Sargon
03-01-2010, 11:34 AM
EDIT Aug 2012: The opening chapter's battle scene has been significantly extended and other parts of the story tweaked slightly.
(Author's Note: This is a quick bit of writing I've knocked up on a whim mainly for personal pleasure. Here we have the Asgard from Stargate meeting the Galactic Empire from Star Wars. For those of you who want a little more background, this assumes a Stargate Alternate Universe where the Asgard did not commit mass suicide, found a solution to their genetic degradation issue, and in fact are rebuilding their empire and presence in the Stargate universe. They are also in the process of utilising more of the theories and knowledge contained in the Ancient Database with the help of Samantha Carter. As for the Empire, this takes place the year before the Battle Of Yavin in their universe. I'd like to add that I consider myself to be a layman when it comes to all the technical details, and as such this story is not really for those who are very deep into the technical stuff and delight in counting the weld seams on a Star Destroyer for example, so if you take offence at it I do apologise, but then either don't read it and get yourself all worked up, or just take it in the spirit it is meant to be as a bit of fun self indulgent writing.)
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Star Thors - A Stargate/Star Wars Crossover
Part I: Thor Investigation
General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, En route to Investigate Stellar Anomaly, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Supreme Commander Thor viewed the stellar display with a hint of curiosity. It had only been a few minutes since the O'Neill had arrived to investigate an anomaly of interest whilst returning to the Ida Galaxy from the Tau'ri homeworld. The Asgard vessel had been helping the Fifth Race fight off yet another Wraith attack. Having disposed of no less than seven Hives with little effect upon the newly upgraded O'Neill, Thor had welcomed the opportunity to engage in a little scientific work rather than war for a change. The anomaly had in fact appeared in an empty system a stone's throw (in Asgard terms anyway) from Abydos. The Tau'ri vessel HMS Warspite had reported the anomaly to the Asgard, and lacking the sensor suite to fully examine the oddity, had been unable to determine much in detail regarding it. Thor had considered sending a call to the science vessel Daniel Jackson with its dedicated sensor suite to examine the complex nature of the anomaly further, but had decided this would be a good time to test the capabilities of the O'Neill's newly upgraded sensors. A notification had merely been sent that Thor was investigating the anomaly, and that the Daniel Jackson would not need to interrupt its present mission. However, even as the sensors on the O'Neill had managed to report just what they had found, the odd area of space had rapidly expanded, enveloping the Asgard vessel and had now deposited them in what their analyses appeared to be reporting as another universe. The ride had been somewhat jarring, but nothing had been damaged.
The first concern for Thor after establishing that they had in fact travelled through a dimensional tunnel in space was if they could travel back safely through the anomaly. According to the sensor sweeps and evaluation of the data that had been built up so far, it appeared it would be possible to travel back without too much effort. However, he wished to adjust a few things first to see how smooth a transit could be accomplished with some tweaking of the Asgard systems. Hermiod would no doubt approve of Thor's attention to detail. If Thor could have rolled his eyes in the Tau'ri fashion at that, he would indeed have done so. Still, Thor was curious about where they had arrived and intended to carry out a survey of the immediate area before returning. If there was a chance of encountering other species here, that would be a good thing, as friends were welcome anywhere for the ever inquisitive Asgard.
His attention was soon diverted by a scanner report of the fourth planet of a nearby system which appeared to harbour sentient life. It seemed to be the logical place to start in terms of meeting the locals, so Thor directed the graceful yet powerful vessel towards that world. It wasn't long before he came upon a situation that would cause problems.
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Amankar City, Mandatorship of Theokton, Planet Koros, Sryss System, Outer Rim Territories, 1BY
"Give the evacuation order! The planetary shields have fallen!". The voice blared over the comm system as sounds of heavy weaponry being unleashed echoed across the airwaves.
Bedlam reigned in the largest nation's capital city as people fled from the imminent invasion of their world. High above, a giant wedge-shaped craft oversaw the operation to crush the rebel influence in this area. This world and its collection of nations had thought itself relatively safe from Imperial notice - it was after all on the edge of the Outer Rim, and the Empire rarely ventured into this particular part of it. However, trading with members of the Rebellion had turned out to be a massive error for the Ministry of Commerce of the Mandatorship of Theokton which occupied most of the northern continent, and the balance sheet was now not looking cost effective at all. Mortgaging the planet to the Hutts might have been better business, Minister Glyn Xancts sardonically mused as he fled for the departmental transport. Independence was at an end for this place. If he managed to escape, he'd remember to steer clear of Alliance deals. It was just as well he was skilled in the sphere of insurance. Hedging the nations of the world's bets, another location had been jointly set up years before for the population to relocate to in case the Imperials ever decided to plant their big black polished boots on this world. After all, it was only sensible in business to have other options.
Ships of all types streamed away from the planet, many unarmed and full of civilians as an orbital bombardment of Amankar City was unleashed as an example of what happened to those that worked, however discreetly, with the Rebels. The local combined international system space fleet had been defeated after a space battle in which they had fought valiantly yet hopelessly against overwhelming odds. In various cities across the planet, Imperial troops were taking over strategic positions and destroying the various government forces' ability to fight back. Already the nation that occupied the southernmost continent had been fully occupied and was facing the prospect of unconditional surrender. It was methodical, precise and efficient. In other words, a very Imperial way of carrying out operations. Yet, they would find that resistance would not collapse easily - the local armed forces were putting up a stiff resistance, and every minute they delayed the Imperials allowed more civilians to escape.
Mandator Kyrillos of Theokton stood in his office. He knew he'd most likely die or be captured, but at least he'd bought enough time to allow some of his people to escape. He, like the other leaders of the various nations, had broadcast for help from anyone who would listen. Of course, there was no response, not even from the Rebels. Rather understandably, no one wanted to tangle with a full Imperial planetary assault force. He couldn't really blame them. Still, the trade whilst it has lasted had been very profitable for all, and at least there was a world hidden away where all the nations could get on with things without being disturbed this time. At least, that was what he hoped. Sighing, he made his way to his personal ship. He'd make an effort to escape even if he stood little chance of making it past the blockade that had sprung up around his world.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, En route to Initiate Local Contact, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Thor was somewhat perturbed. He was picking up distress calls. The Asgard were bound to render assistance to the unprotected if they were in a position to do so. The O'Neill's sensors were picking up many unarmed ships under fire fleeing from the planet that had been his destination. He was even more concerned when his sensors reported that a large vessel was unleashing a bombardment upon a city that was still crowded with civilians. Another smaller wedge-shaped vessel was generating some sort of distortion field which the Asgard computers were busily identifying the nature of. Scans of the escaping vessels had revealed that they possessed a relatively primitive analogue of a hyperspace drive, and many had attempted to engage it but were going nowhere. Analysis rapidly showed that the cruiser (identified as an "Immobiliser 418 Cruiser" or "Interdictor" from probing Asgard scans of the ships' secure systems which had also been working at translating the languages being used locally) was preventing their escape. Information gained from scans of other attacking vessels in the area such as from their logs and mission orders were building up a grim picture of what the Asgard viewed as a rather unpalatable modus operandi which qualified as the actions of an oppressive government deeply implicated in war crimes in his race's terminology.
