Disclaimer - I don't own either Stargate Atlantis or Doctor Who.
Author's note - The Doctor in this story is the parallel universe Doctor voiced by David Collings in the Big Finish audio "Full Fathom Five," where the Doctor in that universe believed the ends justified the means and he would kill anyone without hesitation if they were responsible for committing evil acts.
Author's Note two - My thanks to Undomiel5 for letting me use the Furling's history from their story, Ripples in the Dark.
Author's note three - The Vanir were a group of Asgard who fled their galaxy in order to conduct their experiments into human physiology in a similar way to Loki's own experiments without the Asgard getting in the way. Like this version of the Doctor, they have an ends justify the means approach. Fenrir is a renegade Asgard scientist who was exiled from his home galaxy for accidentally blowing up a star in an inhabited system, destroying an entire civilisation. He appeared in the SGA novel Nightfall.
Enjoy, and please leave me feedback.
Vanir and Fenrir.
Changing history was not something he was used to doing, especially on a scale as large as this one, but he was willing to bend the Laws of Time here and there if the ends did justify the means, and in this instance they did and considering the stakes he was willing to alter history a little bit at key points. He wasn't like the Monk; he didn't travel through time and space, visiting points in time, and wantonly messing with time here and there believing he was "improving things," but he knew there was a line which separated what he did compared to the Monk's often misguided meddling which often caused more problems further down the line.
But as he watched the incredibly intricate hologram soak up the data on the crystal he'd brought with him in the TARDIS, the Doctor could honestly say this was going to be worthwhile in the long term, especially in a universe trying to recover from the effects of the Last Great Time War now the Time Lords were no longer around to enforce the rules, and with the help of the Asgard, the Doctor felt certain the humans from Earth would develop.
Of all the races which comprised the Alliance of Four Great Races, only the Asgard and the Furlings were the races he truly respected - while the Nox was a powerful, friendly race, their reclusiveness made it hard for the Doctor to take them seriously, though they had the power to take on the Goa'uld.
However, both the Asgard and the Furlings had numerous problems. The Asgard had been cursed with infertility caused by their cloning whereby they cloned themselves constantly until it caused genetic instabilities which made it impossible for the Asgard to reproduce. The Furling's problems were a little more straightforward. They were a nomadic race that settled in galaxies over the centuries before they moved on, gathering knowledge and developing their technology. Like the Asgard they had a proud military tradition, however, that hadn't been enough to stop them from being attacked by a powerful plague which had threatened to wipe them out, courtesy of a race jealous of their capabilities.
The Doctor was snapped out of his thoughts when Fenrir asked a question. Fenrir had been looking at his gift of undamaged Asgard DNA and eggs which he had collected after travelling back through time to a point in history before the Asgard's generations of cloning took their toll, and while they weren't a very emotive species, the Doctor could tell the disgraced Asgard scientist was both grateful and awed by the gift especially after he'd heard the news of what had happened to his people.
"Why are you doing this for me when my people could have used these eggs?" Fenrir asked in a voice filled with awe but in a suspicious tone.
The Doctor had expected the Asgard to ask that question at some point. "I had considered it, but there are moments in history which is fixed. The destruction of your people's world is one of them, Fenrir. I cannot change those moments. However I can bend some points in history, and this is one of them. Besides, you are not afraid of using direct action in order to get things done, even if the consequences led to your dismissal from your galaxy. Besides, you are not the only Asgard in existence. The Vanir are out there, in this galaxy."
"The Vanir?" Fenrir looked up with surprise. "They came to this galaxy?"
The Doctor nodded. "They did," he replied, "they came to this galaxy ten thousand years before you did, and they experimented on humans similar to Loki to find a way to cure themselves of their genetic degradation."
"Did they succeed?" Fenrir asked with clinical scientific interest, though the Doctor wondered just how much of it was interest because there was something else he couldn't identify….
"No, not completely," he answered, "they slowed it down rather than cured it. The Vanir came to this galaxy when the war between the Wraith and the Ancients was going on, providing them with the best cover imaginable. Their progress was slowed down when the Ancients just left the galaxy and the Wraith took over. The Wraith don't like it when they find races with technology equal or more advanced than their own, and by the time the Vanir realised what was going on, they were under attack. They lost their intergalactic ships in the first battle, and they didn't have the resources to build any more. They had no choice but to flee to a planet with a toxic atmosphere to survive, but the planet's environment has become harsh they can barely survive."
