Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction / Stargate: Atlantis Fan Fiction / Star Trek - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Countdown ❯ Part 2: ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: 117 
Non Anime: Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction / Stargate: Atlantis Fan Fiction / Star Trek - Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Sci-fi | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.01.2009 | Updated On: 06.07.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
Non Anime: Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction / Stargate: Atlantis Fan Fiction / Star Trek - Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Sci-fi | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.01.2009 | Updated On: 06.07.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
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Date : 311208
Disclaimer : All Stargate and Star Trek characters and concepts belong to respective creators and owners.
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What if the self-destruct mechanism had not failed when Captain Picard had initiated its countdown? What would have happened? Would things have changed or would they have stayed the same?
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C O U N T D O W N
Part 2:
In the last chapter, the crew of the Enterprise found themselves swept into another universe through the Bassen Rift onboard the Reman Warbird, Scimitar. Much to their surprise and consternation, the crew discovered that a great deal of their private lives (including their most intimate moments) and the universe they came from are public knowledge on this Earth. Uneasy and uncertain as to how to handle it, they made the decision to leave this alternate reality as soon as they can. Not only to preserve the Prime Directive, but to preserve their dignity. To face the specter of having every detail of their private lives being known to everyone was not something they were prepared to deal with.
Before they could leave, however, the Earth and its inhabitants came under attack from three large pyramid-shaped ships. A fourth smaller vessel appeared to defend the planet. Unfortunately, the ship was heavily outgunned and outnumbered by the three larger ships. It was quickly overwhelmed and was close to destruction when Captain Picard made the fateful decision to intervene and stop the large scale slaughter and destruction of the planet's inhabitants.
That decision alerted the occupants of the ship to their unknown savior. They quickly made contact with the Scimitar and much to their surprise, discovered the existence of the Enterprise crew. Colonel O'Neill and Captain Picard exchanged greetings before agreeing to meet them onboard the Prometheus. As of now, he was deliberating with members of his crew on what to tell this 'Colonel O'Neill'.
"So what do we tell them? The main thing being this ship. Do we tell them about it?" the bald-headed captain asked, throwing the question to the group.
"They are not yet aware of its existence. I suggest we keep it that way," Data, the positronic-brained android answered.
"Any reasons? If they discovered that we deceived them, they would not be very happy about it," Beverly pointed out.
"That is true. I get the feeling that that the man was very excited and happy to see you, captain. Deception should not be the way," the ship's cousellors folded her hands before reclining back into her seat.
"Normally, it would be a good thing to be straight about such things as honesty breeds trust and trust is essential for all relationships. However, the Scimitar is not an ordinary ship. It was designed around a thalaron generator and its emitters. Which may I remind everyone, the research was banned due to its potential use as a biogenic weapon. From what we have picked up from 'Star Trek' in their EM broadcasts and transmissions, the Scimitar's complement of weapons and its thalaron device is no secret. Make no mistake, they know everything about it here. From its primary and secondary shields to the number of fighters it carries in its hangar bay. Should the survival of the Scimitar become public knowledge, there could be problems with certain segments or leaders of their society. The last thing we need is a power-hungry group or individual with less than dubious intentions of becoming aware of the Scimitar and trying to get their hands on it, or failing that, begin research into thalaron technology," Data answered.
"Good point," the chief engineer agreed.
"But the Enterprise has been destroyed! How are we going to give them a ship that doesn't exist?" Riker asked.
"A probe could be configured to create a holographic projection of the Enterprise. We could also use the Scimitar's transmitters to fool their ship's sensors into thinking that the Enterprise they saw was real. When we bring anyone over, we could beam them into the reconfigured holodeck onboard the Scimitar for a tour through the 'Enterprise'. They would never need to know that they were just going through a simulation in the holodeck," Data continued.
The discussion continued well until it was close to the meeting time. Finally, the captain reached a decision and dismissed everyone.
"Very well. Thank you for your input everyone. This meeting is now adjourned."
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Meanwhile onboard the USAF Prometheus ...
I cannot believe how excited I am at making contact with Captain Picard and his crew from 'Star Trek'. Of all the potential candidates for saving our collective bacon from the Goa'uld, we never imagined such an illustrious group of rescuers. I cannot help but feel that things would be different now for Earth and the galaxy. For my part, I've been busy recalling what I knew about each of the individual characters from the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' series. There was Liutenant Worf - the ship's Klingon security officer, Data - the communications officer who is an android, Deanna Troi - a ship's counsellor from Betazed, Dr. Beverly Crusher - the chief medical officer, LaForge - the chief engineer and finally Riker, the first officer onboard the Enterprise besides the captain of course.
