Colonial Crossover: chapter 1
Title: Colonial Crossover
Author: Betty (sarah_jones on lj) & Katie
Fandoms: Stargate SG-1, SGA & Battlestar Galactica
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.
Summary: The survivors of the fight against the Ori ships get thrown into another galaxy where they meet the Colonial fleet. Will they unite against the threats of the Cylons, the Wraith and the Ori?
Warnings: some character deaths implied
I felt like re-reading one of the older stories I wrote with my former rpg partner. Then I decided to go over it, correct some mistakes, smooth out a few things and post this story here on lj.
I uploaded it on fanfiction.net a while ago, but it was never finished. Trouble with gj while roleplaying, then losing parts of the story due to gj being down and later losing my writing partner just didn't leave me in the mood to continue the story. But now I feel, like continuing and hopefully finishing it after all.
I wrote this story together with my friend Katie in roleplaying format. This means, that we did write in the perspectives of all our characters! The perspectives often change from one person to the other several times. This simply is what roleplaying is about. If you do not like this and it confuses you too much, you better don't read this story. I had too many complaints about the rolepaying format of the story and simply don't want to hear the same over and over again. No one forces you to read this and I'm not rewriting the whole story!
That said, I hope someone likes the story and that it is new to some.
This was our first SG-1, SGA & BSG story. ;-)
I’m German and my English isn’t and probably never will be perfect. I hope I don’t make too many mistakes. Feel free to point out errors so I can learn and improve.
I don't have a beta reader for this story yet. Hopefully I will find one soon. Until then you'll just have to put up with my mistakes. Sorry!
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The story begins at the end of Stargate SG-1 season 9. For SGA we decided to have it start after episode 3.02. For BSG the story starts after season 2.
We started the story before watching Stargate season 10, SGA season 3 and BSG season 3. We however did include some parts of those seasons later.
characters:
main characters:
Battlestar Galactica:
Captain Kara Thrace (Starbuck): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Thrace
Commander/Major Lee Adama (Apollo): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Adama
Stargate SG-1:
Dr. Daniel Jackson: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Daniel_Jackson
Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Samantha_Carter
Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Mitchell_(Stargate)
Major General Jack O’Neill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_O%27Neill
Vala Mal Doran: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vala_Mal_Doran
Stargate Atlantis:
Lieutenant Laura Cadman: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Laura_Cadman
Lt. Colonel John Sheppard: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/John_Sheppard
Auroras 1st officer Sheila Trebal: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Trebal Her 1st name is made up by me.
Dr. Elizabeth Weir: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Weir_(Stargate)
Dr. Rodney McKay: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Rodney_McKay
Ronon Dex: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Ronon_Dex
Teyla Emmagan: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Teyla_Emmagan
other characters:
Battlestar Galactica:
Lieutenant Anastasia Dualla (Dee): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_Dualla
Callandra Henderson Tyrol (Cally): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cally_Tyrol
Galen Tyrol (Chief): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen_Tyrol
Lieutenant Karl Agathon (Helo): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Agathon
Laura Roslin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Roslin
Sharon Valerii (Athena): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Eight_(Battlestar_Galactica)
Sharon Valerii (Boomer): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Eight_(Battlestar_Galactica)
Admiral William Adama (Bill): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adama
Stargate SG-1:
Dr. Carolyn Lam: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Lam
Teal’c: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Teal%27c
Stargate Atlantis:
Lieutenant Aiden Ford: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Aiden_Ford
Dr. Carson Beckett: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Carson_Beckett
minor/recurring characters:
Battlestar Galactica:
Felix Gaeta: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Gaeta
Dr. Gaius Baltar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Baltar
Number Six: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Six_(Battlestar_Galactica)
Samuel T. Anders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Anders
Colonel Saul Tigh: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Tigh
Stargate SG-1:
Jonas Quinn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Quinn
Stargate Atlantis:
Colonel Steven Caldwell: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Caldwell
Chuck: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Chuck
Major Evan Lorne: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Lorne
Todd, the Wraith: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Todd
Dr. Radek Zelenka: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Zelenka
pairings:
- Kara Thrace & Lee Adama
- John Sheppard & Elizabeth Weir
- Jack O'Neill & Sam Carter
- Cameron Michell & Sheila Trebal
- Daniel Jackson & Vala Mal Doran
- Rodney McKay & Laura Cadman
- Sharon Valerii (Athena) & Helo
- Laura Roslin & Bill Adama
- Aidan Ford & Anastacia Dualla
- Cally & Galen Tyrol
- eventually Sharon Valerii (Boomer) & Jonas Quinn
Okay, here we go...