Fenrir was silent as he processed this knowledge. While the Asgard was busily thinking through what he'd just heard, the Doctor decided to tell the scientist what he had in mind.
"Fenrir, I know there is bad blood, as humans say, between the Ida Asgard and the Vanir, but they are still your race. They need you," the Doctor stated, making the Asgard scientist look up at him, "you can help them recover, and you can also provide them with the technology they need to fight off the Wraith while giving them the means to rebuild."
The Doctor had no intention of telling Fenrir he had already given the Vanir a collection of eggs for themselves. The Asgard scientist would discover that all by himself in due time.
"I have no quarrel with the Vanir, Doctor," the Asgard stated at last, "I always believed there should be a place for all branches of research for the survival of our race when our cloning technology caused more harm than good. But what do you mean they need technology to help them fight off the Wraith?"
The Doctor knew he had to be careful here. "My knowledge is scientific fact taken from travelling into the future. Not long from now, the Vanir are going to be looking out in the galaxy for a means to destroy the Wraith once and for all, not that many would miss them. They will find an Ancient device which creates an interference pattern which will destabilise the hyperspace conduits the Wraith open to travel through the galaxy."
Fenrir's Asgard intellect caught on with the principle of the device even though he had never seen it. "That device would definitely cripple the Wraith, Doctor, but why did not the Ancients use it?"
The Doctor sighed. "The device had an unforeseen side effect; its interference caused Stargates to overload and explode with enough force to devastate whole continents. Instead of deactivating the gates while the Wraith were crippled and hopeless, the Ancients just shut them down and took no further action. Typical of their way of thinking, really."
"You do not respect the Ancients, Doctor," Fenrir noted.
"I don't. I admire some of their achievements; its difficult to stabilise wormholes, for instance, so the development of a network of small wormholes that allow for interplanetary travel is something to be admired, but the Ancients have a truly cowardly habit of running away from their problems instead of facing up to them. They did this with their own cousins who developed a belief they should be worshipped and were driven out because they didn't agree, forcing them to travel to the Milky Way galaxy, and from there their cousins followed and sent a devastating plague, forcing the Ancients came here. They got involved in a war with the Wraith, but instead of giving their weapons technology more credence and actually using them for a prolonged period of time, they just locked them away."
Fenrir's face became grimmer. "You mean the Asurans, the human-form Replicators?" he asked angrily.
The Doctor sighed under his breath. Telling Fenrir there was another race of Replicators had not been a task he had wanted to do, however, he felt he had to do so because there was a chance Fenrir and the Vanir would encounter them when they got out into the galaxy. The Asgard had not been happy, to put it mildly, but compared to being told now instead of the secret hanging over him, the reaction had been more minimal.
"Yes," the Doctor replied, "Fenrir, I know you hate the Replicators, but don't forget this particular branch is not the same as the one you're used to. And besides, I have given you the means to reprogram them to the point they will be able to destroy the Wraith and only the Wraith."
"I do not want anything to do with them, Doctor."
"I know, and I understand," the Doctor said, and he was telling the truth there. He knew there was just no chance of him working with the Daleks or the Cybermen, but this was different. He had only included the means of programming the Asurans if he needed it, but truthfully the Doctor doubted it was going to happen. "However, the humans in this galaxy are not renowned for their common sense, but if you see a chance to use the Replicators in the fight, they may make excellent foot soldiers while your race rebuilds."
The Doctor quickly changed the subject - he knew the Vanir probably wouldn't care much for the story of the Asgard-Replicator war, but he knew Fenrir wouldn't want anything to do with them even if this was a different kind of Replicator than the race he was used to, but he could see the Vanir taking the information about the Asurans and using it for themselves - and he decided to ask something else, "What do you plan to do with the undamaged Asgard DNA you've just received? Do you plan on meeting with the Vanir since they will need your more advanced technology in order to survive?"
It was a gamble, he knew that. But with there being only a few Asgard left in the whole of the universe, Fenrir would definitely need help but if he decided not to combine his knowledge with that of the Vanir's, it could be catastrophic. However, the Doctor had no intention of letting this renegade Asgard scientist just take his cache of undamaged Asgard DNA and hightail it to a different galaxy to begin again.
The Doctor had no intention of letting that happen. He wanted the last of the Ida Asgard to combine with the Pegasus Asgard, knowing that Fenrir's research into Wraith DNA and the Vanir's own research into human physiology could create an Asgard race that was stronger than the previous version, and the universe needed all the help it could get if it was to survive.
