My attempt with this TL was to do something Nazi related that seemed as realistic as I could get while still being in the largely unrealistic Stargate universe. This one focuses quite heavily on fleet actions as apposed to troops and gate operations, but there is enough of the latter to keep the feel of stargate. Note, there are also quite a few story sections spread through this, especially after the TL catches up to O'Neil and SGC. I love writing for those guys
The link for the discussion thread for this timeline is here
(Note, right now I'm going through... slowly... editing this attempting to get the tense consistent, spelling and grammar correct. Up to part 11 right now. I'll go through the rest and update this as I go.)
(OK, that's weird! As I went through my backup of the story on my HD I found an episode that never got posted, either here or on AH.com! If you've followed the discussion thread and just want to see that post it's #51)
Stellar Reich
April 1932
With a grand flourish the German government was proud to announce it's acquisition of an ancient Egyptian artifact. The huge stone ring (original significance and use unknown) was shipped from London to Berlin with some difficulty, but little incident and soon was on display in the Neues Museum, much to the delight of the German people. A separate deal struck between England and Germany almost traded the 'Ring of Giza' for an ornate pedestal called the 'Nordic Sockel' along with other artifacts later in the year. However those responsible realized the Ring had been added to the list due to a clerical error due to information for both being in the same office at the same time, and should not be merely traded away. In fact it was found to be a related piece to the ring with similar markings. In the end a different exchange was made, with the Ring and the Pedestal put on display in the Neues Museum. Both were treated with considerable caution, due to their apparent antiquity, and the public could only view them from behind glass.
After they were mounted there was a curious report from one of the staff who had helped mount it that part of the pedestal had glowed during transit. He was discounted as a drunk at the time, especially as he couldn't recollect what he'd done that might have caused this. It was merely assumed that light had come in through a window and reflected off the artifact and he was miss-remembering (by those polite enough to assume he was not so drunk he was seeing lights as well as pink elephants!)
If the museum had checked their records further they would have found two other similar statements over the last few years as the device moved around about lights from the device, though usually faint as it rarely occurred when it was away from sunlight for it to be clear it was artificial. Who knows what may have transpired if these statements had been believed before the Reich came to power?
July 1937
When the artifacts were cordoned off for their first cleaning regimen great care was taken, but at one point one of the staff pressed a little too hard on the pedestal and was shocked when it not only lit up but the great ring actually moved, clunked and lit up briefly itself. The staff did not quite know how to handle this, at first some insisting that the records be checked for any curses relating to the dig at Giza. However, saner heads prevailed and two scientists were brought in to examine it.
By the end of the week the entire device had been appropriated by the government and locked away in a secret facility with dozens of technicians and scientists studying it. They did manage to take samples, despite the difficulty in obtaining even dust from the very sturdy device, but the studies of the time could make little headway as most tests on the material simply did not make sense. It was soon ascertained that the entire ring was mostly comprised of some metallic element that did not correspond to any known on Earth.
When the higher ups in the Nazi government learned of these details they considered lauding it publicly as proof of ancient Aryan heritage and their supremacy over the locals. However, given the paper-trail obviously linking the devices to Giza Egypt this was halted. No-one wanted to be made a fool for such a statement.
Work continued in carefully attempting to find out what the device was for. It was obviously technological in some manner, but no mechanisms or components could be found in the ring, and when the pedestal was finally opened the crystals inside looked so delicate that the technicians refused to examine further for fear of damaging the device before it was learned what it was for.
May 1937
One use became obvious when attempts to study the device's electrical properties was attempted. It seemed to be a perfect ground, electrical energy being soaked up like a sponge. After some careful tests on the dust collected from the device it was labeled a 'super conductor' and further tests were able to store and retrieve vast amounts of electrical energy from the device. Not only that, but as 'buttons' were pressed on the pedestal energy seemed to appear as if by magic in the ring, which was able to be siphoned off for other uses. Using such energy was tricky due to the intermittent nature of the energy 'sent' via the pedestal and some odd frequencies of the energy stored in the ring.
During these tests the limit of seven symbols became obvious. The device would engage the chevrons, one at a time, as the buttons were pressed, but in the end when all lit up nothing happened and the lights on the ring faded. One of the researchers suggested that the sequence was some kind of locking code, perhaps to release some hidden effect within the device or open some hidden panel, but early on more effort was made on examining the technology than testing codes.
August 1938
After many tests over the past year, one of the few 'test sequences' made connected and the researchers were shocked when the ring 'flushed' in a water-like explosion before stabilizing in a vertical puddle of liquid. Most of the researchers were shocked. Two were too busy being disintegrated to feel shocked as they were in the way of the 'flush'. Immediately the military stepped in, demanding effort be made to determine what this effect was and if it could be duplicated.
Further tentative research with the now known 'code' showed the 'puddle' mostly lasted less than a minute before disappearing, though sometimes lasted longer. It wasn't until one researcher found a correlation between the local radio transmissions and the long duration puddles that it was thought to study how radio waves affected the device. It seemed a concentrated radio transmission, if strong enough, would force the ring to remain active for up to nearly forty minutes.
September 1938
When testing with actual devices it was found that anything pushed into the 'pond' would vanish, but could be withdrawn as long as the device did not shut down due to reaching the 38 minute time limit. Similarly it was found that anything extended into the pond and let go would not reappear when the device shut down. Some researchers thought it was some kind of matter storage device, a 'magic pocket' that could store whatever you needed. They just hadn't found out how to bring such stored objects back yet. Other researchers thought that instead it was a doorway, the objects 'vanished' instead appearing somewhere else. When notes from the original team at Giza (though badly damaged from treatment in the Egypt desert) were recovered a translation was uncovered that indicated the device was called a 'door' or 'gate'. Perhaps Heaven Gate, or Star Gate, depending on which Egyptologist you asked. When this was determined the second group of researchers got permission to do research as to what might be on the other side.
