Cheyenne Mountain, the conspiracy theorists dream, suspected location of Area 51 and home of the SGC had been silent for a long time now. The all out war that was ensuing in the Pegasus galaxy meant the trivialities in the Milky Way required only minimal watch. That watch was now handled by a group of battleships built specially for the task.
Atlantis, being the lost city of the ancients, was the home-base of the Atlantis expedition and originally a thriving metropolis and an outpost of the Alterans. It was now a war base, centre of operations in the hostilities directed against the Wraith.
The whole war effort was run by General O Neill, an ex-serviceman and once a member of SG-1, he was now appointed by the president to organise the war. City operations were still handled by Dr Elizabeth Weir and the city itself, now fully powered, did, until recently, house a large civilian population.
In total, the exploration of the Pegasus galaxy had revealed three of the colossal ancient cities. One of which had been destroyed and one captured throughout the war. Unfortunately, since the conclusion of the Wraith civil war, the Wraith had overpowered the human force.
"Colonel Shepperd; you're late" O Neill informed the Colonel
"Well Jack, I just got back from our outpost on Atharia. It's not good news."
"Not another one?"
"I'm afraid so Jack. The Wraith are almost at our door. We know that they've managed to capture two ZPMs during the length of the war. If we lose another one, they will have nothing in their way to getting to the Milky Way"
"John, I'm assuming the Daedalus battle group is still in this galaxy?"
"Yeah, they arrived about an hour ago sir."
"Get an order to them; I want them to take up position on the next planet that the Wraith can take. Also, order a contingent through the gate and tell them to expect company."
The colonel walked out of the office; the look on his face as grim as ever after a briefing. I sensed that we were going to lose if something didn't change. Every time a force went through the Stargate, less than half of them returned. I grimly awaited the time when my group would be ordered through the gate. I knew that eventually it would come and I, and my men, would be forced through the gate at a Wraith force, the likes of which had never been encountered in this galaxy.
"Colonel Lanley; gather your men and report to the gate-room" I was relieved, this time it wasn't mine to take. I watched as another valiant group lined up and charged through the gate.
I caught another glimpse of the Colonel, his face was awful; he was tired and was feeling the strain of ordering men into an impossible fight. His job was not one to be envied.
"Collins" at the mention of my name I knew what was coming "Suit up your team. You're on back-up duty".
With the fear bubbling in my throat, I proceeded to summon my team and head to the armoury. We suited up and walked back to the gate-room.
"Incoming Wormhole!" the technician informed us. We all took aim and I found myself thinking, I hope they're coming back successful.
"This is battalion 7! We are under heavy fire and have been separated; requesting back up!" it was Lanley over his radio.
I looked up to O Neill's office and he made eye contact with me. He nodded and I took the step forward, followed by my entire troop. "Okay ladies, I want to see you all again when we get back here, do not go for heroism, heroism doesn't help, it puts you in more danger and lowers your chance of survival. Survive as long as you can and wait for them to retreat or us to receive the fall back order."
I raised my gun, lowered the visor and took another step and through the gate.
The first thing I noticed was the light level. It was night time on the planet but the sky was illuminated. I could make out the Daedalus in the sky as well as at least three other cruisers. They were raining fire on Wraith bases from orbit instead of trying to protect themselves from attacking Wraith ships.
I looked behind me and saw the rest of the soldiers before speedily moving along the plain to the tree-line ahead.
"Battalion 8 on site; 7 where are you?" I heard my communications expert asking.
"8? I've never been happier to hear a radio buzz, we're in the trees directly north in ditches we found. There is heavy resistance from all angles." I grabbed our radio.
"7, we are on the way to your position, be prepared for allied reinforcements."
"Acknowledged Colonel, nice to know you're leading the resc…" Static buzzed through the radio.
"Lanley? You there? 7th battalion reply…" There was no response.
"Okay people, we have to move quickly! Lanley may have been overrun, remember Wraith have to be killed at least twice and godspeed!"
I started the sprint, even with the pack on my back I kept the pace with the entire battle group. Almost a clear ten metres ahead, I saw the first Wraith and with a quick shot dispatched it.
Ahead I saw a gunfire flash. It appeared to be a machine gun headed our way, firing randomly ahead. "Hold your fire! This is Battalion 8!" I shouted to him. He carried on, he was aiming towards us; the bullets were impacting on the ground only centimetres in front of us. I had no choice. I shot him. He fell to the ground instantly.
TO BE CONTINUED…
I contemplated my decision for what seemed like a lifetime. It wasn't the right thing to do but at the time it was my only option. All I could think of was that he might have survived if I hadn't had to shoot.
