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Palace of Apophis – Delmak – April 2003
Zipacna looked even more pleased with himself than usual although for once his self-satisfied smug expression was justified as he approached the golden throne Apophis sat upon. ‘My Lord, the attack you ordered I lead against Morrigan went even better than predicted’ Zipacna began. ‘Her fleet is scattered to the four winds, her elite guard shattered and we have driven a wedge between the forces of Anubis and Baal’ he declared.
‘Well done Zipacna’ Apophis responded. ‘When we are finally victorious I will gift you a third the worlds of Morrigan to add to your personal domain’ he told him.
‘Very generous My Lord’ Zipacna replied, bowing to his master.
‘You have earned it not only for your recent successes but for your ongoing loyalty’ Apophis told him. ‘Your losses were not too severe?’ he asked.
‘A handful of Ha’tak motherships, a dozen Al’kesh and perhaps thirty Deathgliders’ Zipacna replied. ‘Three of the Ha’tak were of the older type you inherited from Sokar’s fleet which I used to soak up enemy fire before committing our newer vessels.’
‘A trifle’ Apophis responded, ‘wise of you to sacrifice the obsolescent ships, they are of little use against Baal or Anubis in any case and it is they we must defeat’ he said, standing up. ‘Walk with me’ he told Zipacna, leading off down the throne room. Jaffa guards stood to attention by each of the stone columns that lined the way from the huge double-doors at the entrance to the throne itself.
Zipacna followed, his hands hooked together behind his back and making sure not to step on the trailing cloak Apophis was wearing. ‘Have we heard anything of Lord Yu?’ he asked.
‘Given the inferiority of his ships to those of Anubis the old fool is doing much better than could be expected’ Apophis replied, his own surprise evident in his tone. ‘Anubis is on the defensive and cannot bring his full force to bear against Yu because he knows if he did he would expose himself to an attack by ourselves’ he said.
‘Do you still wish me to attack Camulus instead?’ Zipacna checked.
‘I do’ Apophis confirmed. ‘Although not as weak as Morrigan was he is still the System Lord least able to resist a major offensive and he is fighting too far from his own territory and base of supply’ he said. ‘He will not crumble as Morrigan did but he will retreat quickly and will lick his wounds for months on his own worlds.’
They reached the doors which were swung open by the Serpent Guards there and Apophis continued through into the passage beyond. He turned left, clearly leading Zipacna somewhere though Zipacna had no idea where they were going. ‘Baal and his three harlots are building in strength while your other fleets merely skirmish with them’ Zipacna remarked, ‘once Camulus is driven off we will need to deal with them My Lord’ he advised.
Apophis laughed. ‘Bastet and Kali have some proven longstanding loyalty to each other but Amaterasu is not quite as dependable’ he said. ‘She is the weak point and the one we will attack and exploit when the time comes’ he told Zipacna.
‘What of Baal himself?’ Zipacna queried.
‘Expect him to be a sore loser as always and to destroy any system he is forced to retreat from’ Apophis replied. ‘He will however fight skilfully and with cunning, we should not underestimate him even if the war continues in our favour.’
Zipacna nodded, Baal had the largest fleet of any of the System Lords fighting against Apophis and his ships were only marginally inferior to those of Anubis himself although the latter did have his Asgard tricks available to him these days too. ‘It will be a long hard fight to defeat Baal’ he said, ‘as well as his own shipyards he still holds Erebus.’
‘Which we will take back early in the campaign if only to deny it to him’ Apophis stated. It was likely Baal would blow the Hat’ak production facility on Erebus to pieces rather than allow it to fall once again into the hands of Apophis but Baal needed it more.
‘May I ask if the rumour I heard of Ares making approaches with a aim to joining us are true?’ Zipacna asked.
‘They are’ Apophis confirmed, ‘his fleet is small but his ground forces are well-trained and have a justifiable reputation for fierceness’ he said. ‘Ares is a god of war after all’ he added with amusement. ‘Through him we may also gain alliance with his trading partner Moloc who has large numbers of Jaffa he can bring into the fight.’
‘He is also quite insane’ Zipacna pointed out. ‘He has every female Jaffa born in his realm immediately put to death I have heard’ he said with an expression that indicated he regarded this as an act of utter lunacy. The Goa’uld could often be needless cruel to the point of outright evil but this policy of Moloc was wasteful and short-sighted as well.
