Macara woke up, groggily, in a Wraith holding cell. He wasn't in a cocoon yet, which was good. That meant there was a chance to get out.
The others were still knocked out, but were beginning to stir.
Macara felt for his side arm; gone, of course; he really hadn't expected it to be there. He then reached into his boot.
The Fairburn-Sykes was still there.
Hailey was beginning to sit up when Macara pulled the knife out.
"..They...didn't search you?"
"Apparently not. Or else, the knife isn't something they thought they had to worry about." the major replied. "Wake the others if you can. I'm getting us out of here."
Hailey shook her head. "How, exactly?"
"Well, I read a mission report where Ronon threw knives at that control panel," Macara pointed with his own. "I'm not any good at that tactic, but I have another."
"Feel like telling me?"
"Not really. You won't like it. It involves waiting."
"Not like we have much else to do." Hailey replied, raising her eyes.
Macara grinned. "Right, this is the plan..."
It was only thirty five minutes before the Wraith came. A major entered the cell, followed by two Drones. The Major had a stun pistol, the drones the rifle version. Neither Drone paid much attention, in absolutely no doubt as to who was inferior.
Macara stood, facing him. The Wraith sneered and reached for Hailey instead.
Macara's arm moved like lightning, burying the commando knife in the Wraith's throat. The aliens' arms involuntarily went to the wound, and Macara grabbed the stunner in mid fall. He put the first Drone down too, before the second wraith stunned him. The major dropped to the floor, but not before the pistol fell to the ground.
At Fujiwara's feet. The EWO grabbed it and brought the second drone down with a 'thud'
The wraith officer lay choking, glaring. Fujiwara stunned him and then slit the throat back to the bone. He repeated this twice more, ensuring the Wraith weren't getting up.
"Grab Macara and let's go." Hailey said, picking up a stun rifle.
The little group moved away, dragging the unconscious major with them.
"We can't get a trace on where they gone," Trang said unhappily. "They just vanished."
The major was sitting in the conference room with McGregor, Carter, McKay and Lorne.
"Hell!" McGregor roared. "I will not leave them to the enemy,"
"It's worse," McKay said. "They've got the 410."
"Technology can be replaced..." McGregor said before the realisation hit him..."Shit. Beaming tech. The 401's have beaming tech."
"Exactly. One more reason why the military shouldn't get everything they want," McKay crooned, earning him a few glares in return. "The Wraith now have access to our technology. We are, people, in trouble."
"Call SGC. Ask them for a ship. Any ship. We need help. This has now become more than a rescue of personnel. We cannot allow the Wraith to utilise this technology." McGregor said. "Get the Fraiser ready to go, ASAP. We need to start hunting."
"But where?" Carter asked.
"Anywhere we have made Wraith contact since the Asurans went under."
"That's a lot of worlds, sir. " Lorne said carefully. "It'll take time."
"Then the sooner we begin, the better." McGregor snarled.
"Oh, no..." Hailey said. The 401 was crawling with Wraith scientists. They were examining the whole ship.
The guns and missiles had been removed, and the rear hatch had been removed too.
"What do they want it for?" Simpson asked.
"...the...beaming tech..." Macara said, starting to come round again.
"We need to get out of here. And we can't let them have it." Hailey said, sounding determined.
"Well, we have the stun grenades and some stunners..." Fujiwara said. "Let's take them."
Macara nodded. He was inclined to agree.
"This is about more than E&E now. We have to destroy that 401, or get it out of here."
Hailey shook her head. "We're flight crew major, not special forces."
"Neither am I. But I have a plan."
"Oh, you're just full of them today, aren't you..." Simpson muttered.
The Wraith drone looked up from the vehicle and saw the human woman, almost one hundred metres away, waving. With a snarl, it gestured to its comrades and three quarters of the Wraith grabbed their weapons and made chase as the woman disappeared down a corridor, leaving the scientists alone with the human vehicle.
Scant second s passed before dark shapes materialised from the mist of the Dart bay, firing stunners as they came. The first two scientists dropped. A third was able to turn and strike one of the dark shapes in the midriff, causing a grunt of pain and a crack of bones. That Wraith was dropped moments later.
A final scientist ran to a console and managed to trigger the alarm before Macara stunned him.
"In the 401, move," he called, helping the injured Fujiwara inside.
Hailey was already starting pre-flight checks, when Macara bellowed from the rear.
"Forget that, just move us!"
Cursing under her breath, Hailey launched the 401 into the air and then sped for the opening of the Dart bay.
"Let's hope were on a planet, cause we have no pressure back here," Macara called.