Unfortunately the notes were only partly evident, and efforts to contact the original team to find out more failed, as they had left the country for America. Tentative efforts were made to contact Paul Langford there, but without giving more details than they were willing to he refused to work with Nazi Germany. At the time the government were more confident in their current scientific staff and focused on funding the project than attempting to gain the insight of a mere archaeologist, even when their staff begged to get more information from Doctor Langford.
The cover-stone was never brought to Germany from the original dig, and the notes with attempted translations of the cover-stone were partially damaged. It was found that some of the symbols there were the same as on the gate, but that was all that was determined at that time. Efforts continued to make out the blurred notes while work continued on the gate.
October 1938
After details of the latest versions of Baird's 'electrical camera' were obtained via various means an attempt was made to use them to send signals back from the other side of the gate. Initial trials with cables failed to get any signal, but efforts using a camera on a electric trolley with a high powered radio transmitter did bear fruit, and soon blurry, streaked images of a barren plain were presented to the Fuhrer. A dusty plain with a night sky very different from Earth's! With such a blurry camera is was hard to make out details, but further missions with various magnifying lenses and simple radio control mechanisms for the heavy truck were able to track back and forth to be sure there were no known constellations in the sky!
This was an alien world!
Cameras proved that this world also had a pedestal to control it's ring, but so far no one knew the 'code' for Earth. As such even though it was possible to go there no known way to return was found. So the Fuhrer at first forbade any efforts to send colonists (even volunteers) through the gate to this new world. Although breeding room was called for he had already publicly stated Russia as his choice, and with no way to return home it was deemed better to maintain secrecy about the project. After all, who knew what other secrets the device had, or could be found on that planet? If they could figure out how to bring samples back home.
January 1939
Some success was made in decrypting the damaged notes from the Giza dig, and it was believed that there were two, partial 'codes' there, written down from the missing cover-stone. However they still were unable to get exact details on the codes, but even the fact that other codes existed meant that more than two rings were around and so efforts to randomly dial other such codes continued, hoping to locate another ring on another planet.
February 1939
Even though there was still no way to return home, progress on decrypting the Giza notes seemed to be going well, new chemical techniques to bring out almost invisible, scrubbed text. Thus the Fuhrer finally agreed to a small group of about forty military personnel to establish an outpost on this new world. Building materials and supplies were sent, checked by camera to see that they arrived, and then volunteer troops went through. The researchers were very relieved to see that the men had made it safely through, though radio reports said some of the men had felt 'a little odd and dizzy' going through.
The outpost was slowly constructed and staffed, and soon regular shipments of food and other supplies were shipped through the gate on simple unmanned trucks (by the expedient of locking the steering prior to sending it through the gate). It was reported that the area did have some unknown scrub grass, but little else in the vicinity, and none of it seemed edible. Given the poor dirt quality thoughts of starting any farms up were quashed, and instead the food shipments continued.
April 1939
Finally a random code attempt worked, a new planet being found and incidentally finding that the last code seemed to need to be the same for each. When an electric cart camera 'drone' was sent through it reported a verdant, grassy world before it's batteries died. It was not long before a second outpost was established here too. At present these worlds were merely marked 'Planet 1' and 'Planet 2' for the scientists until they could go there and study them properly, and name them according to what they found (though some scientists did attempt to name the worlds after themselves. This was not well received).
It was soon found however that the gates on the two known worlds could not immediately dial each other. Soon the reason was determined. One symbol on each gate was different, and that one symbol on the Earth gate was the last one in both codes they knew. It seemed to be an identifier for the sending gate. Once this last symbol was exchanged for the local symbol both worlds could contact each each other successfully and send troops and material back and forth, much to the relief of those stationed on the almost desert like conditions of Planet 1.
Curiously, it was only a week later that the team working on the Giza notes were able to recover one of the six digit codes recorded from the cover-stone. When the last digit of Earth was added and attempted, nothing happened. Almost as an afterthought it was attempted from Planet 2 with their last symbol and miraculously the Earth gate was dialed.
They finally had a way home!
Unfortunately the other code in the Giza notes seemed too damaged by the elements to be readily recovered. Efforts were continued, but they felt without finding the original cover-stone it would likely not bear fruit. At present though no-one knew where the cover-stone had ended up. Best guess was in the United States of America with Paul Langford, but if so it was not part of any major, listed museum exhibit they could find.
May 1939
After some time to consider the situation the Fuhrer decided that a small colony and research outpost on Planet 2 was needed, especially as there appeared to be ruins around the gate that might suggest who had built the artifacts. One of the researchers insisted that the ruins were Aryan in origin, and began calling the planet Teutonia, claiming it was where the original Aryans had come to Earth from in ancient times. At first these efforts were quashed, but when the Fuhrer heard of it he heartily endorsed the name and immediately promoted the man. Thoughts of exploring and colonizing the ancient home of the Aryan people began to take shape, efforts to locate large numbers of people of suitable heritage to man such a colony were undertaken, though carefully at first. The project had started as a secret and had only grown in importance. No-one wanted to let on that the Nazis had access to alien technology!
June 1939
The first selected group of a hundred 'True Aryans' were sent through the gate along with a large number of military, initially a battalion of infantry. Supplies were sent to start construction of a 'poster town' of what true Aryans could accomplish. However the initial concepts of a beatific village were ended when it was realized how much effort it would take to ship supplies continuously for as large a town as was planned through the gate. Soon farms and industry were planned as well to supply them locally, though suitably out of the way so as to not obscure the effect the town would have on visitors.
The Fuhrer kept both concepts going, strangely. On one hand viciously keeping the gate a secret. On the other hand planning a town for public viewing. He stated that after 'things were settled' the world should view the magnificence of the Aryan people in their original setting. Not all on his staff agreed it was the best use for the gate, but none dared disagree with him.
