(End of "The Time Traveler," see two posts up for start.)
Spoiler:
Start Flashback
In a lab at the ISGC, Samantha Carter suddenly cries out in happiness, for the laptop proudly displays the message, "Simulation Successful." Jonas rushes over, anxious to hear what she's found, and the news is even better than he'd hoped; she thinks she's managed to, at long last, develop a program capable of predicting a solar flare. With this technology at their disposal, all they need to do is monitor Earth's star until a promising one of just the right characteristics is found, then open a wormhole to the ISGC stargate.
But this is where the two scientists disagree. Sam wants to be the one to go back in time, but Jonas argues that she's needed here to continue the war effort. After all, he says, there is a chance the project could fail and no one gets sent back, leaving whoever stepped through the gate stranded or dead, and he won't take that chance. After a few minutes of yelling, Carter storms out of the lab, shouting that she has to go meet Teal'c in the gate room anyway.
As she arrived at the ramp of the gate, Carter looks up into the control room and sees the new base commander, a UN-backed diplomat, shouting at Walter to hurry up with a diagnostic. Sickened at the way things have changed, Sam turns back to watch the stargate spin and activate, and she breathes a sigh of relief when Teal'c comes through. The Jaffa leader smiles broadly and embraces his old friend, though he says gravely that his news is not good; Jaffa forces en route to Chulak via a nearby star system were destroyed by Der'kal forces. Tok'ra intelligence, trying to unwravel why the alien ships would be there, has discovered a terrible, terrible thing... an enemy armada is on course for Earth, and will arrive within a day.
Carter, stunned, asks why they're only being told now, and Teal'c explains that they only figured it out a few hours ago. He's already dispatched the best of his forces here to help defend the Tau'ri, but he admits the Jaffa Navy isn't quite what it used to be. With Admiral Kitel dead, their greatest strategist is no longer around to lead them to victory. But he vows to stay and command his ships himself, thereby entwining his fate with Earth's. Knowing there isn't much time left, Sam immediately excuses herself and rushes to the control room, ignoring the UN advisor, grabbing the nearest phone, and shouting for a connection to the Pentagon immediately.
A few hours later, the Jaffa fleet arrives, and quickly joins the three dozen DSC-304s and BC-303s already in Earth orbit. They try to position themselves alongside the Asgard defense satellites, giving the defenders the greatest amount of firepower that can be concentrated at once. Back at the ISGC, evacuations are underway to Nueva, with VIPs from around the world arriving every few minutes thanks to beaming technology. They won't be much safer on the lightly-defended colony worls, but from there they can be spread out to military bases or Alliance strongholds, where they can, hopefully, survive the siege. Jonas is trying to download as much of the ISGC database to Nueva as possible, but even that is going slowly, and he doubts he can get it all done in time.
In orbit, Samantha Carter stands on the bridge of the newly-constructed Mobile Battle Platform Jupiter, the MBP-305. Finished only a few days ago, it hasn't entered combat yet, and its systems are completely untested. But still, it's an impressive ship, a clear fusion of Asgard, human, and Ancient technologies, complete with plasma beam weapons from both alien races and a small compliment of puddle jumpers for bomber duty. At almost three times the size of a Daedalus-class ship, it's the largest craft ever constructed by the Tau'ri, and just in time, too.
After much waiting, a hyperspace window is detected forming, and the Der'kal armada arrives; over two hundred ships strong, against the pathetic ninety-six vessels of the mixed Alliance fleet. Carter sucks in a breath, unable to believe that, at one time, the Der'kal were actually overextended in the galaxy. But with resources like this, what chance to do they stand? Either way, she orders weapons powered, then comms Teal'c and wishes him the best of luck in his own battles.
Almost before she finishes talking, the enemy armada opens fire, loosing thousands of plasma blasts that streak across the open space between the two sides and slam into the Alliance ships. The orbital defenders fire back, with the modified planetary ion cannons developed years before ("The Emissary") doing what they can, too. Hundreds of F-302s, death gliders, puddle jumpers, and al'kesh dogfight with Der'kal fighters, bombers, and gunships in the center of the conflict while the opposing fleets hammer away at one another. Several ha'tak are destroyed outright, and one BC-303 is blown away as it attempts to maneuver out of enemy fire. Already, things are looking bad.
Three hours later, the situation has deteriorated completely. Only twelve Earth ships remain in active combat, with another nine Jaffa vessels desperately trying to hold out. Teal'c's own ship was destroyed early on, and he was beamed over to the Jupiter just in time to avoid going down with it. Now Carter is desperately trying to hold her defense of Earth together, but it's clear she has lost. Almost all of the nearby Asgard satellites are gone, and the railguns ran out of ammunition almost thirty minutes ago; enemy fighters have free reign to swarm all over them.
Finally, seeing no other option, Carter charges up the naquadriah powerplant and prepares to self-destruct the ship, pulling into the heart of the enemy formation. With one last word of "May God be with us" to the crew and a final, angonized, glance at Teal'c, she hits the discharge button and gives her life as the Jupiter erupts into a fireball. Almost a dozen enemy vessels go with it, but it's too little, too late. The Der'kal move forward to wipe out the last of Earth's defenses, with some already targeting cities from orbit.