Hailey swore again, and burst out through the hangar bay doors.
Below them, trees and mountains spread out to the horizon. They were on a planet. Heavily forested by all views. There was a large mountain range a dozen miles away. Macara recongised them almost at once.
"We're on the world where we found the Wraith base. Look, there it is, at the side of the Hive!" he shouted over the roar of the engines. "There is a gate over that way. Fly low and fast. We might just make it!"
Hailey just nodded, gripping the controls fiercely.
The first energy blob flew by, and the unmistakable sound of Darts could be heard.
"That was fast!" Simpson shouted for the co-pilot's chair.
"Well, we were in their hangar bay, after all. What would you expect?" Macara muttered, ever the sarcastic one.
Hailey ignored them both, went low, only a few hundred feet off the deck. She jinked and moved, but the Darts were close on her.
"There it is!" Simpson shouted. There was a clearing about twenty miles away, and with the HUD displays they could just identify the gate.
"Awesome," Fujiwara croaked through his pain.
The Dart pilots had other ideas. They fired quickly and desperately, and one got lucky.
One engine on the 401 was hit, then the opposite wing.
"Hold on!" Hailey screamed, as the 401 started falling. She powered down and hit the VTOL, but the Tornado still plummeted to the dark forest canopy, smoke pouring from its back...
The Atlantis control room was abuzz with activity. Messages were relayed back and forth as more troops were assembled for what was deemed to be a large ground assault. Warwick Spencer had just heard his new boss, Macara and Captain Hailey, along with her crew and the 401 were MIA. He had only known Macara a couple of days, but he somehow knew the canny Scot, was alive.
Chuck threw down his headset and bellowed out to Petty Officer Miki Yamato, chief of security, and temporarily in charge of Atlantis.
"Miki, a message from General O'Neill, the Iwo Jima and Britannia are 4 hours away. They have another 150 troops between them, 8 more 401's and 22 LRPV's. He wants to know, where should they rendezvous? Here or in theatre?"
"Get a message to either the Admiral, Captain Stewart, or Colonel Carter, ask them, I can't make that decision Chuck." She replied.
"Will do"
Will MacGregor paced up and down his spacious cabin, Sam, Sheppard and Lorne, still in their flight suits, sat nervously in chairs along a side bulkhead. John was nursing a burn to his left forearm, his 302 returning almost crippled, on the verge of venting, he only managed to get out of the cockpit as the crew smothered the craft in foam.
"How in the hell did this happen?" He asked all three."Never mind, don't answer, we were set up, and outnumbered. But I want to know how they knew we were here in two brand spanking new ships, not to mention the 401's?"
Sam looked up at her uncle, he looked stressed and pale, a large gash across his midriff showed were he himself had a hand to hand with a Wraith boarding party. Blood seeped through his bandage around his waist, he had refused to stay in med lab, said there was worse off than him, needing the bed.
"Sir, no one on Atlantis knew that Fraiser was coming, apart from myself, Major Macara and Captain Hailey, it was a closely guarded secret. I think we might need to look to Earth."
Sheppard glance over at his friend, sipping a glass of water, he put it down and pushed his free hand through his hair. "Sam, say what...Earth, how so?"
Evan leaned forward and stood, he straightened his back, you could almost hear his bones crack.
"I think what Sam is saying, we might have a Wraith worshipper or two back home. It's a possibility. We have had a few personal who had been captured and rescued, who might have been in Wraith hands for more than a day. We never figured at the time, why they simply weren't fed upon, just kept prisoner."
The Admiral wheeled about on his last pacing.
"Let me guess, they were repatriated back to Earth? How many are we talking?"
"As many as ten I think sir." Evan replied.
"Christ...a possible ten worshippers back home, god knows where they might have been. Right we'll follow it up. In the meantime, get Stewart over here asap, we have repairs to make, and a missing crew to find."
There was a loud buzz on the Admiral's coms unit, Will whirled around and almost punched the receive button, Sam didn't know her uncle all that well, but from what she did know of him, he was a gentle man, this naval officer seemed far from that, he was angry, and John and Lorne sensed it as well.
"Yes!" He bellowed into the wall speaker.
"Admiral, this is Valenski." The Polish major at least was still alive, the last Will remembers was seeing her surrounded by three large Wraith drones near the hangar bay.
"Yes Susanna, what is it?"
"Sir, I'm here with Captain Connolly, she is unconscious but alive. Gustav is dead, I'm afraid, sir and Lt. Cmdr Johansen has the bridge. Sir we received 2 sub space transmissions. The first from Atlantis, teling us the Iwo Jima and Brittania were on their way here."