At first, now that travel back and forth was achieved, SS officers ran the slowly growing town of Volksburg on Teutonia, the prestige in being associated with the Fuhrer's grand plan drawing many who wished to impress him. But the isolation due to intermittent use of the gate often caused the staff to cycle, eventually deciding that, despite the pleasant environs, they would rather please the Fuhrer in other ways. Those that had the clout to reassign themselves often did after a month or so.
September 1939
When Hitler liberated Poland the war effort began to take precedence over the gate project in favor with the Fuhrer, especially as no new technologies had been developed from the project. Even the efforts to study the 'flush' that disintegrated objects did not bring any worthwhile results. Although colonists continued to pour through the gate on Hitler's initial plan, the project on the whole began to drop in favor, especially among the SS officers involved.
January 1940
The Wehrmacht officially were ordered to 'maintain order' over the town of Volksburg and the gate on Teutonia, a young Major named Schmidt was technically in charge of the base now, though a small staff of SS officers remained behind and 'supervised' him for the moment, most of these were higher rank than himself and maintained control despite the orders listing him as head of the facility. This did not sit well with Schmidt, especially as the SS officers involved invariably rotated out of the base, and the new ones often had very different ideas that he should adopt 'but it is only a suggestion of course Major'.
It grew very tiring.
By now the town had grown to over 30,000 people, though often still needing supplies sent through as the farms were having difficulty with the local soil and native animals, let alone adapting to the slightly different seasons. The area near the gate was becoming just as picturesque as the Fuhrer had planned, and the industrial sections were kept several miles distant with a multi-track railway to ferry workers back and forth. The governor of the town was not given much power, instead mostly under orders from Major Schmidt... or more to the point the SS advisers. The Fuhrer wanted to maintain strict controls on the town as it grew.
March 1940
During archaeological excavations the researchers found human remains among the stone ruins surrounding the gate, 'proving' to them that ancient Aryans once existed here. Despite the military wanting to establish a tight cordon here the archaeologists insisted the area must remain intact for study and so far held the will of the Fuhrer in this. At present such gate defense was limited to sandbagged gun emplacements and temporary wooden buildings, but these were kept somewhat distant from the gate due to it's proximity to the ruins. These archaeological discoveries briefly brought the project back into favor with the Fuhrer, but he soon lost interest again and the slow increase in SS staff, then their decrease made a nice barometer for the Fuhrer's opinion of the project.
While the project was in one of it's upswings Major Schmidt got a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, which more suited such a commander, even over such a small military presence as was there currently.
June 1940
As the local seasons changed on Teutonia the farmers decreed that they had (mostly) solved the problems with the soil, and even found local places to extract the additives the soil needed to grow plants effectively. Until a full season of growth was completed they wouldn't be sure everything was going well, but things did look up.
September 1940
It was at this time that the Fuhrer first came up with his 'Final Solution' to the Jewish problem, though it would be some time till it could be implemented in sufficient number. Since 'Planet 1' was so inhospitable, perhaps he could simply send the Jews there, out into the wasteland, and be done with them! Plans were drawn up to begin gathering up more of the intransigent Jews from various locations to be sent to staging camps before the final details were made.
December 1940
The first of the Jews were sent through the gate, wearing little more than rags and carrying no supplies, and were commanded at gunpoint to head out onto the barren plains. Over the next few weeks the soldiers of the Wehrmacht staff operating the outpost on Planet 1 came down with more and more mysterious illnesses, some 'serious' enough to be shipped back to Earth. When this trend was noticed (along with some complaints from certain suicidal soldiers) the guard duty on that world was switched to a small group of Waffen SS which seemed curiously immune to the ailment that had befallen their Wehrmacht brethren.
February 1941
With spirit high in the victorious war in Europe, and the Americans still not joining in the war, (even with the 'failure' of the Battle of Britain the previous year) more resources were becoming available, and the leaders in Berlin behind the Stargate project desperately attempted to get some improvements for themselves. Even though the favor of the project was not high currently, they did manage to get some improvements, including additional military detachments. The defense now included one armored battalions and three infantry battalions with one of these as anti-armor infantry. Despite joining in the project's poor favor currently Schmidt got yet another, rather rapid promotion to full Colonel.
Colonists through the gate saw a sharp upturn at the beginning of the year too. Going from 120,000 in December 1940, to 170,000 in February 1941. The huge increase in numbers strained the infrastructure in Volksburg significantly, but slowly, with additional supplies, they managed to stabilize the local agricultural and industrial efforts
April 1941
Celebrations for the two year anniversary of Teutonia's discovery were intense, and the Fuhrer even paid a visit in the middle. This did briefly revive his plans for using this town (rapidly becoming a city) as a proof of Aryan supremeity to the forefront of his mind, but didn't change the favors of the base much over the coming months. However some well respected German astronomers with enough political clout to learn of the project (few and far between) managed to get posting to the area to begin astronomical research.
July 1941
An unexpected guest arrived in mid July, in the form of one Major Reinhard Gehlen of the Wehrmacht. His transfer papers were vague to say the least, and the man himself was less forthcoming. Schmidt got the impression that the man had done something to displease someone high in the party and had been shunted here to get him out of the way. After some surreptitious checks he found that his previous job had been in intelligence analyst for the Reich and Schmidt wondered what he'd done to get sent here.
November 1941
With the failure of the Battle of Britain and with recent events causing the Americans to join the war, things started to get a little darker for the Reich, though generally the spirit was still high. The Reich spread across most of Europe and into Northern Africa after all! However the possibilities of bombing runs destroying critical areas inside German territory sparked numerous fears, especially with nagging rumors that some kind of super weapon was possible, at least in theory. Such 'Atomic Bombs' were pure pulp fiction to most, but it was enough to get one or two of the Reich's research establishments relocated to Teutonia where there was no possibility of enemy bombs striking any facilities. After they were forced to sign extensive documents on the secrecy of the enterprise, many budding physicists and engineers ventured to Berlin, often without any choice in the matter.
