SG-8 had eliminated Loric’s Lucian Alliance squad on Level 12, just outside the control chair room. The air hung heavy with the acrid scent of gunpowder, and the echoes of gunfire reverberated through the metal corridors. Cate seized the moment, darting from her position in the west passageway.

  “Major Braden, secure this area!” Cate ordered, her tone clipped and commanding.

  “Yes, ma'am.” Braden gave a quick signal, directing his team to defensive positions.

  Cate sprinted across the second passageway just as four more Alliance fighters appeared. Bullets shrieked past her, ricocheting violently off the walls. She dove into the control room, her chest heaving.

  “Will, get out there and reinforce Braden's line!” Cate barked at her XO, Major William Troy.

  “On it!” Will grabbed his rifle and bolted into the fray without hesitation.

  Inside the control room, Sister Helena hovered near the Ancient control chair, flinching at every burst of gunfire. Her anxiety was palpable, her hands trembling. Cate approached, her expression softening but her voice steady.

  “Alright, Sister,” Cate said gently but firmly, “take a seat in the chair.”

  Sister Helena hesitated, her wide eyes darting to the alien device. “I—I don’t know if I can...”

  “You can,” Cate assured her, a small, encouraging smile breaking through her otherwise stern demeanour. “Trust me, it won’t bite.”

  Helena exhaled shakily, muttering a prayer under her breath. “St. Nuno, protect me.” She lowered herself into the Chair. As soon as her fingers touched the armrests, the device sprang to life. A soft blue glow enveloped her, and the chair reclined, catching her off guard.

  “Whoa!” Helena yelped, clutching the armrests.

  “Good,” Cate said, her tone measured. “Close your eyes and focus. Think about the weapons. This will give you access to Zulu Station’s drone storage.”

  The sound of the firefight outside escalated. Corporal Guinan—dubbed “Sharps” for his precision—took a hit to the shoulder. Will dragged him behind a stack of packing crates, swiftly stabilizing the wound before diving back into the battle.

  Meanwhile, on Level Six, Lt. Colonel Marcus Larkin and his SG-24 team fought desperately to hold the Stargate. His XO, Squadron Leader Isolde Fairbairn, and Sergeant Gunnar Bjornson anchored the line alongside Zulu Station’s security force. Master Sergeant Alison McGuire and Sergeant Erin Murphy, both from SG-4, flanked them, firing relentlessly.

  Marcus’s voice crackled through Cate’s radio. “Cate, whatever you're planning, do it now!”

  “Understood,” Cate replied, her voice unwavering.

  Beyond the station, Invincible’s fleet of F-302s clashed with Hallam’s Death Gliders and Al’kesh bombers. In the chaos, an Al’kesh latched onto Zulu Station. The Invincible’s gunners opened fire, their 155mm rounds obliterating the enemy craft, but the explosion ripped through the station’s science sector. Alarms blared as damage control teams raced to seal the breach.

  Cate glanced at the displays. The situation was deteriorating, but she maintained her composure.

  “Alright, Sister Helena,” Cate said. “Focus. Ancient technology responds to your thoughts. Let’s start small. Picture the Death Gliders—the enemy ships. Can you see them?”

  “I think so,” Helena murmured, her brow furrowed in concentration. “But it’s been years. Could you show me an image?”

  Cate pulled up two visuals on the monitor: a sleek, menacing Death Glider on one side and a compact, angular F-302 on the other. “Destroy the ships on the left. Focus on them in your mind. Nod when you’ve got the picture."

  Helena nodded after a moment, her breathing steadying.

  “Good. Now imagine taking one out. Visualize it.”

  A glowing, squid-like Ancient drone launched from the station. It streaked through space, zigzagging past the F-302s, before slamming into a Death Glider, reducing it to shrapnel.

  Cate’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Direct hit. Well done, Sister!”

  “Really?” Helena’s voice was tinged with disbelief.

  “Really,” Cate confirmed. “Let’s keep going.”

  The Sister closed her eyes again, her confidence growing. Two more drones launched, cutting down two Death Gliders in a fiery display.

  “Fire at will,” Cate instructed, her tone filled with conviction.

  Helena began targeting multiple ships, the drones spiralling through the void. But as her ambition grew, so did the risks. One drone veered off course, heading straight for the Invincible. The crew braced for impact, but the drone fizzled out—a dud.

  “Hey! Who's aiming at friendlies?” barked Captain McFearson from the Invincible’s bridge.

  Cate winced but kept her voice calm. “Apologies, Captain. Rookie in the Chair. She’ll adjust.”

