Part I: Out of the Cradle, Chapter 1: First Contact
United We Stand: A Stargate Timeline
Part I: Out of the Cradle
Chapter 1: First Contact
Governor’s Mansion, Little Rock, Arkansas, March 12th, 1991 7:18PM
Rain pattered on the windows as Governor William Jefferson Clinton and Hilary Rodham Clinton sat quietly in the main study. In the background the television was silently showing footage from a parade earlier that day of troops returning from victory in the Persian Gulf. The only sound aside from the raindrops was the steady ticking of a grandfather clock. Both sat in the stillness. “This changes everything,” he said. “How?” replies Hilary. “He’s the same man he was before the war.” Bill looks down at the glass in his hand, swirling the bourbon for a moment. “No president has ever lost re-election after winning a war not to mention his poll numbers are through the roof. Unless they catch him with a live boy and a dead girl there’s no way he’s going to lose.”
Hilary looks him in the eye saying, “That’s going to keep the field clear. You’ll easily get the nomination and who knows what will happen between now and Election Day? You can beat him!” Hilary replies, “Are you sure about this? You know he’s got the charisma of a block of wood. Compared to Bush you could sell freezers to Eskimos!” Bill chuckled, “Charisma won’t be enough to beat a winner honey and it’s not like I’m Jack Kennedy.” Hilary smiled in reply, “You could be.”
Bill leaned back in his chair, chuckling as he spun in his chair. “Do you really think so? Jack Kennedy was one hell of a man, he could’ve won this election.” Hilary nodded, replying, “You’ve got what it takes. The people of Arkansas love you, you’ve got a solid record as a Democratic governor in a conservative state, and you can talk rings around anyone!” Bill sighs again, “If this is such a great opportunity why are the other heavyweights in the party sitting quiet? It’ll make the nomination easy to snatch but that doesn’t look good for the general election.” Hilary shook her head, responding, “That doesn’t matter, politics change every day! With the nomination a sure thing that leaves less to worry about!”
“And what if I lose?” he replied. “I can count the number of politicians who have come back from losing a presidential election on one hand without using my thumb. What if this year is too much of a gamble and both our careers get flushed down the drain before they have a chance to begin?” Hilary paused, temporarily speechless. “If I run for office there’s no going back. We’d be going all in.” “So you think we can’t win this one?” she said. After another long sight Bill replied, “I don’t know. I honestly have no idea how it could turn out. I just know the odds aren’t good.”
“Maybe we should sleep on this” mused Hilary. “We’re both too used to playing devil’s advocate with each other, nothing either of us is going to say in the next couple of hours will change that.” Bill laughed a bit, “I like that idea. I’ll be along in a minute, I just need to clear my head.” Hilary smiled as she stood up, “I’ll see you soon.” As Hilary left the room Bill stood up and filled his glass with fresh bourbon. Sitting back down he swirled the liquor, looking out into the rain.
So much was at stake and so little was certain. Not only did Americans love sticking with a winner, they hadn’t seen images of victorious troops parading through the nation’s streets since the end of WWII. The ticker tape parades, smiling families, and proud columns marching through Washington DC and every town with a military base worth mentioning gave Bush more than just a bump in the polls. He’d restored America’s image and power abroad, something no one could possibly ignore.
Even with rumors of economic jitters and market uncertainty there was simply no way a slick governor from Arkansas could carry the election. Still one major possibility failed to leave Bill’s head as he quietly ruminated on his political chances. What if he won? Winning at such high stakes, in a year no one would call as a Democratic one, would be a major upset for the political establishment. If he succeeded he could remake the whole party, bringing it into the new realities of the world.
But losing? Losing in 1992 would destroy his political chances. He chuckled ruefully, recalling the disaster that was the 1988 DNC address. Pundits and politicians panned his delivery as long-winded and boring. They’d all laughed at him then but it would be nothing compared to losing. Was the opportunity worth risking political suicide?
Bill grimaced as he rubbed his fingers on his temples. This was too much to figure out in one night. He slowly swirled the bourbon around in the glass before taking one last sip. As he stood up his hand drifted into his pocket, fingers brushing up against an old dime. Pausing a moment, he pulls it out of his trouser pocket. Holding the coin out in front of him, Bill turned the miniature portrait of Franklin Roosevelt around in his fingers. “What the hell,” Bill muttered as he made a fist, placing the dime over his thumb. With a wry chuckle he whispered to himself, “Heads I run, tails I don’t.” He flicked his thumb, watching as the coin spun in the air holding his life and the lives of many in the balance.
“April 2nd, 1998 M11 is a day remembered across the entire human race as one of the most infamous and pivotal in its history. Early in the morning the skies of the Northern Hemisphere were lit up by a pair of titanic explosions radiating from space just over the Bering Strait. For hours before orbital satellites, observatories, and amateur astronomers all tracked two enormous objects of clearly artificial origin. At the time only a handful in the highest levels of governments worldwide had an inkling of what was happening. The forces of the System Lord Apophis had arrived.
Behind closed doors many moved quickly to react to the threat. The President of the United States hurriedly contacted the leaders of the United Kingdom, the Republic of France, the Russian Federation, and the People’s Republic of China to confirm what many already suspected: an unknown alien species had arrived in Earth orbit. After much intense discussion through ambassadors and direct conversations the other nuclear power leaders were informed of the true nature of the alien visitors and their hostile intentions. While not all of what the United States knew, at the time, was revealed and the content of these discussions remains classified to this day it is accepted that enough regarding the truth of the Goa’uld was revealed to persuade otherwise skeptical politicians to accept the US proposal for action.
Many at the time criticized the US government for this initial disclosure of information to two of America’s greatest geopolitical rivals. Declassified minutes from the National Security Council meetings, released ten years ago, have shed further light into the logic guiding US decision-making and largely put this old debate to rest. Unknown to the general public the plan of action was to launch two naqahdah-enhanced nuclear bombs by rocket at Apophis’ ships in the hopes these weapons would destroy the Goa’uld vessels. American leaders, aware of the number of close nuclear scares during and after the Cold War period that dominated much of the century including an infamous incident three years prior where Russian nuclear forces went to full alert in response to a Norwegian satellite launch, were concerned firing such weapons into orbit without proper advance warning could have triggered a cataclysmic response by other nuclear powers and provoked them into unleashing their nuclear arsenals. The consensus reached is it was better to reveal some of what the Stargate Program had discovered, risking further security breaches, than doom the world to atomic annihilation.
While the nuclear launch, as later declassified records show, failed to stop Apophis’ ships the sabotage mission carried out by the famous SG-1 saved the world from Goa’uld domination and enslavement.(1) In the ensuing destruction an electro-magnetic pulse rippled through space disabling an estimated 45% of all orbital satellites. This disrupted radio and television broadcasts worldwide while the detonation of naqhadah-enhanced nuclear weapons and two Hataks lit up the skies of the Northern Hemisphere. There was no doubt, worldwide, something big had happened. Within an hour of the explosions, fearing panic and worse, the President of the United States addressed an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly. In this historic moment the Terran peoples first learned of intelligent life on other planets.”
From Chapter 1: First Contact, The Origins of the Modern World by Prof. Andrea Masters, published in 61 M12(2)
“President Bill Clinton: My fellow humans, I have come before you today with news I never thought I would be sharing with the world.
Earlier today two alien spacecraft attempted to conquer Earth. Only through the heroic efforts of members of the United States military, who must remain anonymous, was our planet saved.
We learned of these aliens earlier this year when, using highly advanced technology, they staged a raid on an American military facility. Through interrogation of the survivors and study of their equipment we discovered who they are and what they want.
The aliens who attacked our planet call themselves the Goa’uld.