Other Asgard may have considered the situation in further depth, assessing what the High Council would say about it all. Thor, however was known for his somewhat unconventional way of bending the rules - something he had learnt a lot about from a certain General Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri. He would of course never fire unless fired upon first and would attempt to help the civilians who were in distress, yet he would use his own idiosyncrasies to do so. That was one of the callings of the Asgard after all, to help the helpless and if he could further accommodate that, then he felt it a worthy activity. Besides, the Asgard, never a race to be taken lightly even at their weakest, were now more powerful in terms of numbers of ships than they had been for some time, and his analysis of the vessels showed that they were very much less advanced than his own. In short, he felt he had little to fear from them should things develop in an unfortunate manner.
His decision made, and with his analysis of the local vessels supplying him with sufficient information, the gleaming white ship appeared between the "Interdictor" and the fleeing ships, and the Asgard sensor array sent out a disruption beam that interfered with the gravity well generators of the "Interdictor" cruiser. One by one, the refugee ships vanished as their hyperdrive engines were finally able to kick in. With this accomplished, the giant ship moved closer to the planet. His scans had shown thousands of troops and multitudes of armoured vehicles of various designs from this "Empire" brutally crushing all resistance and even engaging in the shooting of unarmed civilians who happened to be in their way. Thor had a non-violent way of dealing with them, and that was by using the frighteningly advanced Asgard beaming technology to relocate all those who were attacking civilians back onto their ships, their shields interestingly appearing to be no barrier for the recently researched knowledge of the Ancients newly incorporated into the upgraded systems of his ship at this juncture. The remaining Imperial troops were only those that were fighting the planet's own military.
Finally, with this done, Thor decided to broadcast a holographic representation of himself onto all the ships present and to all those on the planet below.
"I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard. I have no wish for conflict with the Empire, yet I am duty bound to help those who are defenceless, hence the repatriation of those of your forces which have been engaging in assaults upon the unarmed civilians on the planet. I will remain here to render assistance to any civilians who wish to leave in peace. I will not otherwise interfere with any legitimate military actions here unless attacked.".
Thor wondered what response he would receive. From what his scans had just told him about the Empire, it probably wasn't going to be affable.
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Atmospheric Battlespace above Amankar City, Mandatorship of Theokton, Planet Koros, Sryss System, Outer Rim Territories, 1BY
Minister Glyn Xancts couldn't believe his luck. A minute ago his departmental transport had been under fire and wasn't going anywhere fast as it tried to escape the atmosphere of the planet but thwarted by flight of TIEs that had forced his pilot to dive back down again. Only the speed and agility of his vessel had saved the entire departmental staff from being blown from the sky. It had turned out the deal with that rather dodgy Corellian trader had been a very good investment indeed. He'd half expected the damn engines to give out, never mind that they had been examined just in case by the departmental mechanics. After all, they were second-hand by the trader's own admission, but he had promised that they had been fully reconditioned, and his assertions had been proven honest. Xancts swore that he'd buy that trader an entire bar if he ever met him again as thanks for an excellent transaction.
And now, a strange ship had appeared from nowhere, and the Imperial Interdictor's gravity wells had suffered some sort of failure as far as he could see given that many ships were now shooting off into hyperspace. He had been about to direct his pilot to enter hyperspace as well, but then had come the surprising transmission of a holographic message from the vessel identifying itself as being from a people called the Asgard. The alien had looked small and fragile, yet there was something about it that spoke of grand confidence and power. He had never heard of the Asgard, but he felt they were worth buying another bar for nevertheless. Xancts had a feeling though that the attacking Imperial Commander would not be feeling as charitable. He'd probably turn out to be a very bad businessman if that was indeed the case.
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Planetary Invasion Mission, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
An angry yet somewhat shocked and puzzled Admiral Rylus Kandt glared at the information relayed to him from his command chair on board the Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter. All had been going relatively smoothly until that large white unknown ship had appeared from literally nowhere, shut down his Interdictor and had somehow managed to transport around a quarter of his troops and equipment back onto the ships of his task force in the blink of an eye. He wasn't quite sure how that was possible, but he didn't like anyone disrupting his plans, and he most certainly took exception to someone interfering with the Empire's work and being impudent enough to beam a hologram onto his command deck! Whoever this Thor was, he was going to have to answer to the Empire. The Asgard vessel may be large, yet its occupant looked rather frail, and he had a full Battle Squadron on hand to deal with it.
Kandt was not exactly known for his diplomatic skills, which is why he had been sent on "a simple clean up operation to deal with the Rebel scum infesting this particular area of space", as the Admiralty had put it. And he was more than capable of doing so, having notched up an impressive list of victories against Rebels and pirates alike. Yet he was not a stupid man, and the demonstration of the Asgard ability to transport his troops and neutralize his Interdictor were worrying developments. Still, even if the Asgard ship was powerful, it could not possibly deal with an entire Imperial Battle Squadron. That ship could well be a paper Bantha for all he knew, and like some races its looks may perhaps just be for show to appear intimidating. Nevertheless, he wanted information on the vessel's capabilities.
"Get me a readout of that ship's specifications.", he barked into the crewpit of the vessel. It wasn't long before he got a reply. And it wasn't what he was expecting.
"Our scans are unable to gather any information on the Asgard ship, sir.". The lieutenant who had delivered the news looked puzzled as well as nervous.
"Are you quite sure we have nothing? Carry out a diagnostic.", replied Kandt with obvious displeasure. He stood up from his chair and walked towards the large transparisteel viewports at the front of the bridge area, casting his gaze at the far away ship that gleamed in the light of the planet's sun. There he found Captain Hirg Gillis with a faint frown growing upon his heavily lined brow.
"This looks odd Admiral. I don't like what is developing here.", Gillis said it matter of factly, and if he was nervous he wasn't showing it. Kandt merely nodded in agreement.
The young Lieutenant carried out the Admiral's order of a diagnostic, but as the result came back again, his face turned a little greyer. "Diagnostic confirms no fault in our systems. The ship is unable to be scanned by any means we have available. It could be their shielding configuration, but we are not really sure as we can obtain very little information even on the makeup of their shields. It is unknown to the Empire, sir.".
Kandt looked back from the viewports giving the crewpit a withering glare. This was not helpful or welcome at all. He didn't like unknowns, but he was confident that he had the military force to deal with this particular unknown, and honour demanded that the Empire wouldn't be dictated to by anyone.
Exchanging a look with Gillis, he turned to the comm officer. "Open a channel to the Asgard vessel.", he ordered curtly.
