Continuing Stargate

[Dark lord me]

Question. With all this stuff about universe how will you incorperate it into your story?
An outpost that was under attack?
A UN funded opperation?
Maybe have the ship somehow come to the earth on its way to a new galaxy?

[Rasunda]

A UN SGC?!
Not in my life time!

[Dr. Daedalus]

A UN SGC?! Not in my life time!

In this continuation I am okay with it but in the real show it is not something I would want to see.

Dr. Daedalus

[boeli]

looks like something big is up
hope it is fast though, i need to get my head of BSG, its killing me right now

[Dark lord me]

Oh maybe its the people from ( i think it was the Alpha site that was attacked along with earth ) one of eath's back up sites who ends up there

[Rasunda]

When is the episode coming out?

[Major Mike David]

Keep up the great work s09! I really enjoy you're work.

[Shinto-Male]

One group makes a "Power Play" as the galaxy slips deeper into darkness!

bump

[bradly08]

So are you still working on "Powerplay" or are you working on other projects?

[s09119]

15x08 "Power Play"
Synopsis: A mission-gone-wrong strands the team in deep space, surrounded by an enemy far more sinister than the Der'kal... and one that nearly defeated them a decade before.

Spoiler:

((45 second recap of "Resurgence," "The Time Traveler," and "To Have Loved and Lost"))

Light-years from anything familiar, a Der'kal supership floats over a conquered human world, P1X-537, escorted by scores of alien cruisers and support vessels. Hundreds of fighters and gunships are on patrol, and numerous transports can be seen ferrying troops and supplies down to the planet's surface, which itself has been covered with foundries and planetary shipyards to produce new warships and weapons for the enemy armada. Every so often, a few bolts of green plasma will shoot out from one of the orbiting craft and slam into the surface below, but whether or not the aliens are targeting resistance strongholds or merely having fun is unknown.

A short distance away from the fleet, a lone hyperspace window opens, and the MBP-305 Jupiter roars out of subspace, gunning its engines on an approach to the planet. On the bridge, Colonel Samantha Carter orders her crew to target any fighters that move toward them with the railguns and to open fire on the larger ships with Asgard weapons and missiles as soon as they're in range. As the human battlecruiser finally gets close enough, its point-defense batteries begin spewing hot metal into space, shredding fightercraft, gunships, and bombers alike as they attempt to come about to attack. Bright explosions blossom in the void as dozens upon dozens of lives are extinguished in an instant.

Diving through the thick cloud of enemy interceptors and debris, the Jupiter's big guns open up next, lancing out with blue plasma that slams into the Der'kal fleet. It only takes a few moments for two small corvettes to give out under the strain, and their shields fail quickly to speed their destruction. A flurry of nuclear missiles are launched on both sides, the human ones snaking across the battlefield to the alien supership and the aliens' own forming up en masse to pummel the 305. Inside the craft, Carter's man at the shield terminal shouts that they're down 26% power from the grid already. There are just too many enemy ships here, not to mention the flagship itself, for them to make this mission a success.

And as if in cue, the massive Der'kal battleship chooses that moment to loose its full destructive power on the Tau'ri, with every one of its plasma cannons roaring to life and blanketing space with green light. The shields start to flicker under the strain, and after only a few seconds, they begin to fail. As they rapidly plummet from almost 70% to 60%, 50%, 40%, and then 30%, Carter decides that maybe this is to much for one ship to do on its own. Her hit-and-run tactics were successful against lone warships, but they never expected this planet to be so heavily defended. She miscalculated, and should have jumped away upon arrival, and now it may be too late.

Turning to her pilot, she orders jump coordinates punched in for the nearest planet, neutral of allied, she doesn't really care which at this point so long as the Der'kal aren't around. With one last shot from the Asgard weapons, the hyperdrive is engaged, but not before the shields give out and let a few plasma bolts through. The entire 305 shakes violently, then stabilizes as the vessel enters hyperspace, leaving behind the battle and heading for safety. Leaning back into her chair heavily, Carter mutters that she really needs to take a vacation from all this, to which Jackson (previously unseen in the rear of the room) snarks that she already is on vacation; Colonel Taylor offered to take this mission himself so that she could unwind a bit, and it was her idea to come back at the last second and go along anyway. Sighing, Sam says that she knows it doesn't make sense, but she's come to see the Jupiter as more than just a ship, and it's become practically her whole world. The thought of someone else taking over, even for one day... just doesn't sit right with her. Daniel nods slowly, then turns back to his own duties, thinking.

