Ares
Detecting the arrival of the enemy fleet in the distance, the level of tension throughout the allied fleet ratcheted up several levels.
From the captain's chair, Sheppard looked around at his bridge crew. Professionals all, they handled the building tension with ease.
Turning to the ship's communications officer, Sheppard directed a channel opened to Athena, Hermes, and Atlantis.
"It looks like our guests finally decided to show," Sheppard stated.
"Everything is ready on our end. All we can do now is let this thing play out. Darts are streaming out of the cruisers and Hives now," Colonel Eckhart replied.
"I know they didn't RSVP, but let's hope they brought pie to this little potluck of ours," Colonel Mitchell quipped.
"Something tells me they didn't come for a potluck, Colonel. The leading edges of the Wraith fleet will cross into range of the Lagrange point satellites," Lorne added.
"All vessels are ready to engage. I will talk to you when this is over. Good luck," Sheppard said in closing.
Three of the five Ancient-designed defense satellites were in range. Due to the path of the Wraith fleet, the remaining two would not play a role in the coming battle.
Set into autonomous firing mode by the artificial intelligence of Atlantis, the satellites quickly calculated their opening shots. Power flowed through firing circuits as the long-range weapons charged to capacity.
Networked together into a thinking constellation, the satellites exchanged targeting data and after-action results. This allowed them to fire, evaluate, and adjust in real time—creating an adaptive defensive screen.
Simultaneously, the three satellites fired.
Lethal green beams tore through space toward the leading Wraith cruisers.
Before impact, the Wraith opened fire. In response, the thirty-seven Athenas, the Hala, and the four Ori motherships unleashed their own long-range weapons.
The satellite beams struck first.
They punched into the organic hulls of three cruisers, tearing through biopolymer armor and venting atmosphere violently into space. Two ships were destroyed outright.
The third absorbed the beam into newly installed naquadah structural ribs. The energy spread, superheating the internal framework until the ship detonated from within.
Four seconds later, allied fire struck thirty-six more cruisers.
Wraith fire slammed into the allied line. Shields flared under the barrage.
Two Traveler vessels, struck repeatedly, lost shields and were torn apart.
The Wraith fared worse.
Without shields, their ships were ripped open by Grodin fire and Ori main weapons. Seventeen damaged cruisers survived; the rest became drifting wreckage.
Seeing an opportunity, all thirty-seven Athenas launched their drone weapons—two hundred each.
A total of 7,400 golden drones surged forward.
Hala followed with Asgard drones—forty platinum-hued weapons flying in corkscrew formations designed to burrow and detonate beneath hulls.
At the midpoint between fleets, they met incoming Wraith darts.
These darts did not engage—they were weaponized, unmanned, and identical to those that destroyed Leonidas.
Over 1,600 of them charged the allied fleet.
Hala was struck first. Its shields held.
An Ori mothership was not as fortunate. Eighty darts detonated in rapid succession, collapsing its shields and tearing it apart.
Two Traveler ships and an Asgard O'Neill-class vessel were also lost.
The battle was turning brutal.
Ancient drones tore through thirty-four cruisers in looping attack patterns, ripping through hulls repeatedly.
Asgard drones burrowed and detonated, disabling two more ships.
A gap opened in the Wraith formation.
The allied fleet—minus Prometheus—advanced through it.
Asgard plasma beams and anti-fighter batteries unleashed a storm of fire. Darts exploded in massive numbers.
F-302s and UCAVs joined the fight.
Piloted fighters launched missiles and pushed forward aggressively. UCAVs swept overhead, railguns firing continuous streams.
Darts fell in droves—but losses mounted. Nine UCAVs and four F-302s were destroyed in collisions.
One F-302, its wingman lost, retreated in panic. A UCAV moved to cover it.
A Wraith dart pursued.
It fired steadily, closing the distance.
Seven seconds later, the F-302 was hit—its wing torn away.
The cockpit ejected successfully, transmitting a rescue beacon.
The dart turned on the UCAV.
What followed surprised the pilot.
The UCAV flipped end-over-end using thrusters, maintaining forward momentum while facing backward.
Its railgun fired.
The dart was destroyed instantly.
As the allied fleet pushed forward, Wraith Hive ships activated hallucination generators.
They proved ineffective against heavily shielded vessels—but Traveler ships began reporting disturbances.
Atlantis detected the effect and ordered the Travelers to withdraw.
The Hives escalated.
Three activated culling beams.
The beams struck the Athena-class vessel Yamato.
Six F-302s were caught in the beam and vanished.
Yamato's shields collapsed under the energy drain.
Weaponized darts followed, tearing into the hull.
Explosions ripped through the ship.
But the Hives suffered too—the energy overload damaged their own systems.
Yamato, crippled, attempted to withdraw.
Inside, chaos reigned—fires, decompression, and system failures.
No one knew if she would survive.
Behind the Wraith fleet, hyperspace tore open.
Borealis and two ZPM-powered Hive ships emerged.
They opened fire immediately.
Borealis unleashed drones and plasma beams, then rammed a crippled Hive—tearing it apart.
The two allied Hives cut through four enemy Hives with devastating energy blasts.
Inside Borealis, Daniel watched in horror.
"The Wraith are starting to maneuver," McKay said.
"They did not expect encirclement. We are the anvil to the fleet's hammer," Teal'c replied.
"Why aren't they retreating?" Daniel asked.
"They cannot. Arrogance is a fatal flaw," Teal'c answered.
Harbinger Vessel
Harbinger directed the battle through telepathy, furious but not defeated.
He had not yet been targeted—mistaking this for fear rather than positioning.
In the distance, he saw Atlantis.
His prize.
With a thought, he launched a massive wave of weaponized darts.
"We shall see if your shield holds," he whispered.
Then—
Movement.
A robed figure stood in the doorway.
Impossible.
As he rose, a single raised hand forced him back into his throne.
More figures appeared, chanting.
The lead figure stepped forward and lowered her hood.
"I am Chaya Sar."
What followed was not battle—but judgment.
She revealed his past.
His true name.
Hippaforalkus.
Memories flooded him—of his life as a Lantean, of his transformation, of the horrors he committed.
Light erupted from his body.
His DNA unraveled and reformed.
When it ended, Harbinger was gone.
In his place sat a broken man.
"What have I done?" he whispered.
"You know," Chaya replied.
He begged for death.
She refused.
"You will atone."
Moments later, both vanished.
Across the allied fleet, her voice echoed:
"The Harbinger has fallen."