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chapter 1:
Milky Way - the battle against the Ori:
Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter drifted through space and stared at the horrific sight in front of her. She had been too late and now the Ori were destroying their ships. Of course they fought back, but it didn´t look like they had even the slightest chance of winning. The Ori were just too powerful.
Ship after ship was hit and destroyed. Sam could see explosions everywhere.
This was the end, not just for her, but for earth and the entire galaxy. They had failed, she had failed and now they would lose the battle and Earth would be doomed. If she was lucky she would be dead before she had to witness any more of this horror.
The oxygen in her spacesuit was fading, until she slowly lost conciousness.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
The Daedalus dropped out of hyperspace. They had come as quickly as possible, but the Pegasus Galaxy was far away.
When they arrived the crew of the Daedalus saw a horrible scene in front of them. One of their ships just exploded and the rest of them were under heavy attack. It looked like they didn´t stand much of a chance.
Lieutenant Laura Cadman stood next to Rodney McKay, looking out of the window, her face showing absolute shock. They had heard that it was bad, but this? What could they possibly do to win this battle?
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Cameron Mitchell, now aboard a F-302 and in flight, checked his communication board.
"Daniel, you’re getting this right?" he asked while swerving the small aircraft away from the line of fire. "The Daedalus just dropped out of hyperspace."
Receiving no response, he tried again: "Daniel? Korolev, are you receiving me?"
"I'm here." Daniel’s voice suddenly filled the small craft and Mitchell emitted a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I was having trouble with the consoles. We've been hit badly. Our shields just failed… I…"
"Daniel?" Cameron yelled when he lost contact. Immediately he sent the Daedalus a message: "This is Colonel Cameron Mitchell. We're in a loosing battle here, you need to retreat. I repeat, retreat."
"This is Lt. Colonel Sheppard and we're not going anywhere."
Cameron growled under his breath, his eyes narrowing.
"Colonel Mitchell, you have permission to dock on board the Daedalus," Colonel Caldwell then said.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Cameron soon appeared on board the Daedalus.
"Lt. Colonel Carter is floating around here somewhere. The Odyssey’s beaming technology is busted and the ship is out of communication range."
As minutes passed it was clear they were going to have to flee.
"This ship does have beaming technology, right?"
”Yes, but…," McKay muttered as he walked over to the consoles. "…if we are going to try to beam anyone from any of the ships they're going to have to lower their shields..."
"If they do that they're going to be vulnerable..."
"If they don't do it they're going to be dead anyway," McKay interrupted in a matter of fact tone.
The darkness suddenly lit up as another ship exploded and the Korolev took another hit.
"Korolev shields are down... beaming aboard now." A group of people suddenly appeared in the center of the bridge. Daniel Jackson was amongst them.
"Jack's on board the Odyssey, Teal'c is on one of the lucian alliance vessells and Sam...," Daniel paused, not wanting to voice his fears.
The Korolev exploded.
Sheppard tried to reach the Odyssey again: "Odyssey, this is Lt. Colonel Sheppard. Do you hear me?"
"Daedalus, this is the Odyssey. We've managed to return to communications range."
Sheppard exhaled slowly before responding: "Odyssey, can you use hyperdrive?"
"All sub light engines are down", came the fuzzy response.
"We don’t have room for them all to board here," McKay stated knowing full well what Sheppard was thinking. Sheppard nodded his head, reluctant to agree.
"This is the Odyssey, it looks like the Ori are ceasing fire..."
Everyone on the bridge turned to the window. It looked like they were right. Two of the Ori ships had jumped into hyperspace while the other two remained motionless.
"It's a miracle..."