As of now, I am waiting for the good old captain to appear.
There was a trio of shimmering lights and three figures appeared on the deck of the ship. O'Neill studied the three figures in the light. They were unmistakbly the forms of Captain Picard, Data and Deanna Troi.
And speaking of our guests, here they are. We have great hopes for this meeting. Especially a technological trade in the form of weapons and shields. From what I've seen of Star Trek, they have to be more advanced than the snakeheads although they have no hyperdrives and knowledge of naquadah. Still they have impulse thrusters and warp engines for their propulsion systems. But it is not propulsion systems or power systems that we need. It is weapons that we need. Especially the ones in the big and destructive department. Carter had mentioned it to me. Phasers and transphasic torpedoes, anybody? Even quantum torpedoes would come in handy at a time like this. Though I wonder what they would want in exchange for it?
"Greetings Captain Picard, Data and Counsellor Troi. Welcome aboard the USAF Prometheus. On behalf of SGC and Earth, we wish to thank you for your timely assistance against the Goa'uld. Your intervention helped saved countless lives. This is Major Samantha Carter, former First Prime Teal'c and our resident archaelogist, Dr. Daniel Jackson," the colonel greeted the trio.
"Greetings Colonel O'Neill. I'm sure you know all of us already so we can safely skip that part but pray tell me who are these Goa'uld?" the captain greeted in turn.
"It's a very long story but Daniel can explain it better than I can," the Colonel spoke.
At this point, the Colonel invited Daniel to relate the story surrounding the Stargate and the events leading to its discovery and what followed thereafter. The captain and his two officers listened to the tale with rapt attention and silence.
It finally ended with him saying, "So this is what SGC is for. To seek out new technology and allies in the hopes of stopping the Goa'uld from enslaving or destroying the Earth."
"And you would very much like us to contribute to Earth's defense?" the bald-headed captain asked.
"That would be deeply appreciated," the Colonel answered.
"I'm sure you are aware of the Prime Directive," Picard brought up.
"Yes but I'm also sure that you are aware that we have just been attacked by an extra-terrestrial force," O'Neill couldn't help but feel disappointed at the thought of another advanced civillisation turning down a request to help them with the defense of Earth technologically.
"Yes and that is part of the reason why we are having this conversation as opposed to having none whatsoever," the bald-headed captain answered, the expression on his face turning serious without warning.
The silence in the room became more pronounced.
"Your situation left us with a very difficult decision to make, Colonel O'Neill. The Prime Directive is very clear in regards to what we can and cannot do in this situation. At the same time, however, we do not wish to leave the people of Earth to a fate possibly worse than death when we could have done something," Deanna continued.
The SG crew listened nervously in silence. It was as if the very fate of Earth hung in the balance.
"There is another problem. The Enterprise, strong though she may be against the Goa'uld, is just one ship. She would barely make a dent in the numbers of capital ships operated by the Goa'uld. So it comes down to one of two things. We either help you all the way or none at all," the bald-headed captain added grimly.
The tension had become so thick that a knife could cut through it. The SG crew waited with bated breath to hear the decision of the Starfleet officers.
"We will help you with the defense of Earth. The schematics for state-of-the-art phaser weapons, photon torpedoes, quantum torpedoes, the cloaking device, transporters, replicators, holodecks, impulse thrusters, warp engines, the Federation Delta flyers, the Defiant-class warships, the Achilles Siege Cruisers, the construction yards and whatever else is necessary for the defense of Earth will be provided. Our engineering crews will assist with the construction. This decision is unprecedented in Federation history but than this is no ordinary situation. Had things not been so dire, we would have never have agreed to such a move. We ask only for two things in exchange. One, we would like the first Achilles Siege Cruiser constructed for our use. The second thing we ask for is the quantum mirror you mentioned. Do you still have it?" the bald-headed captain spoke.
"General Hammond ordered it to be destroyed," the Colonel answered regretfully.
"If you can find another quantum mirror for us, it would be most useful in our efforts in finding a way home," the android added.
"We will gladly do so," the Colonel answered, letting out the breath he did not know he had been holding.
"The Federation would be most grateful for any assistance rendered," the captain smiled.
With that the meeting ended. The Federation crew left the same way they came. And the ecstatic Colonel couldn't help but give a loud cheer.
"ALRIGHT! BIG HONKING SPACE GUNS!"