MacGregor's eyes became bright at some good news. "And the second, Major?"
"From Colonel Davis aboard the Iwo Jima. Diverted to Lucien hostilities, priority. Will rejoin with Pegasus fleet as soon as possible."
"Damn!" He swore. "Very well then Major, have Captain Stewart join us the moment he arrives."
"Sir he's here now, shall I send him along?"
"Yes, Major. Get a message to O'Neill, appraise him of the situation, let him know we need those ships, sooner rather than later."
"Already done sir."
Moments later, the RN Captain entered the Admirals room, he looked as bad as the others. He was injured and his left arm in a sling, he stood momentarily before Will indicated for him to find a seat. Sitting heavily, he sighed deeply.
"Well Admiral, what's our next move?" He asked blithely.
"We find that bloody 401."
All present stood, and moved closer to him. "We're with you sir." John said for all of them.
"How do we find it?" Evan asked.
"It has to be a major wraith base nearby, that'll narrow it down." Sam said.
"Right, get in touch with Atlantis, ten minutes ago." MacGregor demanded.
Macara sat up sharply. Right in front of his face was the stripped branch of a tree. "What the hel...?" the major stopped, noticing the fact the 401 had very little intact hull left.
In fact, it was a miracle any of them survived. There were several thigh-width branches puncturing the ships sides.
Fujiwara was coming-to, shaking his head as if to clear it out. "That...wasn't pleasant."
Macara smiled sheepishly. He went to the cockpit.
Hailey and Simpson were both still strapped in. There was a bloody gash on Simpson's forehead, from where he had impacted with the dashboard. Hailey didn't appear to have any injuries.
"Jen, can you hear me?" Macara gently tapped her shoulder, making sure he didn't move her neck in anyway.
A few gentle nudges brought Hailey round.
"Nice landing, captain." Macara laughed. "How do you feel? Any pain?"
Hailey seemed to examine herself. "No, I think I'm okay. Neck's moving fine, limbs all attached. I'm good."
"Right. I want you to work on the self destruct. I'm going to get Simpson out of there."
"Yes, sir." Hailey replied, carefully unstrapping herself and slipping from the seat.
Whilst Hailey got to work, Macara checked Simpson. As well as the head-trauma, he had a major break in his left thigh, where the hull had bent in under impact. Macara lifted Simpson to the outside of the 401; the flight-lieutenant didn't stir once.
"We're all ready to go, major. What's the plan?" Hailey asked.
"We're about ten miles from the gate, maybe eleven. I reckon we can get to it in about two hours." Macara said evenly.
"We're not Marines. You expect us to march that quickly, through dense forest. Not to mention Our injuries."
"Fujiwara's broken ribs are the only reason I'm not expecting a seven minute mile. This way we are covering twelve minute miles. With you supporting him, Fujiwara can make that no problem." the Marine major replied just as evenly.
"And what about Simpson? Do you plan to just leave him behind? There's no way he can keep up." Hailey bit back, losing her temper.
"I'll carry him." Macara said simply.
"The whole way?"
"The whole way. He's what, ten stone max. I'll be fine." Macara unceremoniously placed Simpson in a military fire-man's lift.
Hailey shook her head, but helped Fujiwara up. The small group headed into the forest as quickly as their injured bodies could take them.
"Admiral, the Daedalus has arrived back at Atlantis." Johansen reported. "Colonel Caldwell would like to know your intentions."
McGregor sighed, and thought for a moment.
"Have Caldwell take Fraiser's place in the search. We're doing no good here, with the amount of casualties we are treating, or the repairs we have to effect. Set a course for Atlantis, and we'll take up a holding pattern in orbit."
"Aye, sir." Johansen agreed.
"What forces do we have to tackle a Wraith base. Now the 340 fleet has been diverted?" McGregor asked his Army liaison, a WO just bellow Wacca Spencer in rank.
"We have Thirty US marines on Atlantis, of whom maybe twenty are battle-fitness. There are the fifty or so Atlantis security under Yamato, but we can't strip too many of them from the base under current circumstances. We have one of our own 4RAR gate teams available, and Trang's IOA Spec Ops. The regular Army and the RAN team you requested were returning aboard Iwo Jima and Britannia. We have no transports at this time, as the LRRVs were also en route. We could maybe pull together a few shore parties from Navy and Airforce crew, but none of them are trained infantry." the WO replied.
"Not much of an army. And the British?"
"Fifty Marines in F Coy, then whatever the Lorcan had aboard, minus casualties. And they have a machine-gun support section of Paras, too."