Daniel shook his head. "The goal of the Ori is to ultimately convert, not kill. If we hadn't fired first the chances are that they wouldn't have fired on us. We could have prevented all this…"
"Daniel, don't let me hear you say that again," Mitchell warned, shooting Daniel a glare. It was something he definitely didn't even want to think about.
"Sam," he then suddenly muttered remembering that she was floating out in space somewhere close to the Ori ships. "We need to locate her to be able to beam her on board."
Colonel Caldwell, who was sitting in the main control seat, looked to Cameron. "We can offer you a distraction while …"
"Their shields are too powerful," Cameron stated while chewing on his bottom lip. "Just approach the ships and don't fire."
"Isn't that a little risky?" Sheppard asked.
"Yes, but it's not like we have another choice."
A bright light then appeared by the supergate and dissappeared again.
"Looks like the Oddyssey beat us to it."
"This is the Oddyssey. We have Lt. Colonel Carter on board in a critical condition. Our medical facility has been hit. We will beam her on board the Deadalus along with General O'Neill and some of our medical team."
Caldwell responded and minutes later the Daedalus’ infirmary confirmed that the group had beamed on board safely.
Then the last two remaining Ori ships suddenly jumped into Hyperspace. Looking out of the windows it was easy to spot that something was wrong with the supergate.
"It's malfunctioning," McKay commented.
Ronon looked from the bunch of new people that were on board now to the window when McKay spoke. It looked like he was right. They needed to get away as fast as possible. Looking at the mess outside Ronon wished he could do something. But he couldn´t. On a ship like this he was of no use. He wasn´t even sure why he was here.
"I think it's safe to say we need to get out of here," Sheppard acknowledged.
"Oddyssey, can you jump into hyperspace?" Caldwell hailed the other ship.
"Attempting to do so just now Colonel," came the response.
The Oddyssy disappeared.
"Ok, it's our turn. I don't want to stay around to see if this thing explodes or not," Sheppard muttered.
Caldwell gave the orders to jump into hyperspace.
Within a few seconds the ship started into hyperspace. At the same time a huge bang could be heard and the ship started to shake. People stumbled and knocked eachother down.
Ronon slowly moved when the shaking stopped. He had fallen and knocked Teyla down with him. Laying on top of her he glanced down a bit concerned.
"You ok?" he asked while pushing himself up slowly.
Momentarily stunned Teyla blinked a couple of times as the bridge lights flickered when the power and functions returned to normal. Aware that Ronon was talking to her she looked at him from her position below him on the floor. It took her a couple of moments to shift the haze that had settled in her mind and focus on what he had asked.
"I am fine," she told him with a reassuring smile while pushing herself up.
"What was that?" Cadman called loudly while getting up. She looked at Rodney who lay nearby and held her hand out to him to help him up.
"THAT was the supergate exploding," McKay said while grudgingly accepting Cadman's hand to get up.
"I don't think that's what Cadman meant," Sheppard stated as he helped up some of the crew members.
Cadman rolled her eyes at McKay. "Thanks for the great info. I would never have guessed that," she muttered looking at him.
"What the HELL was that?" General Jack O’Neill appeared in the door. Some of the younger crew members saluted him but Jack merely walked past them ignoring their gestures of respect.
"An energy wave from the gate must have hit us as we entered hyperspace", McKay explained while looking out of the window at the empty vast of space.
"Colonel, I tried to pinpoint where we have jumped to but the computer can´t...," a technician stated.
Caldwell looked over at the woman questioningly. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, this is bad," Jack stated, choosing this time to lighten the mood a bit.
Ronon heard the technician and turned to McKay. "Can you find out where we are?" he asked. He had learned to trust Rodney to figure out things like that.
"Oh yes, why don't I just wave my magic wand," Rodney suggested flatly, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he turned to Ronon and gave him a look of utter dissatisfaction.
Cadman glared at McKay. "I´d like to see you do that," she said with a grin.
Ronon just gave McKay a dark look before turning to listen to the ongoing conversation.
At that moment the technician spoke up again and looked at Caldwell. "We have two big ships and a few smaller ones on the sensors, sir." She pressed a few buttons and raised an eyebrow.
"The computer can’t identify them."
