SG1 2003: Chapter V

[Chris OFarrell]

-Stargate Command Operations Centre. Earth. March 2, 2003. 00:40 Zulu.

It has been truly said that greatest of leaders in the history of war on Earth were not found at the front lines. The greatest leaders were those who trained their subordinates to perfection, then set them loose while they stayed far behind the front with their eyes on the strategic picture, trusting those under them to carry out their orders without any need for micromanagement or oversight.

For George Hammond, this was a somewhat more immediate lesson rather then a theoretical chapter in a military textbook. The Stargate was a technological wonder, but it was also a curse. He sent some of the finest people he had ever commanded in his long career into a hostile galaxy with little of the logistical support US troops were used to. He sent them to do battle with an enemy far more insidious then any on this planet. He sent his men into the unknown and watched them return with wonders that still gave him hope that they could win against their enemies.

He had sent men to their deaths.

The nightmares never went away. Close to a hundred people had died under his command over the last six years. The ‘lucky’ ones who bodies had been recovered were usually buried under their old units standard. Like all ‘black’ operations, their records were sealed and their families told a tissue of lies, excepting the six simple words: “They died in service of their country”.
And so it was he stood in the command centre, watching the limited data NORAD could gather on the huge spacebattle, taking place deep in the solar system. Once again his subordinates were off fighting for Earth and all he could do was tell them ‘Godspeed’ and pray they would come back home, wondering if this time the odds would catch up with them.

On the various monitors around the control room, data readouts from NORAD tried to track the battle. It was not an easy task, too far for real-time radar or visual tracking, but the long-range Al’Kesh sensor package in Space Commands orbiting satellite was able to provide at least a partial picture. Even so, despite the best efforts of Walter, the picture went all to hell after the two sides engaged. Static punctuated by the energy spike of nuclear warheads detonating were all the command staff had to go on. It was like trying to watch a football game a half-mile from the stadium in thick fog.

Of course the Aschen were playing for stakes far higher then some championship trophy.

Finally the screen cleared up, just in time to show Prometheus’s energy signature suddenly expanded then vanish on the tracking display. An icy ball settled into Hammond’s stomach as he turned to Lieutenant Graham Simmons.
“Was that…”
“Negative Sir” Simmons said with a shake of his head. “The energy signature is consistent with Prometheus punching into a hyperspace window, looks like they’ve cleared the engagement”
“When can we expect them back here?”
“Phase shift was negative, Sir” Walter chimed in as he played the data back in slow motion. “It looks like they jumped out system. The inhibitor field is ramping back up, they might not have been able to jump back to Earth”.
“We can only hope they have gone to try and get help” Hammond surmised, refusing the voice the other possibilities lurking over them all like a dark cloud. “In the meantime, we have to prepare to defend Earth ourselves. Sergeant, Lieutenant, try to assess what kind of damage the X-303 inflicted on the Aschen forces. I want your best estimates on their status within the hour. Doctor Jackson, Teal’c, your with me”.

Walter and Simmons quickly started to debate over sensor readouts as the General retreated to the staircase at the back of the command centre, the two Earth side SG1 members following as they passed the pair of MP5 toting Guards at the entrance to the command centre. In fact just about all the military personnel in the base had changed into BDUs and been issued side arms thanks to the invasion threat. All Stargate Command personnel were required to requalify on a monthly basis thanks to the constant threat of attack through the Stargate.
“Alright people” Hammond said without preamble as he climbed into the conference room and waved the military people back into their chairs. “Based on what little data we’ve gathered we have to presume the Aschen fleet survived Prometheus’s attack. Doctor Lee is here to brief us on a new weapon prototype being prepared at Area 51. After him I want options for defence of this complex from any Aschen attack. Doctor?”

Doctor Lee stood up and glanced over his notes for a few seconds before dimming the lights and activating the projector. Daniel noticed to his amusement that the good Doctor had dropped the nervous attitude that had prevailed through his last briefing. Clearly he was too busy to worry about something as trivial as public speaking to the command staff.

