Episode Five - The Enemy Within

[Paul Riley]

1845
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

A short while later and the F-302 squadron was in position ahead of the incoming object. Njord's ship, the Vanir, had joined them for a team effort making quite an impressive formation. Colonel Riley watched as the ships slowly spread out to intercept the small asteroid. He listened in to the 302's comms channel,
"Wolf One hook away." The first 302 deployed it's grappling device, a large hook propelling away and into the rock surface.
"Wolf Two hook away." Called the second pilot, on this went until all had deployed. It was quite an odd vision, an asteroid straining against the ropes of the 302 squadron, wanting desperately to continue on it's path, only slowing marginally. The Sun Tzu had kept it's distance, merely observing and keeping track of the Etruscan object's projected path. Paul glanced back up at the countdown,
T - 7 hours, 57 minutes to impact

Time was running out, they'd only get one shot at this. He cursed about the hour it had taken to get the squadron organized and get into a decent enough position to enact their plan.

The Vanir swept over the Sun Tzu and seemed to glide effortlessly toward the squadron who were now moving with the smaller meteorite. Riley watched as the Vanir's tractor beam activated and locked on to the device. Instantly it's progress slowed and together the group seemed to have it under control. Paul asked Major Hunter how long they had left, he opened up a channel to the squadron,
"This is Sun Tzu to all call signs, we've got about ten minutes before the object is in range. Confirm you're ready to launch the asteroid?" He waited, they waited. The commander was putting all his faith in this plan, it was all up to Njord, Decker, Hawkins and the team now.

<tag Njord Ryan Decker Dylan Hawkins Shawn Booth>

[Njord]

1845
Bridge
Starship Vanir
Star System M1B

The Vanir Starship was moving with the small earth fighter planes as they control the movement of the asteroid to send it on a collision course with the bigger asteroid. The tractor beam was strong but moving an asteroid in outer space isn't easy. It is hard to move in outer space it is just a large vacuum that sucks you in, as beautiful as it may be, it isn't somewhere you would want to be stuck in.

"This is Sun Tzu to all call signs, we've got about ten minutes before the object is in range. Confirm you're ready to launch the asteroid?" The Colonel said over the communication system. "Colonel, we will be ready to launch in 90 seconds." Njord said back over the communications system as he sat in his chair and waited for the time to come to launch the asteroid on its way.

<Tag: Paul Riley Dylan Hawkins Ryan Decker Shawn Booth>

[Ryan Decker]

1845
F-302 "Wolf Three"
Star System M1B

It hadn't come as a complete shock to be flying the 302 hyper space fighter again, but it wasn't somthing he had immediatly expected, also the lack of a Second seater, in his serive an Air Combat Officer was a little different, but he ahd flown single seaters before, it's just different flying a two seater single seat, but he had suggested he fly one and that they be as light as possible, though they were still carrying mostly full armaments and fuel, all of those which they needed.

Wedge as his pilot call sign was had no trouble easing back into the flight controls of the 302, in fact he often expressed it was easy flying in space, there was no ground, or any real up or down, just different ways to move. The flight out of the Sun Tzu's hanger was certainly different, but he had done it before, even if he'd never been assigned to a ship based squadron, it had been part of their training. The feeling even with the inertial dampeners changed between being 'inside' the Sun Tzu and not being in it, after all the dampeners on the 302's weren't perfect, and they couldn't be, not yet, it was still good to feel some G forces he thought, he wondered how Riley might respond to flying one of these, he assumed the man had once flown aircraft, and likely knew how to fly the Sun Tzu, as did most senior personnel, though Major Hunter was by far the most experienced.

They formed up into their Flights and then got into position, their Hooks being shot out and then impacting the asteroid they were about to use as cue ball of sorts, the feeling of flying while attacked to something else, wasn't knew Air to Air refueling was more difficult, but then again you were trying not to spill jet fuel out and maybe make your day very bad. Trying out muscle an asteroid along a certain path was a little less finese more raw power, but the feeling certainly changed when the Vanir tractor beam picked up on the asteroid. it moved a little bit and began to comply. They had had to go to full thrust to get it to stop, how they were going to get it moveing fast enough was by playing a very dangarous game of chicked, except you were stuck between an asteroid and some sort of Etruscian monstrosety, being crush in the middle was not on his list of plans for today, but trying to save people who might help them was.