"I'll tell the General the good news," the blonde Major remarked happily.
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And that was the one piece of good news that SGC had.
The rest were not as good, unfortunately, as the Federation captain had made it perfectly clear that he would not interfere in what was transpiring on the Earth below unless of course it was something to do with medical aid. Which of course brought them all back to one big problem.
Although the Goa'uld Hatak Motherships that had spearheaded the invasion had been destroyed in Earth's orbit, the situation on Earth was far from settled.
Many places on Earth had been destroyed especially populated areas in developed countries. China, Japan and India, having the world's largest concentration of people suffered the most casualties and worst damage. Entire neighbourhoods and villages had been wiped out especially in the last suicidal bombing run by the Jaffa. Even the Tel'tak cargo ships were used as guided missiles after being emptied of heavily armed troops and their cargo. Europe, Russia and the United States also suffered extensive damage but they were not as bad as the ones suffered by the Asian continent.
Chaos and confusion reigned as various law enforcement bodies and the armed forces struggled to maintain law and order in those places. Some of them were still seeing massive pitched battles between the Jaffa ground troops that had landed and Earth's militaries that were now fighting back to retake back their countries. There were even places that were involved in a four-way fight between the alien invaders, the countries' local armed forces, powerful criminal organisations and the various rebel groups who had been operating in the region and had now gone out into the open to take advantage of the ruling government's weaknesses. Places such as the Middle East, Africa and South America with Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Algeria, Sudan, Angola, Congo, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Somalia the worst among them.
The former countries of the Soviet Union and the Yugoslavia came a close second as entire countries and their proxies had taken advantage of the resulting anarchy and chaos to declare war on their neighbours, many of them whom they were having long-standing grudges or disputes with.
The Earth, in short, was ... one ... BIG ... CHAOTIC ... madhouse.
"There's still some fighting on the Eastern Seaboard of the US mostly in the South but it is winding down as the Army and National Guard moved in to wipe out all the remaining Jaffa. Canada and Alaska appears to have been thankfully spared of the fighting as the Jaffa seemed to avoid places with cold climates. Mexico, on the other hand still has some heavy fighting going on in the streets although it is only a matter of time before the Jaffa are defeated," the blonde Major spoke while reading the report.
"And what about the rest of the world? Do we tell them about the Stargate program?" O'Neill asked.
"The President would be meeting with the Federation captain in a one on one meeting at 0300 hours EST. If you have no further questions, this meeting is adjourned," Hammond answered.
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Disclosure.
It was not something they could do without. Not if they wanted to overhaul the entire infrastructure of the world to produce sufficient numbers of space-worthy warships capable of taking the fight to the Goa'uld. Constructing a spaceship was no lean feat especially motherships that were a combination of battleships and space carriers rolled into one, even with the necessary technology available. Moreso with shipyards that were capable of manufacturing spaceships like factories with automobiles. It was one thing to have the knowledge. Another thing to be able to put the knowledge to good use. Even with the visitors' help, they had a limited number of equipment and resources to work with.
Such was the quandry facing the defense management body of the IOA against interstellar threats. The fact that Earth had constructed the Prometheus prior to the visitor's arrival gave them a headstart but there was still a lot of work to do. Especially in the weapons, shielding and propulsion technologies. It didn't help matters that Federation technology was different from Goa'uld technology and in some cases more advanced. It was like dealing with Tollan technology all over again. Federation ships did not rely on hyperdrives to achieve faster-than-light travel. Instead, they used warp engines to accomplish the same feat.
Warp engines had its advantages and drawbacks compared to hyperdrive technology. One advantage being that it enabled their ships to travel through real space while achieving faster-than-light speeds. This enabled the ship to remain and more importantly, capable of engaging in ship to ship combat in real space should it prove necessary to do so. Something that no other civillisation in the galaxy had been able to do prior to the visitors' arrival. Impulse thrusters enabled the ship to achieve and maneuver at sublight velocity, something that would give them a necessary advantage against hostile alien vessels that did not have the same capability.
Shielding technology was also different. Unlike Goa'uld shielding which consisted of one single large solid bubble around the ship, Federation shielding differed in the sense that it was made up of several shields that covered the ships in different arcs produced by different shield projectors. This form of shielding had its advantages and disadvantages. One, any form of damage taken by one shield projection would not affect the other shield projections. Two, shield strength in any projection could be reinforced by diverting extra power from other shield projections to it. Three, it could also be regenerated in the same manner in addition to its own shield projector. Four, such a form of shielding enabled a more distributed defense as it required enemy vessels to take down all the shield projectors rather than just one single shield generator.
