Well, here's my suggestion for our back-story if anyone wants to hold a vote or something. It's rather detailed in some areas, but open-ended in others (especially the ship/tech question; we can decide on that when we vote for the fleet). Naturally, the overall storyline is what's important; minutia and details can be quibbled over and changed based on people's preferences.
Thoughts?
Spoiler:
Fleet Back-story
(Lt. Col. Mcoy’s Version)
1997 – 2010: All of SG-1, SGA, Ark of Truth, Continuum, and SGU (season 1) happened exactly as portrayed in the show(s). Atlantis returned to Pegasus somehow. (We can fit the Atlantis movie in here, if-and-when it airs.)
2011: The Pegasus Asgard (hereafter referred to as the “Jotnar†in this overview) have been forced to evacuate the planet they had been living on due to the toxicity of the atmosphere. They wander from planet to planet until they stumble upon a world with an amazing prize; an unfinished Ancient city-ship like Atlantis and the city in The Tower. The Jotnar find that the intergalactic hyperdrive is functional but unpowered, so they begin construction to repair and finish the ship.
The Hebridians have begun rebuilding their home world, and the Free Jaffa have fragmented into several non-warring states which resemble the German states before unification. Events relating to Earth in this time period should be left vague so that we can retain SGU continuity as long as possible.
2012: The Jotnar complete their work on the city-ship, which they call the Jotunheim. They take the city back to Ida to search for any technology left behind by their brethren. They still harbor a deep grudge against the Wraith.
The Jotnar locate a Daniel Jackson-class starship, the Ithavoller, drifting in the Othalla system, far from the planet. From it, they find that the Asgard capital was moved to Orilla, and they decide to investigate (remembering that Doctor Jackson had told them their brothers were dead). They also discover that this ship is a fail-safe against the destruction of the Asgard race: it contains copies of the last-downloaded consciousnesses of the Asgard leadership so that they can be revived in the case of a disaster. It was recalled to Orilla along with all other Asgard ships before the events of Unending, but its hyperdrive malfunctioned and it didn’t make it.
The Jotnar travel to the remains of Orilla, and determine what happened based on the available evidence. They deduce that their brothers committed mass suicide, though they do not know the exact circumstances. They also find a record noting that an Information Core and several advanced technological upgrades were transferred to the Earth Ship Odyssey before the planet’s destruction. They are puzzled that their brethren would give a young race such technology, and they want to get it back so they can get their revenge on the Wraith.
To get information about Earth (including its location), the Jotnar attempt to extract information from the consciousnesses on the Ithavoller. The system’s encryption is too difficult for them to crack, but they think of another method to get the information. They revive a few of the Asgard: Thor, Freyr, and Heimdall are among these, though their memories only extend to the end of the Replicator War (the last time their consciousnesses were uploaded to an Asgard computer). The Jotnar are also surprised to find Loki (whom they recognize as an agitator for their movement from millennia ago) locked away in the system; part of the memory was used as a prison for high-ranking Asgard who were sentenced to long periods of disembodiment as punishment for crimes. (The Asgard did not use capital punishment.)
Small wars break out between some of the Jaffa states, allowing smaller domains to be absorbed by larger ones and creating various alliances. Once again, events relating to Earth during this period can be left vague so that SGU can continue in our continuity as long as possible.
2013: Thor and most of the other revived Asgard refuse to give the Jotnar any information, but Loki is all too willing to cooperate. He tells the Jotnar everything he knows about the people of Earth (whom the Jotnar call “Midgardersâ€). The Jotnar decide to trick the IOA into giving them the Asgard technology by pretending to be surviving Asgard, so they take the Ithavoller to Earth.
The Jotnar show up in orbit and contact the IOA. They inform the representatives that they are Asgard who survived the destruction of Orilla in specialized stasis equipment. They say that they wish to retrieve the Core and related technologies that the Asgard had entrusted to Earth, explaining that we need no longer keep their memory alive because they have miraculously found a way to halt their genetic degradation.
The IOA protests, but ultimately they can do nothing to stop the Jotnar (whom they believe to be real Asgard). They allow the Jotnar to dismantle the Core-related technologies from the 304’s, but they do rotate them through Jotnar hands so that Earth doesn’t have all her ships out of commission at once. Because of this, the process takes several months. Some elements in the IOA are suspicious of the Jotnar (especially those in the SGC who had known the Asgard), but they do not have any incriminating evidence that the Jotnar are deceiving them, just suspicions.
