"Listen to none of this nonsense, Doctor." Morrigan chuckled dryly. "Only that about alcohol. There is a time and place for it, and that is not 'my cabin, every evening'. The captain has an uncanny instinct where to look, and the cleaning staff appreciates the additional degreaser. If the colonel here wants to drink, he will have to generate a victory worth toasting to." the XO deadpanned at the recon team leader.
"The fighters need to be flight tested and brought up in either case, Hermiod. No reason why the Captain can not enjoy herself in the process. In either case, it is just a theory. Although I am baffled that an Asgard would fail to realize that organic beings are not free form emotion and illogical behavior. How did you ever defeat us?" the XO snarked to the comms. "Falnore, three to beam."
One white flash of interrupted existence later, the XO found herself stood upon the bridge, with the two men being beamed to their cabins so they could unpack. "Falnore. Dr. Lawson. Status report, please." she said, moving to her station.
The bridge of the 307 was anything but similar to the 304. Where the Daedalus-class ships had the bridge in the command tower on the aft, the 307 had a control room tucked safely on the inside of the ship, with enough monitors and holographic projectors to create a full sphere view of the outside if necessary. In the center was a slightly dipped space with a holo table where the Captain and herself commanded the other crew from.
Said table lit up with a checklist that reported most things in the green as the lead designer and chief engineer approached. "She is ready to go. All that remains is for the captain to arrive with Viper squadron and you are ready to go. I'm going to miss it here." Dr. Lawson noted, unfortunately not allowed to join the expedition due to his worsening health.
"You've done enough, Phil." Morrigan attempted to console him, "She is beautiful and everything we asked for. I promise we will bring her back in one piece."
After that, the intercom came online. "Nyx, Viper-1. We are orbital and closing in. Don't leave without us."
Half an hour later, the crew was all on their posts, listening to the shipwide broadcast. "Nyx, this is Lorne. You are departing on what is a mission of an importance in the big league. The Abydos expedition. The Atlantis expedition. The Destiny expedition. You will be up there with them. The bar has been set high, but I have every confidence you can do it. You are on this mission, because you are the best at what you do. What you can fins in Ida can potentially catapult us to the same level as the Ancients technologically. We are all looking forward to you bringing us some cool souvenirs. Godspeed."
Taking a breath and straightening her uniform, Catherine looked upon the projection of the Earth one last time for what she assumed would be a long time. "Thank you, general. We will get this done. Homeworld command, ES Nyx requesting authorization for departure."
The voice of O'Neill came through: "Permission granted. Good hunting, captain."
"Helm, take us out." she gave the order, switching the display to show the ship's movement.
The six engines at the back of the Nyx roared to life, and the sleek frame broke free of the orbit and started accelerating to the departure point. "Last chance to jump the bus." Morrigan grinned. "Not for the World." Black grinned back. The Earth slowly shrunk and vanished, the display shutting down and being replaced by the standard data feed.
"Captain, we have reached the departure point." the helm reported from under their VR helmet.
"Take us out."
A blue tear opened in the space past the moon, and the Nyx was swallowed by hyperspace.
"None taken. You are not wrong. Even I have to admit to being disturbed to some degree when I learned of the Wraith. To think that with our ability to heal the host, the process might take even longer... I shudder to think." Morrigan said, visibly uncomfortable with the idea. "But I would not worry. The replicators probably did a thorough job of eliminating any civilization that was advanced enough for them to assimilate, and it is likely that we can stand up to whomever they left behind. I would be most worried about any automated Asgard defenses we might stumble upon."
"Well, fortunately during our stay on the Langford, we've had ample practice fighting against the odds and treading carefully." The captain added, "Hence why we will carry two puddle jumpers to act as recon craft. If there is a civilization that can well and truly hide even form Asgard sensors, the Lanteans are it." and if it came to slugging, she believed that the asgard shields would be able to hold out long enough for a quick jump out of range.