He used the Power of Creation all Time Lords were capable of harnessing in order to ensure Fenrir decided to go to the Vanir, changing history ever so slightly. He didn't want Fenrir to leave.
"I plan to aid my remaining kin, Doctor," the Asgard scientist finally answered.
The Doctor nodded, closing off his expression of relief. It was hard being in the presence of Fenrir as it was, seeing how the Asgard scientist had created a weapon similar to the Hand of Omega and turned stars into black holes to eradicate the threat of the Replicators which had led to his exile, though ironically the Asgard would come to use it themselves to destroy their original world.
While the Doctor would not hesitate to prevent individuals or species from developing such technology, he wasn't particularly worried about the Asgard since the alien race were far more civilised than others, and even Fenrir would not want to go out into the cosmos to destroy whole worlds. Neither would the Vanir. They had left their own home galaxy in order to survive, and while they would probably want to use the collapsar device to help them defeat the Wraith, the Doctor had no problem with that, since he knew they would not use it to conquer the whole universe.
"Why do you want me to meet with the Vanir, Doctor?" Fenrir's question snapped the Doctor out of his thoughts and the Time Lord focused on the conversation once more.
"I want you to meet with the Vanir because you are all the other has, Fenrir," the Doctor replied, "and your approaches to problems, the ends justify the means is more realistic than the other Asgard. They had the technology to prevent the spread of the Replicators, but they didn't use it until the last minute. You and the Vanir can teach your next generations they should approach things with a more deeper look. I said to you a moment ago the Vanir would use an Ancient weapon to fight against the Wraith; I don't particularly care if the device is used or not since it can cause a great deal of damage for the Wraith, and make it very hard for them to continue with their operations, but I know of a way to isolate the Stargates from the interference."
The Doctor paused to let the hologram of the Asgard absorb this information before he added, "Besides, isn't it better to rebuild when you are in a stronger position?"
Fenrir had to agree with the logic, however, he had something else on his mind. "What about the Earth humans?" he asked.
"What about them?"
"If, as you've stated, the humans were my people's allies. Should we not ally ourselves with them?" Fenrir asked.
"That's up to you, but personally I think it would be a good idea for you and the Vanir to be allied with them since they owe the Asgard people a great deal," the Doctor replied, wondering for a moment if he should comment the Asgard had given the human race the entirety of Asgard knowledge and technology, though it would take centuries for them to learn how to use it.
He decided to tell both the Vanir and Fenrir when the two met for the first time, knowing that sooner or later if they did meet the humans from Earth, they would discover Asgard technology in the beaming and hyperdrive technologies.
When the Aegis was repaired courtesy of Asgard technology salvaged from an O'Neil class ship though the Doctor had been concerned the technology would be too advanced for the Aegis, though it was good enough for this, Fenrir was ready to leave. The Doctor had already stowed his TARDIS onboard the Asgard ship, but he had also travelled into the future to remove the Stargate from the planet in order to stop the Wraith darts from flying through and culling the people of Heruun, though the Heruuni would not realise until it was too late their protector had left them.
The Doctor also placed a device that would seal the planet inside a temporal phase shift in order for the Heruuni to grow as a people, though it would only activate after three culls. The Heruuni were a primitive people who didn't deserve their rich culture being destroyed, particularly by vampiric parasites like the Wraith, but the Doctor felt it would be a good idea for them to grow as a people.
With the Aegis gone and the Stargate removed after only three culls, the Doctor was hoping the people on the planet would grow to become a technically advanced civilisation, but he wasn't planning on helping them beyond that. The temporal phase shift he had planned to use to protect the planet was bridged to let him come and go, but the Doctor had no particular desire to visit the planet at this point.
As the Aegis passed through the hyperspace corridor to the toxic planet the Vanir were located on, the Doctor had time to think. He had already previously met the Vanir when he had given them their own supply of undamaged eggs they could use to rebuild the Asgard people, but he hadn't told them anything about Fenrir. He was going to let Fenrir open a dialogue with the Vanir, though he would step in if the meeting didn't go well. Personally, the Doctor had no idea how the Vanir would react when they encountered, all of a sudden after 10,000 years of isolation, another Asgard, and exile from their home galaxy after they themselves had been rejected to the status of refugees after the Wraith had finished with their intergalactic ships.
The trip through the hyperspace conduit wasn't a long one, and eventually, the Aegis left hyperspace and entered a star system with only one planet with a toxic atmosphere. The moment the Doctor spotted the hideous ashen grey world, he could see how the Vanir had managed to survive out here for so many centuries.
