SG Nova Roma, Chapter 2.13

13 – Spera Down

(Spera – Science Lab – Day 149 / 21 January 2018, 1721)

Nikita Aranov had just finished reorganizing the science lab. It had been three weeks since they had visited F2B-017 and brought back a lot of pieces of the puzzle. In those weeks, he had managed to make some major progress in figuring out the history of three races and two galaxies. Today, he had been putting away the bits and pieces. ~We need to find some storage space, or we’ll run out of place to put things.~ But for now, he had managed to scrape together enough space for the short-term. So he sat behind his laptop and began writing his report.

Alas, he was only three sentences in when Colonel Vale came in. He was followed by Alec Colson. Nikita was about to greet them, but then he noticed that they were both wearing red armbands. The armbands were Sergeant T’Zalo’s idea and were used to identify people using the Ancient Communications Stones. They also had the names of the person using the stones writing on them in erasable marker. Colonel Vale was currently exchanged with President Robert Mackenzie, while Alec Colson was exchanged with General O’Neill.

“General, Mister President.” He said with a nod.

“So.” O’Neill said. “Rumor has it that you have a report for us.”

“Well, I need to put it on paper. But I can give you the cliff notes now, sir.” He hit some keys and a map appeared on his laptop. “This is the empire of destroyers, which covers Galaxy Destiny One and Destiny Two. It needed a name, so I’m calling it the Praedones Empire.”

“Let me guess, Latin for empire of destroyers ?” Mackenzie asked.

“Yes. Anyway, the Praedones Empire existed about fifty-seven thousands years ago. And it has a personnel problem. Think of it as the US during World War Two. All the men are away fighting the war, so the ladies get into all sorts of jobs. Except in the case of the Empire, there aren’t enough ladies to go around.”

“So, what did the Empire do ?”

“Well, the Praedones are pretty good with genetics. So, they create three species to fill the holes.” He hit some keys and the map was replaced by a dictionary. “Nakai means Medic, which explains how they did what they did to Chloe Armstrong. Ursini is their word for Scientist and Jynacko means Engineer. Now, we fast forward seven-thousand years and get to fifty-thousand years ago. Based on F2B-017, aka Praedones Prime, that’s when things went pear-shaped.”

“The Builders entered the picture.”

“Yeah, and they had no intention of becoming slaves. But an Empire this big….there’s no way that they match its manpower. So they have no other option but to go down the automated path. Now, there are still plenty of details about the Builder-Praedones War missing, but I think we saw how it ended. After which, the Builders pack up and go home to their own galaxy.”

“So, what happened to them ?”

“That’s the part we haven’t figured out yet.” Aranov said, while making a face.

“And all of this is relevant, how ?” O’Neill asked.

“Well, we know that somebody has taken control of the Control Ship and Drones. And based on what I’ve been able to puzzle together so far, the Builders just jumped to the top of the suspect list. Especially if they are worried that the Nakai are trying to replace the Praedones as the new big Empire in this part of the universe.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it,” Mackenzie said. “I’ve been going over the reports on the blockade that forced Destiny’s crew into stasis. The Command Ships blocked every Stargate and every star Destiny could use to recharge. Now, I’m no expert on galaxies and Stargates, but that would take thousand of ships. Not a meager two-hundred. And to fight a war across two galaxies ? You’d need even more.”

“There’s that.” O’Neill said.

“And why haven’t they attacked yet ? Those meager two-hundred ships have been sitting outside the Nakai Home Galaxy for months now. And nobody knows why. I’m telling you, we’re missing a piece of the story,” Mackenzie leaned on the table and looked at the laptop. “And I’ve read enough SGC reports to know that it’s always the missing piece that comes back to bit you in the ass. There were thousand of those ships in 2010 and now there are only two hundred ? Where did the rest go ?”

“I don’t know,” Aranov said.

“Well, I think we should find out,” O’Neill said. “Before, you-know….”

That was when the alarm sounded. Aranov bolted towards the bridge, with O’Neill and Mackenzie right behind him. They had just arrived when the ship dropped out of FTL. Nikita sat behind Science Station Two, which had been empty. He brought up the readings from the long-range sensors and gasped. Ahead of them was a major rift. He turned to President Mackenzie, but from the look on his face told him that he the President was no longer connected. And neither was General O’Neill.

“Guys ?”

“The connection has been severed,” Vale said. “What’s going on ?”

“We’re heading right for a massive rift, Colonel,” Aranov began. “There’s no way to get away from it using sub-light drives. Because if I’m reading this right, it’s a lightyear across. And, as if that isn’t bad enough, it’s moving towards us.” He hit some keys and a count-down appeared. “We have thirty-seven seconds before it reaches us.”

“FTL drive ?”

“It’s off-line,” Colson said from Engineering Two. “And even if it was working, I wouldn’t recommend using it near that rift. We should divert everything we have to the shields. Because I have a feeling that this might be a rough ride.”

“Everything except the sub-lights, we might need them for the ride,” Vale said, while making his way to the Flight Control consoles. One was manned by Frank Levine, while T’Zalo was behind the other. “You can do this, boys.” He activated the intercom. “All hands, brace for impact. Repeat, brace for impact.”

“Twenty seconds to contact,” Levine said. “T’Zalo, take control of the thrusters. We’re going to have to keep her from spinning out.”

“I’ve got them,” T’Zalo said. “Ten seconds to contact.”

The lights on the bridge went out, as did some of the consoles. Nikita’s console was one of them, but he didn’t mind. ~Alec’s diverted the power.~ He could see the shields ripple as they received more power. Then the ship began to shake. He grabbed his console and counted down in his head. He reached zero and then everything went dark.

(Stargate Command – Briefing Room – Day 150 / 22 January 2018, 1200)

Robert Mackenzie plummeted into one of the chairs at the table and sighed. He had not gotten a lot of sleep since the connection with Spera had been severed. His advisors had told him to return to the White House, but he had refused. ~There are over a hundred people on that ship and another eighty on Destiny.~ And he had good people covering for him. ~They’ll call me if there’s a real crisis.~ So he had stayed at Stargate Command to deal with this situation.

“Damn,” He said. “What a mess.”

“Mister President,” General Landry said as he walked into the room. “you look horrible.”

“I feel horrible,” Mackenzie said. “Have we found anything ?”

“No. The Deep Space Internet feed from the Spera is dead,” Landry said. “And the Ancient Communications Stones aren’t connecting either. I’m afraid Spera is down.”

Mackenzie sighed. They would have to break the news to the families and friends of both crews. Because both without Spera, there was no hope for Destiny.

End of Season 2, to be continued in Season 3…..