Episode Three - Extinction

[Jason Conway]

1410
Control Room
Meropis

The General arrived at Gate Ops at a brisk pace, aware that Eastlyn was behind him. It was the height of the afternoon shift and with the new staff being mentored by existing staff the control room was already quite crowded. He checked his watch, had it really taken Conway six minutes to get his act together and march up here? He needed to hit the gym as soon as he remembered. The expedition leader was quite confident in his staff and he knew that an officer of his ranking wouldn't normally be rushed over to look at every small detail but after the events on the expedition's arrival, he was keen to pay attention to the details, they were where the cracks would show first. Jason reflected on the military aspect of the expedition as he cast his eyes around the room at the assembled throng who anxiously awaited the full report. Atlantis had managed to hold on to a civilian leader for the most part, barring Colonel Carter of course, but with Meropis the IOA had been set on a military lead through and through. Whether that was good or bad remains to be seen, but Conway just hoped he could fulfill the mission, keep his people safe and keep the politics at bay whilst doing so. He looked down at the gentleman sat in front of him.

The gate technician brought the readings up on the laptop that had been interfaced with the ancient console.
"Sir, the object dropped out of hyperspace some way away from our position, it seems to be making toward the planet at sub-light speed. These are the readings, they are incredibly similar to the alien vessel we encountered with the Sun Tzu." The sound of worry in the man's voice echoed Conway's fears. That sentence alone was enough and everyone knew it. The tension in the room had suddenly taken upon itself an incredible upward trend, one could cut it with a knife. Jason could feel his heart beating in his chest, nobody dared speak and breaths were held in anticipation. So what had happened last time? The city had been cloaked, they hadn't found it... yet. The Sun Tzu had taken some damage but the alien vessel had retreated after the Earth ship got lucky using a Nuke. Even if the Sun Tzu was nearby, could they do the same again? There was only one decision to be made, and the General was painfully aware that it would leave the city defenseless. Shield or cloak?

"Raise the cloak." He ordered. The technician nodded and began entering commands on the console that would bring the ancient cloak to life around the city-ship, still half buried in the Earth. The General turned to the room, "I want the puddle jumpers that have been checked fired up and ready but do not launch. Better check your weapons are locked and loaded team. I want us ready... Just in case." He turned back to the scanner display on the laptop. The ship must be looking for something, perhaps for Meropis. This surely wasn't a routine patrol. No doubt the Sun Tzu hovering out here in the middle of nowhere above an unoccupied planet is suspicious enough. He leaned forward on the console and clenched his fists biting his lip, deep in thought.

<Tag All>

[Chicago "Roo" Eastlyn]

1409
Control Room


A voice addressed her, so Roo turned slightly to face who it belonged to. Another Captain! Not that they were uncommon of course, but it was nice to meet people the same rank as you - or at least she thought so anyway. "Couldn't rightly say just yet - we've only just arrived here ourselves", she explained, gesturing loosely to General with a small inclination of her head. "Seems everyone decided to rock up and see what all the fuss was. Saves another call over the PA I suppose.."

Any more thoughts were stopped from escaping from her mouth though as the gate tech addressed the General, and she could hear the worry in his tone and didn't particularly blame him.

General Conway made the call and Roo realised she had been bouncing on her feet ever so slightly - not that she was excited at the prospect of possibly being annihilated or something, rather she was just anticipating what was going to happen next. Because something was going to happen. She didn't know what and she didn't know when, but she was sure that something was going to go down. Hoo boy.

Throwing a glance at the Captain who had spoken to her before, she spoke first this time as she took a step back towards the door to the control room, intending to gear up as per the Generals orders. "I don't remember seeing you around here before. I'm Eastlyn."

<Tag: Callaghan>

[Deleted]

1405
Training Area 3

Aira Koizumi laid prone on the floor, her M24 rifle held securely against her shoulder as she looked down her scoop at her target down range. She had heard the paused only moments ago to listen to the report that came in over the intercom. But she hadn't quite adjusted her new scoop yep, it still needed one or two more adjustments, and wanted to get it zeroed to where she was use to it being to start. Her last shoot had been a centimeter down and to the right of her attended mark. 'Close but I could do better' she thought reaching her hands up and gave her sight a small twick, before getting back into her prone firing position. She closed her left eye as she began to fully focus down the sight. She then moved her index finger over the trigger and pulled it down firing the rifle. This time hitting the target dead on. She then with a smile on her face pulled the bolt back ejecting the shell onto the ground. A small amount of smoke raised from the chamber, before closing the bolt back up. She then began to get up, ready to make her way to the command room to see what the object my be.

