Allies Part I

"This city is old." Fred announced as he stepped onto a balcony overlooking the murky hefty Baselesk probd the air with his sensory whiskers experiemtnally, placingtwo hands upon the cold, ancient rail before him. Luminescent fungi, growing on the roof of the cavern and down the stalactites far over head were the only light. Fred dragged a third arm across his fore head while waving a scanner about with his fourth.

Colonel Jack O'Neill, garbed in worn, nearly thread bear fatigues was incredulous. "Really? You think?"

"Cute." Said Fred dismissively, "But clearly the context is crucial here Jack, try to stay with me here. Atlantis was old relative to our understanding of time. She was hundreds of thousands of years old, if not millions. She wasn't old, however, she was still in her prime. This.." he gestured to the dark shapes around them, "Isold. This city is well past it's prime. A lot of the systems have entered that stage of failure where you spend as much time fixing them as they do working."

"Much like yourself O'Neill.:" Teal'c said helpfully, earning an immediately betrayed look.

"Hey, it's not the years, it's the mileage." O'Neill objected.

"Indeed. For I possess more years than you." Said Teal'c "And yet among my people I am still young."

"Yeah well you cheat." O'Neill shot back, "You have that snake in you keeping you young. I've got… AARP…"

"My point being that we may not want to put a lot of work into reactivating the city." Fred continued, "We've managed to bring secondary power for the administrative building online periodically, but we've had to cannibalize components from other systems to do it. To bring the city as a whole back online, or even enough to say, activate the main database, we'd need an army."

"Well, if you could just dial Earth, we'd have one." O'Neill said as though the answer were obvious.

"Jack, the Stargate here, looked weird." Fred stated, "It shot steam, ok? It isn't made of Naquidah, I'm not entirely sure it is capable of dialing Earth in the first place, even if we could safely bring main power online, which we can't. Sam and I looked over the power center, and it's not those neat little ZPM's we had on Atlantis. It looks like it was initially some kind of enhanced fusion derivative, which has since been decommissioned and converted into a geothermal energy tap. Have you ever worked with geothermal energy Jack, Even the most advanced materials will degrade over time, and this city is very, very old."

"So, we'll use the gate on Kobol." Jack replied as though there were no problem. "It's much newer isn't it?"

"Jack you're not listening, the gate on Kobol is newer but lacks power." Fred began but Jack cut him off.

"So we scavenge." He said exasperated. "The probes we sent through the other gates showed an advanced civilization that spanned several worlds."

"Which was in the process of being exterminated." Fred pointed out, "We don't know who they are or who they are at war with, do you really want to just gate into the middle of that?" Jack looked at Teal'c and back at Fred.

"Well it looks like somebody has to." Jack said, "We'll start with that city one, what was it called Paprika?"

"The translation said "Caprica." Teal'c rumbled.

"Caprica." Jack corrected himself. "A small three man advance, myself, Teal'c and Roda. We'll leave you Fola and Sam the jumper, since the gate iseems to be indoors anyway. We'll scout around and figure out what's happening. Carter said it was probably safe."

"That city was hit with a neutron bomb." Fred replied, "That kind of weapon causes high casualties, while preserving infrastructure. Sam meant "Safe" as in "No longer lethally radioactive, and there's bound to be some sort of ighting still going on."

"When such a weapon is deployed, it's masters usually intend to return." Teal'c observed.

"Then we'd better move out." O'Neill remarked, "And get there before they do."

The Stargate swooshed as it's event horizon formed, and moments later Jack stepped out, followed by Teal'c, O'Neill and Teal'c swept the room,Jjack with his p90, Teal'c with his, both had zats strapped to their legs, but Teal'c had his staff weapon strapped to his back. "Clear." Jack spoke one word into his radio and then began to move forward. A young man, around fifteen years of age stepped through. He did not carry a heavy weapon, as jack and Teal'c did, but rather held a long metal cylinder in his hand. A Zat nickatell was tucked inside the brown robes he wore over lighter brown garments. Finally a fourth persons tepped through. Doctor Samantah carter held her weapon at ready, but to jack's critical eye, she lacked confidene. He had trained her over the past several months but she was still far from seasoned.