Fenrir's voice echoed around the chamber. "I am sending the Vanir messages on all Asgard frequencies, Doctor," the Asgard scientist said, "and I have detected the presence of small satellites scattered around the solar system hidden into subspace."
The Doctor didn't comment on that. With how they had been hunted and viciously assaulted in the past, it was not that surprising the surviving Vanir had taken precautions to safeguard the rest of their people.
"I am also informing them about the status of the rest of our kin, and how I have enough eggs and Wraith genetic material to help rebuild our race and make us strong enough to resist the issues of cloning again," Fenrir went on, though the Doctor only hoped the Asgard scientist wasn't thinking about continuing with the cloning mess that his people had fallen into, but before he could say anything about races not learning from their mistakes, Fenrir suddenly announced, "I am receiving a transmission. A ship is leaving the surface of the planet and is coming to meet with us. They will transport a representative to speak with us."
The Doctor nodded and waited. A few minutes later a small spacecraft lifted off of the planet, heading towards the Aegis. The screen immediately magnified though the Doctor wasn't sure if Fenrir had done it for his visitors' benefit or for his own. It didn't matter.
"I am beaming them onboard," Fenrir said.
There were three flashes of light as the Asgard beaming technology transported three Vanir onboard wearing large dark red segmented armoured suits.
The Vanir leader focused on the Doctor at once. "Why are you here, Doctor?"
Fenrir's hologram turned to face the Time Lord at once. "You have encountered the Vanir already?" he asked with surprise, though there was another emotion there as well.
"Yes," the Doctor didn't bother denying it, "I wasn't completely honest with you, Fenrir. I gave the Vanir Asgard DNA and eggs to rebuild their race, but you have access to more advanced technology, and you've also worked out how to prevent your race from suffering genetically by using Wraith DNA while the Vanir have made progress with human physiology. While the pair of you might be able to rebuild separately, together you can rebuild into a stronger race."
Both Asgard factions accepted the logic behind his words, though truthfully the Doctor didn't care if the Asgard liked the deception or not. It was for the greater good they worked together. The Vanir may not have the ability to reproduce any more than the Asgard Fenrir had left in the Ida galaxy had, but their experience in this galaxy was definitely important in the future. The universe needed races which took an 'ends justify the means' approach, and with his fellow Asgard Fenrir might be able to put aside any residual guilt about destroying that solar system.
Fenrir needed the Vanir as well. They were the only Asgard left in the universe, and they had experience with a slightly more superior cloning method that had slowed down the degeneration problem which Loki and Heimdall had never been able to do with their own experiments. Besides, although he had his drone workers, Fenrir had no way of getting out of the stasis booth he was locked inside. He needed some expert help with getting out, and the Doctor doubted very much the Vanir would really care that Fenrir had destroyed a solar system in order to test a weapon which could have destroyed the Replicators. They were that type of group.
"Look, you both need help to rebuild your race, and although the pair of you can do that separately, don't forget you both have your own problems. Fenrir, you are currently locked in that stasis booth and you cannot get out without killing yourself, and you don't have the resources needed to clone a new body for yourself in time," the Doctor said, putting his cards on the table before he turned to the Vanir who were inscrutable inside their armoured suits. The Doctor knew from his studies the Vanir had copied the design of a typical Ancient design that wasn't really known, but they had augmented it with whatever Asgard technology they could find, however, their resources had meant they didn't have the means of really putting their intellects to work, and developing ships that were strong enough to beat the Wraith.
Fenrir's hologram stepped closer towards the suits that contained three members of his race. "I am willing to provide you with more advanced Asgard technology and my research into Wraith physiology in order to help ensure the next clones are more stable."
It would take the Asgard time to make use of the eggs and the genetic material he had retrieved from the past, but when they did the Asgard would hopefully be either out of this galaxy and back in their own galaxy, or the Wraith would be destroyed.
"I also possess a weapon which is capable of destroying the Wraith en-masse," Fenrir added, attracting the attention of the Vanir.
"What is the nature of this weapon?" the Vanir leader asked curiously, though the emotion was hidden by the vocal processor of his armour.
"It is a device which will age the core of a star, collapsing it until it became a black hole. It is based on our knowledge of transportation and temporal physics. I designed and tested the device, however, I was exiled due to testing it on a star of a populated system," Fenrir replied, his voice tinged with very real guilt over what had happened, though the Doctor knew the Asgard was not sorry he had constructed a weapon of mass destruction.