“Well, ok. We’ve developed a last ditch defensive weapon for use against the Aschen fleet. Basically, we’ve built a Naquadah-Naquadriah enhanced nuclear warhead and installed it into a heavily modified Death Glider, which SG1 recovered from Osiris’ ship when it fell into the Pacific Ocean”. Aiming the remote, he brought up a schematic of a heavily modified Death Glider. “We’ve essentially turned it into an remotely piloted vehicle. It has a limited artificial intelligence, meaning if it looses its uplink, it’ll head towards the biggest target it can see and crash into it”. He changed slides to show to highlight a large cylinder that took most of the space of what had been the cockpit. “This is the weapon itself. It uses a Fission/Fusion/Naquadah reaction to generate an initial boosting yield input into a Naquadriah shell of roughly five times ten to the eighteen…” an uncomfortable shifting went around the room of crack troopers. With Major Carter gone, the number of them who had any idea what Dr Lee was talking about dropped to zero. Lt Colonel Warren Lawrence glared at the academic, who took the hint and rapidly changed tone. “In short, the bomb will deliver a total yield of roughly two point one teratons on detonation, assuming our modelling is correct”. The men around the room made appreciative noises. Scientists they might not be, but they DID understand and appreciate firepower.
“How long before its ready for deployment?” Colonel Pierce put in.
“At least two hours. It was only in prototype stage yesterday, they’ve been on a crash program to finish it off since the Aschen were detected, they’re having problems locking down the subspace inertial field on the-”
“Thankyou Doctor Lee,” Hammond said, his voice louder than necessary. Lee took the hint and fell back to the rear of the room as Hammond replaced him.
“We will be operating under the assumption that Prometheus fell back against overwhelming enemy forces to get help from our allies and that the enemy force is still combat effective. We can assume that in any assault scenario, the Aschen will attempt to seize control of this facility. To that end, I’ve asked Doctor Jackson to brief you on what little we know about their ground capabilities. Doctor?”

Daniel moved to the front of the room, accepting the remote from Lee as he passed him. Now that he was standing before the collection of officers he almost felt a slight twinge of what he at first thought was guilt, but was actually an uneasy feeling generated by the trusting and expectant expressions on everyone’s faces. From their perspective he was the same man who had originally opened the Stargate for humanity, been involved in the program from the start and saved Earth from destruction several times. From his perspective he was like a long lost relative rejoining a family, then thrust back into his role as if nothing had ever changed.
“Ok. Well I believe I’ve finished translating the so-called newspaper from P3A-194. Try to stick with me as this might get a little abstract…”

Deep in the solar system, five sinister shapes cleared the huge bulk of Jupiter on a course for Earth. Should anyone have been able to point a telescope towards their location, they would have seen in all probability a blue smudge, as the light reflected from their hull blue shifted from the extreme velocity. Banking around the Gas giant, they lined up for a direct path to Earth and accelerated.

“They’re moving!”
Walter’s sudden shout sent the orderly command room into pandemonium. Keyboards were hammered as technicians tried to extrapolate course and speed of the suddenly reacquired targets. A pounding noise sounded as Hammond came running down into the control room.
“Where are they Sergeant!?”
“They’ve cleared Jupiter’s orbit and are heading in system”.
“At this distance it’ll take a minute for the orbital sensors to lock down their course,” Simmons chimed in as he squinted at the ‘waterfall’ display on his monitor. Green bands scrolled down his display starting in the EM spectrum on his left and ending in the upper subspace spectrum on the right. Bright lines down his screen marked where each band was recoding strong readings, each of which was matched up over the next few minutes down a single heading. Sophisticated computer algorithms eliminated background ‘noise’ and firmed up the contacts, a task made horrendously difficult by the subspace-dampening field still being generated, turning a ten second wait into an unpleasant three minute wait. The technicians didn’t like waiting for their instruments to catch up, especially with Hammond and a dozen other officers all leaning over their shoulders.

“Got it!” Simmons finally spoke up. “They’re cooking sir, moving at a good fraction of light speed. ETA Earth orbit is sixty-nine minutes. We should be able to firm up the estimate once they pass Mars”.
“Airman, get me General McGillan at Groom Lake,” Hammond ordered, his eyes never leaving the tracking display. Grabbing the phone as it was handed to him he started to rapidly inform the base commander that their time was up.

