"Sir, the Death Gliders are taking a low vector." Sam cried from behind one of the tanks.
"It was only a matter of time." Jack yelled over the sound of the relentless barrage of plasma bolts.
Though Zoria managed to destroy one Ha'tak, the remaining two were raining a relentless assault on the protective barrier surrounding the base. The strain on the barrier was horrendous, and it could be seen as the barrier near the ground became more porous as seconds ticked away.
For the moment, the Jaffa ground troops Heru'ur fielded were woefully inadequate to breach the barrier. But Jack suspected the Death Gliders could make a difference.
His intuition was not wrong. The Death Gliders started taking low flybys, and the low vector granted them the position to assault the ground forces of Zoria. The cover fire they gave to the Jaffa ground forces helped them to gain ground. When Jack looked at the battlefield, he saw several of Heru'ur's forces breaching the barrier, which was torn to shreds in the weaker sections.
But just as a group of Jaffa breached the barrier, they were reduced to ashes by the main battery of the tanks. The massive energy blast from the tanks burned away the Jaffa as if they were dry leaves.
"What the hell was that, Carter. I didn't see anything striking the Jaffa other than a whirling noise from that cannon." Jack pointed at the heavy cannon mounted on the tank.
"It must be some kind of a weapon shooting an invisible ray, sir." Sam said in the thick of battle as she put a few rounds on an enemy Jaffa.
"Well, whatever it is, I hope they've got more of that." Jack said, seeing more transport rings bringing more Jaffa troops to the ground.
Suddenly, the ground shook, and the Elysian ground forces stopped assaulting the enemy Jaffa.
"What's happening now?" Jack said, trying to get a better look at the other side of the barrier.
His jaw dropped open at the sight of massive roots and vines jumping out of the ground and ensnaring the Jaffa army. If he was utterly surprised by this turn of events, Heru'ur's Jaffa were utterly flummoxed. They were trained to instil fear and destruction in their enemies using their staff weapons and were skilled in close combat. But they never trained to fight off massive roots and vines as thick as the wings of a Death Glider.
The Jaffa screamed in fright as their bones were twisted into unnatural angles by the roots that ensnared them. The more they struggled, the harder the roots squeezed them to death. They tried to use the staff weapons to blow the roots, but when one root was destroyed, three more grew out of its remnants to attack them with more ferocity. It didn't take long for the entire Jaffa army to get ensnared in the trap, and their lives were quickly physically overpowered and disabled.
In the span of five minutes, the entire Jaffa army was overwhelmed and defeated.
"Roots and vines. The weapons of the modern age." Jack said in disbelief.
He turned to Sam and shared a look of utter bafflement.
"It might be an advanced biochemical weapon," said Sam, but the look on her face gave away how out of depth they were in the capabilities of these new friends they had made.
The Death Gliders and Ha'taks fired on the roots, and this gave the base some much-needed respite.
Jack observed the hovering shield emitters getting replaced with new ones and the barrier getting revitalised. It was a quick swap the Goa'uld forces obviously missed.
"Heru'ur is killing his own Jaffa." Teal'c said with a glare.
Sure enough, Jack saw the Jaffa ensnared in the strangely alive vines and roots getting torn to shreds by the Ha'tak and Death Gliders. At the same time, Zoria's light cannons were now concentrated on the Death Gliders.
Jack found it odd that the heavy cannons were not being trained on the Ha'taks. It was as if Director Cerberus didn't consider them a threat, or the base didn't have sufficient energy to use the heavy cannons repeatedly and maintain the shield at the same time. If that was the case, Jack was thankful to Director Cerberus for the judicious use of energy. The energy barrier was the only thing that kept them all alive till now.
At least, there was some good news. With Heru'ur's ground forces decimated and his Death Gliders suffering massive casualties, there was a low chance for another ground assault. Jack noticed he was low on ammo, and the same was true for Sam.
"Sir, look. The remaining Death Gliders are being called back to the Ha'tak." Sam said, pointing excitedly at the sky.
Sure enough, when Jack sneaked a peek from behind the tank, he saw the Death Gliders rushing to take safe refuge inside the Ha'tak.
"It looks like Heru'ur is positioning his ships to renew his assault on the base." said Teal'c.
Jack was of the same opinion.
"Carter. How long do you think the base can hold off?" Jack asked.