Back above P1X-537, the Der'kal fleet there is fortifying its position, collecting debris and any survivors from the short-lived human offensive and tightening security around the area. On the bridge of the supership, its commander glances at a readout of his vessel's status, smiling to himself when he sees that the full brunt of the famous X-305 Jupiter's could only drain his shields less than a mere 5%. The loss of two escort ships and almost one-hundred fighters was difficult to take in, especially when the alien armada is stretched so thin across the Milky Way. Until the conquered worlds' shipyards can adequately replace their losses against the Alliance, this war will continue. And as it stands, it has gone on far too long already.

Turning to his flagship's long-range communications array, the commander sends out a message to all other Der'kal battle groups in the area, ordering any with an interdiction generator to power them up immediately. With luck, they can catch the humans before they cross the line back into Alliance space and finish them once and for all...

On the Jupiter, still flying through hyperspace, Daniel is still watching Samantha closely. She was stressed beyond belief when he came back from offworld exploration ("Severed Dreams"), but she seemed to have gotten better upon having Jack back in her life. After the coup attempt ("Loyalties"), though, things have just gotten worse, and she seems to be slipping farther and farther out of touch. Her mind is as sharp as it has always been, but she now sports deep bags under here eyes every single day, and she refuses to let anyone else lead the fight to save Earth.

As he opens his mouth to say something to his old friend, Jackson is nearly thrown clear across the bridge as the ship lurches violently. Outside, the hyperspace tunnel destabilizes, and the ship careens back into cold vacuum. Barely still in her chair herself, Sam turns to her pilot and asks, puzzled, if they've really arrived at their destination already. But the officer sitting there replies that they're still on the Der'kal side of the line, light-years from friendly faces. Something's definitely not right, and Carter's suspicions are only confirmed when the engineering deck reports that the hyperdrive just shorted itself out. Only one phenomena has been known to cause that kind of stress on an engine like that, and that's an interdiction field generator.

Just then, the sensors officer shouts that he's picking up ships on scanners. A small fleet is hovering over a pristine terrestrial world nearby, engaged with what must be native forces in the atmosphere and surface. Several vessels have broken off from the attack group and are moving toward them, powering weapons and obviously carrying hostile intentions. Biting her lip, Sam asks what their own combat status is, and the answer is anything but encouraging; their shields have only recovered to 2.8% capacity, their sublight engines took a direct hit jumping out of P1X-537's orbit, and they expended nearly all of their nukes in the earlier battle. Knowing that without an ability to maneuver they're essentially a sitting duck, Carter gives the order for all fighters to launch immediately and defend the ship. She tells Engineering that they have five minutes to give her sublight or hyperdrive, then taps on her radio in the hope of making contact with the incoming ships.

As she tries to hail them, calling out that they mean no harm and are just peaceful explorers, the alien vessels continue to approach. However, on closer inspection they do appear to be somewhat familiar, only larger and newer-looking. It's impossible to quite place them, but they maintain a subtle Earth-like look to them but with a few curves and lines to give them a distinct style all their own. Massive projectile flak cannons line the hulls, and missile tubes dot the fore and aft of the ships, clearly indicating that if it comes to combat, they are quite able to dish out a beating. And as the armaments begin to rotate to take aim at the Tau'ri, it looks as though their true strength will soon be put to the test against Asgard shielding.

The F-302s begin to pour from the Jupiter's hanger bays then, lining up in their squadrons and moving to form a barrier between their carrier and the inbound enemy vessels. Several of the F-302b bombers are also launching for attack, and a few puddle jumpers pull up to complete the formation. In the cockpit of one of the fighters, Major Brian Chase, the leader of the 305's elite Red Squadron, patches into the battle comm and requests orders from the bridge. Carter tells him to fire only if the unidentified ships fire first, and to protect the lives of their men at all costs. With so few refugees actively in service, this is hardly the time for daring heroics.

It seems, however, that the chance to go head-to-head won't be happening after all. The unidentified ships form a semicircle around the X-305 before transmitting a message of their own. Not seeing any way to flee, Carter has it put through, though it is audio only, and listens to the demands of the enemy; they will lower their shields immediately, recall their fighters, and power down their weapons in preparation to be boarded, or else their ship will simply be obliterated where it sits. And then there is one more request... that Samantha Carter and any other members of the SG-1 team onboard the vessel ring over to the enemy vessels immediately. They are given five minutes to comply, and then the transmission cuts out.

