Fought in the summer of 2008, the Battle of Asuras was the climactic engagement of the
Tau’ri-Asuran war, and represents not only the largest, but one of the most important
battles ever fought by the forces of the Tau’ri.
In the weeks leading up to the battle, the Asuran Replicators had been placed firmly
on the defensive by the Earth Warships Daedalus and Apollo, whose newly-installed Asgard beam
weapons were proving to be brutally effective against Asuran warships.
After losing 7 vessels across a number of Tau’ri ambushes, the Asuran leadership eventually
decided to change tactics, and withdraw their remaining 31 Aurora-Class Battleships to their
home system, where they could work in conjunction with surface weapon emplacements to defeat
any Tau’ri attack.
Faced with the impregnable defences of the Asuras System, the Tau’ri were forced to
look to other powers to help assemble a larger fleet.
The Asurans had been inflicting serious damage on the Wraith during the war, specifically
targeting neutral human settlements near Wraith Space, in order to rob the vampiric race of
their food supply.
Faced with species-wide starvation, the Wraith elected to temporarily cease hostilities with
the Tau’ri, and commit 7 Hive Ships to the growing join task force.
The fleet was bolstered further still when the Travelers, who had only recently opened
diplomatic relations with the Tau’ri, chose to deploy a detachment of six vessels to assist
the fleet, as well as a commandeered Aurora Class Battleship.
The Battle Plan cantered around deploying a Trojan horse replicator known as FRAN to
the surface of Asuras, whereupon a virus would be activated that would begin to merge all
of the replicator cells on the planet into a single mass, destroying them in the process.
It would take some time for this effect to reach the Asuran warships in orbit, and as
a result, the allied fleet would be forced to hold its ground after deploying the virus
for as long as possible, until the merging effect could run its course.
The joint armada entered the system at close range with weapons bared, and the Traveller
fleet was able to bring down an Asuran warship and cripple a second in the opening moments,
another replicator vessel fell victim to a railgun broadside from the USAF Apollo, who’s
departure from hyperspace at such close range had caught the Asuran vessel completely off
guard.
Having cleared their entry point, the Apollo now delivered FRAN to the planet’s surface
via transporter, as well as deploying a team of marines led by Ronon Dex to another part
of Asuras, where they would protect Doctor Rodney McKay as he sabotaged the planet’s
supply of Zero Point Modules.
Moving deeper into the Asuran gravity well, the Daedalus and Apollo deployed their wings
of F-302’s, alongside a vast number of Wraith Darts launched from the seven Hive Ships.
Escorted by the Wraith fighters, the 302’s were able to knock out another Asuran Battleship
using Naquadah-tipped missiles, and their distraction provided a large enough opening
for the USAF Daedalus to score another yet another kill, using her Asgard beam weapons.
Having moved into position, FRAN was activated, and the Replicator merging process began to
take effect, but casualties among the allied fleet had started to mount, with a both a
Wraith Hive Ship and a Traveller vessel falling victim to Asuran pulse lasers, as well as
serious losses among the Wraith fighter wings, and heavy damage to the USAF Apollo.
As the battle continued to rage, the Traveller’s commandeered battleship was able to tear a
hostile craft in half, inspiring the closest Asuran vessel to attempt a hyperspace ram,
in a desperate bid to remove the captured ship from the fight.
Thankfully Tau’ri Colonel John Sheppard was aboard the battleship to operate its drone
launchers, and he was able to launch a lethal salvo at the enemy vessel before it could
engage it’s Hyperdrive.
Though the allied fleet had performed exceptionally, the sheer size of the Asuran fleet was beginning
to overpower them.
Their fighter losses had become extreme, and the damage to the USAF Apollo had mounted
to the point of critical danger.
With their shields about to fail, and their systems weakened by bleedthrough damage, Colonel
Abraham Ellis considered pulling his ship away from the front line, but his concerns
were lifted when the effects of the replicator virus finally spread to the enemy fleet.
In short order the remaining Aurora Class Battleships were left dead in space, but the
resulting mass of replicator cells had managed to survive destruction by the FRAN Virus,
faced with no alternative, Doctor McKay used his position in the ZPM room to remotely increase
the density of the mass to that of a neutron star, beginning a process that would shortly
destroy the entire planet.
With Asuras becoming critically unstable, the Apollo recovered her marines and Doctor
McKay via transporter, and the allied fleet rapidly withdrew into hyperspace as the planet
exploded.
The Battle of Asuras was a decisive victory for the Tau’ri and removed a serious threat
to all the major powers of the Pegasus Galaxy.
The Wraith ships that fought in the battle refused to travel to the fleet rendezvous
point, immediately returning to a state of war with the other nations now that their
common enemy had been defeated.
The same was not true for the Travellers however, whose assistance and sacrifice in the battle
led to the establishment of a fully-fledged alliance with the Tau’ri, as well as a technology
sharing program that would prove highly beneficial to both powers.