-Aschen Ship C-03. March 2, 2003. 02:00 Zulu.

“Approaching assault orbit, Earth”

Ancaris nodded slightly at the report from C-03’s flag bridge. He knew perfectly well in real time what was going on, but he appreciated the ships crew keeping him informed as a matter of course. The holographic array was focused on the approaching planet. Although they were still over twenty million kilometres distant, the sensor systems had enhanced the view to make it feal as if he was walking in orbit. A wave of his hand and he “fell” through the atmosphere at breakneck speed until he had a high view of Area-51. Seeing nothing threatening, he crossed the continent in seconds, seeing a lack of indicators of a country wide, let alone worldwide, mobilisation. He knew the planet, as a whole was unaware of the Stargate technology and all it meant, thanks to Ambassador Faxon’s downloaded knowledge.

The fact that the United States was clearly not scrambling everything it had against them was a fairly good indicator they had something left, another surprise to throw at the Aschen fleet in some last ditch attempt to stop them without going public. He admired their restraint in holding back until they were so close, but he wasn’t impressed. He had surprises of his own to finally unleash. Satisfied, he ‘returned’ to his ship as it approached the Luna perimeter and started the countdown.

-Stargate Command C-03. March 2, 2003. 02:05 Zulu.

“Bandits are crossing Luna orbit threshold, decelerating for a high orbit, targeted for the central United States. ETA is two minutes until strike range. Drone one is on hold at T-Minus five seconds.” Walter tried to keep an even tone as he handled communications into and out of the tense command centre. Designed to make computer screens easier to read, the subdued blue light that filled in the room only helped to push the tension up. Walter jumped as an alarm went off suddenly. So do the damn alarm bells, he thought to himself.

Adding to the increasing shrinking feeling in the room was the constant need to re-log onto his terminal every couple of minutes in order to avoid a complete system lockdown. It was a precaution under the maximum THREATCON and DEFCON levels designed to protect against a hostile incursion, but it simply annoyed the hell out of the staff and slowed everything down.

“And that’s it,” Daniel said, setting the projector remote down on the briefing table.
With those words, his audience bolted for the stairs down to the command centre. The final exhaustive briefing on just about everything they knew or guessed about the Aschen had finished and within seconds only Teal’c and Daniel were left.
“Well we’re in it now,” Daniel muttered as the shouts from the command centre indicated things were about to move into overdrive.
“What are we in, Daniel Jackson?” Teal’c inquired as he detached himself from the wall he had been leaning on for the last half an hour.
“Its an expression Teal’c it means…well…I don’t actually know what it means right now. The point is that its something I just remembered and I thought it would fit the moment!”
The Jaffa reflected on the absurdity of the statement for a second before raising an eyebrow. “Should we not move into the command centre?” Teal’c said.
“Why bother? We’d just be in the way,” Daniel snorted. “And besides, I’m not sure if there is enough air downstairs.” He gestured to the staircase that was half backed up with junior officers struggling to get a look at the situation in the packed room.
“I see,” Teal’c said.
“Anyway, we’ve got our own screen up here,” Daniel said, his voice lightning up a little. “This thing has to turn into a big status thing somehow.” He poked at the remotes and buttons and got blasts of static in return.
“It does not appear to do so, Daniel Jackson,” the Jaffa pointed out with a perfectly straight face. That was the problem with Teal’c, Daniel had decided. He could be being perfectly straight up, or he could be dripping with sarcasm (even if he would deny it) and you wouldn’t be able to tell. It was infuriating.
“Probably not,” Daniel sighed, agreeing with the Jaffa. He switched the screen off and tossed it onto the table. “I just hope Jack, Sam and Jonas got out alive.”
Once again Teal’c simply stared at him with a look that was almost mildly rebuking.
“Colonel O’Neill, Major Carter and Jonas Quin are formidable warriors. They no doubt are attempting to contact our allies to secure help to defeat the Aschen. And they will no doubt succeed. Of this, I am certain.”

- Aschen Ship C-03. March 2, 2003. 02:07 Zulu.