The disadvantages included more power as it required more energy to be diverted to the different shields to maintain them rather than just a single big solid shield. This disadvantage, however, could be offset somewhat with the use of portable naquadah generators, something that the visitors did not have. It was amazing to note that despite the fact the energy fields generated were regarded as shields, they were so different in the way they were used in different realities. The unfortunate thing was they could only implement one form of shielding system. Not both. The research and development teams were still engaged in a heated discussion over which form of shielding system to implement.
Weapons technology ... Who would ever expect the energy weapons and the way they functioned to be so different from one another? Plasma weapons technology as utilised by the Goa'uld relied on a more brute-force approach. Tearing and battering down the shields in single solid hits unlike Federation phasers which relied more on finesse and concentrated fire to penetrate enemy shielding. Not nearly as strong but then Starfleet did not pack their heavy hitters into their phasers. Rather, their heavy hitters came in the form of photon torpedoes, quantum torpedoes and most recently ... transphasic torpedoes. Phaser weapons were chosen because they had a faster rate of fire, a wider arc of fire, longer range and did not take up as much space as plasma weapons.
Also, they utilised anti-matter in all their standard torpedo weapons unlike the Goa'uld who tended to rely on naquadah. Already some of the engineering teams were salivating over the possiblities of enhancing standard anti-matter torpedoes with naquadah. Which should give out quite a big bang all things considered. Surprisingly enough, the Federation crew also had access to disruptor technology. Disruptor weapons, all things considered were real heavy hitters. They had a narrower arc of fire and lesser versatility compared to their phaser counterparts but more than made up for it with the damage they inflicted on enemy shielding and armour as they quickly cut it down to size in a matter of seconds. Just as in the shielding debate, the research and development teams were still trying to find ways of incorporating the different weapon technologies together. Failing that, the best one available.
The two technologies, the research and development crews agreed on were the implementation of anti-matter and Federation transporter technology which certainly put the Aschen and Goa'uld transporters to shame with their striking similarity to Asgard transporter technology. Anti-matter technology was a given as it produced more power than fusion technology. Enhanced with naquadah, the power output generated could easily surpass that of the power produced by Goa'uld ship reactors.
So much to do. So little time ...
'Such a thing was never a good combination if Earth was to be ready for the next Goa'uld incursion,' the general in charge of Earth's space defense agency thought.
It was ironic that at one time Earth was fighting for every little scrap of technology they could get their hands on with little to show for and now that they had it in loads, they could not field enough teams to research and put those different technological advances to good use. Lack of manpower or human resource with intellectual capital as they called it. There was no way that one country alone could ever hope to harness even a fraction of all the knowledge that the visitors had come with to good use in this lifetime even if they concentrated all their resources in doing so. Thus, the decision to involve the entire world in the technological advancement of the century. The contrast could not have been more evident.
Already, there was talk about splitting the different approaches towards implementing the available technologies to different countries to see how they worked in the field of fire. With the Russians, Indians, Chinese and Brazilians going for disruptor and multi-shielding technology and the NATO powers going for phaser and mono-shielding technology. See which combination worked best first before they adopted it as a whole, they said. Germany, Turkey and France were the notable exceptions in the sense that they chose to go with the multi-shielding approach rather than the mono-shielding system that the rest of the NATO alliance had adopted. The general seated in the command chair suspected that it was more a matter of national pride than any scientific reason for their decision.
The rest of the world were given the task of implementing and integrating the visitors' plasma technology with Goa'uld plasma weaponry like plasma cannons and plasma torpedoes. Except for Japan, Sweden, Serbia, Belarus, South Africa and Argentina that had opted to go for disruptor weaponry and Switzerland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Taiwan that had decided to adopt the phaser as their main weapon system, the rest of the world had gone for plasma technology. Even the pariah states of Sudan, Iran and North Korea were not excluded from the 'technological upgrade' process. Method of shielding implemented was left to each individual country's discretion. Although they would all bear similarities to each other in the form of cloaking devices, naquadah-enhanced anti-matter reactors, hyperdrives, warp engines and impulse thrusters being present onboard their vessels.
Though the danger was great, the potential of such an endeavour was just as great, if not more, in the development of the human race on Earth from being limited on one world to a galactic power on stage. The period of transition was momentous and a sign of great portent that something was about to change the face of the political landscape of the galaxy forever.