1410
Command Room

Aira entered the Command Room, just in time to hear Conway give his orders out. Her rifle hung from its strap on her back. She had just made her way almost clear across the city and stopped at the door to take a deep breath to come herself a bit, she wasn't good in front of new leadership, and hadn't had the chance to give anyone a proper introduction. She took a quick glance around not sure if she had missed anything.

<Tag All>

[John Callaghan]

1411,
Control Room,
Meropis

John was still looking at the officer when she said that she didn't know what was going on either. He chuckled slightly at her comment, and then focused on the technician saying that there was a strange object coming to the planet... Fast. The General then gave the order to cloak the city, and that all teams were to be ready. John quickly grabbed his box, looked at the lady and said "Callaghan, Marine Corps", before he disappeared from the control room to go to the armory

1415,
Armory,
Meripis

John arrived at the armory to see multiple Marines waiting. He told them to gear up, while he did the same. John stowed away his box in his duty locker and put on the ballistic vest, and grabbed the webbing which had several pouches on it. He quickly filled the pouches with a few magazines for his rifle, magazines for his sidearm and a few grenades and flashbangs. He also had two flares and a canteen filled with water. Then he grabbed a helmet, and put it on. Before grabbing his rifle, John put on a pair of gloves, and put the Ka-Bar in its dedicated place. Then, he grabbed a Glock-17, put a magazine in it, loaded the pistol, and put it in the holster strapped to his leg. The last thing he took was the Heckler & Koch HK416. A magnificent rifle, in John's eyes. He took a magazine from the table and gently slided it into the holder, then he pulled back the bolt to let a round into the chamber. He was ready now, and he saw that most of the marines were too. "Okay, Marines, let's move." he said, as he began to walk to the gateroom.

[Ahrima]

1403
Personal Quarters
Meropis

Ahrima's eyes stared at the smooth surface of the electronic tablet. It only seemed to act as a mirror until her hand moved over the button. At that point, it seemed to prompt her for some sort of pass code. The Tau'ri and their pass codes. It seemed that everything required them to input some set of symbols or another to do anything. As she entered the code she had been instructed to do so, the screen illuminated only to reveal a myriad of small icons that only further confused Ahrima. She wanted to simply browse the personnel files so that she could become more familiar with the others on the Meropis expedition. Naturally, she was aware of General Conway, but her own superiors had advised her to get to interact more socially with many of the other expedition members.

"I wish to access the Meropis Personnel Files," Ahrima said aloud. "I'm sorry, I don't have contact information for Mayor Opis. Would you like to create a new contact?" Ahrima's brow furrowed. "That is not what I asked." "Could you repeat the question?" Ahrima sighed, her frustration growing. "Am I always required to repeat myself?" The tablet chimed. "I didn't hear you." The Jaffa's eyes narrowed as she glared at the tablet in her hand, fighting the urge to simply snap it in two. "You are clearly defective." "There's no need to be rude."

Ahrima was just about to introduce the tablet to a string of Jaffa swears when another voice came over the intercom. "General Conway to the control room. We've picked up an object on the long-range scanners." Hearing the announcement, Ahrima decided to postpone her initial plans and proceeded to the control room.

1411
Control Room

Stepping into the control room, saw a technician that was moving about, he seemed to be in between duties. Ahrima thrust the tablet into his belly as he walked past her. "The AI on this device is defective and requires repair," she said simply as she moved forward to listen as the other technician brought General Conway up to speed.

"Sir, the object dropped out of hyperspace some way away from our position, it seems to be making toward the planet at sub-light speed. These are the readings, they are incredibly similar to the alien vessel we encountered with the Sun Tzu." Ahrima had to admit, it wasn't the most exciting news. they were without the aid of the Sun Tzu. And if their unknown visitors were looking for Meropis, well... for their sakes she hoped they were simply passing by.

"Raise the cloak. I want the puddle jumpers that have been checked fired up and ready but do not launch. Better check your weapons are locked and loaded team. I want us ready... Just in case."