Riley Radio in to everyone as they throttled down to about half power waiting for the go command. "This is Sun Tzu to all call signs, we've got about ten minutes before the object is in range. Confirm you're ready to launch the asteroid?"

Decker radiod his flight. "Wolfs five and six confirm readyness?" The Chinese Pilot responded and he remembered the quick brief he'd been given on their language, it meant yes, the America second Lieutenant responded with another yes. He then Broadcast. "Wolf's three, five and six confrim ready." Now all they had to do was wait for the coordinates go command, it seemed it was all going to come down to this.

<TAG: Paul Riley, Dylan Hawkins, Njord.>

[Paul Riley]

1855
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

Colonel Riley bit his lip in anticipation as the squadron maneuvered into position. There is was again, the Etruscan weapon hurtling toward them out of the darkness. Paul squinted at it, he could see something reflecting. The ravages of open space had taken their toll on the object and the ship's commander could make out a metallic surface underneath now. It almost gave the effect that the rock had been plastered on as a disguise, confirming everyone's suspicions that this was in fact some kind of alien super weapon designed to wipe out the Vanir.

He had a good feeling about this, a great vent had already been ripped along the side of the fake asteroid by some sort of deep space object since their last encounter. Perhaps it was weakened? Perhaps this was what it took to finally stop it? Riley's thoughts went wild as he listened to the reassuring confirmation commands by one pilot after another as they released their grappling hooks. Finally, Njord's vessel released it's tractor beam and the meteorite sailed free toward the alien weapon.

The collision felt like time itself had slowed. Both the fake asteroid and the real one they'd selected had come together and it was like the immovable force meeting the unstoppable object. A great mass of debris and rubble slowly drifted away from the impact area. It was then that Riley's heart sank and he slumped back into the command chair. A great silvery mass was slowly pushing it's way forward through the rubble. He decided it was worth one more shot,

"Fire forward beams at the object" he ordered. The stand-in for Decker punched in the commands and two streaks of deadly blue light powered their way toward the object. Again the impact was blinding, but again the thing still powered on. Riley cursed under his breath, all they'd managed to do was reveal the core of the object and put a great big scorch mark down it's side. It began to pick up speed again as he glanced up at the countdown clock.

T - 7 hours, 47 minutes to impact

All but defeated he sat thinking as the squadron announced a return to base. Something Decker had briefly mentioned, it seemed a little drastic but it might be their only chance. The Vanir's only chance. He opened the comm's channel they were currently sharing with the Vanir vessel,
"Njord. Does your planet have a Stargate?"

<tag Njord Ryan Decker Dylan Hawkins>

[Njord]

1855
Bridge
Starship Vanir
Star System M1B

No matter what was tried, nothing worked. Being a Vanir, an Asgard was thousands of years above these humans, yet the fate of the Vanir, the last of the known Asgard was in their hands. The Vanir tried everything, just this super weapon was exactly that, a super weapon. The Vanir haven't used the stargates, in years, instead they used their intergalactic ships for travel.

"Njord. Does your planet have a Stargate?" The Colonel asked Njord over the radio. Njord. responded, "We do. unfortunately it seems like we'll have to use it. The Etruscans have won this battle." Njord said reluctantly. The Vanir, believed the ends justify the means to save their race, anyone would think the same thing. The Asgard didn't and they died because of it, however those who've branched off did believe it, and Njord was the leader of that faction. The lead scientist, weapons expert, shields expert. Yet no weapon they had or could fabricate could stop this thing in the time period given. The Etruscans may have won this one, but there was still time, but that was highly unlikely.

