Episode Five - The Enemy Within

[Jaya Bakshi]

2109
Gate Room
Meropis

Jaya's face was one of picture-perfect hilarity as the door to Ops room opened. She was just surprised it had WORKED! She fought an urge to high-five Grover as she peered in at her Co's.

Now what the hell is going? Suddenly, she realized the gravity of the situation, and moved into a firing stance as she responded.

Sorry, sir. Some of the lights are back on, comms in the infirmary are going, and the Helivan faction and Yagami are interfacing with the... she almost said "dorks downstairs", but then changed her vocabulary, With the science team. We've been overrun with strange creatures. That's when she noticed MacManus. Damn, this did NOT look good. She ignored the man, though kept her weapon trained on him, like Captain MIller and NCO Hurley were, and finished relaying her report to the General.

BUT...the jumper bay is open, and...I can't bypass the system...No one can locate Dr's Black, Clark, or Glavish or Maccafferty to help, either...but hey, we're all alive. I can't say that for the Marines, but then that's they're job, isn't it? At this point, she was rambling, and shut up when Captain Miller just nodded once at her. She sighed, and let Grover speak.

Miss Bakshi is correct; Jumper three is being remotely accessed, and we can't stop it. Any ideas, sir?! Ma'am, shall I have Monaghan and her team secure a brig?! It seems...tense in here. Jaya nodded, and waited for an order.

A familiar voice caused her to turn her ear a bit. The Helivan. Wasn't she shot down by rogues or something? Jaya had a feeling that hell was about to break loose.

Tag:Jason Conway, Michael Hurley, @my captain, Blueberry Yagami, @me again, @achillesjones, Blueberry Yagami, Plot Twist, and @macmanus, for giggles and grins, John Callaghan, because reasons.

[Plot Twist]

2115
Jumper Bay > Gate Room
Meropis

Dorane was sweating, he had been running through the labyrinth that was Meropis for some time now, turning this way and that and following the plans downloaded to his life signs detector. He climbed a staircase, ducking and diving under rubble that had likely been caused by the release of the crazed Koan. Eventually, the man arrived at the destination his scanner had been pointing him to. He was impressed, Dorane had never been this far into the city and so relied entirely on faded memories of his time with Lilith and downloaded plans from the ancient database. He opened the door to the Jumper bay and stepped inside.

Dorane had been carrying a silver object with him throughout the base, it was similar in appearance to a naquadah generator only it contained some sort of misty vial at it's core. He was amazed that he'd not yet encountered any guards, but he supposed they were mostly busy with the Koan - just as he'd planned. And he'd carefully picked a route as well.

He approached one of the ancient gateships parked on a bay marked 'Jumper Three' and pushed the button to lower the ramp. Carefully, Dorane set his device down in the centre of the Jumper and began to work on it.
"Fools." He muttered to himself, "An airborne pathogen will set my people straight, if they haven't all been murdered by then. Of course, Doctor Black demonstrates my theory quite well, for the most part they'll turn to beasts themselves. But oh, nothing me and my people can't handle before we take this city." He smiled to himself as whatever he was doing to the device finished, it groaned and began to gently whir. Dorane stood up and moved toward the front of the ship, beginning to work on the controls required to close the Jumper's hatch, open the bay doors and dial the Stargate.
"Looks like I'll need to take a little break while the pathogen works it's course, hmm.. Let's go somewhere nice and warm."

Everyone in the 'gate room looked up as the Jumper Bay opened above them, Dorane looked out through the windscreen at the opening before him, small figures were moving around, it mattered not. He was being hailed urgently by an annoying voice from the control room - Dorane shut it off, he knew Jumper's were able to over-ride control room operations, that's why he'd planned it this way. The man dialed the Stargate. A whoosh signaled the unstable vortex bursting into the 'gate room before settling into a beautiful blue event horizon. With that settled, he returned to the device and began to arm it, leaving an open wormhole to escape through - he'd have to be quick once the device was ready.

[Thomas Hopper]

2120
Gate Room
Meropis

Hopper kept running and running. At one point he lost track of the thing he was following, but quickly found him again. This was going to be one hell of a workout. At least he wasn't fully packed like he was in Afghanistan, high up in the mountains. Or wounded like he was in Iraq. Eventually he lost the Alien just before he reached the Gate Room. The Lieutenant moved towards the gateroom, hoping it'd be there.

Hopper ran into the Gateroom and saw several people there, armed and unarmed. There was also a jumper hovering in there. He figured that's where his target was. He sped up and took a leap. The Lieutenant hit the back of the Jumper, and climbed on top of it before hitting the external button to open the ramp. A few moments later, he dropped onto the now opened ramp and quickly closed it before attacking the Alien again.

