Continuing Stargate

[Josh T]

Resistance sounds good, my fav ep so far would probably be...

Rouges, Part One and Two
and
The Time Traveler
and
Starcrossed

[s09119]

Resistance sounds good, my fav ep so far would probably be...

Rouges, Part One and Two
and
The Time Traveler
and
Starcrossed

Oh wow, I'd forgotten about "Starcrossed." That was the one with McKay, right? When Sam twisted her ankle or something?

Is it bad that the creator has to ask what happened...? Haha.

[s09119]

14x03 "Resistance"
Synopsis: While Colonels Carter and Mitchell lead a daring mission to liberate a conquered world, Daniel Jackson makes a breakthrough in the search for Pandora's Box.

Spoiler:

Deep within the ISGC, Daniel Jackson is poring over dozens of books and scrolls lying strewn across his desktop. He looks very tired, and two cups of probably-cold coffee can be seen sitting untouched nearby. His computer is displaying a primative drawing of what appears to be a very ancient container of some sort. But one of the books has a far more-recognizable image of a golden orb... Pandora's Box, the Ancient doomsday weapon created by Lantean scientist Pandora 10,000 years before.

There's a knock on the lab door, and Jackson looks up to see Lt. Colonel Mitchell standing there, a mug of steaming coffee in hand. Before Daniel can protest, Cameron orders him to down the entire thing, holding out a note from Dr. Lam reinforcing his request. Smiling at his friend, the doctor takes the offered mug and drains it, happy for the caffeine. When he's finished, Mitchell takes a glance over the notes Daniel's taking and asks if he's made any progress in locating the resting place of the Box. Jackson can only shake his head, though, admitting that Pandora managed to hide the thing insanely well, and it'll probably be even better protected than Merlin's Sangraal was ("The Quest, Part 2").

Suddenly, a technician's voice comes over the PA system, alerting the base to an unscheduled offworld activation. Mitchell excuses himself, saying he should go see what's up, and leaves Daniel to his research. When he arrives in the control room, he finds a human woman at the foot of the stargate's ramp, arguing with a member of the defense team. From behind him, Dr. Talbot explains that she arrived a few minutes ago, sending a radio distress call through the wormhole but no IDC. She let her through anyway, and immediately their guest began demanding to speak to the leaders of Earth about a matter of great importance. Cameron asks if he can try his hand at calming her down, and Talbot gives him the okay, laughing that she needs a break from trying to placate offworld visitors anyway.

The woman, soon revealed to be named Cecille Noman, recognizes Colonel Mitchell as soon as he enters the room, and immediately rushes over to him. She explains that her world, Illios, is currently home to almost ten million Jaffa and human refugees from recently-conquered space, and has an native population of almost two-hundred million humans. Up until two days ago, it was a safe haven for those driven from their homes by the war... but all that changed when a Der'kal fleet dropped out of hyperspace and surrounded them. A single Free Jaffa ha'tak was in orbit to defend the planet, but it was forced to retreat almost immediately to save itself from destruction. Since then, the aliens have been systematically wiping out all resistance to their rule, and the planet's subjugation will be complete within 24 hours.

Cameron, trying to be sympathetic, offers his sincerest condolances, but doesn't quite see how Earth can help. They don't have the resources to take on an entire Der'kal fleet... and, come to think of it, why would a fleet be sent to her homeworld? Surely it doesn't take that many ships to take a planet with only a single defending vessel. Cecille tries to give a good explanation, then starts over, saying that not only is Illios the nexus of several major trade routes, but it is also home to something very, very valuable; an Ancient weapons platform, identical to the one found in Antarctica.

That certainly perks Mitchell's interest, and he immediately asks if she can hold on. Suddenly, he thinks he can get her some help.

A few hours later, in the briefing room, Mitchell outlines what the Pentagon has hammered out to assist the besieged (and now very important) world of Illios to the rest of SG-1 and Dr. Talbot. He is personally being placed in command of a BC-303, the French-owned and American-operated Espoir and is to use the small, fast ship to run the Der'kal blockade around said planet. The objective is simple; slip past the fleet in orbit and make a covert drop near the site of the Ancient weapons platform. Since it's still mostly underground, chances are the Der'kal don't know about it, meaning that it shouldn't be too difficult to get inside, power it up, and blast the alien fleet to smitherines before they know what hit them.

Carter asks what they plan on doing should this little scheme fail, but Michell's confident it will work. The 303 is being outfitted with a small cloaking system as they speak, which will let them fly in undetected and avoid a firefight that they would surely lose anyway. On top of that, he's bringing along a few technicians to help get the platform up and running again. In fact, he'd really appreciate it if Sam could come with, too, given her past experience with powering things like this up ("Lost City"). She says she'd be happy to help out, despite the piles of paperwork she needs to get finished. With the meeting over, Talbot gives the two Colonels one piece of advice to keep in mind, telling them that this mission is still dangerous, no matter how many precautions they take, and that they need both of them back here alive.