*a brief video clip of a hissing Goa’uld symbiont appears on a screen behind the President*
They are a race of parasites who use human beings as hosts. They take over the body and mind turning the victim into a prisoner inside their own bodies. These parasites use their technology to pose as Gods and enslave entire worlds.
If there is any question of their intentions the events earlier today leave little doubt they plan on making their visions of domination reality.
I call on all the nations of Earth to come together against this new threat. I cannot promise you a quick, or easy, victory. Today is the beginning of a long, just struggle for our freedom as a species from alien domination. United we must stand as divided we will surely fall.”
From the records of the 52nd Session, United Nations General Assembly, April 2nd, 998 M11
“The revelation of alien life led to major reforms in how Stargate Command operated. As was discussed in Chapter 1 the SGC was founded on July 27th, 997 M11 as the Air Force’s 354th Special Operations Group based out of Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. Officially the SGC was designated as a humanitarian support unit fulfilling similar functions to the 353rd Special Operations Group to conceal their true purpose. In these early days the SGC was a very small, highly specialized unit consisting of a handful of SG Teams including the famous SG-1. This first year laid the foundations of the knowledge and traditions that define Stargate Command to this day. In every operation from initial skirmishes with the forces of the System Lord Apophis to the fateful confrontation on April 2nd, 998 M11 the SG Teams met and exceeded all expectations in their heroic efforts during these early days.
In the wake of this earth-shattering announcement major changes regarding the administration of the Stargate Program were unfolding behind closed doors. While the President addressed the world liaisons in Brussels, Stuttgart, and other bases in Europe immediately contacted the commanding officers of the major NATO states. All were given the broad outlines on the Stargate Program kept secret from the general public with a promise of fuller disclosure later that day. An emergency conference was rapidly organized at Cheyenne Mountain consisting of the heads of the various armed forces, intelligence agencies, and governments of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. It was in this meeting, with direct testimony from members of the SGC, the existence and activities of the Stargate Program were revealed to America’s main allies.
Following this presentation the American delegation extended a proposal to their now shocked and somewhat disgruntled allies. With a frank admission this threat was too big for the United States to tackle alone, the American delegation proposed opening up participation in the program to all nations present with full disclosure and sharing of off-world technology and discoveries between the allied nations. In exchange each participating government would provide personnel, funding, and basing for the soon to be international Stargate Command. After their initial skepticism wore off the Allied delegations agreed to present this proposal, in secret, to their governments before delivering any response. After considerable debate the new allies signed on one by one with Japan the last to do so on May 17th.
In the month that followed a series of negotiations established the new framework for Stargate Command laying down the specifics as to how the new Allied command would function. Along with funding support from each party to the new arrangement the Allies opened up the highest levels of their militaries for recruitment into the ranks of the SGC. One major concession demanded of the Allied powers was placing the operations and strategic command under the newly-formed International Oversight Commission. The IOC consisted of representatives from the military, intelligence, and governments of all participants in the SGC. Its mandate was to coordinate, oversee, and disseminate all activities and information obtained by Stargate Command’s operations. The IOC also was tasked with coordinating the defense of Earth in the event of another alien attack.
On paper this made the Stargate Program an international affair but in practice for many years it would remain dominated by the American military thanks to the greater contributions of personnel and resources made by the US government. Two other major concessions to their allies regarded the location of the Stargates themselves. The revelation the United States had not one but two gates, the Giza Gate and the Antarctic Gate recovered in the year, was met with outrage on the part of the allies made worse by the original intent of the US to keep it in storage as a backup. The security of Cheyenne Mountain, in particular its close proximity to major populated areas, was another concern raised by the Allies. The resolution of this impasse was provided by a joint British-Australian proposal to relocate the Giza Gate to a new, more secure location once one was ready while the Antarctic Gate would be used by a new, second Stargate facility in the Australian Outback.
While this discussion carried on the United States Congress immediately tabled all other items for discussion to take up the matter of the new threat from the stars. In these furious debates Senator Kinsey and other Blue Dog Democrats, with support from some liberal Democrats, pushed for establishing a new cabinet-level department for handling such decisions while others in the President’s Democratic Party and the Republicans favored leaving the details of stellar defense in the hands of the military.
Adding further complications to an already intense debate was the quieter, behind closed doors skirmishing between the branches of the US Armed Forces playing out in Congress. Each branch, previously indifferent to the Air Force’s pet project that mostly succeeded up to that point in little gain and much risk, now saw the prospect of massively increased funding as a cause worth fighting over. The intelligence community also got in on the fun with each agency demanding a piece of the action. Regardless of the solution offered all members of Congress agreed that a lot of money needed to be thrown at this problem, resulting in a very big bone for everyone to fight over.
The resulting compromise would be widely duplicated by other governments of the world both Allied nations and rivals like Russia, China, and India. After two months of intense discussions, negotiations, and horse trading Congress formally established the United States Space Forces. The USSF would be responsible for planetary defense, off-world activity, and researching new technologies for protecting the United States and Earth from alien attack. The first major acts of reorganization of the nation’s defense assets included transferring all space-related assets held by the other armed forces to the Space Forces, the transfer of NASA to the USSF as the core of Interstellar Command, and finally the secret re-assignment of the SGC and all personnel to the Space Forces as the nucleus of the new Stargate Command.
The Pentagon, during this intense period of reorganization, concluded with the increased demands on the Stargate Program major changes had to be made. The SG Teams, who had proven their worth in repelling Apophis’ attack, would be retained and expanded to a total of 32 from 12 including new teams consisting of Allied recruits from Allied special forces units. The teams were organized into Stargate Operations Groups of four teams for larger operations.
They would be bolstered with the founding of the Gate Corps. These personnel were recruited from the best of the US and Allied militaries to serve as a specialized, elite light infantry formation similar to the British Paratroopers and the US Army Rangers for larger-scale gate-based operations. Unlike the SG Teams who were used very much as reconnaissance, first contact, special forces, and retrieval-based units the Gate Corps was intended to fight set-piece battles both in defense of SGC facilities and on the attack off-world. Their initial requirements for personnel meant the first members of the Gate Corps would be drawn from already active duty personnel who would be retrained for their new assignments. By the year’s end a full division of these dedicated, elite personnel were ready for action planetside with two additional independent battalions stationed at the Alpha and Beta sites. The exploits of the Gate Corps’ First Brigade would soon join the annals of modern military history alongside the already impressive record of the SG Teams led by the famous SG-1.”
From Chapter 3: Reform and Reinforcement, The History of Stargate Command Volume I: Once More Into the Breach! by Major Kyle Schroeder, SGC, published in 54 M12
Dan Rather: The tide of unrest sweeping the world in the wake of First Contact is beginning to subside. Martial law remains in place in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix where authorities ask everyone to stay in their homes. The nationwide curfew of 10:00PM remains in effect to keep the streets clear for law enforcement and military personnel.
*cuts to footage of burning cars, a tank driving through the streets of Chicago, and soldiers patrolling on the streets*
Satellite launches are at a record high as NASA scrambles to replace all of the equipment destroyed during the attack. NASA officials say they expect for the destroyed satellites to be replaced by December.
Authorities in Denver found the remains of another suicide cult in a small suburban home. Calling themselves the Order of the Shining Halo their manifesto claimed the exploding ships opened a portal to another level of reality forcing them to shed their mortal bodies and ascend to another plane of existence. 21 victims were identified and recovered making it the largest mass suicide since the Montana-based Cult of Seth’s demise earlier this week.
We go now to Rita Braver at the White House for an update on the situation. Rita?
Rita Braver, CBS Chief White House Correspondent: Thanks Dan. The Clinton Administration has released further information corroborating their claims of alien attack. Members of the press were granted exclusive access to the wreckage of one of the alien fighter craft known as a “Death Glider”.