"Hard to say, sir. If the Elysians have enough power and their shield emitters can function without suffering from heating-related damages, then maybe another hour."
Suddenly, all cannons fell silent. It was so sudden that Jack, Sam and Teal'c looked around in confusion. Strangely enough, the Ha'taks also stopped their assault.
"What the hell happened?" Jack asked.
As if to answer his question, a third ship appeared out of nowhere in the sky as if it were under an expertly done camouflage all this time. The ship was massive and long, with the eight-pointed standard etched in gold within a circle, the same sigil that was fluttering on the banners all over the base.
"So, they do have big honkin' spaceships and space guns to shoot Goa'uld ships out of the sky." Jack said with a grin.
He saw all the lights on the remaining two Ha'taks flicker and die. It was as if the two ships were out of power and floating in space for some reason.
"Something happened to those ships." Sam said, observing the all too silent weapons of the two Ha'tak's of Heru'ur.
"Oh, I bet something happened, and those snake bastards are not going to like it." Jack said with a satisfied smile.
After the destruction that was brought upon Cimmeria by the Goa'uld, Jack had been hoping Heru'ur would get his dues. Right now, he was fortunate enough to get the chance to witness it with his own eyes.
"Come, everyone. Let's see whether we'll get a front row seat when the Elysians kick the snakes out of their flying pyramids."
******
Harry stared at the two Ha'taks assaulting the Zoria base from aboard the Spitfire. The plan to set a bait was taken after much debate. They had consistently sent fake coded messages through the Goa'uld-controlled space, knowing full well their sensors might intercept the communique. They specifically targeted Heru'ur's sector of the Goa'uld Empire.
What he didn't expect was for Heru'ur to take the bait this early whilst consolidating his dominance over a portion of Ra's fragmented holdings. But not only did Heru'ur take the bait, but the System Lord ended up personally stepping into the trap to attack Zoria.
The result was far better than Harry could've ever hoped for.
"Sir, we're in position." Commander Dumas said.
"Our status?" Harry asked while eyeing the two Ha'taks from his command seat.
"Our cloak remains intact. The weapon has been charged and deployed to all the green zones we marked around the Ha'taks."
"All right. Engage the Disruptor grid." Harry gave the order.
One by one, the data crystal-enhanced runestones he deployed surrounding the two Ha'taks flared up one by one. A massive disrupting ward activated around the Goa'uld ships. The ward immediately went on to penetrate ships and disrupt their engine core.
Harry leaned forward in his seat as he watched the scanners in Starfire relay the abrupt shutdown of the Naquadah reactors.
"Sir, we've successfully crippled their power supply."
"Good." Harry smirked, leaning back in his command chair with an air of satisfaction.
Their research into the Naquadah had shown it was an element that reacted rather strongly to magical influence. While the research labs in Elysium were concentrated on harnessing the power of Naquadah and Naquadria, the Unspeakables under Croaker were looking into the magical properties of the element and its interaction with magical power.
It was from Croaker's research that they learned the element was very much compatible with magic. To that effect, there was even research going on with using Naquadah to be used in various forms of magic like runes, barriers and even in potions. There were even promising results to pursue the use of Naquadah to help squibs gain a connection to their dormant magical powers.
But the military application of magical energy's interaction with Naquadah was not lost on a brilliant mind amongst Croaker's men. With all Goa'uld military assets running on Naquadah, the idea of a ward forcibly pushing Naquadah into an inert state was devised and quickly developed.
The Disrupter Grid was explicitly developed to target Goa'uld ships. And now that they knew for certain Heru'ur's ships were not shielded to protect their engines from the Disruptor Grid, Harry was looking forward to using it on other Goa'uld ships.
"Inform Director Cerberus that he is free to use a landing party to sweep the two ships. I want the prisoners transported to Zoria and the two ships impounded. Svoriin's shipyard will find good use for them and alert the intel team they're free to extract codes from the ships." Harry ordered.
With the ships taken care of, Harry shifted his attention from the Ha'taks to the four guests on Zoria.
He knew at some point they'd run into Earth's Stargate Command. He didn't expect it'd be this soon.
Anyway, they were prepared for this as it was one of the earliest policies the High Council had agreed upon.
"Henri, I leave you in command of Starfire. Officer Parks, you'll have oversight over the sweeping teams. I want the Jaffa and the Goa'uld alive and in separate confinement fields."