  Helena’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. Cate placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

  “You’re doing fine,” Cate reassured her. “Now, let’s tighten your focus. Aim for two Gliders at a time.”

  Helena nodded, her resolve hardening. Two drones launched in perfect unison, striking their targets. She exhaled deeply, the tension beginning to drain from her shoulders.

  Cate watched the monitors, her confidence in the Carmelite nun growing. “Keep it up, Sister. The tide’s turning.”

  **********************************************

  Outside the Chair Room, SG-8 and Major Troy came under fire from another Lucian Alliance squadron.

  “Troy, take the left flank, see if you can catch them in the crossfire!” cried Major Braden.

  “On it, Pat,” replied Will. He moved to a large barrel and ducked behind it. He had a good line of sight to the enemy. Major Braden then directed Lt. Lamb to move up where Nyssa had positioned herself earlier. This created a choke point to trap the enemy.

  “Engage and destroy!” ordered Major Braden. Rifles began to fire. The corridor became engulfed in smoke and the air was filled with the rancid smell of gunpowder. The rat-a-tat-tat of rifles filled the corridor, punctuated by the blasts of Staff Weapons and Zat’nik’tels.

  In the Ancient Chair Room, Sister Helena continued her work in obliterating the Lucian Alliance’s Death Gliders and fighters. After her blunder of firing on the Invincible, Sister Helena contently fired two drones at a time, obliterating a handful of gliders.

  “You can fire on multiple targets, Sister,” said Cate.

  “I’m a bit worried, Commander,” replied Sister Helena. “There was a lot of angst when I shot at the Invincible. What if that was a live round?”

  Cate stood next to Sister Helena and placed a reassuring hand on the Carmelite’s shoulder. “Don’t you worry. Take a few deep breaths.” Sister Helena did so and also silently prayed a few Hail Mary’s. “Let’s try this: start with first taking out two Gliders, next three, then five, then three and finally two. Take a breath and then repeat the process. Got it?”

  “I think so,” Sister Helena replied as she closed her eyes to concentrate on the next phase of the battle ahead. “Let’s try it.” she said with a tone of nervous confidence in her voice.

  “Good girl.” replied Cate. “I’ll call everything out.” Once Sister Helena was ready, she nodded. “Go for two!” the Cate cried. She watched from the monitor as two drones streaked through the vastness of space. They found their targets, sending a shower of flotsam throughout the battlefield.

  Now go for three!” Upon seeing satisfying progress, Cate said, “Now go for five!” Marks found their targets. “Now three! Now two!” After firing the last two drones, Sister Helena breathed a sigh of relief. “Good job, Helena. Direct hit on all targets. Let’s do it again!” Once Helena was ready, Commander MacGregor called: “Fire two…Now three…now five…now three…now two. Catch your breath! You’re doing well! Now, once again…two…three…five…three…two. Almost there…”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Back up on Level 6, Lt. Colonel Marcus Larkin and the remainder of SG-24 along with Sergeants Murphy and McGuire of SG-4 were getting desperate. Two of Zulu Station’s security personnel had been hit, and now his line began to wear thin.

  “Murphy! McGuire! Tighten the flanks! Bjornson, watch that crossfire!” He barked. Marcus leaned into his radio. “Cate, how’s it coming?”

  “We’re making progress, Marcus,” Cate replied. “Helena’s taken out most of the Death Gliders. We only have a few drones left. We’re going to try to take out one of the Ha’taks.”

  “Make it quick! Our line’s wearing thin, we’ve got two wounded down here and could use medics ASAP!” Colonel Larkin said.

  “Copy, Marcus!” Cate replied. Cate surveyed the monitor. Sister Helena had mopped up most of the Death Gliders and the Invincible’s 302’s and 402s were winning their fights. “You’re going great, Helena. Let’s try to take out the Ha’tak closest to the station.” She pulled an image of a Goa’uld Ha’tak vessel on the screen. “Concentrate on destroying the vessel. It will take four drones to take it out.”

  “Got it,” replied Sister Helena. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Four drones took off from the station’s drone storage room. They flew as little golden streaks finding their targets in a massive Egyptian themed spaceship. A few seconds later the mighty an imposing Ha’tak was destroyed in a massive fireball.

  On the bridge of the Invincible, the crew cheered at the sight of the exploding Ha’tak. Captain McFearson smiled briefly but knew that the battle was far from over. “Look alive, people! Our rookie may have taken out a Ha’tak but we've got another Ha’tak and a mothership out there!” Elle barked. She pressed the button on her chair for the radio. “Confirmed, Cate. One Ha’tak down. Congrats to our rookie working the chair!”