The thing defended itself and pushed Thomas into the forward section. Then it went back to its device, leaving Thomas alone. He needed a new plan. He was never going to be able to win in a hand-to-hand fight. He closed the bulkhead and took the controls. The Jumper went through the open gate. The other side was shrouded in ice. After only moments, it was affecting the Jumper

Thomas could not possibly let this thing live, and the Jumper could not last long here. He had to make a decision. There was no other choice. "Meropis, this is Hopper... I've subdued someone, or something, in the rear compartment of this jumper. I am unable to get back to the city. The DHD is shot. You guys have other problems, and I don't want to risk anyone else getting hurt by this one. As such, I'll be flying us into the sun here. Please tell my family I love them, and don't give them some bullnuts story about a training exercise or something. It's been an honour serving with every single one of you... Hopper out."

[Paisley Gregorvich]

2121
Hallway->Gateroom
Meropis

Paisley padded quickly down the hallway. Dead Tau'ri, and dead Koan, littered the halls. She senesed SOMETHING-danger perhaps-ahead. Her operating system organ was working overtime, and a voice-similar to that of Doctor Harrison's, when he was tired-but rougher somehow, more like Dr. Maccafferty's, but not quite-it was swirling around her OS. She was intuiting...SOMETHING. Hardly ever did her instincts fail her, but they were in this moment. She'd left the strange Miss Yagami behind-that was fine, the woman was a hinderance anyway, a weak link, and she couldn't understand why these Tau'ri-as bloodythirsty as they SEEMED as a whole-kept her around anyway. Paisley might've excused her from service if it were Heliv. Paisley was a pretty fair leader, if she did say so herself, but she had little tolerance for those unwilling to help. Logic was fine, in most situations, but not when you were dealing with the unenligtened.

Suddenly, it came into focus. The voice-it was the voice of the renegade pilot who'd attempted to shoot her down. She gripped her phaser harder. She fought the urge to go straight there and seek justice for HERSELF-that wouldn't be fitting for a princess OR a councilwoman. Instead, she said a word of respect for the dead in Helivan, and then pressed forward. She ignored the Tau'ri-this was alien business, something they wouldn't understand. She was tasked with saving HER galaxy, and they with theirs. She pressed into the Gateroom, where a lot of Marines were moving in ranks. They looked...well, rather stupid, and she just shook her head.

She pressed on towards the Gateroom, which was wide open. Not very smart; for a race that considered themselves pretty damn fantastic, leaving the FREAKING door open to full access to your leaders was kind of...elementary. She held her weapon, raising it towards the redheaded man as she approached. Beyond him lay a Stargate-operational. There was one on Heliv, buried deep below the castle. Her father kept a rotation of guards there-chosen especially by him, and Gate duty was an honor, a tribute to the Ancient Parents. She ignored the scene, and instead stood entranced by the being heading THROUGH the Gate. Dorane. He was spoken of in whispers on her planet-he was supposed to be a wives' tale. But she was LOOKING at him. She wanted to SEE him. She followed him past the gate, and to a pod...and he was gone. 

In frustration, she fired at the retreating pod, but to no avail. She doubled-back, now resolved to at least have a word with this "space pirate." She found Major Callaghan, now with a few more Marines, and trained her weapon on MacManus, as well. She raised an eyebrow-she didn't NEED to speak; he'd seen her face on her comms unit until he'd blasted it to pieces, and she'd seen his until she'd gotten sick of him and turned it off. She glanced at the Tau'ri. Check mate. 

Tag:John Callaghan, Ryan Alexander, Quinn Monaghan, Blueberry Yagami, @achillesjones, Jason Conway, Tom Chambers, Thomas Hopper, @macmanus, Plot Twist, @the marines, the Koan, Dorane, and ALL THE PEOPLE. 

