Enemy at the Gate rewrite

I decided to write this after seeing the Atlantis finale. It was very enjoyable, but there were a few plot-holes, niggles and inconsistencies, some big enough to fly Atlantis itself through. This aims to tidy up some of those loose ends and make the episode more rounded and fleshed-out.

I do not own Atlantis, someone else does and I'm just doing this for fun. Have a nice day.

Chapter 1

Wraith hive ship, somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy

The Wraith commander strode though the hallways of his hive. He had been called by his chief subordinate, who would only say that his research was complete. He undoubtedly wanted to catch his leader off guard, but the commander knew very well what the research was. The new power sources could now be integrated into the ship, and his various plans could proceed further.

It was therefore with some discomfort (but little surprise) that he reacted to the sight of several warriors, weapons raised, blocking his way into the subordinates' chambers.

"What is the meaning of this?" he rumbled, mainly to buy himself time before weapons were fired.

"Now that my work is nearing completion, your leadership services are no longer required," the subordinate said from behind the warriors. "I will continue the search for new life and new feeding grounds without you,"

"Boldly going where no Wraith has gone before?" quipped the commander, who was still planning his escape. The human joke was lost on the subordinate, who merely scowled.

"Kill him!" he shouted, retreating into his chambers.

The commander, acting on the reflexes and instinct built up over his ten-thousand year life, sprang into action before his adversaries could react. He drew his weapons and let off a volley of stun fire, downing several. Now that that problem was dealt with, the commander ran for the nearest hangar bay, hoping that his shuttle was still accessible.

Fortunately the commander met very little resistance on his route. Evidently the subordinate-turned-traitor had assumed that his firing squad was all that was needed. The commander was spitting curses as he ran, furious that his position had been usurped, but also furious with himself that he did not take greater precautions.

He was approaching the hangar bay. Rounding the corner, he saw his shuttle being attended to by technicians. The commander approached the tech nearest to the ship's hatch warily.

"Is the vessel prepared for flight?" he asked menacingly.

"Yes, commander. However, I was not aware that you were leaving so soon after your arrival," the technician said.

The commander levelled a stony glare at the technician.

"Circumstances change," he said, "There are urgent matters I must attend to elsewhere, and I wish to depart immediately,"

"Very well, commander," the technician said, deferring to the larger Wraith.

"Thank you," the commander said silkily as he swung up into the cockpit. He strapped himself in and started powering up the ship, planning his next move. Where would he go from here? There was but one destination, but the means of getting there were varied.

Seeing that the ship was fully powered, and that there was increased activity outside, he made his decision. Not waiting for the hangar doors to open, he took off, shooting down the launch tubes, blasting the doors open with his ship's weapons and shooting out into empty space.

The race was now on to hyperspace. Could the hive power weapons and attack before the (now ex-) commander could escape? The fugitive took a look at his sensor displays and growled as a storm of blue energy streaked towards him.

He threw the ship into a series of wild evasive manoeuvres but the sheer volume of fire from the hive meant that they scored a few glancing hits. The fugitive snarled and hit a control, causing the vessel expend the last of it's energy reserves to dive into hyperspace and escape.

The Wraith, known to some in this galaxy as 'Todd', caught his breath and settled down for the short hyperspace journey.

Atlantis, M35-117, Pegasus Galaxy

Richard Woolsey hurried out of his office as the gate activation alarms activated. He could see that Colonel Sheppard was dealing with the situation, so as per protocol, he allowed him to continue. He would step in only when necessary.

Even so, he was surprised to see Todd appear on the screen. Evidently he was on a planet that had a MALP by the gate. He watched, concerned, as Todd and Sheppard exchanged in their customary verbal sparring, but he got tired of it fairly quickly when little information of substance was being provided.

Cutting in after Todd, he attempted to steer the conversation in a more productive direction.

"How is this our problem?" he asked bluntly.

The commander of Atlantis listened as the erstwhile wraith detailed his recent escapades, but his attention was piqued when Todd said three particular words.

"I'm sorry, did you say Zero Point Modules?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Indeed, Mr. Woolsey," Todd said, a touch patronisingly.

"Well, if we return to Mr. Woolsey's question," Sheppard said, with a evil grin forming on his face, "How is this our problem?"

The Wraith bristled, and clearly wished to take his next meal from the colonel.

"Sheppard, for once this is not just about me," he intoned, then looked away in disquiet at a panel on the MALP.

"What?" asked Sheppard.

"I believe that your primitive sensor devices has detected a number of cruisers entering orbit above this planet. They will be here within a quarter hour. Evidently my escape was not as clean as I had thought," he said arrogantly.

Sheppard was very much looking as if he'd rather leave the Wraith on that planet to die.

Todd spoke again.

"Gentlemen, if those ships manage to kill me, then you will lose your only source of information about this hive. I will allow myself to be temporarily placed under your very comfortable care, to ensure that this information is not lost,"

"Very well," said Woolsey. "We'll call back in five minutes,"

--

Exactly ten minutes later, Lorne and his team returned through the gate with Todd, who had been restrained in the customary way, including a glove over his feeding hand.

They were greeted by Woolsey and Sheppard.

"Welcome back, Major," Woolsey said, as the colonel and Todd exchanged pointed glances. "Please take our guest to a holding cell, I will interview him shortly,"

With a last leer in Sheppard's direction, Todd allowed himself to be led out of the gateroom by Lorne. Sheppard turned to Woolsey.

"Want me to put in the call to Caldwell?" he asked.

"Yes, Colonel. Please have him proceed to the nearest Stargate. You, your team and Todd will join them in a Jumper once our friend gives us the necessary information," Woolsey said, turning to make his way towards the holding cells. Sheppard gave a mirthless smile as he ordered Banks to establish a sub-space connection to the Daedalus, which was currently returning from a set of co-ordinates given to them by Elizabeth Weir during her short return to the city earlier that year. Elizabeth had not said what was there, merely that it would be to their advantage. The senior Atlantis staff had been very curious, but the spectre of an almost unstoppable Hive meant that priorities were now temporarily changed.

Shepard stood in the control room, mulling the situation while Banks set up the connection. What would the hive do? He had a feeling that this 'underling' was the Wraith that Todd had left them with while he and Teyla had taken control of the Alliance. If so, then this could be a problem, because he knew not only where Atlantis was, but also a great deal about the Atlantis' expedition's capabilities.

He was shaken from his introspection by Caldwell's face appearing on the screen.

"Greetings, Colonel Caldwell, what did you find at the mystery coordinates, sir?" he asked good-naturedly. When Caldwell and the Daedalus had first arrived in Pegasus they had a large dislike for each other. Time, and mutual understanding, especially after the Trust incident meant that the two worked cordially together, even if they were not best friends.

"Sheppard, I'd rather not go into it over a long-range channel, but it's certainly very interesting," the commander of the Daedalus said. "What's the big urgency?"

I did enjoy EatG, but I do think that it could've been a two-or even three-part episode. This is my imagining of such an episode.

I'm making a few changes in this story, mostly with the combat, and also I didn't like the quantity of deus ex machinae, a trap that SG falls into too often for my liking.