After the Jotnar dismantle the last of the Core-related technologies, they leave Earth and return to Ida to meet up with the Jotunheim. However, Thor and several of the other Asgard manage to break out and sneak into an escape pod just before the Ithavoller jumps into hyperspace. The Odyssey detects the pod, and retrieves it from orbit. They are shocked to find the Asgard inside, and beam them down to Earth when they request to speak with the IOA. Thor, acting as leader, explains what happened and expresses his regret that they were unable to stop the Jotnar from stealing the technologies the Asgard had entrusted to Earth. The IOA is incensed at the deception, but they can do nothing about it now.
Thor provides the IOA with the coordinates of a planet on the edge of the Milky Way that houses a secret Asgard facility, and asks that he and the escaped Asgard be taken there. He tells the IOA that he and the other Asgard will try to come up with a way to recover the lost technology and perhaps rescue the other revived Asgard. The one good thing that has come from this debacle is that he and the other Asgard now have bodies which are not degenerate, thanks to the Jotnar, and Heimdall is confidant she can reproduce the techniques. The Asgard will survive.
The IOA approves Thor’s request, and the Asgard are taken to their secret base (named "Thrudeim" in honor of Thor).
The Jaffa states have stopped their warring (for the most part) and have coalesced into four or five major nations, with various minor regions remaining independent. The largest of these nations, the Republic of Free Jaffa, is the most direct descendant of the original Free Jaffa nation. The other nations are feudalistic or democratic to varying degrees.
2014: With the Asgard Core-technologies gone, Earth has moved back down the galactic food chain. The Lucian Alliance, sensing an opportunity, begins to make overt moves against Earth forces, even going so far as to attack one of the off-world bases. They had become more unified during the Jaffa’s infighting, and a new leader rises to power (possibly with Aschen or Shrin’yar influence). Commanding a large fraction of the Lucian Alliance’s resources, he (or she) sends a Ha’tak to Earth to test our defenses.
The Ha’tak appears in Earth orbit, and is immediately spotted by the Odyssey and another of our 304’s (possibly an unnamed one; there should be at least five more by now). They engage the Ha’tak and manage to blow it up, but the pieces rain down into the North Atlantic in full view of the world.
With no way to cover up the incident, the IOA is forced to reveal the existence of Earth’s space forces. The US pushes to keep the Stargate a secret at the very least, but Germany announces the Stargate’s existence as a maneuver to put itself ahead in the game. A period of geopolitical upheaval ensues. France’s government is forced to step down, as is Russia’s. The US senate demands that certain technologies be removed from military control and handed over to the general government, including hyperdrive technology and the Stargate. The UK and Australia manage to remain mostly stable, though police crackdowns occur in some areas.
There is a squabble over what will happen to the Stargate, but eventually the various nations agree that Cheyenne Mountain is (for now) the best place for it to be. However, the mountain is declared to be international territory and a multi-national base is set up on the surface to monitor the ’gate.
In Pegasus, the Jotnar return and begin a war with the Wraith. Todd asks the Atlantis team to help his faction, but they are wary and do nothing. The chaos on Earth also lessens their capacity to help human worlds caught in the crossfire.
2015-2020: Civilian corporations that are able to bargain for access to extraterrestrial technologies begin constructing hyperspace-capable starships for civilian use, as do various non-military government firms. Colonies are established off-world, and trading deals are struck with some of the more advanced planets in the Milky Way. The Hebridians are especially congenial to the expansion, and several Hebridian firms begin operating on Earth. Business deals with companies like the Tech Con Group help several Earth corporations to acclimate quickly to the interstellar business climate. The various Earth militaries help to defend and set up colonies established by their nations.
The Jotnar continue their war with the Wraith, but Todd figures out how to use his last ZPMs to create a pair of Superhives that can survive against the Jotnar ships. Many of the Wraith rally around his banner, and the Atlantis expedition worries that he may eventually turn on them.
2025: Earth has sixteen-or-so colonies in the Milky Way, and relations between Earth and the Hebridians are very warm. The Asgard haven’t been heard from in a while, but intelligence indicates that they are simply being reclusive. The Lucian Alliance is still a threat, though Hebridian and reverse-engineered Goa’uld weaponry has lessened the danger. With Asgard shields (which the Jotnar left), typical Earth ships can stand up to an Alliance Ha’tak in a normal fight.
The Jaffa nations are still in the formation they reached a decade ago, and show few signs of instability. Rumors of a rising Aschen Confederation have been heard, but they are so far unsubstantiated. On Earth, the IOA and UN have reformed into the United Nations of Earth (UNE). The UNE is often referred to as “the new UN†or just “the UNâ€, though the latter term is strictly inaccurate because the organizations are not the same.