Leaning over his friend's chair, Daniel mutters that they might be able to get the hyperdrive online within that window, but a quick call to Engineering destroys any hope of that, as they'll need at least ten. There's always a possibility that their Asgard weapons would give them the edge to destroy the enemy, but there are five ships out there, and their cannons look mighty nasty. There's no guarantee that they'll win, and they still barely have enough shield power to take any punishment whatsoever. With no other options, Carter relents and orders Major Chase and his fighters back into the hanger, then stands and gives the bridge to her pilot; she'll head to the ring room, seeing as these people could recognize her by voice alone.

As for Daniel, though, she would like him to stay behind on the ship and find out what he can. These people have no way of knowing which SG-1 members besides Sam are present, so they cannot exact retribution for not turning them over. Carter will simply explain that the team disbanded following the fall of Earth, which would be the truth, and that they are all following different paths now, which would also be the truth. Giving one final look to her crew, and telling them that this will all work out in the end, she departs.

(Start of "Power Play," see next two posts for more.)

[s09119]

(Second part of "Power Play," see previous post for start and next post for end.)

Spoiler:

On the unidentified ship a few moments later, in a chamber filled with large windows (the Tau'ri fighters can be seen returning to the hangers in the background), a ring platform suddenly activates, depositing Samantha Carter there, weaponless and wearing just her flight suit. She's slightly taken aback when she sees two human males standing across the room from her, wearing dark combat gear and wielding vicious-looking weapons. Confused, Sam starts to ask who these people are when a familiar voice calls out her name from behind her. The Colonel turns around to find herself face-to-face with Mollem, the Aschen ambassador who attempted to coerce Earth into joining his peoples' Confederation a decade before ("2001"), and later kidnapped Carter to force the Alliance's hand in its first year of existence ("Resurgence"). The ever-cunning operative smiles sweetly as he walks up to Sam, assuring her that he plans on having such a good time with someone he considers his "oldest friend." But Carter's eyes only widen in fear, horrified that she's trapped on an Aschen ship... with no way out.

Back at the Beta Site, Colonel Taylor is walking past the gate room when a subspace message from Heliopolis arrives. He doubles back and asks what information the Alliance has for them now, but the communique is anything but good news; several neutral planets along the invasion line have gone silent, no longer responding to outside calls at all. And, most strangely, the Der'kal are nowhere nearby, meaning that something else is the cause of this sudden blackout. The Tok'ra have dispatched scout ships to the closest planets, but there's no guarantee that they'll find any concrete answers. One thing's for sure though; whatever's happening out there, it can't be good.

Meanwhile, Aschen soldiers have begun to ring aboard the Jupiter, forcing crewmembers out of their posts and rounding them all up in large areas such as the mess hall and hanger bays. In one hallway, Daniel hides behind a grate and watches as the enemy march past, oblivious to his proximity. Muttering to himself, he wonders when the Aschen suddenly became warriors, considering how patient and un-warlike they once were. He has little doubt that it has to do with the rise of the Alliance and the Der'kal invasion, but still, it's somewhat unnerving to see them so efficient. He crawls back into the duct and decides to make his way toward the Asgard core room, hoping he can do something more from there.

A few dozen kilometers away, Carter is being brought to a cell inside the Aschen cruiser. Mollem deactivates the energy field and tosses her inside, then turns the barrier back on, trapping her inside. He sneers at her, explaining that there will be no miraculous escape this time, no extraction at the last second, and no forcing the Confederation to back down. This time, he has won, and this time he will get what he wants; vengeance on the humans of Earth for their humiliation of his people time and again. Sam tries to point out that the Der'kal already did that, having conquered Earth and forced the Tau'ri into exile, so what's the point in doing all this? As Mollem is quick to retort, though, the extragalactic aliens failed to finish the job, and SG-1 is still free to roam the galaxy, upending the plans of others left and right. And that is something he plans on correcting.

After all, the Der'kal owe him that bit of pleasure, at least. Were it not for his generous donation to their war effort of Alliance ship specifications, targets of opportunity, and detailed intelligence on various worlds' defenses, they may not be doing half as well as they are now. And as Carter stares at him, disgusted, he adds that his government has profited quite well from their new partnership with the aliens; their Confederation has been passed over for conquest, and they are allowed to simply absorb conquered planets that the Der'kal have no interest in. Since the two began working together, just prior to the Battle of Earth ("Star By Star"), over thirty-six worlds have been added to the Aschen domain, with more falling every day. There's no stopping it, and this war is quickly coming to its end—an end in which the Aschen shall rule the galaxy.

