Episode Seven - Posting Group Uno

[Jason Conway]

0955
General's Office
Meropis
Triangulum Galaxy

It was odd looking out of the window in January and seeing glorious sunshine, birds floating on the thermals and insects fluttering in the breeze. Evidently the seasons on Meropis were a little different to those back home. The General had recently returned to his desk to approve the mission reports from a round of standard off-world recon. Yet more uninhabited planets with Stargate's on, they were striking out in the dark lately. It could have been worse though, as the events just before Christmas had proven. His thoughts drifted back to the storm that almost wiped the base off the face of the planet, and the expletives that could be used to describe how SM-2's mission had gone down. Still, at least SM-1 had discovered information about this "Ark" ship thing, he'd granted a mission to that almost immediately, hoping they'd hit the jackpot.

As he leafed through the documents on his desk, the General noted a little sealed envelope had been nestled carefully in between two files. He frowned and pulled it out, revealing a black wax seal on the rear. It was odd, the envelope felt out of place yet it had his name on it, hand written neatly in ink. He carefully prized it open and pulled out a hand written note. It read,

"Jason Conway. Your time has come. Today, even as you read this letter, an assassin has been dispatched to terminate you. Meropis will fall. The Lucian Alliance will rise. There is nothing you can do to prevent this. We have won. Goodbye, General Conway."

He held the letter still, his hands unwavering. He read it again. Twice. The letter wasn't there when he'd clocked in at zero seven thirty hours, it had been placed there since when he'd left the room. When did he last go to the bathroom? So, look at the facts, he thought to himself, calming a waving of panic beneath the surface. Somebody has placed this here today, there have been no outbound wormholes, that means they are still on base. He gulped down a bout of anxiety and kept thinking, so there WAS a spy after all, a Lucian Alliance one to be exact. I need to lock down the base, right now. He'd made his decision and placed the letter on top of his paperwork.

Before he could take a step toward the door, a figure had appeared in the opening. This figure entered the room, side arm raised and pointed at The General. They waved a hand over the sensor and shut the door behind them. Conway sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a moment, he'd spotted the line of C4 strapped to their chest. Breathing in, then out slowly, he reached under his desk and pulled out a bottle of vintage Scotch single malt and two crystal drinking glasses.
"So. It was you all along then." He said in a calm, flat tone as he began to pour himself a glass.

<tag SA Val Olwin >

[SA Val Olwin]

0955
General's Office
Meropis

Val made her way to the General's office; coffee in hand. She'd had a nice break...she didn't really celebrate Christmas anymore, but she'd gone to Wisconsin to see her sister and her family; the two women were polar opposites, but it WAS Christmas and her niece and two nephews were getting older. She supposed they deserved to see her once or twice in their life. It hadn't been THAT bad, actually...the kids were old enough now to entertain themselves-twelve, seven, and five, and she'd gotten them each an outfit, a book, and a gift card. Her sister had made a turkey dinner, and then Val had gone back to work...that's how her life was. Work, marked by 24 hour periods of something that resembled a break, but never really WAS. Truth was, she was still mourning. She'd always be.

She pushed the thoughts away, and set it to the task at hand. Something was going to need to be done, and she was going to have to do it. So she DID. While in Colorado, doing some work at Command, she had made some movements on the "spy" at Meropis. Her official reports still fingered MacManus. No one else had figured out the REAL person. Even her idiot sidekick, Hart. Guy was supposed to be a superstar, but he couldn't see past his own as*hole. Idiot. Now, a line of c-4, hidden (for now) below her sensible-looking blazer, was step 1 of that plan. It was just SOO easy.

She held MacManus's file in her other hand, and pushed her way through the personnel heading in various directions. It was the start of the work day for most, and no different for her. She ducked around a corner to avoid LeFebvre and Miller, who were heading her way, presumably on their way to the legal office/briefing room. Val suspected that Miller knew that she was the spy among them, and probably Maggie suspected, as well; Val was probably the only person on this stupid sky airport that knew how truly intelligent-and desperate-Maggie could be.