Turning to the colonel, the captain grinned: "The marines are trained to repel boarders on ships, so they will do nicely for ship security and for protecting whoever explores the seed ship. But I concur that once we establish ourselves and start exploring planets, gating in a few good old SG teams or fresh PBI is a good idea. No sense carrying them with us immediately though, we can carry only so many supplies. Hopefully we will be able to set up on the garden world, from what the doc said, it should be able to feed quite a few mouths. Maybe even a bunch of livestock. I would not say no to fresh cheese after a few months." she sighed. While she enjoyed her command of the Langford, the cuisine despite the best efforts of the mess staff was severely lacking in variety and flavor, and that was with considerably shorter supply lines from Earth.
"Speaking of, the Nyx should finish beaming up supplies by the end of the hour. Falnore is overseeing the preparations on board, so he should give you an echo when it's your time to beam aboard. although if you excuse me, I have to catch a plane to Edwards. I will be taking one of the 302s up, it will probably be the last chance I get to fly for quite some time." Black dismissed them, heading out.
"I believe the captain is one of the people who believe they do not survive usage of modern transportation means and are replaced by an identical clone." Morrigan observed, "I don't think I have ever seen her walk through a gate, ring or beam aboard. She flown one of your fighters aboard the Langford as well."
As she said that, their earpieces came to life. "XO, Colonel, doctor Fletcher? We are ready for you up here." the voice of the Tollan engineer said.
Another year, another mission. When Catherine Black received the news that she was being relieved of the command of the ES Catherine Langford, she was outraged. They have just found evidence that the man of the IOA on board was himself a Lucian Alliance spy. As a reward, she got to drive a desk for half a year. She almost went home to Germany, only O'Neill's intervention stopping her in her tracks. As it turned out, the general had some insider information regarding her future. While the IOA was not happy with her, the spoils of war she brought home greatly impresses the military people, so she got a promotion and a much more important command post out of it.
Moreover, she was allowed to bring with her a sizeable portion of the Langford's crew, and her old chief engineer was actually the person to design the Nyx, pretty much tailoring the ship to her and crews ran by her. All in all, she couldn't wait for the mission to begin, so she could get on board. And speaking of the mission...
The captain cleared her throat and took the word. "Our mission has several objectives, so there will be no shortage of things to do. This is the home galaxy of the Asgard, after all." she said, sharing a list on the projector. "The expedition has two primary objectives. Number one is to research and if possible make contact with the 'Elf' civilization. Number two is to locate, explore and, if possible, deliver the seed ship to Earth. Secondary objectives are, one, establish the Iota site in the Ida galaxy to serve as an entry point, two, establish a gate bridge between milky way and Ida, three, explore former Asgard colonies and recover anything of value." she listed, nodding over to Morrigan.
The Goa'Uld queen could at times still hardly believe her position. Now Tok'Ra in name, sitting in Stargate Command without a naquadria bomb with her. Absurd proposition, yet here she was. "From what I and the obnoxious AI could tell, the Seed ship appears to be in decent state of repair. The Destiny crew is unavailable to confirm with their records, but we believe this particular seed ship was the first launched, responsible for seeding the galaxies close to us - Milky way itself, Ida and Pegasus. It will be up to us to discover if any others are on the list. From what we know, the Ancients and the Asgard updated the gate systems of all these galaxies to the newer models later, and the seed ship is only equipped to manufacture the Destiny type gate. That may however be more to our advantage, as their construction should be simpler to understand."
Changing the display, the ship's schematic, the XO addressed the posted question: "Should we fail to accomplish the primary objectives, we will remain in Ida for the time being and focus on the secondaries. The Nyx comes equipped with it's own gate, and Ida galaxy is rich in neutronium - We should be able to build neutrino-ion generator to create intergalactic gate connection to return personnel home, as well as resources for SGC to build one on their side to allow for a return trip in the absence of a gate bridge."
Crew: Military Officers Crew - 25 Marines - 50(10 Trained pilots) Pilots - 5 Dedicated Pilots + Marines if necessary. Civilians Diplomat(s) Scientists - 10 Per Department + Department head. Specialists (Could use ancient stones to get those when needed)
Weapons: Top
26x1 Modular turret 4x2 Missile tube 2x2 Heavy turret
Name: Catherine Black Race: Human Gender: Female Age: 39 Rank: Oberst (NATO: Group captain) Home posting: Luftwaffe Callsign: Cat Nationality: Earth; German, Czech parentage Voice actor: Michelle Forbes
Appearance: Catherine stands 187 centimeters tall. While by no means physically weak, her frame seems rather skinny due to her height and preferred clothing. Her raven hair reaches a few centimeters below her shoulders, which she usually keeps in a ponytail or bun off and on duty respectively. She is not a fan of distinguishing herself from the rest of the crew and welcomed the uniform jumpsuits worn on Earth ships, most of the time wearing one of those. Whipped up by the years spent in military, she always carries herself high, at times looking like her backbone solidified into a single piece.