The four were in a long hallway with double doors at each end and tall glass windows high overhead. The Stargate was on one side of the hallway, the DHD was ina glass display case on the other side. Shattered glass on the floor marked where the case around the Stargate had been damaged first by the emerging wormhole, and next by the probe rolling out of it.

"Look sharp." Jack warned, "You two stay here, while Teal'c and I secure this room. Carter check out the DHD." He motioned with his head. The DHD was encased in a glass display to one side.

"it's alarmed, but with power down, we should be able to open it." Carter said inspecting the case as she and Roda approached it. Roda ignited his light saber and cut through the glass. "We should take the control crystal out of it, to prevent anyone else from using it. We can use the remote we brought with us to dial home."

"Fine whatever." Jack snapped. She shot him an annoyed look. "Let's just make this quick." He hissed moving off.

"he's not happy about having you here." Roda observed.

"Did your jedi instincts tell you that?" Sam asked irritably.

"I heard you shouting from the gateroom." Roda explained sheepishly, "But the force does tell me that Jack cares very much for you."

"I know." Sam said softening slightly, "He's just so… overbearing."

"He wants to protect you Sam." Roda said as he peered at a plaque beneath the Stargate, "I sense the turmoil in him even now, it clouds his mind…" he looked up suddenly, "Somethings wrong."

"Carter!" O'Neill hurried back into the room to join her. "You get that crystal?" She held it up to assure him, he snatched it putting it in his pocket. He turned and made for the door." dial the gate, we're about to have company."

"I thought this place was deserted!" Carter protested. She pulled the remote out of her pocket and began dialing. The Stargate lit up.

"Yup, that was wrong." O'Neill stated, "Time to go…"

"Hold it!" A woman cried out. At the far side of the room a door had opened and men with guns were advancing. They froze at the door when they saw O'Neill swing his gun around, and took cover behind the frame. The woman's voice came from the door Jack had just left. Teal'c maintained position on one side of the door that was closed while the woman approached the one that was open. "Stand down, all of you, we mean you no harm."

Jack had hauled Sam down behind the DHD, Roda had stood before them unlit lightsaber in hand, but making no hostile moves. Jack glanced at Sam and then back at the woman, who had stopped at the door. She was unarmed, and Jack noticed she was wearing a skirt, which he surmised was not military garb. Her clothes were worn and tattered.

"Great." He called back, "We hate being harmed."

"Who are you, how did you get in here?" the woman asked."Are you Colonial Warriors?"

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing." Jack called back, "We didn't see anyone here last time we checked." Then he paused, "What's a colonial warrior?"

"We were taking shelter in the museum's basement." The woman replied, "it was the only place in the city we could escape the radiation from the bombs."

"Ah." Jack turned to Sam, "You didn't check the basement?"

"Have you ever tried to pilot an R-2 unit down a flight of stairs?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Crap." Jack hissed. "Uh miss, since you mean us no harm, could you have your men stop pointing guns at us?"

"How do we know you aren't Cylons?" The woman demanded.

"How would you know we are?" Jack countered, he turned to Sam, his brow furrowing, "Cylons? Aren't those the robots Starbuck was always on about? Sam nodded.

"Uh miss?" he started again, "Why do you think we are robots?"

"We've seen humans leading the centurions out in the city." The woman replied, "At first we thought it was simply human collaborators, than we realized all the women looked the same."

"Ah," Said Jack, "Well I hope she was a looker." Sam jabbed him. He gave a chagrined look at Sam, "You know, for the Cylon guys. I have a lady myself." Sam rolled her eyes, and Roda looked beseechingly at the heavans.

"Why don't you come out, you are obviously not a threat, my men won't hurt you." The woman suggested, there was amusement in her voice.