*Pans to camera footage of a wrecked, slightly charred Death Glider next to an F-16 for size comparison, followed by footage of a Death Glider in flight and firing weapons*
The White House’s surprising announcement at the UN last week did not stay the only one. Shortly after President Clinton finished his address Prime Minister Tony Blair released his own corroborating statement claiming the British government had their own inconvertible evidence of the existence of alien life. The greatest surprise on the international front, however, came two days ago when Russian President Boris Yelstin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin came forward with their own evidence of alien life.
CBS Evening News Broadcast, April 9th, 998 M11
“The impact of First Contact on Terra’s cultural development cannot be understated. Many critics have argued human culture, in this period, had entered a state of stagnation and ennui. The sudden shock of First Contact shocked Earth out of its collective complacency. People, confronted with information of world-shattering implications, lashed out in a number of ways. The riots and revolts in the month that followed was followed by a new flowering of expression. Whatever their initial reaction when order was restored the world knew things could never be the same.
The knowledge that humanity was no longer alone in the universe sparked the Golden Age of Science Fiction. In every cultural medium stories of interstellar flight, space operas, and alien life-forms surged ahead. The long-standing franchises experienced renewed interest with Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and Gamma Quadrant all seeing record-setting popularity, the return of BBC’s Doctor Who in 999, and the release of Star Wars: the Phantom Menace in the same year. Across nations and continents themes of good versus evil, cosmic clashes, and a strong sense of a special human destiny were central to the new stories coming out in the wake of First Contact.
This revival came with a much darker side. That First Contact was an attempted war colored the perspectives of many. For all the sense of new possibility there was a profound fear and sense of doubt thanks to First Contact’s hostile nature. People feared the worst was lurking in the darkness of deep space, waiting to leap out and destroy everything they knew and loved. Fear of the alien, the unknown, and the strange became powerful themes in works of the immediate post-Contact period. All of this reflected a deeper uncertainty of these early years of Earth’s entry into the greater galaxy.
Yet for all of this instability First Contact and its upheaval was a powerful moment for humanity. April 2nd, 998 became a date burned in the memory of the Terran peoples. It became a powerful, shared moment for every person on Earth and serves as a common touchstone for many. People who were alive for First Contact often begin conversations by swapping Contact stories of where they were on that day and in the weeks after. For all the trauma Apophis’ assault caused in the immediate term it cleared the way for a new understanding of humanity.”
From Chapter 1: First Contact, The Future is Out There: A Cultural History of the Turn of the Millennium by Prof. Travis Wingate, published in 59 M12
“Amidst the immediate chaos following First Contact the global economy reeled from the effects of Apophis’ invasion attempt. The destruction of communication satellites as a result of the engagement, for reasons unknown at the time, seriously disrupted the flow of information in the world’s financial markets. This unanticipated disruption of communications sparked a panic on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange triggering an economic stampede. Nervous, jumpy traders instinctively pulled back as much as possible to protect assets resulting in a vicious feedback loop of plunging stock prices, further withdrawal of credit from the market, and plummeting indexes as the contagion spread worldwide. The Contact Crash had begun.
By the time President Clinton finished his Contact Address to the United Nations every exchange from London to Tokyo was closing at record-setting lows. Bouts of civil unrest, rioting, and in the cases of the Suharto, Mubarak, and Assad regimes open revolution inspired further hoarding of capital, liquidation of assets, and a string of worldwide bank failures. The Panic of 998 pushed the world’s economy, already unsteady thanks to the Asian Financial Crisis of 997 M11, over the edge into a sharp, painful recession.
For all the storm and fury that initiated the Contact Recession it ended surprisingly swiftly. In December recovery began in the newly-created Eurozone and China with the rest of the world picking up on their momentum in early 999. Proponents of the neo-liberal Washington Consensus argued this was thanks to relaxed barriers for the movement of goods and capital, reduced market regulations, and the free flow of capital. With further time and distance from the event we can get a better understanding of what really caused the recovery.
Some aspects of the neo-liberal argument hold truth but they miss deeper, more crucial structural elements. The Crash itself was caused by an unanticipated disaster inspiring a mass panic in an already highly anxious industry. Stock trading in the late 11th millennium was an incredibly high stress job with millions, sometimes billions, made or lost based on split-second decisions. Substance abuse and stress-related medical conditions were incredibly common. It is for good reason economic historians like Naomi Lassiter have compared the environment to a high-stakes casino. These environmental factors explain not only why the Crash happened but also how the recovery began.
Unlike most economic crises common in late stage capitalism the underlying weaknesses were less prevalent. Many industries, in spite of the brief loss of capital, were not encountering the usual problems posed by falling rates of profit. In some fields, like the growing IT sector, the Crash caused large-scale business failures but these would prove to be a blessing in disguise. Many of the failing businesses in the technology industry were operating on business models built entirely on speculation. The pruning of deadwood was dramatic but did little direct impact to core economic functions. Banking failures, similarly, were high profile but often relatively isolated affairs and virtually unheard of in the developed world. After the initial shocks passed, civil unrest subsided, and capital flowed back into the market.
The recovery was used by free trade proponents as justification for accelerating the growth of free trade zones. In the European Union the pace of replacing old currencies picked up steam with the greatest shock coming in 5 M12 when the British government adopted the euro. The United States, Canada, and Mexico extended invitations to the nations of Central America and the Caribbean to join the recently-established NAFTA seeing largely positive responses from each. China, taking a cue from the US and Europe, entered trade talks with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and North Korea proposing their own East Asian Free Trade Agreement. On March 8th, 999 M11 representatives from every South American government met in Bogota to discuss their own continental trade agreement based on the principles of the European Union. The growing global trend towards strong, regional trade blocs began in the wake of the Contact Recession and would have far-reaching effects on world history.”
From Chapter 1: Contact Crash, Globalization and First Contact by Prof. Dipesh Iyer, published in 48 M12
“Ra’s demise in 994 M11 at the hands of the first Stargate expedition created a major power vacuum amongst the Goa’uld. The Empire’s feudal structure and deliberate division of power by Apep and Ra were effective mechanisms for maintaining control over the unruly System Lords and scheming Underlords. These methods, along with nonexistent succession rules and power transfers handled by war or palace coup, make sense when the main political actors are near-immortal space parasites. Successful System Lords reigned for hundreds, in some cases thousands, of years with Ra’s sixteen millennia reign as Supreme System Lord. This system, over time, developed a Social Darwinist mentality further justifying this chaotic, violent political system.
The Goa’uld practice of presenting themselves, through their parasitic abilities and advanced technology, as Gods seems to have been both a tactic for control and a genuine cultural belief that grew out of this environment. Not only, as military records and off-world surveys show, was this useful for indoctrinating enslaved populations of humans and Jaffa it grew out of a deeper conviction of their right to rule the galaxy. As the Goa’uld came to believe their ability to take control of nearly any form of biological life along with the enhancements implantation provided to the host proved their destiny was to rule other life forms. Over time under Ra’s rule, especially following Pelops’ creation of the Jaffa, this same logic of domination of the host extended to the political foundations of Goa’uld society. Just as the Goa’uld were fit to rule the universe so too was it appropriate that the strongest, most cunning, and most powerful Goa’uld rule the Empire. It is argued this, along with the endemic use of Sarcophagus technology and its known negative impact on psychological stability, explains the notorious Goa’uld arrogance, grandiosity, and cruelty.
There are some human philosophers, likely influenced by Goa’uld rulers, throughout history who have argued for similar systems with the most horrific example in history being the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler. What proponents of such systems, like the Goa’uld, fail to realize is rule through raw power and force has two major weaknesses. The first is the constant requirement of keeping one’s underlings and subjects in a state where they can never challenge the existing system. As a direct result those who are competent and seen as threatening to their overlords often end up exiled, imprisoned, or killed. The importance of image and prestige in such systems further exacerbates the situation leading to what pundits in the late 900s M11 called the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” meaning anyone who stuck too far out from the crowd ran the risk of getting cut down.
