I own neither Stargate nor the X-COM franchise. No infringement is intended, no profit is to be made and I'm just not worth the hassle of suing anyway unless you want a share of the wages of an underpaid Civil Servant.
Cheyenne Mountain – Earth – January 2003
‘Why the hell would Loki want a Goa’uld, let alone one that spent the last few thousand years in a jar?’ O’Neill wanted to know. ‘I mean are we sure it was him?’ he asked. ‘I mean we know Anubis got his hands on Asgard tech when he had a trawl through Thor’s mind right?’ he reminded everyone as they sat around the briefing table.
‘If Anubis knew where the Tok’ra base was it’s a fair assumption that he would have flattened the place Colonel’ General Hammond reasoned.
‘Are we certain the Tok’ra are telling the truth about what happened though Sir?’ O’Neill checked. He wasn't very trusting when it came to the Tok'ra.
‘They’re currently relocating their entire base so they’re going to extreme lengths if they’re not Sir’ Major Carter replied. ‘Several witnesses reported Sarah Gardner being beamed away and then a ship in orbit which had been invisible to their sensors opened a hyperspace window to escape’ she continued. ‘It must have originally arrived outside the system and travelled the rest of the way on sublight to avoid attention’ she reasoned. ‘If it wasn’t the Asgard themselves, and it wasn’t Anubis, then Loki is the most likely candidate.’
‘Which brings me back to why he’d want an out-of-the-loop goa’uld’ O’Neill again questioned. ‘He could have stolen a more useful snakehead from half the systems in the galaxy’ he noted.
‘Useful how Colonel?’ General Hammond asked.
‘Up to date intel on the System Lords, the latest goa’uld technology’ O’Neill responded, ‘you know, actually valuable information.’
Jonas looked thoughtful. ‘Perhaps he wanted the host?’ he suggested. ‘Sarah Gardner is an archaeologist which might seem to Loki a useful target for kidnapping if he was thinking how important Doctor Jackson seemed to be?’ he said. ‘She used to date him and is probably more familiar with his supposedly wacky, but as we all know surprisingly accurate, theories on Ancient Egypt.’
‘Maybe but it doesn’t sound convincing’ O’Neill replied.
‘Perhaps he just thought that she knew more about X-COM and the SGC than she does?’ Carter hypothesised. ‘She was being held at Area 51 for quite some time after all.’
‘Maybe’ O’Neill conceded. ‘We have been a monumental pain in his ass the last couple of years and Goa’uld can be pretty forthcoming if you give them the option information or the airlock’ he said. ‘On the other hand he could have just swiped any of us when we were on an off-world mission and probed it out of us’ he noted.
General Hammond nodded. ‘Our Military Intelligence people thought the same’ he said. ‘They have a theory that perhaps Loki wants to use a now powerless but still well-known Goa’uld as an intermediary between himself and the System Lords perhaps seeking cooperation or alliance’ he told them.
‘Why would be do that General Hammond?’ Teal’c queried.
‘Because with the Replicators no longer tying down the Asgard Fleet it may be that he thinks Thor and the High Council will decide to deploy more resources to this galaxy and hunt him down’ Hammond explained.
‘The Asgard are too busy trying to rebuild and establish a new colony to do that Sir’ Carter replied.
‘Yes but does Loki know that Major?’ Hammond replied. ‘We have no idea how well informed he is about events in Ida, if he is only receiving poor intelligence he may know of the Replicator defeat but not how weak the Asgard currently are’ he said.
‘The latest Goa’uld vessels upgraded still further with more Asgard technology and Loki’s own would be far better able to stand up to the new O’Neill Class ships than anything they have already’ Carter noted. ‘Of course this is predicated on the idea that Loki would be willing to fight his own people or help the System Lords do so’ she said.
‘Who the hell knows what goes on in his head?’ O’Neill asked rhetorically.
‘He might rationalise it as fighting his government to save his people’ Jonas theorised. ‘Anyway we don’t really know I guess.’
O’Neill had a determined look in his eye. ‘When we catch him we’ll ask but it won’t be the first thing we say I’ll bet’ he said. ‘I’ve got a few choice phrases to say to the son-of-a-bitch myself’ he declared.