While the two other members of the team beam up to the Espoir and head out, Daniel and Vala return to the former's lab to keep doing research on Pandora's Box. Although the latter can't do much book-based work (Vala can't read most of the languages they're written in), she scans the Internet for any possible leads, going as far as visiting "UFOsightings.com" on the chance that aliens took it away somewhere. Daniel finally tosses the book he's reading across the table, grunting in frustration. At the rate he's going, he could very well write a book why the Box is impossible to find, and given how many planets Earth has visited over the past thirteen years, it's highly unlikely there's anywhere in the galaxy it could be that they wouldn't know about.

And then, suddenly, he stands up, looking shocked. He shouts, "Of course!" and rushes from the room... and, after a moment, a very confused Vala follows.

Meanwhile, light-years away, a BC-303 is traveling through hyperspace. On the bridge of the Espoir, Carter is attempting to boost the power of the Tok'ra cloak generator they have onboard, as the Asgard weapon systems are being somewhat of a power hog, even when the weapons themselves aren't being fired. But her patch seems to be working so far, and as long as they don't end up in some sort of prolonged firefight, the cloak should work fine, even if the 303 is larger than what it's used to cloaking.

The ship's commander, Colonel Ryan Arouca, comes up to Sam and asks if the preparations are finished. After all, the last thing he wants to do is drop out of hyperspace and have the ship explode from too much power running through too few conduits. Carter, laughing, says the odds of that happening are pretty much zero, but it's nice to play it safe anyway. Just as she steps away from the computer console, Mitchell enters and asks if they're there yet, to which Arouca replies they'll be arriving in just a few seconds...

In deep space, a beuatiful, mostly-oceanic world floats serenely in the middle of nowhere, its scattered landmasses covered in forests and sprawling cityscapes. This is Illios, surrounded by almost two dozen Der'kal crusies and their escorts, with hundreds of fightercraft on patrol, looking for any sign of intrusion. Already, high-orbital shipyards are being constructed to produce even more ships for their war machine, and a small frigate is already under construction nearby. On the edge of the region, a lone hyperspace window opens, and for a brief moment it looks as though a ship dropped out of it... but then there's nothing and the window fades. The Der'kal fleet doesn't seem very concerned, but a squadron of fighters, accompanied by a single gunship, move off to investigate.

On the Espoir itself, the crew watches the approaching ships warily, ready to open up with their railguns to blast them to bits if need be. Mitchell seems very at ease, commenting on how rediculous everyone is being. They're cloaked, after all; no one is going to see them. But Carter's not so sure, pointing out that the ship is still giving off a heat signature. A simple area scan would light them up like a 4th of July fireworks show. With that in mind, Col. Arouca orders his helmsman to divert power from the shield generators to the sublight engines, wanting to get out of the area ASAP.

And it was a good idea, too, as one of the warriors on the gunship suddenly orders for a scan of the area... but it comes up empty, revealing nothing more than trace energy readings from the opened hyperspace window. Scowling, he tells the squadron to return to its patrol, and the gunship lets the 303 continue unharmed.

Back at the ISGC, Vala has almost completely lost patience with Daniel. He's madly tearing open file folder after file folder in an archival room, and has already gone through two racks of them with no sign of stopping in sight. Then, just as Vala is about to scream at him, Daniel stops. He pulls out a folder and flips through it, a look of recognition dawning on him as he does so. When Vala finally gets him to tell her what's going on, he explains; Pandora could never have brought the Box back with her. If what they learned in Atlantis was true, it was already hidden somewhere before the Ancients evacuated the city, and they know that no travel back to Earth happened in her lifetime before that. That must mean that the Box is where it was all along... the Pegasus Galaxy. They've been looking in the wrong place the entire time.

(Continued in next post.)

[s09119]

(End of "Resistance," see previous post for start.)

Spoiler:

Over Illios, the Espoir is just passing through the thickest part of the Der'kal fleet, getting very close to the planet's atmosphere. After a tense moment of waiting, the ship finally begins its descent, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later, the ship touches down on the outskirts of the provincial capital of this area, one of the few remaining bastions of resistance on the planet. Cecille (who was waiting in the mess hall) now arrives on the bridge, pointing to a large half-dug-out mound just visible on the horizon. She explains that that is the dig site of the weapons platform, and they'll need to get there undetected by the Der'kal patrols that occasionally prod into human-controlled airspace. She also notes that the aliens' final push could come at any time, so they should hurry. With that in mind, she joins Mitchell and Carter's team of marines and technicians heading toward the offramp to disembark. Just before he leaves, though, Cameron pulls on Colonel Arouca's arm and asks if he could come, too. He's heard the stories about what he did in Afghanastan, and he thinks a man like that could come in handy. Arouca, though reluctant to leave his vessel, agrees and heads off to grab some gear.