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Emergency Evacuation Shuttle Pad, Mandator's Palace Complex, Amankar City, Mandatorship of Theokton, Planet Koros, Sryss System, Outer Rim Territories, 1BY
Mandator Kyrillos looked up from his palace's special launch pad from within his shuttle. He could not see the Asgard ship from where he was, but suddenly hope began to flare in his eyes as he realised he might not die after all. All the same, he really hoped this Thor person knew what he was doing. The Empire wasn't one to be given orders to or brushed away by theatrical bluffs.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Protection Duty, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Supreme Commander Thor wasn't entirely surprised when the rather angry yet professional voice of the human in command of the Imperial assault force barked across the comms.
"This is Admiral Rylus Kandt of the Imperial Star Destroyer Arbiter. In the name of the Galactic Empire and His Majesty the Emperor, I cannot allow you to interfere with our operation here. The inhabitants of this world, by associating with the Rebellion that has caused untold numbers of terrorist outrages throughout our territory are traitors by association, and must therefore suffer the consequences of their actions. I demand cessation of your interference here, and your unconditional withdrawal from this area of space. Failure to do so will result in us firing upon your vessel with deadly force.".
A feeling of sadness filtered through Thor as he realised what was inevitably coming. The Asgard were a proud race too, and did not take kindly to threats. They were after all contemporaries of the Ancients and had strode the stars for aeons. In that sense, he could see where Kandt was coming from as he was from a proud government as well, yet the evidence of crimes against defenceless people were undeniable. He had wanted to help without getting involved in a war if possible, but if there was war, then he'd let the Imperials start it by firing the first shot. The Empire would find that the Asgard, though small in stature, were very accomplished in the arts of conflict when they wished to be.
Thor sent back his reply, "I am afraid that I will not be leaving Admiral Kandt. I ask only to assist those unarmed civilians whom you are targeting and to take appropriate action to secure their safety without harming yourselves. I have no desire to fire upon your vessel, but be assured that if I am fired upon, I will have no choice but to respond and take whatever action I deem necessary to further protect the people here.".
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Starship Battle Alert, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
As the Asgard's calm and steady demeanour represented in the hologram blinked out, Kandt sighed with a measure of frustration. "He has all the arrogance of a Rebel. So we will deal with him as a Rebel. Deploy both battle lines to intercept and attack the Asgard vessel. Pursuit Line to continue to clear any ships still trying to escape from the planet, and inform the Bombard Line to realign and configure weaponry for supportive starship attack upon the Asgard ship.".
With extreme precision, the lines ordered by the Admiral to redeploy moved themselves into their new positions to take on the O'Neill. It was going to be a day that would be remembered for a long time.
A short time later, Admiral Kandt gave the order to fire.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Protection Duty, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Thor watched impassively as the Imperial ships manoeuvered into attack positions. He had already raised his shields, and his weaponry stood ready, but he was determined not to fire unless his ship was fired upon first. Then, the squadrons of starfighters started their attack runs, TIE Bombers and Star Wing Assault Gunboats from the first Battle Line launched heavy space bombs, heavy rockets and proton torpedoes at the O'Neill. The heavy rockets and space bombs were designed to bring down a target's shield before causing massive amounts of hull damage. Smaller proton torpedoes were designed to precisely pinpoint various areas of a vessel such as shield generators, weapon emplacements, engines, sensor arrays and so on, thus degrading the fighting ability of the target.
The Asgard ship just waited. After all, it had not been hit by anything yet and Thor had already analysed the threats he was facing. The Imperial ships' array of weaponry was impressive in terms of sheer numbers and variety, yet the lasers, various missiles, tractor beams, ion cannons, turbolasers and other devices were reasonably powerful but primitive in his estimation.
Brilliant flashes of light erupted around the O'Neill as a swarm of missiles impacted. The first wave had arrived, and many more were on the way.
Yet Thor was unconcerned. The missiles had done nothing appreciable to diminish the shields, and the ship just continued to sit there. The Supreme Commander was hoping that the evidence of his ship's immunity to the variety of missiles fired would give the Imperials pause for thought and that return fire from himself causing loss of life would be unnecessary. However, the Imperials didn't seem too bothered by his resistance, after all, they had met plenty of ships with strong shields and none of them could stand up to an Imperial Battle Squadron's full might.
Until now.
As further waves of missiles exploded harmlessly against the O'Neill's shields, the fighters added their laser bolts and ion cannons to the maelstrom. Also for little effect. Admiral Kandt was feeling somewhat concerned by now, but was still confident the heavy batteries of his capital ships would soon wear down the upstart ship's resistance. As they entered firing range, the Battle Lines and the Bombardment Line opened fire with an massive strike that no non-Imperial starship was thought to be able to withstand for even a short amount of time.
Yet the Asgard vessel still sat there unperturbed. Thor was beginning to tire of the Imperial stubbornness to try and destroy his vessel, something that he thought should be obvious to them by now that they couldn't manage. All their efforts had merely shaved a very small percentage of his shield's power which had recharged and made up the deficit already. He activated the controls and the ship moved with a speed that was unexpected by the Imperials for a ship her size.
The ship then headed for the cloud of starfighters nearby and the nearest of the Imperial Battle Lines consisting of a number of capital ships which was lead by a Victory Class Star Destroyer.
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Starship Combat Mission, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
Kandt couldn't believe it. The alien ship had withstood everything thrown at it. It was an unprecedented situation in his experience, and he was just beginning to realise that this was no paper Bantha at all. And now it was moving with what looked like the speed and agility of a heavy starfighter! He didn't have long to wonder about this as it was at this point that truly massive bright blue-white energy beams streamed out of the vessel as the much feared Asgard plasma cannons opened up. Their target was the Victory Class Star Destroyer Decapitator. As the beams impacted the Imperial vessel, there was a brief flare as the shields simply collapsed under the incredible power of their force and the warship was blown into oblivion almost in the blink of an eye.
On board the Imperial ships, their commanders and crews felt something they did not feel often.
Deep seated and unmitigated fear.
Kandt looked with horror upon the expanding debris cloud that had been one of his most powerful assets.
Gone. In one salvo. From a single ship. Impossible.
His mind could barely accept what he was seeing and his slight hesitation caused by shock was to cost the Imperials dear.
The Asgard were at war.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Protection Duty & Starship Engagement, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Thor took no pleasure in firing upon the Imperials. It was however now necessary.
First of all the massive plasma cannons of his ship had fired at the large wedge-shaped vessel serving as the command ship of the nearest battle line indentified as the Decapitator. The destruction of the warship appeared to cause a momentary pause in the Imperial attack, but Thor noted with some interest and some grim admiration that Imperial organisation held and after some moments they continued to press with the attack. However, this interval was enough for him to adjust the ship's course slightly to head right into the furball of starfighters and also to be in a good position to sweep the Imperial line whereupon he set the Oneill's "go away" beams into rapid operation. Within moments hordes of fighters, bombers, missiles, torpedoes and bombs just vanished from existence as they were deconstructed into their base atoms. A swathe was simply cut through the starfighters as his vessel passed through the part of space they had occupied. Before long there were precious few left to mount an attack on the Asgard vessel and those that remained engaged in frantic evasion attempts to try and outwit these nastily effective beams.