After the two woman passed without noticing her, she moved on towards her goal-the General. Take HIM out, and their whole, perfectly set-up world comes crumbling down. AND they were dumb enough to play right into it by providing her with not ONE but TWO perfect Patsies. She shrugged off her jacket, alone in the hall. Good. Everyone was at work, as they SHOULD be, and the hallway patrol (seriously, her tax dollars went to THIS?! No wonder the rest of the world hated America...)

She knocked, but didn't wait for the General's reply, opening the door. Before she could speak, though, he beat her to it.

So. It was you all along then... She simply shrugged, and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. It wouldn't need to be locked; it wouldn't EXSIST in a few minutes.

Very good, General. Now, I don't want to have to kill you...but I WILL. Unless you cooperate. I need names, General...the Lucian contact. You have five minutes, and I am NOT kidding. And if you TRY to alert anyone, I will detonate this vest on the spot, so no funny business. She was dead serious.

Tag:Jason Conway, Liam Hart, @whomever else wants to play ball...

[Liam Hart]

0930-0945
Liam Hart's Quarters
Meropis
Triangulum Galaxy

Liam was sitting on his bed with his back up against the wall and laptop on his lap. Liam was doing research on a number of things, mostly looking for this traitor but that wasn't his only reason for being here. He worked for the Secretary of the Air Force, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as his main investigator for Homeworld Command and Stargate Command.

Neither of his bosses liked the IOA, especially not Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill. They also didn't like the so called Special Investigator Val Olwin, which of course she was assigned to the IOA. The IOA has no need to have Agents and they are in no position to force their will over US Air Force and US Military assets, yet they used her to do their work. They had that power with the treaty but that doesn't mean that the US Air Force and US Department of Defense would be okay with it. They weren't and Liam was assigned to investigate the investigator. Counter-Intelligence is his job and everyone on Meropis knows it, however Olwin thinks she is the boss of Hart, due to the IOA position but out here in the middle of nowhere, in another galaxy... thinks aren't always as they seem especially not when he has been tasked with a sensitive investigation.

Liam has everything to do with Olwin tapped, every email, every phone call, every text, every single button she presses on her keyboard from any computer she has access too is recorded. Within the SGC you need to be logged in using a username and password and everything is recorded for everyone same thing at the Pentagon.

She seemed to be a by the book agent and they always are, until they aren't. She seemed to have a grudge out for everyone, and seemed to think like she owned the damn place, which she doesn't. Liam didn't like her from the moment he saw her and the way she greeted him, if you could call that a greeting.

However, no matter how much he hated her, he had nothing concrete. She pinned everything on McManus and he was an easy scapegoat to use but Liam didn't always look at the obvious, usually when you have too much evidence it is because you were meant to find it which means that someone wants you to look at them to throw the blame off of themselves. Liam never went forward to her with anything but he tracked down his own leads and Homeworld Command and the OSI was all too eager to help.

She was followed while she went home for Christmas break, her entire conversation that she had with her sister and nephews and nieces were recorded and that was the only family she really had. Liam sifted through everything again, he knew he'd find something.Then there was a knock on his door. "Agent Hart." The Marine Sergeant said. 

"Go ahead, Sergeant." Hart said as he opened the door to allow the Sergeant in.

"We were checking our inventory, as we always do and we're missing four sticks of C4." He said and he sounded scared.

"No one signed it out? It's just gone?" Liam asked.

"It was there, last night and today it is gone."  The Sergeant said as Liam nodded and took his gun to leave with the Sergeant.

"Very well, let's go take a look and see the footage." Liam said and they went to investigate. "Keep this off the radio and on a need to know basis, I don't want anyone knowing until we know something. If we have a saboteur on base, I don't want them to know we know."

"Understood, sir." The Sergeant said as they walked down the hall and towards the armory. 

<Tag: SM-1, Jason Conway, SA Val Olwin>

[Whitney Soto-'Aukai]

0900 Hours
Briefing Room
Meropis

Whitney was a bit nervous. It was her first official day, and she didn't know what to expect. She had already met her CO and XO, though briefly, upon gating over just a few days ago. She glanced quickly at her mirror. Good, her gig line was straight, and she was ready. She stepped out of the barracks, and met up with Lt. LeFebvre. This was the woman she was replacing; Whitney didn't know why, but the rumor mill said the tall blonde was pregnant. How that would pan out a few billion lightyears from the closest hospital, Whitney did not know, but it wasn't her JOB to know. She followed the woman to the briefing room, and then thanked her.