Caldwell’s forehead creased as he turned his head and looked back out of the main window. "Johnson turn on our long range communications. We'll send the ships a hail."
"Do you think that's wise?" Rodney demanded. "We have no idea who they are. They could be Wraith for all we know."
Sheppard glanced at his team member and then over at General O’Neill who was looking straight at him with a raised eyebrow. Was the General gesturing for him to make this decision?
"They've probably already detected us," Sheppard finally said pointedly.
"This is the ship Daedalus representing the planet Earth, hailing you to respond." Once Caldwell had sent the message he turned to O'Neill.
"Very nice," Jack complimented.
They waited for a couple of minutes for a response. When none came Caldwell tried again. "This is the ship Daedalus. We mean you no harm, please respond."
Suddenly the communication device jumped into life. "This is Admiral Adama of Galactica."
Caldwell looked back to the General, wondering if he wanted to respond. Jack walked over.
"This is Major General Jack O'Neill. We've appeared to have lost our way due to a technical fault. Assistance would be highly appreciated."
Daniel tried not to look too surprised by the formality in Jack's voice. He had expected some sarcastic remark to slip it's way into the older man's words but obviously he was mistaken.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Commander Lee Adama stood on the Pegasus bridge and listened while his father started talking to the unknown ship. They had just detected it minutes before. As it didn´t seem to be Cylon his father had decided to respond.
Lee now listened closely, feeling very anxious. The person speaking had claimed to represent the planet Earth. This now either was a Cylon trap or their biggest hopes had just become reality.
----- -----
William Adama stared uncertainly at the ship that loomed in the distance. The possibility that this was not some trap was slim. Turning the long range communication off for a moment, he contacted Pegasus instead, deciding that it should be a joint decision from both ships.
"What do you think, Commander?" he asked his son.
Lee thought for a moment.
"The possibillity of a trap is high. Actually meeting people from Earth just after the Cylons attacked again would be too good to be true," he said before pausing. Maybe they could get help in freeing their people on New Caprica.
"But if it is true... The ship they use is nothing like any Cylon ship we have ever seen. The only ships that big that the Cylons have are basestars. At least the only ones that we know of..."
Lee so much wanted to believe that the ship really came from Earth, that they would get help against the Cylons and finally find a planet that really was suitable to live on. New Caprica surely wasn´t, even if the Cylons hadn´t come. But if they trusted these people now and they were Cylons they might go directly into a trap and lose their last chance in defeating the Cylons. It would be a hard decision and he was glad that he wasn´t the one who had to make it.
William Adama weighed up his sons concerns and opinions with his own, knowing that the final decision settled upon him and him alone. The tension in the air hung thick like a looming cloud above him. Knowing that he had to respond soon he made his decision.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Tapping his fingers on the control board, Jack patiently waited for a response while looking at the people dotted around the bridge.
"I apologize for the long delay Major General, we have certain trust issues," came Admiral Adams answer after a while.
"As do we," Jack said in a quick response, trying to find common ground with the Admiral.
"I am willing to meet with you Major General, but on my own terms. I will allow you to board on to Galactica. We can then discuss what assistance you need and in repayment you can answer some of my questions," William said slowly, not entirely sure if this was the right decision.
This seemed acceptable to Jack. "I agree to your terms. Expect a small aircraft shortly with me and three of my men." Turning off the long range communicator he turned to the others.
"So, who's coming with me?" he asked.
Ronon stepped forward when the General looked around.
"I will," he said. He was tired of just standing by and doing nothing. It just wasn´t in his nature.
Jack glanced at Ronon who oddly reminded him of Teal'c, which was strangely comforting seeing as Teal'c wasn’t there. He nodded his head. "And you are?" he asked with a questioning smile.
"This is Ronon Dex, he's a member of my team," Sheppard quickly told O'Neill. "I'd also like to go with you, sir."
Jack nodded and then turned to Daniel. "And I assume you will be coming as well," he told the linguist tactfully. It made sense to have one of his old team members with him. It wouldn't be the same otherwise.
"And I trust that you folks will behave yourselves till we return," he added to the others.