He turns to leave, but Sam calls out to him in one final act of defiance; is Mollem really stupid enough to believe that the Der'kal will just let them continue to exist once the Alliance has been broken? In a rare show of emotion, the Aschen official laughs at that, saying that of course he expects them to break their deal eventually, but the Confederation is already prepared to strike first. Just as Earth was able to concoct a virus capable of exterminating them, so the Aschen have developed a lethal toxin, small enough to barely be seen, but with enough mass to move through the open wormhole of a stargate. If they even suspect that the Der'kal are preparing to turn on them, they will simply flood as many planets as possible with the poison, and with every use of the gate system, it will simply spread further. They have it all planned out, and one day soon, their dreams will finally be realized.

On the Jupiter, two Aschen soldiers are guarding a technician as he attempts to slice into the ship's central computer systems. Unaware of any danger, they are taken completely by surprise when three consecutive zat blasts stun them from the nearby wall, from which Daniel Jackson pops an air vent and drops out. He quickly seals off the room and disables the locking mechanism so no one can open it from the outside, then activates the Asgard core and fires up several subroutines. The display screen lights up with a holographic image of the area, with the unknown world still being fiercely fought over by the Confederation and native forces. Daniel's expression falls when he sees that more Aschen vessels are approaching the X-305, no doubt to offload more personnel and speed up the takeover of the ship. Suddenly getting an idea, Jackson grins and leaps back into the air duct.

On Mollem's ship, a direct link is being established to the database on the Jupiter in an attempt to download its contents as soon as possible. But the vessel's commander, apparently an officer who does not share his overseer's pure hatred of Earth, believes this to be a waste of time; the Der'kal are, slowly but surely, giving them all the advancements they need, and without the risk of detaining an enemy ship and risking the wrath of the Tau'ri. He is one of those resistant to these changes in Aschen society, and one who still believes that "slow and subtle" is the proper way to conquest. All this fighting with armies and fleets is barbarism of which the aliens and ignorant humans. As he watches the slow progress of the data stream, something catches his eye; a slight shimmer near the starboard hanger of the Earth ship. But when he looks again, nothing is there, and a look from the sensors confirms that it must have been a trick of the light.

Inside one of the puddle jumpers, cloaked of course, Jackson just shakes his head and smiles, approaching the vessel onto which Sam ringed and starting a hull scan to look for an airlock. After a moment, he spots an open hanger, and maneuvers towards it, watching several Aschen transports race in and out, refueling and rearming before heading back to the planet to continue their attack. The Confederation certainly cannot roll over other worlds like the Der'kal can, but they do seem to be remarkable efficient nonetheless. If they (Daniel not knowing who they truly are) are the rogue force that began assaulting neutral planets almost two years ago (as revealed in "To Have Loved and Lost"), then they will be a serious adversary in the future, one that it may be best to cripple starting right now.

He eases the jumper into the cargo bay, setting it down in an alcove which looks neglected and unlikely to have something landed on it anytime soon. Then, keeping the cloak active, he lowers the rear hatch, grabs his zat, and heads out into the Aschen vessel, slipping into the darkness of a nearby maintenance hatch and vanishing from sight.

In her cell, Carter is still listening to Mollem drone on about his peoples' plans for the galaxy, from a Jaffa Nation that has been broken and made subservient to a twisted version of the Alliance rising from the ashes of the current one to keep the peace, one in which the Aschen hold all the reigns of power. He is confident of victory this time around, believing that with Earth out of the picture, the Alliance will not be able to survive the Der'kal onslaught; they are outnumbered, outmatched, and unprepared to deal with a galactic conflict of this magnitude. The Confederation, meanwhile, is perfectly positioned to take over once the aliens have been purged, ironically thanks to the Tau'ri. Had they not forced them to militarize and to expand their tactical capabilities, they never would have been able to take advantage of this oportunity... so in a way, they owe it all to the men and women of Stargate Command.

A few floors down, Daniel is sneaking past rooms and rooms filled with Der'kal technology, most-likely all tools from the enemy to aide the Aschen in their takeover of human worlds. He pauses in front of one of the chambers, curious, and slips inside, looking around for anything of interest. After a few moments of searching, he finds something rather shocking; an entire wall filled with vials of various toxins, from ones designed to wipe out planetary plant life, ones to kill Jaffa, ones to kill humans... and it goes on and on and on. Obviously, the Aschen are planning to never be surprised, and to always have a contingency plan in case they do actually lose—to ensure that whoever defeats them has no chance to survive. Shivering in disgust, Daniel grips his zat tighter and slips back into the hallway.

