lit bar full of customers dancing to some unidentifiable beat. He spotted a blue-black haired woman near the back, her 6'4 frame towering about all of the others as she downed the last of her beer with her considerably smaller companion. She grinned at him suddenly as she punched him in the arm, earning a yelp.

"Ow! Vela! Not so hard." He rubbed his arm as her violet eyes lit up.

"Don't be such a pansy. I've beaten up, fought, and fucked my way all across the Empire and enjoyed every minute of it. If you can't take a few punches from me in a bar, you won't survive me little man. I like it rough." She leered, her dress leaving little to the imagination as she jutted out her breasts deliberately in a suggestive pose.

"Maybe if you stop whining like a little bitch and hit me back hard, I'll let you have me."

"Now now, Vela. We must make allowances. After all, not everyone can be an Iron." A grizzled, greying haired man said, sitting nearby.

"Hush Garro. I'm socializing. What would an old man like you know about that?" She said with a smirk.

"More than you know, Centurion. Besides, that is technically insubordination, seeing as I am your commanding officer." He gave her a toast to offset the sting of his words. Aleus reflected a bit on the vast differences between many of the other Alesian units and the 2nd Legion, especially regarding the lack of regard for rank in a social setting, but the Irons were mostly comprised of the original Alesians and were more family than a military unit. It drove many of the more rank conscious officers insane, yet no one could complain about their battlefield performance. As a result, 2nd Legion's lack of social mores was generally disregarded by High Command, although the whip came down hard if they violated regulations while on duty.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've seen the brig." She said with a laugh as she returned the toast. Aleus just groaned as he approached the pair, Vela noticing him first and nearly dropping her glass in surprise.

"As I live and breathe, Aleus Ryos!" She boomed, standing up and quickly engulfing him in a bear hug, quickly crushing his ribs as cheers erupted from around them.

"The prodigal father returns to us at last." Garro said dryly as the other Irons surrounded Aleus.

"Nice to see you, Commander. I see none of you have changed one bit." Aleus said, shaking his head at their antics.

"Nope. Still alive and strong. What brings you to our neck of the woods?" Garro asked.

"I am to take command of Vanguard, get her ready for final trial runs, and then lead the new escort squadron for your transports." Aleus said, taking a beer offered to him by one of the other Irons.

"Does that make you our Legate?" Vela asked with a grin.

"No, but I will be the executive officer for the Legion." Cheers erupted from all around them again as Vela raised her glass.

"A toast to our new commander!"

"Hail!" The cheer went down the bar as Aleus was offered another drink before he had taken a sip of his first one. He groaned again internally. This was going to be a long night.

Renate Le'nae rubbed her eyes tiredly as she read the reports concerning the repairs and refit of the Valkyrie. The ship was nearly ready to undergo trial runs again to test her new systems, especially in light of the new threat to the Alesian fleet. 'The Asgard yet again have come up with a way to neutralize our advantages' Renate thought with a snarl. Their jammer had completely fouled her targeting and navigational sensors, and it allowed the various ships attacking her to survive far longer than they should. An Angelan class dreadnought should have laid waste to that ragtag fleet within a few minutes of combat, yet because they had to resort to manual gunnery it took over half an hour to win the fight with significant damage to Valkyrie. To add insult to injury, all three of her escort cruisers were destroyed outright with the loss of over three hundred crewmen, as well as seventy three fighters and their pilots.

'That is going to change' Renate thought with a savage smile. The fleet had already responded with undoing the modifications to the missile tubes on board all Alesian ships configured previously to fire drop pods instead of the old antimatter missile armaments. BuWeps had concluded that it would be better to have more drop pod capability to land ground forces rather than having less than optimal weapons against peer opponents like the Asgard or the Lantean Fleet. The old missiles were too vulnerable to point defense and lacked the shield penetrating power needed to overcome such enemies. Renate smiled again as she filed the report for the Valkyrie and picked up another data pad, remembering the last time they were so underestimated by their enemies.

The Asgard had been heavily surprised at the Battle of Alesia when they tried to attack the homeworld directly. The Homeworld Defense Fleet, as well as a detachment of the 10th Fleet, inflicted one of the worst defeats in Asgard history with the introduction of the neutron beam weapons installed on the new Alesian capital ships.