Some time later, the group is a few miles from the landing site (even though the Espoir itself can't be seen), walking toward the place Cecille identified as the platform's hiding place. Carter is trying to find out more about Illios, and is learning that the level of technology held by the people here is an odd mix of Cold War-era weaponry but post-modern utility technology (cars, robotics, etc.). After the last great war on the planet, most weapons research stopped, as it was believed they were no longer needed. Of course, the Der'kal occupation has made the Illiosians realize what a terrible mistake that was, but there's no point in obsessing over it.

As they round a row of trees, Colonel Arouca suddenly pulls back on Carter and Mitchell's collars, yanking them back and saving their lives. For just around the bend is an alien gunship dropping off a large scouting party of Der'kal warriors. Cecille surpresses a gasp, saying that they must be preparing for their final offensive in the area. Mitchell can't understand why they don't just vaporize the city from orbit, but there's hardly any time to dwell on that as the warriors begin approaching the group's position, prompting the marines to take up firing positions. One of the technicians suggests returning to the 303, but Sam notes that the gunship's flight path will put it between them and the ship if they leave now, and a large open field just behind them would leave them exposed. If they move, they'll be caught.

When the first Der'kal comes into view, Carter pulls a grenade off her belt and tosses it into the air, watching it explode just in time to knock three of the aliens to the ground. The remaining ones (about a dozen) quickly find cover and return fire, filling the air with a hail of green energy blasts. Mitchell moves to shoot the nearest in the head, but just as he pulls the trigger on his P90, an energy shield rises up in front of the warrior, blocking the bullets. Cameron, shocked, shouts at Carter asking when this new toy was going to be explained, but Sam's just as in the dark as he is. She didn't know the Der'kal even had personal shields, but given that they've never seen one before, they must be reserved for officers... or something like that.

Whatever the case, they can't afford anyone radioing that gunship that someone's attacking, so Sam pulls out a small Lantean scanner (from her tenure on Atlantis) and inputs a command, telling the others that this should start jamming all communications in the immediate vicinity. Now the only problem is taking out the enemy troops themselves, which even Mitchell isn't too confident about. He knows Der'kal armor is more effective than Earth's, and their weapons are just as nasty. This won't be easy.

On Earth, Dr. Talbot is turning away from a monitor that's just winking out, and watching the stargate behind her deactivate. She tells the waiting Daniel and Vala that, according to Dr. McKay (indicating she was just talking to Atlantis), there's a slight chance they can track where Pandora hid the box using the Ancients' gate logs and the database, but that'll be slow going until they get more information. Jackson says he'll keep at it, but it looks like Milky Way-based sources aren't going to be of much help now,and it may be up to the Atlantis team to do the work. But either way, at least they're another step closer.

Meanwhile, the skirmish on Illios has ended, leaving nearly all of the marines from the Espoir dead or severely wounded. Colonel Carter is attempting to administer first aid to one of them when he finally passes on. She hangs her head and stands, asking Mitchell where they go from here. The Der'kal patrol they were engaging was finally taken out, and Colonel Arouca and the technicians are gathering up anything they were carrying that may prove useful later on. Cecille approaches the two of them and says they should keep moving, saying that if the Der'kal really are preparing to invade the area, they should get to the safety of the weapons platform. Carter agrees, and orders the group to move out.

As they come close to the entrance of the underground facility, Mitchell asks why they couldn't just park right next to the place, but Carter explains that if the ship was detected, she didn't want the Der'kal to instantly know where the platform is, too. This way, even if the Espoir is found, the enemy won't know where they are or what their objective is. Cecille runs ahead and begins powering up the systems on the upper level, saying that she needs to get the ring platform up and running again.

When the three Colonels and the techies enter the complex, Carter is astonished by the difference this place shows to the facility on Earth. This platform is equipped with an impressive control center in its upper levels, complete with planetary monitoring equiptment and what appears to be controls for a planetry defense cannon. Mitchell, somewhat jealous, asks why they don't have all these fancy toys, and Col. Arouca guesses that it's because the outpost on Earth was mainly used as a landing pad for Atlantis, not a defense station.

While the technicians quickly begin powering up terminals, Cecille leads Mitchell, Sam, and Arouca over the the ring platform, and together the four transport down into the firing chamber. This area is almost identical to the one at Antarctica, as it has a few small rooms, a stasis pod, and a single control chair. Going over to the chair, Cecille points out that the power module powering this place is nearly depleted, and by her peoples' estimates it won't last very long under continued use. But Carter is confident that they won't need very long at all to launch the drones and send the Der'kal packing. And then they can bring in Mark II generators from Earth to keep the defenses going. If this works, they'll have a beachhead with which to strike deep into Der'kal space.