Although finding purpose in such activities, it was still seen as more of a sideline, not a proper part of Reich activities, certainly for the SS at least. As such the few SS officers stationed there gradually changed from prominent members to those that had come into disfavor or those who dared to question their superiors.
Population was now over 250,000 people on Teutonia, and some of the population were in small hamlets that were growing up nearby, bracketing in the farmland surrounding the city. The industrial effort was maintained downstream from the main river (which had curiously been named the Vol meaning Flight. Perhaps an obscure joke based on the city's name by some councilor or other) and had expanded significantly, already seeing to most of what the city needed by itself, though efforts to mine the hills surrounding the area did not yet get quite everything they needed in chemicals and minerals. Some still needed to be shipped from Earth
January 1942
Some concerns in high places in the Nazi party worried that the atomic research program (then still under the auspices of the Wehrmacht) might be located and bombed by the RAF. Although Goering insisted there was no risk of this the head of the project managed to get at least part of the research group to begin setting up an alternate research site elsewhere. He was not aware of the Stargate project and was very surprised when his team, including himself, were sent through the gate to Teutonia on orders of the Fuhrer. Although it was deemed too hindering to the flow of the research to move the entire project, the team that did travel included a few notable physicists and engineers from the project, including Werner Heisenburg.
The new Atomic research plant, focusing their efforts on a proposed atomic reactor with some work on uranium processing, was stationed about fifty miles down river towards the coast with another railway linking them to the city. Work commenced with somewhat censored communication between the old facility in Berlin and the new one on Teutonia allowing them to avoid duplication of effort. To an extent at least.
However, almost immediately, due to political wrangling and the indication that no significant results would be likely before war's end, the Berlin facility was returned to civilian ownership and all contact with the Teutonia facility was halted. No additional supplies were forthcoming through the base for the off world facility and the team had to make a lot of hard choices about what they were to do. Eventually, even given the strict military controls, they opted to remain and work on the project, despite the military's lack of enthusiasm for it. Thus the Teutonia team were not aware of the break up and redistribution of their old facility into different projects and the poor end result later on.
April 1942
The third annual celebrations were not as festive as previously, partly due to more frugal spending necessary due to less supplies travelling through the gate. Recently the Fuhrer had ordered an increase in the Jewish 'Final Solution' and had taken up more and more gate time. Even then he seemed to not feel this was sufficient and ordered camps established to deal with as many more as they could. The increased throughput to Planet 1 had even necessitated more troops there to clear away those that died close to the gate from exposure and deal with the bodies. Although population on Teutonia had seen a boom in the end of the previous year, reaching almost 400,000 by the start of 1942, by April it had barely reached 460,000, and quite a few of that was due to a slight increase in birthrates locally. Schmidt was desperate to get more materials in, especially certain chemicals needed in industrial processes but the Reich staff back home were not interested such things. He sent several scouting teams to the surrounding territory, heading further and further out, in an effort to locate missing materials for industrial effort.
Over the next couple of months most of these were isolated, and the remaining few missing materials had alternatives found. Rubber was in short supply for a time, but after an airbase and a detachment of the Luftwaffe was established Schmidt sent teams off to locate areas with the conditions necessary for rubber trees. It was a trek of well over a thousand miles, needing landing strips made in a few places for the light planes to refuel, but a place was located that had the conditions necessary and a plantation was begun. Some other crops that could be grown there were started, but all of these were somewhat risky operations. The entire effort to start the rubber plantation was questioned, asking why green houses could not be built nearer Volksburg. True the cost of setting up the shipments via air would be high (it was inland and no route to the sea had yet been located from this new site) but green house construction and maintenance would also be costly for such a large plantation. In the end since Schmidt was the head of the facility he had his way and the plantation was established in the distant location.
Schmidt did attempt to get increased funding for his Luftwaffe but interest in the party was limited. After much pushing he did get assistance in transferring a small R&D establishment, primarily to test experimental aircraft, free from anyone either spying on them or attacking.
During the resource prospecting several samples of tungsten and silica were noted, and somehow this filtered through the party back home. Soon a small research plant was being assembled by a team of computer engineers on orders from some high ups within the Reich. The team wanted to manufacture Thermionic Diode Valves away from fear of bombing, and making use of these relatively pure samples Schmidt had recovered. Headed by Konrad Zuse this facility began initial efforts to build programmable computers, building on Zuses former work. Given the small size of the current facility and a sparsity of materials relating to relay manufacture, his efforts were slowed, but hoped to improve usage of valves in specialist machines for the Reich military.
September 1942
Ever since the end of the Battle of Britain the RAF had commenced night air raids against German cities, and the location where the gate was established to the south of Berlin was realized to be at risk. The facility was already underground, but the above ground facilities were improved, including heavier anti aircraft weapons. After the summer of 1942 when the US began serious daylight bombing it was improved even more. This was unfortunate as this increase in defenses was noticed by allied intelligence and, although they did not know what the base was, it was obvious it was important. Being far enough outside Berlin to avoid most of the massed AAA fire from that city itself (though not those in the surrounding area) it was deemed a good target. Unfortunately they had no idea how hardened a facility it was, and given the large numbers of trucks witnessed traveling too and from the area it must be fairly extensive.
The US air force decided a heavy strike was called for with a mix of high explosive and incendiary bombs. This proved striking. As the air raid sirens were blaring the base commander dialed Teutonia and warned them they were under attack, but the communications were cut off abruptly. Incendiary bombs had ignited the considerable ammunition store in the base and the resulting explosions flattened it topside, and caused considerable cave-ins underground. The roof of the gate room collapsed, burying the gate. With a population of just over 520,000 they were stuck with the personnel and materials they had as no more would be coming from Earth.