Her brown eyes are always ticking from place to place checking out her surroundings, only staying still when she gives someone her trademark soul crushing glare. A car crash left her with a few dents, namely small scars around her right eye and the right corner of her mouth is permanently in a small smirk, although it is unnoticeable unless you're looking for it.
History: As young girl, Catherine didn't really imagine her life as a military officer, choosing to study theoretical physics. With her personal passion being flying though, she was looking for ways to fly more interesting things than a cessna, and the army was the easy way out. Thus she found herself in the Luftwaffe.
To her displeasure though, she shown good potential for command and ascended through the ranks, perhaps too quickly for her own liking. Already a Wing commander, she had a car accident. While she recovered rather quickly, her vision was slightly impaired and thus rendered her unfit for a fighter pilot. Unhappy with a desk job, she tried for months to get reassigned to helicopters, but with her good leadership skills, high command didn't want to hear about it.
To avoid a desk job, she signed up into an officer exchange program. She found herself with Americans on one of their crusades against terrorism, gaining valuable experience commanding a larger military body. Noted for using unconventional approach in her command and regarded highly by her subordinates, she was selected to be included in the SGC. After a year long training, she was given command of the Catherine Langford, a BC-304 assigned to the IOA.
Under her command, the Langford completed a number of missions, including liberating Langara from Lucian Alliance assault, introducing new kind of tactics with focusing on capturing enemy assets. Despite all this, it was obvious to homeworld command that she put too much emphasis on her own crew and not enough on the mission. The fact that while she was in command the IOA could exert little control of their own ship also contributed to the need of having her moved to a different task. It was that and her style of leadership though that got her nominated and eventually accepted for the command of the Nyx, along with a promotion.
Personality: She can at times seem like she has two personalities. Catherine Black is a rather friendly woman happy to engage in idle chat. Not entirely free of her military lifestyle, she likes to spend her free time either in the gym or flying anything. When none of that is possible, she likes to sit down with a plate full of treats, a mug of steaming hot coffee and a good book.
Captain Black on the other hand is a silent, glare giving commander who expects her crew to perform. In return she gives them relative freedom and protects them from higher ranks. Fail miserably though, and she will yell you back to civilian life. She appreciates honest opinions if they're based on solid grounds and listens to crew feedback.
Captain does not approve of officer perks in any form, most of the time eating the same food as the lowest ranked grunt and working the same hours, if not more. If there is a need, she will replace anyone on their post if they are incapacitated lest she is more needed elsewhere. While she doesn't force her officers to do the same, she does insist on them being fit and qualified to do their duty. You will find neither an overweight officer in her staff nor anyone who got the post because of connections in higher places. She would sooner resign on her post.
Black is very strict in regards to alcohol, only allowing it on special occasions, believing a soldier has to be ready to spring into action at any time, much more so on a spaceship.
Trivia: - Kat speaks German, Czech and English - She hates healthy food, preferring meat and sugar in her diet - The captain enjoys card games greatly - Easily annoyed by high pitch noises - Black likes all exotic and unique things, starting with cars ending with jobs. Commanding a spaceship is a dream come true for her.
History: Born from one of the oldest Goa'uld Queens, Danu, Morrigan hid the fact that she too was a Queen from the very start. It was not this that set her apart from her brethren, but her cunning mind and capricious temperament. Indeed, when the rest of Danu's spawn were able to stop bickering long enough to strike down the System Lord Balor, it was Morrigan herself who planned the battle. Though Dagda and Manannan mac Lir split the spoils of the victory among each other, Morrigan was content to remain a power behind the throne, serving Dagda as a faithful advisor whom he could not do without. It was through this that Morrigan was able to sway the allegiance of many within the Goa'uld's court to her favour.
