Chapter 11

Samshan was a world of contrasts. There was one large continent surrounded by a large ocean, the continent had vast swathes of rainforest separated by large, snow-capped, mountains. Even the settlement patterns were contrasting, with the settlements on the eastern side of the Continent far more densely populated than those on the western side of the Continent. It was, however, fairly productive, with Naquadah and Trinium mines in the mountains being ferried to workshops in the capital of Thành Phố Chính or up into orbit to be used by the spider-like shipyard that hung over the planet.

That shipyard was not the only thing in orbit either, as two Ha'taks and six Al'kesh Gunships guarded the Capital World of Ba Chua Xu's Domain, led by the Ha'tak Rồng Núi, Ba Chua Xu's flagship. It was that fleet we targeted as soon as we exited the swirling bluish-white tunnel of Hyperspace. Almost as soon as we were disgorged from the tunnel, our fleet was launching fighters and streaking toward the enemy defense fleet.

"Target the engines of the Rồng Núi. I want Ba Chua Xu's Flagship taken intact enough to be put back into service." I commanded.

"Yes, My Lord. It will be done." Intoned Chen.

"I want the Tiānlóng and the Hēilóng to target the other Ha'tak. Time to test the mettle of the Long-Class." I intoned.

"As you command, My Lord." Nodded Chen, transmitting the orders.

The Long-Class looked nothing like the Dragons that were their namesake. Instead, they were circular, saucer-like ships, bristling with rotary staff cannon emplacements whose rate of fire far outstripped the normal naval staff cannons in use on the Ha'tak, something that made up for the relative lack of emplacements compared to the Normal Ha'tak. My theory was that two Long-Class Cruisers could take on and defeat one Ha'tak.

As the Tiānlóng and Hēilóng, the first two ships of the class, moved forth, we would finally get to test that assumption. A trio of Al'kesh Gunships moved to try and stop the pair of cruisers, but they were no match for the firepower of the two Long-Class Cruisers. A rapid, flickering, pulse of golden energy spat forth from multiple rotary staff cannon emplacements on both Cruisers and the torrent of bolts swiftly punched through the less-powerful shielding on the Al'kesh Gunships.

The Al'kesh's own meager armament of two naval staff cannons and four plasma warhead launchers couldn't compete, impacting against the more powerful, modified, shields of the Long-class, which held against the attack. Scarcely a minute later, the first of the Al'kesh casualties of Ba Chua Xu's Fleet occurred, as the Tiānlóng and Hēilóng ripped apart an Al'kesh with a rippling torrent of golden plasma fire from their rotary staff cannons. It would be followed swiftly by the other two Al'kesh.

In the time it took the second Ha'tak to close to the optimal firing range, the Tiānlóng and Hēilóng had utterly destroyed its screen of Al'kesh Gunships. Then the gunnery duel between it and the Tiānlóng and Hēilóng began in earnest as rapid pulses of plasma from the rotary staff cannons of both Long-Class Cruisers were exchanged with less-rapid-firing, but more numerous blasts from the Ha'tak's normal naval staff canons.

For my part, the Xiaotian Quan and six Al'kesh Gunships closed with the Rồng Núi and her screen of three Al'kesh Gunships. The Ptah-class Fighters that I had launched on exiting Hyperspace dueled with the fighters from the Rồng Núi in a massive furball even as the two Al'kesh Screens engaged each other while our respective Ha'taks closed the range further. As we entered the range to do battle with the Rồng Núi, an enemy Al'kesh exploded off our port side, the plasma wash from its Naquadah reactor going up buffeting our shields.

Normally, such an unlucky incident would spell doom for a Ha'tak, even their formidable shields taking a large hit from such a massive explosion and giving the edge to the enemy. With my modifications, however, such a blow was absorbed more handily, and even as the Rồng Núi sought to take advantage, it couldn't crack the shields of the Xiaotian Quan. That was no reason to get complacent, however.

"Turn and present our bow shields to the Rồng Núi. Just because we can absorb the fire is no reason to take chances!" I ordered.

"Turning now, My Lord!" Intoned Chen.

As the Xiaotian Quan spun about, presenting a different shield face to the enemy, we exchanged fire with the Rồng Núi, the intensity of our plasma bolts a brighter gold compared to the duller, almost bronze-colored, bolts of the Rồng Núi. Behind us, more explosions occurred as the Al'kesh Gunships of both sides of the battle landed hits. I looked at the battle plot and realized that one of our Al'kesh, the Shāncháhuā, was disabled in the exchange, while another, the Luòyè Sōngzhī, had taken some damage requiring yard time, however, all two of the remaining enemy Al'kesh were disabled in exchange.

"Status report on the Shāncháhuā!" I demanded.

"The Prime of the Shāncháhuā, Tsui, has been killed. The new Prime of the Ship is Lao, and he reports that the damage on the engineering and command decks is being contained, but the ship will require at least a month in drydock to repair." Informed Chen.

