Chapter 51

Lord Protector Planet

With a thought Rodney began adding power to the sub-light engines. Around the city dust and dirt flew through the air as the great city slowly inched itself free of its earthy tomb. From the many fields of wheat in the distance and the newly constructed city people watched in awe as the city-ship rose from the surface. Continuing to add power to the sub light engines the city began to accelerate upwards. Massive amounts of dust bellowed from the ground below.

"That's quite a sight" whispered Eckhart.

Climbing higher into the atmosphere the city ship continued to rise. In moments they would pass through the upper atmosphere of the planet and transition into the cold void of space.

"Athena, we have achieved atmospheric exit. All systems in the green" stated Lee.

"Borealis, this is Athena. Copy last. Can you give an approximation on where you intend to enter hyperspace" asked Eckhart.

"Athena, we will enter Hyperspace beyond the outer moon in forty five seconds" responded Lee.

"Godspeed Borealis" answered Eckhart.

Gracefully slipping past Athena and breaking free of the gravitational pull of the planet and moons Borealis brought the star drive online for the first time in ten thousand years. With a massive flare of blue light from the Stardrive below Borealis jumped into the opening window of hyperspace and vanished.

Hermes

Having once before visited the system containing the planet of Tuat Colonel Mitchell knew to exit hyperspace outside of the solar system. Under cover of cloak the Hermes quickly entered the system at full sub light. Her long range Asgard sensors scanned the depths before them.

"Sensors, what have you got" asked Mitchell.

"Sensors are detecting massive amounts of residual radiation that was not present before" answered the sensor operator.

""And what of our Jaffa friends" asked Cam.

"Nothing yet sir. It's possible we won't be able to detect them until we're closer to Tuat" replied the sensor operator.

Continuing her path towards the planet Hermes stealthily stalked ahead. The power of her sub light engines made it a short trip before her sensors began registering new findings.

"Sensors are detecting energy signatures in diamond shaped formation all around us. Looks like possibly a mine field based on the deployment patters at work. We're also detecting large amounts of wreckage, looks to be Ha'tak, glider, and Al'kesh sir" stated the sensor operator.

"Give me a visual on the wreckage. Keep us clear of the mines" ordered Cam.

The holographic display appeared on the control bridge of Hermes. The video feed showed the remains of a great battle here. In all directions shredded remains of Ha'tak class vessels were adrift. This had been a very nasty fight indeed.

"Sensors are detecting multiple contacts in orbit" said the sensor operator.

"Give me a visual" answered Cam.

On the screen could be seen countless numbers of Ha'tak vessels. In the center of this mass of sh.i.p.s sat a mothership of massive proportions. The Jaffa had no such ship it was widely known.

"That isn't Jaffa at all. Give me detailed scans of the mothership, I want to know everything we can on it. It looks like our friends didn't do so well here at all. The moment scans are complete get us out of this solar system so we can transmit our data to Earth. The Jaffa need to know what happened here" said an angry Cam.

Dakara

Exiting the Stargate onto the seat of power of the Free Jaffa Nation stood Joseph Briggman. The expert in civil affairs from the SGC had been dispatched to deliver the news of what the Hermes had discovered. Under escort to the ruling council's chamber Briggman walked with purpose. It was never easy to deliver bad news but news of this magnitude was far more difficult to deliver. Entering the chamber he saw before him the ruling council of the Free Jaffa Nation seated at their circular table. He was quickly ushered to the stone podium that the seating table surrounded.

"Thank you for allowing this audience so quickly" began Briggman.

"What is it you wish to discuss with this council" inquired Teal'c.

"Six hours ago one of our vessels, the Hermes under the command of Colonel Cameron Mitchell entered the system of Tuat" said Briggman.

"Did we not make clear our desire to rectify this situation without the assistance of the Tauri" asked U'Kin.

"That you did Councilor U'Kin. Our purpose was not to interfere with ongoing Jaffa military operations. We instructed the vessel to enter this territory to ascertain how the conflict was progressing" answered Briggman.

"It could then be said that you did not deem this council capable or willing to inform you at our leisure" countered U'Kin.

"That is not the case here I assure you Councilor. As a close ally we felt it necessary to maintain up to date information in the event our assistance was needed" answered Briggman.

"Brothers and sisters, Mr. Briggman has traveled a great ways to deliver his message. Let us allow him to do so without turning this into a confrontation that serves no purpose in these turbulent times. Mr. Briggman, please continue" said Teal'c in a soothing voice.

"Upon entry into the system in question the Hermes detected abnormally high levels of radiation consistent with large scale weapons fire and exposed power cores of Ha'Tak class vessels. Further examination showed large debris fields of wreckage consistent with Ha'tak, Al'kesh, and Glider class vessels" stated Briggman.

"If what you say is true then our fleet perished while also defeating our enemy" defiantly proclaimed Ka'lel, the only female member of the council.

"Councilor, I am afraid that is not the case as it stands. In orbit of the planet our vessel found a large Lucian Alliance fleet operating in conjunction with what appears to be a duplicate of the Apophis mothership. The wreckage was from FJN fleet forces. Scans of sh.i.p.s in orbit and further ground scans failed to detect any Jaffa present" stated Briggman in reply.

"He lies" yelled Yat'Yir, jumping to his feet and slamming his fist into the table.

"Councilor, I assure you this is truth I speak. My government will gladly turn over the relevant sensor data and video of the Hermes's time in this system" countered Briggman.

"The Tauri have never lied to us in the past. I fail to see how doing so now would suit their purposes" said Teal'c towards Yat'Yir.

"We all expect you to defend the Tauri. For too many years you were their pet. Now in their time of need you show your master the obedience they demanded and still receive" hissed Yat'Yir.

"Brother, I warn you to watch your tongue" threatened Teal'c.

"Mr. Briggman, your vessel did not arrive until after this battle was concluded, yes" asked U'Kin.

"That is correct. Hermes arrived on station sometime after the battle was over" answered Briggman.

"I surmise that is not true. We all know the Tauri have cloaking technology that is undetectable to our sensors and by default to those of the Lucian Alliance. This plague arrives and the Tauri magically know where it originated. When we refuse their offer to participate in the conflict to come they mysteriously arrive after its end. Brothers and sisters, we have been and continue to be deceived by the Tauri! Could it be they spread this plague within the ranks of our people, and then participated in the attack against our fleet on the side of the Lucian Alliance? Even now they have their spy among our ranks in Teal'c" bellowed Yat'Yir.

"We all remember the Tauri's refusal to assist in the rescue of Teal'c and Ish'ta when Moloc's forces rose up and kidnapped them. While I fail to believe they mounted an attack against our fleet I do believe that the timing of their discovery of its destruction is too convenient. The Tauri prefer to use surrogates to do their bidding, as they used Brother Teal'c. I for one can easily envision them sitting there under cloak as our fleet was destroyed while doing nothing, giving the Lucian Alliance tacit approval to murder our brothers and sisters" accused Ka'lel.

"The people of my world have been your ally for some time now. Without our assistance you would still be under the yoke of Goa'uld enslavement. Without our assistance the replicators would have annihilated this planet. Without our assistance you would now all be enslaved by the armies of the Ori" countered Briggman.

"Guards" yelled Yat'Yir.