She opened the door to the briefing room, and stepped in, stopping to salute as was appropriate.

Ma'am, Sir. Lt. Whitney Soto-A'uki, reporting for duty! She was glad to be here, and she hoped they recognized that. She glanced at the group assembled-besides Eastlyn and Evans, there was a tall, blonde woman with a strange tattoo on her face-the Jaffa woman, Whitney realized, and another blonde man-surely, that was Mulholland. She nodded when they replied, and then relaxed into a chair.

Tag:Chicago "Roo" Eastlyn, Dominic Evans, James Mulholland, Ahrima, @all.

[Jason Conway]

1003
General's Office
Meropis

As Special Agent Val Olwin stepped into the office and closed the door behind her, General Jason Conway offered the whisky. He may be about to face certain death, but he was still an old gentleman even in the worst of circumstances. Needless to say she declined the drink. Jason leaned back in the big chair and hit a small button under the desk as he did so. A quick sweep of Olwin's face revealed she hadn't caught on, good, the black box was recording everything. Now to make his play.
"Very good, General." She replied to his welcome, "Now, I don't want to have to kill you...but I WILL. Unless you cooperate. I need names, General...the Lucian contact. You have five minutes, and I am NOT kidding. And if you TRY to alert anyone, I will detonate this vest on the spot, so no funny business."

Jason found this... Interesting. He didn't speak immediately, he simply took a sip of the Whisky and stared Olwin straight in the eyes. Jason had seen that look only once before, back when he was a young soldier on the battlefields of the first gulf war. He knew instantly exactly what was going to happen, the trick was getting as much useful information out of it before it did. The trick was, giving Meropis something to work with.
"You and I know full well that you're going to have to kill me," he said with a gentle smile, "You've gone too far Val, and you and I both know what will happen if you don't follow up." Another sip of Whisky, he savored the flavours and rolled the liquid over his tongue, swallowing he enjoyed the slightly sweet after taste of the 12 year old vintage. He searched her face for any hint of a flinch, nothing, damn she was good.
"Now." He cut her off just as she was about to speak, "The Lucian contact. Let's look at the facts here. The Destiny was infiltrated by the alliance, lives were lost and look how it all ended up. You tried to take the ship, you failed. We've known for a while that the alliance will stop at nothing to capture or destroy Meropis and Atlantis. And now The Ark has come into play? We both know hey want it like a dog wants his ball..." He let the silence hang in the air for a moment. She remained expressionless, her stare was cold and unmoving.

"You don't seem surprised. Why? I summarize that you've known for a while we had a spy on the inside, telling us exactly when and where you'll strike. Just as the alliance evidently had a spy on our team. A little 'cold war' don't you think? Giving us the upper hand? Helping us keep the alliance from ruling the Milky Way..." He smiled, suppressing a laugh even as he could see frustration building on Olwin's face. He was stalling for time and she knew it.
"So here we are. You make your final move at last... And you think I'll just GIVE you that name right now? My dear you would've had better luck with Sergeant McManus."
 
Both of them paused, he could hear shouting coming down the hall,
"GENERAL!! GENERAL!!" The voice sounded. It was a male voice, and it was accompanied by the pounding footsteps of more than one person. Jason's heart beat quickened, he flicked his eyes up to Val Olwin's and swallowed nothing. In one swift movement she withdrew her blouse and revealed the band of C4.

There was a bright light.





And then there was nothing.

<tag SA Val Olwin to finish the scene before the chaos begins>

[SA Val Olwin]

1004
Meropis
General's Office

She had played her hand; her Ace card, and he had played HIS. She knew the room was equipped with hidden devices meant to trigger an SOS from the General's office. She didn't know where they all WERE, but anyone who had played the spy game long enough could guess. She guessed there was one either under his desk or his chair. That's why she had five minutes. She knew that it would take that long for someone to react.

Liam showed up. Great. More for her to kill. She'd savor THAT one, though. The General was unfortunate fodder, but Liam was a perfect target. No one would miss him, besides.

The general spoke.

You and I know full well that you're going to have to kill me...You've gone too far Val, and you and I both know what will happen if you don't follow up. DID he?! She doubted it. But whatever. She let him continue. Men were the only ones who still would not shut up, even with the cold hand of death reaching down their necks.