‘Thus ensuring that long-term he won’t be a problem for us because in merely a few decades he won’t have any armies left and we can simply take over his territory’ Apophis replied. ‘I will likely offer him several worlds now because I know I’ll get them back before long anyway’ he remarked.
‘Hopefully our enemies will speed up the process of depleting his ranks too’ Zipacna commented as they reached another set of doors, these ones also opening for them but only after a pause and apparently they were automatic and had to unbolt themselves first. ‘I have not been to this part of the Palace before’ he noted.
‘Of course not, you should consider it an honour and part of your reward for your service that you do now’ Apophis told him as the doors opened. ‘This is where Sokar was developing his new technology’ he explained as they entered a laboratory staffed by a number of minor goa’uld. Devices that might of been recovered Ancient technology mixed with designs obviously of their races own devising filled the room and a holographic projection of schematics was shifting from image to image nearby. ‘The cloaking field that equips our motherships was invented here’ Apophis told him. ‘As was Sokar’s particle beam technology’ he added.
‘Impressive’ Zipacna observed, looking around.
Apophis watched the hologram for a while. ‘My researchers are currently investigating the wreckage of one of the Ha’tak of Anubis we destroyed in battle to ascertain its secrets but that is not what I wanted to show you’ he said, looking away from the projection. ‘Come forward Jaffa’ he ordered and two Jaffa appeared, one wearing unusual armour of a type Zipacna was unfamiliar with and an equally unfamiliar helmet whilst the other was more conventionally attired and held a zat’nik’tel.
Zipacna examined the strange armour. ‘Apart from the shoulder pieces his looks less sturdy than what our armies usually wear’ he observed. ‘A less resource-intensive armour for mass-production perhaps?’ he asked.
‘It has taken well over a year and a half of research, and the development of new manufacturing techniques to reduce the expense in time and materials needed in producing this armour to the point it can be manufactured in any reasonable numbers at all’ Apophis replied. ‘Sokar had only two prototype sets made before deciding it was better to devote his scientific personnel to perfecting his ships since Jaffa were easily replaced while Ha’tak were not’ he said. ‘I learned of it when I took over this world and started examining Sokar’s records.’
‘So how is it so special?’ Zipacna queried.
‘Show him’ Apophis ordered and the Jaffa with the zat’nik’tel aimed and fired the weapon at the other Jaffa wearing the strange armour. The energy skittered over him as normal but instead of dropping to the ground unconscious the warrior remained upright and seemingly utterly unharmed by the discharge.
Zipacna stared in amazement. ‘Zat’nik’tel proof armour?’ he exclaimed.
‘It also offers much better protection against a Staff-Weapon since it disperses energy fired at it over a larger surface area’ Apophis told him. ‘Sokar had it field tested by a roshna addicted mercenary in his employ and although he later went missing whilst pursuing a Tok’ra agent the reports he gave on its effectiveness before he disappeared were encouraging enough for me to begin the program anew’ he said. ‘The helmet contains sensors and a visual display similar to the piloting eyepiece used on a Tel’tak also, giving the wearer enhanced vision during both day and night.’
‘The Tau’ri have often bested our forces once darkness falls using similar devices’ Zipacna noted. ‘You have already made many of these sets of armour?’
‘Enough for an Al’kesh full of shock troops I intend to throw against Anubis within days’ Apophis told him. ‘With more being produced each day and Jaffa training in both how to use them and in their new weapons and tactics’ he said.
‘New weapons too?’ Zipacna asked.
‘The altered Staff-Weapons used by the shol’va Jaffa of Teal’c and Bra’tac have proven too effective not to imitate’ Apophis told him. ‘I have also resurrected an old idea of my own and have been training Jaffa to fight more like the Tau’ri do’ he added then smirked. ‘What we learn from one enemy we use against a greater one’ he said then paused. ‘So what do you think?’ he asked.
Zipacna laughed. ‘I wonder what the Jaffa of Anubis will think when confronted by these strangely armoured super-soldiers who do not fall when shot?’ he replied.
Free Jaffa Camp – P8X-987 – April 2003
‘It is an honour that you come to my home Hammond of Texas’ Bra’tac told him. ‘I only wish my lodgings were more suitable a place to bring guests’ he added apologetically as they sat on the rugs that covered the floor of the Jaffa Master’s tent.
‘Your hospitality and the quality of the company more than makes up for any lack of amenities’ Hammond replied, although he did wish that Bra’tac hadn’t given all the good cushions to the third person sat with them. Egeria looked far more comfortable lying on her side and eating small grape-like fruit taken from a bowl beside her, she was at least wearing standard Tok’ra uniform rather than goa’uld finery which made her look a little less like a spoiled despot.
