Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis.

Stargate Atlantis

Earth Under Siege: Armageddon

Prologue

M35-117, Pegasus Galaxy
November 20, 2008 9:47 p.m.

Ominous clouds swathed the sky, unleashing a violent tempest that churned the ocean into a frothing frenzy. Jagged branches of lightning relentlessly speared the roiling surface while gale-force winds hurled spray upward to mingle with the hammering icy rain. Peals of deafening thunder rent the air, their echoes creating a perpetual growl. Behind its protective shield, the Ancient city of Atlantis remained unaffected by the storm.

Suddenly, chaos erupted as a brilliant bolt of energy impacted the invisible barrier, momentarily overloaded the emitters, and grazed the looming operations tower. Power fluctuated slightly before stabilizing, the strategically placed lightning rods diverting the lethal current to the water. The shield was being raised when five shafts of electricity struck the city's control room simultaneously. Arcs of crackling energy engulfed the spire, leaping to adjacent areas of Atlantis. In less than a minute, all power was disrupted, plunging the floating metropolis into complete darkness-at the exact moment a hyperspace window was opened and a vessel emerged that would have sent technicians scurrying had the deep-space sensors been online.

"Commander, scans are revealing that Atlantis has experienced wide-spread outages," a Wraith announced, reading data streaming on a screen near his console. Additional information was presented via the telepathic link he and the Hive ship shared. "Their shield is down along with weapons, communications, and sensors. Pockets of minimal power are scattered across the city, centering on the operations tower." He shifted his attention to his superior, who was standing motionless in the middle of the bridge. "What are your orders?"

"Transmit the message I recorded earlier," Todd replied, slitted yellow eyes scanning a display depicting surrounding space, searching for any indications of other ships. A series of beeps confirmed that his order had been followed. Five minutes went by without a response, forcing the Wraith commander to make a critical decision. "Plot a route to the mainland, thrusters at full. Remain three kilometers off the city's perimeter in case they fail to receive our communique as we pass them."

"Yes, Commander." The Wraith on the starboard side of the bridge shut his eyes, mentally edging the massive Hive ship into M35-117's turbulent atmosphere, occasionally firing the thrusters to level it. Slowly, it descended toward the surface, flickers of lightning illuminating it against the seething sky.

Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy
November 20, 2008 9:59 p.m.

"Swearing isn't going to accomplish anything, Rodney. Besides, what could happen that hasn't already? A meteor shower?"

Annoyed, Rodney McKay cast a glare in Radek Zelenka's direction, fingers drumming impatiently next to his laptop. Every code he had entered in hopes of restoring even partial power had encountered a dead end. Determined, the Canadian chief scientist typed a string of numbers to be greeted with the same previous result: an error message. "It's no use, the entire grid's gone bonkers, including the grounding stations which had taken a beating during our little jaunt across the cosmos. Those lightning blasts shorted circuits all over the city to the point where our puny generators are scarcely enough to light the corridors. We have one of two viable options. Either we manually reboot the system and pray another fork doesn't connect, or we can wait until morning. Personally, I say we chance it. Right now, Atlantis is basically a giant metal object bobbing-" A shrill scream interrupted McKay's speech. Heart pounding, he whipped his neck to glimpse a woman frozen in front of the conference room, wildly gesturing beyond the rain-streaked windows. Narrowing his eyes, the Canadian looked into the gloom, but could not see what had spooked her. "I must be blind 'cause I-Holy Mother of God!"

"Indeed," Zelenka agreed, studying the spectacle gliding past the gate room's tall panes of glass and tapping his earpiece. "Colonel Sheppard, please have your team report to the operations tower ASAP. You're going to want to witness this." Silence gripped the control room, gazes locked on the Hive ship, its organic hull studded with dots of white, barely two miles away. Ignoring McKay's panicked pacing, the Czech scientist hooked his own computer into the communications console. Accessing its database, he noticed a blinking icon simply titled ATLANTIS in Ancient text. Zelenka grabbed his colleague's arm just as Colonel John Sheppard appeared, Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex on his heels. Bringing up the rear was Atlantis's panting expedition leader, Richard Woolsey. Calmly, the Czech indicated the file, then pointed to the Wraith vessel outside. The colonel nodded tersely and he moved to double-click the icon. Threads of electricity abruptly shot from the control room's dozen active consoles, driving technicians to seek safety. One strand wrapped around the laptop and fused its components, filling the air with the scent of melted insulation.