Daniel smiled.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Lee heard his fathers words and turned to Dee. "Arrange for a viper to be ready immediately," he told his girlfriend. The quickest way to Galactica would be to take a viper.
"Admiral, I will be on board the Galactica as soon as possible."
Lee knew, that it probably wasn´t the best idea to have both him and his father on the Galactica if they walked into a trap, but he couldn´t just stay on the Pegasus while his father might be in danger. Besides, if those people really were from Earth he would love to meet them himself.
Dee nodded her head and made a point of hiding her concern behind the mask she wore while on duty. With a couple words to the hanger she knew a viper would be ready and waiting for the young Commander.
"Viper will be ready for when you arrive, sir," she told him.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Lee was on board the Galactica in almost no time.
"Admiral," he greeted his father with a nod. He then noticed Helo and offered him a small smile.
"Commander," Helo said returning the smile. He was really anxious. Sharon had told him that the Cylons did not have any spaceships similar to the one they had encountered and he trusted her. So, the only possibillity left was that this ship really came from Earth. He just wished they had encountered it before the Cylons took over New Caprica.
"How long until they arrive on board the Galactica?" Lee asked.
"A few minutes," one of the few remaining personal told him. "We have an incoming spaceship. I am giving orders for them to board."
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Ronon looked out of the puddle jumper, which they luckily had taken along. He wouldn´t have wanted to squeeze into one of the small earth spacespips.
"These ships are big," he then said when they were close. He really hoped negotiations with those people would go well. He didn´t want them to have to fight against those ships. The Daedalus was well armed and luckily didn´t get hit in the battle back in the Milky Way, but he wasn´t sure if it had a chance against two of those ships.
"I've seen bigger," Jack couldn't help but comment, his eyes glued to the two big vessels looming ahead in the darkness of space. He had put a lot of faith on his gut instinct. If he was wrong and these people were hostile… well, he'd just have to hope that the Daedalus would come to their rescue.
"Jack, do you think this is such a good idea?" Daniel questioned slowly.
"Nope, but it's not like we have much of a choice and seeing as Carter is still unavailable, we've run out of options. Besides, they sound friendly..."
Receiving instructions from Galactica, Sheppard carefully maneuvered the puddle jumper on board the large ship with ease. The first thing he noticed once they had landed was the group of people there to meet them.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
The ship that landed in the hanger was nothing like they had seen before. Straightening his posture Admiral William Adama took a step forward prepared to greet whoever emerged from the small space craft.
This moment was either going to change their lives for the better or for the worst, and all the Admiral could do was hope that it was for the better. Too much hung in the balance for this to turn out to be a bad decision.
The back of the puddle jumper lowered to reveal four men, or at least what appeared to be men. Lowering his eyes, William noticed that each of them were armed. Instantly he heard some of his own men raise their weapons.
"Just a safety precaution," Jack quickly called out. "We don't plan to use them as long as you…" he gestured at the weapons being pointed at him and his men, "…folks don't plan on firing at us first."
"Lower your weapons," William commanded.
Assuming that the man, who had just ordered his men to be at ease, was the Admiral he had spoken to over the ship's communications, Jack purposely walked over to him.
"Admiral Admara, I presume?" Once he had recieved a curt nod, Jack introduced himself: "Major General Jack O'Neill." He then gestured over his shoulder at the others. "And this are Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Ronon Dex."
William inspected each of the men carefully as the Major General introduced them. Still not entirely at ease, he introduced his own crew, and Lee as the Commander of the Battlestar Pegasus. He then suggested talking somewhere more comfortable, which Jack agreed to.
----- -----
They soon arrived and sat down in a meeting room. Lee sat next to his father and observed the strangers closely.
"So, you really are from Earth?" he then just asked. He was too curious to stay quiet any longer. His father surely would forgive him for starting the conversation.
The Admiral shot a glance at Lee when he spoke up and then flickered his eyes back to the General and his men, awaiting their response.
"So you've heard of us?" Jack asked with a tight lipped smile. It wasn't too much of a surprise, after all, they had gained a bit of a reputation throughout the years. When no one replied he realised that they were waiting for confirmation that they were from Earth.