"Why don't you come in? We won't harm you." Roda suggested, still standing out in the open.

"Why don't I come in, I don't think you're going to harm me." The woman replied. She took several steps into the room, and then paused as if realizing what she had done. Teal'c closed the door behind her and she whirled, "What…"

"Guns down Ziggy." Jack called, "Nobody has to get hurt." There was still the matter of the men covering the opposite door, one of whom had raised his pistol to cover Gianna. With a wave of his hand, Roda shut the door using the force, and a statue fell across it.

"Or.. that." Said Jack, he turned to Roda, "They will inevitably find a way in if they want to. Carter start dialing. He turned to the woman. "What's your name?" he asked, noticing that she was trembling.

"Gianna, Gianna Artois." She answered. She lifted her chin, "You're not warriors."

"Indeed we are." Said Teal'c, taking umbrage, but Roda raised his hands.

"Um Teal'c hold on a minute." He turned to Gianna, "You said Colonial warriors before, didn't you?" She nodded, Roda turned back to Jack, "That was the name of the military that built the battlestar Pegasus originally, for the twelve tribes of man to fight the Cylons."

"Yeah she mentioned them too." Jack replied. Behind them the gate swooshed open. Carter moved towards it, Jack put up a hand, "Hold on a minute Sam."

"You are survivors of the attack by the Cylons?" Roda guessed, the woman nodded. "Are you all civilians?" She nodded again. He turned, "Jack we can't just leave them here, the cylons are coming back here eventually."

"The radiation levels are safe for a few hours, but they would still be lethal over time." Sam pointed out, "Even if the Cylons didn't find them…"

"Our food supplies are running low." Gianna interjected, "We've had to scavenge. The radiation levels are too high in the areas around the city for us to leave." Jack pressed his lips together. "Is that some sort of portal? Is that how you got in here?"

"O'Neill, if they have determined what the Chappa'Ai is, we should not leave them behind." Teal'c warned, "If they were to tell the Cylons they may be able to discern it's function…"

"..and figure out where we are before we figure out how to get somewhere else." Jack sighed, "How many people are with you." He asked.

"There are fourteen adults and eight children." Gianna said hopefully.

"Armed?" O'Neill asked, Gianna nodded, "Some are." The door behind Teal'c started to open slowly. He slammed it shut with a hand."Just a second." O'Neill called, he turned back to Gianna, "Do you know how close these Cylons are?"

"We've seen them moving around the city." Gianna replied, "The Cylons have been moving systematically…col..collect bodies.." She swallowed, "The humans directing them are some distance off."

"Alright tell your people we'll help them/" O'Neill ordered. He grabbed his radio as Gianna moved to the door and Teal'c stepped obligingly aside. "Fred, Fola, this is O'Neill."

"Fred here, Colonel, what's your situation?" Fred asked, "We weren't expecting you to dial in so soon, so we have the shield up, but we're getting an override signal."

"Well lower it?" Jack demanded sounding horrified. "I don't want to go splat. Listen we've run into some refugees here. There should be fourteen adults, eight children, some of them armed. I want you and Fola to evacuate the gate room and seal it off. We'll collect their weapons and figure out what to do when they arrive." He turned to Gianna, "Just, until we know we can trust you."

"Where do you intend to take us?" A man demanded coming up behind Gianna.

"Easy Brett." Gianna warned him, "These people came through this artifact, it's some kind of portal. They are going to take us with them."

"Gianna are you mad? We have no idea who these people are, they could be working for the Cylons!" Another man said aghast.

"If the Cylons had known of the Chappa Ai, they would have used it to deliver a weapon." Teal'c pointed out, "Or soldiers."

"It's your call Ziggy," Said O'Neill, "We don't mean you any harm, but the guys who nuked your city, they probably do."

"My name is Gordon." The man asserted, "Who's this Ziggy fellow?"