The other major flaw in Social Darwinian systems is chronic instability. When there are no peaceful changes of power all politics become inherently violent. Serious dissent is often seen as a direct threat to the ruling elites making change, adaptation, and reform only possible by forcibly seizing power or displays of power sufficient to compel submission. The result means all matters of policy can, quite potentially, be issues of life and death. Poor decisions, reckless wars, and unlucky alliances can mean the death of not just the individual actor but any of their supporters along with those deemed insufficiently loyal. The staying power of institutional memory found in human social structures is simply nonexistent as frequent political purges decimates working knowledge and experience. In such an environment nepotism and mediocrity ran rampant with loyalty more valued than ability.
Ra’s death in such an environment was a massively destabilizing moment. The Goa’uld Empire had seen other rulers before but in each case, Ra included, they rose to power by defeating their predecessors through war or palace intrigue. Furthermore during his long rule the Supreme System Lord succeeded in sufficiently weakening the power of each System Lord and pitting them against one another in petty squabbles, with the rivalry between his brother Apophis and Kronos being one of the more famous examples of this policy, to prevent them from organizing en masse against him. These two factors meant his unexpected death in what to the Goa’uld was assumed to be a freak accident or slave uprising caught the Empire by surprise. None of the remaining twenty System Lords were powerful enough to seize control through main force alone. The mutual suspicions and history of conflict spanning eons meant none would willingly agree to convene a Council of System Lords to settle the matter and prevented any cohesive blocs from rallying to any of the existing claimants. What followed were three years of war between the System Lords in a brutal free for all battle for Ra’s throne and domain.
The beginning of the conflict between Earth and Apophis came in the midst of this turmoil. By 997 M11 the three most powerful System Lords in the galaxy were Apophis, Heru’ur, and Cronos. Each commanded fleets of dozens of Ha’taks, millions of Jaffa warriors, and successfully compelled the obedience of many weaker System Lords through intimidation, force, and guile. The situation had forced a stalemate as none was strong enough to conquer their adversaries or capable of trusting each other enough to combine against a common enemy. They also faced challenges from the handful of independent System Lords like Yu-huang Shang Ti whose forces were strong enough, in the climate of geopolitical stasis, to hold off would-be conquerors.
Apophis’ sudden, unexpected defeat at the hands of the seemingly primitive inhabitants of Earth was a major game-changer in this tense environment. While Apophis’ strike force of two Ha’tak with embarked Jaffa did not represent a major military commitment compared to the great clashes with the System Lords his seemingly easy defeat by Terran forces was a major blow to his prestige. His easy defeat and absence during his return to Chulak from Earth gave his enemies Cronos and Heru’ur the opening they needed for a massed attack. Both System Lords fell on Apophis’ domains like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Adding insult to injury some of Apophis’ more powerful, restive vassals like Ba’al and Moloc used his moment of weakness as the opportunity to break free from their overlord. By the time the Serpent Lord returned to his throne his fleet was in retreat, his armies in disarray, and his domain fraying on all sides.”
From Chapter Two: Cracks in the Goa’uld Empire, A Political History of Our Galaxy by Prof. Li Feng, published in 59 M12
“There are aliens among us, and you may be one of them. The Bible speaks of these aliens in Genesis 1: Having completed the creation of the natural world, God decided to create women and men in God’s image. Whereas everything else in the created world is fashioned within the cosmos, people are created in some liminal space and plopped on the earth to rule over her — alien invaders set on expansion and domination (Genesis 1:26-28).
Aliens believe they are in the world, but not of the world. They long for heaven, dream of rapture, and too often promote martyrdom and homicide as ways of hastening their entry into the extra-planetary paradise they believe is their due. Aliens are alienated from the earth, feel no obligation to nature and exploit her remorselessly.
Aliens frighten me.
I prefer the company of earthlings, organic beings drawn up from the earth to serve creation rather than dominate it. The Bible speaks of these earthlings in Genesis 2: the earth was lifeless and bare for there was as yet no water to moisten the soil and no gardeners to till it. So God caused a mist to rise up from the ground, and took from the freshly made mud and formed an earthling. God breathed into this mixture of water and earth and it became aware (Genesis 2:4-7). Aware of what? Aware of itself as mud, aware of its task as midwife to nature’s creativity, aware of itself as speaker for the sea and the land and all their inhabitants.
Earthlings give me hope.
But my hope is contingent upon their ability to act against the obvious dangers all around us. How are we to know our leaders are true Earthlings? Satan is the master of lies and tries to deceive us by appearing to us in forms we trust. His minions may promise what appears to be salvation deceiving true Earthlings into doing the work of his alien catspaws but we must not give in to his wiles!
It is because I have proof of this collusion between our so-called leaders and the demons seeking to claim humanity’s soul that I have taken up arms to do the Lord’s Work. I can no longer stand by while the alien spawn of Satan suck the good, the life, and hope out of God’s creation. I do not apologize for my actions or expect forgiveness from any Earthly authority. I am doing God’s Work and only He will stand in judgment of me.”
Translated from the original French manifesto published online on February 8th, 999 M11 by Claude Michel also known as the Eiffel Tower Sniper
“In the wake of First Contact a new intellectual revolution swept the world. Academics challenged long-held assumptions in every field from archeology to astrophysics. The demands of securing Earth’s defense against alien invasion led to an enormous flowering of scholarship. Every nation with the spare resources to spend poured what they could into particle physics, computer science, rocketry, and astrophysical research groping for ways off planet and into the stars. Archeology, history, and linguistics enjoyed renewed popularity thanks to generous funding for these programs first by the Allied nations and then by China and Russia in the search for hidden alien artifacts on Earth. In the physical sciences like chemistry and metallurgy recovered Goa’uld and other alien devices were tested in secret facilities like Area 51, Porton Downs, Black Island, and the Kasso Complex and discoveries deemed non-threatening to national security slowly released to the public. Biologists and pharmacologists studied living specimens from other worlds for solutions to problems on Terra.
To better protect these developments all such new discoveries became the patented inventions, trademarks, and property of a number of shell companies owned by Stargate Command. This system, while imperfect and prone to subversion by rogue interests, became a source of revenue for the program reducing the need to depend on black budgets and highly effective for keeping track of what elements of the private sector were using alien technologies. Soon the methods patented by Stargate Command researchers were steadily trickling into the market leading to new, incredible leaps in technological development worldwide. Mobile technology, in particular, would explode forward as shown by the 2001 release of Apple’s iPhone possible thanks in part to reverse-engineered batteries and cheaper, compact superconducting materials developed in secret government labs.
Another key development from the years immediately following First Contact was a seismic shift in the social sciences. With most of the attention given in the popular imagination to the technological transformations of this period a more subtle yet equally critical intellectual change was occurring. The discovery of life on other planets inspired a renewed interest in the works of global systems theorists like Immanuel Wallerstein. Scholars in economics, history, anthropology, and political science were increasingly examining the world in a more global perspective alongside the growth of trade blocs. Another example of this steady shift is seen in the increasingly international, globalized nature of the social justice movements who would emerge as a major force during the early years of the present millennium.“
From Chapter One: A New Intellectual Universe, The Interstellar Revolution by Prof. Eduardo Garza, published in 55 M12
1. Just as in-show the mission SG-1 launched was not approved and against orders. This little detail was wiped out of the historical record following SG-1’s success with credit given to Gen. Hammond and SG-1 for coming up with and successfully executing their plan.
2. The dating system used by “present day” for this TL uses the Holocene Calendar. The dating system is converted from the BC/AD system in common use today by adding 10,000 years to the date.
