(It's back and hopefully much better to those who read the earlier version. I have to credit Lone-ranger1 for fixing a lot of grammar problems and suggesting a lot of good ideas. Without his help, this story wouldn't be half as good.)
Lieutenant Eddie Alverez grunted as his team continued trekking up a ravine. The fact that the slope was covered in vegetation and it was currently pouring rain didn't help their speed or their moods. If this planet hadn't been only a few lights years away from Atlantis, odds were they'd come later.
Alverez would have gladly taken a puddle jumper if the stargate hadn't been sitting in the middle of a jungle but the recently installed early warning sensor probes detected three Hive Ships landing on the same planet and they needed to find out why quietly.
Staff Sergeant Jon Weathers slipped on the terrain, collapsing to the ground. Alverez quickly grabbed him by the collar before he started rolling down the ravine. He helped the soldier back to his feet and they got back on their way. After what seemed like hours, they finally reached the top which overlooked an entire valley.
Down below, three Wraith Hive ships covered the entire valley. Seeing one of those ships was awe-inspiring but seeing three back to back put a chill down Alverez's spine.
"Wow, never thought I'd see something like that." said Sergeant Sam Wilkins.
Staff Sergeant Ray Myers pulled out his binoculars and examined individual Wraith drones moving materials from one ship to another. "Looks like they're prepping for something." he said.
"Attacking Atlantis?" asked a concerned Weathers.
"Not necessarily, intel suggests there's more then one Wraith faction operating in this sector. They could be launching a sneak attack on their rivals." said Wilkins.
The team scoped out the area for about ten minutes then decided they had seen enough. They were about to leave when Myers noticed something. "Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing towards the sky. The others glanced up to see a fireball heading straight towards the Hive ships.
"Meteor?" asked Wilkins.
"Can't tell." said Weathers.
The fireball crashed into the ground next to one of the Hive ships with the massive Wraith ship dwarfing it. All four team members pulled out their binoculars to see a cloud of dirt and debris. Several Wraith soldiers quickly ran into it, their movements suggested confusion but also hostility.
The dust settled to reveal a large steel pod like object. The top section seemingly peeled itself apart into four areas, the process was similar to a flower opening up. Inside was a sphere that seemed to radiate energy.
Weathers focused on the strange device. Whatever it was, it looked surprisingly familiar. The sphere began to charge up, gathering energy. The Wraith began firing at it, their weapons having no effect.
"Wait a minute, that device…EVAC!" yelled Alverez, recognizing what that thing was. The pod released a wave of energy that spread outwards in every direction. The Wraith, their weapons, the vegetation around them all disintegrated with no trace of them left behind. The wave spread over the Hive ships, their massive forms disappearing in a matter of seconds. The wave consumed the entire valley and continued to spread over the hilltops, heading straight towards the Atlantis personnel.
"I did not faint." grumbled Rodney McKay as he walked beside Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard down Atlantis's corridors towards the control room.
"Yes, you did Rodney. I knew you were going to be surprised but not like that." said Sheppard, referring to the surprise birthday party for McKay the previous day. When the scientist had entered the mess hall and everyone yelled "Surprise!", he dropped to the ground like a log.
"I did not faint. I've just…haven't gotten a lot of sleep recently. I've been very busy. Not to mention I haven't been eating healthy lately and that can contribute to a lack of energy." said McKay, not very convincingly.
"Look on the bright side McKay. At least it wasn't like Ronon's surprise party." said Sheppard. The Satedan's reaction had been less than pleasant. Several Marines were still nervous to even walk behind the warrior.
"Hmm, true." agreed Rodney as they entered the gate room. The stargate was already active and they could hear Richard Woolsey trying to use the com as they entered the control room.
"Lieutenant Alverez do you copy? Anyone on this frequency please respond." said Woolsey into comlink but he got no response.
"What's going on?" asked Sheppard.
"Alverez and his team are overdue. They were scheduled to check in about ten minutes ago." said Woolsey.
"They were checking out a possible Wraith gathering point. Some faction preparing for a major offensive." said McKay. Sheppard and he were at the mission briefing along with Woolsey and Alverez's team.
"Thanks Rodney. I would have never remembered what happened at one of my meetings without you." Sheppard muttered underneath his breath.
"You say something?" asked McKay.
"No." responded the Colonel before turning back to Woolsey. "I'll take my team and Lorne's." Sheppard said. He didn't need to be told what to do next.
Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, McKay, and Ronon Dex stepped out of the gate and were stunned by what they saw. MALP footage just before Alverez's team went through the gate showed a dense jungle that was too thick to use a jumper. But at this moment, there was nothing.
No trees, no grass, no sign of anything except a MALP for miles and miles. "I thought the gate was in the middle of a jungle." said Sheppard. Major Evan Lorne, Lieutenant Ryan Venner, Sergeant William Fuller, and Doctor James Eckhardt were the next ones to emerge and they were just as confused as Sheppard's team.
"What…happened here?" asked Lorne.
"Are we sure this is the right planet?" asked Venner.
"No, this is the correct address alright." said McKay, pulling out his Ancient scanner.
"Rodney, any idea what happened here?" asked Sheppard.
"No, I'm not picking up anything. It's like nothing was ever here." replied McKay.
"How is such a thing possible?" asked Teyla.
Ronon kneeled down, noticing a set of footprints. "Sheppard, I've got four sets of footprints. Standard tread." he said.
"That's gotta be Alverez's team." said Lorne.
"I should check over the MALP's memory drives. See if it picked up anything unusual." said McKay.
"Alright, Eckhardt and Fuller stay with McKay. Everybody else with me. Ronon, lead the way." ordered Sheppard.
For the next fifteen minutes, Ronon led everyone on a trip through what should have been a dense forest similar to the Amazon. But walking away from the Stargate didn't change that. There was still no sign of any form of life whether it was plant or animal. The track led them to the bottom of a ravine.
From there, everyone followed Ronon up the slope until he suddenly stopped. "What is wrong?" asked Teyla. Ronon circled around, his eyes following something the others didn't see.
"There!" yelled Ronon who took off running. The others followed him to a pile of clothing. They were Atlantis combat uniforms and they were separated into four piles. Ronon leaned down and pulled dog tags out from one of the piles.
He tosses them over to Sheppard who read them. "Alverez." sighed the Colonel, not how he wanted this to end.
"What happened to them?" asked Venner.
"From the way the clothing is spread out, it's like they just disappeared out of thin air and left everything else behind." said Teyla. Also among the uniforms were radios, combat knifes, pistol sidearms, and even their standard issue G-36 assault rifles.
Venner leaned down and pulled out Sergeant Wilkin's dog tags. He stared at the small pieces of metal for a moment. "Sorry pal." he whispered.
"Gather up the uniforms and equipment." ordered Sheppard. Lorne, Teyla, and Venner started grabbing all the equipment and clothing.
This was all too familiar to Colonel Sheppard, remembering something from his former commanding officer. He tapped his radio. "Rodney, any luck on that MALP?" asked Sheppard.
"Haven't got the video footage yet but the MALP detected an intense radiation burst about an hour ago. After that, it lost all biometric readings in the area." reported McKay. From the sound of his voice, he knew what it was too.
"What's going on?" asked Lorne, seeing Sheppard's reaction.
"Rodney, could this be from a device like the one that was on Dakara?" asked Sheppard into his radio.
"As much as I wish you were wrong, it's too similar to be a coincidence." replied McKay with a tone of dejection.
(Not too different but better in my opinion. Hopefully post the next chapter soon. And please review.)