"I can only think of one Wraith who'd chance transmitting a message in this lousy weather," Woolsey remarked, casting Teyla a cursory glance, her nod confirming his suspicions. Swiftly intercepting a squad of armed Marines, he lifted a hand to halt them. "Hang on, boys. Major Lorne, kindly inform the other teams to leave Todd's ship alone. I want you to take a jumper to the mainland and escort him back here. Oh, and no unfortunate 'accidents'." Terminating the link, the expedition leader pivoted to regard the charred computer meaningfully. McKay understood and shook his head, expression impassive. "Guess we have to wait and see what he was trying to tell us."

"It'd better be good," Ronon said darkly, checking the charge on his holstered blaster. Sheppard mimicked him, sliding a fresh ammo clip into his service pistol. Time crawled by, an oppressive atmosphere cloaking the room. Nervous, McKay fiddled with the Stargate's DHD, absently pressing buttons until Teyla gently stopped him, both of whom the former Satedan Runner paid scant attention. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Ronon abandoned leaning against the wall, brown eyes fixed on an approaching group of people. Advancing, he stuck his face defiantly in Todd's, arms folded. "We lost your message so why don't you enlighten us?"

Acting as though no one was addressing him, the Wraith commander tossed an oval device to McKay. Startled, the Canadian clumsily caught it, marveling at its heaviness. Brow furrowed, he touched various points, nearly dropping it when a section snapped aside to uncover a pattern of sunken holes. Todd retrieved the object, went to the deep-space sensors, and inserted it into a slot on its back. Flickering once, the monitor came to life, showing a split-screen of Atlantis and a four light-year sphere around M35-117 that had been scanned by orbiting sensors. "During a recent culling, we discovered unexplainable energy signatures emanating from the planet's surface. Naturally, I dispatched Darts and ground soldiers to search for any concealed weapons the natives were harboring. Upon returning, they bore devices that my scientists determined to be scaled down versions of Ancient ZPMs." Placing six more objects on the console, Todd surveyed the monitor before him intently. "Can you increase the overall range of your sensors? I advise you do so, though I fear you will be limited on what you see."

"Okay," McKay said, reaching past the Wraith commander-blanking out the images crowding his mind-and tapped the LCD screen, extending the sensors' distance. "Going to the maximum of nine light-years...What the hell?" Total quiet dominated the control room, all gazes riveted on the monitor. A particularly loud crack of thunder sounded above them, jolting everyone back to reality. Rattled, the chief scientist made the sensors ignite their small thrusters to move from the planet, swallowing as ruby dots continued to swell on the picture's upper right-hand corner, accompanied by lines of data. "Preliminary estimates indicate four hundred ships, not counting those beyond scanning range. We're talking the number of vessels used in the Ancient/Wraith war ten thousand years ago, right where the Intergalactic Gate Bridge was." Chalk-white, McKay looked at Woolsey. "It's an invasion force...to Earth."

"My office, now," the expedition leader grated chillingly, turning to stride toward his glass-walled office, the others trailing him. Locking the door, he rounded on Todd, face diffused with blood. "How long were you going to keep this to yourself, Todd? Days, weeks, months? Or perhaps a year from now, when you waltz here, saying, 'By the way, Earth's been added to our list of feeding grounds'?" Expression so furious that Sheppard half-expected him to shove the Wraith commander in the chest, Woolsey stalked to his desk, arms laced tightly, glower raking those present. "All right, I've got an idea. Dr. McKay, go activate the Stargate and dial SGC. Tell General Landry the situation so he has ample time to construct some type of fleet, even if it means contacting Earth's allies. Assuming, of course, that it hasn't been conquered already."

"Warning your people will make little difference," Todd said, his tone halting McKay with a hand on the office's glass door. "No matter how many vessels you gather, the Wraith armada will severely outmatch you. Almost ten thousand ships-both Hives and Cruisers-are preparing to assault your planet." Woolsey choked, stunned by the sheer numbers. "Some of my fellow commanders have grown...suspicious toward me as of late, which is why I did not come to you sooner. The odds are not in our favor, but I felt obliged to give you as much notice as possible."

Beside Ronon, Teyla stiffened at the same moment the Wraith commander hissed, her stare unfocused. "Five-no, six-Hives have exited hyperspace, on a direct course for the planet." In the control room, technicians scrambled frantically, windmilling their arms. The Athosian woman followed Sheppard from Woolsey's pristine office, across the catwalk, and into the raging storm relentlessly lashing Atlantis. "Look, over there!" Six pairs of eyes squinted against the biting rain to glimpse a set of weapons fire-one from the clouds, the other below the horizon. A large blossom of light colored the sky, quickly extinguished. Experiencing a twang of sympathy, Teyla silently bowed her head.

"Guess you can't get a break, huh?" Sheppard shouted, black hair plastered to his scalp. "That's, what, two Hives in three-" McKay's wild yell snapped the colonel's neck around, jaw going slack, the sentence dying on his lips. Jesus Christ! Radek, hurry up and raise the friggin' shield, man! Seemingly in response to his thought, the familiar, comforting dome began to materialize, though it did not hide the threat bearing down on them.