The link for the discussion thread for this timeline is here
(Note, right now I'm going through... slowly... editing this attempting to get the tense consistent, spelling and grammar correct. Up to part 11 right now. I'll go through the rest and update this as I go.)
(OK, that's weird! As I went through my backup of the story on my HD I found an episode that never got posted, either here or on AH.com! If you've followed the discussion thread and just want to see that post it's #51)
Stellar Reich
April 1932
With a grand flourish the German government was proud to announce it's acquisition of an ancient Egyptian artifact. The huge stone ring (original significance and use unknown) was shipped from London to Berlin with some difficulty, but little incident and soon was on display in the Neues Museum, much to the delight of the German people. A separate deal struck between England and Germany almost traded the 'Ring of Giza' for an ornate pedestal called the 'Nordic Sockel' along with other artifacts later in the year. However those responsible realized the Ring had been added to the list due to a clerical error due to information for both being in the same office at the same time, and should not be merely traded away. In fact it was found to be a related piece to the ring with similar markings. In the end a different exchange was made, with the Ring and the Pedestal put on display in the Neues Museum. Both were treated with considerable caution, due to their apparent antiquity, and the public could only view them from behind glass.
After they were mounted there was a curious report from one of the staff who had helped mount it that part of the pedestal had glowed during transit. He was discounted as a drunk at the time, especially as he couldn't recollect what he'd done that might have caused this. It was merely assumed that light had come in through a window and reflected off the artifact and he was miss-remembering (by those polite enough to assume he was not so drunk he was seeing lights as well as pink elephants!)
If the museum had checked their records further they would have found two other similar statements over the last few years as the device moved around about lights from the device, though usually faint as it rarely occurred when it was away from sunlight for it to be clear it was artificial. Who knows what may have transpired if these statements had been believed before the Reich came to power?
July 1937
When the artifacts were cordoned off for their first cleaning regimen great care was taken, but at one point one of the staff pressed a little too hard on the pedestal and was shocked when it not only lit up but the great ring actually moved, clunked and lit up briefly itself. The staff did not quite know how to handle this, at first some insisting that the records be checked for any curses relating to the dig at Giza. However, saner heads prevailed and two scientists were brought in to examine it.
By the end of the week the entire device had been appropriated by the government and locked away in a secret facility with dozens of technicians and scientists studying it. They did manage to take samples, despite the difficulty in obtaining even dust from the very sturdy device, but the studies of the time could make little headway as most tests on the material simply did not make sense. It was soon ascertained that the entire ring was mostly comprised of some metallic element that did not correspond to any known on Earth.
When the higher ups in the Nazi government learned of these details they considered lauding it publicly as proof of ancient Aryan heritage and their supremacy over the locals. However, given the paper-trail obviously linking the devices to Giza Egypt this was halted. No-one wanted to be made a fool for such a statement.
Work continued in carefully attempting to find out what the device was for. It was obviously technological in some manner, but no mechanisms or components could be found in the ring, and when the pedestal was finally opened the crystals inside looked so delicate that the technicians refused to examine further for fear of damaging the device before it was learned what it was for.
May 1937
One use became obvious when attempts to study the device's electrical properties was attempted. It seemed to be a perfect ground, electrical energy being soaked up like a sponge. After some careful tests on the dust collected from the device it was labeled a 'super conductor' and further tests were able to store and retrieve vast amounts of electrical energy from the device. Not only that, but as 'buttons' were pressed on the pedestal energy seemed to appear as if by magic in the ring, which was able to be siphoned off for other uses. Using such energy was tricky due to the intermittent nature of the energy 'sent' via the pedestal and some odd frequencies of the energy stored in the ring.
During these tests the limit of seven symbols became obvious. The device would engage the chevrons, one at a time, as the buttons were pressed, but in the end when all lit up nothing happened and the lights on the ring faded. One of the researchers suggested that the sequence was some kind of locking code, perhaps to release some hidden effect within the device or open some hidden panel, but early on more effort was made on examining the technology than testing codes.
August 1938
After many tests over the past year, one of the few 'test sequences' made connected and the researchers were shocked when the ring 'flushed' in a water-like explosion before stabilizing in a vertical puddle of liquid. Most of the researchers were shocked. Two were too busy being disintegrated to feel shocked as they were in the way of the 'flush'. Immediately the military stepped in, demanding effort be made to determine what this effect was and if it could be duplicated.
Further tentative research with the now known 'code' showed the 'puddle' mostly lasted less than a minute before disappearing, though sometimes lasted longer. It wasn't until one researcher found a correlation between the local radio transmissions and the long duration puddles that it was thought to study how radio waves affected the device. It seemed a concentrated radio transmission, if strong enough, would force the ring to remain active for up to nearly forty minutes.
September 1938
When testing with actual devices it was found that anything pushed into the 'pond' would vanish, but could be withdrawn as long as the device did not shut down due to reaching the 38 minute time limit. Similarly it was found that anything extended into the pond and let go would not reappear when the device shut down. Some researchers thought it was some kind of matter storage device, a 'magic pocket' that could store whatever you needed. They just hadn't found out how to bring such stored objects back yet. Other researchers thought that instead it was a doorway, the objects 'vanished' instead appearing somewhere else. When notes from the original team at Giza (though badly damaged from treatment in the Egypt desert) were recovered a translation was uncovered that indicated the device was called a 'door' or 'gate'. Perhaps Heaven Gate, or Star Gate, depending on which Egyptologist you asked. When this was determined the second group of researchers got permission to do research as to what might be on the other side.