"Good enough. Have the Luòyè Sōngzhī take the Shāncháhuā under hyperspace tow back to Taiji. The rest of us continue the fight here!" I commanded.

"As you command, My Lord." Saluted Chen, before relaying my orders.

Shortly afterward, the Tiānlóng and Hēilóng managed to disable the Second Ha'tak and began streaming toward our battle with the Rồng Núi, Al'kesh screen in tow. The Rồng Núi was shortly surrounded on all sides, stripped of its shields, and dead in space after a plasma bolt slammed into their engine housing and knocked their engines offline. A comms call from General Yan in one of the troop bays was patched through to my Command throne in the Pel'tac.

"General, what news?" I questioned.

"I am ready to take a Battalion of Jaffa over to the Rồng Núi and put an end to their foolishness. I'm only awaiting your approval." Grunted the sour-faced Jaffa General.

"You have it. Bring me that Ha'tak, General." I nodded.

"Of course, My Lord." Responded General Yan before cutting the feed.

"Speaking of, My Lord, we now only have forty standard minutes before the Shipyard is out of position and can be scuttled by the enemy." Informed Chen.

"Then I suppose we had best get you to it, then, shouldn't we?" I queried.

"Indeed, My Lord." Concurred Chen.

"Do your men have everything they require? The capture of the Shipyard intact is paramount." I asked.

"My Jaffa are well equipped and well-drilled on the task, My Lord. They will not fail you." Answered Chen.

"Then go, bring me that new Shipyard. I have the utmost confidence in you to see it done." I intoned.

"At once, My Lord." Saluted Chen.

He then left to one of the troop bays where another Jaffa Battalion awaited for transport onto the Shipyard. Chen was replaced on the bridge by a Jaffa Prime named Liang as the battle in space wound down. Right now, it was simply a matter of silencing the remaining guns on the Rồng Núi and finishing the dogfight between both sides' fighters. Soon enough, the space over Samshan would be ours.

Then we could begin to beam troops down to the Planet. . .

XXXX

The Samshan Shipyard was primarily an automated station. Jaffa Technicians and Human Workers did exist, but they inhabited a relatively small and centralized portion of the Shipyard, going out to do menial tasks by hand or to operate the robotic arms that put ships together via joystick. The vast amount of the spiderlike station was not truly inhabitable.

Accordingly, it was the central 'body' of the Station that Chen and his Jaffa ringed over to and had to seize control of. A fairly small area that was filled with oxygen and meant for habitation. As Chen and the first batch of his Assault Battalion Ringed over, it seemed that the enemy realized this as much as he and his men had, and set up a choke point near the main area where they could ring over. Almost as soon as Chen and his battalion arrived, they were met by fire from Ma'tok Staff Weapons from Jaffa behind a barricade.

"Suppress that Barricade!" Ordered Chen.

He fired his Diàn Jiàn Model Zat'nic'tel into the enemy Prime leading the defense of the Transport Bay. The more powerful version of the Zat'nic'tel burned through the enemy Prime's Armor to stun the man underneath whereas normally, a stun bolt from a Zat'nic'tel would require hitting a weak point in Jaffa Armor to successfully stun an opponent. As he did that, fire from Tianyue Staff Rifles burst out from his men, blasting through the hastily assembled barricade and forcing the enemy Jaffa to dive for cover. A rapid volley of Zat'nic'tel stun bolts later and the entire barricade was stunned.

This was all to the good because more captive Jaffa meant more Jaffa that could be turned to their Lord's service once the war had ended. It was not an uncommon practice amongst the Gods, after all. Since only a God, or a Demon like the accursed Asgard, may slay another God, it was permissible for the Jaffa of slain or defeated Gods to serve the God who slew or defeated their prior God. This went double if their defeated God agreed to serve the Victorious God.

From what Chen knew of his Lord, Erlang Shen viewed the senseless death of Jaffa and the destruction of assets as a waste. He was a benevolent god like that. Surely he would wish for as many of Ba Chua Xu's Jaffa to remain alive as possible in order to serve him at the war's end? It was entirely in keeping with his Lord's personality. Chen was simply grateful that Erlang Shen was the way that he was. He could honestly think of no God he would rather serve than the one that fate had decreed would become his new Lord.

Regardless, he could muse on the vagaries of fate and the preferences of Gods later. For now, he had a shipyard to seize control of. As he and his men moved forward, they encountered more hastily thrown-together barricades, each as easily suppressed as the first one. A few of his Jaffa took hits, their Tianjia Armor absorbing the lower-powered blasts of Ma'tok Staff Weapons Admirably. An unlucky few were hit by multiple Ma'tok Staff blasts at once and had to fall back with wounds, or were killed. The vast majority pushed on, however.