My trance was cut short by the appearance of a small group of Wraith. Instantly and with no hesitation the front men opened fire and one by one the nightmarish beasts fell heavily to the blood-soaked dirt lain like a sheet over the once lush and thriving grassland. Cautiously we checked them; with enemies like the Wraith you can never be too sure. Certain they were dead, we carried on towards our command post on the planet. It was only a small distance to one of the entrances.
We covered the area and arrived just in time to see the latest Wraith assault. A large contingent of Wraith ground troops were charging a cavern that housed the base entrance. Standing in their way were a small group of panicked and fatigued soldiers who had likely been on station since the start of the battle.
"Open fire!" I ordered my men and clumsily we charged at the enemy party.
Many of the Wraith fell almost instantly, over half in fact, however, they soon regained their footing and our advance left us smack bang in the middle of a sea of Wraith. Unable to shoot at such close range; knife combat seemed to be the most sensible idea.
Swinging maladroitly, I managed to dispatch one Wraith before finding myself thrown half way across the battle-field. Breaking one of my orders, I pulled my pistol. Three shots lowered the Wraith to the ground. Even so, we were heavily outnumbered and in such open an area we couldn't hope to win.
"Fall back to the caves!" I shouted desperately to the men. Quickly I darted across the battlefield. As I ran I noticed something. A Wraith about to feed on one of my men; I had only one bullet left in my pistol; my choice was easy, I took the gun aimed and fired, killing the soldier before he could be fed upon.
When I reached the cave I did a quick spot check. Almost half of my troops had made it. The others were either strewn inelegantly across the fighting zone or on their way still. Until they were all in, I was reluctant to use automatic weapons and had ordered everyone to use only pistols until such a time.
"Colonel? Colonel Collins?" someone asked
"That's me" I replied
"I have orders to take you to Colonel Lanley. He's two levels down."
"I can't leave my men now! The Wraith are attacking" I reminded him
"Sir, there's no way we're going to win this fight. The Wraith will over-run this level. The Colonel had ordered this cave lined with explosives. Before you showed up, this was going to be sealed."
"Are the explosives still in position?" I asked
"Yes sir, they are but there's no way we can activate them while the tunnels are inhabited!"
"Is the east entrance still clear?"
"I think so sir, we certainly haven't blown that tunnel yet."
"Okay, tell Lanley that once the last of my men are safely in the base to blow this tunnel. I'll stay with a small group and cover your retreat. Then, you detonate the tunnel. We'll slip into the woods in the confusion and get to the eastern entrance. Get men there ready, there's a good chance we'll have followers"
"Yes sir, right away." He answered before sprinting off down the tunnels.
"Jones, Cheeky, Doc, Bowman, Davies, Bradley, you all still here?" I asked. My response was six distinct positives. "Okay guys, we're staying here, the rest of you get your asses into the base. See you on the flip side!"
The seven of us pushed forward to the front of the cave to meet the Wraith onslaught; the violence was ferocious and the light emanating from their weapons almost seemed to emulate daylight. Almost two minutes later I looked back. I saw the last few men disappearing through the blast doors and the massive steel barriers lowering.
"Okay guys, this is it, run into the trees, in the confusion we should find ourselves with a small group of Wraith following us. Don't stop until we find a strategic holding point."
I was the first to run. The Wraith seemed to be shocked by our run; we sprinted past, firing wildly into the centre. As anticipated a small number broke off and followed us. The others filed into the long tunnel.
The trees all looked the same. I began to doubt that we would get that strategic position I had been referring to. As I looked up, I noticed a dart flying low; it was soon shot down by a Puddle Jumper. It crashed a few yards ahead of us, creating a small clearing and some cover.
We all had the same idea and converged on the dart. As I took position behind the dart I did a quick roll-call in my mind. Someone was missing. Cheeky hadn't stopped, I saw him in the distance still running, fear had gotten the better of him. Wishing him hope, I turned and raised my weapon.
I wasn't sure how many Wraith we were facing but as I saw them come into sight, a lump appeared deep in my throat and my stomach turned. There were 20 at the least; 20 heavily armed near invulnerable Wraith soldiers. This wasn't going to be at all easy.
"Open fire!" I shouted and we rained fire upon their platoon. As we were fighting I saw, and consequently heard, a massive explosion. The base had been sealed.
Davies was the first to take a hit; he received a stunner blast to the chest and fell to the floor. He was soon followed by Doc who was hit with something slightly more substantial and he found himself with a projectile lodged in his neck. Unable to help them, I hoped that they would be okay, though I honestly doubted Doc could even hope to survive. I heard something else nearby and noticed the dart opening and saw the pilot jump from his seat!
To be continued…