Stargate Atlantis: Rise of the Alterran Book 1

Chapter 1

A group of ascended beings, gathered well away from the others and all of their non-interference mumbo-jumbo were making one greatest decisions the Universe ever faced.

"The non-ascended have suffered greatly over the millennia, and we can no longer stay here and do nothing. We must enact the plan," one said with great conviction.

"I agree, we must do something. How is our candidate?" another asked.

"He has preformed greatly recently, especially during the Wraith super-hive attack on Earth. He has shown great loyalty towards other and willing to sacrifice himself for the good of humanity," a third reported.

"We must begin," the second said.

"We have a consensus. He is ready," the first reported.

John Sheppard awoke slowly, savoring every last minute rest, knowing his day would be filled with IOA suits trying to keep Atlantis on Earth.

But, when he opened his eyes, he noticed something was wrong. He wasn't in his room on Atlantis. He quickly got up and scanned the area. He was in a vast empty pace filled with a light layer of fog and kind of reminded him of a hive ship.

In front of him were three people looking at him, mildly concerned.

"Where am I," he demanded.

"You are still in your bed, in Atlantis, but we have entered your mind to make it possible to communicate with you," one replied.

After relaxing a tiny bit he asked, "And you would be?"

"We are ascended beings, not controlled by the others. We are here to help you and to give hope to the people of the multiple galaxy's," one replied.

"ZPMs?" Sheppard asked hopefully.

"Much more than that," chuckled one. "We were once a proud empire spanning multiple galaxies. During our time, the name Alterran commanded respect. You are our last hope."

"What's going to happen to me?"

"We are going to enhance your DNA, to ours just before our ascension. After that, our entire knowledge will be downloaded into your upgraded brain. We only ask that you use those gift to help those in need and bring hope to others. Wear the title Alterran proudly and remember, that as our descendants, we care for you," she said with compassion. "Good luck on you journey."

With that his world turned black, as his body underwent several modifications.

This time John awoke in Atlantis, in his bed, with no unidentified aliens interrupting his sleep. As he got dressed, he noticed something was different about him. His body felt lighter, quicker, and better.

As he reached for his toothbrush, John found it already floating in midair towards him. And them it hit him. The ascended weren't lying to him. They truly had advanced his physiology and given him the knowledge of the Alterrans. His mind was filled with everything. He could build a stargate with a toaster. It was almost kind of creepy, but Sheppard realized he had been waiting for this moment his entire life. He had always wanted to change the Universe for the good and now it just became possible.

But, sadly John knew he couldn't tell anyone for now, or he would become the favorite lab rat of the IOA. So for now, he had to act normal and try not to use his abilities or knowledge too much.

As he walked down the hallway towards the control room, he had no idea what his future held for him. Should he stay with the expedition or rebuild the Alterrans empire. When he reached the control room he had made his decision. Sheppard figured he was given his knowledge for a reason, and he intended to make the best of it. He couldn't do anything under the scrutiny of the IOA or other expedition members, so when the time was right he would present his friends with a choice: to come with him, to hopefully create a brighter future. Or to stay.

As he reached the control room, immediately Sheppard could tell something was wrong. The air was thick and heavy with tension, and people were typing on their laptops furiously. Rodney was waiting for him at the top of the stairs.

"We have a problem," he began. "Someone has stolen two of the Zed PMs and has left us with only one severely depleted module. As we are back on Earth the cloak is required and with the module we have, it will fail in a few hours."

"Any ideas?" asked Sheppard.

"None. We need a power source and the Naquadah generators aren't cutting it."

John carefully considered all of his options. He realized Rodney was his friend and if anyone was going to find out about him, it might as well be him.

"Come on Rodney. Let's take a walk. I think I know something that you might be interested in."

"What. No way, I'm needed here."

"Come on Rodney, this is important." Seeing that look in his friend's eyes, he realized he was serious and followed him into a room and out onto the balcony. As they watched the waves lap against the side of the city, John spoke.

"I got paid a visit by some ascended beings last night."

"Seriously, I mean what did they say," Rodney responded.

"They told me that I was the last hope for multiple galaxies. Then, they advanced my DNA to their just before ascension. Then, they gave me their entire knowledge which even now is swirling inside my brain."

Rodney stared at him for a few moments in silence.

"This isn't a joke is it."

"No."

"Well, what are you planning to do with it."

"The Alterrans asked be to rebuild their civilization. To fight the people like the Wraith. That's what I'll do. But, I can't do that alone. I wan't you to come with me Rodney."

"Seriously, you would actually let me come along with you."

"Of course I would. It's not like I'm going to let Mr. Woolsey come along."

Rodney snorted at that. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"Soon. Meet me at the jumper bay in 20 minutes. Don't worry about packing."

Rodney smiled. His dreams were finally coming true. Then again he didn't really care about leaving Atlantis. In a week, all Atlantis personal were going to be transferred and to be replaced with ones who would cooperate better with the IOA.

Sheppard was pacing outside of Jumper 2, waiting for his friend, who was always late. He had already loaded the location of a power generator in Atlantis and the location of a Zero Point module to solve their cloaking problem.

A few seconds later Rodney showed up, partially out of breath. They both boarded the jumper and Sheppard began his preflight.

"So, where are we going?" asked Rodney.

"As General O'Neill would say: A place with some cool Ancient Toys."

Sheppard allowed himself a grin as he mentally linked himself to the gate and told it to dial. It obeyed.

The cloaked jumper disappeared into the wormhole, headed for the unknown.

Authors Note: This chapter might have seemed a little rushed, but I needed to set things up the way I did. The chapter will start to get longer, as I continue writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the plot behind it. Please leave a review (feedback helps me write better) or PM me. Thanks again for reading.

-Alterra