Within fifteen minutes, they had cleared the main habitation deck of the Shipyard. In another ten, they cleared the Engineering Deck. In another five they had the Work Deck cleared, and that just left the Command Deck of the Shipyard. Here, however, the enemy had barricaded themselves in the station's Pel'tac, trusting in the Magnetic Locking Device keeping the Pel'tac's Blast Doors to run out the clock on Chen's Men and allow them to begin the Shipyard's Self-Destruct Sequence.

Chen had to admit that against a normal Jaffa Force, this would be a fairly good way to stall for time. The vast majority of Jaffa did not have the education to open a door like this, and only the most experienced of Primes and Jaffa Generals would usually have the experience to have figured out how to bypass the Crystalline Computers by trial and error. Erlang Shen, however, had begun teaching his followers and subjects the concepts required to put together his divine technology. That meant that Chen was actually able to reconfigure the door panel.

Five minutes of work later, the Magnetic locks disengaged, and the Blast Door of the Station Pel'tac slid open, much to the surprise of the Prime in command. Chen stunned the man with his Zat'nic'tel as a priority. He had shown a good tactical mind by forcing the door to lock down in order to stall for time, so would go far in his Lord's service. A firefight ensued which took another five minutes of brutal combat. The Pel'tac of the station was designed with cover against boarders in mind. It actually wound up running out the clock entirely.

One of the last enemy Jaffa must have realized that fact because he burst out of cover in a mad dash for the Pel'tac's main command console, hoping to engage the Shipyard's Self Destruct before Chen and his men could stop him. Chen saw that and fired his Zat'nic'tel, only for the enemy Jaffa to jank to the side suddenly, sending Chen's shot wide and off the mark. He resumed his dash for the Pel'tac's main command console shortly afterward.

"Shoot that Jaffa!" Ordered Chen, switching targets to the last remaining Fighting Jaffa with his Zat'nic'tel and pointing at the Running Jaffa with his other hand.

The last Fighting Jaffa went down to Chen's Zat'nic'tel Stun Bolt and his men did as he commanded. A hail of Zat Bolts and Tianyue Staff Rifle Blasts cut down the Running Jaffa shortly before he reached the Pel'tac's main command console, sending him crumpling to the deckplates at the base of the console, dead. A shame, but it had to be done. Forty-two minutes after boarding the Station, the Shipyard was under the control of the forces of Erlang Shen.

It was a close-run victory, but a victory nonetheless. . .

XXXX

One hour and six minutes. That was how long the Space Battle over Samshan lasted. In the end, the Enemy Losses were total. Five Al'kesh were destroyed and one captured, along with Both Ha'tak's captured. Enemy Jaffa Losses were also total, with five-hundred-ten Jaffa killed and nine-hundred-ninety captured. Among Ptah-class Fighters, of the three hundred enemy Fighters deployed, fully half were destroyed, with the other half being damaged enough to be forced to land on Samshan below. The Samshan Shipyard was likewise captured completely intact.

In return, my own Forces suffered one Al'kesh Disabled, two Al'kesh Damaged badly enough to require Yard Time, twenty Jaffa killed, and seventy Jaffa wounded. They also suffered some forty fighters destroyed or damaged enough to require repairs. It wasn't too shabby at all, in my not-so-humble Estimation.

Five minutes after the battle, another hyperspace window opened up and the Alogo-class Military Transports arrived. An invention of Hephaestus back during the days of the High First Goa'uld Dynasty, the Alogo-class Military Transports were practically made for planetary invasion. Capable of Carrying entire divisions of Jaffa Troops, along with hundreds of fighters, the Alogo-class was armed with five naval staff cannons and three plasma warhead launchers but was incredibly slow. It also had shields that were underpowered for its size.

It was for these last two reasons that the Alogo-class was never pressed into service as a warship for fleet battles. Not unless the naval force fighting the battle was incredibly desperate. While they excelled as planetary assault ships, in a naval battle, their slow speed and minimal shielding would see them easily picked apart by enemy ships tailor-made for the purpose of naval combat.

One hour and twenty minutes after arriving in the Samshan System, my troops began to land on the planet, under the command of Generals Kuo, Tsao, and Di. Chen and General Yan would regroup with me as I led the second wave onto the planet. We had triumphed rather handily in space.

Now it was time to see if that feat couldn't be repeated on the ground. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. As you can see, Erlang Shen's forces having a technological and training edge allowed them to triumph pretty handily in the space battle. At the same time, the education initiative that Erlang Shen spearheaded allowed Chen to bypass the lockdown on the blast door of the Shipyard Station's command center in time to take the shipyard intact rather than have the enemy scuttle it.

Of course, it helped that Erlang Shen and his forces also had the element of surprise here. Ba Chua Xu's forces weren't exactly ready for a sudden assault by a technologically advanced, well-drilled, opponent. Planetside will be a different story, plus there's also her Four Immortals to deal with as well, at least one of whom, Bà Đen, has a small offensive flotilla of her own that can attempt to relieve Ba Chua Xu and Samshan.

At any rate, the next chapter will feature the Ground Invasion of Samshan.

Stay tuned. . .