Hugging the foaming waves, five Wraith Hives approached the Ancient city in a V formation. One ascended steeply, positioning itself above the operations tower while the rest surrounded Atlantis. Military and civilian personnel flocked onto neighboring balconies, knowing there was nothing they could do, yet were compelled to watch their adversaries advance. Despite the cacophony of thunder, the vessels' powerful sublight engines reverberated in the air.

Todd scrutinized the craft hovering aloft the tapering spire, brow furrowed. "Never have I seen the Wraith maneuver in this manner." A port opened on the Hive's bottom, big enough to admit a trio of jumpers flying close to one another. Suddenly, a brilliant beam lanced down, entirely swallowing the tower and spreading throughout Atlantis, transforming it into a glowing structure. A minute passed before the ray was doused, leaving the city's residents-along with Todd-baffled. Faint shimmering drew everyone's attention to the fact that the shield was collapsing, dropping to the ocean.

"Oh, great," McKay groaned, wringing his dripping hands. "Perfect, now the Wraith have a damn neutralizing device of some sort. Those mini-ZPMs Todd brought us? Completely useless, their circuitry suppressed for God knows how long. We are sitting ducks just waiting for them to make the next move, which would be in the in the shape of DARTS! You guys stay out here if you want, I'm gonna-Son of a bitch!" Violently, the Canadian beat on the revolving doors, to no avail. Pivoting, he latched his eyes on the Wraith Hive and its swarm of tiny Darts scarcely a half-mile from Atlantis. "Hate to spoil the fun, folks, but we're royally screwed. Better pray to the Big Man upstairs, even if you don't believe in Him."

"Don't chicken out on us, Rodney," Sheppard said, ears ringing as the sleek pointed ships whined around them, numbers well into the hundreds. "Why aren't they scooping people with their culling beams? They hoping we'll run up a white flag or something? Hang on, company's a-comin', twelve o'clock." Knifing toward the group was a cluster of Darts, their sharp angles accentuated by a strobe of lightning. "Least we can go out shooting." Freeing his pistol, the colonel adopted a fighting stance, Ronon copying him.

"Colonel Sheppard, Ronon, get rid of those," Woolsey demanded, meeting their incredulous glances unflinchingly. Seeing that he was serious, they flung their weapons over the railing to plunge into the water. "You didn't need to do that. Anyway, I think they found what they were searching for, because they're retreating." Engines screaming, the small craft were indeed withdrawing to the motionless Hives. Trembling, Atlantis's expedition leader expelled a held breath and turned, glasses rain-splattered. "Maybe they're a part of Todd's alliance, who've-" His words were interrupted when two Darts, their trajectories masked by the thrum of the massive vessels, hurled overhead, culling beams depositing a dozen Wraith on either end of the balcony. "I could be wrong."

A male Wraith analyzed his cornered quarry while drones blocked all revenues of escape. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Todd, mouth twisted in a feral snarl. "So, traitor, the human city is where you slunk, is it? Very well, you and your 'friends' will be spending the next few days together. First, we must secure what we set out to claim ten millennia ago: Atlantis." Pressing a button on his wrist, he summoned the Darts of the six Hives, even the one in orbit. Catching Mckay's gaze, the Wraith flashed a dangerous grin, revealing fangs. "The invasion of your planet is about to commence."

"Earth'll never surrender to the Wraith," Sheppard said hotly, aware that silvery bands were combing the city amid terrified cries. "Somehow, they'll drive you back to the Pegasus Galaxy for good." Laughing cruelly, the Wraith shook his head as the broad culling beams swept the length of the balcony, storing them in their buffers until they were to be rematerialized. Quickly, Atlantis's population diminished, no one certain of their fate.

In less than ten minutes, the Hives lumbered into the clouds laden with the Ancient city's four hundred inhabitants. Once beyond M35-117's atmosphere, they opened hyperspace windows and blazed for a predetermined location.

Former site of the Intergalactic Gate Bridge, Pegasus Galaxy
November 20, 2008 10:24 p.m.

Nearly ninety-five hundred vessels dominated a region of space extending one hundred light-years in every direction, clumped in nine separate groups. Deep within the bowels of each craft was an adapted Asgard wormhole drive tied directly into their engines, allowing them to traverse 700,000 light-years in a single jump.

At an order conveyed through the Wraiths' telepathic network, wormhole conduits appeared, creating a rippling wall of blue. Gliding forward simultaneously, the armada vanished into the shimmering event horizon. When the final Cruiser had been engulfed, it shrank from existence, leaving an expanse of twinkling stars.

The invasion of Earth was under way after three long years.