Starborn Smith [Stargate, Battletech Multicross]

- - -

POV: Arthur Sinclair

An hour later, I was able to confirm that the ship was approaching, heading straight for Pangar, in fact. 

The following 24 hours were a hectic mess as Elder James, Arktos, and Ma'chello worked to get operatives as well as a few mechs hidden on Pangar. A half-dozen Locusts were transferred through to the world. 

We'd tested out the Ha'taks sensors extensively, and they weren't capable of detecting a mech if they were properly hidden, but we weren't sure if that would hold up with one of Ra's vessels. We'd just have to wait and see. 

Other than the Mechs, the Pangarans were surprisingly trusting and agreed to start preparing much of their population for the invasion. 

As the clock ticked by, we began searching for a set of transport rings in the facility. Luckily, we uncovered a set of them after not much searching. As soon as the ship arrived, we'd start sending up soldiers. 

Finally, several hundred resistance members, Serkha, and Villagers began preparing. The Pangarans had a rather limited combat force; it was mostly police and the remnants from before the Pangaran city-states merged into a single unified government. Nonetheless, every member of their armed forces that could be prepared were mobilized. 

As the hours ticked by, and the cities of Pangar began to still. The Stargate was moved to a more secure Pangaran facility, and then we waited. 

As the sun set, the sky above the Stargate facility was crystal clear, and as the final few hours passed, we all waited. 

Finally, three hours after sunset, I was barely able to make out the blue flash of the ship dropping out of Hyperspace. 

Standard Goa'uld procedure was to capture the Stargate as soon as possible. Assuming the commander of this Ha'tak followed that procedure, his ship would be approaching this facility. 

And, just as we had assumed, the Ha'tak approached. I watched from the nearby forest as the Ha'tak floated above the facility and began launching a small flight of Death Gliders from its hangars. 

Half of them were immediately blown out of the sky by fire from mech-mounted weapons. The rest followed only a short few seconds later.

Then, my radio activated. "Ring Transporter confirmed."

And so it began.

- - -

POV: Mira Thalros. Dendred Resistance Member.

With a woosh, the Ring Transporter activated. The moment that the final ring was out of the way, all eight of us opened fire. Within a fraction of a second, the Mauser assault systems opened up and plumes of steam filled the room. 

"Spread out!" I yelled as we immediately rushed to cover the room's entrance. I immediately heard the footsteps of Jaffa coming from the corridor. 

I yelled at my team. "Cover the door." Once I was certain that all my team members were clear of the Transporter I grabbed my radio. "We're clear for the second team." 

A short burst of static filled the room as the Ring Transporter began activating again. "Second group coming through."

Just as the Transport Ring activated, the Jaffa entered the room, only to be instantly vaporized by eight separate beams from me and my team. The already steamy room instantly became even thicker. 

"Forward!" I yelled and we instantly broke into the hallway. Twice more, we ran into a Jaffa contingent. Both times we mowed them down before they even got a chance to fire upon us. 

I was amazed at how simple it was. Even when we were taking back the Sanctum on Dendred, it had been simple, but this was ridiculous.

Even a glancing blow from a Mauser instantly killed any Jaffa just because of how easily the heat transferred into their bodies and cooked them alive. 

Within a matter of two minutes, we had killed almost 40 Jaffa without taking a single casualty. 

We had been drilling on Ha'tak vessels for months now. Our first capture point was always Engineering. From there, we had effectively total control of any of the ship's systems. Arthur had even found a way to lock out the bridge on Ares' vessels. If Ra's Ha'taks were anything like Ares', then there would be no issue. 

So, that's what we started with. Corridor by corridor, room by room, we expanded our beachhead within the ship. The Jaffa certainly tried their best to hold their vessel, but it became clear very quickly that they had never even imagined a foothold situation occurring.

The Ma'tok staff were poorly designed. They were near impossible to aim at long range, and they were even harder to use in such close quarters. A Mauser could mow down an entire squad of Jaffa with a single shot. Even worse, the Jaffa's metal armor meant that no matter where they were hit, they died almost instantly from the heat being transferred. It was the exact opposite of the type of armor you wanted to counter laser weapons.

On top of that, what few shots they did get off at my own men, while certainly damaging, still left them alive most of the time. Ma'chello had made our uniforms specifically to counter staff weapons. 

Even worse, they had a weapon that would have been perfect for such close quarters combat, the Zats. They likely wouldn't have killed any of us, but our advantage wouldn't have been so extreme. 

Engineering was just a few floors below the transporter room. It took us less than thirty minutes to fight our way down. As we secured the main engineering room, several of my team immediately got to work removing crystals. 

Then came the real battle. I suppose that thirty minutes had been enough for the Jaffa stationed on the ship to finally get their shit together, because they started pouring from the hallways. 

Every second, more of the Jaffa would rush into the main shield room. After less than five minutes, the number of corpses that blocked the corridor was physically enough to prevent Jaffa from entering. 

Slowly but surely, we cleared the ship, and the bodies started piling up. I barely even felt myself turn numb to the bodies, as we stormed through the ship, room by room, corridor by corridor. 