The Vanir were instantly interested. "A weapon capable of turning a star into a black hole? That could have profound tactical advantages."
Fenrir nodded, though the Doctor could tell from the body language the hologram was showing he wasn't comfortable with the subject. "Yes. However, I wish to know what your plans for the Wraith are."
"Our planet is dying. It can no longer sustain us. When we arrived here 10,000 years ago, we were able to survive with simple breathing apparatus. Over the centuries the environment has become immensely harsh, and now our armoured exoskeletons cannot protect us, though the planet has met our needs and has supplied us with enough industrial materials to sustain us," the Vanir leader replied, "we plan to leave the planet within the year while we prepare our ships for scouting missions to determine if there are any facilities left in the galaxy left behind by the Ancients."
"There is," the Doctor interrupted, drawing the attention of the Asgard, "there is a facility out there with a device which broadcasts subspace interference throughout the galaxy, which destabilises the subspace channels the Wraith ships use. However since many races use the Stargates, they are at risk."
"How?"
"The device will cause the Stargates to explode," the Doctor replied, "I know you don't use them, but many others do. I have designed a means that will shut the network down. In the meantime, you can use Fenrir's weapon to destroy them. And I also have the means of activating the device, and I have a sample of the Ancient gene needed to make it work while isolating the device from the Stargate network."
"The device causes the Wraith hyperdrives to fail?" one of the Vanir spoke.
"Yes."
The Vanir turned to his leader. "We received communications during the latter stages of the Ancient-Wraith war about a number of Wraith ships being destroyed, however, those reports halted."
"That was the device in question," the Doctor confirmed, "the Ancients, in their infinite wisdom, cared more for their Stargates instead of the greater good of the galaxy. They could have devastated the Wraith. Instead, they were more concerned with their means of moving through the galaxy. They only needed to make a few tests to find out what the problem was an isolate the network from there, instead they didn't do it. I have already dealt with one mess the Ancients ran away from many centuries ago, but the Wraith will not be missed."
"No, they will not," the Vanir leader agreed. "You do not seem to respect the Ancients, Doctor."
"I respect their technological and scientific achievements. That is as far as my respect goes for them," the Doctor replied, "however, while there were a few Ancients I have respected - the inventor of the Stargates, and the Ancient scientist Janus who developed this device in the first place - the rest of them seemed to be content to run from their problems. That isn't the way to go."
He knew he was being slightly hypocritical there. He had been running for years, and his reasons were highlighted when he had looked into the whole of time and space through the Untempered Schism, however, he knew better than to run from the problem of an alien invasion or stopping scientists from playing games with genetics, or cybernetics.
"Right," the Doctor clapped his hands, signifying this was the end of the subject. "I shall give you the key to activating the device, and the Ancient gene to switch it on."
Later in his TARDIS, the Doctor carefully started the dematerialisation procedure, and as he closed his eyes to savour the sounds of his ship leaving the Vanir's system, he couldn't help but reflect on how well this had gone, how peaceful it had been; while he had reservations about letting anyone use a device like the one Fenrir had devised to destroy the Replicators, he knew the Vanir and the renegade Asgard scientist would not use it in the same manner as the Goa'uld, who would have used the device to destroy everything they liked, providing, of course, the System Lords didn't fall over themselves to use the technology to destroy each other. Not exactly a waste, in his mind.
The Doctor leaned over the controls as he looked at the list he had written on a notepad. Picking up the nearby pen, he carefully went through the list, and he began to tick them off
Destroy the Ori with the Sangraal, and the Ark of Truth.
Recover Asgard DNA and eggs, save Fenrir and the Vanir.
Provide the Genii with help.
Make sure the Aschen do not come back.
The last two would be difficult. The Doctor had already worked on changing history so then the Atlantis expedition did not turn the Genii away, that way the two groups could work together in peace while they took advantage of each others resources; the Atlantis expedition would be able to interact with the Genii and give them the means of devising stable and powerful nuclear weapons to fight the Wraith, while they also took advantage of the Genii's spy network. The Genii would also have the opportunity to study Ancient technology, and develop from there. However, the Doctor also planned on aiding the Genii and giving them help in some areas.
The Aschen…. The Doctor was more than aware of the rather potent timeline where the Aschen developed a bioweapon which would become so virulent it would destroy the majority of the human race on Earth, and spread throughout the Milky Way. The Doctor planned on making sure it never happened, by any means necessary.
Until the next installment...