In Sam's cell, Mollem is about to begin on another facet of his rant when the muffled sound of someone falling to the floor is heard from outside the cell block. Annoyed that standards in the fleet must be falling lax, he palms the door open, prepared to reprimand someone's incompetence, and instead gasps in shock when he sees Daniel standing there. He shouts that Carter lied to him about being the only SG-1 member on the Jupiter, and Sam rolls her eyes at him, muttering that the Aschen never do seem to learn the simplest of lessons. Jackson punches him in the face, knocking him out, and explains that zatting just wouldn't feel nearly as good given who this is. He stuns the cell's control panel, shorting out the energy curtain, and helps Sam to her feet, asking if he should really be surprised that the Aschen are the ones giving the Alliance such a headache. Carter laughs, then turns serious; their ship is still in Confederation hands, after all, and they need to get going.

As they rush back into the jumper, Carter shouts that they can't afford to let the Aschen leave with any information from the Jupiter's computers. If any of it ever got back to the Der'kal, they could figure out a way to nullify their shields and weapons, and then the war really would be over in a matter of days. Daniel tells her not to worry as they lift off and bolt from the bay, swinging around toward their own ship and gunning the drive pods.

[s09119]

(End of "Power Play," see previous two posts for start.)

Spoiler:

On the Aschen vessel, one of the soldiers is walking past the cell block when he spots Mollem's unconscious body in the doorway. He rushes over and wakes his superior, asking what happened to the prisoner. As soon as Mollem has come back to alertness, he orders the soldier to help him to the bridge immediately; they need to destroy the Tau'ri battlecruiser before it can escape, and taken over or not, he doesn't trust anything to chance when SG-1 is involved.

In the hanger on the Jupiter, the Aschen guards are stunned (literally and figuratively) to see Carter and Daniel emerge from what seems like thin air, and are quickly taken out. The two take advantage of the air ducts to reach the bridge undetected, and take the room rather easily, though numerous personnel down the hall were alerted to their presence by the noise. As Jackson seals the door, Sam slides into the weapons control console and powers up the Asgard energy weapons, targeting Mollem's ship while scanning it with the sensors. As soon as she locates where the probably on-loan interdiction field generator is housed (the thing that pulled them out of hyperspace earlier), she blasts through the enemy shielding and destroys the entire area, then gets a lock on all non-Beta Site persons on the ship and beams them directly onto the Aschen vessel before revving up the mercifully-repaired hyperdrive. It would seem Engineering had just enough time before they were captured to finish their work.

On the bridge of his disabled ship, Mollem finally arrives just in time to watch the X-305 open a hyperspace window and disappear, even as his escorts open fire with their flak cannons. It's a useless gesture, however, as the Tau'ri are simply too quick to hit, leaving the Aschen far behind. And having lost a valuable interdictor, there will no doubt be consequences for Mollem's apparent rising star...

Hours later at the Beta Site, Carter and Daniel are in the infirmary receiving an insisted-on check-up from Dr. Lam. The two of them are just finishing up their storytelling to an audience made up of Talbot, O'Neill, and Taylor, all of whom are just as worried about the Aschen being on the move. Fighting off the Der'kal is difficult enough, and the last thing they need to deal with are Confederation fleets popping up in thought-to-be-secured sectors. And of course, the biggest danger is that the Aschen are near-human; it won't be difficult for them to infiltrate Alliance worlds and spy at their leisure, if they're not doing so already. Hopefully, though, their plans will collapse, especially given how everything seems to hinge on the Der'kal not suspecting their eventual betrayal. But one thing's certain, if nothing else... when this is all over, the Aschen will pay for turning their collective backs on the Milky Way.

As the others begin to leave, Sam sits up and grabs her flight jacket off of the nearby coat rack and pulls it on. Turning back into the room after saying goodbye to Jack, Talbot, and Taylor, Dr. Lam asks just what she thinks she's doing, a sentiment echoed by Daniel. Glancing over at them only once, that old weary look back in her eyes, Carter says that the war isn't over, and that the Der'kal are still out there slaughtering more people day by day. Pulling a small recording device out of her jacket pocket, she reveals that she had it going the entire time she was on Mollem's ship, and should she ever need an ace in the hole against the Aschen, she has one ready to go. This setback cannot slow her down, she affirms, and she heads back into the hallway already tapping on her radio for a beam-out to the Jupiter, Jackson and Lam looking after her and wondering how much longer this life can last...

[Shinto-Male]

..................................

[Dark lord me]

Cool. Maybe an episode where the 305 goes to capture some ships for use by the Beta site

[Rasunda]

Cool. Maybe an episode where the 305 goes to capture some ships for use by the Beta site

Good episode S09!
And Darks lord, good idea!
Atleast I think!