Inquisition Tag
Disclaimer - I don't own SGA. Teyla and Ronon would be getting a lot more screen time if I did.
Pairing - none
Spoilers - Inquisition (512), Sateda (304), Rising (101, 102), Missing (407), Kindred 1 (420), The Seed (502). That's all I can think of.
A/N - I'm just trying to fill in one of the many places tptb fell short. Especially during season 5. As a refresher, Shiana - council member who was definitely going to vote guilty; Dimas - was willing to listen to reason; Kelore - was the one Woolsey talked into voting for the Lanteans. I got the names of the council members off the Gateworld transcripts. They're great over there.
"You know, the wraith were out there culling and devastating cultures before we even got here. We've heard stories about that happening everywhere we go. It's not as if they were all asleep and letting the galaxy repopulate itself." John was looking for a way, any way to make the council see reason.
"Of what do you speak?" Dimas asked.
"Well for instance, one of my teammates is from a planet called Sateda. Ten years ago, the wraith came and culled his planet. Look, it's not my story to tell. And really, I don't know all of it. But you could ask him," John promised.
John stumbled back into their holding cell. "Well, that went well."
"What is happening up there?" Teyla asked.
"Oh, they're putting us on trial. Apparently, Atlantis is responsible for all of the woes in the galaxy." John was disgusted with the whole process. There were times he didn't know why he bothered to risk his ass for the people of this galaxy.
"That is not true, John. Things are difficult out there. More so than ever before. But there is hope now when there was none before."
"Yeah, well, I'd like Ronon to come with me one of these times we're called up there. Testify about what happened on Sateda and your years running And now that I'm thinking if it, it'd be a good idea to tell your story too, Teyla."
Ronon merely grunted at that. Teyla nodded.
Woolsey was shoved back into the cell. "Ronon. Teyla. I think the time has come for your testimony. I miscalculated one of the members of the council in there."
"Shiana. Yeah, she'll twist anything so it's our fault." John absently mentioned.
"Yes, well. I think that while she may not be move by my story of loss. Or yours. She might be moved by Ronon's. And Teyla's story."
Teyla spoke up. "What did you tell her of your loss?"
"Well the question of the replicators came up. I mentioned how we lost Dr. Weir. She gave an impassioned speech of how there are people who have witnessed the deaths of thousands because of the replicators. How she saw her village, her husband and children murdered."
"I can see why you need us to talk," Ronon rumbled.
"I think they want me in there at least one more time. They did mention other charges. I think that will be when best to present our side of the story and not to simply answer their 'charges.'"
"We will be ready." Teyla assured him.
The trio entered the court room with a surface assurance. "Before we get started, I would like for two of the people you have accused to tell their stories. I believe that you might hear echoes of what you have gone through," Woolsey opened.
Ronon straightened. "I'm from a planet called Sateda. Many of you might know of it. We traded with many planets. We were a proud society of millions of people. There were great cities, academies of learning, arts, and more. It was because of this that we caught the attention of the wraith."
"I was a simple soldier. A good one, but still. My wife was a doctor. We had warning that the wraith were coming. The chieftain was on the daily announcements with rhetoric about how Sateda had to fight. If we just stood up to the wraith, they would deem us too big a hassle and leave us alone. The taskmasters all knew that we stood no chance. It was merely rhetoric so the people wouldn't be so hopeless."
"I got my wife a place on my taskmaster's staff so she could evacuate off world. I underestimated, in my fear, how much she wanted to stay and help."
Ronon swollowed. Where before, he was looking at his memories, he raised his eyes and looked at each council member. "My unit died in the first wave. I went to find Melena at the hospital. Try one last time to get her off world to safety. There were people in the halls. Walking wounded everywhere. I found her in a children's ward. Fighting to save the children. I was ready to drag her to the Ring of the Ancestors. She pled for a little girl's life. And another's. She wouldn't leave them. I saw the explosion that took her life and the lives of those children."
"The wraith captured me. Kept me in one of their cocoons. When it finally came to feed on me, a small part of me was looking forward to death. I'd be with Melena again. But the wraith stopped feeding on me. I still don't know why. Planted a tracking device in my back and turned me into a runner."
"For the next seven years I ran. I tried not to stay in any one place for more than a few hours. Once, I was sick. The people of a village helped me out. Gave me shelter for a night. The next day, the wraith came and decimated the village. I never let that happen again."
"Finally, I was on an uninhabited planet and came across Sheppard and Teyla. It was them and the other Lanteans who let me stop running. Who gave me a home. Who have helped me in my mission to kill every wraith that stink up the galaxy."
Today, there are about three hundred of my people left. They have become refugees, when once we took them in."
"So yes, I know your pain. I know your anger and your desire to blame somebody. Anybody and make them pay. But the Lanteans have the best means to be out from under the thumb of the wraith."
Teyla stepped forward. "I am Teyla Emmagan. Leader of the Athosians. We have the privilege of being the first people the Lanteans met in this galaxy. On that occasion, Colonel Sheppard unknowingly activated a piece of technology that caught the interest of the wraith. They came as was described to you before. The Lanteans, however, rescued us. They gave the Athosians hope that people can escape the wraith. They then gave my people safe harbor from the wraith."
"Then a year ago, Michael came to our home on New Athos. He took all of my people intending to perform his experiments on them. He held them captive for almost a year. He changed many of them. Made them so they were uncaring of who they once were. They tortured their own friends and family."
"Through it all, the Lanteans helped me search for them. They continued to encourage me. They gave me resources to search for them. It was through their efforts that my people are again restored to their homes and their former selves. Among them, the father of my child."
"These people have offered hope to many people in this galaxy. Where before, we were little more than cattle to the wraith, we now have the ability to fight the wraith. To end the threat to our children and their children. Are we so afraid for ourselves that we would leave this problem to our children's children? I would prefer to fight now to save them later."
The council sat back. Shiana was silent was silent for once. Dimas and Kelore were thoughtful. It was Dimas who broke the silence. "You have given us much to think about. We will take a break from these proceedings to ponder them. We will expect Mr. Woolsey back to answer the final charge in one hour." And with that, the council members rose and left the room.
Back in the cell, Woolsey turned to Teyla. "Thank you. Your testimony may have made a difference. You, Specialist Dex were surprisingly eloquent. For someone who is usually so laconic, I never knew you had it in you."
Reviwes are as good as ice cream sundaes! Pretty please with marachino cherries??