Now...The Lucian contact. Let's look at the facts here. The Destiny was infiltrated by the alliance, lives were lost and look how it all ended up. You tried to take the ship, you failed. We've known for a while that the alliance will stop at nothing to capture or destroy Meropis and Atlantis. And now The Ark has come into play? We both know hey want it like a dog wants his ball... Yada yada. The same b.s. as in the case file. BUT Conway had been handpicked by the IOA. Meaning he knew more than the file. SHE knew more than the file, but not what he did. You don't seem surprised. Why? I summarize that you've known for a while we had a spy on the inside, telling us exactly when and where you'll strike. Just as the alliance evidently had a spy on our team. A little 'cold war' don't you think? Giving us the upper hand? Helping us keep the alliance from ruling the Milky Way...So here we are. You make your final move at last... And you think I'll just GIVE you that name right now? My dear you would've had better luck with Sergeant McManus. Mmmhmm. She knew that. She was the only one who knew where the absent Scot WAS in the universe. His current location was an asset...one she wouldn't blow.

She realized the time was ticking, so she spoke quickly.

Well. It seems you've figured me out, Jason. But you were just not fast enough, were you?! Hart, you have exactly 20 seconds to find your way out of here. Go. NOW. Report back to HQ about this. There was a bomb THERE set to go off about ten minutes from now. If you wanna save someone, GO. Call them. Tell them to look under the stairwell on the West hall's third floor landing. And that I am NOT kidding. Without another word, she looked at the two men. Then there was just one...a voice down the hallway. Evans. It was time.

Her top was off in a flash, and before even SHE knew what she was doing, the *FLASH BANG* of C-4 went off...she was sailing through the air.

And then...there were none.

Tag:Jason Conway, Dominic Evans, Liam Hart, @open.

*black curtain drops on Val.*

[Liam Hart]

0945-1004
Meropis
Armory-Stargate Operations-General's Office

Liam and the Marine Sergeant who is on the Meropis Security Team and has been appointed by Liam as one of his assets within the city to help him with his counter-intelligence task has reached the armory and they confirmed that four sticks or blocks of C4 are indeed missing and haven't been signed out and were infact there last night as the inventory was checked as it usually is.

The next obvious course of action was to check the surveillance camera inside the armory and that was done in the stargate operations room but the camera was offline for a time as were the cameras in the adjacent rooms and corridors ensuring no one saw the culprit.

Anyone on Meropis could practically do that, no one there is an idiot, these are the most intelligent people and the best people at their specific jobs. Turning a few camera's off from a remote terminal or laptop is an easy task but to do so you need to use a security access code to log in to the system and to shut the camera's off.

The access code was null and void, it was hacked and hacking instead of using the security code is an easy feat, as well. However, the computer used was traced back to an auxiliary control room and that camera was left online and recorded the culprit. The culprit thought she was smart yet left evidence of herself behind and it became obvious that the Lucian Alliance spy or a spy of some sort was Special Agent Valerie Olwin. It then came down to why she did it and that is when more surviellance camera footage needed to be checked and it was but turned up nothing.

She was being monitored and recorded and as Liam checked earlier there was no memo by the IOA to test the security on Meropis or to test the Counter Intelligence Operative, it was possible she could've received orders back on Earth but that wasn't possible as she was being monitored inside the mountain and outside the mountain and she received no such orders from anyone in the IOA or Homeworld Command or the SGC.

Liam then went back to what he suspected and he believed that she is the traitor and spy and the fact that she was last seen entering the General's office and she has been there for the last six minutes and counting and was caught on the surviellance camera with what looked to be C4, it was clear that she is trying to kill the General or get information out of him but either way it was a suicide vest and she has to know she isn't getting out alive, or if she does she'd be sentenced to death anyways.

"Stay off the radios and notify security and the Senior Officers here. I need everyone in noncombat roles to be evacuated from the vicinity of the General's office and medical teams on standby. Get security teams and combat soldiers into position, the General is being held hostage." Liam told the Sergeant who nodded and relayed the orders as Liam went running to the General's office.

"GENERAL!! GENERAL!!" Liam shouted as he drew his gun and turned the safety off as he entered the General's office and raised his gun and aimed it at the terrorist.