With the fighter threat such as it was all but removed, the massive ship gracefully continued speeding along the first of the Imperial Battle Lines: this one was more specifically a Heavy Attack Line consisting of three Dreadnought Class Heavy Cruisers, a Strike class medium cruiser, and a Gladiator Class Star Destroyer. It had of course been led by the Decapitator but the irony was now that the head had been cut off the line and was currently a dissipating debris cloud.
The racing battlecruiser flew right through the fleet intent on disintegrating ship after ship, any remaining starfighters and bombers erased from existence like small flies, some pilots seeing what was coming and actually ejecting before they were deleted from existence. The lone Strike Cruiser desperately tried to alter course but was cut in half from a single shot from one of the Asgard warship's lesser beam weapons and the two halves had little time to fall away from each other before they brewed up in secondary explosions.
Weapons' fire rained in on Thor from the remaining ships in the line as well as other ships which were now in range, but the O'Neill's shields either shrugged off those that managed to hit or was simply moving too fast for the larger batteries to acquire a useful firing solution or keep up with bearing on the ship.
One by one despite a storm of firepower spitting out of them in torrents, the Dreadnoughts were destroyed with effortless and clinical precision, a trail of flowering gas clouds of flame and metal marking their graves.
The O'Neill then made straight for the Pursuit Line which consisted of ten ships that were all fast types running down and interdicting escapees from the planet. Now they were the ones turning to flee as all of them had witnessed the complete annihilation of the Heavy Attack Line and the swift approach of the Asgard warship. They knew they were next.
In the Nebulon-B2 Class frigate, Fencer, the commander of the Pursuit Line considered his very short list of options. They basically boiled down to a single unpalatable and in many Imperial minds, painful one. Run for hyperspace.
Calm and experienced, he nevertheless issued fast orders for the whole group to enter hyperspace. In a perverse way he was almost glad the Interdictor's gravity wells were down as it made this option possible. However, despite the rapidity of his orders the Asgard ship was upon his line even as he finished uttering the last couple of words of his instruction to do so.
Just as his helm officer input the necessary commands those awful blue-white beams marched down his line in rapid succession, each one a one-shot kill as two Guardian 344 Class light cruisers, two Warden Class light cruisers, a Lancer Class Frigate, a Corellian DP20 Gunship frigate, three Corellian CR90 Class corvettes followed by the commander's Nebulon which had just started to jump into hyperspace, and was unlucky not to make it were reduced to vapour. By the time the Asgard battlecruiser had completed the sweep of the line, only starfighters and some small gunships were remaining of it. The formerly harried array of Korosian vessels which had been trying their best to escape were now free to do so unmolested. The rest of the Imperial force understandably had other matters to attend to at this time, such as survival.
Running was not really an option for the bombard line and its two massive Torpedo Spheres whose agility was less than optimal as one would expect for such lumbering vessels. Nevertheless, they put up a withering defence as masses of proton torpedoes shot out of their firing tubes and were promptly erased from existence by the Asgard ""go-away" beams. The number being fired was not as high as one would expect. The first few Torpedo Spheres had only recently been introduced into the Imperial Navy and were designed primarily for planetary bombardment. As it was, only a portion of the tubes at a time on each sphere could be recalibrated in short order for anti-starship purposes. The sheets of turbolaser fire from the large batteries weren't restricted by this, however like the heavy batteries on the recently destroyed starships couldn't really keep pace with the Asgard warship, although some of the gunners made intense attempts to increase their angle of deflection and managed to score some hits on the battlecruiser's shields.
Thor's ship returned long bright beams of deadly fire causing hits from his main batteries to tear into the gigantic vessels and great chunks blew off as they began to disintegrate. Some debris from one of the spheres started to head towards the planet but the Asgard systems locked on and beamed the danger away.
The lesser weapons on Thor's ship spiked out and dealt with the escorting force of starfighters and Lancer frigates. Thor by this stage was actually quite impressed by the bravery of the Imperial forces in taking him on despite the fates of their comrades they had witnessed not long before. Nevertheless, a small group of gunboats had obviously decided that nothing further could be done except pointlessly courageous suicide and turned away from Thor's ship. The Asgard Supreme Commander obliged the group by not engaging them as they were clearly retreating to their host vessels which were already turning towards the other Battle Line that had as yet not been engaged by the O'Neill.
Thor turned towards a few other ships that had now come into range which had previously been on the other side of the planet from his initial attack and were still bombarding it and began engaging those.
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Starship Combat Mission, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
Kandt's own Battle Line had been left relatively untouched, but now he broke free of his shock and ordered his forces to regroup and recover all fighters and the Transport Line to recover all soldiers on the planet below. The nightmarish action was merely resulting in the pointless loss of valuable personnel and vessels and he could stand it no more. He was doing what all Imperial commanders dreaded doing.
Ordering a retreat.
Yet, ever the professional, it was done in good order despite the shredding his fleet was taking, and he did not flinch in issuing the instructions that he hoped would save his remaining forces.
He desperately hoped that the Asgard vessel would stop firing those strangely beautiful yet devastating energy beams.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Assistance Duty, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
As Thor observed the troops leaving the planet, and the Imperial vessels stopping their attack and starting their retreat, he ceased firing. His objective had been met. A while later, the remnants of the Imperial attack force hypered out of the system.
As tens of thousands of messages bearing thanks greeting him from the planet's ships, garrisons, leaders, people and anyone who it appeared could operate a comm device streamed into his own communications system, he couldn't help but hear a voice echoing in his mind - a Tau'ri proverb that Jack O'Neill had once told him:
Curiosity killed the cat.
Thor mulled over that. He wasn't a cat of course, but his curiosity had caused a lot of trouble. And he felt that in this case he wasn't the cat anyway. On the contrary he felt that the Imperials were a rather large and aggressive cat which had a huge litter to fight back with. He might not be able to harm the Asgard especially with the new confidence his race had about their recovery, but other races? The Empire's industrial capacity from what he had gleaned from the information he had retrieved appeared to be significant.
He knew that he had to get back and find a way to seal that hole quite soon. But first he needed to make sure medical assistance was offered to those he had protected, and the survivors of those ships he had destroyed and crippled.
One thing was for sure. The Asgard High Council would likely not be pleased. And if he was unable to find a way to swiftly close that anomaly, their newly rebuilding fleet was going to be busy. And there would be many more Thors fighting the Empire.