In Pegasus, the Atlantis Expedition has also expanded slightly, establishing a pair of major off-world bases. The Wraith and the Jotnar have reached a stalemate, thanks to Todd, and are in a state of cold war.
(Lt. Col. Mcoy’s Version)
1997 – 2010: All of SG-1, SGA, Ark of Truth, Continuum, and SGU (season 1) happened exactly as portrayed in the show(s). Atlantis returned to Pegasus somehow. (We can fit the Atlantis movie in here, if-and-when it airs.)
2011: The Pegasus Asgard (hereafter referred to as the “Jotnar†in this overview) have been forced to evacuate the planet they had been living on due to the toxicity of the atmosphere. They wander from planet to planet until they stumble upon a world with an amazing prize; an unfinished Ancient city-ship like Atlantis and the city in The Tower. The Jotnar find that the intergalactic hyperdrive is functional but unpowered, so they begin construction to repair and finish the ship.
The Hebridians have begun rebuilding their home world, and the Free Jaffa have fragmented into several non-warring states which resemble the German states before unification. Events relating to Earth in this time period should be left vague so that we can retain SGU continuity as long as possible.
2012: The Jotnar complete their work on the city-ship, which they call the Jotunheim. They take the city back to Ida to search for any technology left behind by their brethren. They still harbor a deep grudge against the Wraith.
The Jotnar locate a Daniel Jackson-class starship, the Ithavoller, drifting in the Othalla system, far from the planet. From it, they find that the Asgard capital was moved to Orilla, and they decide to investigate (remembering that Doctor Jackson had told them their brothers were dead). They also discover that this ship is a fail-safe against the destruction of the Asgard race: it contains copies of the last-downloaded consciousnesses of the Asgard leadership so that they can be revived in the case of a disaster. It was recalled to Orilla along with all other Asgard ships before the events of Unending, but its hyperdrive malfunctioned and it didn’t make it.
The Jotnar travel to the remains of Orilla, and determine what happened based on the available evidence. They deduce that their brothers committed mass suicide, though they do not know the exact circumstances. They also find a record noting that an Information Core and several advanced technological upgrades were transferred to the Earth Ship Odyssey before the planet’s destruction. They are puzzled that their brethren would give a young race such technology, and they want to get it back so they can get their revenge on the Wraith.
To get information about Earth (including its location), the Jotnar attempt to extract information from the consciousnesses on the Ithavoller. The system’s encryption is too difficult for them to crack, but they think of another method to get the information. They revive a few of the Asgard: Thor, Freyr, and Heimdall are among these, though their memories only extend to the end of the Replicator War (the last time their consciousnesses were uploaded to an Asgard computer). The Jotnar are also surprised to find Loki (whom they recognize as an agitator for their movement from millennia ago) locked away in the system; part of the memory was used as a prison for high-ranking Asgard who were sentenced to long periods of disembodiment as punishment for crimes. (The Asgard did not use capital punishment.)
Small wars break out between some of the Jaffa states, allowing smaller domains to be absorbed by larger ones and creating various alliances. Once again, events relating to Earth during this period can be left vague so that SGU can continue in our continuity as long as possible.
2013: Thor and most of the other revived Asgard refuse to give the Jotnar any information, but Loki is all too willing to cooperate. He tells the Jotnar everything he knows about the people of Earth (whom the Jotnar call “Midgardersâ€). The Jotnar decide to trick the IOA into giving them the Asgard technology by pretending to be surviving Asgard, so they take the Ithavoller to Earth.
The Jotnar show up in orbit and contact the IOA. They inform the representatives that they are Asgard who survived the destruction of Orilla in specialized stasis equipment. They say that they wish to retrieve the Core and related technologies that the Asgard had entrusted to Earth, explaining that we need no longer keep their memory alive because they have miraculously found a way to halt their genetic degradation.
The IOA protests, but ultimately they can do nothing to stop the Jotnar (whom they believe to be real Asgard). They allow the Jotnar to dismantle the Core-related technologies from the 304’s, but they do rotate them through Jotnar hands so that Earth doesn’t have all her ships out of commission at once. Because of this, the process takes several months. Some elements in the IOA are suspicious of the Jotnar (especially those in the SGC who had known the Asgard), but they do not have any incriminating evidence that the Jotnar are deceiving them, just suspicions.
After the Jotnar dismantle the last of the Core-related technologies, they leave Earth and return to Ida to meet up with the Jotunheim. However, Thor and several of the other Asgard manage to break out and sneak into an escape pod just before the Ithavoller jumps into hyperspace. The Odyssey detects the pod, and retrieves it from orbit. They are shocked to find the Asgard inside, and beam them down to Earth when they request to speak with the IOA. Thor, acting as leader, explains what happened and expresses his regret that they were unable to stop the Jotnar from stealing the technologies the Asgard had entrusted to Earth. The IOA is incensed at the deception, but they can do nothing about it now.
