Stargate Atlantis: S7—The Species Divide
Greed.
Colonel John Sheppard knew it was wrong, but it couldn't be helped. He wanted them all. He wanted every one of these bastards gone, no, not just gone but dead and gone. He wanted to eliminate them; no he wanted to annihilate them from this galaxy. He wanted this species of human extinct, like it was back in the Milky Way galaxy.
And he wanted one of their ships.
The power was phenomenal. Even in the midst of battle John could only wonder at the raw power these aliens possessed. Their weaponry was cutting a swathe through his ranks, erasing his allies as easily as if they were just chalk on a blackboard. Space was lit by the furious crisscrossing of laser beams, red and green and yellow spumes that created more explosions and bombarded the shields of vessels with lilac bursts.
The initial scouting party had morphed into an invasion force. This new species from another galaxy had to be stopped now, and stopped here at the doorstep to the Pegasus galaxy. To John it seemed to be yet another mess that the Ancients had created and then never resolved; the same as the Wraith and the Replicators. John was getting tired of cleaning up after the Ancients.
"Hard to port! How're the shields?" John shouted, as yet another hit caused the Tria to shake. He glanced at the data pad hooked to his command chair. Words were splayed across it, a jumble of nonsense until the translation program began to replace with them with English. It was still a disjointed mess and John had to study it to make sense of it all.
Words fell into place but it took a few minutes for an actual sentence to form in his mind and then on the screen. Some words remained untranslated. John could only guess at their meanings.
"We're at seventy percent, sir!"
"Weapons! Target their fighter bays! Clear the road!"
John was loath to commit his Jumpers to the fray just yet. The Fuglies weren't deploying their single fighter ships yet either. The motley fleet allied with Atlantis was having some success so far against the enemy with harrying attacks, distracting the larger vessels from the Wraith Hives and the Tria. John found himself running interference between the Fugly ships and his allies. It was not a position he had intended upon taking but he took it nonetheless, seeing the necessity.
Simply put the other vessels were no match for the Fugly ships.
"Colonel Sheppard! We've got updates!"
"On screen! Share with the class!" John swerved to view a larger screen. It showed the Fugly ships slowly retreating under the barrage from the larger vessels at his command. But there were still too many. Too many. They were still outnumbered.
"Casualties?"
"Two Traveler ships, two Genii, one Alliance vessel, a Wraith Hive. The Aegis is sustaining significant damage."
"Shit. We need to take out the leader and take him out now!" John swerved back and eyed the data pad. As the Fuglies talked to each other John could glean their next moves and counter them effectively. So far it was working, but the sheer firepower of the enemy was a negating factor. Trying to figure out their agenda was another can of worms. How did you interpret an alien species and their motives, apart from the obvious one of staying alive?
For a moment he regretted his decision not to have Moira on board with him. If anyone could discern the way these aliens thought it would be her. But his regret disappeared. He wouldn't risk her like that. The alien interface had done enough damage to her mind and she was almost recovered now. He wouldn't risk harming her in any way.
He drummed his fingers on the armrest, reading and waiting and glancing up as another hit rocked the ship. His eyes darted from screen to screen to viewport to data pad until a pattern emerged. It was a pattern he could discern and understand at last. He recognized military maneuvers when he saw them—even alien ones.
"Shields at sixty-five, sir!"
"Correct to this heading! Open a channel to Todd!" John's fingers moved across the controls. "Todd, follow my lead! We're gonna take out the leader on my mark! Got it? Let's go!"
XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX
The Wraith Hive was rocked by another explosive blast of energy. Alarms wailed but the shields were holding, at least so far. Lights flickered and the ship seemed to groan. It was partly organic and Todd wondered if the vessel could feel or even comprehend pain.
The Wraith had been loath to join this fight, to ally with Atlantis at all but they had seen the necessity. United under one queen the Wraith had been growing in power until the appearance of these strange new aliens. According to the Lantean scientists the aliens were human, but a different species of human. Whatever they were the Wraith were unable to feed upon them. Thus they were useless and should be eliminated; especially as they were destructive and possessed technology even beyond that of Atlantis.
Sheppard's barking orders interrupted his musings and Todd snarled. "Do you think that is wise, John Sheppard? We would be in a precarious position and separated from the rest of the fleet."
"I know that!" John's voice crackled over the com unit, irate and loud. "It's our only chance to begin to even the odds. They are protecting that ship so we have to destroy it!"
"And how would you know that?"
"Trust me, I know it!"
"Very well." Todd gestured. The Wraith ship swerved and began to follow after the Ancient warship commanded by their human ally. Realistically they were the only chance against these enemies, and both knew it. The outcome of the battle would be decided by only a handful of ships. Todd intended to be on the winning side no matter what. "Status?"
"Shields are at sixty percent. We've sustained some minimal damage to the hull. Should we release the Darts?"
"Not yet. Prime our weapons and stand by. Order the rest of the Hives to hold back and maintain position. For now we will allow John Sheppard to run this mission."
"The Queen's orders were to—"
"I know what the Queen's orders were! Stand by!" Todd snarled, rising to his feet. The two Wraith stared at each other. For a moment the silence was fraught with tension. Finally the second in command nodded and turned back to his console. Todd's hands were curled into fists. He glanced round the ship as it was rocked again. Whatever weapons these new aliens had they were more dangerous than any that the Ancients had used.