<Tag: Ryan Decker Paul Riley>

[Ryan Decker]

1855
F-302 Wolf Three
Star System M1B

The 302 had thrown up more than a couple of alarms and other warnings at him as they went to max for a lot longer than was safe and pulling something, they all had to release as late as possible. They had pushed the rocket engines of the fighter to the absolute limit. as the Alien Asteroid filled more and more of the canopy, it seemed more damaged than he remembered but it was possible it just looked different from the bridge of an 304 compared to a 302 fighter cockpit. he held onto it as long as he could. "Wolf Three Hook released" He groaned as he pulled as tight a turn as possible away from the Etruscan weapon. 

As he throttled down he looked over his shoulder just in time to see the Asteroid was still there though, far more damaged than before. He then looked away at two bright lances of Asgard beams sprung from the Forward areas of the Sun Tzu, the beams had a far, far more terrifying look and feel to them from where he was now, "Decker To Riley," He awaited the Colonels Acknowledgment. "Sir, the core of the object seems exposed, we should try hitting it again and again until we can get another plan, maybe even use all the 302's nuclear missiles." He kept flying back towards the Sun Tzu as the mission required but while they were out here, they may as well try.

The Sun Tzu was growing from a tiny not quite space black spot to the general long distance profile of the vessel. He hoped they wouldn't come back to evacuating the Vanir, but hopefully someone had remembered his Stargate suggestion, although slow and time wasting, nothing as yet provided it wasn't only a few microns from the event horizon seemed to survive the unstable vortex of a gate opening, getting it near the object was the easy part, dialing it would be that hard one, either the Sun Tzu or the Vanir ship would have to go to another planet with a stargate and dial, possibly for hours the same address. boring but necessary, also they would need to know if the vair had subspace arrays, so communicate with, it would make the dialing more targeted.

<TAG: Njord, Paul Riley, Shawn Booth, Dylan Hawkins>

[Paul Riley]

1857
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

T - 7 hours, 45 minutes to impact

"We do. unfortunately it seems like we'll have to use it. The Etruscans have won this battle." Njord’s reply about the Stargate crackled through the interface. Colonel Riley almost felt sorry for the alien, he sounded defeated and a little crestfallen at the idea of having to flee through the Stargate, but that wasn't what Riley had in mind. The silvery alien sphere was drifting away from them, there were no obvious afterburners or engines but it still seemed to be picking up speed. There had to be some considerable amount of Etruscan technology inside to guide it and power it, but the damn thing seemed indestructible. It was a level of technology that the Tauri couldn't understand. Layer upon layer of armour and metals and rock had kept it going this far.

"Decker To Riley," a voice sounded of the radio. Riley tapped the button on his control chair,
“This is Riley, go ahead.”
"Sir, the core of the object seems exposed, we should try hitting it again and again until we can get another plan, maybe even use all the 302's nuclear missiles."
He thought about it for a moment, damn it seemed tempting, but it wouldn't work – and the Colonel was fast getting very fed up wasting power and ammunition on this mission.
“Negative Decker. You’re all carrying minimal loads after the grappling hook refit. Let’s not waste what we’ve not got. Return to base.” He let the talk button go, he knew the squadron wouldn't like that. Part of Riley felt annoyed; the Vanir hadn't really given them much here to work with and had expected the Tauri to do nigh on everything for them to defend their world, for what? The Vanir wouldn't even say what exactly it was they were working on that was so important. Why not just flee in the first place rather than risk reaching out to the expedition for help?

Pushing the button in again, he made sure the comms channel connected to both the Vanir and the F-302s,
“Decker this is Riley. I need you and Njord to get back to the Sun Tzu and start working on some calculations to re-align the Vanir’s Stargate. We’re going to have to launch it at the object and dial the address from another planet. Hopefully, as you said, the unstable vortex will wipe out the object’s core and take it out of the equation once and for all.” He paused for thought, nothing in the known universe has yet survived the vortex outburst of a wormhole connection, "but we don’t know how big of a bang that’ll be. And we’re up against the clock. This is our last chance. Njord, I hope you understand what this means.” He signed out of the radio channel, it would likely mean the Stargate would be destroyed in the ensuing explosion – leaving the Vanir without a ‘gate, although he suspected they could harvest a space gate using their ship at a later date and replace it. Riley was fed up, if the Etruscans succeeded with this they might try one – or more – on Meropis. They needed to take this out, and it was time to go all in on this high stakes game of space poker. He’d put the ball in Decker, Booth and Njord’s court.