Egeria stretched out slightly and then reluctantly pushed the bowl away. ‘Bra’tac you know I can’t resist these, please stop putting them in front of me, they’re full of sugar and my host is concerned we’re going to put on weight’ she told him. The Tok’ra Queen and the Jaffa Master seemed very at ease with each other and the former occasionally looked at him with a coy little smile on her face lending further weight to the rumours of where she obtained the genetic material needed to improve the chances of new Tok’ra symbiotes being compatible with human hosts.
‘I know you like them and besides which on Chulak they are traditionally given to an expectant mother to provide much needed additional nourishment’ Bra’tac replied.
The Tok’ra Queen laughed. ‘I am not pregnant in quite that sense’ she responded.
‘Tradition is important’ Bra’tac maintained, ‘even if the meaning is only symbolic’ he continued. ‘We have been working hard to bring our peoples together and even the most minor things can help or hinder us’ he said.
‘Very well but perhaps a smaller bowl next time so my host doesn’t nag me into doing more exercise’ Egeria told him then turned to face Hammond. ‘We should perhaps move onto matters of more import’ she said. ‘As you know the Tok’ra and Free Jaffa have reached an understanding regarding deeper alliance between us and joint action and pooling of resources in our fight against the System Lords.’
‘I was very pleased to hear of it’ Hammond replied. ‘I was concerned that so many years of enmity would make it more difficult, perhaps impossible’ he admitted.
‘There are still a sizeable minority on both sides who do not approve but their numbers are shrinking as the Jaffa learn that the Tok’ra are not like the Goa’uld’ Bra’tac replied.
‘And the Tok’ra learn that the Jaffa are not mindless slaves of the Goa’uld’ Egeria added. ‘The fact is we need each other and I hope that when the new symbiotes I am carrying are implanted into the first Jaffa volunteers our cultural blending will take another step forward’ she said.
Bra’tac nodded. ‘In time as the prim’ta develops, the technique for Jaffa to contact it during a state of deep kelno’reem discovered by the priestess Shan’auc of the Red Hills will be encouraged’ he said. ‘However that is something for years to come, right now we have concerning news which came to light when information from both Tok’ra and Free Jaffa agents operating on the worlds of Apophis was put together.’
Hammond chuckled. ‘So this wasn’t just a social invite from an old friend then?’ he responded.
‘Unfortunately not although you are always welcome to visit’ Bra’tac replied. ‘Have you heard rumours of the new warriors of Apophis?’ he asked.
‘Vague reports have reached the SGC of a new elite unit of Jaffa with more advanced weapons but our teams haven’t encountered them yet’ Hammond replied.
‘They are only attacking the worlds of Anubis’ Egeria told him. ‘They are using Staff-Rifles and a form of armour which is immune to zat’nik’tel charges and resistant to plasma’ she continued. ‘An agent of the Tok’ra named Korra has seen it before when he and SG-1 encountered a Bounty-Hunter in the service of Sokar’ she told him. ‘This armour in itself gives the Jaffa wearing it a great advantage in battle but there is more’ she noted, indicating that Bra’tac should continue.
Bra’tac frowned. ‘The new warrior elite of Apophis are using tactics you may find familiar’ he said. ‘They are landing in a cloaked ship, an Al’kesh we believe, and attacking the supply dumps and naquada mines of Anubis in order to weaken his front-line strength by indirect means.’
‘Sounds exactly like we’ve been doing the last couple of years’ Hammond replied.
‘Yes and clearly Apophis has decided to emulate your success in using small teams of well-trained warriors with better equipment to achieve results far beyond what their numbers should be capable of’ Bra’tac told him.
‘Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery they say’ Hammond replied. ‘I guess that between his new troops and the successes of his fleet Apophis is clearly in the ascendant again then?’
‘He is although the combined forces raised against him still mean victory remains far away at this time’ Egeria said. ‘Although the rest of our news likely means it is approaching sooner than we would have thought a couple of days ago.’
Hammond ran his palm backwards over his bald head. ‘So what else have you got to tell me?’ he asked.
‘Recently a Free Jaffa informant on Chulak informed us that Apophis had begun to rebuild some of his old facilities there, including the factory where he once made his Death Gliders’ Bra’tac said. ‘We were confused by this as he already has more than enough Death Gliders, and in fact has more of a shortage of pilots than machines, but then we heard that what you would call the production line is being re-tooled to produce different craft.’