General Hammond nodded. ‘Better get to him before some of the X-COM people Colonel because I don’t know how able he’ll be to respond after the likes of Commander Sharp have had their way’ he said.
‘Where is he anyhow?’ O’Neill queried. ‘I expected him to be here with that expression he has when he’s more pissed than normal’ he said. ‘You know the one that looks like he’s chewing a ball of barbed wire’ he explained to Jonas who had looked confused.
‘He’s in Quebec City, as to his expression at the moment I couldn’t say because I’m not sure on how he views receiving decorations’ Hammond replied.
‘Decorations Sir?’ Carter asked.
‘I believe they call it the Canadian Order of Military Merit, the highest rank is actually Commander strangely enough’ Hammond explained. ‘The Governor-General is presenting him with it, officially for services to UN Peacekeeping rather than UN Warmaking of course.’
‘That doesn’t make him a Knight or something does it?’ O’Neill wanted to know.
‘Not as far as I’m aware Colonel, I don’t think the Canadians do that like the British’ Hammond replied. ‘In any case plenty of people already call him Sir so how much could it matter?’ he asked in amusement.
‘Only because he’d probably start carrying a sword or something’ O’Neill replied. ‘When is he back?’
‘The day after tomorrow Colonel, there’s a mission planned he wants to lead’ Hammond replied.
‘Blowing things up or stealing technology?’ O’Neill checked.
‘A little of both’ Hammond replied.
O’Neill smiled. ‘Sounds good, room for another team?’ he checked.
‘Sorry Colonel, SG-1 is already assigned for another task’ Hammond told him. ‘I need a team to investigate P2X-005.’
‘That’s just Recon isn’t it Sir?’ O’Neill groaned.
‘You can’t get the fun assignments all the time Colonel’ Hammond told him. ‘The other teams complain’ he added with what seemed to be an amused, perhaps slightly paternal smile.
‘Nothing interesting happened on P5X-777 or P3X-367’ O’Neill complained. ‘We’ve got to be due a good mission soon’ he said.
Carter looked confused. ‘Sir we examined the Furling Transporter Arch on P5X-777 and found that Ancient Artefact which might be a genetic manipulator on P3X-367’ she reminded him. ‘Fascinating and highly advanced technology in both cases’ she said.
‘Like I said, nothing interesting happened’ O’Neill reaffirmed. ‘You looked at alien gadgets, Jonas poked around some ruins, I think Teal’c meditated and I ended up throwing empty cans into the air so Andianov could shoot them’ he said. ‘Oh right, she said to apologise for not being here but she’s getting her shots from Doctor Frasier’ he told the General. ‘I think she was being sincere when she said she’d have rather been here than getting a needle stuck in her ass but the Doc was going to some kind of lecture at the hospital later so she couldn’t postpone the drugs.’
‘I’m never going to be happy about having personnel within this command taking those’ General Hammond responded.
‘At least they seem to work’ O’Neill replied, ‘you should have seen how fast the Sergeant could draw that pistol and shoot down those cans’ he said. ‘If SG-1 is ever attacked by ration packs they won’t stand a chance’ he stated with certainty.
Jonas frowned. ‘I’ve eaten the Chicken Fajita MRE and I think you’re underestimating them’ he commented.
‘Indeed’ Teal’c concurred with considerable feeling on the matter.
Valley – P2X-005 – February 2003
‘Yes Jonas’ O’Neill agreed, ‘this is definitely more interesting than Carter wanting to look at gas’ he said, looking at the crashed alien spacecraft.
‘I thought you liked astronomy Sir?’ Major Carter responded as she followed the other two down the slope towards the unknown ship. Jonas and Teal’c had found it first and the Jaffa was already down by the ship.
‘Stars and planets I like’ O’Neill replied, ‘even the occasional comet’ he continued. ‘Nebulas and the like not so much’ he said.
‘You know Sir when the local sun sets and it gets dark, you can actually see a luminous layer of ionised gas around the dying core expanding’ Carter told him.
‘Fascinating’ O’Neill replied. ‘Oh that landing had to hurt’ he observed, looking at the furrow the ship had ploughed into the ground when it came down. ‘So what do you have here Teal’c?’ he asked when they arrived at the ship.