If humanity did not destroy itself first in the process.
TBC
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And now ... a word of thanks to my reviewers.
unknown: Wait and see.
Andromedanaea: Won't be happening yet.
Bobboky: Thank you for the support.
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Date : 311208
Disclaimer : All Stargate and Star Trek characters and concepts belong to respective creators and owners.
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What if the self-destruct mechanism had not failed when Captain Picard had initiated its countdown? What would have happened? Would things have changed or would they have stayed the same?
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C O U N T D O W N
Part 2:
In the last chapter, the crew of the Enterprise found themselves swept into another universe through the Bassen Rift onboard the Reman Warbird, Scimitar. Much to their surprise and consternation, the crew discovered that a great deal of their private lives (including their most intimate moments) and the universe they came from are public knowledge on this Earth. Uneasy and uncertain as to how to handle it, they made the decision to leave this alternate reality as soon as they can. Not only to preserve the Prime Directive, but to preserve their dignity. To face the specter of having every detail of their private lives being known to everyone was not something they were prepared to deal with.
Before they could leave, however, the Earth and its inhabitants came under attack from three large pyramid-shaped ships. A fourth smaller vessel appeared to defend the planet. Unfortunately, the ship was heavily outgunned and outnumbered by the three larger ships. It was quickly overwhelmed and was close to destruction when Captain Picard made the fateful decision to intervene and stop the large scale slaughter and destruction of the planet's inhabitants.
That decision alerted the occupants of the ship to their unknown savior. They quickly made contact with the Scimitar and much to their surprise, discovered the existence of the Enterprise crew. Colonel O'Neill and Captain Picard exchanged greetings before agreeing to meet them onboard the Prometheus. As of now, he was deliberating with members of his crew on what to tell this 'Colonel O'Neill'.
"So what do we tell them? The main thing being this ship. Do we tell them about it?" the bald-headed captain asked, throwing the question to the group.
"They are not yet aware of its existence. I suggest we keep it that way," Data, the positronic-brained android answered.
"Any reasons? If they discovered that we deceived them, they would not be very happy about it," Beverly pointed out.
"That is true. I get the feeling that that the man was very excited and happy to see you, captain. Deception should not be the way," the ship's cousellors folded her hands before reclining back into her seat.
"Normally, it would be a good thing to be straight about such things as honesty breeds trust and trust is essential for all relationships. However, the Scimitar is not an ordinary ship. It was designed around a thalaron generator and its emitters. Which may I remind everyone, the research was banned due to its potential use as a biogenic weapon. From what we have picked up from 'Star Trek' in their EM broadcasts and transmissions, the Scimitar's complement of weapons and its thalaron device is no secret. Make no mistake, they know everything about it here. From its primary and secondary shields to the number of fighters it carries in its hangar bay. Should the survival of the Scimitar become public knowledge, there could be problems with certain segments or leaders of their society. The last thing we need is a power-hungry group or individual with less than dubious intentions of becoming aware of the Scimitar and trying to get their hands on it, or failing that, begin research into thalaron technology," Data answered.
"Good point," the chief engineer agreed.
"But the Enterprise has been destroyed! How are we going to give them a ship that doesn't exist?" Riker asked.
"A probe could be configured to create a holographic projection of the Enterprise. We could also use the Scimitar's transmitters to fool their ship's sensors into thinking that the Enterprise they saw was real. When we bring anyone over, we could beam them into the reconfigured holodeck onboard the Scimitar for a tour through the 'Enterprise'. They would never need to know that they were just going through a simulation in the holodeck," Data continued.
The discussion continued well until it was close to the meeting time. Finally, the captain reached a decision and dismissed everyone.
"Very well. Thank you for your input everyone. This meeting is now adjourned."
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Meanwhile onboard the USAF Prometheus ...
I cannot believe how excited I am at making contact with Captain Picard and his crew from 'Star Trek'. Of all the potential candidates for saving our collective bacon from the Goa'uld, we never imagined such an illustrious group of rescuers. I cannot help but feel that things would be different now for Earth and the galaxy. For my part, I've been busy recalling what I knew about each of the individual characters from the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' series. There was Liutenant Worf - the ship's Klingon security officer, Data - the communications officer who is an android, Deanna Troi - a ship's counsellor from Betazed, Dr. Beverly Crusher - the chief medical officer, LaForge - the chief engineer and finally Riker, the first officer onboard the Enterprise besides the captain of course.
As of now, I am waiting for the good old captain to appear.