Egeria sat upright. ‘At the same time the Tok’ra started to hear rumours of an old experimental type of craft that Apophis once abandoned being re-designed and improved’ she said. ‘They called it “Chappa'nok'kek” or Death from the Gate.’
‘Oh I don’t like where this is going’ Hammond muttered.
Bra’tac nodded. ‘Yes my friend, Apophis is starting to construct more of the craft we used to defeat the warriors of Hathor’ he said. ‘It is believed that your use of fighting machines that come through the chappa’ai once again inspired him.’
‘Wonderful’ Hammond responded sardonically.
‘We have obtained some of the blueprints for the craft which show that it has been altered from the one Bra’tac was familiar with, and which you and Teal’c once flew’ Egeria told Hammond. ‘As well as the two light Staff-Cannon of the original there is a Heavy-Staff Cannon on a turret underneath the cockpit and Apophis has added the shield-generator from a Tel’tak’ she said. ‘The performance is inferior to a standard Death Glider in terms of speed and acceleration but it is much more formidable in the role of supporting ground troops.’
‘It’s a goddamn Goa’uld A-10’ Hammond realised sadly. If the opposition continued to wise-up like this then Earth might actually start having to work hard not to lose battles.
‘It is hard to thread the eye of the needle so only the very finest crews are being assigned to this task’ Bra’tac said. ‘Their leader is named Ronan, I knew his father, an acclaimed Death Glider pilot who shot down many enemies in his time’ he continued, ‘Cronus himself put a bounty of ten thousand shesh’ta on his head after he shot down an Al’kesh and five Death Gliders in a single engagement’ he said. ‘If Ronan is but half the aerial warrior his father was then there are few to match him in the skies’ he opined.
‘My people have a saying that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree’ Hammond replied.
‘The Jaffa have a saying with much the same sentiment’ Bra’tac told him.
Egeria stretched out. ‘Jacob Carter has said that if these new soldiers of Apophis are backed by what he calls decent close-air-support then they will be extremely formidable foes not just to other System Lords but also the Free Jaffa and your own teams’ she told Hammond.
‘I’d have to agree with that assessment’ Hammond replied. ‘Even the Staff-Rifles alone would increase their threat drastically which we know from how successful Bra’tac and his people have been with them’ he said. ‘Add in the armour and the ability to call in air-support through the gate and the days of light casualties for both of us could soon be over.’
Bra’tac sighed. ‘Perhaps we have had it too easy and fate has decided to intervene?’ he suggested. Free Jaffa warriors had been shooting “Loyalist” Jaffa still serving the Goa’uld to pieces on a regular basis ever since they started using Tau’ri small unit infantry tactics and weapons you could actually aim properly.
‘Fate can go screw itself, we make our own’ Hammond replied. ‘Talking of making your own I noticed a line of Heavy Staff-Cannon on wooden gun carriages outside, you decided to take our advice then?’ he asked.
‘After hearing that even Sharp of Canada expressed an admiration for how the Jaffa of Kali used them to hold back him and his warriors it seemed wise to adopt them in greater numbers’ Bra’tac replied. ‘The Tok’ra are also developing a form of the Light Staff-Cannon that can be carried and fired from the shoulder’ he added.
‘We can provide better carriages than you’re using’ Hammond told him. ‘I’ll get someone to design one which will be lighter with rubber tyres and have sprung axles’ he said. ‘Oh and a cydonium gun-shield to protect the crew’ he added, thinking about it. ‘Just let us know how many you need, shouldn’t take very long’ he said.
Bra’tac smiled. ‘Perhaps the same carriage design could be made to carry the rotating staff-weapons we have seen the Tau’ri use?’ he asked.
‘No reason why not I suppose’ Hammond decided. ‘Which I reckon is your cue to ask for Rotary Staffs?’ he asked rhetorically, the Jaffa Master’s smile broadening in response. ‘Those really shouldn’t be a problem’ he said. Even after giving the Free Jaffa hundreds of the modified staff-rifles they still had masses of the goa’uld weapons taking up space at Area 51. ‘A hand-crank could replace the electric motor we use to spin them just like on the original Gatling Gun’ he said, miming the action. ‘The faster you turn the crank the quicker the rate of fire.’
‘It is perhaps a pity that the Tau’ri are not prepared to arm the Free Jaffa with their Laser Weapons’ Egeria commented.