  “Copy, Elle. I'll pass the word along. We're out of drones. Invincible’s rail guns and the stations main guns will have to hold off their remaining Ha’tak and the mothership.”

  “Have you heard anything from the Apollo, Cate?”

  “She'd be here in 30 minutes, if General Carter can get a hold of her. Other than that, I have not heard from her.

  “Understood. Who do we have to thank for working the chair?” Elle asked.

  “Sister Helena of the Cross,” replied Cate. I'll explain later.

  “Copy. Let's hope the Apollo gets here soon,” said Elle. “Invincible out.”

  Cate smiled and extended her hand. “Congratulations, Sister. You did it! You destroyed the Ha’tak vessel!”

  “Thank you for teaching me, Commander,” said Sister Helena.

  “My pleasure. Now let's get now let's rejoin our friends on level 6. They need our help.”

  Sister Helena got out of the chair and activated her Zat. Cate spoke on her radio.

  “Braden is the coast clear?”

  “Affirmative ma'am,” Major Braden replied. “Come on out.” Cate picked up her weapon, shut the off the lights, and the two women exited the chair room.

  “Alright, back to level 6! We need to help Colonel Larkin with his fight!” SG-8 and Will nodded. The six made a mad dash to the elevators.

  Things were not looking good for the Invincible. Elle nervously paced the bridge. “Where was the Apollo?” She thought. This was turning into Deja Vu. Two days ago, she had faced a similar situation at PXY-697; the Chekov was late coming into that battle.

  The mother ship fired several blasts at the Invincible.

  “Shields down to 47%!” Cried First Lieutenant Danny Tyler, Invincible's tactical officer as the ship was rocketed and sparks eliminated from consoles.

  “Hard to starboard! Return fire, all batteries!” Barked Elle. Gun crews sprang into action firing relentlessly at the Mothership.

  “Direct hit!” Said Lieutenant Tyler.

  “Damage?” Elle asked.

  “Superficial,” responded the tactical officer.

  “Continue firing! We've got to make some sort of dent in those ships!” cried Elle.

  “Captain, another ship is dropping out of hyperspace!” said the helmsman “It's... the Daedalus!”

  **********************************************

  “We’re receiving a sub space message sir.” Kevin Marks told the commander, to be precise, the Daedalus’ new CO, since Colonel Caldwell was bumped up the chain a year ago to Brigadier General. He now oversaw fleet management from the SGC, occasionally taking up the role of Commanding Officer First Fleet. Earth’s arsenal had expanded; both in numbers and capability. It was a real space navy now.

  “Encrypted?” the almost British sounding reply came. Colonel Edward ‘Ted’ Harvey was US Air Force, through and through. He was however a ‘limey’, born and bred in Kingswood, just a little south of Leeds Castle in Kent. He migrated to the US with his family when he was just twelve, settling in Dorchester, Boston. He entered the US Air Force Academy at eighteen and it had been his life for the last twenty-two years.

  “Yessir.” Marks replied.

  “Well?” Ted was at times a little impatient. Unlike Steven who had come from fighters, where the comradery was far more evident in the squadrons, Ted came from bombers, the big old ‘Buff’ B52 and more recently the trouble plagued B1.

  Kevin gave his head a quick shake. “On screen sir.” The veteran Daedalus XO was a man of few words. Now a Lieutenant Colonel, he had been away for a few years on both Apollo and Odyssey, when the opportunity came up for another posting to his favourite ship, he couldn’t resist.

  A thank you in the form of a sharp nod was all he got. Ted read the message once, then again. “Fu…” He stopped himself. “This is from General Landry; I assume Colonel you know the content of the message. Now I must wonder what is so urgent out at Zulu, that McFearson can’t handle it on her own.”

  Several other bridge staff had also access to the message. The tactical officer Capitaine Marie Pasqual of the Armée de l'air et de l'espace, the French Air and Space Force. “It sounds rather urgent sir. We are to prepare for battle?”

  “Yes Captain. Make it so. Colonel…” He addressed Kevin. “Set a course for Zulu; we are at war.”

  Three hours later the upgraded and vastly modified BC304E Daedalus burst from hyper space joining the battle immediately. Just one shot from her Asgard beam weapon, sliced the already damaged Hat’ak in two; it was distressing for some to see what could have only been humans being flung from the wreckage into the void of space. The Mothership appeared to hesitate; it sat there immobile for seconds the felt like hours. Then the fun began, or at least in the eyes of those who might have tended to the sadistic mindset. The much larger vessel opened up with everything it had. The Daedalus lurched, throwing crew from their seats. Red lights flashed; alarms blared.

  “Daedalus to Invincible, Helen are we going to stand for this?” A simple message from Captain to Captain.