<tag Njord Shawn Booth Ryan Decker Dylan Hawkins>

[Njord]

1858
Bridge
Starship Vanir
Star System M1B

Njord watched as he had no idea what to do, it appeared whatever this asteroid was laced with was nearly indestructible. The Vanir and Asgard were never a cruel or hostile race. They never used asteroids as weapons to wipe out a race, nope they never did and never would. The Vanir if they were to survive in this Galaxy, would obviously have to take a different approach against the Etruscans, they were never like the Goa'uld. The Goa'uld stole technology and knowledge and weren't even close to the level of technology of the Asgard. And now the Vanir the last of a species, had to put their future in the hands of a relatively young species.

Njord listened over the radio as the Colonel spoke, “Decker this is Riley. I need you and Njord to get back to the Sun Tzu and start working on some calculations to re-align the Vanir’s Stargate. We’re going to have to launch it at the object and dial the address from another planet. Hopefully, as you said, the unstable vortex will wipe out the object’s core and take it out of the equation once and for all. but we don’t know how big of a bang that’ll be. And we’re up against the clock. This is our last chance. Njord, I hope you understand what this means.”

And Njord did know. But this is the last stand in this battle and to win, he needed to do it. "Understood, Colonel." Njord said as he flew his ship back towards the humans ship before beaming back to the bridge.

<Tag: Paul Riley Ryan Decker Dylan Hawkins Shawn Booth>

[Ryan Decker]

1858
F-302 Wolf Three
Star System M1B

“This is Riley, go ahead.”

Decker Had figured that the Colonel probably wouldn't go for the everything they had at it, if their beams and mark IX Naquadria Bombs didn't work, and those could both destroy Stargates, they both needed to get a sample of this ships hull, along with finding a way to destroy, having some people who didn't object to dirty tactics in your debt would probably come in handy some time along with having some more highly advanced Asgard brains around to help certainly couldn't hurt.

“Negative Decker. You’re all carrying minimal loads after the grappling hook refit. Let’s not waste what we’ve not got. Return to base.”
 He waited a good second before replying as he kept flying back towards the Sun Tzu, he picked up speed, there was no time to waste. "Yes sir, Wolf Three returning to Base Plate." He replied as he continued to fly back towards the ship, it slowly gaining size in his canopy. 

“Decker this is Riley. I need you and Njord to get back to the Sun Tzu and start working on some calculations to re-align the Vanir’s Stargate. We’re going to have to launch it at the object and dial the address from another planet. Hopefully, as you said, the unstable vortex will wipe out the object’s core and take it out of the equation once and for all.”
 He was only a few minutes from Landing in the bay and he was going to have to run through the ship if he wanted to save time. "but we don’t know how big of a bang that’ll be. And we’re up against the clock. This is our last chance. Njord, I hope you understand what this means.”
 Decker wasn't an expert in the Stargate, he had some basic knowledge of it and how it worked along with he knew how to dial, the problem was however, if they had to re-align it, it would take him following the instructions in the ships computers a while.

"Yes sir, I'm not an expert in 'Gate systems get who ever we have and Njord, don't wait for me to get there. Decker out."

---

1906
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

Decker had only had time to remove his helmet as he climbed out of the F-302 and began a run through the ship back to the bridge. He could have transported but they would have needed to realign the internal scanning sensors and well, it gave him time to think as he ran. He slowed to a job as he got to the bridge, still clad in 302 flight gear minus Helmet. "Who do we have and got anything at all yet?" He said a between a few deep breaths as he began to breath slower to calm his heart rate and his thinking.

"Are we just going to beam the Gate into position or are we going to beam it to the ship or Njords ship and use his ship or a 302 to get it into the correct position." He looked at Njord. "Does your tractor beam interfere with a Stargate's Operation, also is your ship faster than ours in hyperspace, because we will need another planet that is safe and has a gate to dial from Colonel." He said looking back to Riley and that, getting to another would take time, a considerable amount of it.