MacGregor sighed. "It's better than nothing. The Marines aren't too bad in a scrape. Get Teyla to dial Earth, ask if they can send at least a team or two of CDTs. Their demo skills may come in handy."
"Aye, sir."
Only about six minutes from the 401, they could hear Wraith Darts. At least three of them.
The sound of Wraith culling beams, then of Drones could easily be heard.
They were salvaging the 401.
"Jen, why hasn't that ship blown yet?"
"I don't know, sir. It should have."
Macara swore, then went to put Simpson down.
"Sir, we need to keep going. The self destruct will go off. Anyway, what could you do if you went back? You have a knife and that's it." Fujiwara croaked. The major didn't reply at first.
They could hear the Darts landing; that was unusual.
"We keep going, we get the cavalry and we come back and blow that 401." Macara decided. The small group trudged on, getting slowly closer to the gate.
"Nothing here, sir. Where next?" Trang's senior operator asked.
"Head back to Px5-556, with the new Wraith base. We may find something there."
"Yes, sir."
Trang said dejectedly. Damn, Nate, where are you? he thought to himself.
"Sir, message relayed from Atlantis. Firstly, the IOA will not allow the SGC to deploy any more forces to the area to 'cover up' our mistake. Secondly, general O'neill is at Cheyenne mountain. He would like a personal debrief." Johansen read from the transcript.
"Reply that we are on our way already. We'll be there in a little over an hour now."
"Of course, sir."
McGregor punched the desk, losing his normal cool once again. Sam was worried for her uncle. He felt personal responsibility for this; what could he have done? They were betrayed somewhere along the line, and Will couldn't be held responsible.
Sam silently urged the Fraiser's engines to work as best they could.
Macara's party we having difficulty. They had been travelling for almost an hour, but much slower than expected. Simpson was semi-conscious now, and in complete agony. Every bump or jolt from Macara's shoulders caused searing pain through his leg and head. Fujiwara was having difficulty breathing, indicating one of his ribs had punctured his lung.
About twenty minutes ago, they had heard a single Dart fly away from the crash site, heading away from them. Only moments later, the 401 exploded and since then, no other Darts could be heard.
"At least they aren't following us," Hailey muttered.
"They are." Macara stated flatly. "Half an hour ago, right before the Dart flew off, I saw two drones way, way back. They hadn't noticed us. They are searching, but in a sweep. Eventually, they will catch up."
Hailey looked at him fearfully. "We can't make it like this!"
"I know." Macara said, looking deep into her eyes. "We can't escape. I have an idea though. One person, on their own, could make it from here to the gate in about forty-five minutes. You go, Jen, get to the gate and bring back a rescue team. I'll stay with these two, we'll hide out somewhere and keep our beacons off for at least two hours, so the Wraith can find us. After that, we turn them on so you can find us again." Macara said.
"We can't do that," Jen said. "What if something happens to you..."
"That doesn't matter right now, captain! That Dart that flew away, you think it just went off to report? I think they got what they were after. We need to come back here and blow that base, or we will have Wraith hives with the ability to beam. And who knows what use they can make of that?"
Hailey nodded slowly. "Fine. but you should go, sir. You are faster, fitter and stronger than me. You'll get there faster."
"I won't leave my men behi..." Macara began.
"Their my men, sir. You get us help."
Macara thought to argue again; he was not used to cutting and running. But Hailey made a good point.
"Fine. If we are making an attack, we'll need ships in orbit. Leave it two and a half hours before hitting the beacon. Here's the last of my first aid kit. And here, take this..." Macara held out his Commando knife.
"Thanks," Hailey said with honesty. A Royal Marine didn't easily give up his dagger.
Without another word, Macara dove into the trees, full, speed. Hailey and Fujiwara moved Simpson into the deep bowels of a mighty pine, then Hailey began gathering ferns to cover over them.
"Okay, take us out of Hyperspace. Go to stealth as soon as possible." Trang ordered.
"Yes, sir."
The ship came out of hyperspace, and to a terrifying sight.
"My God," Trang breathed.
Three Hive ships sat in orbit of the planet, with a dozen supporting cruisers.
"Sir, they've detected us."
"Go to stealth," Trang ordered again.
"We have sir, but they pinged us before we were fully cloaked. Moving to intercept. Sir, with that much firepower, they won't miss for long,"
"Damn it! Right, prepare evasive maneuvers, and get us out of here." Trang snarled.
"Sir, we have Major Macara's IDC on the planet." the comms operator shouted suddenly.
"Can we beam from here?" Trang jump to his feet and ran to the console.
"No, sir. We're too far."
Trang balled his hands into fists. "Damn. Okay, get us out of here. at least we know where they are now."