Episode Four - "The Cult of Lillith"

[Jason Conway]

Stargate: Meropis Episode Four - "The Cult of Lillith"
Ft. Plot Twist as... Doctor Daniel Jackson

A mysterious lab, a bounty hunter and an alien fugitive set things in motion on the planet surface outside the ancient city of Meropis. While on the planet of Eros, SM-2 embark on a mission where everything is at stake. Meanwhile back on Earth, an ancient cult and an old enemy prepare to unleash their deadly plot against humankind.

For post-episode three updates and awards click here

Summary

Having successfully located and established a base of operations within Meropis, the team have already made enemies. With the help of Atlantis in the eleventh hour, the enemy "Etruscans" were defeated... for now. With the Sun Tzu back in orbit, work can begin on repairing the ancient city and discovering it's secrets for the defense of Earth. Meanwhile, following not one but two encounters with a hostile alien race, Brigadier General Jason Conway is recalled to Earth for a joint IOA and SGC review to explain the expedition's actions and, it seems, justify their existence. Following a large personnel change, Pandora Banks is replaced by Dr. Mikaere Glavish as Civilian Leader at the request of James Coolidge (IOA) and the exploration teams have been assigned. With action on three separate fronts all leading to the same conclusion, and discoveries made about an ancient named Lillith... The members of the Meropis Expedition are in a race against time battling across two galaxies to stop a threat to the human race.



SM-1 Mission: Earth - Posting Group One
Posting Group One will consist of the newly commissioned SM-1 Off World Exploration Team; Major Chicago Eastlyn, Lieutenant Dominic Evans, Jaffa Liaison Ahrima, Historian Zachary Acker and Maggie Lefebvre. The team will be joined on this occasion by Doctor Hamish Flanagan, General Jason Conway (briefly) and will guest star Doctor Daniel Jackson.

Following the events of Episode Three, it is confirmed that Atlantis is still on it's way back to New Lantea in the Pegasus Galaxy using it's hyper drives and as such, unable to establish a wormhole back to Earth. Stargate Command cannot afford to wait and has called in SM-1 from Meropis on an urgent matter. The team, joined by Chief Medical Officer Hamish Flanagan are rushed to the briefing room. What they are shown shocks them and sends them on mission that will take them across Earth in search of the truth. As an ancient cult and an old enemy prepare to unleash their deadly plot against humankind, Dr. Daniel Jackson's survival depends on the team's questioning of everything believed about the human race…

THREAD LOCATED HERE



SM-2 Mission: K3X-779, Eros - Posting Group Two
Posting Group Two will consist of the newly commissioned SM-2 Military Combat Team; Bvt. Major John Callaghan, Captain Jacob Oliver, Sgt. Andrew McManus, First Sgt. Aira Koizumi and Corporal Ethan Francis Owens. On this occasion they will be joined by Prince Oberon Dassos, who is a strategic ally rescued from the Etruscan Vessel.

Thankful for his rescue from the Etruscan ship, Oberon tells the Meropis Expedition of his home world of Eros and that his family are currently being kept as slaves by an opposing faction. In return for the promise of assistance in freeing them, Oberon reveals the location of an ancient device gifted by the elder named Lillith, a zero point module. General Conway gives the go ahead for a covert strike mission where everything is on the line. With Meropis currently using the Sun Tzu's ZPM to power the shields and dial Earth, there is only one line of defense should there be another attack. But first... SM-2 must honor their promise.

THREAD LOCATED HERE



Meropis Personnel - Posting Group Three
Posting Group Three will consist of the following base personnel; Captain Achilles Jones/Arson, Michael Cassidy, Civilian Leader Dr. Mikaere Glavish, Dr. Michael Black, Pvt. Ellenor Clark, Jaffa Sakanoue Yoko, Technical Analyst Blueberry Yagami, Technical Analyst Fiona McCafferty and 1st. Lt. Torsten Ackermann. These personnel will also meet Aear Charter and potentially the creation named Almeda. In addition, any new members who join mid-episode will be assigned to this posting group.

There was no denying that Meropis took a beating by the Etruscan attackers, with one third of the city in ruin or dis-repair the expedition members were busy at work trying to create a safe home in this strange new galaxy. Meanwhile, keen to keep personnel near the base at this time, General Conway approves a mission to investigate what appears on the system to be an abandoned lab on the other side of the continent. This lab had previously been emitting a mysterious energy signature on the team's arrival in Episode One. Captain Jones, the base Executive Officer, leads a team to investigate the lab. As an alien fugitive calls for help, secrets are revealed about a mischievous ancient and the team certainly aren't expecting the situation that they find themselves in...