"If it is retribution they seek, they will find only disappointment this day," said Ahrima as she stared at the screen for a moment. "And death if they are truly ambitious." She watched as several of the Tau'ri troops rushed from the room to follow the orders of their commander. She remained for a bit longer to see if anything else could be learned of their visitors.

<Tag All>

[Clarence J. Smith]

1411
Command Room

Clarence stared at the monitor, thinking what his next move should be. "Raise the cloak. I want the puddle jumpers that have been checked fired up and ready but do not launch. Better check your weapons are locked and loaded team. I want us ready... Just in case."
he heard Conway command. He quickly agreed with Conway decision to raise the cloak, for it would be best if they never new that Meropis was anywhere in this system. "What are the chances that the have detected Meropis's position" he asks glancing down at the techs at the position.

He then notice as a woman who had just entered the room, he then smirks slightly as he hears her say "If it is retribution they seek, they will find only disappointment this day, And death if they are truly ambitious." He thought of a few ways that they might stand a change against a fight with this ship, but most would result in further damage to the city and fully giving way the position of this currently crippled city. "I shouldn't have to remind you that keeping this city secret is our best option" he says looking right at Ahrima, "If not the Puddle Jumper they are preparing is our only true form of offence as of this moment" he adds turning back to the monitors to watch its course.

<Tag All>

[Ahrima]

1411
Control Room
Meropis

"I shouldn't have to remind you that keeping this city secret is our best option. If not, the Puddle Jumper they are preparing is our only true form of offence as of this moment."

Ahrima's eyes moved from the screen towards the man with the scarlet hair. She heard his words, but felt that he was simply pointing out the obvious. It hadn't been her intention to suggest that they go right out and attack. Of course, many of the Tau'ri had a very different interpretation of how things should go than the Jaffa. "I was not suggesting we announce our position," Ahrima said. "Merely, that if we are discovered, our assailants will not have the opportunity to enjoy the spoils of their assault." Ahrima turned her eyes back to the screen as well. "If they have knowledge of Meropis, they know of its value. It wouldn't be in their best interest to lay waste to the city. They would likely bombard us into submission and attempt to take the city with a ground assault."

Her eyes left the screen as she turned to look in Smith's direction once more. "If, however, they are seeking revenge for an earlier defeat... should they discover the city, they will likely recognize the value of capturing it," she said. "Either way, though it requires no endorsement from me, General Conway's strategy is sound. The next move... is theirs."

<Tag All>

[Hamish Flanagan]

1411
Control Room
Meropis

Precautions. Precautions had always been the key to successful medical practice. The idea of Meropis coming under attack seemed to be the only thing playing at Dr. Flanagan's mind. For, regardless of the fact that the General had ordered for the city to be cloaked, there always was the chance that things would go completely astray. That Meropis would be discovered and completely shattered by thunderous weapon fire; potentially leaving some, if not most of the expedition completely incapacitated and wounded.
Thus, the doctors eyes flashed over to one of his more senior medical personnel. With one hand rubbing his chin, the other signalled the young surgeon over. As he waited, he studied General Conway, paying careful attention to the cool, calm demeanour he radiated. The personnel gathered seemed fairly at ease, considering. There was no doubt it was the thing that Hamish had always valued the most about their leader, and he couldn't help but smile in silent thanks for such a coolheaded leader.

Finally, his surgeon appeared beside him, her eyes looking at him; a hint of concern lingering behind them. He noted now, that she, unlike a vast many of the others gathered, realised how truly serious this whole situation could become.

"What do you need, doctor?" she asked, a shakiness to her voice.

Hamish smiled at her and gave her a reassuring touch on the shoulder. He needed to ease her of most of the concern she was bottling behind her strong exterior. To make sure she could perform to her best with what he had to ask of her. And, surprisingly, his gentle touch and coolness seemed to be enough to etch away at some of the fear that lingered with the female.
"Ya' a'righ', dear? C'mon I need ya' to stay clear headed for me, love." he spoke almost below a whisper. "Can ya' get Dr. Morgan an' Dr. Genevieve an' head to the infirmary. Get us prepared for anythin' an' everythin'. Jus' make sure tha' no matter what happens between now and the next few hours, we'll be as ready as possible if it all turns to crap." his voice held a kindness and yet, a severity that it scarcely held. It was for that reason that the medical team member took off with such urgency to do the Chief Medical Officers bidding.

