Final battle
" Unscheduled Offworld activation!" called Chuck loudly over the sound of the dialling gate.
Dr Elizabeth Weir rushed to his side. " Who is it?" she asked.
"Colonel Sheppard's IDC." he stopped, and then continued "Receiving audio message."
"Atlantis, this is Sheppard! We're coming in hot!" called John's voice over the sound of gunfire.
"Lower the shield." Dr weir commanded.
Four figures tumbled through the gate, two of them supporting another.
Dr Weir ran down the steps towards them. "Medical team to the gate room!" she said sharply through her earpiece. "What happened?" she cried.
John Sheppard, struggling to hold up Ronan, said "You know that planet we thought was uninhabited?"
Dr Weir nodded.
"Yeah well, it's not, and it seems the people there are rather devout Wraith followers." he continued his voice strained. "Anyway, Ronan here just had to tell them exactly where to shove their beliefs and..."
"Yes, thank you," Dr Weir said, raising her eyebrows.
Later, when John and Teyla where training in the gym, John suddenly stopped. "Isn't weird," he said panting.
"What?" answered Teyla, sitting down on the bench.
"You know, how something so traumatic can mess with a persons head." he continued. "Like the Wraith attack a planet, there has to be a side-affect, doesn't there?"
Teyla was silent. "There was once a man in my village," she said slowly. "He was very nice, had a wife and children, then one day, after the Wraith came he began to act a little...strangely"
"What happened?"
She shook her head. "He claimed to see Wraith everywhere," she said sadly. "He eventually went away, towards the mountains, and we never saw him again."
John sat very still, as if he didn't want to disturb Teyla's thoughts. It would be like throwing a stone into a calm pond.
"We should get kitted up for our next assignment," Teyla muttered, standing up.
"When is it?" he asked.
She raised her eyebrows, tossed him a watch and walked out of the doors.
John glanced at it, before running after her.
When they had stepped through the gate onto P3X 4110 they were greeted with an appalling scene. Trees' lay flattened, and in the distance they saw the smouldering remains of what might have been a village.
"Alright, let's look for survivors," commanded John.
Teyla walked beside him "There must have been a great culling here."
Ronan scanned the remains before him. House lay smoking in the frosty air. Bodies entwined the lone tree trunks, reaching out towards him, as if begging for mercy. He frowned, and turned back to the gate. "Sheppard!" he yelled as he ran towards a crumpled body in front of it.
John leapt over piles of timber to get to him. "What is it?" he gasped.
Teyla joined them. "Who is that?"
"We're about to find out." said Ronan, as he rolled the person over.
It was a girl. Her face was covered in cut's and bruises, a jagged line ran down her cheek, dried blood matting her black hair.
John bent down to check her pulse. "She's alive," he called.
Rodney appeared, gasping and panting. "Hi...What did (gasp) I miss?"
John chose not to answer. "Let's get her back to Atlantis," he said, picking her up.
Rodney nodded and began dialling the gate.
Teyla stooped, and grasped a cloth bag that was clutched in the girl's hand. She could hear things knocking together with a dull, wooden sound.
John held the girl close as the wormhole activated. Her face was pale, pinched. He nodded at Rodney, who sent a code back to Atlantis.
Teyla shot a glance back at the flattened trees, through the village and focused on the bodies strewn across the ground. She shivered, and stepped through the Stargate.
Surrounded by tubes, the girl appeared peaceful. Elizabeth walked up to Dr Beckett. His eyes, large and surrounded by dark circles, were riveted on the patient.
She touched him lightly on the shoulder and he jumped.
"How is she?" she inquired, nodding at the girl.
He sighed, and looked straight at Elizabeth. "She's recovering physically, but.." he trailed off.
She raised her eyebrows. "Carson?"
"There is a significant amount of brain trauma on her scan," he replied. "The strange thing is, it's all above the sight and hearing receivers in her brain,"
"What does it mean?"
Beckett looked down. "I don't know."
"Just imagine what she must have been through," Elizabeth murmured.
Running, running. Always hiding. My feet leapt over logs, trying to get away from...from what. They were behind me, I knew that much. They couldn't see me though, no-one could. I turned a sharp bend and leaned against a tree trunk.
Catching my breath, I slid down the trunk to sit on the leafy floor of the forest.
I waited until I was sure they had gone, then I shimmered into view. I knew immediately it was a mistake. several of the Creatures leapt up from behind bushes and trees. I gasped and flung myself aside. Just in time. The blue shots ricocheted of the trunk, I ran towards a creature, kicking him in the head, stabbing with my sword as they hurled themselves at me. After a few agonizing seconds they were all lying at my feet, their heads neatly separated from their bodies. I let out a sigh of relief. Turning invisible again, I took up my vigil against the tree once more. My thoughts meandered over the past few hours. My family, were they alive? Had they survived the massacre? I peeked around the trunks of the forest. The creatures were still ransacking our village. Screams, cries and wails of desperation echoed around the forest. I turned away, closing my eyes and leaning my head back.
Then to my absolute horror, I heard more creatures tearing their way through the forest. I leapt up, and ran for my life. I had seen what would happen if I didn't, Having my life sucked out of me wasn't my choice of death!
The blue stunners zoomed past me missing me by inches. If I was hit, then they would find me.
I weaved through the trees, climbing up one and cling to the branches like a monkey. If I fell unconscious, they would see me after a few minutes.
I waited until all the creatures had left through the Traders Porthole, in the horrible buzzing ships.