At the ISGC, Jonas is being dragged by Walter to the gate room, watching as personnel rush madly around the base, trying to mount some kind of last-ditch effort. As orbital fire begins to hammer Cheyenne Mountain, Walter pushes Jonas through the stargate, but before he can follow the ceiling of the chamber collapses... though it's not shown, it can be inferred that everyone there was killed as the facility came down on top of them.
End Flashback
Alt-Jonas lies in his bed, panting and covered in sweat, desperately trying to hang on just a little longer, but the team knows that he's at the end. Dr. Lam takes Sam aside and says that the damage to his spinal column can possibly still be reversed with a Goa'uld healing device, but Carter says no. She finally understands why the brave Langaran refused treatment; he wants to die on an Earth that still has hope for victory.
Knowing himself that it's finally over (and explaining that after the fall of Earth, the Der'kal rolled over Dar Eshkalon while he finalized Sam's plans for time travel at the Alpha Site... until the aliens attacked even that), Alt-Jonas calls to his coutnerpart and pulls out a single crystal. Pressing it into Jonas' hand, he says that the crystal contains the schematics for the MBP-305. If Earth can scrape together the material for it, they can construct an advanced battlecruiser years ahead of when it should be built. That may be enough to coutner the Der'kal superships... maybe.
Suddenly, Alt-Jonas cries out in agony, and Dr. Lam rushes SG-1 from the infirmary. The screen fades, but finally returns to brightness in the gate room, where the Langaran ambassadorial group is returning to their homeworld, their business finally concluded. Jonas hangs back, though, handing the data crystal to Dr. Jackson. He says that he'll be back someday to help Earth in any way he can, just as he did in that awful, dark future (he also hints that Alt-Jonas died shortly after they were evicted from the med bay).
But just as he turns to return to Langara himself, Mitchell pulls at his shoulder, turning him around again. He says that the future they all heard of doesn't have to happen, and that now they know the enemy's battle plans. Maybe, just maybe, that will make enough of a difference in the long run. And with the X-305 plans, they may even be able to win this war.
Finally, Vala whispers the words that apparently made her so famous in the future, reminding everyone of just how slim a chance victory truly is, "Never surrender hope, for in the end it may be all we have left to us."
In a lab at the ISGC, Samantha Carter suddenly cries out in happiness, for the laptop proudly displays the message, "Simulation Successful." Jonas rushes over, anxious to hear what she's found, and the news is even better than he'd hoped; she thinks she's managed to, at long last, develop a program capable of predicting a solar flare. With this technology at their disposal, all they need to do is monitor Earth's star until a promising one of just the right characteristics is found, then open a wormhole to the ISGC stargate.
But this is where the two scientists disagree. Sam wants to be the one to go back in time, but Jonas argues that she's needed here to continue the war effort. After all, he says, there is a chance the project could fail and no one gets sent back, leaving whoever stepped through the gate stranded or dead, and he won't take that chance. After a few minutes of yelling, Carter storms out of the lab, shouting that she has to go meet Teal'c in the gate room anyway.
As she arrived at the ramp of the gate, Carter looks up into the control room and sees the new base commander, a UN-backed diplomat, shouting at Walter to hurry up with a diagnostic. Sickened at the way things have changed, Sam turns back to watch the stargate spin and activate, and she breathes a sigh of relief when Teal'c comes through. The Jaffa leader smiles broadly and embraces his old friend, though he says gravely that his news is not good; Jaffa forces en route to Chulak via a nearby star system were destroyed by Der'kal forces. Tok'ra intelligence, trying to unwravel why the alien ships would be there, has discovered a terrible, terrible thing... an enemy armada is on course for Earth, and will arrive within a day.
Carter, stunned, asks why they're only being told now, and Teal'c explains that they only figured it out a few hours ago. He's already dispatched the best of his forces here to help defend the Tau'ri, but he admits the Jaffa Navy isn't quite what it used to be. With Admiral Kitel dead, their greatest strategist is no longer around to lead them to victory. But he vows to stay and command his ships himself, thereby entwining his fate with Earth's. Knowing there isn't much time left, Sam immediately excuses herself and rushes to the control room, ignoring the UN advisor, grabbing the nearest phone, and shouting for a connection to the Pentagon immediately.
A few hours later, the Jaffa fleet arrives, and quickly joins the three dozen DSC-304s and BC-303s already in Earth orbit. They try to position themselves alongside the Asgard defense satellites, giving the defenders the greatest amount of firepower that can be concentrated at once. Back at the ISGC, evacuations are underway to Nueva, with VIPs from around the world arriving every few minutes thanks to beaming technology. They won't be much safer on the lightly-defended colony worls, but from there they can be spread out to military bases or Alliance strongholds, where they can, hopefully, survive the siege. Jonas is trying to download as much of the ISGC database to Nueva as possible, but even that is going slowly, and he doubts he can get it all done in time.