‘Too expensive and if we’re talking off the record you both know as well as I that X-COM doesn’t favour giving the Free-Jaffa weaponry that can burn through the personal armour our teams wear’ General Hammond replied honestly. ‘The X stands as much for xenophobia as anything else’ he continued wryly. ‘However it might be easier in future for you to get more advanced weaponry from us if the Goa’uld keep raising their game like they are now.’
‘So if Free Jaffa start dying in numbers at the hands of Apophis the Tau’ri might condescend to give them the scraps from their table?’ Egeria responded sarcastically.
‘Not how I would have phrased it but essentially yes’ Hammond replied. ‘And I know the reason you invited me here not Commander Sharp is that you know I’m more sympathetic and friendly to our off-world allies than he is, especially the non-human ones’ he continued. ‘So please stop giving me that look’ he requested of Egeria. ‘I’m a soldier and I obey orders, the policy of both my government and the UN is to let X-COM call the shots as long as continue to get results, and the fact is they have been very successful at fighting Earth’s enemies and retrieving and back-engineering their technology.’
‘If it wasn’t for the moderating influence of yourself at the SGC and Elizabeth Weir’s skills at diplomacy your position would not be anywhere near as good as it is’ Egeria told him.
Hammond smiled. ‘I certainly like to think I have a positive role to play at least’ he responded. ‘Now as for these new fighter aircraft...’
‘Chappa'nok'kek’ Bra’tac reminded him.
‘I’m sure my people will abbreviate that as always’ Hammond told him, ‘is it possible for Free-Jaffa or Tok’ra agents to sabotage the facility where they are being made?’ he asked.
‘We are trying but we do not yet have an infiltrator in place yet’ Egeria replied.
‘Would a ground assault work?’ Hammond checked.
‘Apophis has established a force-field such as the one used by Hathor to protect the whole area, you could not get close’ Bra’tac told him. ‘Besides which there is a Ha’tak orbiting that would deliver death from above if you tried’ he continued. ‘If you are thinking to use your naquada-enhanced nuclear devices it should be known that Apophis has many thousands of human slave workers who would be slain if you did, as well as the many innocent Jaffa living nearby who would be killed by the blast, or the countless more suffer from the effects of the radioactive fallout that would result from a sufficiently large weapon.’
George Hammond looked thoughtful. ‘Just the one Ha’tak?’ he asked.
‘Yes’ Bra’tac confirmed.
‘Then I guess it’s time to find out if what the R&D people say twin Rotary Staff Cannon and a pair of Elerium Plasma Beams pulled from Sectoid Battleships will do to a Goa’uld Mothership is true then’ Hammond declared, Prometheus was going to be making a little detour on the way back home.
High Orbit – Chulak – April 2003
The Ha'tak mothership orbiting above the former capital world of Apophis was of the older type, deemed fit only for garrison duty now that it had been superseded by the more advanced vessels now being produced. Eventually it would be scrapped but for now it still had its uses and one of these was ensuring that a planet that was still of some importance to Apophis was protected against attack by anything short of a major assault force.
Most of the ships belonging to the System Lords were either Tel’tak transports or the slightly less numerous Al'kesh which functioned as assault ships and troop transports. Massing millions of tonnes, and requiring large amounts of naquada to fuel and a large crew to maintain a Ha’tak was a major investment of resources and although many hundreds were in operation in galactic terms they were still spread very thin especially when the majority were currently blasting each other to pieces on the front lines of the greatest war the Goa’uld had ever fought. Any strike against Chulak was likely to be by a few Al'kesh at most and the Ha'tak standing guard could easily defeat a small fleet of those, especially given the dozens of Death Gliders it carried also.
One major problem of standing garrison duty for an extended length of time was that inactivity will breed sloth and boredom is not conducive to maintaining a sharp mind. There had been little military activity anywhere near Chulak since Apophis defeated the fleets of Heru'ur and his successor Terok, and the crew of the ship orbiting it were gradually succumbing to the relentless uninterrupted drudgery of never getting to see the glory of battle that a true Jaffa lives for. They were not even local to the world, being mostly former soldiers of Sokar who were born on Delmak, so the occasional shore-leave they were granted was far from welcome as they were treated as outsiders, or worse murderers.