THREAD LOCATED HERE



The Sun Tzu - Posting Group Four
Posting Group Four will consist of the following Sun Tzu crew plus two Civilian Contractors; Colonel Paul Riley, Major Shawn Booth, Lt. Com. Dylan Hawkins, Sqd. Ldr. Jonathan Fraser, Civilian Contractor Clarence J. Smith, and Civilian Engineer Tony Hansford. 

The Sun Tzu has returned to provide support to Meropis in a permanent capacity following the Etruscan attack, but also to assist with the exploration of the Triangulum Galaxy. An energy signature is detected in a neighboring star system and the ship is sent to investigate. There they find a seemingly abandoned vessel from an advanced alien race, it looks perfectly intact but the Sun Tzu scanners show the lights are on and nobody is home, does this ship belong to anyone?

THREAD LOCATED HERE

[Jason Conway]

In addition to the main episode, we have four out-of-mission stories active currently.

General Conway's Office is a 1 in, 1 out "review" with the General that takes place between Episodes 4 and 5, expect comedy to ensue...
stargatemeropis.proboards.com/thread/1107/general-conways-office

[closed] The Engineering Club is a hive of scientist based activity within an old ancient lab, taking place post-Episode 4, as the Meropis science team get to grips with their new facilities.
stargatemeropis.proboards.com/thread/1050/engineering-club-old-ancient-lab

[closed] Wrong Turn at Eris is a mini "webisode" that takes place between Episode 4 and Episode 5 and introduces a rogue Princess, a faulty space-ship and... You! Open to all to join in, introducing a new character ahead of the next Episode.
stargatemeropis.proboards.com/thread/1119/wrong-turn-eris-open

Analyze This is another 1 in, 1 out thread where characters can have a sit-down psych-eval with Doctor Roger Harrison, jump in when there's a space and have some fun!
stargatemeropis.proboards.com/thread/1128/analyze-open-all

Cafeteria is an open-to-all casual hangout thread, come and meet up with some characters you might not usually encounter!
stargatemeropis.proboards.com/thread/1164/cafeteria-open-all-episodes-4

[Jason Conway]

Episode Update

On Meropis - The planet-side expedition led by Captain Jones had landed at the Jumper L-Z and seemed to be struggling with a few differences of opinion between the military and the scientific personnel, not for the first time either. This led the group to split up in to two teams, taking alternative routes toward the ancient lab. Team Baker, consisting of mostly Scientific members, stumbled across some crude traps in the forest as well as mysterious purple blood that appeared to be fresh. Team Able, consisting of mostly military, were surprised by the sudden appearance of an alien humanoid. A brief firefight took place resulting in the death of a marine and the alien fleeing from the team. With both teams in hot pursuit and closing in on the lab things look set to get very interesting indeed, as an ancient being within the lab awakens...

On The Sun Tzu - Following the appearance of a mysterious alien vessel in a nearby star system, the Sun Tzu was sent to investigate. On arrival they discovered that the Sun Tzu's sensors had difficulty penetrating the strange ship's hull. A small away team was dispatched in a flight of F-302s and managed to land in the ship's docking bay. The team then spread out to try and find the light switch! Things took a turn for the worse as horrific alien creatures began to appear and attack the team, spreading the members out thinly around the ship as they ran for cover. Meanwhile, time is of the essence as something is powering up within the ship's core, the ship's computer begins to release a series of bio-warfare counter measures and an out of dimension human fights his way through the corridors...

On KRX-779, Eros - SM-2 had accompanied Prince Oberon to his home world of Eros after rescuing him last episode from the Etruscan cruiser under the proviso of locating a ZPM held by rebels in a holy shrine. The team left their XO to guard the Stargate and proceeded on foot to the Erosian Palace. On arrival they were surprised to meet a hostile reaction from the natives, Oberon went on ahead, leaving the team to choose only two members to enter the palace as per the native's demands. Sergeant Andrew McManus and Major John Callaghan entered the building, leaving the remaining two members to guard their exit. Inside, they were horrified to find Oberon at spear point and an Etruscan God, flanked by her warriors, sat atop the Erosian throne. The two men were disarmed and taken to a prison cell with Oberon. It was clear that they were now alone and needed to fight... For their lives...