‘I am unfamiliar with this type of vessel, O'Neill. It is not Goa'uld’ the Jaffa replied, looking it over.
‘It’s not Asgard or Tollan either’ Carter added.
‘Sectoid?’ O’Neill queried. ‘Aschen maybe?’ he asked.
‘I can’t see any similarities with Loki’s technology and we’re too far out from the Aschen Confederation given the limitations of their hyperdrive’ Carter replied. ‘And the design aesthetic is all wrong in any case’ she continued. ‘I guess we’ve found a new star-faring society.’
‘The crash is certainly recent O’Neill judging by the lack of weathering on the impact damage’ Teal’c announced. ‘We should be cautious’ he advised.
Jonas was looking over the hull. ‘Some of these markings resemble ancient Celtic Scripts’ he told the others.
Carter moved to an open hatch. ‘Hello’ she called inside. ‘Looks like there were no survivors’ she said.
‘Actually there were three of us’ a strangers voice announced causing them to spin around finding a man with his hands tied behind his back. ‘Your friend already shot the other two’ he continued in an annoyed tone.
‘Sergeant’ O’Neill greeted the woman standing behind the stranger with her rifle pointed at his back. ‘I was wondering where you’d gone’ he told her. ‘You shot them?’ he asked disparagingly.
‘I only stunned them Colonel’ Andianov replied, ‘the woman and the other man in the group reached for their weapons when I ran into them to the North East whilst scouting’ she explained. ‘This one had the sense to drop his own weapon when his friends hit the ground twitching and I told him to’ she said with obvious smugness.
‘So how did he get the obvious limp and the bruise on his face?’ O’Neill asked.
‘I needed him docile as well as conscious’ Andianov replied. ‘It made tying him up easier.’
‘First Contact isn’t ideally full contact but it’ll have to do under the circumstances’ O’Neill told the injured stranger. ‘Jonas you’re on’ he told him.
Jonas sighed. ‘Okay so this might not sound too convincing under the circumstances but we're peaceful explorers, okay?’ he began. ‘We didn't come here to harm anybody’ he told the stranger.
‘Pender and Reynard looked pretty harmed to me’ the stranger replied with a scowl.
‘Guessing those are your friends they’ll be fine’ O’Neill told him. ‘First time you get zatted can be a doozy, you’re out for a while and you might wake up temporarily blind’ he continued. ‘But there isn’t any long-term damage and I’ve been zatted plenty myself’ he told the man. ‘You even build up a resistance to it after the first few times.’
‘All X-COM field personnel moved to the SGC are hit several times with a zat’nik’tel discharge over a period of days before being cleared for off-world duty for that reason’ Andianov chipped in.
‘Oh, I thought that was just some twisted hazing thing you did?’ Carter told her.
‘It was at first’ the Sergeant admitted, in the old days they used to do it with a stun rod.
‘So who are you anyway?’ O’Neill asked the man. ‘I’m guessing this is your ship?’ he checked.
‘I'm Aden Corso, Captain of the Seberus. My first officer, Tanis Reynard, and navigator Lyle Pender are the ones lying on the ground back there somewhere’ he said.
‘Colonel Jack O'Neill’ he introduced himself. ‘This is Teal'c, Major Carter, Jonas Quinn and you’ve already become acquainted with Sergeant Andianov’ he said. ‘We’re from a planet called Earth’ he told him.
‘Never heard of it’ Corso replied.
‘You might know it as Midgard, maybe Terra’ Jonas suggested. ‘The Goa’uld call people from Earth the Tau’ri’ he said.
Corso raised his eyebrows. ‘We know the Goa’uld’ he said. ‘We defeated them and drove them from our homeworld Hebridan centuries ago’ he replied.
‘You’re kidding, you beat the Goa’uld?’ O’Neill responded in surprise.
‘Their ships couldn’t match ours in space’ Corso told him.
‘They seem to be better at the landing thing though’ O’Neill couldn’t help but observe.
Coso glared at O’Neill. ‘We were on our way to relieve an off-world mineral extraction team when an asteroid storm blew us right off course’ he said. ‘The fuel line got messed up in the crash and all the reserves leaked out before we knew what was happening’ he explained.
‘Bummer’ O’Neill replied.
