Author's Note: I first came up with this idea when I was watching "The Siege" and wondered what would happen if, somehow, the Wraith managed to invade Atlantis.Of course, once I began writing it, it mutated into something far more complex (and, some might say, improbable.) At the moment, I'm about eight chapters into this story. That, for you, means constant updates for a month. :) Many thanks to fififolle, who has been betaing this piece as I go along. I hope you guys enjoy this piece, and feedback is always welcomed.
Spoilers: Vague tidbits from season one, probably some spoilers from "The Siege," and later on spoilers for "Coup D'etat."
Warnings: This is not a happy story. There is lots of violence, so if you have a light stomach...I really don't recommend this to you. Secondly, people die. I know you hate it when people die, and I know this story may get flamed because of it, but...that's the way it is. Perhaps some things in here are improbable - but it's fiction. And the good guys get lucky so often; why can't the bad guys get a little luck here and there? This story is rated mature for a good reason.
Pairings: For the most part, it's how you read it. For the rest, we've got snippets of Laura/Carson, Simpson/Kavanagh (with thanks to PurpleYin for the inspiration), and eventual McKay/Weir.
Next Update: Thursday, June 29th.
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The Last To Fall
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As the Wraith presses its palm against his chest and begins to feed, he wonders why it is bothering. He wonders if, after all that has happened, he really amounts to a meal. He's empty and doesn't fight back, even as he feels what little life remains in him begin to slip away. This is the only thing that he has left, this body, and he will let them have it. He doesn't speak, doesn't moan, doesn't cry out; just stares ahead at the dark walls. Blood rolls thickly down his battered chest and he is fascinated at how much he doesn't care. He fought for so long under the impression that this was something to prevent at all costs, but it's oddly peaceful now; a rest, after everything. He thinks back to long ago, when he cared, when things mattered. Before this moment, he didn't allow himself to think of his home, but it is After now, and he cannot even recall its name. But in his mind he can picture the towering spires and the majestic ocean, and no name he contains in his mind does justice to that image of the City.
He remembers working in a room of the City, trying to uncover the secrets of those who dwelled there before. A man named Radek with spectacles and an infallible friendship, a young, foreign woman trying too hard to please, another woman, pretty but determined and not fazed by his attitude… Things from the past filter through his mind in this moment; his last moment.
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It was the third attack on the City by the Wraith. The people in the City had fought them off twice before, but this time it was different. The Wraith came to the City armed with knowledge; schematics that told them all they needed to know about how to invade the City.
Hundreds of them beamed into the halls. They hurried down the hallways, tearing rooms apart, looking for any signs of life. No systems alerted anyone to the silent arrival of the Hive ship, no alarms sounded, no screams were heard.
Rodney was consumed with his work, blissfully unaware of the soundless incursion. He'd rushed straight from the 'gate room to his lab after returning from his last mission nearly an hour ago, obsessed with new data he had obtained. His attention was diverted only when a loud shriek from the hallway reached his ears. Assuming that another experiment had just been botched, he sighed and stood, following the sound.
The image that greeted him burned itself into his mind. Standing there, palm upon Miko Kusanagi's chest, was a Wraith. His heart stopped, and for a mind-wrenching moment, he couldn't move. Her hair was a ghostly white, her frame diminished, her skin hanging off of her bones. She looked so old, but she was so young; too young… The world spun around him.
The Wraith looked at him, and everything returned. His heart pulsed frantically in his chest, his hands shook, the sounds of oncoming Wraith and more screaming reached his ears. Rodney reached to his thigh, where his gun was still strapped. As he fumbled to undo the strap, desperately looking up as he did so, the Wraith tossed Miko's limp body against the wall. He stared at her body for a long moment, her broken, pale…corpse.
His heart leapt against his rib cage.
The Wraith approached him, oblivious to the horror written so clearly on his face. Rodney tore the pistol from its holder and fired at his oncoming enemy, flinching at the loud cracks the gun emitted. The Wraith showed no signs of slowing down. When his ammo was gone and the Wraith was still standing, Rodney swore softly.
He ran. Left her body there, broken and awkward.
" Elizabeth!" as the initial shock wore off, he remembered the radio in his ear and activated it. " Elizabeth!" there was no response. "Anybody?" he cried. Static was his only reply.
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Rodney alerted everyone he could find, several times just avoiding capture by ducking around a corner out of sight from approaching Wraith. Something told him not to try and contact those who lived far from the City's center. The Wraith must have started from the outside and come inward.
They had probably heard the screams.
They were probably dead.
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind. There were people still alive, people who needed his help. Rodney sped into the control room. Perhaps ten people were gathered there, panicked, stressed looks on their faces. Radek was sitting before a laptop, typing furiously, Elizabeth hovering behind him, biting her lip. Rodney walked straight over to them. He'd informed them first, as well as John, knowing they could do the most to help.
"What have we got?" Rodney questioned, sitting down beside Radek and in front of another laptop.
"Nothing useful," Radek said, frustrated. "These Wraith must be coming from somewhere, but short-range scanners show nothing! Communications are damaged…"
"What about long-range scanners?"
"I…" Radek pulled the image onto the screen. "They appear to be unharmed. But there is nothing there!" he gestured to the screen.
"There's a record of everything, right? Everything the scanners see?" Rodney questioned. How could a Hive ship bypass their sensors so easily?
"Yes, but – "
"Pull the record up. Look for abnormalities in the past twelve hours," Rodney ordered. As Radek went to work, Rodney looked up at Elizabeth's worried face. "How are we doing?"
"To be honest with you, I don't know," Elizabeth told him. She hated this, being out of touch with her people. "John told me that he had about forty men. He assigned a few to go door to door and make sure everybody we can reach evacuates to the control room. I haven't heard from him since then."
"I'm sure they're okay," Rodney reassured her. Truthfully, he didn't know if John and the others could keep the Wraith back. He'd seen so many Wraith while he'd been running from room to room. However they'd managed to get to Atlantis and begin transporting into the City without being detected, it was a big advantage. If they knew they had this advantage, then there were probably hundreds and hundreds of Wraith waiting to be beamed into the City.
Or maybe they were already there.
"I got it!" Radek cried. "Nine hours ago," he said, and pointed to the screen. "Watch." Elizabeth leaned closer as the video feed began. A yellow figure appeared on the screen, unmistakably a Hive ship. It stayed there for a moment before flickering and disappearing from the monitor.
"What happened?" Elizabeth questioned.
"They must've figured out a way to block their ship from our scanners," Rodney said hurriedly. "It'd have to be a precise frequency. If we can find out what it is and compensate for it in the short-range scanners, then we can have a visual on the Hive ship."
"What good will that do us?"
Rodney turned at the odd, cold objectiveness in Elizabeth's voice. "If we know where it is, we can fire the rest of our drones at it."
"I want you to get communications up first. A way to track the Wraith inside the city, too. We're in no position to be on the offensive right now, Rodney. We need to be getting our people to safety before someone gets hurt," Elizabeth told him, and turned around, her arms folded tightly across her chest.
Miko.
Rodney paled, his fervor to attack the Wraith suddenly dissolved and was replaced by a cold, lead ball in his stomach. They were way past people getting hurt.
People were already dead.
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