As she did, and as the two other doctors Hamish had instructed her to retrieve, departed the room, Hamish allowed his eyes to move back to the screens before the gathered. He took note of the exchanging of words between some of those whom had decided to voice themselves, and he couldn't help but feel as though his own input would be completely out of place. Military strategy and tactics wasn't his area of expertise. And for that reason, he'd wait until it was his time to make judgement calls and decisions in an area he knew well. Regardless, he hoped that time would not have to come.

<TAG all>

[Jason Conway]

1420
Gate Ops
Meropis

Soldiers ran back and forth behind him, the control room partially emptied of staff, ammunition was being shared, rounds were being chambered and orders were being issued. The General held his breath and closed his eyes. He counted to three and breathed out. That seemed to do the trick, he focused his attention on the scanner being demonstrated on the laptop screen in front of him. The enemy ship had jumped forward again and was now slowing down, passing the planet's small asteroid moon. Conway watched as the shimmering cloak glistened and flowed with the breeze outside, silently thankful that such amazing technology existed to protect them. The expedition leader paused for a few moments, fixated on the screen in front of him. He was aware that the British scientist he had spoken to earlier in the day had slowly sidled up next to him, also fixated on the screen, what was his name... Doctor Black, that was it. Dr. Black voiced the concerns that many of the technicians in the room had been sharing,
"Sir... The ship... It's..." The General turned to him frowning, "What is it..."
"Well it looks like the ship has taken up a geo-synchronized orbit above Meropis Sir..." He trailed off, gesturing at the laptop screens which gave them all the information they needed to prove his theory. What!? Is the first thought that popped into Jason's mind. How was this possible!? Was the second. His mind flashed back to their arrival around five weeks ago, the city-ship had remained cloaked and had not de-cloaked until the enemy vessel had jumped back into hyperspace. Then just two weeks ago there was that mysterious object orbiting a nearby planet, that ball of lightning or whatever it was but the Sun Tzu had destroyed it before it had a chance to do anything, could that have been some sort of alien satellite scanning their star-system? Was there a way that this vessel knew the city was here? Jason could only hope that they had simply just returned to the last known location of the Sun Tzu, perhaps seeking out the Earth vessel for retribution.

He glanced around the room, the look of concern on the faces of the personnel seemed to sum it all up. The atmosphere was tense, punctuated only by the whirring of the computers and the tapping of keys. Nobody dared speak, it was as if the entire city-ship was a submarine and the enemy vessel was scanning them with radar. Time seemed to slow and Jason could feel his heart beating against his chest. His mouth had dried out and he could feel a bead of sweat beginning to form on his brow. Then it happened...

The silence was broken by a distant screaming in the air outside the city, several people ran to the open air balconies to look up at the sky and see what it was, their gasps caused Jason's eyes to widen. The screaming grew in volume until it became deafening, Jason looked over at the balcony to his left, the gap in the ancient structure just about allowing him a view of the nearby forest from where he stood. To his dismay he saw what the shrieking was. A great green-hued projectile furiously impacted into the heart of the woodland, the ensuing explosion causing the consoles in the control room to vibrate slightly and causing Jason to briefly look away, shielding his eyes. Several of the staff appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be in disarray. Jason knew this wasn't the case as he had personally overseen vetting for each and every one of the expedition members and chosen only those who wouldn't flinch at the first sign of trouble. He noted soldiers running to muster points, engineers checking major conduits and scientists tapping away on their laptops. He waited, he breathed... He waited another minute... There was no second shot fired from the orbiting ship. He lowered his gaze and cracked his neck, turning to the rest of the control room,
"What are the chances of that being a random shot then?" He smirked. Time to see what his team could really do.

<Tag All - 1426 Zulu>

[Clarence J. Smith]

1421
Command Center

Clarence stood against the wall pondering as he head the ship had took a orbit above the city. 'They know where the city is already.' went through his mind right before he noticed the sound of the object. As the sound became deafening, he glanced towards the balcony just able to see where the object had hit. As the city shook, he placed a hand firmly against the wall helping him keep on his feet. He kept a calm expression upon his face as he had done, in many other situation. 'A warning shot' when speeding throw his head, 'no, If it where me I would of landed the shot a bit closer to have more of an impact, then what was that.' He continued to ponder this for a few seconds "do they not know our exact position" he thought out loud to himself. To many unknowns ran through his head. The only thing that was known was that they know we were here. Something at the back of his mind was nagging him though, maybe it was he couldn't believe they would have this information so has, but he wasn't a complete expert on alien technology as most people in the room. He then looked upon everyone in the room, he noticed the worry on their faces. Though this was far from why he was on this base.