Part I: Out of the Cradle
Chapter 1: First Contact
Governor’s Mansion, Little Rock, Arkansas, March 12th, 1991 7:18PM
Rain pattered on the windows as Governor William Jefferson Clinton and Hilary Rodham Clinton sat quietly in the main study. In the background the television was silently showing footage from a parade earlier that day of troops returning from victory in the Persian Gulf. The only sound aside from the raindrops was the steady ticking of a grandfather clock. Both sat in the stillness. “This changes everything,” he said. “How?” replies Hilary. “He’s the same man he was before the war.” Bill looks down at the glass in his hand, swirling the bourbon for a moment. “No president has ever lost re-election after winning a war not to mention his poll numbers are through the roof. Unless they catch him with a live boy and a dead girl there’s no way he’s going to lose.”
Hilary looks him in the eye saying, “That’s going to keep the field clear. You’ll easily get the nomination and who knows what will happen between now and Election Day? You can beat him!” Hilary replies, “Are you sure about this? You know he’s got the charisma of a block of wood. Compared to Bush you could sell freezers to Eskimos!” Bill chuckled, “Charisma won’t be enough to beat a winner honey and it’s not like I’m Jack Kennedy.” Hilary smiled in reply, “You could be.”
Bill leaned back in his chair, chuckling as he spun in his chair. “Do you really think so? Jack Kennedy was one hell of a man, he could’ve won this election.” Hilary nodded, replying, “You’ve got what it takes. The people of Arkansas love you, you’ve got a solid record as a Democratic governor in a conservative state, and you can talk rings around anyone!” Bill sighs again, “If this is such a great opportunity why are the other heavyweights in the party sitting quiet? It’ll make the nomination easy to snatch but that doesn’t look good for the general election.” Hilary shook her head, responding, “That doesn’t matter, politics change every day! With the nomination a sure thing that leaves less to worry about!”
“And what if I lose?” he replied. “I can count the number of politicians who have come back from losing a presidential election on one hand without using my thumb. What if this year is too much of a gamble and both our careers get flushed down the drain before they have a chance to begin?” Hilary paused, temporarily speechless. “If I run for office there’s no going back. We’d be going all in.” “So you think we can’t win this one?” she said. After another long sight Bill replied, “I don’t know. I honestly have no idea how it could turn out. I just know the odds aren’t good.”
“Maybe we should sleep on this” mused Hilary. “We’re both too used to playing devil’s advocate with each other, nothing either of us is going to say in the next couple of hours will change that.” Bill laughed a bit, “I like that idea. I’ll be along in a minute, I just need to clear my head.” Hilary smiled as she stood up, “I’ll see you soon.” As Hilary left the room Bill stood up and filled his glass with fresh bourbon. Sitting back down he swirled the liquor, looking out into the rain.
So much was at stake and so little was certain. Not only did Americans love sticking with a winner, they hadn’t seen images of victorious troops parading through the nation’s streets since the end of WWII. The ticker tape parades, smiling families, and proud columns marching through Washington DC and every town with a military base worth mentioning gave Bush more than just a bump in the polls. He’d restored America’s image and power abroad, something no one could possibly ignore.
Even with rumors of economic jitters and market uncertainty there was simply no way a slick governor from Arkansas could carry the election. Still one major possibility failed to leave Bill’s head as he quietly ruminated on his political chances. What if he won? Winning at such high stakes, in a year no one would call as a Democratic one, would be a major upset for the political establishment. If he succeeded he could remake the whole party, bringing it into the new realities of the world.
But losing? Losing in 1992 would destroy his political chances. He chuckled ruefully, recalling the disaster that was the 1988 DNC address. Pundits and politicians panned his delivery as long-winded and boring. They’d all laughed at him then but it would be nothing compared to losing. Was the opportunity worth risking political suicide?
Bill grimaced as he rubbed his fingers on his temples. This was too much to figure out in one night. He slowly swirled the bourbon around in the glass before taking one last sip. As he stood up his hand drifted into his pocket, fingers brushing up against an old dime. Pausing a moment, he pulls it out of his trouser pocket. Holding the coin out in front of him, Bill turned the miniature portrait of Franklin Roosevelt around in his fingers. “What the hell,” Bill muttered as he made a fist, placing the dime over his thumb. With a wry chuckle he whispered to himself, “Heads I run, tails I don’t.” He flicked his thumb, watching as the coin spun in the air holding his life and the lives of many in the balance.
“April 2nd, 1998 M11 is a day remembered across the entire human race as one of the most infamous and pivotal in its history. Early in the morning the skies of the Northern Hemisphere were lit up by a pair of titanic explosions radiating from space just over the Bering Strait. For hours before orbital satellites, observatories, and amateur astronomers all tracked two enormous objects of clearly artificial origin. At the time only a handful in the highest levels of governments worldwide had an inkling of what was happening. The forces of the System Lord Apophis had arrived.
Behind closed doors many moved quickly to react to the threat. The President of the United States hurriedly contacted the leaders of the United Kingdom, the Republic of France, the Russian Federation, and the People’s Republic of China to confirm what many already suspected: an unknown alien species had arrived in Earth orbit. After much intense discussion through ambassadors and direct conversations the other nuclear power leaders were informed of the true nature of the alien visitors and their hostile intentions. While not all of what the United States knew, at the time, was revealed and the content of these discussions remains classified to this day it is accepted that enough regarding the truth of the Goa’uld was revealed to persuade otherwise skeptical politicians to accept the US proposal for action.
Many at the time criticized the US government for this initial disclosure of information to two of America’s greatest geopolitical rivals. Declassified minutes from the National Security Council meetings, released ten years ago, have shed further light into the logic guiding US decision-making and largely put this old debate to rest. Unknown to the general public the plan of action was to launch two naqahdah-enhanced nuclear bombs by rocket at Apophis’ ships in the hopes these weapons would destroy the Goa’uld vessels. American leaders, aware of the number of close nuclear scares during and after the Cold War period that dominated much of the century including an infamous incident three years prior where Russian nuclear forces went to full alert in response to a Norwegian satellite launch, were concerned firing such weapons into orbit without proper advance warning could have triggered a cataclysmic response by other nuclear powers and provoked them into unleashing their nuclear arsenals. The consensus reached is it was better to reveal some of what the Stargate Program had discovered, risking further security breaches, than doom the world to atomic annihilation.
While the nuclear launch, as later declassified records show, failed to stop Apophis’ ships the sabotage mission carried out by the famous SG-1 saved the world from Goa’uld domination and enslavement.(1) In the ensuing destruction an electro-magnetic pulse rippled through space disabling an estimated 45% of all orbital satellites. This disrupted radio and television broadcasts worldwide while the detonation of naqhadah-enhanced nuclear weapons and two Hataks lit up the skies of the Northern Hemisphere. There was no doubt, worldwide, something big had happened. Within an hour of the explosions, fearing panic and worse, the President of the United States addressed an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly. In this historic moment the Terran peoples first learned of intelligent life on other planets.”
From Chapter 1: First Contact, The Origins of the Modern World by Prof. Andrea Masters, published in 61 M12(2)
“President Bill Clinton: My fellow humans, I have come before you today with news I never thought I would be sharing with the world.
Earlier today two alien spacecraft attempted to conquer Earth. Only through the heroic efforts of members of the United States military, who must remain anonymous, was our planet saved.
We learned of these aliens earlier this year when, using highly advanced technology, they staged a raid on an American military facility. Through interrogation of the survivors and study of their equipment we discovered who they are and what they want.
The aliens who attacked our planet call themselves the Goa’uld.