Unfortunately the notes were only partly evident, and efforts to contact the original team to find out more failed, as they had left the country for America. Tentative efforts were made to contact Paul Langford there, but without giving more details than they were willing to he refused to work with Nazi Germany. At the time the government were more confident in their current scientific staff and focused on funding the project than attempting to gain the insight of a mere archaeologist, even when their staff begged to get more information from Doctor Langford.
The cover-stone was never brought to Germany from the original dig, and the notes with attempted translations of the cover-stone were partially damaged. It was found that some of the symbols there were the same as on the gate, but that was all that was determined at that time. Efforts continued to make out the blurred notes while work continued on the gate.
October 1938
After details of the latest versions of Baird's 'electrical camera' were obtained via various means an attempt was made to use them to send signals back from the other side of the gate. Initial trials with cables failed to get any signal, but efforts using a camera on a electric trolley with a high powered radio transmitter did bear fruit, and soon blurry, streaked images of a barren plain were presented to the Fuhrer. A dusty plain with a night sky very different from Earth's! With such a blurry camera is was hard to make out details, but further missions with various magnifying lenses and simple radio control mechanisms for the heavy truck were able to track back and forth to be sure there were no known constellations in the sky!
This was an alien world!
Cameras proved that this world also had a pedestal to control it's ring, but so far no one knew the 'code' for Earth. As such even though it was possible to go there no known way to return was found. So the Fuhrer at first forbade any efforts to send colonists (even volunteers) through the gate to this new world. Although breeding room was called for he had already publicly stated Russia as his choice, and with no way to return home it was deemed better to maintain secrecy about the project. After all, who knew what other secrets the device had, or could be found on that planet? If they could figure out how to bring samples back home.
January 1939
Some success was made in decrypting the damaged notes from the Giza dig, and it was believed that there were two, partial 'codes' there, written down from the missing cover-stone. However they still were unable to get exact details on the codes, but even the fact that other codes existed meant that more than two rings were around and so efforts to randomly dial other such codes continued, hoping to locate another ring on another planet.
February 1939
Even though there was still no way to return home, progress on decrypting the Giza notes seemed to be going well, new chemical techniques to bring out almost invisible, scrubbed text. Thus the Fuhrer finally agreed to a small group of about forty military personnel to establish an outpost on this new world. Building materials and supplies were sent, checked by camera to see that they arrived, and then volunteer troops went through. The researchers were very relieved to see that the men had made it safely through, though radio reports said some of the men had felt 'a little odd and dizzy' going through.
The outpost was slowly constructed and staffed, and soon regular shipments of food and other supplies were shipped through the gate on simple unmanned trucks (by the expedient of locking the steering prior to sending it through the gate). It was reported that the area did have some unknown scrub grass, but little else in the vicinity, and none of it seemed edible. Given the poor dirt quality thoughts of starting any farms up were quashed, and instead the food shipments continued.
April 1939
Finally a random code attempt worked, a new planet being found and incidentally finding that the last code seemed to need to be the same for each. When an electric cart camera 'drone' was sent through it reported a verdant, grassy world before it's batteries died. It was not long before a second outpost was established here too. At present these worlds were merely marked 'Planet 1' and 'Planet 2' for the scientists until they could go there and study them properly, and name them according to what they found (though some scientists did attempt to name the worlds after themselves. This was not well received).
It was soon found however that the gates on the two known worlds could not immediately dial each other. Soon the reason was determined. One symbol on each gate was different, and that one symbol on the Earth gate was the last one in both codes they knew. It seemed to be an identifier for the sending gate. Once this last symbol was exchanged for the local symbol both worlds could contact each each other successfully and send troops and material back and forth, much to the relief of those stationed on the almost desert like conditions of Planet 1.
Curiously, it was only a week later that the team working on the Giza notes were able to recover one of the six digit codes recorded from the cover-stone. When the last digit of Earth was added and attempted, nothing happened. Almost as an afterthought it was attempted from Planet 2 with their last symbol and miraculously the Earth gate was dialed.
They finally had a way home!
Unfortunately the other code in the Giza notes seemed too damaged by the elements to be readily recovered. Efforts were continued, but they felt without finding the original cover-stone it would likely not bear fruit. At present though no-one knew where the cover-stone had ended up. Best guess was in the United States of America with Paul Langford, but if so it was not part of any major, listed museum exhibit they could find.
May 1939
After some time to consider the situation the Fuhrer decided that a small colony and research outpost on Planet 2 was needed, especially as there appeared to be ruins around the gate that might suggest who had built the artifacts. One of the researchers insisted that the ruins were Aryan in origin, and began calling the planet Teutonia, claiming it was where the original Aryans had come to Earth from in ancient times. At first these efforts were quashed, but when the Fuhrer heard of it he heartily endorsed the name and immediately promoted the man. Thoughts of exploring and colonizing the ancient home of the Aryan people began to take shape, efforts to locate large numbers of people of suitable heritage to man such a colony were undertaken, though carefully at first. The project had started as a secret and had only grown in importance. No-one wanted to let on that the Nazis had access to alien technology!
June 1939
The first selected group of a hundred 'True Aryans' were sent through the gate along with a large number of military, initially a battalion of infantry. Supplies were sent to start construction of a 'poster town' of what true Aryans could accomplish. However the initial concepts of a beatific village were ended when it was realized how much effort it would take to ship supplies continuously for as large a town as was planned through the gate. Soon farms and industry were planned as well to supply them locally, though suitably out of the way so as to not obscure the effect the town would have on visitors.
The Fuhrer kept both concepts going, strangely. On one hand viciously keeping the gate a secret. On the other hand planning a town for public viewing. He stated that after 'things were settled' the world should view the magnificence of the Aryan people in their original setting. Not all on his staff agreed it was the best use for the gate, but none dared disagree with him.