When Apophis took over Sokar’s domain one of his first acts was to order a fleet to Chulak and re-establish his rule there, his newly acquired armies told to show no mercy to the world which had spawned the Jaffa Rebellion. Sokar’s former troops, and a few loyalist Jaffa from other worlds that had belonged to Apophis, had ruthlessly crushed any dissent and laid waste to any towns of villages that showed any hint of resistance. Now some time later Chulak was peaceful and did not require martial law but the people still largely hated and despised anyone that wore the symbol of Sokar on their forehead and the looks the ships crew received when they ringed to the surface were not pleasant. You could not even enjoy a nice mug of beer at a local tavern because of the suspicion that the barkeep had spat in it, or worse.
The Minor Goa'uld that Apophis had placed as governor of Chulak preferred to rule from the city that lay a few miles from the chappa'ai so the Ha'tak was commanded by a Jaffa Master of proven ability and loyalty who was nonetheless considered to be getting a little long in the tooth for a front-line command. Master Mem'pher had tried to keep his crew at full efficiency for a while but he was past one hundred and sixty years old and didn’t really have the energy for constantly screaming at them any more and couldn’t bring himself to execute all but the worst offenders against their standing orders preferring to have a grand-fatherly chat that sometimes worked. For the most part these days Mem'pher could be found in the command chair of the ships pel'tak, or bridge, half asleep and day-dreaming of battles fought long ago in his youth.
It might have been different if they were still ruled by Sokar himself, Apophis was harsh, and by no means exactly a fair ruler, but Sokar enjoyed hurting people far more and it didn’t take much of an excuse for him to have a Jaffa tortured to death so everyone always made sure not to give him any reason whatsoever. Sometimes he had done so anyway merely on a whim, telling his underlings everyone should have a hobby to pass the time, his appropriation of the identity of the most evil of human deities was from that perspective fairly understandable to anyone that knew him.
‘Master Mem'pher’ a Jaffa reported loudly, the voice of his communications officer snapping the Jaffa Master from his daydreams. ‘A signal from our guards at the Chappa'ai’ the Jaffa continued, ‘a Tau'ri machine has emerged from the ring of the gods and is engaging our forces.’
Mem'pher broke out into a grin. ‘The Tau'ri are come?’ he said wondrously. ‘Finally a battle to fight!’ he declared joyfully.
‘Shall I move us into position above the Chappa'ai to provide fire-support if necessary?’ the Jaffa piloting the Ha’tak asked.
‘Do so immediately’ Mem'pher ordered. ‘The Tau'ri machines of war are powerful and our forces on the ground will likely need our aid’ he said before turning to another. ‘Have Death Gliders manned and launched’ he commanded. ‘Send them to the planet.’
‘Another signal from the surface’ the first Jaffa announced, ‘more machines are coming through the chappa’ai and a number of the Ta'uri in the great metal armour suits we have heard of’ he told Mem'pher. ‘Our warriors are being quickly overwhelmed’ he said.
‘The Tau'ri use tricks and their magicks to compensate for a lack of warrior blood in their veins or the true strength that comes from faith in the gods’ Mem’pher declared with an uncharacteristic sneer.
‘Our first Death Gliders are launching, it will be a while before more are ready’ another Jaffa reported regretfully. Only a few pilots were in the bays as most should have been, others were running to their craft but from all over the ship. ‘We are moving towards the Chappa'ai’ he added as the Ha’tak shifted from its usual orbit and into a position where it could bombard the enemy invader.
The old Jaffa focused his mind, this could very well be the last battle he ever fought, if he defeated the Tau'ri here then Apophis might grant him an overdue retirement and a better home back on Delmak. ‘Have two hundred of our best Jaffa armed and sent to ring platforms ready to be transported to Chulak’ he ordered. ‘Our brothers will need reinforcement’ he said.
‘Master Mem'pher, a hyperspace window is opening’ the ships pilot announced urgently as the sensors detected a ship emerging from the subspace dimension that allowed craft to cross the galaxy faster than light.
‘Are we expecting any ships today?’ Mem’pher queried.
‘No and I am not familiar with the type of vessel that has appeared’ the pilot replied. ‘It is bearing down upon us.’
‘Raise shields’ Mem'pher ordered.
‘Shall I turn the ship to orientate more cannon against it?’ the pilot asked. The shape of a Ha'tak meant that it had restricted firing angles on the main guns and could best engage another vessel either directly above or below it.
‘Not yet, our priority is still to support our ground troops as yet and we do not know the identity of this ship either, nor if it is even hostile’ Mem’pher responded. He knew of the commander of a ship, an Al'kesh in that case, that had once blown another unidentified craft out of the skies on impulse only to discover afterwards it was carrying expensive replacement parts too large to transport through a gate. Apophis had the Jaffa responsible for destroying the ship flayed alive, offering a salutary warning to the trigger-happy not to shoot everything that moved for fear of the consequence of bad judgement.