‘You wouldn't happen to have a whole load of extra fuel in your ship, would you?’ Corso asked hopefully. ‘It might make up a little for the fact you people shot my crew’ he continued. ‘I think the engines are okay, we just don't have enough power in the batteries to fire them up to check. All we have access to are a few auxiliary systems’ he told them. ‘The storm fried our communications so we couldn’t signal for help either.’
Carter looked to O’Neill who shrugged. ‘We didn’t come by ship we arrived via the stargate’ she told Corso. ‘The chappa’ai’ she added seeing that he obviously didn’t recognise the term.
‘No idea what you’re talking about’ Corso replied.
O’Neill pointed west. ‘Big O? Decent walk that way’ he told him.
Corso raised his eyebrows. ‘We didn’t know what that was’ he admitted.
‘It's a transportation device’ Carter explained.
‘I take it you don't have one where you come from?’ Jonas asked.
‘Not that I know of’ Corso replied. ‘Really, no ship?’ he asked doubtfully.
‘No ship’ O’Neill confirmed. ‘Well we have ships we just don’t usually use them to travel to worlds where there’s already a stargate’ he said. ‘Saves on the crashing and expensive repairs.’
Corso had been occasionally straining against his bonds but was getting nowhere and decided to go along with the situation. ‘How does this stargate work exactly?’ he asked curiously.
‘Well basically it opens a wormhole between worlds’ Carter told him. ‘Each gate has an address based on its home planet's point in space and there are thousands of stargates throughout the galaxy, just dial the planet you want to travel to and walk through, easy as that.’
‘Jonas cut him free and give him the cliffs notes story of the galaxy’ O’Neill interrupted, ‘Carter Teal’c with me over here, Sergeant... don’t shoot him unless you have to’ he ordered, stepping away from Corso and the crashed ship as Jonas took out his utility knife to cut the mans bonds.
Carter and Teal’c joined O’Neill. ‘What are you thinking Sir?’ Carter asked quietly.
‘Well for a start we should probably collect his buddies and dust them off, after that have you got any suggestions?’ O’Neill asked.
‘We could offer them sanctuary on Earth’ Teal’c replied.
‘Or, we could fix their ship’ Carter countered. ‘I'm just saying it's possible. If all they need is fuel, then maybe we can find an Earth equivalent. I may be able to recharge their batteries using a naqahdah generator. I'd have to take a look at their technology.’
‘If Andianov had given them the chance to get a shot off we could have declared them hostile and carted it back home in pieces’ O’Neill said regretfully then blinked. ‘Dammit I’ve been spending too much time with her again, the steal any technology not bolted down philosophy rubs off on you’ he moaned.
‘If their ships are more advanced than those of the Goa’uld an insight into their vessel would be extremely valuable O’Neill’ Teal’c observed.
‘And helping them get back home would probably go a long way towards developing friendly relations with their government’ Carter added. ‘Another advanced human civilisation that already has a healthy dislike of the Goa’uld has got to be worth contacting Sir’ she advised O’Neill.
O’Neill nodded thoughtfully. ‘Well it says something for their judgement of character at least’ he replied. ‘Okay Captain Corso’ he addressed him loudly. ‘We’ve decided to help you folks out’ he said. ‘Teal’c Jonas and the Sergeant will fetch your friends and meanwhile you can give Major Carter here a look-see at your ship so she can figure out if we can help fix it’ he continued. ‘Worst case scenario we head back to Earth and maybe fly you back home from there in one of our own ships’ he told him. The Redemption should be able to get them home soon enough he thought, or even an Avenger if they didn’t mind flying coach and sitting on bench seats for a few thousand light-years.
Corso rubbed his wrists and wished he hadn’t tried so hard to free himself before. ‘So do my crew get an apology for being shot too?’ he asked sardonically.
‘When they wake up I’ll get the Sergeant to say sorry’ O’Neill told him.
‘Maybe she could kiss these better too’ Corso suggested, holding up his hands to show the raw marks on his wrists then indicated the bruise on his face for good measure.
‘Probably better not let her get the taste of blood’ O’Neill replied wryly. ‘What’s up T?’ he asked the Jaffa who was now staring into the nearby forest with a frown.