In addition to this, Morrigan was also able to position herself as the protector of her mother Danu, gaining further influence by expanding her control through the Queen. From this position of power, Morrigan found it relatively easy to spread rumours about her primary rival to power — Lugh. Bringing forth fabricated evidence that Lugh, who was a staunch advocate of Manannan and Dagda's alliance, had been plotting to kill Danu and her young, Morrigan demanded that she be allowed to punish him on her Queen's behalf. Though Manannan suspected, rightfully, that the evidence was false, he allowed the charges to proceed unchallenged as he and Lugh frequently disagreed on matters of military conduct. As such, Morrigan stripped Lugh from his host; rumours soon came about that she kept the symbiote imprisoned in stasis within her private apartments for many years to follow.
The power vacuum created due to Lugh's death was quickly filled as both Manannan and Dagda promoted new Generals from within their underlords. Dagda's replacement, the ambitious Cuchulainn, was very nearly the undoing of Morrigan's carefully laid out plans. As his host had been previously chosen to seed the Queen, Cuchulainn thus knew that Morrigan herself was a Queen; a secret Morrigan had been able to guard by mixing her own larva with that of Danu's at birth. However, Morrigan attempted to turn this liability to her advantage by offering him a place in her schemes against Dagda. Though she promised him much more power than he currently had in commanding a war fleet, Cuchulainn refused and scorned Morrigan as a "phantom queen" who lacked the power to make good on her offer. When this turned into Cuchulainn openly mocking her with the epithet, as well as privately threatening to reveal her secret, Morrigan knew she had to deal with the threat once and for all. As such, she arranged for Cuchulainn's flagship to be sabotaged during a critical battle. Though this battle was ultimately successful thanks to Morrigan's own planning, Cuchulainn did not live to see the victory he had brought about for Dagda.
Having eliminated her closest threat, Morrigan quickly turned her plans towards bigger things. Knowing that there was one more blow she would need to strike to become more than a mere phantom, Morrigan's thoughts were immediately put in place to take down Dagda himself. However, even Morrigan's own supporters were taken aback when Morrigan turned on her master during the midst of a council of his leading underlords, firing three blasts from a zat'nik'tel into his body which made it disappear forever. Claiming herself ruler of Dagda's realm, Morrigan fully expected there to be a time of temporary chaos despite her carefully laid plans which had guaranteed her the support from most of Dagda's underlords. She did not, however, predict that Heru'ur would launch a multi-front assault against her at the same time. Though she ultimately survived the assault, Morrigan was left with but a fraction of the territory she had worked so hard to acquire. Indeed, with the territory she then owned she could barely call herself a ruler; a place among the System Lords seemed further out of place to her now than it ever had.
Having learned her lessons well, Morrigan started to capitalize on every opportunity which presented itself to her through the incessant strife among the Goa'uld. She even took on the title of the Phantom Queen in a form of perverse pride, in order to spite the memory of Cuchulainn whom she considered an ungrateful fool who could have ruled beside her. For many centuries, Morrigan's territory grew aggravatingly slowly as she put her lessons to use until the re-emergence of the Tau'ri created a sudden power vacuum. The death of Heru'ur at their hands helped her significantly and, though she would have preferred his death to be at her hands, she quickly took back the territories he had stolen from her many years ago. Morrigan's power could no longer be denied, and she was finally admitted into the ranks of the System Lords.
Due to the fact that Morrigan's territory, unlike the rest of Danu's children, was close to that of other System Lords, she became the de facto spokesperson for her brethren, representing them before the other Goa'uld; this position only gained her more power. Luckily for her, of the Goa'uld she spoke for only Manannan was powerful enough to oppose her and he was more than happy to let her take the forefront while he remained hidden in the shadows.
When a summit was called among the highest ranking Goa'uld, Morrigan was one of only eight to make her way to the Hasara space station in the Hasara system. While there, the Goa'uld discussed the attacks they had all been subject to from an unseen aggressor. The council was interrupted, however, when Osiris entered the room and informed them all of the identity of their attacker — Anubis. Seeing few alternatives, Morrigan was one of the many who voted to reinstate Anubis into the ranks of the System Lords. However, she soon regretted this vote as Anubis retrieved the Eye of Balor from Morrigan's own planet of Magtireth, which had been where Balor's ship had been destroyed many years ago. What puzzled Morrigan more than anything was how Anubis' agents had managed to find the jewel, as she had believed it lost.