On Earth - SM-1 had accompanied General Conway to an emergency briefing as soon as they arrived back at Stargate Command. They met with Dr. Daniel Jackson, The IOA's James Coolidge and General Hank Landry to discuss and emerging trend of brutal cult killings, with Atlantis having fled the moon for the Pegasus Galaxy, SM-1 was the next best qualified team to deal with the new threat. A spine-tingling video the team were shown revealed what appeared to be a Wraith attack... On Earth. After exchanging several theories, Dr. Jackson revealed that he believes the ancient Lillith could have been responsible for experimentation on Earth many thousands of years ago before or after she fled to Meropis from the Alteran High Council. He believes that this genetic manipulation is only now coming to light but nobody knows why. Worst of all, the latest victims all seemed to be connected to the SGC. In search of more answers, Jackson asked SM-1 to accompany him to Baghdad, Iraq. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire...

[Jason Conway]

Episode Ending

On Meropis - The two teams investigating the ancient lab converged on their destination with Team Baker entering the lab first after Fiona Maccafferty discovered she possessed the ancient gene. Within the lab, the team were surprised to find a sleeping cat no less! Team Able made their way in through the alternative entrance, which they were surprised to find had caved in (as a result of an earlier battle between two aliens now hidden within the lab). Prototype Almeda, the non-replicator emerged from her stasis chamber much to the general confusion of the team. Shortly after, the assassin who had previously attacked Captain Jones and his team emerged from the rubble blocking the corridor joining the two sides of the lab. Team Able had filtered through via a matter transporter and a battle began between a highly-charged alien assassin lady (previously buried) and the occupants of the lab. It took the combined efforts of Almeda using an E.M.P field, the firepower of Team Able and the cat-like creature to bring her down. Said cat-creature revealed itself to be Aear Charter, a shape-shifting Meowtian from the planet Ueda who had somehow landed on Meropis whilst on the run. With their two new friends and a ton of data to sift through, the expedition decided to call it a very strange day and head back to Meropis. Later that day, Doctors Mikeare Glavish and Michael Black began trawling through the data while the others examined Almeda and Aear. This was where they made the startling discovery from the lab's data, the ancient Lillith was responsible for creating the Etruscans.

On the Sun Tzu - Before the team could truly discover the secrets of the enormous ancient vessel, they were forced to flee. The ship began releasing hordes of creatures and the most practical decision soon become clear, retreat. Major Booth led a hasty escape via the F-302s while it was hit and miss for Major Hawkins who had been split off deeper into the ship. He was forced to locate the bridge and sabotage the systems, bringing down the shields just before he was attacked and rendered unconscious by a hulking beast. Commander Riley had him beamed over just as the Sun Tzu detected some very unique readings. The mysterious ship vanished in a flash of light, the readings revealed it had been fitted with an overloading alternate reality drive. Clearly, whatever was on board was too dangerous to sit around too long in any one reality and had been set on a continuous jumping cycling. Just when the crew thought the adventure was over, they were contacted by an unknown vessel that had been hiding seemingly the other side of the larger ship. It was a Vanir Asgard named Njord who asked the Sun Tzu for their help on an undisclosed mission. He gave them co-ordinates and a 48 hour deadline, leaving the crew to decide whether or not to assist.

KRX-779 SM-2 - Callaghan, McManus and Oberon were able to stage a break-out from their Etruscan prison cell with thanks to a small knife concealed in Callaghan's boot. Armed with captured alien weaponry, they followed Oberon's lead to the ZPM room and extracted their prize. This triggered a chain reaction as the building began to shake and crumble in places. The trio quickly made their escape but not without seeing the deceased bodies of their former SM-2 team members on the way out. After failing to make a scheduled check-in, General Conway had sent SM-3 through to secure the gate. There was evidence of a firefight and former SM-2 XO Captain Oliver lay in critical condition needing to be taken to Earth and placed on life support immediately. Callaghan made his escape to Meropis but was surprised to see the gate shut off behind him, leaving the other two behind. Back on the planet, McManus shot Oberon dead. He then turned in time to see Hinthial's city-ship rise from the ruins of the palace and take off to enter orbit. Conway later reported only destruction remained on the planet, McManus having once again gone AWOL.

On Earth - SM-1 and Daniel Jackson found themselves in Iraq at the National Museum in search of more information about the Wraith Hybrid Cult of Lillith before the ritualistic murders numbered too many. Exchanging further theories with the team, Dr. Jackson revealed that he suspects the Cult are searching for a Stargate address ahead of something historically known as 'the awakening'. After consulting an old friend, Jackson found out that the scrolls he was looking for had been moved to a secure vault elsewhere in the country. He revealed that these scrolls might hold the key to stopping the Cult in it's tracks. Aware that they were on the clock, the team set out once again on what was fast becoming an ancient wild goose chase. However, they didn't get far. An I.E.D in front of the museum preceded a surprise attack by mysterious figures in black. Jackson and the team were captured, leaving only Ahrima, Captain Evans and Doctor Banks left in the aftermath. To be continued in Episode Five.