He sucked in a few more breaths awaiting everyone's replies.

<TAG: Paul Riley, Njord, Shawn Booth, rest of the crew and the Etrusc-eroid>

[Paul Riley]

1913
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

T - 7 hours, 29 minutes to impact

Things were moving fast, the clock was ticking and the Sun Tzu crew needed to take drastic measures if they wanted to save the last of the Vanir, brethren of the Asgard, from extinction. Decker had rushed back to the bridge and re-assumed his position,
"Are we just going to beam the Gate into position or are we going to beam it to the ship or Njords ship and use his ship or a 302 to get it into the correct position. Does your tractor beam interfere with a Stargate's Operation, also is your ship faster than ours in hyperspace, because we will need another planet that is safe and has a gate to dial from Colonel."
That was Decker's job to think of the variables, to calculate and to come up with options. Fortunately, Riley had already been consulting with the on-board SGC scientists. Njord had beamed over again, he addressed them both.
"This is a mirror image of what the Odyssey had to do a couple years back Decker. We'll need to harvest the Vanir Stargate, fit it with boosters to guide it in position," Decker gave Colonel Riley a curious look, Riley smiled, "yes, we do have a contingency plan for this. Once done, somebody will need to dial that 'gate from another location. Now, I'm told that due to the way 'gate addresses work, this will only work if we are relatively close to the Vanir planet." He paused, partly for dramatic effect, partly because of the serious nature of the comment that would follow, "We will only get one shot at this. When we do, I all guns ready to fir, and Decker will oversee both the re-fit of the 'Gate and deployment of the squadron with a full armament... We're going to take this sucker out."
He turned to Major Booth personally,
"I have a mission for you Shawn. I know it's out of your remit but I want you to lead a small team to a nearby planet and dial the 'gate. Hopefully the Vanir will assist with transport, they invented hyperdrives so they have to be faster than us." He looked over at Njord, who merely gave them both a slow, gentle nod.
"God speed."

---

2325
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Orbit above Vanir homeworld
Star System M1B

T - 2 hours, 17 minutes to impact

Hours later, and significantly closer to impact, the Sun Tzu was in geo-synchronous orbit above the Vanir base. Njord had supervised the uprooting and transfer of Stargate up to the Sun Tzu's cargo bay for refitting before taking Major Booth and heading at full speed to the nearest viable 'gate address. Colonel Riley was feeling tired, and he didn't envy the alien, no doubt he had already explained the unsuccessful attempts to destroy the object and the realization the team had come to about this 'last resort' option. The Colonel glanced at the tracking screen, no surprise to see the object was right on course. This HAD to go right first time. He activated the sub-space comms channel,
"Njord, Booth - this is Riley. How's it going out there?"

<tag Ryan Decker Shawn Booth Njord Dylan Hawkins>

[Shawn Booth]

1913
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

Booth stood around the bridge letting the scientists, engineers and the 302's guy do their job as he stood around listening to the communications between the Vanir, 302's and of course the Sun Tzu. The Etruscans are surely pulling pages out of the Goa'uld book, they tried to destroy Earth before by using an asteroid laced with Naquadah, of course they couldn't blow that up with a nuke when they found that out and they had to open a hyperspace window at the last minute. If things come down to it the Sun Tzu could always try it or the Vanir can. However that won't be good if every attempt fails.

"I have a mission for you Shawn. I know it's out of your remit but I want you to lead a small team to a nearby planet and dial the 'gate. Hopefully the Vanir will assist with transport, they invented hyperdrives so they have to be faster than us. God speed." Booth nodded, "Yes, sir." With that Njord and Booth beamed over to the Vanir ship along with 2 Airman.

2235
Surface of unknown planet

T - 2 hours, 17 minutes to impact.

Booth and the Airmen were in position to dial the gate when the Stargate was in position.

"Njord, Booth - this is Riley. How's it going out there?" Colonel Riley asked over the radio.