"Yes, we are from Earth." Daniel smiled, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking, how is it that you know of Earth? It's rare for us to come across other civilisations which know our planet by that name."
Jack frowned at Daniel's choice of question. If he left it to Daniel, no doubt they would be here all day.
"Earth is believed to be the alleged location of the thirteenth colony. We have been searching for Earth in the hopes for our people to settle there," the Admiral said.
Jack wasn't particualy fond of this piece of news. "And YOU folks are?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.
Lee looked at the General sceptically. Wasn´t that obvious? But maybe they hadn´t heard of the colonies? Maybe that piece of information had gone lost over time on Earth? ... if they really were from Earth...
"We are representing the twelve other colonies, or at least what´s left of them," Lee stated.
"You do know about the colonies, don´t you?" he then asked. Making sure about their knowledge would be good.
Ronon glanced at the Commander quizically. He wasn´t even from Earth and certainly had never heard of 13 colonies. But he kept his mouth firmly shut. He wasn´t much of a talker anyway.
Jack did the only thing he could do: "Daniel?" he turned to his former teammate questioningly, expecting the younger man to be able to shed some light on this matter. Daniel, however, looked just as puzzled as Jack.
With furrowed eyebrows, Daniel tried to make sense of what they had just been told.
"Humans evolved on Earth and our world has been occupied by our own people for centuries. You are saying that a colony of your own people came to Earth, or at least you believe your people made it to Earth?"
Noticing that Jack was staring at him in a way that meant 'hurry it along', Daniel tried to make his point as quickly as possible but was interrupted by the Admiral: "We have always believed Kobol to be the original home of mankind."
Daniel nodded. "There is a race known as the Goa'uld who took people from Earth and settled them amongst the stars to be slaves a millenia ago. So it is possible that your people originated from Earth."
"Or it's even possible that the ancients had something to do with this...right?" Jack asked looking at Daniel for confirmation.
Daniel shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe. There is no proof that humans in the Pegasus Galaxy were taken by the Goa'uld.”
Helo looked at the strangers questioningly. He never had been much of a religious person, but he had always believed that humanity evolved on Kobol. This was weird.
"The ancients? And what are goa... er, what?" Lee asked puzzled. He had never heard that word before.
Ronon raised an eyebrow. It didn´t sound like those people knew about the ancestors. He had never met anyone who didn´t. He glanced at Sheppard before leaning back in his chair once more.
"Goa'uld," Jack corrected him. "We pretty much kicked their asses so they're nothing for you to worry about."
"There is also the possibility that this is a galaxy the Ori occupy," Daniel added, grabbing Jack's attention again.
"They don't look like a bunch of bible bashers to me," Jack stated before turning to the Admiral. "The Ori doesn't ring any bells or alarms does it?"
"No, not at all," William answered.
Sheppard who had been keeping quiet decided to but in: "I hate to interrupt, General but shouldn't we be asking them what we came here to ask them?”
"Right." Jack gave John a smile, grateful that he had steered them back on track.
"During entering hyperspace we were hit by an energy wave which threw us off course and we now have absolutely no idea where we are, and we kind of left our own galaxy at a bad time..."
Lee still looked at the strangers and raised an eyebrow from time to time at their choice of words.
"So, Earth is in another galaxy?" Lee then asked. He had hoped that they were close enough to Earth to get help in fighting the Cylons.
"Well this part of the universe is not on our ships computer bases, so it's safe to say we're not in the Milky Way…"
"… which is the Galaxy the planet Earth is in," Daniel quickly said, finishing off Jack's sentence before any questions could be asked about what the Milky Way was.
"We sadly don´t know where Earth or the Milky Way are, but we can show you a card of this galaxy," Lee offered. If they wanted help from these people in the near future they would have to offer help themselves.
"Thank you," Jack said. "And I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you so keen on settling on Earth? Don't you have your own planet?"
The Admiral cleared his throat. He had made a point of not mentioning their own crisis, but seeing as they needed help, he had no other choice.
"We are at war with a robotic race, the Cylons. They've recently attacked the planet we were residing on, 'New Caprica'. Our two battlestars and the rest of our fleet managed to escape but most of our people are still on the planet." He swallowed hard, trying to maintain his stony composure. He couldn't help regretting his decision to leave his people behind. With or without the Earth peoples help or even Lee's agreement, William knew that he would be going back to help the citizens on New Caprica, even if it did turn out to be suicide.