"Will do, sir."
Harry nodded before he went to the transport bay and used the transport rings to travel to Zoria.
Upon his arrival, he saw the destruction of the terraformed area of a ten-mile radius around the base. The plant life had all but disappeared in smoke and ash under the aerial bombardment. Thankfully, the base itself had managed to withstand the assault without any major damage.
Still, Harry could see there was more advantage in using Naquadria-powered shield emitters for better performance than the current Naquadah-powered ones. But their recent studies into Naquadria revealed that the substance was too volatile. It required more sophisticated security measures to be used on the battlefield.
For now, Naquadria-powered energy generators were reserved for commercial purposes to meet civilian demand back home.
He greeted a couple of officers as he walked towards the command centre of the base. On his way, he observed the Elysian flag decorating all corridors and turns. The sense of victory and the accomplishment of a swift space battle thrummed under his skin.
He felt like he self-acknowledged the technological and military might of the Elysium. Though he knew the power of his people beforehand, it was quite a sight to witness it with his own eyes.
'This might be how patriotic fervour feels like.' Harry thought as goosebumps spread across his body as he witnessed the flags decorating the base.
A few more familiar faces greeted him until finally he arrived at the command centre.
"Marshal Potter. Welcome to Zoria." Cerberus greeted, offering his hand for a handshake.
"Director Langarm." Harry shook hands with the ex-Auror. "It was a good performance. Any damages to report?"
"We lost a couple of plasma cannons, and a Titan tank was damaged. Other than that, the base has not suffered any damage."
Harry raised an eyebrow upon learning this.
"That's better than we hoped for," Harry said with an impressed look. "Any loss of life?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Cerberus said with regret. "We lost two men in the ground units, Marshal."
"That's unfortunate," Harry said. "Did their tactical suits malfunction?"
"We are efforting to ascertain the cause as we speak, sir." said Cerberus.
"Good. That should be a priority." Harry said.
The Goa'uld might have the luxury of throwing their slave armies as fodder, but Elysium could not afford to lose even one life.
"Sir, there is the matter of our unauthorised visitors." Cerberus said gently.
"Ah, yes. The Tau'ri." Harry smiled. "Let's meet them then."
Harry followed Cerberus into a room assigned to the Tau'ri.
"Do you mean to let them go?" Cerberus asked.
"What do you think we should do?" Harry asked instead of answering.
"Standard procedure is to wipe their memory and send the muggles packing to their home." Cerberus said.
Harry thought about it for a moment.
"We're no longer in hiding to survive. Our strength is our shield." said Harry.
When they finally reached the room, the glass doors slid open and Harry found the SG1 huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.
"So, this is the infamous SG1 of planet Earth." Harry said as he stepped into the room.
"May I introduce Marshal Harry Potter, the leader of the Elysian fleet and a member of the High Council of Elysium." Cerberus introduced him to the four.
"Oh. I'm Jack O'Neill, and these are my colleagues Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c. We are explorers from Earth." Jack stepped forward with an extended hand.
"Really. What is it that you explore?" Harry asked as he slowly circled the SG1, ignoring the offered hand.
"We explore distant planets through the stargate in the hopes of making friends and allies."
"Yes, we noticed your work in Cimmeria. Death and destruction followed after the Cimmerians shook your hands." Harry said with a snort.
"Well, that was Heru'ur's work." said Jack.
"Facilitated by your destruction of an ion cannon installed by Asgard, which had safeguarded the planet for centuries." Harry shot back.
"That only happened because we were trying to help our friend. It was totally accidental. We also helped the Cimmerians when Heru'ur invaded to atone for our mistake." Jack said with an affronted look at the insinuation that they were solely responsible for Cimmeria's suffering.
"We have a common enemy – the Goa'uld. We know you have the capacity to stand up to Goa'uld ships. With our collaboration, we can ensure peace and freedom for a lot of planets out there. Isn't that a cause worthy of considering?" Daniel appealed, butting in before tempers could fly.
"Collaboration breeds dependency. Then comes manipulation. Then comes betrayal. We've seen this pattern before, Daniel Jackson." Harry said, unimpressed by the trajectory of this conversation.
"Then you've been in bad company." said Jack.
"Yes." Harry said with a sardonic smile. "Which is why the High Council is not interested in an alliance or any accord with the Tau'ri. We know of Earth and what little we know of your planet and its many ruling governments makes us concerned for the safety and well-being of those nations now that one among you has accessed the stargate network."