There was a trio of shimmering lights and three figures appeared on the deck of the ship. O'Neill studied the three figures in the light. They were unmistakbly the forms of Captain Picard, Data and Deanna Troi.
And speaking of our guests, here they are. We have great hopes for this meeting. Especially a technological trade in the form of weapons and shields. From what I've seen of Star Trek, they have to be more advanced than the snakeheads although they have no hyperdrives and knowledge of naquadah. Still they have impulse thrusters and warp engines for their propulsion systems. But it is not propulsion systems or power systems that we need. It is weapons that we need. Especially the ones in the big and destructive department. Carter had mentioned it to me. Phasers and transphasic torpedoes, anybody? Even quantum torpedoes would come in handy at a time like this. Though I wonder what they would want in exchange for it?
"Greetings Captain Picard, Data and Counsellor Troi. Welcome aboard the USAF Prometheus. On behalf of SGC and Earth, we wish to thank you for your timely assistance against the Goa'uld. Your intervention helped saved countless lives. This is Major Samantha Carter, former First Prime Teal'c and our resident archaelogist, Dr. Daniel Jackson," the colonel greeted the trio.
"Greetings Colonel O'Neill. I'm sure you know all of us already so we can safely skip that part but pray tell me who are these Goa'uld?" the captain greeted in turn.
"It's a very long story but Daniel can explain it better than I can," the Colonel spoke.
At this point, the Colonel invited Daniel to relate the story surrounding the Stargate and the events leading to its discovery and what followed thereafter. The captain and his two officers listened to the tale with rapt attention and silence.
It finally ended with him saying, "So this is what SGC is for. To seek out new technology and allies in the hopes of stopping the Goa'uld from enslaving or destroying the Earth."
"And you would very much like us to contribute to Earth's defense?" the bald-headed captain asked.
"That would be deeply appreciated," the Colonel answered.
"I'm sure you are aware of the Prime Directive," Picard brought up.
"Yes but I'm also sure that you are aware that we have just been attacked by an extra-terrestrial force," O'Neill couldn't help but feel disappointed at the thought of another advanced civillisation turning down a request to help them with the defense of Earth technologically.
"Yes and that is part of the reason why we are having this conversation as opposed to having none whatsoever," the bald-headed captain answered, the expression on his face turning serious without warning.
The silence in the room became more pronounced.
"Your situation left us with a very difficult decision to make, Colonel O'Neill. The Prime Directive is very clear in regards to what we can and cannot do in this situation. At the same time, however, we do not wish to leave the people of Earth to a fate possibly worse than death when we could have done something," Deanna continued.
The SG crew listened nervously in silence. It was as if the very fate of Earth hung in the balance.
"There is another problem. The Enterprise, strong though she may be against the Goa'uld, is just one ship. She would barely make a dent in the numbers of capital ships operated by the Goa'uld. So it comes down to one of two things. We either help you all the way or none at all," the bald-headed captain added grimly.
The tension had become so thick that a knife could cut through it. The SG crew waited with bated breath to hear the decision of the Starfleet officers.
"We will help you with the defense of Earth. The schematics for state-of-the-art phaser weapons, photon torpedoes, quantum torpedoes, the cloaking device, transporters, replicators, holodecks, impulse thrusters, warp engines, the Federation Delta flyers, the Defiant-class warships, the Achilles Siege Cruisers, the construction yards and whatever else is necessary for the defense of Earth will be provided. Our engineering crews will assist with the construction. This decision is unprecedented in Federation history but than this is no ordinary situation. Had things not been so dire, we would have never have agreed to such a move. We ask only for two things in exchange. One, we would like the first Achilles Siege Cruiser constructed for our use. The second thing we ask for is the quantum mirror you mentioned. Do you still have it?" the bald-headed captain spoke.
"General Hammond ordered it to be destroyed," the Colonel answered regretfully.
"If you can find another quantum mirror for us, it would be most useful in our efforts in finding a way home," the android added.
"We will gladly do so," the Colonel answered, letting out the breath he did not know he had been holding.
"The Federation would be most grateful for any assistance rendered," the captain smiled.
With that the meeting ended. The Federation crew left the same way they came. And the ecstatic Colonel couldn't help but give a loud cheer.
"ALRIGHT! BIG HONKING SPACE GUNS!"
"I'll tell the General the good news," the blonde Major remarked happily.
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And that was the one piece of good news that SGC had.