At first, now that travel back and forth was achieved, SS officers ran the slowly growing town of Volksburg on Teutonia, the prestige in being associated with the Fuhrer's grand plan drawing many who wished to impress him. But the isolation due to intermittent use of the gate often caused the staff to cycle, eventually deciding that, despite the pleasant environs, they would rather please the Fuhrer in other ways. Those that had the clout to reassign themselves often did after a month or so.
September 1939
When Hitler liberated Poland the war effort began to take precedence over the gate project in favor with the Fuhrer, especially as no new technologies had been developed from the project. Even the efforts to study the 'flush' that disintegrated objects did not bring any worthwhile results. Although colonists continued to pour through the gate on Hitler's initial plan, the project on the whole began to drop in favor, especially among the SS officers involved.
January 1940
The Wehrmacht officially were ordered to 'maintain order' over the town of Volksburg and the gate on Teutonia, a young Major named Schmidt was technically in charge of the base now, though a small staff of SS officers remained behind and 'supervised' him for the moment, most of these were higher rank than himself and maintained control despite the orders listing him as head of the facility. This did not sit well with Schmidt, especially as the SS officers involved invariably rotated out of the base, and the new ones often had very different ideas that he should adopt 'but it is only a suggestion of course Major'.
It grew very tiring.
By now the town had grown to over 30,000 people, though often still needing supplies sent through as the farms were having difficulty with the local soil and native animals, let alone adapting to the slightly different seasons. The area near the gate was becoming just as picturesque as the Fuhrer had planned, and the industrial sections were kept several miles distant with a multi-track railway to ferry workers back and forth. The governor of the town was not given much power, instead mostly under orders from Major Schmidt... or more to the point the SS advisers. The Fuhrer wanted to maintain strict controls on the town as it grew.
March 1940
During archaeological excavations the researchers found human remains among the stone ruins surrounding the gate, 'proving' to them that ancient Aryans once existed here. Despite the military wanting to establish a tight cordon here the archaeologists insisted the area must remain intact for study and so far held the will of the Fuhrer in this. At present such gate defense was limited to sandbagged gun emplacements and temporary wooden buildings, but these were kept somewhat distant from the gate due to it's proximity to the ruins. These archaeological discoveries briefly brought the project back into favor with the Fuhrer, but he soon lost interest again and the slow increase in SS staff, then their decrease made a nice barometer for the Fuhrer's opinion of the project.
While the project was in one of it's upswings Major Schmidt got a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, which more suited such a commander, even over such a small military presence as was there currently.
June 1940
As the local seasons changed on Teutonia the farmers decreed that they had (mostly) solved the problems with the soil, and even found local places to extract the additives the soil needed to grow plants effectively. Until a full season of growth was completed they wouldn't be sure everything was going well, but things did look up.
September 1940
It was at this time that the Fuhrer first came up with his 'Final Solution' to the Jewish problem, though it would be some time till it could be implemented in sufficient number. Since 'Planet 1' was so inhospitable, perhaps he could simply send the Jews there, out into the wasteland, and be done with them! Plans were drawn up to begin gathering up more of the intransigent Jews from various locations to be sent to staging camps before the final details were made.
December 1940
The first of the Jews were sent through the gate, wearing little more than rags and carrying no supplies, and were commanded at gunpoint to head out onto the barren plains. Over the next few weeks the soldiers of the Wehrmacht staff operating the outpost on Planet 1 came down with more and more mysterious illnesses, some 'serious' enough to be shipped back to Earth. When this trend was noticed (along with some complaints from certain suicidal soldiers) the guard duty on that world was switched to a small group of Waffen SS which seemed curiously immune to the ailment that had befallen their Wehrmacht brethren.
February 1941
With spirit high in the victorious war in Europe, and the Americans still not joining in the war, (even with the 'failure' of the Battle of Britain the previous year) more resources were becoming available, and the leaders in Berlin behind the Stargate project desperately attempted to get some improvements for themselves. Even though the favor of the project was not high currently, they did manage to get some improvements, including additional military detachments. The defense now included one armored battalions and three infantry battalions with one of these as anti-armor infantry. Despite joining in the project's poor favor currently Schmidt got yet another, rather rapid promotion to full Colonel.
Colonists through the gate saw a sharp upturn at the beginning of the year too. Going from 120,000 in December 1940, to 170,000 in February 1941. The huge increase in numbers strained the infrastructure in Volksburg significantly, but slowly, with additional supplies, they managed to stabilize the local agricultural and industrial efforts
April 1941
Celebrations for the two year anniversary of Teutonia's discovery were intense, and the Fuhrer even paid a visit in the middle. This did briefly revive his plans for using this town (rapidly becoming a city) as a proof of Aryan supremeity to the forefront of his mind, but didn't change the favors of the base much over the coming months. However some well respected German astronomers with enough political clout to learn of the project (few and far between) managed to get posting to the area to begin astronomical research.
July 1941
An unexpected guest arrived in mid July, in the form of one Major Reinhard Gehlen of the Wehrmacht. His transfer papers were vague to say the least, and the man himself was less forthcoming. Schmidt got the impression that the man had done something to displease someone high in the party and had been shunted here to get him out of the way. After some surreptitious checks he found that his previous job had been in intelligence analyst for the Reich and Schmidt wondered what he'd done to get sent here.
November 1941
With the failure of the Battle of Britain and with recent events causing the Americans to join the war, things started to get a little darker for the Reich, though generally the spirit was still high. The Reich spread across most of Europe and into Northern Africa after all! However the possibilities of bombing runs destroying critical areas inside German territory sparked numerous fears, especially with nagging rumors that some kind of super weapon was possible, at least in theory. Such 'Atomic Bombs' were pure pulp fiction to most, but it was enough to get one or two of the Reich's research establishments relocated to Teutonia where there was no possibility of enemy bombs striking any facilities. After they were forced to sign extensive documents on the secrecy of the enterprise, many budding physicists and engineers ventured to Berlin, often without any choice in the matter.