*a brief video clip of a hissing Goa’uld symbiont appears on a screen behind the President*
They are a race of parasites who use human beings as hosts. They take over the body and mind turning the victim into a prisoner inside their own bodies. These parasites use their technology to pose as Gods and enslave entire worlds.
If there is any question of their intentions the events earlier today leave little doubt they plan on making their visions of domination reality.
I call on all the nations of Earth to come together against this new threat. I cannot promise you a quick, or easy, victory. Today is the beginning of a long, just struggle for our freedom as a species from alien domination. United we must stand as divided we will surely fall.”
From the records of the 52nd Session, United Nations General Assembly, April 2nd, 998 M11
“The revelation of alien life led to major reforms in how Stargate Command operated. As was discussed in Chapter 1 the SGC was founded on July 27th, 997 M11 as the Air Force’s 354th Special Operations Group based out of Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. Officially the SGC was designated as a humanitarian support unit fulfilling similar functions to the 353rd Special Operations Group to conceal their true purpose. In these early days the SGC was a very small, highly specialized unit consisting of a handful of SG Teams including the famous SG-1. This first year laid the foundations of the knowledge and traditions that define Stargate Command to this day. In every operation from initial skirmishes with the forces of the System Lord Apophis to the fateful confrontation on April 2nd, 998 M11 the SG Teams met and exceeded all expectations in their heroic efforts during these early days.
In the wake of this earth-shattering announcement major changes regarding the administration of the Stargate Program were unfolding behind closed doors. While the President addressed the world liaisons in Brussels, Stuttgart, and other bases in Europe immediately contacted the commanding officers of the major NATO states. All were given the broad outlines on the Stargate Program kept secret from the general public with a promise of fuller disclosure later that day. An emergency conference was rapidly organized at Cheyenne Mountain consisting of the heads of the various armed forces, intelligence agencies, and governments of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. It was in this meeting, with direct testimony from members of the SGC, the existence and activities of the Stargate Program were revealed to America’s main allies.
Following this presentation the American delegation extended a proposal to their now shocked and somewhat disgruntled allies. With a frank admission this threat was too big for the United States to tackle alone, the American delegation proposed opening up participation in the program to all nations present with full disclosure and sharing of off-world technology and discoveries between the allied nations. In exchange each participating government would provide personnel, funding, and basing for the soon to be international Stargate Command. After their initial skepticism wore off the Allied delegations agreed to present this proposal, in secret, to their governments before delivering any response. After considerable debate the new allies signed on one by one with Japan the last to do so on May 17th.
In the month that followed a series of negotiations established the new framework for Stargate Command laying down the specifics as to how the new Allied command would function. Along with funding support from each party to the new arrangement the Allies opened up the highest levels of their militaries for recruitment into the ranks of the SGC. One major concession demanded of the Allied powers was placing the operations and strategic command under the newly-formed International Oversight Commission. The IOC consisted of representatives from the military, intelligence, and governments of all participants in the SGC. Its mandate was to coordinate, oversee, and disseminate all activities and information obtained by Stargate Command’s operations. The IOC also was tasked with coordinating the defense of Earth in the event of another alien attack.
On paper this made the Stargate Program an international affair but in practice for many years it would remain dominated by the American military thanks to the greater contributions of personnel and resources made by the US government. Two other major concessions to their allies regarded the location of the Stargates themselves. The revelation the United States had not one but two gates, the Giza Gate and the Antarctic Gate recovered in the year, was met with outrage on the part of the allies made worse by the original intent of the US to keep it in storage as a backup. The security of Cheyenne Mountain, in particular its close proximity to major populated areas, was another concern raised by the Allies. The resolution of this impasse was provided by a joint British-Australian proposal to relocate the Giza Gate to a new, more secure location once one was ready while the Antarctic Gate would be used by a new, second Stargate facility in the Australian Outback.
While this discussion carried on the United States Congress immediately tabled all other items for discussion to take up the matter of the new threat from the stars. In these furious debates Senator Kinsey and other Blue Dog Democrats, with support from some liberal Democrats, pushed for establishing a new cabinet-level department for handling such decisions while others in the President’s Democratic Party and the Republicans favored leaving the details of stellar defense in the hands of the military.
Adding further complications to an already intense debate was the quieter, behind closed doors skirmishing between the branches of the US Armed Forces playing out in Congress. Each branch, previously indifferent to the Air Force’s pet project that mostly succeeded up to that point in little gain and much risk, now saw the prospect of massively increased funding as a cause worth fighting over. The intelligence community also got in on the fun with each agency demanding a piece of the action. Regardless of the solution offered all members of Congress agreed that a lot of money needed to be thrown at this problem, resulting in a very big bone for everyone to fight over.
The resulting compromise would be widely duplicated by other governments of the world both Allied nations and rivals like Russia, China, and India. After two months of intense discussions, negotiations, and horse trading Congress formally established the United States Space Forces. The USSF would be responsible for planetary defense, off-world activity, and researching new technologies for protecting the United States and Earth from alien attack. The first major acts of reorganization of the nation’s defense assets included transferring all space-related assets held by the other armed forces to the Space Forces, the transfer of NASA to the USSF as the core of Interstellar Command, and finally the secret re-assignment of the SGC and all personnel to the Space Forces as the nucleus of the new Stargate Command.
The Pentagon, during this intense period of reorganization, concluded with the increased demands on the Stargate Program major changes had to be made. The SG Teams, who had proven their worth in repelling Apophis’ attack, would be retained and expanded to a total of 32 from 12 including new teams consisting of Allied recruits from Allied special forces units. The teams were organized into Stargate Operations Groups of four teams for larger operations.
They would be bolstered with the founding of the Gate Corps. These personnel were recruited from the best of the US and Allied militaries to serve as a specialized, elite light infantry formation similar to the British Paratroopers and the US Army Rangers for larger-scale gate-based operations. Unlike the SG Teams who were used very much as reconnaissance, first contact, special forces, and retrieval-based units the Gate Corps was intended to fight set-piece battles both in defense of SGC facilities and on the attack off-world. Their initial requirements for personnel meant the first members of the Gate Corps would be drawn from already active duty personnel who would be retrained for their new assignments. By the year’s end a full division of these dedicated, elite personnel were ready for action planetside with two additional independent battalions stationed at the Alpha and Beta sites. The exploits of the Gate Corps’ First Brigade would soon join the annals of modern military history alongside the already impressive record of the SG Teams led by the famous SG-1.”
From Chapter 3: Reform and Reinforcement, The History of Stargate Command Volume I: Once More Into the Breach! by Major Kyle Schroeder, SGC, published in 54 M12
Dan Rather: The tide of unrest sweeping the world in the wake of First Contact is beginning to subside. Martial law remains in place in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix where authorities ask everyone to stay in their homes. The nationwide curfew of 10:00PM remains in effect to keep the streets clear for law enforcement and military personnel.
*cuts to footage of burning cars, a tank driving through the streets of Chicago, and soldiers patrolling on the streets*
Satellite launches are at a record high as NASA scrambles to replace all of the equipment destroyed during the attack. NASA officials say they expect for the destroyed satellites to be replaced by December.
Authorities in Denver found the remains of another suicide cult in a small suburban home. Calling themselves the Order of the Shining Halo their manifesto claimed the exploding ships opened a portal to another level of reality forcing them to shed their mortal bodies and ascend to another plane of existence. 21 victims were identified and recovered making it the largest mass suicide since the Montana-based Cult of Seth’s demise earlier this week.
We go now to Rita Braver at the White House for an update on the situation. Rita?
Rita Braver, CBS Chief White House Correspondent: Thanks Dan. The Clinton Administration has released further information corroborating their claims of alien attack. Members of the press were granted exclusive access to the wreckage of one of the alien fighter craft known as a “Death Glider”.