"It's just a nickname." Carter said clearing her throat and casting a glance at Jack, "Look we really can help if you let us…"

Gianna was nodding. She moved closer to Brett.

"Do you know what that object is?" She asked. Brett shrugged, "It is an artifact that predates the colonies, one of the artifacts that sparked the ancient war with Gememnon. It is called Kobol's gate." His eyes widened, "We don't have much time here, and there will be time for questions later, but we can't stay here."

"We shouldn't surrender our weapons." Brett said resolutely, "Gordon's right, we don't know these people."

"Keep 'em." Said Jack surprising himself, "We're not letting you out of the gate room with them, but maybe we'll have a chance to compare notes."

"Have the men gather whatever food and supplies we have." Gianna told Brett. "I will step through first with Donald and Justin, and radio back if all is safe." She held up a small back radio.

"We came here on a mission of our own." O'Neill informed her, "We're a little low on supplies ourself,"

"We will share whatever we have gathered in exchange for freedom and safety." Gianna replied, "This is the art of negotiation Colonel, both sides must have something to offer and something must be exchanged to create trust."

"Okay hold on a second." Jack said suspiciously, "Now you sound like Daniel used to, what exactly do you do here?"

"I am the leader, at the moment of these survivors." Gianna replied, "because I am on the city council as the minister of arts. Before that I was the curator of this museum."

"An archaeologist." Sam inferred. Gianna nodded. Jack shook his head.

"Every time we find a Stargate, there's an archaeologist standing next to it." he commented, "Alright let's get moving here, I might want to have children some day and this radiation probably isn't helping."

"… And the first we heard of the Cylons since their rebellion was when bombs started exploding in the sky." Gianna said folding her hands at the table, "There was little time to do anything but get to the basement. We had an emergency generator that lasted for days, but all we could do was watch as our colonies were eliminated." She rubbed her eyes, "It was over in a day."

"The Cylons must have vastly outmatched your forces." Teal'c said into the silence. Theyw ere seated around the conference table overlooking the gate room. Gianna's people had set up a camp below and were organizing the supplies they had brought through the gate. Jack had ordered Fola and Fred to wait in the control room out of sight for the time being, and Gianna had been allowed out of the gate room to speak with them.

"They used some kind of computer virus to cripple our forces." Gianna reported, "Please, I've answered your questions, now answer some of mine, who are you, what is this place."

"We're from a planet called Earth." Jack said, then amended, "Well Sam and I are, Teal'c here is from a planet called "Chulak"" Teal'c bowed.

"Earth…." Gianna leaned back, "There are legends spoke of it, the world the 13th tribe travelled to escape the blaze on Kobol…" She looked at Teal'c "Chulak, is that a colony of Earth?"

"in a manner of speaking." Teal'c said darkly, "Thousands of years ago Earth was visited by a race of parasites posing as Gods. They enslaved my ancestors and my people for thousands of years to incubate their young, fight their wars, and serve them."

Gianna's mouth dropped, "incubate their… that's horrific."

"See? That's what I've been saying." O'Neill exclaimed, "Guys got a snake in his gut and he acts like it's giving him superpowers!" he turned to Gianna before Teal'c could reply. "If you think that's weird though, there's probably a few other things we should tell you, now, your people haven't encountered a lot of nonhumans have you." Gianna shook her head. Jack rolled his eyes. "Oy." He said, "Carter better bring in Fred and Fola, let's get this over with."

"Hey, kid." Brett sauntered over to where Roda sat cross legged before the door, "How long are we going to be cooped up like this?" Roda opened his eyes.

"Just until Colonel O'Neill has had a chance to talk to your leader." He assured him, "The situation is, complex, we don't want any misunderstandings."

"Well some of us don't like being treated as prisoners." Brett replied, "We have a right to be treated fairly."

"You are already benefitting from your removal from that radioactive world." Roda pointed out, "We are simply asking that you be patient while our leaders reach an understanding."