[Plot Twist]

2120
Gateroom
Meropis

Dorane lowered the ship into the gate room ignoring the shouts, thuds and bangs from outside. He continued to wire up his device and prime the bomb component. There was a shout from outside the small green pod,
"STOP HIM! He's going to blow this place apart!" It sounded like it came from their leader, the one they called 'General Conway'. Dorane heard an almighty bang atop the Jumper and paused in his work, looking up slowly a frown spread across his brow. What happened next took only a matter of seconds in reality but seemed like forever. The hatch began to open, one of the expedition members fell into the ship and grabbed Dorane's shoulders, he pushed the man away and leaped for the button to close it before any more came through. The man grabbed at Dorane's chest and pinned him against the wall, Dorane responded in kind and pushed Hopper against the opposite wall. He smiled,
"The serum I took should be working just fine by now." With a strength that didn't fit Dorane's wirey build, he threw Hopper up the Jumper, the man's body slammed into the windscreen before he crumpled on the cockpit floor. Dorane picked up one of the kit boxes from under the benches and launched it at Hopper, who managed to dodge it at the last second, the box impacted with the central console causing sparks to fly. The ancient alien had an evil look on his face, he began to stalk toward the intruder who quickly hit the control button to close the bulkhead door. Dorane stopped short and sighed, cricking his neck he quickly bent back down to the device, pushing the final button to active it. The device began whining urgently, building in pitch as it did so. Seconds later, Dorane grasped the framework as the Jumper jolted forward and through the gate, the darn human was piloting it!


2121
K4R-416

The Jumper shot through the wormhole on the other side and out into the blizzard. Everything was white, the ground, the air, the sky... Dorane noticed the immediate severe drop in temperature, this wasn't the planet he'd dialed, the humans back on Meropis must have over-ridden his address and sent them to an ice planet. Dorane threw himself at the bulkhead door, he attempted to prize it open, he kicked it, he tried everything. The serum wouldn't have worked that quickly, it was no use, he wasn't strong enough yet. He heard the man speak through the solid barrier,
"Meropis, this is Hopper... I've subdued someone, or something, in the rear compartment of this jumper. I am unable to get back to the city. The DHD is shot. You guys have other problems, and I don't want to risk anyone else getting hurt by this one. As such, I'll be flying us into the sun here. Please tell my family I love them, and don't give them some bullnuts story about a training exercise or something. It's been an honour serving with every single one of you... Hopper out."

Dorane began to laugh,
"Very well human. You've halted human evolution by your very self." Turning to look at the bomb that was reaching an audible crescendo by now he continued, "You are quite the hero but, there are many things far worse than an honorable death." Leaning casually against the bulkhead door, feeling the ice cold metal against his arm, he laughed again, "In a few short moments, you and I will become the next stage of evolution. You will become a beast greater than that of your wildest dreams, and together we will-"
He paused, the Jumper was tilting downward and picking up speed, Dorane scrambled for a device in his clothing, a look of wild panic on his face.
"What are you doing!? NO!!"

The Jumper collided with a great wall of ice, there was an almighty explosion.
Hopper had stopped him. Hopper had won.

[Deleted]

2021
Control Room Area
Meropis

Achilles had enough, it was time to get out of here.

"To hell with this."

Achilles wedges himself in between the rubble, and then activated his Goa'uld energy shield. The shiled activated, skiwed yellow, and pushed the rocks aside. Afterwards Achilles walked forwards and the rubble crashed in behind him. After seeing McMannus in the control room with the General, he raised his sidearm and spoke.

"Andrew McMannus you are under arrest for violatino of the Uniform Code Of Military Justice Sub-Chapter 10, Articles 81, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, and 92. Surrender, or you will be fired upon."

{{TAG: Jason Conway,Michael Hurley, Blueberry Yagami, Plot Twist}}

[Capt. Kelly Miller]

2021
Control Room Area
Meropis

You could say that having a bunch of guns trained in her general direction made the Captian a little bit uneasy. She just hoped that no one missed! She watched as Hopper took the Alien being down-a pod, aimed for the atmosphere. She hated that-when her people played the hero. It should be the...well. The Captian that went down with the ship, so to speak. But she couldn't stop it now.

"Andrew McMannus you are under arrest for violatino of the Uniform Code Of Military Justice Sub-Chapter 10, Articles 81, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, and 92. Surrender, or you will be fired upon She couldn't help it-she added a few more.

As well as article 332. You can't shoot him if you intend to hold him, Captain, and you know that. As she spoke, she holstered her weapon and fished around for restraints. She had some-JAG had started issuing them to combat liasions since the presence of MPs and/or NCIS was sometimes debatable. She moved forward, speaking to MacManus as she did.

It's easier to do this my way, sir. I am Captain Kelly Miller, JAG corps. The Marines and Captain Jones will escort you to a holding cell.... She looked at Achilles, and Jason, her expression indicating that one or the other needed to hurry the hell up. She was able to restrain the man-calm and collected was always the best course of action. She indicated that Callaghan could take him if he wanted.

I'll be around later to discuss your legal rights. Get him out of here.