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This story was previously lost in the ASB forum crash, so I have reposted it. Comments are of course welcome once more to help this author feel happy and appreciated. ;)
Sargon
(Author's Note: This is a quick bit of writing I've knocked up on a whim mainly for personal pleasure. Here we have the Asgard from Stargate meeting the Galactic Empire from Star Wars. For those of you who want a little more background, this assumes a Stargate Alternate Universe where the Asgard did not commit mass suicide, found a solution to their genetic degradation issue, and in fact are rebuilding their empire and presence in the Stargate universe. They are also in the process of utilising more of the theories and knowledge contained in the Ancient Database with the help of Samantha Carter. As for the Empire, this takes place the year before the Battle Of Yavin in their universe. I'd like to add that I consider myself to be a layman when it comes to all the technical details, and as such this story is not really for those who are very deep into the technical stuff and delight in counting the weld seams on a Star Destroyer for example, so if you take offence at it I do apologise, but then either don't read it and get yourself all worked up, or just take it in the spirit it is meant to be as a bit of fun self indulgent writing.)
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Star Thors - A Stargate/Star Wars Crossover
Part I: Thor Investigation
General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, En route to Investigate Stellar Anomaly, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Supreme Commander Thor viewed the stellar display with a hint of curiosity. It had only been a few minutes since the O'Neill had arrived to investigate an anomaly of interest whilst returning to the Ida Galaxy from the Tau'ri homeworld. The Asgard vessel had been helping the Fifth Race fight off yet another Wraith attack. Having disposed of no less than seven Hives with little effect upon the newly upgraded O'Neill, Thor had welcomed the opportunity to engage in a little scientific work rather than war for a change. The anomaly had in fact appeared in an empty system a stone's throw (in Asgard terms anyway) from Abydos. The Tau'ri vessel HMS Warspite had reported the anomaly to the Asgard, and lacking the sensor suite to fully examine the oddity, had been unable to determine much in detail regarding it. Thor had considered sending a call to the science vessel Daniel Jackson with its dedicated sensor suite to examine the complex nature of the anomaly further, but had decided this would be a good time to test the capabilities of the O'Neill's newly upgraded sensors. A notification had merely been sent that Thor was investigating the anomaly, and that the Daniel Jackson would not need to interrupt its present mission. However, even as the sensors on the O'Neill had managed to report just what they had found, the odd area of space had rapidly expanded, enveloping the Asgard vessel and had now deposited them in what their analyses appeared to be reporting as another universe. The ride had been somewhat jarring, but nothing had been damaged.
The first concern for Thor after establishing that they had in fact travelled through a dimensional tunnel in space was if they could travel back safely through the anomaly. According to the sensor sweeps and evaluation of the data that had been built up so far, it appeared it would be possible to travel back without too much effort. However, he wished to adjust a few things first to see how smooth a transit could be accomplished with some tweaking of the Asgard systems. Hermiod would no doubt approve of Thor's attention to detail. If Thor could have rolled his eyes in the Tau'ri fashion at that, he would indeed have done so. Still, Thor was curious about where they had arrived and intended to carry out a survey of the immediate area before returning. If there was a chance of encountering other species here, that would be a good thing, as friends were welcome anywhere for the ever inquisitive Asgard.
His attention was soon diverted by a scanner report of the fourth planet of a nearby system which appeared to harbour sentient life. It seemed to be the logical place to start in terms of meeting the locals, so Thor directed the graceful yet powerful vessel towards that world. It wasn't long before he came upon a situation that would cause problems.
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Amankar City, Mandatorship of Theokton, Planet Koros, Sryss System, Outer Rim Territories, 1BY
"Give the evacuation order! The planetary shields have fallen!". The voice blared over the comm system as sounds of heavy weaponry being unleashed echoed across the airwaves.
Bedlam reigned in the largest nation's capital city as people fled from the imminent invasion of their world. High above, a giant wedge-shaped craft oversaw the operation to crush the rebel influence in this area. This world and its collection of nations had thought itself relatively safe from Imperial notice - it was after all on the edge of the Outer Rim, and the Empire rarely ventured into this particular part of it. However, trading with members of the Rebellion had turned out to be a massive error for the Ministry of Commerce of the Mandatorship of Theokton which occupied most of the northern continent, and the balance sheet was now not looking cost effective at all. Mortgaging the planet to the Hutts might have been better business, Minister Glyn Xancts sardonically mused as he fled for the departmental transport. Independence was at an end for this place. If he managed to escape, he'd remember to steer clear of Alliance deals. It was just as well he was skilled in the sphere of insurance. Hedging the nations of the world's bets, another location had been jointly set up years before for the population to relocate to in case the Imperials ever decided to plant their big black polished boots on this world. After all, it was only sensible in business to have other options.
Ships of all types streamed away from the planet, many unarmed and full of civilians as an orbital bombardment of Amankar City was unleashed as an example of what happened to those that worked, however discreetly, with the Rebels. The local combined international system space fleet had been defeated after a space battle in which they had fought valiantly yet hopelessly against overwhelming odds. In various cities across the planet, Imperial troops were taking over strategic positions and destroying the various government forces' ability to fight back. Already the nation that occupied the southernmost continent had been fully occupied and was facing the prospect of unconditional surrender. It was methodical, precise and efficient. In other words, a very Imperial way of carrying out operations. Yet, they would find that resistance would not collapse easily - the local armed forces were putting up a stiff resistance, and every minute they delayed the Imperials allowed more civilians to escape.
Mandator Kyrillos of Theokton stood in his office. He knew he'd most likely die or be captured, but at least he'd bought enough time to allow some of his people to escape. He, like the other leaders of the various nations, had broadcast for help from anyone who would listen. Of course, there was no response, not even from the Rebels. Rather understandably, no one wanted to tangle with a full Imperial planetary assault force. He couldn't really blame them. Still, the trade whilst it has lasted had been very profitable for all, and at least there was a world hidden away where all the nations could get on with things without being disturbed this time. At least, that was what he hoped. Sighing, he made his way to his personal ship. He'd make an effort to escape even if he stood little chance of making it past the blockade that had sprung up around his world.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, En route to Initiate Local Contact, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Thor was somewhat perturbed. He was picking up distress calls. The Asgard were bound to render assistance to the unprotected if they were in a position to do so. The O'Neill's sensors were picking up many unarmed ships under fire fleeing from the planet that had been his destination. He was even more concerned when his sensors reported that a large vessel was unleashing a bombardment upon a city that was still crowded with civilians. Another smaller wedge-shaped vessel was generating some sort of distortion field which the Asgard computers were busily identifying the nature of. Scans of the escaping vessels had revealed that they possessed a relatively primitive analogue of a hyperspace drive, and many had attempted to engage it but were going nowhere. Analysis rapidly showed that the cruiser (identified as an "Immobiliser 418 Cruiser" or "Interdictor" from probing Asgard scans of the ships' secure systems which had also been working at translating the languages being used locally) was preventing their escape. Information gained from scans of other attacking vessels in the area such as from their logs and mission orders were building up a grim picture of what the Asgard viewed as a rather unpalatable modus operandi which qualified as the actions of an oppressive government deeply implicated in war crimes in his race's terminology.