He then began to straighten his overcoat and then his black tie, as he began to wait for Conway's or this ships next move, but Conway's moves did seem quite limited that this point. He just wished he could put a face to this ship, if he could he might be able to help change this situation around. there was only one thing he could make clear, that their goal seem to be taking the city in one piece. He just wished he had a bit more information on who or what they where dealing with.

<Tag All>

[Jacob "Jake" Oliver]

1421
Gate Ops
Meropis

The Captain had been standing in attendance since the commencement of, what many had now come to conclude, attack. He'd been in the control room, speaking with some of the techs within whom had been monitoring scanners and others screens of the like; lighthearted conversation breaking away when some sort of object had been picked up throttling it's way towards Meropis's location. From that point onward, an eerie silence had overcome the room. Even when countless members of the Meropis personnel arrived - the silence remained. A few words of advice here and there came from confident doctors and soldiers alike, as well as regular voices of reason counteracting anything too rash or impulsive. However, Captain Oliver knew well enough that the final decision came down to General Conway. And truth be told, he was thankful for that fact. The man had a way about him; not only through his confident physical exterior, but the demeanour he held within it. If anyone in Meropis had the right headspace for a situation like this one, it'd have been Conway.

With a stern look across his youthful features, the Captain's arms folded as he watched people move about the chaos and worry that they had created in one another. Whispers of the potential demolition of Meropis no doubt were copious in numbers. Though not from Jake. He stood, silent and thoughtful as he pondered on what may have to be done next. His eyes followed the few whom dispersed to the jumper bay to prepare for Conway's go-ahead to take action, only to drift over to Callaghan, and a few other notable faces gathered from the military division of the personnel. They all held a certain calmness about them. Something that the doctors of the expedition, at least mostly, seemed to be thereby, lacking. Though, he could understand why. Life or death situations were day-to-day for those armed and based in the field, but for those whom stayed predominantly base-bound and tended to the wounded, or researched the things brought back from beyond the walls of Meropis; this whole concept must have felt extremely foreign - perhaps as much so as the enemies that stared down on them.

Then came the shot. People flocking to the balconies, looking at as it throttled near to the city - but missing it no less. Jacob had moved for the door, but stayed within the cities walls, eyes following the shot from the ancient doorway. His ears rang with the screams of the fellow Meropis personnel. He felt his stomach churn at the idea of being so defenceless and so useless in the waiting game that they had no choice but to play for the betterment of things for the moment. But yet, a soldier always felt the need to be put to use. It was in their nature. And this situation proved it. Men, women and the like all began to burst into action; doing all that they could to make use of themselves, but Jacob couldn't help but smirk at the General's remark, and let out a brief chuckle.
"I think they want to play 'Battleship', sir." he added jokingly as he moved back from the balcony doorway, his eyes looking up at some of the soldiers who were positioning themselves.

For the moment, the Captain was going to stay put. Close to the General. Close to the official orders that would come. There was plenty of man power to cover the sections required, and thus, Captain Oliver knew he'd potentially be of more use to General Conway; especially when he found that operating under heat-of-the-moment instances always posed to be so much more affective.

<TAG ALL/GENERAL CONWAY>

[Deleted]

(formatting errors will be fixed when i get real computer access).

Captain Jones came into the control room and looked at who was assembled due to the claxon and flashing lights of the hostile proximity alert.

As he looked around, he noticed many officers, some of which he did not know. Some of which he did. Ah, the Jaffa was here. Achilles had heard of the Jaffa in his command. He approached her and Arson spoke in the normal Goa'uld tone.

"Jaffa... how are you getting along in this Tau'ri command?"

Once she noticed him talking to her, she would see a massive giant wearing a us military camoflauge uniform with both us army and us navy symbols abd insignia. On his chest she would see lots of regalia of military awards, and the name tape that says "Jones". Over the inform she would see tactical gear and equipment. Over that, the standard Tok'ra brown leather jacket open and unsecured. On his shoulders she'd see the silver eagle rank insignia of a naval captain. Strapped to his bback she'd see a Yu Jaffa sword that Achilles had taken from a fallen Jaffa in the field. On his left hand and wrist she would see the standard gold colored ribbon device of a system Lord. Finally, she would see, if she was paying attention, an energy pistol on his right hip.