‘We are receiving a communication from the unknown vessel’ a Jaffa announced. ‘Text only’ he said. ‘The language is an early dialect of Goa'uld used mainly by priests, I am translating to modern forms.’
‘What does it say?’ Mem’pher wanted to know.
The Jaffa started to read the message aloud. ‘This is the Tau'ri warship Prometheus. Waste one final prayer to your false gods and prepare to kiss your mikta goodbye’ he said before looking up from his console again.
Mem’pher blinked. ‘Tau'ri warship?’ he queried in confusion.
Aboard the USAF Prometheus Colonel William Ronson was still not entirely sure if sending that message was all that professional, but it had relieved a lot of tension in the crew and at heart he wasn’t as humourless as casual observers of his style of command would have assumed. ‘Spin up A and B Rotary Staff-Cannon, charge Plasma Beams, put reactors to one-hundred percent rated output and prepare to divert power from sublight engines to shields’ he ordered.
‘A and B Rippers spinning up, Beams charging’ Major Gant responded.
‘I want all point-defence lasers capable of firing in a forward arc to target that Ha'tak’ Ronson ordered. ‘Every little bit more we can drain from the shield on that thing the better off we are’ he said. The laser turrets were primarily intended to deal with enemy fighters but they were still fairly powerful in their own right, proven able to burn through the cydonium hull of a Sectoid ship at just over twenty kilometres and that was inside an atmosphere. The X-303 mounted sixteen of them and all but four could be fired directly ahead if required.
‘We’re in optimum range Sir’ the pilot Major Deluise reported.
‘Ready to fire at your command’ Major Gant added, fingers poised over her console.
‘Open fire’ Ronson ordered.
The twelve laser beams struck the shields of the Ha'tak first, though only a tiny fraction of a second before the bright green beams of the elerium plasma cannon scorched against the shield of the Goa’uld mothership. Even combined they expended less energy against the shield than a salvo from another Ha'tak would have done and only succeeded in draining the protective bubble to a small degree before they cut out and began to recharge.
Then the two continual streams of Heavy Staff-Cannon bolts struck their mark and started hammering against the shield of the Goa’uld mothership.
‘What is it?’ Mem'pher demanded to know, watching as the rapid-fire plasma splashed against the shields.
‘It appears to be Staff-Cannon fire but the rate of fire is impossibly high’ a Jaffa reported. ‘Shields holding’ he added.
‘Return fire Mem'pher ordered and the main guns of the Ha’tak which could be directed against Prometheus started to open up in earnest.
Colonel Ronson resisted the urge to flinch as the main guns of the Ha’tak started slamming against his own shields. Both ships engaged actually used basically similar shields although the X-303 had both the upgrades used by Anubis and some tricks learn from the Sectoids to bolster hers. Even so hundreds of megatons worth of firepower was now being bought to bear on Prometheus and her shields were starting to drain fast as a result. ‘Put everything not going into the weapons into the shield generator’ he ordered.
‘Diverting all available power from engines and non-essential systems’ Major Gant responded.
The twelve lasers could recharge and fire every four seconds, the two more powerful elerium plasma beams every six, and they all continued to do so as fast as they could but it was the unrelenting “Ripper” Rotary Staff-Cannon that were the ones starting to cause bigger problems for the Ha'tak. Not only were they firing at near machine-gun rates, constantly impacting and draining more power with each bolt, but because both streams were continually hitting almost the same spot, only a couple of metres apart, they were causing a localised weak point in the shield bubble that the Ha'tak was trying to compensate for but was gradually failing to do so effectively.
‘Sir the Ha'tak is launching large numbers of Death Gliders’ Gant reported.
‘Lasers disengage the Ha’tak, target the Death Gliders instead’ Ronson responded and the point-defence turrets turned to obey his orders. Prometheus should be able to knock them down quickly and easily like they had the Bedrosian fighters before and he didn’t want his ship to be pecked to death by a few dozen Goa’uld Fighters.
The bright green beams from the plasma cannon fired again, striking just between the two lines of fire from the Rippers, the latter almost seeming to be acting as tracer fire. ‘Burn through you bastards’ Major Gant muttered under her breath. ‘This should work dammit.’