Other Asgard may have considered the situation in further depth, assessing what the High Council would say about it all. Thor, however was known for his somewhat unconventional way of bending the rules - something he had learnt a lot about from a certain General Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri. He would of course never fire unless fired upon first and would attempt to help the civilians who were in distress, yet he would use his own idiosyncrasies to do so. That was one of the callings of the Asgard after all, to help the helpless and if he could further accommodate that, then he felt it a worthy activity. Besides, the Asgard, never a race to be taken lightly even at their weakest, were now more powerful in terms of numbers of ships than they had been for some time, and his analysis of the vessels showed that they were very much less advanced than his own. In short, he felt he had little to fear from them should things develop in an unfortunate manner.
His decision made, and with his analysis of the local vessels supplying him with sufficient information, the gleaming white ship appeared between the "Interdictor" and the fleeing ships, and the Asgard sensor array sent out a disruption beam that interfered with the gravity well generators of the "Interdictor" cruiser. One by one, the refugee ships vanished as their hyperdrive engines were finally able to kick in. With this accomplished, the giant ship moved closer to the planet. His scans had shown thousands of troops and multitudes of armoured vehicles of various designs from this "Empire" brutally crushing all resistance and even engaging in the shooting of unarmed civilians who happened to be in their way. Thor had a non-violent way of dealing with them, and that was by using the frighteningly advanced Asgard beaming technology to relocate all those who were attacking civilians back onto their ships, their shields interestingly appearing to be no barrier for the recently researched knowledge of the Ancients newly incorporated into the upgraded systems of his ship at this juncture. The remaining Imperial troops were only those that were fighting the planet's own military.
Finally, with this done, Thor decided to broadcast a holographic representation of himself onto all the ships present and to all those on the planet below.
"I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard. I have no wish for conflict with the Empire, yet I am duty bound to help those who are defenceless, hence the repatriation of those of your forces which have been engaging in assaults upon the unarmed civilians on the planet. I will remain here to render assistance to any civilians who wish to leave in peace. I will not otherwise interfere with any legitimate military actions here unless attacked.".
Thor wondered what response he would receive. From what his scans had just told him about the Empire, it probably wasn't going to be affable.
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Atmospheric Battlespace above Amankar City, Mandatorship of Theokton, Planet Koros, Sryss System, Outer Rim Territories, 1BY
Minister Glyn Xancts couldn't believe his luck. A minute ago his departmental transport had been under fire and wasn't going anywhere fast as it tried to escape the atmosphere of the planet but thwarted by flight of TIEs that had forced his pilot to dive back down again. Only the speed and agility of his vessel had saved the entire departmental staff from being blown from the sky. It had turned out the deal with that rather dodgy Corellian trader had been a very good investment indeed. He'd half expected the damn engines to give out, never mind that they had been examined just in case by the departmental mechanics. After all, they were second-hand by the trader's own admission, but he had promised that they had been fully reconditioned, and his assertions had been proven honest. Xancts swore that he'd buy that trader an entire bar if he ever met him again as thanks for an excellent transaction.
And now, a strange ship had appeared from nowhere, and the Imperial Interdictor's gravity wells had suffered some sort of failure as far as he could see given that many ships were now shooting off into hyperspace. He had been about to direct his pilot to enter hyperspace as well, but then had come the surprising transmission of a holographic message from the vessel identifying itself as being from a people called the Asgard. The alien had looked small and fragile, yet there was something about it that spoke of grand confidence and power. He had never heard of the Asgard, but he felt they were worth buying another bar for nevertheless. Xancts had a feeling though that the attacking Imperial Commander would not be feeling as charitable. He'd probably turn out to be a very bad businessman if that was indeed the case.
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Planetary Invasion Mission, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
An angry yet somewhat shocked and puzzled Admiral Rylus Kandt glared at the information relayed to him from his command chair on board the Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter. All had been going relatively smoothly until that large white unknown ship had appeared from literally nowhere, shut down his Interdictor and had somehow managed to transport around a quarter of his troops and equipment back onto the ships of his task force in the blink of an eye. He wasn't quite sure how that was possible, but he didn't like anyone disrupting his plans, and he most certainly took exception to someone interfering with the Empire's work and being impudent enough to beam a hologram onto his command deck! Whoever this Thor was, he was going to have to answer to the Empire. The Asgard vessel may be large, yet its occupant looked rather frail, and he had a full Battle Squadron on hand to deal with it.
Kandt was not exactly known for his diplomatic skills, which is why he had been sent on "a simple clean up operation to deal with the Rebel scum infesting this particular area of space", as the Admiralty had put it. And he was more than capable of doing so, having notched up an impressive list of victories against Rebels and pirates alike. Yet he was not a stupid man, and the demonstration of the Asgard ability to transport his troops and neutralize his Interdictor were worrying developments. Still, even if the Asgard ship was powerful, it could not possibly deal with an entire Imperial Battle Squadron. That ship could well be a paper Bantha for all he knew, and like some races its looks may perhaps just be for show to appear intimidating. Nevertheless, he wanted information on the vessel's capabilities.
"Get me a readout of that ship's specifications.", he barked into the crewpit of the vessel. It wasn't long before he got a reply. And it wasn't what he was expecting.
"Our scans are unable to gather any information on the Asgard ship, sir.". The lieutenant who had delivered the news looked puzzled as well as nervous.
"Are you quite sure we have nothing? Carry out a diagnostic.", replied Kandt with obvious displeasure. He stood up from his chair and walked towards the large transparisteel viewports at the front of the bridge area, casting his gaze at the far away ship that gleamed in the light of the planet's sun. There he found Captain Hirg Gillis with a faint frown growing upon his heavily lined brow.
"This looks odd Admiral. I don't like what is developing here.", Gillis said it matter of factly, and if he was nervous he wasn't showing it. Kandt merely nodded in agreement.
The young Lieutenant carried out the Admiral's order of a diagnostic, but as the result came back again, his face turned a little greyer. "Diagnostic confirms no fault in our systems. The ship is unable to be scanned by any means we have available. It could be their shielding configuration, but we are not really sure as we can obtain very little information even on the makeup of their shields. It is unknown to the Empire, sir.".
Kandt looked back from the viewports giving the crewpit a withering glare. This was not helpful or welcome at all. He didn't like unknowns, but he was confident that he had the military force to deal with this particular unknown, and honour demanded that the Empire wouldn't be dictated to by anyone.
Exchanging a look with Gillis, he turned to the comm officer. "Open a channel to the Asgard vessel.", he ordered curtly.