Achilles walked over to the General after saying what he did to the Jaffa.

"Afternoon General. Is our new enemy back to to challenge us again?"

[Ahrima]

1420
Control Room
Meropis

It was unnerving to simply sit there and wait. However, Ahrima soon found that she didn't have to wait long. As the announcement came that the ship was taking up a position above the city, Ahrima began to wonder if their position had been revealed? Had the cloak malfunctioned? Or did these people simply have the technology to see past it. She wasn't able to contemplate the matter long as a deafening sound filled the room and shook the city. It was soon followed with a deafening explosion as something struck the woodland just upon the outskirts of Meropis. Everyone in the city began to scramble, taking up positions that they had practiced time and time again in drills, as they attempted to prepare for the worst.

"What are the chances of that being a random shot then?"

Ahrima's eyes turned towards General Conway. She could see that the man was already contemplating the possibilities. Yet, he hadn't given any additional orders when another voice spoke out, stealing her attention into a different direction.

"I think they want to play 'Battleship', sir."

'Play?' The Tau'ri were such strange individuals. Ahrima failed to see how this was a game of any sort. Perhaps this was the sarcasm that so many of them favored. She said nothing directly to Captain Oliver, but responded just the same.

"They poke the brush to see what lies within," Ahrima said aloud, "predator or prey." And while she couldn't be certain, it was quite possible. The ship could be poking about to see how Meropis would respond. With strength that they couldn't match, or reveal themselves as vulnerable to plunder.

"Jaffa... how are you getting along in this Tau'ri command?"

Hearing the familiar tone of the Goa'uld, Ahrima quickly turned to stare at the source. She saw a tall and fortified form, wearing the uniform of one of the Tau'ri's military units. A captain in the US Navy if she recalled correctly. She simply stared at him. Certainly this one was of the Tok'ra, but was he really any better than the rest? He was still a symbiont, dependent upon a host, and because of his host's position, had humans that it could order around. Part of Ahrima wondered if he'd spoken only to remind her of that fact. She then watched as he moved on towards the General. The Tau'ri seemed so willing to trust the Tok'ra. She hoped that blind faith wouldn't be their downfall.

<Tag All>

[Mikaere Glavish]

1422
Control Room
Meropis

One could argue that hell was breaking loose all around them.  Dr. Mikaere Gavish was more annoyed than anything.  People were leaping up from their stations and rushing to the balcony to get a glimpse of the ship looming overhead.  Honestly, had these people never had an alien ship threatening to incinerate them before?  And come to think of it, neither had Mik, but he was handling it much, much better than the rest of them.  His eyes looked up at the flashing likes and the annoying alarm.  Personally, he'd love nothing more than to turn the damn thing off, but the military and their regulations and protocols.  They were like kindergartners.

Gavish turned his eyes back at the computer and attempted to read the displays to make sure that projectile or whatever it had been from the ship hadn't interrupted any of Meropis' power flow.  If they lost enough power, they would lose the cloak, and that would do nothing besides paint a bull's eye for alien ship and whatever else it wanted to throw their way.  While running his diagnistics, something caught Gavish' attention.  "What is that?" he asked no one in particular.  However, the absence of anyone acknowledging his question quickly aggravated the scientist.  "Hey!  You!  Um... Montoya.. Montana... uh....?"  What was this kid's name?

"Martinez, sir?" responded the technician.

There wasn't any sort of attitude accompanying the response, but it quickly rubbed Gavish the wrong way. "Yeah, well keep it up, Martinez and it'll be Piss-ant from here on out," Gavish snapped. He then began to tap at the laptop screen displaying the pattern he'd noticed. "What is that?" he asked. The young tech stared at the screen a moment and slowly shook his head indicating that he didn't know. Gavish rolled his eyes. "What am I asking you for? Move, move!" As Gavish shooed the tech from his seat, he quickly occupied it and began to run program after program, his hands dancing across the keys of the computer until his eyes widened in enlightenment.