Tag:Jason Conway, Michael Hurley, @achillesjones, Blueberry Yagami, @me. Sorry I took this far, this thread needed to move. LMK if I need to edit it.

[Andrew McManus]

2121
'Gate Room
Meropis

Things had taken a turn for the worse, then for the better for old McManus. He now found himself armed and, along with Major Callaghan, on his way across the Stargate room to apprehended Captain Jones. The General had been reluctant but clearly wanted to hear what McManus had to say regarding this 'secret' intelligence. He'd put a lot of trust into Callaghan's decision on this one. Andrew stopped in his tracks, however as he spotted Paisley entering the room. For a moment time seemed to freeze, he and Paisley stared at each other in recognition. He knew the game was up, she was the damsel in distress aboard the star ship just last week. When Andrew and his newly assembled free slaves from Eros had escaped, they'd stolen a small Etruscan cargo ship and by chance had come across Paisley exiting a strange looking wormhole. Well, her ship looked a lot nicer than theirs! He'd tried to take it but she'd fought them off, at cost it seemed. McManus was forced to ditch the cargo ship on a nearby planet where fate handed him another bone in the form of SM-5. Unfortunately for the former Sergeant, all his plans were coming around to bite him in the you-know-what. He lowered his gun as she raised hers.

Then came the distraction. Dorane had stolen a Jumper and it lowered into the 'Gate Room. There was talk of a bomb going city-wide, spreading some sort of contagion. McManus used the distraction to slip his gun into the waist line of his pants and shuffle behind Callaghan, positioning the Major between Paisley and himself. He was well aware that the alien girl had not taken her eyes off him, or even blinked for that matter. The next sequence of events saw Hopper valiantly attack the Jumper and somehow make it inside, he turned to Callaghan, combat mode switching on,
"What shall we do Major?" he said, a smile crossing his face. Before John had the chance to answer, the Jumper shot through the open wormhole, taking the bomb with it.

Andrew jogged a few steps toward it before it disappeared entirely. The entire room breathed a sigh of relief. It was then that Captain Achilles Jones had finally managed to free himself from being trapped in the conference room.
"Andrew McManus you are under arrest for violation of the Uniform Code Of Military Justice Sub-Chapter 10, Articles 81, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, and 92. Surrender, or you will be fired upon."
The hulk of a man's voice boomed across the open space.
Andrew felt very alone. He stood silhouetted against the light from the open Stargate and observed the space around him. The staff in the control room were frantically trying to hail the missing Jumper, Paisley still had her weapon trained on him but her gaze had turned to Achilles, who was pointing his own weapon at McManus. The General and his co-horts had began to walk toward him,
"It's easier to do this my way, sir. I am Captain Kelly Miller, JAG corps. The Marines and Captain Jones will escort you to a holding cell...
" Kelly Miller said, restraints at hand. He looked over at Callaghan who had a pleading a look on his face, urging McManus to come quietly. McManus took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Behind the eyelids of the Scotsman were dead bodies. Captain Jacob Oliver. Aira Kozumi. Francis Owens. His Wife. His Two Children. An Etruscan God laughing at him. He opened his eyes. McManus turned and made a dive through the wormhole, shots fired behind him, he didn't care anymore.


2123
K4R-416

He hit the icey steps that the Stargate was mounted on and rolled painfully down them to land near the DHD. Everything was white. There were no trees, no buildings, no people - just ice and snow as far as he could see. Andrew stood up as the 'gate shut off and gazed into the distance. He thought he could make out a pillar of black smoke but the blizzard obscured it. He was freezing to death already, so much so that he found it hard to breath. McManus stumbled around to the DHD and dialed one of the few addresses he remembered from his time in Etruscan captivity. The Stargate opened with a welcome whoosh and settled into an event horizon, an opportunity. The man paced quickly up through the steps, clutching his arms to his chest with his teeth chattering and vanished into the wormhole.

[Jason Conway]

2125
'Gate Room
Meropis

And just like that, it was over. The Stargate shut off and Dorane, McManus and Hopper were all gone. Silence fell on the gate room, expedition members were scattered around, rubble had fallen in various places and weapons were still raised.
"Lower your weapons!" The General stepped forward and ordered, "All of you, lower your weapons... It's over." He dusted himself off and straightened out his uniform. He glanced over at Captain Jones, and then over to Major Callaghan. Things were still tense, McManus had made some wild accusations.
"Callaghan, stand down. Miller, send a transmission to Earth, see to it that Agents Hart and Olwin are tasked to follow up on this, we'll talk later." He turned to the Captain who looked barely scratched considering the recent Koan attack,
"Jones, you alright?" He strode over to the base executive officer, "We'll get him back. I'll have Callaghan's team commissioned early. SM-2 will be tasked to hunt him down and bring back Sergeant McManus, alive, he'll stand trial for his actions. Jones, can you see to the base clean up? We've got bodies all over the place, Koan and Human." He grimaced, knowing he'd have to write yet more letters home to families, "I don't know how much more of this loss we can take."