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Emergency Evacuation Shuttle Pad, Mandator's Palace Complex, Amankar City, Mandatorship of Theokton, Planet Koros, Sryss System, Outer Rim Territories, 1BY
Mandator Kyrillos looked up from his palace's special launch pad from within his shuttle. He could not see the Asgard ship from where he was, but suddenly hope began to flare in his eyes as he realised he might not die after all. All the same, he really hoped this Thor person knew what he was doing. The Empire wasn't one to be given orders to or brushed away by theatrical bluffs.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Protection Duty, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Supreme Commander Thor wasn't entirely surprised when the rather angry yet professional voice of the human in command of the Imperial assault force barked across the comms.
"This is Admiral Rylus Kandt of the Imperial Star Destroyer Arbiter. In the name of the Galactic Empire and His Majesty the Emperor, I cannot allow you to interfere with our operation here. The inhabitants of this world, by associating with the Rebellion that has caused untold numbers of terrorist outrages throughout our territory are traitors by association, and must therefore suffer the consequences of their actions. I demand cessation of your interference here, and your unconditional withdrawal from this area of space. Failure to do so will result in us firing upon your vessel with deadly force.".
A feeling of sadness filtered through Thor as he realised what was inevitably coming. The Asgard were a proud race too, and did not take kindly to threats. They were after all contemporaries of the Ancients and had strode the stars for aeons. In that sense, he could see where Kandt was coming from as he was from a proud government as well, yet the evidence of crimes against defenceless people were undeniable. He had wanted to help without getting involved in a war if possible, but if there was war, then he'd let the Imperials start it by firing the first shot. The Empire would find that the Asgard, though small in stature, were very accomplished in the arts of conflict when they wished to be.
Thor sent back his reply, "I am afraid that I will not be leaving Admiral Kandt. I ask only to assist those unarmed civilians whom you are targeting and to take appropriate action to secure their safety without harming yourselves. I have no desire to fire upon your vessel, but be assured that if I am fired upon, I will have no choice but to respond and take whatever action I deem necessary to further protect the people here.".
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Starship Battle Alert, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
As the Asgard's calm and steady demeanour represented in the hologram blinked out, Kandt sighed with a measure of frustration. "He has all the arrogance of a Rebel. So we will deal with him as a Rebel. Deploy both battle lines to intercept and attack the Asgard vessel. Pursuit Line to continue to clear any ships still trying to escape from the planet, and inform the Bombard Line to realign and configure weaponry for supportive starship attack upon the Asgard ship.".
With extreme precision, the lines ordered by the Admiral to redeploy moved themselves into their new positions to take on the O'Neill. It was going to be a day that would be remembered for a long time.
A short time later, Admiral Kandt gave the order to fire.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Protection Duty, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Thor watched impassively as the Imperial ships manoeuvered into attack positions. He had already raised his shields, and his weaponry stood ready, but he was determined not to fire unless his ship was fired upon first. Then, the squadrons of starfighters started their attack runs, TIE Bombers and Star Wing Assault Gunboats from the first Battle Line launched heavy space bombs, heavy rockets and proton torpedoes at the O'Neill. The heavy rockets and space bombs were designed to bring down a target's shield before causing massive amounts of hull damage. Smaller proton torpedoes were designed to precisely pinpoint various areas of a vessel such as shield generators, weapon emplacements, engines, sensor arrays and so on, thus degrading the fighting ability of the target.
The Asgard ship just waited. After all, it had not been hit by anything yet and Thor had already analysed the threats he was facing. The Imperial ships' array of weaponry was impressive in terms of sheer numbers and variety, yet the lasers, various missiles, tractor beams, ion cannons, turbolasers and other devices were reasonably powerful but primitive in his estimation.
Brilliant flashes of light erupted around the O'Neill as a swarm of missiles impacted. The first wave had arrived, and many more were on the way.
Yet Thor was unconcerned. The missiles had done nothing appreciable to diminish the shields, and the ship just continued to sit there. The Supreme Commander was hoping that the evidence of his ship's immunity to the variety of missiles fired would give the Imperials pause for thought and that return fire from himself causing loss of life would be unnecessary. However, the Imperials didn't seem too bothered by his resistance, after all, they had met plenty of ships with strong shields and none of them could stand up to an Imperial Battle Squadron's full might.
Until now.
As further waves of missiles exploded harmlessly against the O'Neill's shields, the fighters added their laser bolts and ion cannons to the maelstrom. Also for little effect. Admiral Kandt was feeling somewhat concerned by now, but was still confident the heavy batteries of his capital ships would soon wear down the upstart ship's resistance. As they entered firing range, the Battle Lines and the Bombardment Line opened fire with an massive strike that no non-Imperial starship was thought to be able to withstand for even a short amount of time.
Yet the Asgard vessel still sat there unperturbed. Thor was beginning to tire of the Imperial stubbornness to try and destroy his vessel, something that he thought should be obvious to them by now that they couldn't manage. All their efforts had merely shaved a very small percentage of his shield's power which had recharged and made up the deficit already. He activated the controls and the ship moved with a speed that was unexpected by the Imperials for a ship her size.
The ship then headed for the cloud of starfighters nearby and the nearest of the Imperial Battle Lines consisting of a number of capital ships which was lead by a Victory Class Star Destroyer.
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Starship Combat Mission, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
Kandt couldn't believe it. The alien ship had withstood everything thrown at it. It was an unprecedented situation in his experience, and he was just beginning to realise that this was no paper Bantha at all. And now it was moving with what looked like the speed and agility of a heavy starfighter! He didn't have long to wonder about this as it was at this point that truly massive bright blue-white energy beams streamed out of the vessel as the much feared Asgard plasma cannons opened up. Their target was the Victory Class Star Destroyer Decapitator. As the beams impacted the Imperial vessel, there was a brief flare as the shields simply collapsed under the incredible power of their force and the warship was blown into oblivion almost in the blink of an eye.
On board the Imperial ships, their commanders and crews felt something they did not feel often.
Deep seated and unmitigated fear.
Kandt looked with horror upon the expanding debris cloud that had been one of his most powerful assets.
Gone. In one salvo. From a single ship. Impossible.
His mind could barely accept what he was seeing and his slight hesitation caused by shock was to cost the Imperials dear.
The Asgard were at war.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Protection Duty & Starship Engagement, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
Thor took no pleasure in firing upon the Imperials. It was however now necessary.
First of all the massive plasma cannons of his ship had fired at the large wedge-shaped vessel serving as the command ship of the nearest battle line indentified as the Decapitator. The destruction of the warship appeared to cause a momentary pause in the Imperial attack, but Thor noted with some interest and some grim admiration that Imperial organisation held and after some moments they continued to press with the attack. However, this interval was enough for him to adjust the ship's course slightly to head right into the furball of starfighters and also to be in a good position to sweep the Imperial line whereupon he set the Oneill's "go away" beams into rapid operation. Within moments hordes of fighters, bombers, missiles, torpedoes and bombs just vanished from existence as they were deconstructed into their base atoms. A swathe was simply cut through the starfighters as his vessel passed through the part of space they had occupied. Before long there were precious few left to mount an attack on the Asgard vessel and those that remained engaged in frantic evasion attempts to try and outwit these nastily effective beams.