"The ship," he said. "It's coming from the ship!" His eyes moved around the room until they found General Conway. "General! Over here!" He called the man over, possibly ignoring any sense of protocol, but honestly he didn't give a damn. If the man was going to get his panties in a wad when he was clearly providing a service that no one else here could, then so be it. At least Gavish knew what to give the man for his birthday. "I think they're trying to communicate with us. See this here," said Gavish as his hand pointed at a wave length that kept repeating. "It's on a different frequency, certainly one that our conventional means of communication can't detect, even though it is likely much more efficient than what we traditionally use." His eyes looked up at the General, and he decided to forego the scientific explanation. "Anyway, I think I just may be able to filter it and resequence the transmission so that it's something we're more accustomed to." As Gavish spoke, his hands blurred over the keys, as he waited for the inevitable to happen: that he'd prove himself correct once more.

<Tag All>

[Plot Twist]

0920
Gate Ops
Atlantis
The Moon
Milky Way Galaxy

The two scientists labored over the controls in Stargate Operations. Months of planning had led to this day, first they had to successfully land the city-ship on the moon, now they had to re-activate the Pegasus Stargate. It would supersede the Earth gate automatically, all Rodney McKay and Radek Zelenka had to do was power up the ancient device, which had remained disconnected since Atlantis landed on Earth all that time ago.
"I didn't say I was complaining."
"No need," commented Zelenka, tapping furiously away at the laptop he had interfaced with the ancient control panel, "Rarely are your complaints so understated as to require identification."
"Look, I'm simply pointing out that there are advantages and disadvantages to having a base on the moon. Not just the lame cover story about a NASA built moon base that has suddenly appeared overnight but what about supply runs? Logistically this is a nightmare, we can't use the puddle jumpers unless we fly to Antarctica or Area 51, so we have to rely on some jumped up private company leeching off the U.S taxpayers!?" Rodney was, as usual, irate. Radek muttered something in Czech under his breath and continued working diligently, sometimes you just had to let Rodney win or you'd be there all day. They had been working on this for almost an hour now, the minute the city was settled he, Zelenka and their support team had been working on getting the gate back online. Stargate Command had suspended off-world operations for twenty four hours while they changed Stargates, they needed to get themselves up and operational again so that the teams could resume their work. With a flourish, Rodney finished entering the line of code he was working on and hit the enter key.
"And we are... Done! The Stargate is back online."


0925
Jumper Bay
Atlantis

Jumper Two landed lightly between jumpers one and three as the roof closed behind it, the sound of the metallic ramp clanging on the surface echoed around the docking chamber. The marine detail stood ready and waiting as the ramp had lowered in front of them, weapons raised and pointed toward the jumper's interior. Colonel John Sheppard and Major Evan Lorne each grabbed an arm and escorted their handcuffed payload out of the Jumper. Sheppard smirked as Todd glanced around the Jumper bay. The wraith had been allowed to retain only his long leather cloak and his freedom. He had been given a pardon on account of his alliance with the Atlantis expedition during the attack from the super hive. Sheppard and Lorne had retrieved him from Area 51 and flew, under cloak, back to Atlantis in it's new lunar position just in time to see her land.
"Ah, its so good to be back... My home away from home if you will." Todd smiled, if you could call it a smile. It was enough to send a shiver down your spine. John, however, was used to it. He tugged on Todd's arm to move him forward toward the automatic doors set to one side of the bay.
"Come on, we haven't got all day for you to do a little sight-seeing. The sooner we get things operational here, the sooner you can go back to whatever planet you came from." Todd smiled as the two men escorted him through the doorway and down the halls of the ancient city. He was in fairly good spirits as, afterall, the humans had assisted him in destroying a supposedly unbeatable hive ship that one of his underlings had stolen. He knew they would be true to their word and allow him to return to his own galaxy and he would see to it that the word would begin spreading among the other hives. Todd would be a force to be feared among the Wraith. Sheppard's ear communicator crackled to life, it was Rodney.
"Sheppard! It's McKay, we've got a serious problem..." Sheppard exchanged a look with Lorne, they both knew that tone of voice. What could possibly have gone wrong at this early stage? They had landed the city successfully, there certainly weren't any alien threats nearby and Rodney wasn't the sort to make jokes about running out of coffee beans. He pressed his finger to his communicator, opening a voice channel,
"What could it possibly be Rodney?" He said semi-sarcastically. He listened to the reply, "What do you mean!?" Sheppard let out a sigh of frustration, "Alright we're on our way, sit tight."
"Something the matter?" Asked Todd, in an almost sarcastic manner.
"Nothing for you to worry about, come on." He urged the Wraith forward and the three of them set out at double time speed down the hall toward Todd's holding cell.

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