In orbit, Samantha Carter stands on the bridge of the newly-constructed Mobile Battle Platform Jupiter, the MBP-305. Finished only a few days ago, it hasn't entered combat yet, and its systems are completely untested. But still, it's an impressive ship, a clear fusion of Asgard, human, and Ancient technologies, complete with plasma beam weapons from both alien races and a small compliment of puddle jumpers for bomber duty. At almost three times the size of a Daedalus-class ship, it's the largest craft ever constructed by the Tau'ri, and just in time, too.
After much waiting, a hyperspace window is detected forming, and the Der'kal armada arrives; over two hundred ships strong, against the pathetic ninety-six vessels of the mixed Alliance fleet. Carter sucks in a breath, unable to believe that, at one time, the Der'kal were actually overextended in the galaxy. But with resources like this, what chance to do they stand? Either way, she orders weapons powered, then comms Teal'c and wishes him the best of luck in his own battles.
Almost before she finishes talking, the enemy armada opens fire, loosing thousands of plasma blasts that streak across the open space between the two sides and slam into the Alliance ships. The orbital defenders fire back, with the modified planetary ion cannons developed years before ("The Emissary") doing what they can, too. Hundreds of F-302s, death gliders, puddle jumpers, and al'kesh dogfight with Der'kal fighters, bombers, and gunships in the center of the conflict while the opposing fleets hammer away at one another. Several ha'tak are destroyed outright, and one BC-303 is blown away as it attempts to maneuver out of enemy fire. Already, things are looking bad.
Three hours later, the situation has deteriorated completely. Only twelve Earth ships remain in active combat, with another nine Jaffa vessels desperately trying to hold out. Teal'c's own ship was destroyed early on, and he was beamed over to the Jupiter just in time to avoid going down with it. Now Carter is desperately trying to hold her defense of Earth together, but it's clear she has lost. Almost all of the nearby Asgard satellites are gone, and the railguns ran out of ammunition almost thirty minutes ago; enemy fighters have free reign to swarm all over them.
Finally, seeing no other option, Carter charges up the naquadriah powerplant and prepares to self-destruct the ship, pulling into the heart of the enemy formation. With one last word of "May God be with us" to the crew and a final, angonized, glance at Teal'c, she hits the discharge button and gives her life as the Jupiter erupts into a fireball. Almost a dozen enemy vessels go with it, but it's too little, too late. The Der'kal move forward to wipe out the last of Earth's defenses, with some already targeting cities from orbit.
At the ISGC, Jonas is being dragged by Walter to the gate room, watching as personnel rush madly around the base, trying to mount some kind of last-ditch effort. As orbital fire begins to hammer Cheyenne Mountain, Walter pushes Jonas through the stargate, but before he can follow the ceiling of the chamber collapses... though it's not shown, it can be inferred that everyone there was killed as the facility came down on top of them.
End Flashback
Alt-Jonas lies in his bed, panting and covered in sweat, desperately trying to hang on just a little longer, but the team knows that he's at the end. Dr. Lam takes Sam aside and says that the damage to his spinal column can possibly still be reversed with a Goa'uld healing device, but Carter says no. She finally understands why the brave Langaran refused treatment; he wants to die on an Earth that still has hope for victory.
Knowing himself that it's finally over (and explaining that after the fall of Earth, the Der'kal rolled over Dar Eshkalon while he finalized Sam's plans for time travel at the Alpha Site... until the aliens attacked even that), Alt-Jonas calls to his coutnerpart and pulls out a single crystal. Pressing it into Jonas' hand, he says that the crystal contains the schematics for the MBP-305. If Earth can scrape together the material for it, they can construct an advanced battlecruiser years ahead of when it should be built. That may be enough to coutner the Der'kal superships... maybe.
Suddenly, Alt-Jonas cries out in agony, and Dr. Lam rushes SG-1 from the infirmary. The screen fades, but finally returns to brightness in the gate room, where the Langaran ambassadorial group is returning to their homeworld, their business finally concluded. Jonas hangs back, though, handing the data crystal to Dr. Jackson. He says that he'll be back someday to help Earth in any way he can, just as he did in that awful, dark future (he also hints that Alt-Jonas died shortly after they were evicted from the med bay).
But just as he turns to return to Langara himself, Mitchell pulls at his shoulder, turning him around again. He says that the future they all heard of doesn't have to happen, and that now they know the enemy's battle plans. Maybe, just maybe, that will make enough of a difference in the long run. And with the X-305 plans, they may even be able to win this war.
Finally, Vala whispers the words that apparently made her so famous in the future, reminding everyone of just how slim a chance victory truly is, "Never surrender hope, for in the end it may be all we have left to us."
Trust me, things like this are being taken into consideration, but there are also some things that I just can't do in order to keep the show fun and somewhat-balanced. The last thing we need is another Sangraal, after all...
) and learn to cover their backsides again. After all (I hope) they aren't idiots (in the wraith kind of way).
Thanks! It'll be a walk in the park ... a very scary park, filled with monsters who are trying to kill me.
I like the yellow ones.
OH CRAP!!!
You need someone dumber than you are.... You may have come to the right place.
Comment