While Sam begins hooking her laptop into the platform so she can get some data on its condition, Mitchell goes over to see Colonel Arouca examining the stasis pod. The 303 commander asks if this is the same version as the one Jack O'Neill was frozen in, amazed to find such feats of technology. Even though he's been working with the Stargate Program for four years now, he still sees things that blow his mind more and more every day.

That's when Carter shouts that it should only take her an hour or so tops to get the weapons platform battle ready. Cecille is relieved, happy that the Earth scientist can do what her own people could not. She rushes up to Mitchell, embracing him and thanking him for coming... but the moment is broken when the entire facility shakes violently, tossing Carter to the floor. Colonel Arouca radios the technicians upstairs and demands to know what's going on, but gets no reply. The facility shakes again, and this time the blast feels like it's right above them. Cameron rushes to the ring platform and rings back upstairs, arriving in the control room to find the entire chamber collapsing. Falling debris appears to have killed the crew they brought, and he dodges rocks to get to the entrance, where he sees a truly horrifying sight; the Der'kal have begun bombarding the area around the nearby city, and he can see towers shattering into pieces as plasma obliterates them.

(Also visible in the skies are dozens of gunships and fightercraft, and a few massive troop transports heading for the city.)

For a moment, it looks like things might be okay, but then a plasma blast strikes just outside the metropolis, and the Espoir suddenly decloaks as its primary systems are wiped out. The 303 cracks down the middle, and a second shot sends it to the scrapyard as it erupts into a fireball. Now they're trapped here, with no foreseeable way to get offworld.

Knowing the room will completely cave in soon, Mitchell sprints back to the ring platform and transports down just as the ceiling falls in, burying the rings and blocking the only exit from the platform chamber. He quickly informs Cecille and Arouca about what's happening, then goes over to Sam to make sure she's okay. Carter says she'll be fine, but there's no way to fire the drones right now. And with the control room destroyed, there's a good chance she may not be able to get them going at all.

As the room shakes even more violently, causing the lights to flicker on and off, Carter and Mitchell glance at the control chair, knowing that their one and only hope for survival may have just gone out for good...

[jonos101]

Great work, i didnt know it was going to be a 2 parter. Also, how many ships does Earth have

[Rudy Pena]

wow can t wait for part 2

[s09119]

Great work, i didnt know it was going to be a 2 parter. Also, how many ships does Earth have

Not really a two parter, just two episodes that connect. Like "No Man's Land" and "Misbegotten."

Earth has probably about two dozen 303s by now, and about sixteen or seventeen 304s.

[jonos101]

Not really a two parter, just two episodes that connect. Like "No Man's Land" and "Misbegotten."

Earth has probably about two dozen 303s by now, and about sixteen or seventeen 304s.

Wow, we have quite a fleet, i though we only had about half that.

[s09119]

Wow, we have quite a fleet, i though we only had about half that.

It's been growing steadily ever since the program was revealed, now that most nations on Earth are chipping in.

[Crazy Tom]

Why not just take a jumper to the platform? Other than that, it' anice pi, I just don't dig this open ended style of finishing off, seesm ot lack closure, but that's probably just me.

[s09119]

Why not just take a jumper to the platform? Other than that, it' anice pi, I just don't dig this open ended style of finishing off, seesm ot lack closure, but that's probably just me.

I blame Babylon 5, I've been watching that a lot lately and this is how they end most episodes... so I figured I'd experiment a bit.

As for the jumper... hey, Mitchell needs some excersize, he's looking a little pudgy...

[Crazy Tom]

I blame Babylon 5, I've been watching that a lot lately and this is how they end most episodes... so I figured I'd experiment a bit.

As for the jumper... hey, Mitchell needs some excersize, he's looking a little pudgy...

Ahhhh...B5, I miss the good 'ol times

The just don't make them like they used to.

[s09119]

Episode summary...

The ISGC Braces for "The Coming Storm"!

While Colonels Carter and Mitchell remaind trapped offworld, a reverred Nox mystic arrives at Stargate Command, claiming she has come to test the members of Earth's frontline team. She, and many of her people, fear that SG-1 is not capable of making the hard decisions that may lie ahead, not now that their actions have consequences far beyond their homeworld.

Meanwhile, the survivors of the BC-303 Espoir desperately try to find a way to escape the carnage above them as the Der'kal move in on Illios' final remaining stronghold. But with little to no power, and no connection to the outside world, can Sam save this world before it becomes too late to matter?

"The Coming Storm" will feature _____ ____ as Tasca and _____ _______ as Vur'naa.

[jonos101]

Episode summary...

how long do i have to wait

[Elitenova]

The Coming Storm" will feature _Avery Brooks_ as Tasca and _Micheal Dorn_ as Vur'naa.