‘I am not sure O’Neill’ Teal’c replied. ‘I get the feeling we are being watched’ he said.
‘Could it be his friends awake already?’ O’Neill asked.
‘Perhaps’ Teal’c replied. ‘A zat’nik’tel discharge may not be as long-lasted if their internal physiology is much different than that of a regular Tau’ri’ he suggested.
‘I took all their weapons Colonel’ Andianov told him, they were tied to her back-pack. ‘I also bound them securely with cord’ she noted.
‘Guessing she was a good attentive member of the Young Pioneers and knows how to tie a decent knot maybe it’s not them’ O’Neill replied, Teal’c had good instincts and if he thought they were being watched he was willing to bet the house they were. ‘Carter you got a Motion Scanner on you?’ he asked.
‘Yes Sir’ she confirmed. ‘In my pack’ she told him.
‘Fish it out slowly and take a look’ O’Neill ordered.
‘Motion Scanner?’ Corso queried.
‘Does exactly what it says’ O’Neill responded. ‘Now I want the truth is there anybody else out there?’ he checked. ‘Was it really just the three of you?’ he asked seriously. ‘If we get into a firefight I can’t guarantee it’ll just be people getting stunned’ he told him.
Carter bought up the Motion Scanner and slowly turned around. ‘I’ve got two weak contacts, hard to get an accurate track they must be moving slowly’ she announced.
‘It could be them’ Corso said quietly.
‘Who, them?’ O’Neill asked curtly.
‘These things, aliens, they’ve been hunting us since we arrived’ Corso replied. ‘They killed some of my crew, took their weapons but we haven’t seen them in days’ he said. ‘Maybe they came through your stargate?’ he suggested.
‘And you’re just mentioning this now’ O’Neill asked incredulously.
‘They’re dangerous Colonel’ Corso told him. ‘If you see them shoot on sight’ he advised.
O’Neill took a breath. ‘Sorry Captain but right now your credibility isn’t so good’ he replied, there was something off about the man and O’Neill usually trusted his own instincts as well as those of Teal’c. ‘Jonas, can you check his story please?’
‘Check his story?’ Jonas queried.
‘Voodoo time, put the whammy on him’ O’Neill explained. ‘Psi-Amp him I mean.’
‘Is that necessary?’ Jonas asked. ‘I mean I’m not supposed to do that unless the situation warrants it’ he said. ‘It’s an invasion of privacy.’
‘He’s an alien, the rules back home don’t apply’ O’Neill told him.
‘I’m an alien too from your perspective’ Jonas pointed out, ‘does that mean that me or Teal’c don’t have rights either?’ he asked.
‘I trust you and Teal’c’ O’Neill replied. ‘Look, both you and Corso here can put in a written complaint to General Hammond later if you want but right now just take a look in his head before I tell Teal’c and the Sergeant to light up the forest.’
‘Take a look in my head?’ Corso asked in confusion.
‘Psionics, artificial telepathy’ Jonas explained, unhooking the Psi-Amp he always carried from his belt. ‘I can read your thoughts with this device, don’t worry I’ll just check the surface I won’t probe your mind too deeply’ he said apologetically.
Corso looked alarmed. ‘Read my thoughts?’ he asked in horror. ‘I don’t want someone reading my thoughts’ he declared.
‘If you’ve got nothing to hide you’ve got nothing to fear’ O’Neill told him. ‘Well I’ve developed this nagging fear of being make to sing other songs from West Side Story but that’s just my cross to bear’ he added.
‘You’ve got no right to do this’ Corso insisted, his alarm increasing as Jonas started to adjust the settings on the device.
‘Get a grip’ O’Neill told him. ‘You were telling us the truth weren’t you?’ he asked, bringing up his rifle so that although it wasn’t pointed at him it wouldn’t take much of an effort to do so and fire. ‘Sergeant, Teal’c keep watching the trees and Carter keep an eye on that Motion Scanner’ he ordered. ‘I’ve got our guest here’ he said.