*Pans to camera footage of a wrecked, slightly charred Death Glider next to an F-16 for size comparison, followed by footage of a Death Glider in flight and firing weapons*
The White House’s surprising announcement at the UN last week did not stay the only one. Shortly after President Clinton finished his address Prime Minister Tony Blair released his own corroborating statement claiming the British government had their own inconvertible evidence of the existence of alien life. The greatest surprise on the international front, however, came two days ago when Russian President Boris Yelstin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin came forward with their own evidence of alien life.
CBS Evening News Broadcast, April 9th, 998 M11
“The impact of First Contact on Terra’s cultural development cannot be understated. Many critics have argued human culture, in this period, had entered a state of stagnation and ennui. The sudden shock of First Contact shocked Earth out of its collective complacency. People, confronted with information of world-shattering implications, lashed out in a number of ways. The riots and revolts in the month that followed was followed by a new flowering of expression. Whatever their initial reaction when order was restored the world knew things could never be the same.
The knowledge that humanity was no longer alone in the universe sparked the Golden Age of Science Fiction. In every cultural medium stories of interstellar flight, space operas, and alien life-forms surged ahead. The long-standing franchises experienced renewed interest with Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and Gamma Quadrant all seeing record-setting popularity, the return of BBC’s Doctor Who in 999, and the release of Star Wars: the Phantom Menace in the same year. Across nations and continents themes of good versus evil, cosmic clashes, and a strong sense of a special human destiny were central to the new stories coming out in the wake of First Contact.
This revival came with a much darker side. That First Contact was an attempted war colored the perspectives of many. For all the sense of new possibility there was a profound fear and sense of doubt thanks to First Contact’s hostile nature. People feared the worst was lurking in the darkness of deep space, waiting to leap out and destroy everything they knew and loved. Fear of the alien, the unknown, and the strange became powerful themes in works of the immediate post-Contact period. All of this reflected a deeper uncertainty of these early years of Earth’s entry into the greater galaxy.
Yet for all of this instability First Contact and its upheaval was a powerful moment for humanity. April 2nd, 998 became a date burned in the memory of the Terran peoples. It became a powerful, shared moment for every person on Earth and serves as a common touchstone for many. People who were alive for First Contact often begin conversations by swapping Contact stories of where they were on that day and in the weeks after. For all the trauma Apophis’ assault caused in the immediate term it cleared the way for a new understanding of humanity.”
From Chapter 1: First Contact, The Future is Out There: A Cultural History of the Turn of the Millennium by Prof. Travis Wingate, published in 59 M12
“Amidst the immediate chaos following First Contact the global economy reeled from the effects of Apophis’ invasion attempt. The destruction of communication satellites as a result of the engagement, for reasons unknown at the time, seriously disrupted the flow of information in the world’s financial markets. This unanticipated disruption of communications sparked a panic on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange triggering an economic stampede. Nervous, jumpy traders instinctively pulled back as much as possible to protect assets resulting in a vicious feedback loop of plunging stock prices, further withdrawal of credit from the market, and plummeting indexes as the contagion spread worldwide. The Contact Crash had begun.
By the time President Clinton finished his Contact Address to the United Nations every exchange from London to Tokyo was closing at record-setting lows. Bouts of civil unrest, rioting, and in the cases of the Suharto, Mubarak, and Assad regimes open revolution inspired further hoarding of capital, liquidation of assets, and a string of worldwide bank failures. The Panic of 998 pushed the world’s economy, already unsteady thanks to the Asian Financial Crisis of 997 M11, over the edge into a sharp, painful recession.
For all the storm and fury that initiated the Contact Recession it ended surprisingly swiftly. In December recovery began in the newly-created Eurozone and China with the rest of the world picking up on their momentum in early 999. Proponents of the neo-liberal Washington Consensus argued this was thanks to relaxed barriers for the movement of goods and capital, reduced market regulations, and the free flow of capital. With further time and distance from the event we can get a better understanding of what really caused the recovery.
Some aspects of the neo-liberal argument hold truth but they miss deeper, more crucial structural elements. The Crash itself was caused by an unanticipated disaster inspiring a mass panic in an already highly anxious industry. Stock trading in the late 11th millennium was an incredibly high stress job with millions, sometimes billions, made or lost based on split-second decisions. Substance abuse and stress-related medical conditions were incredibly common. It is for good reason economic historians like Naomi Lassiter have compared the environment to a high-stakes casino. These environmental factors explain not only why the Crash happened but also how the recovery began.
Unlike most economic crises common in late stage capitalism the underlying weaknesses were less prevalent. Many industries, in spite of the brief loss of capital, were not encountering the usual problems posed by falling rates of profit. In some fields, like the growing IT sector, the Crash caused large-scale business failures but these would prove to be a blessing in disguise. Many of the failing businesses in the technology industry were operating on business models built entirely on speculation. The pruning of deadwood was dramatic but did little direct impact to core economic functions. Banking failures, similarly, were high profile but often relatively isolated affairs and virtually unheard of in the developed world. After the initial shocks passed, civil unrest subsided, and capital flowed back into the market.
The recovery was used by free trade proponents as justification for accelerating the growth of free trade zones. In the European Union the pace of replacing old currencies picked up steam with the greatest shock coming in 5 M12 when the British government adopted the euro. The United States, Canada, and Mexico extended invitations to the nations of Central America and the Caribbean to join the recently-established NAFTA seeing largely positive responses from each. China, taking a cue from the US and Europe, entered trade talks with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and North Korea proposing their own East Asian Free Trade Agreement. On March 8th, 999 M11 representatives from every South American government met in Bogota to discuss their own continental trade agreement based on the principles of the European Union. The growing global trend towards strong, regional trade blocs began in the wake of the Contact Recession and would have far-reaching effects on world history.”
From Chapter 1: Contact Crash, Globalization and First Contact by Prof. Dipesh Iyer, published in 48 M12
“Ra’s demise in 994 M11 at the hands of the first Stargate expedition created a major power vacuum amongst the Goa’uld. The Empire’s feudal structure and deliberate division of power by Apep and Ra were effective mechanisms for maintaining control over the unruly System Lords and scheming Underlords. These methods, along with nonexistent succession rules and power transfers handled by war or palace coup, make sense when the main political actors are near-immortal space parasites. Successful System Lords reigned for hundreds, in some cases thousands, of years with Ra’s sixteen millennia reign as Supreme System Lord. This system, over time, developed a Social Darwinist mentality further justifying this chaotic, violent political system.
The Goa’uld practice of presenting themselves, through their parasitic abilities and advanced technology, as Gods seems to have been both a tactic for control and a genuine cultural belief that grew out of this environment. Not only, as military records and off-world surveys show, was this useful for indoctrinating enslaved populations of humans and Jaffa it grew out of a deeper conviction of their right to rule the galaxy. As the Goa’uld came to believe their ability to take control of nearly any form of biological life along with the enhancements implantation provided to the host proved their destiny was to rule other life forms. Over time under Ra’s rule, especially following Pelops’ creation of the Jaffa, this same logic of domination of the host extended to the political foundations of Goa’uld society. Just as the Goa’uld were fit to rule the universe so too was it appropriate that the strongest, most cunning, and most powerful Goa’uld rule the Empire. It is argued this, along with the endemic use of Sarcophagus technology and its known negative impact on psychological stability, explains the notorious Goa’uld arrogance, grandiosity, and cruelty.
There are some human philosophers, likely influenced by Goa’uld rulers, throughout history who have argued for similar systems with the most horrific example in history being the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler. What proponents of such systems, like the Goa’uld, fail to realize is rule through raw power and force has two major weaknesses. The first is the constant requirement of keeping one’s underlings and subjects in a state where they can never challenge the existing system. As a direct result those who are competent and seen as threatening to their overlords often end up exiled, imprisoned, or killed. The importance of image and prestige in such systems further exacerbates the situation leading to what pundits in the late 900s M11 called the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” meaning anyone who stuck too far out from the crowd ran the risk of getting cut down.