It was hours later that we were finally recalled to the Transporter Room. That evening, I returned to my bunk. I didn't wake up for more than 48 hours. 

- - -

POV: James Cromwell. The Day After the Battle.

Eight-hundred and thirty-four. That was the number of Ra's Jaffa that had died in the battle. 

We had suffered barely eighty-one casualties.

It was clear that Ra's forces were ridiculously unprepared for any sort of boarding action within their own vessel. 

It was more than that as well, obviously. They had been completely unprepared for any sort of combat in close-quarters, their own weapons were totally unsuited for such combat. 

The greatest factor, however, was the effectiveness of Laser weapons against Jaffa armor. 

Jaffa armor was designed to conduct the energy of a staff blast throughout the armor, and thus save the wearer's life. It wasn't especially effective, but it worked, and, likely more importantly to the creators, it was easy to make. 

When dealing with Laser Weapons, this was a catastrophic design flaw. When a Jaffa was hit with a laser weapon, their entire armor would conduct the heat generated by the laser, distributing it across the entire armor. The wearer would be flash-boiled in a matter of milliseconds and the armor would turn red hot. 

The Ha'tak had a crew complement of about 1200. 1100 of them were the vessel's Jaffa contingent, 36 were Death Glider pilots, 12 were the vessels pilots and primary crew, and the rest were maintenance workers and serfs.

With the aid of the local Pangarans, the vessel had been landed in a field outside their main city, and we had quickly begun to clear everything out. The survivors were moved to several of the Pangaran prisons. They barely had the space to accommodate them.

The dead Jaffa had been laid out in rows besides the Ha'tak. Looking at the bodies was horrific, and I had seen several dozen people puke their guts out already. 

I took a deep breath and turned away. We had a meeting with the Pangaran Leadership in just a few minutes.

- - -

"We've looked over the options you've provided for us, and we'd like to start evacuating our world." The Pangaran representative, Madam Thol, began as soon as we had sat down.

I nodded. If they wished to survive, then they didn't really have a choice in the matter. "Understood. We'd be happy to provide you with whatever aid we can manage."

Madam Thol locked her fingers together and stared straight at me. "Next, we'd like to discuss what is to be done about the Ha'tak."

I nodded. "As promised, the vessel belongs to your people. We would like access to the records that the vessel contains. We have gained access to a Goa'uld database before, but it was only from a minor system lord. Whatever is available on that vessel, I have no doubt that it will be much more than what we have."

She nodded. "While we appreciate that, we have other concerns. More specifically, the method used to track the ship's movement."

I pursed my lips. "There are a few recommendations we could make.Though neither are ideal. It should also be noted that any world that we would consider safe for you to settle on would take years for the ship to arrive. The best I can recommend is that you disassemble it to learn how it works. That, or throw it into Deep Space until you can use it."

She sighed. "That's as we expected. Do you know how long till another one shows up?"

"Your representative knows as much as I do. Likely several months, maybe less, maybe more."

She nodded. "Well, next on our agenda, I've been told that you're willing to offer us technologies to aid in our rebuilding."

- - -

POV: Arthur Sinclair. Two days after the Attack on Pangar.

Egeria sat at a table with the usual group of Elders. "I would like to make contact with the rest of my children."

Elder James frowned. "Are you sure that is wise? I am unsure how secure they are as an organization."

She nodded. "The main reason against my contacting them was the fear that it would draw attention to the Pangaran people. That fear has already come to pass. The sooner you can make contact with the Tok'ra, the better."

Ma'chello tapped his fingers against the table. "Do you know how you might make contact with them?"

Lady Isetri stepped forward. "My current plan is to inform the High Council that I have been compromised. From there, I will make the trip through several safe locations to ensure that I have not been further compromised. It will take several months at least. Perhaps even a year."

Egeria nodded. "She will speak only to the {Highest Council Person} at which point they will send someone to confirm what she has said."

Elder James sat back. "As long as only one or two highly trusted individuals are told, I have no issue with this."

Everyone else seemed to nod. "Alright then, we are all in agreement."

Egeria nodded. "Thank you. I would also like access to the records on Ra's Ha'tak. I need to inform myself on the current state of the Empire."

We all turned to the Pangaran Representative. "As long as we are shown how to operate the technology, we have agreed to freely share what is available from the vessel."

- - -

POV: Ra. Twelve Days Prior. 

I looked down at the notification. Another one of the transmitters had been activated. The System Lords could barely even manage to keep their own domain in check. It was for the best then that they didn't even have to do that. 

I dismissed the notification and ordered my nearest ship to go remove the world's inhabitants. It would be there in a bit less than two weeks. 

I opened my eyes and looked out at the display. Another battle over. I stared at the remains of the bulbous purple ships. They had been kilometers long before they had been reduced to so much rubble. 

Their weapons were powerful, but they relied heavily on plasma for energy transfer. It made the ship vulnerable, and their shields were weak as well; all their size just made them excellent targets. 

It seemed like most of their tech was reverse engineered from some ancient splinter faction. They seemed to enjoy building mega structures, something that the Avalon Ancients found unnecessary. 

Hmm, the next century wouldn't be boring at least.