  Those were the sweetest words she had heard for a very long time. Standing proud on her deck, hands behind her back, Elle replied. “Definitely not Ted. On my mark!” She said to her weapons officer. “Fire!”

  A coordinated barrage of Asgard beams erupted from both Tau’ri vessels, streaking across space and carving through the Mothership’s outer frame. Her shields couldn’t withstand the combined assault. Explosions erupted across her golden hull. Ten seconds later, the mighty ship imploded.

  **********************************************

  It was over. Elle looked out her main viewport at the wreckage in the distance. “What took you so long?” She said over the coms to Ted.

  Shaking his head in mock amusement, Ted answered. “Consider us an Apollo clone dear. She was busy and we were just idle layabouts heading for our annual cruise to Pegasus.” Each year, the battle cruisers swapped deployments to Alantis. Daedalus was to relieve the Hammond and spend the next twelve months in that Galaxy. For the most part, it was policing work, as Pegasus was experiencing a period of quiet.

  “Well, we’re glad you came. I think we had it handled though.” She lied jokingly. “Now we have one last issue to contend with. Those bastards on Zulu. As you may have been briefed, we have Hallam, they want him. We now have the ace card, there is no way out for them.”

  Over on the Daedalus, Ted was looking hard at the screen, wondering why that idiot of a doctor hasn’t taken Elle down the aisle yet. Then he had to wake up to reality. “What… er, yes Hallam. No, agreed. Who do you have on Zulu right now?” There were several avenues they could take as far as he was concerned, but each one of them involved someone getting killed.

  “SG Four, SG Twenty-four, SG Eight and fifty marines. I believe our enemy has been reduced down to less than twenty-five now, but don’t quote me on that. As of my last communication with Wing Commander MacGregor, they have the remaining Alliance low life in a Mexican stand off in the central area near the Stargate on level six.” As far as Elle could see, to be frank, there was nothing the Alliance could do now but surrender.

  **********************************************

  Deep within Zulu Station, Cate stood at the edge of the six-way junction, her eyes locked on Tasek and his remaining men. SG-4, SG-24, and the marines formed a loose perimeter, weapons held steady but not yet raised. The atmosphere was thick with tension.

  Cate's voice was firm but even. “It’s over, Tasek. Your ships are gone. Reinforcements aren’t coming. And Hallam? He’s in our custody. You’ve got nowhere left to run.”

  Tasek glared at her, his jaw tightening. "You expect us to just lay down our weapons?" he spat.

  Doctor Flynn Hart, SG-4's science officer, stood in the control room overlooking the junction, monitoring the situation. Cate kept her stance relaxed but unwavering. “I expect you to be smart enough to know when you’re beaten. Look around. Your people are exhausted. Some of them are barely standing. Do you really want to die for nothing?”

  A murmur ran through the remaining Alliance fighters. Some shifted uncomfortably, darting glances at one another. A young woman at Tasek’s side slowly lowered her weapon, then let it drop to the ground with a clatter. Another followed suit, and then another. The resolve was crumbling.

  Tasek growled in frustration, gripping his rifle tighter. “Cowards!” he hissed at them. But even he could see it—this was the end.

  Cate took a step closer, now barely five metres from him. “You gave them a cause to fight for, Tasek. But there’s nothing left to fight for. This is done.”

  His fingers flexed around his weapon, his breath coming hard and fast. Then, with a snarl of disgust, he threw the rifle to the floor. The sound echoed in the junction. "Damn you," he muttered, lifting his hands in surrender.

  “Stand down,” Cate called to her teams. “Secure the prisoners. No one gets stupid.”

  The marines and SG teams moved in swiftly, disarming the remaining Alliance fighters. It was over.

  **********************************************

  Later, as SG-24 prepared to depart through the Stargate, Cate approached them.

  “Couldn't have done it without you,” she said, offering a firm handshake to Colonel Marcus Larkin.

  “Like old times, eh?” he replied with a smirk. “Glad to know you haven't lost your touch.”

  Cate turned to Isolde Fairbairn, nodding. “You did well today.”

  “Aye, we do our best,” the Scot replied, clapping Cate on the shoulder.

  Oversergeant Gunnar Bjornson simply gave a respectful nod. “It was an honour.”

  Finally, Cate turned to Sister Helena. Without hesitation, she pulled the woman into a brief but firm hug. “Keep in touch, Helena.”

  Sister Helena smiled warmly. “You know I will. Take care of yourself, Cate.”

  With that, SG-24 stepped through the shimmering event horizon, leaving Cate standing in the control room. She exhaled slowly, hands on her hips. It was done.

  For now.