Well. It seems you've figured me out, Jason. But you were just not fast enough, were you?! Hart, you have exactly 20 seconds to find your way out of here. Go. NOW. Report back to HQ about this. If you wanna save someone, GO. Call them. Tell them to look under the stairwell on the West hall's third floor landing. And that I am NOT kidding. Valerie ordered and Liam nodded and retreated. He confirmed that she did have C4 attached to her and she was crazy, everyone knew it and this just proved it.

Liam relayed the information to the Marine Sergeant who left with some of his people to check the stairwell for something, probably a bomb and Liam shouted at everyone to retreat. He didn't know the General well but knew that he wouldn't want more people to die if it could be prevented. He could've tried and shoot the terrorist but she could detonate the C4 and the three of them would die along with those in the area surrounding them and that could be dozens of people. It was an easy decision and he ran with it.

Everyone in the area ran, they didn't have a choice and Liam was knocked down as the shock wave hit him and the glass and debris flew. He couldn't hear anything, temporarily as the sound of the blast messed with his ears. He didn't know what happened, he knew she blew the vest but the fate of the General was unknown, what was known is that the witch was dead...

<Tag: SM-1 and whoever else...>

[Dominic Evans]

0955-1005
Meropis
Briefing Room - General's Office

Captain Dominic Evans was stood over the glass desk with two laptops open and stacks of paperwork in front of him, he sifted through it with a furrowed brow, concentrating on the alarming facts displayed before him. Behind him was the briefing room. Major Eastlyn was taking the meeting of SM-1 ahead of the latest mission. There had been a few minor changes. Maggie had been stood down due to her pregnancy, the role out in the field was deemed too dangerous for an expectant mother. In her place the new girl, Whitney Soto-'Aukai, a Navy Information Warfare Officer had arrived to assist with upcoming operations. The information database containing the location of The Ark also held several vital clues to potential ZPM our ancient outpost locations across the galaxy. Elly Clark and the science team were busy decrypting it all, but it was SM-1's job to go out there and explore.

That would have to wait. Evans barely acknowledged Ahrima and Mulholland as they entered the room ready to find out what their next op would be. Instead, he'd come to a stark realization. It hit him like a short, sharp shock.
"Oh no. No, no, no. This can't be right." He thought out loud, drawing the gaze of his C.O Major Eastlyn,
"Care to share with the class?" She ordered.
"Yeah..." He said to a piece of paper that he held out in front of him, "You all know my secondary role by now right? On behalf of the security services back on Earth I've been seconded to assist with fact finding, most notably around the Lucian Alliance intelligence after the Icarus Project tragedy. Well, I've just been granted official access to special agent Hart and Olwin's files." He'd raised a few eyebrows, and Dominic's expression was a serious one, but he still hadn't gotten to the point.
"If what I'm reading here tallies up, then we need to arm up and move. Fast. The General-" BOOM.

Silence.

Dust fell from the ceiling as the loud explosion sounded across the base. Dom knew straight away what it was. His heart rate slowed, his breathing was deep, he went into flight or fight mode.
"SM-1! ON ME!!" He screamed, throwing aside the paperwork and sprinting out of the room. Dom's ears were ringing, partly due to the team's proximity to the explosion and partly due to a dump of adrenaline in his system. Before long he'd made it up several flights of stairs, taking them three at a time, he'd drawn his side arm and was racing down through Stargate Operations, pushing a few stunned scientists aside.
"GENERAL!! GENERAL CONWAY!!" He was screaming. It was too late.

Agent Hart was first on scene and Dom came skidding to a stop next to him. Where Brigadier General Jason Conway's office used to be was now a smoking mess of rubble, beams hung from the ceiling and a small fire burned away amidst the chaos. Evans could see a sprinkling of blood among the debris. Hart looked temporarily stunned, he was plastered in dust and powder. Dom holstered his side-arm as the rest of SM-1 brought up the trial behind him. It was useless now.
"Who did this!?" Dominic barked at Hart before setting at removing some of the rubble, piece by piece. Desperately trying to find any trace of survivors.