"Sir, I am in position, ready to dial when ordered." Booth said as he waited to dial the Stargate.

<Tag: Ryan Decker Dylan Hawkins Paul Riley>

[Njord]

1913
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

T - 7 hours, 29 minutes to impact

Njord sat on the bridge, sitting in his control chair, as he waited to hear the plan. Njord wanted it to succeed but he also doesn't want to admit that these lowly humans are the ones who saved him and his people when they couldn't think of anything to thwart it. Njord and Booth were given a task with a couple of other humans, and with that they beamed to Njord's ship where they quickly went into hyperspace.

2235
Bridge
Starship Vanir
Star System M1B

T - 2 hours, 17 minutes to impact.

Njord sat on his bridge in his control chair as the refit was done and everyone was in position.

"Njord, Booth - this is Riley. How's it going out there?"

"Colonel, we are in position. Refit is complete." Njord said over subspace communications as he waited for a response. Just over 2 hours left and this is the last attempt to destroy the object before it hits the Vanir homeworld...

<Tag: Paul Riley Ryan Decker Dylan Hawkins>

[Ryan Decker]

1913
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Star System M1B

It seemed The Colonel had been and had the rest of the crew thinking on their feet, he had a plan in mind and was going to get them all on task. "This is a mirror image of what the Odyssey had to do a couple years back Decker. We'll need to harvest the Vanir Stargate, fit it with boosters to guide it in position," The plan seemed simple, at least in the overall objectives he was sure as soon as they got stuck into getting it going it was going to become so much more difficult and problematic, not that he'd assumed it would be easy any way. He gave the Colonel a Look of 'what next?' Riley picked up on it and elaborated.

"yes, we do have a contingency plan for this. Once done, somebody will need to dial that 'gate from another location. Now, I'm told that due to the way 'gate addresses work, this will only work if we are relatively close to the Vanir planet." He nodded, he knew that, unless they wanted to re-calibrate the gate so as not to invalidate the point of origin, not exactly the most basic of Stargate briefing but he had an interest in the device, more so than some of the others on the crew he felt, then again he needed to know what could be used defensively and offensively, one of the reasons he'd suggested the gate earlier today.

Colonel Riley paused taking in the next part of his plan, maybe wondering what else could be done. "We will only get one shot at this. When we do, I all guns ready to fir, and Decker will oversee both the re-fit of the 'Gate and deployment of the squadron with a full armament... We're going to take this sucker out." He nodded again. "I'll also try and get as much as we can out of the beams sir." he looked at his assistant. "To carry out while I get these tasks done, as for the rest, I'll get right on it sir." He began thinking of how he would proceed as Riley turned to the XO.

"I have a mission for you Shawn. I know it's out of your remit but I want you to lead a small team to a nearby planet and dial the 'gate. Hopefully the Vanir will assist with transport, they invented hyperdrives so they have to be faster than us." Riley said to the Major, Decker had already begun thinking about how to best arm the 302s., he'd very quickly put himself back in the weapons officer station as the XO and CO went between each other, he was working on how to get the most out of the nukes the ship and in particular the 302's could deliver, they were going to throw the kitchen sink and then some at this asteroid. 

---

2325
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Orbit above Vanir homeworld
Star System M1B

The hours had gone rather quickly for the flight lieutenant who was going to have to reorder himself some caffeine tablets, he'd had probably a handful and spread them around the crew, his was sure he was going to be nearly skint after this, he owed far to many people, far to expensive alcohol, maybe he could claim it on tax, work expenses to save another world and all that, wondered if they'd let him write that, probably not. His console beeped, the beam upgrades were complete and the last of the 302s were loaded with particularly powerful though far more unstable nuclear weapons than normal. "Colonel, all the modified 302 missiles are ready, and the beam upgrades are online we should get about 115 to 120 percent of normal power output from them." The Riley looked tired, perhaps more so than anyone else, it was understandable, having the fate of a species in you hands, but he'd spoken to Major Hunter and they'd had a quick talk about the hyperspace engines, they would probably do it and they 'should' survive, the drive being operational afterward, however was a 50-50 at best.