Ancaris stared down at the planet under his feet, protected with perfect clarity onto the floor as if he was drifting through space.
“Warmaster, this is Boren.”
“Yes sir,” Ancaris responded tonelessly. He had no wish to get involved in a political discussion at this stage. It was perhaps a good idea that the nominal political leader had no come in person to give orders.
“You will commence the assault.”
“Of course sir.”
Calling up the ships systems, he powered the experimental point-to-point transporter systems. The Aschen had matter-energy transporters of course. But they were only designed to work between set base stations. Transporting without a receiving station was possible, but dangerous without extremely precise information on the destination. Even this was considered far too risky for people to use, but not so much for other things that could be transported...And thanks to the downloads of Ambassador Faxon, they now had very precise data.

“They’ve halted! Bandits are in orbit directly above the continental United States”.
Hammond who was holding two phones, one to Area-51 and one to the Joint Chiefs rapidly excused himself from one and told the other to resume the countdown.

He would not make it.

Walter swore under his breath and pulled out the keyboard to enter his code yet again.

He would not make it either.

Daniel turned to express to Teal’c that he agreed with his sentiments and it was time to prepare.

He also would never make it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white flash. A small sphere had simply appeared and was floating over the conference table. A translucent blue hue, lights whirled inside it in a mesmerising display that chilled him to the core. He recognised what it was. He opened his mount to shout a warning. Teal’c was faster. His Zat had already cleared his holster and in what almost seamed to be slow motion, he spun around to bring the weapon to bear–

And it exploded.

Not like a grenade or any other Earth explosives, but in a shower of blue glitter that filled the room before he could finish the turn. Alarmed shouts from the control room appeared to indicate a similar event had taken place downstairs. Daniel frowned slightly as the glow faded.
“Well,” Daniel said as he watched the sparkly blue embers fade into nothing. “That was anticlima–” And Daniel, without fanfare, dropped and slumped to the floor, completely unconscious.
Teal’c dropped beside him immediately, but after a few seconds started to stir as the tretonian running through his system started to counteract the effects. The drug increased adrenalin production and neutralised the chemicals that had coated his lungs. Slipping in and out of unconscious, only his iron will let him claw his way back towards daylight, finally breaking through with a splitting headache, which he shoved aside ruthlessly.
Daniel was on the floor and completely out; all noise from downstairs had ceased. No wait, not all noise. The loud alarm of a code eight-biohazard alarm was wailing from the control room and something else…

Dragging himself to his feet by sheer willpower, he moved to the window overlooking the gate room and noticed some kind of pedestal had beamed in. He (correctly) guessed some kind of transporter; a guess confirmed when half a dozen humanoids in battle armour appeared then rapidly stepped off to make way for another six. The guards in the gate room were all out; he didn’t need to see anymore. His head starting to clear, Teal’c grabbed Daniel and half carried half staggered into General Hammond’s office. Voices could be heard now from downstairs in the command centre, providing all the incentive to hasten his actions. A single Zat’Nikital against an invasion force were not good odds, his choice were clear.
Crawling to the wall, he grabbed the edge of the ventilation duct there and heaved with his considerable strength. It grudgingly swung down and open. From base defence exercises, he knew the ventilation system would completely lock down under a code eight, at least until any airborne agent was localised. Then that particular area could have most of its air sucked out and replaced in thirty seconds. But until the system was reset, it would be safe to enter into. He also knew the main powerlines on level 28 to the Stargate ran parallel to the shafts, which were his only hope for confusing any sensor systems, as remote as that possibility would be.
Not that he had much choice; rapid footsteps on metal announced the approach of the enemy. Shoving the still blissfully unaware Daniel into the shaft, the Doctor started sliding instantly down the twenty-degree angle. Teal’c had enough presence of mind to pull the grate back up into place, and then slide down five meters to join Daniel.

The footsteps came back over the thumping of his heart as he tried to clear his head. They didn’t pause but moved right through Hammond’s office and out the door. Turning around, he eased past Daniel and down the near pitch-black tube built into the concrete foundations of the mountain.

[Crazedwraith]

Very very good. Although "They died in service of their country”. is seven words.