<tag Liam Hart Chicago "Roo" Eastlyn Ahrima James Mulholland Whitney Soto-'Aukai Capt. Kelly Miller & the aliens>

[Capt. Kelly Miller]

1000
Hallway-General's Office
Meropis

She'd seen Val as she'd passed with Maggie just a few minutes before. The older woman hadn't given Val much thought; it wasn't unusual for Conway to have people, esp. the IOA, in and out of his office on a fairly regular basis. So of course, she'd thought nothing of it.

UNTIL.

Liam Hart had come barreling down the hallway at a speed that would impress even the most die-hard marathon runners, shouting about bombs. THAT had gotten her attention. She stood up so quickly her chair toppled over, and she was out of the room behind Maggie, holstering her firearm as fast as she could. In a moment, she saw Evans fly down the hallway in the opposite direction of Hart, and she followed behind.

They were too late.

BOOM[/i].

She closed her eyes and hit the ground. She knew that it was hopeless; an explosion like that meant there would be no survivors. She opened her eyes after a moment, and let out a strange noise. She stood, her eyes on the tall Brit.

Who did this!? She looked at Hart. She suddenly realized.

Olwin.... then her voice rose a few octaves as she turned and ran swiftly down the hall.

MEDIC! It was all she could do. For now.

Tag: Sm-1, plus Aliens and Liam Hart.

[Liam Hart]

1005
Hallway outside the General's Office
Meropis

Liam sat on the floor and up against the wall as his PTSD kicked in. One year in Iraq with bombs going off left and right will do that to you, especially when your friends and coworkers were killed along with dozens of innocent people. This wasn't the first time that Liam saw a suicide bomber and Liam hoped he wouldn't have to see it again and being in Meropis, it was the last place he expected to see it especially from a Special Agent.

He knew she had problems but he never thought that she would strap C4 to herself and blow herself up along with the General. That is when it hit Liam, did she do it voluntarily or was she brainwashed? It wouldn't be the first time, the last time many more people in the SGC and Homeworld Command died and it was tragic. Liam didn't know anyone but that was when they brought in counter-intelligence operatives for a wide vary of duties, some that were known like Liam and others that were known only to Liam and a handful of selected others.

"Who did this!?" Evans asked and that is when Captain Miller came and she obviously realized it.

Olwin.... She said and Liam nodded as he grabbed his gun from the floor which flew out of his hands during the blast.

"There is another bomb in the stairwell on the West hall's third floor landing. I informed one of the Sergeant's but we need to make sure they diffuse it."

<Tag: Capt. Kelly Miller, Dominic Evans, Chicago "Roo" Eastlyn, Ahrima, James Mulholland, Whitney Soto-'Aukai and aliens.>

[Michael Hurley]

1005
Hallway outside General’s Office
Meropis

Hurley hurried down the hallway toward the General’s office, coming upon a scene of complete chaos. Something had exploded - that must was clear. Thick smoke hung in the air, burning his lungs and making his eyes water. The deafening sound of the base alert klaxons merged with the screaming voices of the wounded, making it near impossible to think straight. The hallway itself was practically unrecognisable - roof panels had fallen in, the walls were buckled and on strange angles, with rubble littering the area.

“Medical teams to the General’s office,” the SEAL called into his radio. When the infirmary asked how many, he had a simple response. “All of them!”

He arrived just in time to hear Captain Miller identify the culprit - Special Agent Olwin, who was KIA as part of the attack.

The news rattled Michael for a moment. Ever since arriving in his galaxy, the expedition had faced one traitor after another, a series of moles that on numerous occasions had threatened the safety of this base and everyone stationed in it. Once this was over, the command team would have to take a long hard look at everyone on their rosters, and organise some external help to come through and clear out everyone who raised a red flag. Acts like this couldn’t be allowed to continue.

“It the General secure!?” he yelled over the sound of the klaxons. Given that Conway looked to be the target of the attack, right now his safety was paramount.

< Tag Jason Conway , Capt. Kelly Miller , Liam Hart , Dominic Evans , Whitney Soto-'Aukai >

[Dominic Evans]

1005
General’s Office
Meropis

Eventually, somebody placed a hand on Captain Evans' shoulder and gently pulled him back away from the smoking rubble. The deafening ringing in his ears began to subside as reality swam in his vision in front of him. The emergency Klaxons were going off, marines were running back and forth across the Stargate room, the base would have been put into immediate lock down no doubt. Evans fell back on his hind quarters, he sat slumped in the middle of the walkway outside where the General's office used to be as people busied themselves around him. Between him and the others they'd moved a couple of large blocks and they'd found most of Jason Conway's body. At least his torso and head could be seen among the debris, the rest might not even have been attached to him.