It was soon after the summit that Morrigan chose to visit the planet Gleanavar, one of the many under her domain, by ha'tak. At the same time, however, SG-17 were visiting the planet to meet with Sholred, the undercover Tok'ra agent acting as Morrigan's underlord on Gleanavar. Morrigan's Jaffa managed to capture two of the SG team who were hiding next to the Stargate and brought them to Sholred's temple. At the same time, Morrigan had used Transportation rings to visit the temple herself, interrupting the festival which was taking place. When the two members of SG-17 were brought in, Morrigan attempted to use her kara kesh to reveal the location of the rest of their team. Unfortunately for the other members, their names had been heard by Mek'nar who reported this information to Morrigan. The other members of SG-17 soon revealed themselves to Morrigan and, though they were able to insult her, Morrigan's Kara kesh soon shut their mouths. It is unknown what happened to Morrigan on the planet after this event, as Sholred started a rebellion on the planet before escaping with SG-17 through the Stargate.
Ultimately, however, Morrigan did survive and instated Evnith to replace Sholred as the ruler of Gleanavar. Later, while Lord Yu was the representative of the combined System Lords, Morrigan added her ha'taks to his forces without question when they gathered to attack Anubis' mothership over Abydos.
Though she did manage to survive Anubis' return, Morrigan was forced to surrender her forces to Ba'al when he took control of the Kull warriors. Bitter with the luck never falling her way, this was the final straw that made Morrigan go over the edge. Seeing that her race was doomed to extinction largely by their own hand if things continued this way, she made the decision to save her own life at their cost.
Departing from her domain, she avoided pursuit and her Al'Kesh materialized in the Sol system and she requested of the Tau'Ri to contact the Tok'Ra to give them her surrender. When offered to be placed into Tau'Ri custodey, Morrigan finally revealed herself to be a queen, and proposed that she will attempt to replicate Egeria's spawning methodology in return for an asylum, having no desire to surrender only to be extracted or spend the rest of her days in a Tau'Ri lab. Sholred, among others, came to take her into custody, putting in a word with the council that due to Morrigan's strategic nature, her request may just be genuine.
After being escorted through several gates and security check to a Tok'Ra outpost, the queen surprised the Tok'Ra by asking for a willing host to be found, one of significant mental fortitude to be able to withstand the weight of the queen's memories. She has also warned that her current host was beyond salvage, as she has spent centuries within her and the host was kept in a sarcophagus whenever she did not occupy it, driving her insane beyond repair. It was with this knowledge that the Tok'Ra reluctantly allowed her to keep the host in her suppressed state.
Unfortunately for all involved parties, Morrigan's spawning attempts failed to produce the symbiotes free of genetic memory, and what little was spawned in the test batches were quickly put to death. Still, the Goa'Uld in her seemed reformed enough, and her assistance of giving the Tok'Ra most up to date intel on the current state of the system lords, allowed Morrigan to gain a degree of freedom She has become an unofficial consultant to the high council. During her stay though, she has also grown disillusioned with the Tok'Ra much like with the Goa'Uld, being able to directly compare their methods and results with those of the Tau'Ri and finding them lacking. As such, when the opportunity presented itself, she requested to be transferred to the ES Langford as one of the Tok'Ra operatives.
It was during her stay there that she was finally vindicated, having met one Wing Commander Catherine Black. The 'Lord of the ship' quickly shown her why the Tau'Ri were easily crushing foes orders of magnitude stronger on paper. Even before the first mission, she was surprised when the CO came to her for advice, both on handling combat situations and the jaffa that were also on board. During the first mission, Morrigan was again surprised to be trusted to ring aboard an Al'Kesh in order to capture it. Elated by being needed, valued and trusted, it only cemented her loyalty - to the Earth woman, that was her match in cunning.