Corso suddenly struck out towards Jonas, attempting to knock the device from his hand. Jonas stepped back to avoid him just as O’Neill levelled his rifle, Corso freezing again as he did so. ‘Try that again and I’ll shoot you’ O’Neill told Corso coldly. ‘Not a nice zat blast, I’ll burn a hole in you, somewhere painful so you’re screaming but still conscious so Jonas can check your story’ he said. ‘If it turns out you’re telling the truth we can fix the damage back home’ he told him. ‘Jonas, do it’ he ordered.
Jonas activated the Psionic Amplifier and looked into Corso’s mind, moving past the panic to see what was in there, after a few seconds his expression became one of annoyance. ‘Stun him’ he told O’Neill who did so immediately, the zat built into his L2-A2 Laser Rifle dropping Corso instantly.
‘What’s going on Jonas?’ O’Neill asked.
‘He’s a prisoner, this is a prison transport, the three of them escaped when it crashed’ Jonas said. ‘If you’ll excuse me I think the people out there are the guards, they’re aliens, I mean non-human, but they’re the good guys which is why Corso was hoping we’d shoot at them’ he said, starting to walk towards the forest. ‘We know who you are’ he called out. ‘We’ve got your prisoners, they’re stunned and you can have them back’ he said. ‘We can help you fix your ship too’ he continued. ‘We can get you home and we want to be friends’ he declared, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
A figure, clearly alien in appearance came into view. ‘I am Warrick, Captain of the Seberus’ he announced nervously, if he hadn’t already witnessed these strangers shoot one of the escaped convicts he wouldn’t have revealed himself.
‘Very glad to meet you Captain Warrick’ Jonas replied with a smile. ‘I’m afraid we’ve never met someone from your species before’ he said.
‘I am Serrakin, from the planet Hebridan’ Warrick replied, the two approaching each other.
‘Hebridan?’ Jonas repeated. ‘Like the human prisoners?’
‘We are an integrated society of both races’ Warrick replied. ‘My people freed the humans of Hebridan from the Goa’uld who enslaved them’ he said.
‘The Goa’uld are our enemies too’ Jonas told him.
Warrick thought about that. ‘Well between that and shooting Aden Corso there, so far you people are showing themselves to be very good judges of character’ he told him.
Cheyenne Mountain – Earth – February 2003
General Hammond looked across his desk at Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter. ‘There’s no need to keep asking Major’ he said. ‘I’ve already decided that SG-1 will rendezvous with the Prometheus before it makes its detour to Hebridan to establish formal contact with their government’ he told her. ‘You will be escorting Doctor Weir who will be heading up the mission personally.’
Carter smiled. ‘Glad to hear it Sir’ she replied.
‘The Major just wants to take another look at their technology’ O’Neill observed. ‘You should have seen her help Warrick fix that ship’ he continued, ‘kid in a candy store’ he said with a grin.
‘Sir the Hebridan sub-light drive is overall the best we’ve ever seen, far better than Goa’uld designs and unlike Loki’s engines they don’t need esoteric fuel to run on’ Carter responded. ‘I don’t know how they managed to get that much raw thrust when required out of such a fuel-efficient ion propulsion system but they have.’
‘Not to mention that the ship was only an old transport’ O’Neill added, ‘their military engines are even better apparently’ he said. ‘They knew the Goa’uld might show up again one day so they’ve maintained a decent Navy and have the economy to afford it.’
Carter chuckled. ‘From what we can tell Hebridan is culturally not too dissimilar from the United States, or Western Europe for example’ she said. ‘They’re a highly industrialised, capitalist democracy with several large competing corporations and a free press’ she told Hammond. ‘Frankly given they’re hundreds of years more advanced than we are with a large population as well Jonas argues they’ve got an almost frightening war-fighting potential’ she continued. ‘If Hebridan went to war in earnest it would be like the United States entering World War Two’ she said, ‘re-tool the factories making civilian cars into making tanks instead and they’ll bury you in logistics.’
‘Except that cars on Hebridan fly and they’d be churning out aerospace fighters by the thousands instead’ O’Neill observed.
‘Technologically they’re still centuries behind the Tollan in most fields, and the Aschen to a lesser degree’ Carter noted, ‘but they’re still represent an incredible potential as a future ally or even a trading partner.’
‘If we’re lucky we might be able to buy technology off them Sir’ O’Neill told Hammond. ‘We’ve got plenty of alien gadgetry they might like a piece of.’