Doctor Roger Harrison had the horrible job all to himself as he stepped forward,
"I regret to inform you that he is dead. Time of death I am calling at 0958 hours. Someone help me to get him to the infirmary... I'll contact HQ while Dr. West does the paperwork..."
Evans sat shaking his head, his gaze locked dead upon the absence of room in front of him. Meekly he spoke, his voice croaking on account of the accidental smoke inhalation.
"There must be something we can do..."
"What's that honey?" Chicago's voice rang out in his left ear, it was soft and soothing. He had to admire her courage. Everyone LOVED the General, as far as bosses go he was more of a friend than a manager. It had to have hit her hard as well but she was staying strong for him, for her team, for all of them. She firmly placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. With her will power behind him, Evans pushed himself up to his feet and turned to the rest of the gathered personnel.
"We're in an alien galaxy, in a city built by an impossibly advanced race... There must be something we can do..." Even as he said it, he realized the futility behind his words. Evans' head dropped. He began to weep.

<tag all, and tag ALIENS! Paisley Gregorvich Almeda and Aear Charter I'm looking at you guys!>

[Elly Clark]

The future

She was standing in black fatigues in the middle of the gate room with a hard drive in one of her pockets as Glavish, Black and Maccafferty worked at the consoles and computers attached to the City as orbited the cities Original star, one they hadn't seen for more than a few years now even including their continued time on Meropis after Conway's death, the thing they were trying to prevent. They had little time the Apollo had followed their heavily modified Alkesh all the way to Triangulum and found them once they noticed the city wasn't where it had been left almost five years ago.

The gate began to dial they got through to the sixth chevron before the Marines from the Apollo made their way in, they were however to late to stop the gate from dialing and killing her was going to be the only way to stop them from completing their plan to go back in time. The seventh chevron locked and quickly enough the whoosh flew out of the gate. Elly after punching in a code into her GDO strapped to her arm ran for the 'Gate, the marines and SFs aimed at her but hesitated to fire. It was long enough.

1136
Stargate Operations
Meropis

With all the mess of the Generals demise still partially strewn over the gate room. Grover was surprised to hear the siren sounding for an incoming wormhole. He was sluggish but managed to get the words out the emotion of the last hour and a half had gotten to him. "Unscheduled offworld activation." He reached out and pressed for the control to raise the shield it wouldn't. "S-security teams shield failure!" He cried in a panic. Was this the second wave of their attack? He thought. He looked over at the screen of the laptop for the status of the shield it had an override warning displayed with an override code, a code that only a handful of people knew what looked like and even less had authorization to use. 

The security team in Staragte operations beefed up by recent events all readied themselves for an assault. When all that came through was a somewhat familiar looking and defiantly familiarly dressed woman came through the gate no one fired, perhaps they'd had enough for day, or perhaps they had seen the fact she both was one of them and had been shot. She struggled to her feet her hands in the air. It was Dr Clark.

(DUN DUN DUNNNN dramatic end to post felt cool.)

<TAG: Stargate Ops Personnel, Dominic Evans, Capt. Kelly Miller, Michael Hurley, Whitney Soto-'Aukai, Liam Hart, @anyone I forgot or would be there by now>

[Dominic Evans]

The Future
Stargate Operations
Meropis

They were on borrowed time, and being hunted. Dr. Black with his now long hair and beard gained from months on the run from home world command had managed to steal them an Alkesh to get back to Meropis. Dr. Maccafferty and Dr. Glavish had finally made the experimental device work and... brave Dr. Elly Clark was going to be the one to step through the Stargate and do the damn thing as soon as the solar flare was at it's peak. Dominic Evans checked that everything was exactly as they needed it in the control room, the flare was building and it would soon be time. He glanced up and out of the windows either side of the Stargate room, one side showed the deep, thick darkness of space. The other side was glowing with the orange light of the Meropis solar system's star. The shields were holding up against the heat even at this distance, but only just.