Although finding purpose in such activities, it was still seen as more of a sideline, not a proper part of Reich activities, certainly for the SS at least. As such the few SS officers stationed there gradually changed from prominent members to those that had come into disfavor or those who dared to question their superiors.
Population was now over 250,000 people on Teutonia, and some of the population were in small hamlets that were growing up nearby, bracketing in the farmland surrounding the city. The industrial effort was maintained downstream from the main river (which had curiously been named the Vol meaning Flight. Perhaps an obscure joke based on the city's name by some councilor or other) and had expanded significantly, already seeing to most of what the city needed by itself, though efforts to mine the hills surrounding the area did not yet get quite everything they needed in chemicals and minerals. Some still needed to be shipped from Earth
January 1942
Some concerns in high places in the Nazi party worried that the atomic research program (then still under the auspices of the Wehrmacht) might be located and bombed by the RAF. Although Goering insisted there was no risk of this the head of the project managed to get at least part of the research group to begin setting up an alternate research site elsewhere. He was not aware of the Stargate project and was very surprised when his team, including himself, were sent through the gate to Teutonia on orders of the Fuhrer. Although it was deemed too hindering to the flow of the research to move the entire project, the team that did travel included a few notable physicists and engineers from the project, including Werner Heisenburg.
The new Atomic research plant, focusing their efforts on a proposed atomic reactor with some work on uranium processing, was stationed about fifty miles down river towards the coast with another railway linking them to the city. Work commenced with somewhat censored communication between the old facility in Berlin and the new one on Teutonia allowing them to avoid duplication of effort. To an extent at least.
However, almost immediately, due to political wrangling and the indication that no significant results would be likely before war's end, the Berlin facility was returned to civilian ownership and all contact with the Teutonia facility was halted. No additional supplies were forthcoming through the base for the off world facility and the team had to make a lot of hard choices about what they were to do. Eventually, even given the strict military controls, they opted to remain and work on the project, despite the military's lack of enthusiasm for it. Thus the Teutonia team were not aware of the break up and redistribution of their old facility into different projects and the poor end result later on.
April 1942
The third annual celebrations were not as festive as previously, partly due to more frugal spending necessary due to less supplies travelling through the gate. Recently the Fuhrer had ordered an increase in the Jewish 'Final Solution' and had taken up more and more gate time. Even then he seemed to not feel this was sufficient and ordered camps established to deal with as many more as they could. The increased throughput to Planet 1 had even necessitated more troops there to clear away those that died close to the gate from exposure and deal with the bodies. Although population on Teutonia had seen a boom in the end of the previous year, reaching almost 400,000 by the start of 1942, by April it had barely reached 460,000, and quite a few of that was due to a slight increase in birthrates locally. Schmidt was desperate to get more materials in, especially certain chemicals needed in industrial processes but the Reich staff back home were not interested such things. He sent several scouting teams to the surrounding territory, heading further and further out, in an effort to locate missing materials for industrial effort.
Over the next couple of months most of these were isolated, and the remaining few missing materials had alternatives found. Rubber was in short supply for a time, but after an airbase and a detachment of the Luftwaffe was established Schmidt sent teams off to locate areas with the conditions necessary for rubber trees. It was a trek of well over a thousand miles, needing landing strips made in a few places for the light planes to refuel, but a place was located that had the conditions necessary and a plantation was begun. Some other crops that could be grown there were started, but all of these were somewhat risky operations. The entire effort to start the rubber plantation was questioned, asking why green houses could not be built nearer Volksburg. True the cost of setting up the shipments via air would be high (it was inland and no route to the sea had yet been located from this new site) but green house construction and maintenance would also be costly for such a large plantation. In the end since Schmidt was the head of the facility he had his way and the plantation was established in the distant location.
Schmidt did attempt to get increased funding for his Luftwaffe but interest in the party was limited. After much pushing he did get assistance in transferring a small R&D establishment, primarily to test experimental aircraft, free from anyone either spying on them or attacking.
During the resource prospecting several samples of tungsten and silica were noted, and somehow this filtered through the party back home. Soon a small research plant was being assembled by a team of computer engineers on orders from some high ups within the Reich. The team wanted to manufacture Thermionic Diode Valves away from fear of bombing, and making use of these relatively pure samples Schmidt had recovered. Headed by Konrad Zuse this facility began initial efforts to build programmable computers, building on Zuses former work. Given the small size of the current facility and a sparsity of materials relating to relay manufacture, his efforts were slowed, but hoped to improve usage of valves in specialist machines for the Reich military.
September 1942
Ever since the end of the Battle of Britain the RAF had commenced night air raids against German cities, and the location where the gate was established to the south of Berlin was realized to be at risk. The facility was already underground, but the above ground facilities were improved, including heavier anti aircraft weapons. After the summer of 1942 when the US began serious daylight bombing it was improved even more. This was unfortunate as this increase in defenses was noticed by allied intelligence and, although they did not know what the base was, it was obvious it was important. Being far enough outside Berlin to avoid most of the massed AAA fire from that city itself (though not those in the surrounding area) it was deemed a good target. Unfortunately they had no idea how hardened a facility it was, and given the large numbers of trucks witnessed traveling too and from the area it must be fairly extensive.
The US air force decided a heavy strike was called for with a mix of high explosive and incendiary bombs. This proved striking. As the air raid sirens were blaring the base commander dialed Teutonia and warned them they were under attack, but the communications were cut off abruptly. Incendiary bombs had ignited the considerable ammunition store in the base and the resulting explosions flattened it topside, and caused considerable cave-ins underground. The roof of the gate room collapsed, burying the gate. With a population of just over 520,000 they were stuck with the personnel and materials they had as no more would be coming from Earth.
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