And so the clean up began. Dorane was dead. Hopper was dead. McManus was AWOL once again, his crew all dead. The Koan had fled the city and normality was making a come-back. The General was going to need a strong whisky tonight.

[Capt. Kelly Miller]

2127
'Gate Room
Meropis

What the hell just happened?! Kelly blinked once, and fired, uselessly, at the Gate. She sighed, and then turned towards the noise.

"Callaghan, stand down. Miller, send a transmission to Earth, see to it that Agents Hart and Olwin are tasked to follow up on this, we'll talk later...

Aye, sir. She nodded, and turned, holstering her weapon, and muttering as she left. She headed for the Comms room. The General was right-bodies. Koan, human...maybe otherwise. They were going to need a headcount; she'd arrange THAT, too.

She headed for the Control room, with Jaya. A few moments later, she was typing a transmission to Command. Then, she picked up the radio and issued an order.

All Meropis Personnel, this is Captain Kelly Miller. Please report to your team leaders ASAP. Team leaders will have a headcount to the Command staff by 0100. If you are injured, shelter in place. Otherwise, report to the Cafeteria immediately except all Essential Night crew.... She wanted to TALK to the people.

Tag:Jason Conway, John Callaghan, @achillesjones, @everyone.

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[Deleted]

2125
Gate Room
Meropis

The man fled through the gate, and then the general spoke. "Lower your weapons... All of you, lower your weapons... It's over... Jones, you alright... We'll get him back. I'll have Callaghan's team commissioned early. SM-2 will be tasked to hunt him down and bring back Sergeant McManus, alive, he'll stand trial for his actions. Jones, can you see to the base clean up? We've got bodies all over the place, Koan and Human.... I don't know how much more of this loss we can take."[/b]

Achilles lowered his weapon and holstered it. "Yes sir. I'm fine physically. I'm highly angry however, and I'm pretty confident that we should hit the traitor and his group ahrd and fast. The sooner we hit back, the less prepared they will be and the more efficient it would be to capture them alive with minimal losses."

Achilles calmed down a little bit and then spoke some more. "I will make sure maintenance and the janitorial staff get this mess cleaned up."

[John Callaghan]

2130
Gate Room
Meropis

"If you want to send Team Two after him, I suggest you find a new CO for this team. Because I am not going to hunt my friend." John said. He took the magazine out of his rifle and dropped it. Then he pulled back the bolt and the round in the chamber flew out. With a high ping, it hit the ground a few moments later.

Then he proceeded to the exit. He figured he had some packing to do because he effectively just resigned from the expedition. Oh well. Maybe he could return to the Infantry. Or Force Recon. At the very least he'd have time with his kid. He was bound to have accrued a few weeks of leave, so he'd probably go to Britain for most of it.

[Paisley Gregorvich]

2132
Gate Room
Meropis

Paisley didn't wait for the Tau'ri to respond. She just fired her phaser, and pieces of matter exploded. She'd missed. Dammit. She followed the man towards the Gate; her only mission, in her mind, was to get answers. She didn't necessarily want him dead, just wanted to know WHY, and if he went through that Gate thing, Paisley knew it'd be close to NEVER for her to have those answers. She let out one more shot, and then sighed when the Commanding Male spoke.

Lower your weapons!...All of you, lower your weapons... It's over. Paisley sighed. It WAS over. And unfortunately for HER, she was several hundred nautical miles from home, with no authority in this No-Man's Land these "humans" called Meropis. And she was a little upset. It was outside of her general nature-Paisley liked peace, and hated the idea of war. BUT she was also given a strong sense of justice, and she wanted that. She heard the voice of the one called Callaghan.

If you want to send Team Two after him, I suggest you find a new CO for this team. Because I am not going to hunt my friend.. Paisley gazed at the man, and then to the General. Her operating system organ fired, and she opened her mouth, mimicking Callaghan's speech patterns, and accent.

How can you be friends with a being like THAT? I will go after him; the medicine man says I am all right. I know these skies. Her voice was still mechanical and robotic, but she meant the words. She wouldn't relish hunting the man, but she was desperate to prove herself.

Tag:John Callaghan, Jason Conway, @whomever else.