During the operation to free Langara from a Lucian Alliance assault, Morrigan proved herself beyond all doubt when she identified a Goa'Uld spy on board, and saved Black's life with a healing device after a Lucian Alliance mole shot her. Her efforts and Black's favor lead to her being made the XO of the Langford, a rise she never dreamed of. When the call came, she followed Catherine to the Nyx.
Personality: In keeping with the existing legends of the god she was impersonating, Morrigan chose to add an additional layer of mystery to the standard Goa'uld means of impressing the populace. While other Goa'uld often chose one host and stuck to it, Morrigan had many hosts hidden throughout her empire, kept in stasis in a Sarcophagus until they were needed. As such, her people were often unsure which guise they would see their god in and were not surprised to see an entirely new face. Because of this, Morrigan often posted underlords on her worlds who would impersonate her, both giving her the appearance that she was always on that planet as well as the appearance of being able to be in more than one place at once; a true sign she was a god. Though it delighted Morrigan to appear in many different guises, her favourite and most common host was one who presented her as the Celtic ideal of power and beauty; a red-headed woman of regal complexion.
From her birth, Morrigan tried to hide the fact that she was a Goa'uld Queen, knowing that it would curtail her autonomy if the System Lords ever found out. Indeed, as the years went on and Goa'uld Queens grew all the more rare, Morrigan only fought harder to keep her secret. Ever since gaining the persona of the Phantom Queen, rumours started to spring up that she was in fact more, a real Queen. Morrigan was quick to stop these rumours when she could, killing those who spread them. To keep the secret safe, Morrigan did not even tell her most trusted slaves the entire truth, as Morrigan kept Danu close to her so that she could pretend her larvae were that of the older queen. In truth, Danu stopped giving birth long before Morrigan rose to the rank of System Lord. Though not a permanent solution, Morrigan could not think of any other solution.
Despite being considered somewhat of an upstart by her fellow System Lords, the depths of Morrigan's strategic experience over the years far surpasses many of the Goa'uld who held greater power than she. Having learned from her mistakes, Morrigan chose the targets for her attacks carefully, gathering intelligence on them before laying a trap which would cut them off from their support to take full advantage of their vulnerabilities. However, these elaborate plans often meant that Morrigan had to choose precisely the right moment to attack; a flaw which her volatile temper was often known to interfere with. Perhaps because of this, Morrigan learned not to commit too many of her resources at any one time no matter how sure she was of the outcome. Because of these traits, most of Morrigan's Raven Guard thought themselves to be more loved by their god than other Jaffa were by theirs.
After her transition to the Tok'Ra, she sort of mellowed out. Her phantom queen persona and strategic brilliance are still there, but she is growing fornd of being curious about the mysteries of the universe, and her temper does not affect her decisions as much as it used to - and when it does, she has Black Steel to keep her in check.
Name: Oscar Johansson Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 31 Rank: Major Home posting: US Army Callsign: Boomer Nationality: Earth; American Actor: Chris Evans
History: Boomer enlisted straight out of school, always appreciating the military discipline and wanting to follow in his family tradition. He saw service in the middle east almost immediately, where the threat of the terroists and IEDs lead to him developing an interest in explosives. In a roundabout way, it has brought him to a college where he got his degree in chemistry and followed to officer school, becoming a demolitions specialist.
He assisted in defusing a bomb the Lucian Alliance hid on Earth, which was how he was noticed and eventually picked up by the Stargate program. Boomer took a tour on Atlantis, eventually staying on Earth after it relocated back to Pegasus though, thinking of starting a family. However, an opportunity presented itself for another extragalactic adventure, something he found hard to resist after getting the taste for it in Pegasus.
Personality: Boomer seems like a chill person when off duty, cracking jokes and playing games with the other soldiers, however his fascination with explosives is caused by an unhealthy want of destruction. He lives to fall alien fortresses and break the bones of demons, cheering as he does. This has made half of the men a bit afraid of him, worried that if Boomer decides to give them a hug, he will break their neck on accident.
Still, when the defecation hits the ventilation, everyone is glad when Boomer and his bag of explosives are around.
Member
Carlyle
Cyrania
Apollosarcher
Starlance
Fish of Oblivion
Danyel
RBYDark
PrinceAlexus
Noctis
Sep