A warning beacon sounded,
"Crap." Muttered Dom as he punched in a few more commands. He was proud of how far his knowledge of ancient systems had come to date as he was able to positively identify the Apollo's signature exiting hyper space near city.
"We've got company!" He yelled down to the 'gate room. Sure enough, moments later a team of marines beamed over, their technology was able to easily bypass the city shields. They raised their weapons at the scientists. Dom unclipped his side arm, he'd use it if he had to.

How had things got to this final, desperate last stand? Dom thought to himself. It all started with the General's death, and that was where it had to begin... Again. If this worked, Elly would go back in time to moments before the explosion to stop Val Olwin from even getting near Jason Conway. Dom hoped that the four scientists were right about this. They'd all lost too much to be wrong. The Sun Tzu, The Ark, their friends and families all dead... And now they'd lost Earth too. They had under estimated the Etruscans, and they'd not accounted for the Lucian Alliance working with them either. The planet was almost entirely under Etruscan rule by now in the guise of the omnipresent 'home world command'. Even Sergeant McManus and Thomas Hopper's last stand with their Triangulum militia wasn't able to save things, they too were gone now.

Dom stepped out of the control room with his side arm firmly raised at one of the marines,
"SO HERE WE ARE!" He shouted over the noise of the Stargate dialing, "AT THE END OF ALL THINGS IT COMES DOWN TO THIS." He cocked the weapon and clicked off the safety. The wormhole rushed into being and Elly took her chance,
"Go." He whispered as he watched her run forward into the event horizon. Gunfire erupted. Michael and Fiona held each other tight and Dominic screamed as he unloaded the entire clip of his M9 at the enemy.

And then, there was nothing.


1136
Stargate Operations
Meropis

Captain Dominic Evans was helping to oversee the efforts in restoring order to Meropis. Some of the higher ranking officers had been stricken down with grief or else injured in the blast and taken leave of the situation, meaning Evans had to step up to the plate and keep things moving. Just as they thought they were out of the woods, the Stargate dialed. Evans heard Grover's panicked announcement and quickly brought his P90 to bear on the wormhole,
"GET BACK. EVERYONE. WEAPONS RAISED!" He ordered, similar orders bounced around the room as the shield fizzled out in front of the wormhole. This can't be good.

Moments later, a disheveled looking Elly Clark was flung from the wormhole into the middle of the 'gate room floor with some force. She had a visible wound in her leg and a strange device on her wrist. Evans lowered his weapon, this didn't make any sense, Elly hadn't gone off world today.
"What the hell..." He muttered slowly, he signaled for everyone to lower their weapons as the Stargate shut off.
"Doctor Clark?" He said, stepping forward toward her as a thousand questions began to fire through his mind.

<tag Liam Hart Chicago "Roo" Eastlyn Whitney Soto-'Aukai Ahrima Elly Clark Michael Hurley James Mulholland Capt. Kelly Miller Almeda Paisley Gregorvich Aear Charter>

[Paisley Gregorvich]

1005
Gate room
Meropis

FINALLY! She had an antenna beacon aimed at Heliv. If the General allowed it, they could be friendly allies in these skies...and the Helivans could learn SOOO much. The Heliv were SLIGHTLY more advanced than the Tau'ri, but the only feeds they had were from a band of Helivan/Cebosians who had defected to the Milky Way after the wars, and share information from something called the Russian Space Station. Paisley had no idea what a Russian was, nor a space station, but she had learned many valuable things about the Tau'ri from this place. Like who Mickey Mouse was, and a Tau'ri delicacy called "Coca-cola." The cafeteria here on Meropis had Coca-Cola, and Paisley planned to smuggle some out when she took leave of her friends.

She was unaware of the General's untimely demise until she stepped into the hallway-and came face-to-face with one of the Senior staff.

What happened? She moved some hair behind her shoulder, and got her peering glass ready, in case of attack from outside-the air was THAT tense.

The General has been killed. She blinked as her processing organ translated. The head Tau'ri was dead. What would happen to HER?! She turned swiftly, and flew quietly down the hallway. She'd need her fellow Helivans. They needed to help the Tau'ri, but..how?!

Tag:@all...will PM Jason Conway with an IDEA!!