The rest were not as good, unfortunately, as the Federation captain had made it perfectly clear that he would not interfere in what was transpiring on the Earth below unless of course it was something to do with medical aid. Which of course brought them all back to one big problem.
Although the Goa'uld Hatak Motherships that had spearheaded the invasion had been destroyed in Earth's orbit, the situation on Earth was far from settled.
Many places on Earth had been destroyed especially populated areas in developed countries. China, Japan and India, having the world's largest concentration of people suffered the most casualties and worst damage. Entire neighbourhoods and villages had been wiped out especially in the last suicidal bombing run by the Jaffa. Even the Tel'tak cargo ships were used as guided missiles after being emptied of heavily armed troops and their cargo. Europe, Russia and the United States also suffered extensive damage but they were not as bad as the ones suffered by the Asian continent.
Chaos and confusion reigned as various law enforcement bodies and the armed forces struggled to maintain law and order in those places. Some of them were still seeing massive pitched battles between the Jaffa ground troops that had landed and Earth's militaries that were now fighting back to retake back their countries. There were even places that were involved in a four-way fight between the alien invaders, the countries' local armed forces, powerful criminal organisations and the various rebel groups who had been operating in the region and had now gone out into the open to take advantage of the ruling government's weaknesses. Places such as the Middle East, Africa and South America with Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Algeria, Sudan, Angola, Congo, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Somalia the worst among them.
The former countries of the Soviet Union and the Yugoslavia came a close second as entire countries and their proxies had taken advantage of the resulting anarchy and chaos to declare war on their neighbours, many of them whom they were having long-standing grudges or disputes with.
The Earth, in short, was ... one ... BIG ... CHAOTIC ... madhouse.
"There's still some fighting on the Eastern Seaboard of the US mostly in the South but it is winding down as the Army and National Guard moved in to wipe out all the remaining Jaffa. Canada and Alaska appears to have been thankfully spared of the fighting as the Jaffa seemed to avoid places with cold climates. Mexico, on the other hand still has some heavy fighting going on in the streets although it is only a matter of time before the Jaffa are defeated," the blonde Major spoke while reading the report.
"And what about the rest of the world? Do we tell them about the Stargate program?" O'Neill asked.
"The President would be meeting with the Federation captain in a one on one meeting at 0300 hours EST. If you have no further questions, this meeting is adjourned," Hammond answered.
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Disclosure.
It was not something they could do without. Not if they wanted to overhaul the entire infrastructure of the world to produce sufficient numbers of space-worthy warships capable of taking the fight to the Goa'uld. Constructing a spaceship was no lean feat especially motherships that were a combination of battleships and space carriers rolled into one, even with the necessary technology available. Moreso with shipyards that were capable of manufacturing spaceships like factories with automobiles. It was one thing to have the knowledge. Another thing to be able to put the knowledge to good use. Even with the visitors' help, they had a limited number of equipment and resources to work with.
Such was the quandry facing the defense management body of the IOA against interstellar threats. The fact that Earth had constructed the Prometheus prior to the visitor's arrival gave them a headstart but there was still a lot of work to do. Especially in the weapons, shielding and propulsion technologies. It didn't help matters that Federation technology was different from Goa'uld technology and in some cases more advanced. It was like dealing with Tollan technology all over again. Federation ships did not rely on hyperdrives to achieve faster-than-light travel. Instead, they used warp engines to accomplish the same feat.
Warp engines had its advantages and drawbacks compared to hyperdrive technology. One advantage being that it enabled their ships to travel through real space while achieving faster-than-light speeds. This enabled the ship to remain and more importantly, capable of engaging in ship to ship combat in real space should it prove necessary to do so. Something that no other civillisation in the galaxy had been able to do prior to the visitors' arrival. Impulse thrusters enabled the ship to achieve and maneuver at sublight velocity, something that would give them a necessary advantage against hostile alien vessels that did not have the same capability.
Shielding technology was also different. Unlike Goa'uld shielding which consisted of one single large solid bubble around the ship, Federation shielding differed in the sense that it was made up of several shields that covered the ships in different arcs produced by different shield projectors. This form of shielding had its advantages and disadvantages. One, any form of damage taken by one shield projection would not affect the other shield projections. Two, shield strength in any projection could be reinforced by diverting extra power from other shield projections to it. Three, it could also be regenerated in the same manner in addition to its own shield projector. Four, such a form of shielding enabled a more distributed defense as it required enemy vessels to take down all the shield projectors rather than just one single shield generator.