Thor provides the IOA with the coordinates of a planet on the edge of the Milky Way that houses a secret Asgard facility, and asks that he and the escaped Asgard be taken there. He tells the IOA that he and the other Asgard will try to come up with a way to recover the lost technology and perhaps rescue the other revived Asgard. The one good thing that has come from this debacle is that he and the other Asgard now have bodies which are not degenerate, thanks to the Jotnar, and Heimdall is confidant she can reproduce the techniques. The Asgard will survive.
The IOA approves Thor’s request, and the Asgard are taken to their secret base (named "Thrudeim" in honor of Thor).
The Jaffa states have stopped their warring (for the most part) and have coalesced into four or five major nations, with various minor regions remaining independent. The largest of these nations, the Republic of Free Jaffa, is the most direct descendant of the original Free Jaffa nation. The other nations are feudalistic or democratic to varying degrees.
2014: With the Asgard Core-technologies gone, Earth has moved back down the galactic food chain. The Lucian Alliance, sensing an opportunity, begins to make overt moves against Earth forces, even going so far as to attack one of the off-world bases. They had become more unified during the Jaffa’s infighting, and a new leader rises to power (possibly with Aschen or Shrin’yar influence). Commanding a large fraction of the Lucian Alliance’s resources, he (or she) sends a Ha’tak to Earth to test our defenses.
The Ha’tak appears in Earth orbit, and is immediately spotted by the Odyssey and another of our 304’s (possibly an unnamed one; there should be at least five more by now). They engage the Ha’tak and manage to blow it up, but the pieces rain down into the North Atlantic in full view of the world.
With no way to cover up the incident, the IOA is forced to reveal the existence of Earth’s space forces. The US pushes to keep the Stargate a secret at the very least, but Germany announces the Stargate’s existence as a maneuver to put itself ahead in the game. A period of geopolitical upheaval ensues. France’s government is forced to step down, as is Russia’s. The US senate demands that certain technologies be removed from military control and handed over to the general government, including hyperdrive technology and the Stargate. The UK and Australia manage to remain mostly stable, though police crackdowns occur in some areas.
There is a squabble over what will happen to the Stargate, but eventually the various nations agree that Cheyenne Mountain is (for now) the best place for it to be. However, the mountain is declared to be international territory and a multi-national base is set up on the surface to monitor the ’gate.
In Pegasus, the Jotnar return and begin a war with the Wraith. Todd asks the Atlantis team to help his faction, but they are wary and do nothing. The chaos on Earth also lessens their capacity to help human worlds caught in the crossfire.
2015-2020: Civilian corporations that are able to bargain for access to extraterrestrial technologies begin constructing hyperspace-capable starships for civilian use, as do various non-military government firms. Colonies are established off-world, and trading deals are struck with some of the more advanced planets in the Milky Way. The Hebridians are especially congenial to the expansion, and several Hebridian firms begin operating on Earth. Business deals with companies like the Tech Con Group help several Earth corporations to acclimate quickly to the interstellar business climate. The various Earth militaries help to defend and set up colonies established by their nations.
The Jotnar continue their war with the Wraith, but Todd figures out how to use his last ZPMs to create a pair of Superhives that can survive against the Jotnar ships. Many of the Wraith rally around his banner, and the Atlantis expedition worries that he may eventually turn on them.
2025: Earth has sixteen-or-so colonies in the Milky Way, and relations between Earth and the Hebridians are very warm. The Asgard haven’t been heard from in a while, but intelligence indicates that they are simply being reclusive. The Lucian Alliance is still a threat, though Hebridian and reverse-engineered Goa’uld weaponry has lessened the danger. With Asgard shields (which the Jotnar left), typical Earth ships can stand up to an Alliance Ha’tak in a normal fight.
The Jaffa nations are still in the formation they reached a decade ago, and show few signs of instability. Rumors of a rising Aschen Confederation have been heard, but they are so far unsubstantiated. On Earth, the IOA and UN have reformed into the United Nations of Earth (UNE). The UNE is often referred to as “the new UN†or just “the UNâ€, though the latter term is strictly inaccurate because the organizations are not the same.
In Pegasus, the Atlantis Expedition has also expanded slightly, establishing a pair of major off-world bases. The Wraith and the Jotnar have reached a stalemate, thanks to Todd, and are in a state of cold war.
Thoughts?
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