Renate had commanded the 10th Fleet detachment, with the newly commissioned Valkyrie joining her sister ships Angelan, Conqueror, Nemesis, and Invictus in pounding the Asgard fleet into so much space debris. The neutron beams were then installed on all other existing capital ships. The Asgard knew at that point the Alesian fleet was too strong to face on the defense. The loss of over a hundred of the most advanced Asgard capital ships forced the Asgard to consider a containment strategy rather than conquest.

It was a triumph for the Alesian Empire, yet it seemed the Asgard had not been idle when the Alesians were frozen in time stasis. The design board for BuWeps had consulted with Renate as they looked for ways to regain their supremacy, and she had advocated the redevelopment of missile based technology. The Asgard could jam the central sensors of Alesian ships, but the nature of the jammer showed they could not jam other ships while doing it. Or jam fire and forget weapons like the missiles. At her suggestion, BuWeps had modernized their missile arsenal to carry shaped antimatter charges to make them more effective against shields, increased their range and sensor capacity, and given them rudimentary shield generators to take a few hits from point defense to increase survivability, but at a cost. The new missiles carried less than two thirds of the old antimatter payload, but the shaped charges meant their effectiveness would be well over 120% since all of the energy would be dumped into the target rather than radiated harmlessly into space.

In addition to the new Vanguard under Aleus, Renate also knew BuWeps were testing a new battlecruiser design. The Alesian fleet had only ever built fifteen battlecruisers and had found them ineffective. At best, they were considered to be stopgap measures on the road to building truly effective capital ships. Almost all were scrapped or put in the Fleet Reserve. But the rapid expansion of Alesian controlled territory, combined with the dimension of the new threat, meant the battlecruiser found a new role in the fleet. Better still, the AES Alesia under construction was modular in nature, which allowed her to be refit quickly based on the mission profile.

Renate could already see that one of the more popular choices will be to make Alesia a missile boat able to throw a broadside of 48 missiles in a single salvo, slightly less than half that of an Angelan. It was an impressive feat for a ship that was only a kilometer long in comparison to the six kilometer length of the Angelan, but her energy armaments would be lacking in comparison. Even the old battlecruisers packed more energy weapons than Alesia, but her shield strength would be quite a bit stronger than the older designs to compensate. 'And she would be fast, easily able to run away from ships that could kill her' Renate thought as she signed off on the report in front of her. It seemed in addition to AES Alesia, 10th Fleet would receive AES Bellona, the newest of the Angelans currently undergoing trial runs. There were twenty eight Angelan's in fleet service, with a dozen more under construction. More would be needed if the Empire were going to expand their borders to another galaxy, particularly in light that they would be operating far from their logistical bases. 10th Fleet would be augmented by over half a dozen smaller sized fleets to form the invasion fleet, which was code named the Sword Fleet.

The upcoming campaign was going to strain the fleet in a way it had never been before, and the high ship rotation rates necessitated the need for more hulls to maintain fleet strength. This would remain true until new fleet bases could be constructed. To that end, Renate had dispatched scout ships with the first few transports in order to survey the Lantean Galaxy before they launched their attack. If all went well, they would establish a forward base on the edge of the galaxy as a jumping off point for the rest of the attack.

At least her available order of battle looked good. Out of her two hundred plus ships, only a squadron of destroyers with three cruisers would be left behind to shore up anti piracy patrols. All thirty three of her capital ships would be ready for deployment, and most of them were first line units. Six Angelan class dreadnoughts and twelve Vengeance class battleships were the core of 10th Fleet's firepower, backed up by another fifteen Aurora class light battleships and around sixty cruisers, the remaining ships being destroyers and fleet support vessels. Only 3rd Fleet under General Augustus and the Homeworld Fleet possessed equivalent firepower.