He could not let this kind of technology fall into the hands of the Lanteans.
Particularly not into the hands of John Sheppard.
XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX
"Fall back! All ships fall back!" Colonel Abraham Ellis shouted as the barrage of firepower was almost blinding. The explosions were creating a curtain of gas that was becoming difficult to see through and playing havoc with the systems. The shields were holding but power was draining quickly. The Asgard ship was tough but it was not indestructible. "Sheppard! We need to deploy out fighters now!"
"Negative!" snarled the voice of the military commander. "Do not engage them like that! If those fighters get near they will attempt to board!"
"I'll take the chance! We need more—"
"Negative! You will not deploy the F-302s!"
Abraham cursed and swerved in his command chair. He cut off the communications. Quickly he surveyed the consoles, assessing the systems and power levels. "Fire missiles now! Target those firing tubes! And get those bays ready to launch!"
"Sir?"
"You heard! We're getting pulverized out here like this! We need to engage ship to ship so we can create a feint and take of the big ones out! All pilots to your ships!" He was not going to let some wet behind the ears lieutenant colonel lose the battle for him. It was ridiculous that John Sheppard was in charge in the first place. The man had never been in charge of a fully armed spaceship or a complicated space battle.
Ronon Dex placed a heavy hand on the colonel's shoulder. He did not like his friend's orders being countermanded, especially not by a man who was not of Atlantis. "Sheppard said not to engage."
Abraham glanced up at the towering Satedan. "This is my ship and this is my call." He shrugged off the restraining hand and turned back to the viewport. "Take us out far enough to deploy fighters. Then let's target one of those big ones."
Ronon shook his head. "You're making a mistake."
"It's my mistake to make!"
XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX
John couldn't keep still in the command chair. Finally he stood, moving behind it to keep an eye on the data pad as the translations scrolled along, giving him the intel he needed. "Open Channel W," he ordered. At the technician's nod he said, "Todd, follow this vector. We need to clear the way and head for that ship in the middle."
"What is so special about that ship, John Sheppard?"
"I dunno, but the chatter is all about it."
"What chatter? Ah…the trick up your sleeve?"
"One of them, yeah." John cut off the transmission with a gesture. "Shields forward, at maximum." The translation program was a closely guarded secret, and John intended to keep it that way.
His gaze narrowed as the ship veered and doggedly maintained its course towards the most protected ship in a fleet of ships that were all firing simultaneously. The darkness of space was intercut but gaseous bubbles of blue and violet. Red and green and yellow lasers cut the void with violent patterns. Explosions careened on every side. The Tria's shield was constantly being bombarded and it became a visible pinkish hue around the ship.
John could imagine the sounds of the explosions and the cutting lasers but he knew that in space all was silence.
Out here on the edge of the galaxy there were no planets. There was no Stargate. In other words there was no escape except for a hyperspace window. If any ship was damaged and unable to fly there was no place for it to land. There was no safe harbor out this far.
The nearest safe place was Echo Base and at sublight the haven was two weeks out. It was a tiny dot with its slightly larger twin planet in an ocean of overwhelming blackness and emptiness. John wondered why the Ancients had placed a Stargate on that planet in the first place. Maybe they had known that someday the Fuglies would launch an invasion force.
"Sir? We're being hailed."
"Patch it through! This is Sheppard!"
"Sheppard? Our ships can't take much more of this!"
John glanced at the console. The Genii commander appeared harried. Smoke billowed behind him. His sharply cut gray uniform was stained with grease and sweat. Behind him his crew appeared equally harried and desperate. "Understood. Just give me enough time to reach that ship and then you can fall back."
"Sheppard, we're taking too many hits!" wailed the voice of Larrin.
"Just hang in there! I need more time to finish this!" John stated. He glanced at a star chart. His numbers were dwindling as damaged ships retreated and were out of the battle. A few wrecks were floating harmlessly, creating more obstacles in his path.
"Sir, I'm detecting fighters! Ours not theirs!"
"What? What the…sonuvabitch!" John slammed his hand on the com unit. Power flared in the ship, reacting to his ATA gene. "Ellis! What the hell are you doing?"
"Trying to even the odds!"
John stared. Wave after wave of single ships was being vomited from the larger Fugly vessels. Suddenly the battle had accelerated into a single man combat situation. "Maintain course," he said quietly, as anger was a grim tide inside him. He would deal with Ellis later, and all of those causalities would be on the other man's shoulders.
Even now he could see that the F302s were no match for the Fugly single fighters. Although the F302s had more maneuverability the Fugly fighters were faster and had more firepower. The triangular ships were more streamlined and the wings could unfold to reveal a double array of weaponry.
John knew it would be pointless to argue and the last thing they needed was a shouting match. Everyone needed to concentrate on the battle, not on two at odds colonels.
Smaller ships were exploding and spinning all around them now, like some space circus show. John ignored them and concentrated on his target. He glanced at the translation screen, watching the gibberish turn into words, into sentences that gave him a reasonable idea of what they were planning.
What he saw gave him the chills.