"Look kid." Brett said taking a step forward, "I don't want to be rude, or ungrateful, but I just took a step through a portal that scrambled my insides. Frankly, If I don't find a bathroom we're gonna have a mess on our hands, and again no offense, but you aren't going to stop me from looking. Just get out of the way alright?"

"There is a force field protecting the door." Roda informed him, "Even if you could open it you couldn't go anywhere."

"Well then lower the forcefield." Brett said drawing his pointed it at Roda.

"Brett, what are you doing." Another man hurried over, Justin, if Roda recalled correctly.

"Look they left a kid to guard us." Said Brett, "That tells me they are short handed. Now he's got that pistol thingy on his hip, but otherwise he's unarmed. I say we take him prisoner, make him cooperate, and take charge of this… wherever we are."

"You are in the gateroom of a very very old city." Roda informed him calmly, "Nothing here is exactly what it seems which is why this place can be very dangerous if you don't calm down. You could go searching for a fresher, and end up teleporting yourself into a room full of lava."

"Oh now there's teleporters? I don't have time for these fairy tales." Brett said, "You say there's a force field, prove it, open the door."

"Very well I shall demonstrate." Roda decided. He nodded towards Brett's pistol and it jerked from his hand and spun in the air. It hovered in front of him pointed at his face. Brett stumbled back, Justin put his hand on his own gun but froze, unsure of what he was seeing..

"What is this?" Brett demanded, "What's going on?"

"Exactly as I told you." Roda replied, "Things are not as they seem. I am not 'just' a boy left to guard you, I am a Jedi. I wield a force you cannot yet understand. I am the least of the oddities you will encounter in this city, and it is imperative that you understand how carefully you must proceed." The gun spun again facing down and floated into Brett's hands. "If you master your fear, there is power before you greater than anything you have ever dreamed, not the power to simply destroy your enemies, but the power to protect your people."

Brett considered Roda's words. "Can you teach me to use this power that you have?" he asked suddenly, "Can anyone do this?" Roda shook his head.

"not anyone." He replied, "In my galaxy the talent is exceedingly rare, only a handful among billions. Yet I sense that the Force is with you Brett, and you, Justin." He nodded to the other man, "There may be something about your people that gives you an affinity for it." he looked down, "But I cannot teach you to harness it. My order has been all but destroyed because we trained one who should not have been trained. I dare not attempt it myself."

"But you must." Justin stepped forward, "The Cylons will destroy us, have destroyed us, we need to fight back!"

"The Force is not the only power this city has to offer." Roda pointed out, "There is knowledge, there are allies, powerful allies."

"You are from another galaxy?' Justin said, remembering something else Roda had said, "Scientists theorized there might be life elsewhere but human? From another galaxy?" At that moment the door slid open to admit Gianna. Jack stood beside her. He noted the gun held in Brett's hand and raised an eyebrow.

"Gianna!" Justin said relieved, "We were worried about you."

"I am fine," Said Gianna, though she looked shaken. "There is much to talk about, there are things I must warn you all of, that are frankly, unnerving." She cast an apologetic smile abck at Jack, "But I am confident that we are among friends."

"Before we talk…" Brett asked fidgeting, "Seriously, can someone direct me to a bathroom?" Gianna gave him a pitying look. "Our friends have chosen to reveal a most unsettling truth about themselves." She announced to the group, "There are aliens among them, who are not at all human, prepare yourselves. The group looked at eachother as Gianna stepped slowly from the doorway and gestured.

The final member of Jack's team entered the room. Only three feet tall, he hovered at face level, spindly arms and legs, and a bulbous belly hung suspended in the air, while large intelligent eyes regarded them quietly. "This is Fola, he's a… Toydarian?" Gianna looked to Fola for confirmation.

"Excellent pronunciation." The toydarian said approvingly.

"And this is Fred, he is a… Beselesk." The group drew back as the tall figure stepped carefully into the room.

"Hi there.' Said Fred waving with all four arms.

"mever mind about the bathroom…" Brett breathed in astonishment.