"The Goa'uld are the threat, not the Tau'ri." Teal'c said firmly.
Harry slowly turned to stare at Teal'c with a dismissive look.
"Former First Prime of Apophis, tell me, what do you know of the Tau'ri other than what your friends told you about them? Have you seen their society with your own eyes and seen what their rulers are like?" Harry asked with intense scrutiny.
"No, I haven't." Teal'c said truthfully.
"Then you truly don't know anything about them, do you?" Harry said with a snort before turning away from the Jaffa warrior.
"Then we invite you to learn more about us. The people of Earth are a people capable of change. Every decade, we change, we innovate, we advance, we learn, and we safeguard these changes within our civilisation. We do this by the free exchange of ideas between nations and peoples." Daniel said passionately.
"A passionate speech, Doctor Jackson. Unfortunately, for you, that is simply not enough. The Elysian Federation will not acknowledge a rogue entity operating out of your planet as the spokesperson of all the Tau'ri." Harry said firmly.
"You do not trust us." Sam said with a frown.
"With good reason. We suspect you'll use the stargate network to plunder the galaxy and use whatever you gain against your fellow people." Cerberus said.
"If you wish for cooperation, you must show us that your people can cooperate with each other. If you manage to attain such a unified voice on your planet, you may seek us out. That is the decision of the High Council." Harry said with a finality that brokered no further argument.
After Harry said his piece, he addressed Director Cerberus.
"You may escort them to the stargate."
"What if we want to contact you in the future?" Daniel asked.
Harry eyed the man for a moment before he contemplated what to do.
"You and your team might have the best interests of your planet at heart, but we cannot judge your government's intent based on our interaction." Harry said.
The disappointment could be read easily on the faces of the SG-1 team. So, Harry decided to throw them a bone.
"However, the Elysian council do consider the Goa'uld to be a significant threat. In the common interest of seeing the destruction of the Goa'uld, should you seek aid, we'll respond. You may use the gate address of Svoriiin to establish contact with us."
"So, no direct link to your home planet then. You don't trust us." Jack said more as an observation.
"I'm afraid I don't trust the intentions of your superiors. When you have a united voice speaking for your whole planet, maybe the High Council will reconsider." said Harry.
*******
"I guess this is goodbye then." Jack said, addressing Director Cerberus, after the transport rings in Zoria transported them directly to Svoriin right before the stargate.
"The universe is vast. I'm sure we'll meet again at some point." Cerberus said with a polite smile.
"Marshal Potter, he is rather young, isn't he?" Jack asked, eyeing Director Cerberus with keen eyes. "How does one get to a position like that at such a young age?"
"Age has very little to do with competence." Cerberus said.
"True. Still, I noticed your Marshal seems to know a lot about Earth."
"It's his job to know." Cerberus said simply before placing his palm on a crystal interface.
After a flare of light from the crystal panel, the chevron on the stargate spun rapidly, pinging on the stargate address of Earth.
"The dialling device is different from the other stargates." Sam observed.
"We have done away with the Alteran version. We found it rather bulky and out of date." Cerberus said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Alteran? That's what you call the gate builders." Daniel said eagerly with interest. "We call them the Ancients."
"Alteran, Ancient, Lantean, Celestian. The gate builders go by many names."
"You seem to know a lot and enough even to make modifications to the stargate. Are you the Ancients?" Daniel asked, with wide eyes.
"I'm afraid the time for questions is over." Cerberus said, pointing to the portal.
"Some other time then." Jack said with a nod.
Jack took one last look at the massive, gleaming city sprawled out around him. There were smaller ships flying above them, and he could see the enormous sigil of the Elysian Federation etched on one of the tallest buildings.
"Before you go, Colonel O'Neill, Marshal Potter asked me to give you this." Cerberus said before offering a small golden disc with a fiery phoenix at the centre.
"What is this?"
"A token of appreciation for your team's participation in the battle against the Goa'uld." said Cerberus.
"Huh. Nice." Jack said, tracing the fine squiggly lines carved on the surface of the 'medal' he received.
He was a little disappointed at how things ended, but there was still hope for future cooperation.
"All right then. Back to good ol' home people." Jack clapped his hands before he entered first through the portal, followed by the rest of his team.
AN:
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