The disadvantages included more power as it required more energy to be diverted to the different shields to maintain them rather than just a single big solid shield. This disadvantage, however, could be offset somewhat with the use of portable naquadah generators, something that the visitors did not have. It was amazing to note that despite the fact the energy fields generated were regarded as shields, they were so different in the way they were used in different realities. The unfortunate thing was they could only implement one form of shielding system. Not both. The research and development teams were still engaged in a heated discussion over which form of shielding system to implement.
Weapons technology ... Who would ever expect the energy weapons and the way they functioned to be so different from one another? Plasma weapons technology as utilised by the Goa'uld relied on a more brute-force approach. Tearing and battering down the shields in single solid hits unlike Federation phasers which relied more on finesse and concentrated fire to penetrate enemy shielding. Not nearly as strong but then Starfleet did not pack their heavy hitters into their phasers. Rather, their heavy hitters came in the form of photon torpedoes, quantum torpedoes and most recently ... transphasic torpedoes. Phaser weapons were chosen because they had a faster rate of fire, a wider arc of fire, longer range and did not take up as much space as plasma weapons.
Also, they utilised anti-matter in all their standard torpedo weapons unlike the Goa'uld who tended to rely on naquadah. Already some of the engineering teams were salivating over the possiblities of enhancing standard anti-matter torpedoes with naquadah. Which should give out quite a big bang all things considered. Surprisingly enough, the Federation crew also had access to disruptor technology. Disruptor weapons, all things considered were real heavy hitters. They had a narrower arc of fire and lesser versatility compared to their phaser counterparts but more than made up for it with the damage they inflicted on enemy shielding and armour as they quickly cut it down to size in a matter of seconds. Just as in the shielding debate, the research and development teams were still trying to find ways of incorporating the different weapon technologies together. Failing that, the best one available.
The two technologies, the research and development crews agreed on were the implementation of anti-matter and Federation transporter technology which certainly put the Aschen and Goa'uld transporters to shame with their striking similarity to Asgard transporter technology. Anti-matter technology was a given as it produced more power than fusion technology. Enhanced with naquadah, the power output generated could easily surpass that of the power produced by Goa'uld ship reactors.
So much to do. So little time ...
'Such a thing was never a good combination if Earth was to be ready for the next Goa'uld incursion,' the general in charge of Earth's space defense agency thought.
It was ironic that at one time Earth was fighting for every little scrap of technology they could get their hands on with little to show for and now that they had it in loads, they could not field enough teams to research and put those different technological advances to good use. Lack of manpower or human resource with intellectual capital as they called it. There was no way that one country alone could ever hope to harness even a fraction of all the knowledge that the visitors had come with to good use in this lifetime even if they concentrated all their resources in doing so. Thus, the decision to involve the entire world in the technological advancement of the century. The contrast could not have been more evident.
Already, there was talk about splitting the different approaches towards implementing the available technologies to different countries to see how they worked in the field of fire. With the Russians, Indians, Chinese and Brazilians going for disruptor and multi-shielding technology and the NATO powers going for phaser and mono-shielding technology. See which combination worked best first before they adopted it as a whole, they said. Germany, Turkey and France were the notable exceptions in the sense that they chose to go with the multi-shielding approach rather than the mono-shielding system that the rest of the NATO alliance had adopted. The general seated in the command chair suspected that it was more a matter of national pride than any scientific reason for their decision.
The rest of the world were given the task of implementing and integrating the visitors' plasma technology with Goa'uld plasma weaponry like plasma cannons and plasma torpedoes. Except for Japan, Sweden, Serbia, Belarus, South Africa and Argentina that had opted to go for disruptor weaponry and Switzerland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Taiwan that had decided to adopt the phaser as their main weapon system, the rest of the world had gone for plasma technology. Even the pariah states of Sudan, Iran and North Korea were not excluded from the 'technological upgrade' process. Method of shielding implemented was left to each individual country's discretion. Although they would all bear similarities to each other in the form of cloaking devices, naquadah-enhanced anti-matter reactors, hyperdrives, warp engines and impulse thrusters being present onboard their vessels.
Though the danger was great, the potential of such an endeavour was just as great, if not more, in the development of the human race on Earth from being limited on one world to a galactic power on stage. The period of transition was momentous and a sign of great portent that something was about to change the face of the political landscape of the galaxy forever.
If humanity did not destroy itself first in the process.
TBC
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And now ... a word of thanks to my reviewers.
unknown: Wait and see.
Andromedanaea: Won't be happening yet.
Bobboky: Thank you for the support.
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