‘Colonel I liked the sound of them as soon as I heard “they beat the Goa’uld” you’re selling what’s already been sold’ Hammond told him in amusement. ‘We helped drag the Tollan out of isolationism by roping them into a trading relationship with ourselves and a few other advanced societies like the Aschen and Orbanians so adding the Hebridan in too should be doable’ he said. ‘Prometheus is due to arrive at P5S-381 next week so perhaps we can get the Gadmeer involved in galactic affairs too.’
‘I hope so Sir’ Carter told him. ‘When you add the Asgard into the mix it’s starting to look like we’re putting together the right allies.’
Hammond’s smile broadened. ‘You missed something while you were away’ he told them. ‘Thor visited on a mission for the Asgard High Council’ he told them.
‘Sorry I missed him’ O’Neill replied honestly, he liked Thor. ‘What did they want?’ he asked.
‘They didn’t want anything from us’ Hammond replied. ‘They were repaying a debt’ he told him. ‘Or at least that’s how they see it.’
‘The fifty bucks I bet him that we wouldn’t get off Halla alive?’ O’Neill queried.
Hammond looked at him strangely then shook his head. ‘No Colonel though it did involve your mission to Halla in the Asgard home galaxy’ he said. ‘The Asgard must have thought they owed us something for that.’
‘Saving their entire galaxy and civilisation from the Replicators?’ O’Neill replied. ‘Well I was hoping for more than just a hearty handshake in return but there you go’ he said with a shrug. ‘Come to think of it Asgard handshakes aren’t even all that hearty’ he continued. ‘Not much of a grip’ he observed.
‘Their grip on science is deeply impressive however’ Hammond told him. ‘The Asgard have finished back-engineering the technology from Loki’s Foo Fighter and have given us the plans and explained the scientific principles behind them’ he said.
‘They have?’ Carter replied in astonishment, ‘what about the Protected Planets Treaty?’ she asked. ‘The Goa’uld would know that was far beyond our ability to do ourselves.’
‘I think given the state of the galaxy and the fact they recognised what Earth did for them the Asgard have decided to say screw the treaty’ Hammond replied. ‘Anubis already broke it anyway and with Loki being a rogue of their own race that would have helped swing opinion in our favour I’m sure.’
O’Neill nodded, the Asgard were an interesting mix of honour and pragmatism. ‘So what did we get?’ he asked.
Hammond opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a file which he opened. ‘A new type of shield which the Asgard call “Electro-Plasmic” that is thirty-three percent stronger than the type already fitted to our F-302 fighters for the same power-input’ he began. ‘Like the earlier type of Sectoid shield it needed modifications and the addition of Asgard technology to work inside an atmosphere but they’ve done that for us’ he said.
‘Cool’ O’Neill responded.
‘That’s just the start Colonel, it gets better’ Hammond told him. ‘As you know our fighters have always suffered from inferior manoeuvrability to Loki’s at high speed’ he said. ‘This was because of something called Vector Control Thrusters they had, a refinement of gravity engine technology, well we’ve got them now too’ he said.
‘I’d love to see the schematics on those Sir’ Carter told General Hammond eagerly.
‘The Asgard provided a prototype unit which is at Area 51 right now under study you can see the device in the flesh later today Major, in fact I hoped you would’ Hammond replied.
‘Anything else Sir?’ O’Neill asked.
‘A whole new sensor package called an “Emissions Targeting System” that gives far greater effective range and is much harder to jam than anything we’ve had before’ Hammond replied, reading down the list. ‘We’ll be able to get a missile lock on Loki’s fighters for the first time, all we need now is a missile that can turn fast enough not to be avoided by them.’
‘Perhaps we could adapt the new Vector Control Thruster technology to do that?’ Carter suggested.
‘Which is precisely why I wanted you to take a look at it’ Hammond told her. ‘We’ve also got a new engine you might be interested in’ he added.
‘The Gravity/Induction Drive?’ Carter said wondrously. ‘We never got anywhere with it, it was too advanced’ she said. ‘It gives twice the effective thrust of the engines we have on the F-302 now’ she told O’Neill.
‘How does it rank against the Hebridan engines?’ O’Neill queried.