"Cylons, well that's new," Sheppard remarked. "Don't think we've come across robots before."
Lee swallowed hard when his father told them about the Cylons and their recent attack. Whenever he thought about all the people and especially his friends who were still on the planet he felt like he couldn´t breathe. What if they were all dead by now?
Pushing away the bad thoughts he tried to focus on the current situation again.
"We also hoped to find help on Earth in fighting and destroying the Cylons once and for all. They have killed too many of our people already," he stated looking at the four of them, to see their reaction.
Helo swallowed hard. He knew how the others felt about the Cylons, and he hated them himself. But he couldn´t stop wondering what happened if they ever managed to destroy the Cylons. The others surely wouldn´t let Sharon live then, would they?
Jack O'Neill had sensed this coming. The moment these people said they were in the middle of a war he had guessed it was only a matter of time before they would be asked to get involved, something he felt they couldn't just do.
Bringing his right hand up to his mouth he brushed his fingers across his lower lip as his eyes flicked from Lee to the Admiral and Helo.
If he was honest with himself, Jack had to admit that he had always gone by his own set of morals and what he believed to be right and wrong. It was what had gotten him into trouble over and over again in the past. A number of times he had considered it a miracle that he hadn't been court-marshaled. But he wasn’t, and now he was the highest ranking officer on the Daedalus. So the decision on how to respond to this situation was entirely up to him.
"How many people are on the planet?" he asked.
Daniel who was sitting next to Jack leaned close to him and said in a hushed voice, "Jack, what are you doing?"
"I'm not saying that we can help," Jack quickly said before Daniel could protest. "You have to understand that we have our own fair share of enemies, and you can say we're in a bit of a war ourselves at the moment. But, if my crew agrees we will help you rescue your people, if we can."
Sheppard stared at Jack and found himself having a new higher respect for the man.
"Jack..."
Jack turned to Daniel. "I'm not making any promises here," he told the anthropologist sharply. "I'm just saying it's under consideration."
Lee watched the General closely, feeling glad that he even considered helping them. He then glanced at his father when the General talked to one of his men.
They had to manage to get their help. Without them any rescue mission was doomed. They had nowhere near enough personal on board the battlestars to make up a fight against the Cylons. But maybe with the help of these people they had a chance. There still would be much more Cylon ships around, maybe even several basestars. But they would have the element of surprise on their side.
"If you help us we might be able to help you as well," he then just said before glancing at his father. An offer like that usually would have to come from the Admiral himself, but he was sure his father saw it the same way. And even if not, he was the Commander of the Pegasus himself. He could decide about his ship on his own. If the people from Earth helped them he would do all he could to help them as well. Besides that it also would be good for all of them to help Earth if they wanted to live on the planet.
Jack nodded his head, it would be a fair trade and he knew that they needed all the help they could get against the Ori. Without a doubt this was a tactful negotiation, which would be a positive move for both sides.
"Like I said, before I can come to a decision, I will have to talk to the rest of my men. I will not force them to participate in a war if they do not want to. And if we do agree to help, I will expect to be told about what exactly we are getting ourselves into. I don't like surprises Admiral, Commander."
"Neither do I," the Admiral admitted. "You have our promise that you will be told all you want to know, if you decide to help us."
"Sir, we told Colonel Caldwell that we would check in with him around now," Sheppard stated glancing at his watch. The meeting was going well and the last thing they needed was for the Daedalus to get into red alert on these people.
"Ah, yes! We did, didn't we?" Jack leaned back in his chair and offered the Admiral and Commander a smile.
"Gentlemen, you'll have to excuse us, the Colonel hates it when we don't call. I'll inform my men of your current situation and you will be contacted with our decision."
When Jack rose to his feet, the Admiral rose to his own, expecting his men to follow his example.
"Of course." He then held his hand out as a gesture of friendship. "Thank you. I'll be waiting for your reply. Lieutenant Agathon will take you back to your ship."
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chapter 2