Colonel Riley then contacted their little away team, in another star system so away was probably to small of an adjective. 

"Njord, Booth - this is Riley. How's it going out there?"The CO said over the subspace channel. Booth replied the sound different though familiar. "Sir, I am in position, ready to dial when ordered."
Luckily they'd devised a program to send the go signal just before they would need it so it would arrive and hopefully they would dial in time. Ryan checked the position of the 'gate, right in the green zone, everything was going good, so far. "The 'gate is still pretty much dead centre of the target zone." The weapons officer already had targeting solutions pre-programmed into the computer all he needed to was press a couple of keys and bam, the most powerful weapons, minus perhaps drones, available to human kind was about to be unleashed onto the object.

<TAG: Paul Riley, Njord, Shawn Booth, Dylan Hawkins, @asteroid, perhaps Plot Twist>

[Paul Riley]

2338
Bridge
BC-304 Sun Tzu
Orbit above Vanir homeworld
Star System M1B

"Colonel, all the modified 302 missiles are ready, and the beam upgrades are online we should get about 115 to 120 percent of normal power output from them." Decker gave his sit-rep report as the Etruscan weapon sped closer to their last resort plan.
"Sir, I am in position, ready to dial when ordered." Booths voice sounded deeper and distorted over the subspace frequency, but he was in position on a nearby planet and ready to dial on signal. The plan was coming together, and by all things holy Colonel Riley hoped it would work.
"The 'gate is still pretty much dead centre of the target zone."
Decker confirmed the readings. They'd equipped a the Vanir Stargate with boosters and managed to guide it into position, all weapons were armed and the plan was in place. Paul glanced at the over-head countdown, about 1 hour until full annihilation of the Vanir homeworld, this was it.

They were a short way out from the planet, but still in range of the Vanir's Stargate co-ordinates, yet far enough to give them some space should things start exploding - the collateral damage had been calculated and they'd managed to work out only a few small meteor sized objects should be left if this all went according to the simulation. Those objects would likely fizzle out in the atmosphere or crash harmlessly on unoccupied areas of the vast barren surface.

The Colonel took in a sharp breath as the Etruscan Asteroid appeared in front of them, rising out of the dark abyss and into range like a leviathan of deep space. He kept track of the object as it slowly fell into the green cone of radar screen that indicated the Stargate's range. He waited for it to get a little closer, closer still...
"Riley to Booth. Now!" He pushed the comms button and sent the sub-space signal, allowing a few seconds of time delay in his calculations. Sure enough, and right on cue, the wormhole opened with a dramatic whoosh as the unstable vortex exploded forth. It breached into the asteroid before receding back into the Stargate. The fake asteroid almost visibly slowed as it gently knocked past the floating Stargate. It's core was exposed, a great brown mass with orange sparking energy running through it. It look vulnerable.
"Decker, Now!" He ordered as the weapons officer opened fire. This was it. If this failed, they'd have to beam the Vanir up and make a break for it at hyper speed, and he'd have no doubt that if they didn't succeed the Etruscans would then use this very same tactic on Meropis itself.

<tag Ryan Decker Shawn Booth>

[Shawn Booth]

2338
Surface of unknown planet

Booth was waiting on the surface of the planet, remaining completely aware of his surroundings in all 360 degrees. Sure he had some Marines with him but being on the surface of an unknown planet with just a few people for the first time, is well a little nerve-wracking.

Booth is an Air Force Officer, its a lot different for him now especially since he was a Lieutenant in a missile silo being a space and missiles officer then being a Pilot flying in fighter jets and flying in helicopters in hostile regions usually, well this is quite different for Booth as he is on the ground and in unknown territory. Sure Njord was near and could always rescue him he may not have time to do that if they're ambushed.

"Riley to Booth. Now!" The Colonel said over the radio and once Shawn got the message he started to dial the address he was given, all 7 symbols were locked in and the wormhole started to form with the kawoosh flying towards them before retracting. "It's done, Colonel." Booth said while waiting for further instructions.

<Tag: Njord Ryan Decker Paul Riley Plot Twist>