‘It’s more powerful, the drawback is that it has less endurance and runs on elerium’ Carter told him. ‘We’ll certainly never put them on larger ships, it would use up our entire fuel reserves in days if we had to burn E115 to push capital ships around’ she told them regretfully. ‘We use goa’uld engine designs on the Avenger and X-303 for precisely that reason, naquada might not be as good at pushing ships around space but we’ve got plenty of it’ she said.
‘Okay so what about guns?’ O’Neill asked. ‘Please tell me we’ve gotten better guns out of this too’ he asked hopefully.
General Hammond sighed. ‘The Asgard have given us the rapid-fire plasma pulse cannon carried by Loki’s fighters Colonel but unfortunately on closer examination it’s not considered superior enough to our own lasers to bring it into general service as a anti-fighter weapon given that again it needs elerium to function’ he told him. ‘I’m told some aspects of the design will allow us to improve our existing Plasma Beam Cannon to make them more efficient in terms of power-consumption however’ he noted.
‘Okay so our guys have to use the lasers on the small try but the bean counters still don’t mind us using elerium on the big fish then Sir?’ O’Neill asked.
‘Sectoid battleships or Al’kesh are considered a little too much ship for our F-302’s to handle unless they’re using Plasma Beams’ Hammond replied. ‘Of course it is recommended to use cheap and disposable nuclear weapons whenever possible instead.’
‘We’ve got to find out how Loki makes that damn stuff’ O’Neill muttered, Elerium 115 powered weapons and engines were so much more powerful for their size than everything else, it was the edge that might save Earth from the Goa’uld and at the very least it was going to surprise the hell out of the System Lords when they found out just how much faster and harder-hitting Tau’ri fighters were than Death Gliders.
‘That unfortunately is something the Asgard still can’t figure out’ Hammond observed sadly.
‘Anything new happening on the Sectoid War front Sir?’ Carter asked Hammond.
Hammond sighed again. ‘Losses among X-COM UFO Retrieval Teams dropped after they adopted different tactics in order to deal with the new Guided Missile Launchers Loki’s Troops are carrying now but they’re still unacceptably high’ he said. ‘Well unacceptably high to anyone but X-COM anyway’ he continued. ‘Given that the launchers seem to need some time to program, fire and then reload the teams now storm through as fast as possible rather than clearing the UFO out methodically’ he told them. ‘They’re taking more casualties doing it that way but it’s an increase in those getting taken out by plasma fire during short, vicious engagements versus a reduction in fatalities caused by getting blown to smithereens by nuclear weaponry.’
‘Better to get killed or wounded the old fashioned way’ O’Neill replied with a shrug. Unless you had your head blown they could always stick you in a sarcophagus, ending up as blasted radioactive debris was far more permanent. X-COM and the SGC were the first military organisations that actually had grades of being killed in action, being KIA wasn’t necessarily a permanent state of affairs in this war, as long as you were still sufficiently intact physically you would often be back in the fight for the next mission your team went on. Of course it still all hurt quite a lot and even if your “soul” survived repeated spells in the sarcophagus your general sanity wasn’t going to be helped much by being killed over and over again and being resurrected in an altogether too coffin-like box.
‘We live in rapidly changing times Colonel’ Hammond replied, ‘it wouldn’t have been too many years ago when getting blasted by alien plasma weapons wouldn’t have been thought of as an old-fashioned way to die’ he said.
O’Neill nodded. ‘Makes you wonder what they’ll be shooting at us with next’ he remarked.
‘I dread to think’ Hammond replied, ‘but just as long as we survive long enough to get to shoot back at them with the same thing I guess it doesn’t matter’ he said.
‘I think I’ll drop in on the team working on the new launcher when I go to Area 51 later’ Carter said, ‘check how we’re doing on the shooting back part’ she told them.
‘You do that’ O’Neill replied. ‘If you think threatening them would speed things up bring Teal’c or Andianov along’ he advised.
Hammond looked at him. ‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that’ he responded. ‘Dismissed’ he told them.
As they left his office and headed down the corridor O’Neill turned to Carter. ‘You know he didn’t actually say not to do it’ he pointed out.
Carter thought about that. ‘I’ll bring Andianov’ she said eventually. ‘Teal’c has plans.’