With the fighter threat such as it was all but removed, the massive ship gracefully continued speeding along the first of the Imperial Battle Lines: this one was more specifically a Heavy Attack Line consisting of three Dreadnought Class Heavy Cruisers, a Strike class medium cruiser, and a Gladiator Class Star Destroyer. It had of course been led by the Decapitator but the irony was now that the head had been cut off the line and was currently a dissipating debris cloud.
The racing battlecruiser flew right through the fleet intent on disintegrating ship after ship, any remaining starfighters and bombers erased from existence like small flies, some pilots seeing what was coming and actually ejecting before they were deleted from existence. The lone Strike Cruiser desperately tried to alter course but was cut in half from a single shot from one of the Asgard warship's lesser beam weapons and the two halves had little time to fall away from each other before they brewed up in secondary explosions.
Weapons' fire rained in on Thor from the remaining ships in the line as well as other ships which were now in range, but the O'Neill's shields either shrugged off those that managed to hit or was simply moving too fast for the larger batteries to acquire a useful firing solution or keep up with bearing on the ship.
One by one despite a storm of firepower spitting out of them in torrents, the Dreadnoughts were destroyed with effortless and clinical precision, a trail of flowering gas clouds of flame and metal marking their graves.
The O'Neill then made straight for the Pursuit Line which consisted of ten ships that were all fast types running down and interdicting escapees from the planet. Now they were the ones turning to flee as all of them had witnessed the complete annihilation of the Heavy Attack Line and the swift approach of the Asgard warship. They knew they were next.
In the Nebulon-B2 Class frigate, Fencer, the commander of the Pursuit Line considered his very short list of options. They basically boiled down to a single unpalatable and in many Imperial minds, painful one. Run for hyperspace.
Calm and experienced, he nevertheless issued fast orders for the whole group to enter hyperspace. In a perverse way he was almost glad the Interdictor's gravity wells were down as it made this option possible. However, despite the rapidity of his orders the Asgard ship was upon his line even as he finished uttering the last couple of words of his instruction to do so.
Just as his helm officer input the necessary commands those awful blue-white beams marched down his line in rapid succession, each one a one-shot kill as two Guardian 344 Class light cruisers, two Warden Class light cruisers, a Lancer Class Frigate, a Corellian DP20 Gunship frigate, three Corellian CR90 Class corvettes followed by the commander's Nebulon which had just started to jump into hyperspace, and was unlucky not to make it were reduced to vapour. By the time the Asgard battlecruiser had completed the sweep of the line, only starfighters and some small gunships were remaining of it. The formerly harried array of Korosian vessels which had been trying their best to escape were now free to do so unmolested. The rest of the Imperial force understandably had other matters to attend to at this time, such as survival.
Running was not really an option for the bombard line and its two massive Torpedo Spheres whose agility was less than optimal as one would expect for such lumbering vessels. Nevertheless, they put up a withering defence as masses of proton torpedoes shot out of their firing tubes and were promptly erased from existence by the Asgard ""go-away" beams. The number being fired was not as high as one would expect. The first few Torpedo Spheres had only recently been introduced into the Imperial Navy and were designed primarily for planetary bombardment. As it was, only a portion of the tubes at a time on each sphere could be recalibrated in short order for anti-starship purposes. The sheets of turbolaser fire from the large batteries weren't restricted by this, however like the heavy batteries on the recently destroyed starships couldn't really keep pace with the Asgard warship, although some of the gunners made intense attempts to increase their angle of deflection and managed to score some hits on the battlecruiser's shields.
Thor's ship returned long bright beams of deadly fire causing hits from his main batteries to tear into the gigantic vessels and great chunks blew off as they began to disintegrate. Some debris from one of the spheres started to head towards the planet but the Asgard systems locked on and beamed the danger away.
The lesser weapons on Thor's ship spiked out and dealt with the escorting force of starfighters and Lancer frigates. Thor by this stage was actually quite impressed by the bravery of the Imperial forces in taking him on despite the fates of their comrades they had witnessed not long before. Nevertheless, a small group of gunboats had obviously decided that nothing further could be done except pointlessly courageous suicide and turned away from Thor's ship. The Asgard Supreme Commander obliged the group by not engaging them as they were clearly retreating to their host vessels which were already turning towards the other Battle Line that had as yet not been engaged by the O'Neill.
Thor turned towards a few other ships that had now come into range which had previously been on the other side of the planet from his initial attack and were still bombarding it and began engaging those.
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Command Bridge, Imperial Class Star Destroyer Arbiter, Starship Combat Mission, 286th Battle Squadron, Outer Rim Rebel Suppression Group, 1BY
Kandt's own Battle Line had been left relatively untouched, but now he broke free of his shock and ordered his forces to regroup and recover all fighters and the Transport Line to recover all soldiers on the planet below. The nightmarish action was merely resulting in the pointless loss of valuable personnel and vessels and he could stand it no more. He was doing what all Imperial commanders dreaded doing.
Ordering a retreat.
Yet, ever the professional, it was done in good order despite the shredding his fleet was taking, and he did not flinch in issuing the instructions that he hoped would save his remaining forces.
He desperately hoped that the Asgard vessel would stop firing those strangely beautiful yet devastating energy beams.
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General O'Neill, Asgard Improved O'Neill Class Battlecruiser, Civilian Assistance Duty, 21st of August by Tau'ri Reckoning
As Thor observed the troops leaving the planet, and the Imperial vessels stopping their attack and starting their retreat, he ceased firing. His objective had been met. A while later, the remnants of the Imperial attack force hypered out of the system.
As tens of thousands of messages bearing thanks greeting him from the planet's ships, garrisons, leaders, people and anyone who it appeared could operate a comm device streamed into his own communications system, he couldn't help but hear a voice echoing in his mind - a Tau'ri proverb that Jack O'Neill had once told him:
Curiosity killed the cat.
Thor mulled over that. He wasn't a cat of course, but his curiosity had caused a lot of trouble. And he felt that in this case he wasn't the cat anyway. On the contrary he felt that the Imperials were a rather large and aggressive cat which had a huge litter to fight back with. He might not be able to harm the Asgard especially with the new confidence his race had about their recovery, but other races? The Empire's industrial capacity from what he had gleaned from the information he had retrieved appeared to be significant.
He knew that he had to get back and find a way to seal that hole quite soon. But first he needed to make sure medical assistance was offered to those he had protected, and the survivors of those ships he had destroyed and crippled.
One thing was for sure. The Asgard High Council would likely not be pleased. And if he was unable to find a way to swiftly close that anomaly, their newly rebuilding fleet was going to be busy. And there would be many more Thors fighting the Empire.
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This story was previously lost in the ASB forum crash, so I have reposted it. Comments are of course welcome once more to help this author feel happy and appreciated. ;)
Sargon