Jaffa Master Mem'Pher watched in dismay as the Tau'ri vessel started shooting down his fighters almost effortlessly. There was no avoiding the energy weapons it was using against them and every touch from the weapons caused another Death Glider to flare into an explosion. ‘What is our shield strength?’ he asked.
‘Shield strength is good overall but is fast weakening at the point the Tau'ri are firing at’ a Jaffa replied. ‘The generator is struggling to keep up with the drain at one point, it was not designed to do this’ he said with some apparent nervousness about the situation.
‘Rotate the ship!’ Mem'pher shouted, fifty years ago he would have done this sooner in the battle he realised.
‘Too late’ the Jaffa replied.
Elerium-powered plasma beam cannon struck out again from Prometheus against the weakness in the Ha'tak’s shield bubble and after it resisted a split second longer they finally burned through and then unimpeded by the shield cut through its hull like a knife through butter. Jack O’Neill had always liked the description given them as being “Relativistic beams of superheated kinetic death” and they lived up to the name by searing a path deep into the mothership, holing compartment after compartment, severing powerlines and destroying two banks of control crystals.
‘Gottcha’ Major Deluise declared triumphantly as atmosphere started to vent from the Ha'tak and one of the main guns stopped firing. ‘She’s turning’ he said.
‘Sir the enemy shield is starting to collapse completely where we holed it’ Gant said, trying to sound less excited than she felt. ‘The Rippers are through!’ she declared as the streams of fire started impacting the enemy hull, chunks being visibly blasted off. ‘Beams firing again!’
While the Rotary Staff-Cannon pulverised the plasma beams once again bit deep, reaching further into the Ha’tak to a major power conduit.
‘Secondary explosion’ Ronson said with satisfaction as a section of the motherships hull at least fifty yards across blew out.
‘Enemy capital ship no longer manoeuvring, I think we either got their drive or their controls’ Delouise announced. ‘Jesus can you see this!’ he said in awe as Jaffa bodies began to be vented out into space along with the air.
‘Steady Major’ Ronson chided him.
The amount of return fire was starting to slacken off considerably as more internal explosions could be seen through the missing section of hull. Still pouring fire into the Ha’tak Prometheus was carving deeper and deeper into the flesh of its enemy, eventually something had to give.
‘Her shield just crashed out completely Sir’ Gant reported. ‘I think we overloaded one emitter and blew a couple more all to hell’ she said, looking at her console. ‘They’re still trying to make a fight of it though’ she continued as the Ha’tak continued to fire.
‘Plasma beams cease fire’ Colonel Ronson ordered, they burned precious elerium and it was a waste to keep using them now. ‘Major Deluise hose that thing down with the Rippers’ he ordered.
‘Yes Sir’ the pilot replied with a grin and turned the X-303 so as to start sweeping the twin streams of plasma-bolts across the Ha'tak hull, cratering it at first and then cutting a valley across its surface as the outer hull broke up under the onslaught.
‘Her reactors have just gone off line’ Major Gant reported. ‘All enemy guns have ceased fire, she’s dead in the water.’
‘All guns cease fire on the mothership’ Ronson ordered. ‘Are all the Death Gliders it launched destroyed?’ he asked.
‘The skies are clear Sir’ Major Gant told him.
‘Good’ Ronson replied. ‘Prepare the F-302’s for launch, we’ll send air-support to our ground troops’ he said. ‘In the meantime back us off and teleport a nuclear warhead aboard that hulk’ he said. ‘It’s too large to let it fall onto Chulak in one piece like that’ he noted. ‘Well done people’ he added.
‘Sir we’re receiving a coded transmission from Commander Sharp on the surface, our troops have secured the stargate and are preparing to advance towards their target once we confirm orbital superiority’ Major Gant told him.
Colonel Ronson smiled. ‘Reply with this signal. “Prometheus holds the high ground, walk safely in the shadow of a Titan”.’
‘Very classical of you Sir’ Delouise told him.
‘Thank you Major, now back us off like I said’ Ronson told him. ‘That thing isn’t going to blow itself to kingdom come’ he pointed out.
Aboard the broken mothership the pel'tak was somehow still intact and pressurised and Mem'pher watched the Tau'ri vessel move away. ‘I was hoping for a more glorious demise than this’ he told the Jaffa with him moments before a 1.2 gigaton warhead was teleported aboard. Whether it was glorious was perhaps debateable but it did turn out fairly spectacular as Chulak, already blessed by the light of two suns resulting from being in a binary star system, momentarily had a third.