Renate brought up a holo map and frowned. She would have liked to have kept 3rd Fleet in the Sword Fleet, but that was Ayen's decision to leave such a powerful strike force behind in case of a second conflict here at home. In addition to Augustus' 3rd Fleet, 2nd Fleet under General Salen would be running patrols in the Outer Region, while 8th Fleet under General Baras would be defending the Mid-Region worlds. Of course, 2nd and 8th fleet were much smaller formations with less powerful units, but would be quickly reinforced by 3rd Fleet in case of overwhelming attack. To compensate, many ships of the Homeworld Fleet would be joining the invasion. Twenty Angelan class dreadnoughts would be in the Sword Fleet, as well as over thirty of the Vengeance class heavy battleships. This was the largest fleet the Alesians had ever assembled into a single unit, and it was going to be a shock to the Wraith when they arrived.

Taryn breathed in as she concentrated, holding out her hand as she tried to draw the energy from the room. She panted as frost covered the room, the suddenly cold air a sharp contrast to her sweaty skin as energy gathered in her hand. Taryn smiled at the feat, her powers were unlike any of her race. She would prove the naysayers wrong, those that looked down upon her heritage as a hybrid. Taryn knew she was stronger than any of them, and her mother had shown her a great deal on how to use her powers.

With a blink, she was suddenly on the other side of the room, her heartbeat pulsing in time with her movements as she teleported again, throwing knives at her targets with unerring accuracy. With a thought, the knives flew back to Taryn's hand.

"You've improved." A voice said from behind her. Taryn spun around, knife in hand. With a sheepish grin, she lowered the weapon after recognizing her.

"Hello, mother." She greeted the elder Drow, bowing her head.

"Daughter. Your form is good, but your energy manipulation needs a little work. Yet you will find it will serve you well in battle. A creative energy manipulator is one of the most dangerous enemies you will ever face."

"I know, but it is difficult just to sense it all and focus it into a single point." Taryn breathed out, her chest rising and falling with exertion. A smile graced her mother's lips as she appraised her with scarlet colored eyes.

"Indeed. It is a difficult art to get right, even harder to master. But I came to get you for dinner. You should get cleaned up and put on some clothes. While most of our race don't care, our hosts are Alesian. They might be shocked to see your natural form."

"Why? It is nothing to be ashamed of." Taryn shrugged.

"Agreed. But Alesians have such outdated concepts when it comes to nudity. They associate it with sex. The Alesians are our allies, but they can be so dull."

"You didn't seem to think so when you married Father." Taryn pointed out. Her mother responded with a sultry, wicked grin.

"Ah, but your Father was strong. And vigorous. He might seem a stick in the mud to you, but he's anything but when it comes to. Even when we were attempting to kill each other, he was interesting. He would be proud of you, my daughter."

"Good. Because I look forward to the day I can look him in the eye and acknowledge him as my father." Taryn said as her mother walked forward until her face was inches from her.

"It would be a shock to his system I think when he finds out about you. But you must master your mentalic powers as well as your physical prowess. Our family has enemies. It would not do to have you assassinated or kidnapped to be used as a pawn." Her mother leaned up to kiss her cheek, her lips coming close to her ear.

"You are my daughter. When you are fully trained, our enemies will not be able to stand against you." she whispered. Taryn smirked as she looked down.

"They will try to, but they will fail." Her mother simply nodded as she retrieved two practice swords.

"We have a little time before we have to go. Show me what you've got." She said as she tossed Taryn a blade, disrobing to reveal her own toned body.

"If you think you can keep up." Taryn snarked.

"Please. I can fight your father on roughly equal terms. I'm not going to be the one having to keep up." Her mother smirked as she struck, her blade a whirl as she attacked. Tayrn used her superior reach and backed up, deflecting the blows with a flick of her blade. The next few minutes went by as the two Drow performed feats of acrobatics, teleporting around the room as their blades clanged together. Despite her earlier boasting, Taryn was hard pressed to keep her mother at bay, the sweat dripping down her obsidian colored skin as she was corraled into a corner. With a blink, her mother teleported and kicked the blade from Taryn's hands, a dagger appearing in her hand as she teleported yet again behind her daughter. She grabbed her daughter's white hair and yanked back, pressing the blade against her throat as Tayrn stumbled off balance.

"Very good, daughter. You still have much to learn, but you gave me a good workout." She whispered into Taryn's ear, releasing her after a moment.

"Now, go get cleaned up. We need to be ready within the hour."