The other major flaw in Social Darwinian systems is chronic instability. When there are no peaceful changes of power all politics become inherently violent. Serious dissent is often seen as a direct threat to the ruling elites making change, adaptation, and reform only possible by forcibly seizing power or displays of power sufficient to compel submission. The result means all matters of policy can, quite potentially, be issues of life and death. Poor decisions, reckless wars, and unlucky alliances can mean the death of not just the individual actor but any of their supporters along with those deemed insufficiently loyal. The staying power of institutional memory found in human social structures is simply nonexistent as frequent political purges decimates working knowledge and experience. In such an environment nepotism and mediocrity ran rampant with loyalty more valued than ability.
Ra’s death in such an environment was a massively destabilizing moment. The Goa’uld Empire had seen other rulers before but in each case, Ra included, they rose to power by defeating their predecessors through war or palace intrigue. Furthermore during his long rule the Supreme System Lord succeeded in sufficiently weakening the power of each System Lord and pitting them against one another in petty squabbles, with the rivalry between his brother Apophis and Kronos being one of the more famous examples of this policy, to prevent them from organizing en masse against him. These two factors meant his unexpected death in what to the Goa’uld was assumed to be a freak accident or slave uprising caught the Empire by surprise. None of the remaining twenty System Lords were powerful enough to seize control through main force alone. The mutual suspicions and history of conflict spanning eons meant none would willingly agree to convene a Council of System Lords to settle the matter and prevented any cohesive blocs from rallying to any of the existing claimants. What followed were three years of war between the System Lords in a brutal free for all battle for Ra’s throne and domain.
The beginning of the conflict between Earth and Apophis came in the midst of this turmoil. By 997 M11 the three most powerful System Lords in the galaxy were Apophis, Heru’ur, and Cronos. Each commanded fleets of dozens of Ha’taks, millions of Jaffa warriors, and successfully compelled the obedience of many weaker System Lords through intimidation, force, and guile. The situation had forced a stalemate as none was strong enough to conquer their adversaries or capable of trusting each other enough to combine against a common enemy. They also faced challenges from the handful of independent System Lords like Yu-huang Shang Ti whose forces were strong enough, in the climate of geopolitical stasis, to hold off would-be conquerors.
Apophis’ sudden, unexpected defeat at the hands of the seemingly primitive inhabitants of Earth was a major game-changer in this tense environment. While Apophis’ strike force of two Ha’tak with embarked Jaffa did not represent a major military commitment compared to the great clashes with the System Lords his seemingly easy defeat by Terran forces was a major blow to his prestige. His easy defeat and absence during his return to Chulak from Earth gave his enemies Cronos and Heru’ur the opening they needed for a massed attack. Both System Lords fell on Apophis’ domains like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Adding insult to injury some of Apophis’ more powerful, restive vassals like Ba’al and Moloc used his moment of weakness as the opportunity to break free from their overlord. By the time the Serpent Lord returned to his throne his fleet was in retreat, his armies in disarray, and his domain fraying on all sides.”
From Chapter Two: Cracks in the Goa’uld Empire, A Political History of Our Galaxy by Prof. Li Feng, published in 59 M12
“There are aliens among us, and you may be one of them. The Bible speaks of these aliens in Genesis 1: Having completed the creation of the natural world, God decided to create women and men in God’s image. Whereas everything else in the created world is fashioned within the cosmos, people are created in some liminal space and plopped on the earth to rule over her — alien invaders set on expansion and domination (Genesis 1:26-28).
Aliens believe they are in the world, but not of the world. They long for heaven, dream of rapture, and too often promote martyrdom and homicide as ways of hastening their entry into the extra-planetary paradise they believe is their due. Aliens are alienated from the earth, feel no obligation to nature and exploit her remorselessly.
Aliens frighten me.
I prefer the company of earthlings, organic beings drawn up from the earth to serve creation rather than dominate it. The Bible speaks of these earthlings in Genesis 2: the earth was lifeless and bare for there was as yet no water to moisten the soil and no gardeners to till it. So God caused a mist to rise up from the ground, and took from the freshly made mud and formed an earthling. God breathed into this mixture of water and earth and it became aware (Genesis 2:4-7). Aware of what? Aware of itself as mud, aware of its task as midwife to nature’s creativity, aware of itself as speaker for the sea and the land and all their inhabitants.
Earthlings give me hope.
But my hope is contingent upon their ability to act against the obvious dangers all around us. How are we to know our leaders are true Earthlings? Satan is the master of lies and tries to deceive us by appearing to us in forms we trust. His minions may promise what appears to be salvation deceiving true Earthlings into doing the work of his alien catspaws but we must not give in to his wiles!
It is because I have proof of this collusion between our so-called leaders and the demons seeking to claim humanity’s soul that I have taken up arms to do the Lord’s Work. I can no longer stand by while the alien spawn of Satan suck the good, the life, and hope out of God’s creation. I do not apologize for my actions or expect forgiveness from any Earthly authority. I am doing God’s Work and only He will stand in judgment of me.”
Translated from the original French manifesto published online on February 8th, 999 M11 by Claude Michel also known as the Eiffel Tower Sniper
“In the wake of First Contact a new intellectual revolution swept the world. Academics challenged long-held assumptions in every field from archeology to astrophysics. The demands of securing Earth’s defense against alien invasion led to an enormous flowering of scholarship. Every nation with the spare resources to spend poured what they could into particle physics, computer science, rocketry, and astrophysical research groping for ways off planet and into the stars. Archeology, history, and linguistics enjoyed renewed popularity thanks to generous funding for these programs first by the Allied nations and then by China and Russia in the search for hidden alien artifacts on Earth. In the physical sciences like chemistry and metallurgy recovered Goa’uld and other alien devices were tested in secret facilities like Area 51, Porton Downs, Black Island, and the Kasso Complex and discoveries deemed non-threatening to national security slowly released to the public. Biologists and pharmacologists studied living specimens from other worlds for solutions to problems on Terra.
To better protect these developments all such new discoveries became the patented inventions, trademarks, and property of a number of shell companies owned by Stargate Command. This system, while imperfect and prone to subversion by rogue interests, became a source of revenue for the program reducing the need to depend on black budgets and highly effective for keeping track of what elements of the private sector were using alien technologies. Soon the methods patented by Stargate Command researchers were steadily trickling into the market leading to new, incredible leaps in technological development worldwide. Mobile technology, in particular, would explode forward as shown by the 2001 release of Apple’s iPhone possible thanks in part to reverse-engineered batteries and cheaper, compact superconducting materials developed in secret government labs.
Another key development from the years immediately following First Contact was a seismic shift in the social sciences. With most of the attention given in the popular imagination to the technological transformations of this period a more subtle yet equally critical intellectual change was occurring. The discovery of life on other planets inspired a renewed interest in the works of global systems theorists like Immanuel Wallerstein. Scholars in economics, history, anthropology, and political science were increasingly examining the world in a more global perspective alongside the growth of trade blocs. Another example of this steady shift is seen in the increasingly international, globalized nature of the social justice movements who would emerge as a major force during the early years of the present millennium.“
From Chapter One: A New Intellectual Universe, The Interstellar Revolution by Prof. Eduardo Garza, published in 55 M12
1. Just as in-show the mission SG-1 launched was not approved and against orders. This little detail was wiped out of the historical record following SG-1’s success with credit given to Gen. Hammond and SG-1 for coming up with and successfully executing their plan.
2. The dating system used by “present day” for this TL uses the Holocene Calendar. The dating system is converted from the BC/AD system in common use today by adding 10,000 years to the date.
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