I shimmied down the trunk, and gasped as a stinging pain shot through my left leg. Looking down, I saw a knife imbedded in my lower leg. I had noticed a sharp sting, and a dull throbbing pain as I ran, but I was to busy escaping from the village with my life.
Gritting my teeth, I wrenched it out. This proved too much for my exhausted body. Blood ran in steady flow down my leg and into my cloth boot.
I must have passed out, because when I awoke it was full afternoon. Yet no birds sang, no sounds could be heard. It was a if the whole forest was morning the death of my people.
I thought of leaving the planet, like I had seen my father do on his many expeditions, but to where? The only people I had seen were traders. they had never seen us, as we had always remained invisible. Too dangerous for us. I had memorized the combinations they used on the circular thing.
Now, I dragged myself over to the circle, my useless leg bumping over felled trees. I reached up desperately, but my vision clouded and I slumped on the ground. Just as the Porthole activated.
With a small cry, the girl's eyes snapped open. She stared around, looking terrified.
"It's Ok," said Elizabeth, gently. "You're safe."
The girls dark eyes focused on her. "What have you done?" she whispered.
I awoke in a white room. The sight that met my eyes was terrifying. I was surrounded by the creatures, with their grey skin, merciless yellow eyes, and slits above their mouths. One hissed at me drawing back it's lips, to show it's ghastly teeth.
"What have you done?" I breathed, hardly daring to speak.
The creature (female I guessed, and I have heard them called Wraith) looked angry and whirled around, to speak to her companion.
I scanned the room. Beeping machines, brown-white walls and trickling water features.
The Wraith faced me again. She reached out a hand, but I flinched away. She hissed, and flounced out of the room.
Elizabeth sat in her office, head in hands, just sitting and thinking. The way the girl had flinched away, looking disgusted and afraid. It was... She sighed and lifted her head.
John appeared in the doorway. "Can I come in?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yes of course."
He walked in awkwardly. "So," he said, uncomfortably. "How is she doing?"
Elizabeth was quiet. "I'm on my way to the infirmary now," she said. "Care to join..."
"Dr Weir to the infirmary immediately please," said Dr Beckett's voice through their radios.
With a glance at each other, John and Elizabeth rushed out
I slowly opened one eye and checked my surroundings. Four Wraith. I could take them easily, just as I took those back on my planet. Deep breath in, and gently taking a knife off the table beside me. I would wait until the time was right. A few seconds later, my body tensed and I knew that time was here.
I leapt up, slashing two Wraith across the chest, kicking and punching them in the neck. Another grabbed me from behind. I tightened my grip on the tiny blade and thrust it into his belly.
The last Wraith stood still, staring. He hissed and I knocked him out with a single blow. I searched around for my bag and clothes, as the white gown I wore was now sodden with blood. I grabbed my belongings and fled out of the door.
John and Elizabeth burst into the Infirmary, to see three injured Marines and Dr Beckett nursing a bruise on his check.
"What the hell happened here?" demanded John.
Dr Beckett opened his mouth, just as Teyla rushed in, quickly followed by Ronan, and bringing up the rear, Rodney.
Rodney looked around. "What did I miss?" he said.
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows.
Rodney looked at her and John. "Bad question?"
John ignored him.
Dr Beckett continued "She just went wild," he explained. "She managed to take out three guards, and nearly killed one."
Teyla gasped "But she can't be more than sixteen years old!"
"Doesn't stop her from being a threat," growled Ronan.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," warned John.
Elizabeth sighed. This is not what she needed. She already had enough to deal with, what with the ZPM being depleted. "Dr Beckett, you said she might be prone to hallucinations.."
"Does it matter?" said Ronan, stepping forwards. "She nearly killed one of your people," he indicated the badly wounded marine, lying on his back, an oxygen mask on his pale, damp face. He had been stabbed in the stomach with a scalpel.
"Yes, I'm aware of that, but we have to take the fact that she might not know what she is doing into account," argued Elizabeth.
"Does she have a name?" said John suddenly.
The others looked at him.
"Well it would be easier if she had a name," continued John.
Beckett shuffled on the spot. "Well I've been calling her Xena," he said.
"As in Warrior Princess?" said Rodney, scathingly.
Beckett looked hurt. "No, as in my little sister Xena."
Rodney folded his arms. "And does your sister often go on murderous rampages?"
Beckett looked as if he wanted to tell Rodney exactly where to get off, but Elizabeth stopped him. "It doesn't matter who she is," she shot a look at John, who looked away. "Or what her name is. We need to find her. John, you lead a team around the east pier, Ronan you take the west, Teyla, you can do the south."
After I had hurriedly changed into my own clothes: A tight black leather top, dark red leggings and cloth boots, I explored the contents of my bag. Wraith guard skulls, each one clean and perfect. I had hunted them myself, skilfully removing the heads and scratching the flesh off them. I smiled. Slinging it onto my back, I tightened my belt, which held four sharp daggers. Usually it would have had more, but I think they were still inside some dead Wraith back on my planet.
Finally I picked up my long, razor sharp sword. It's blade had been dripping with blood in the past, and I could sense that it was about to again. I brought the curving metal close to my cheek and ran it underneath my nose. I had been taught when to tell that it was sharp enough to cut human flesh with. It was ready, and so was I.
I flickered out of sight as I walked out of the small alcove.
Elizabeth hurried back to the Gateroom. "Anything?" she asked.
"No Ma'am," replied Chuck, glancing at the life-signs detector. "No wait!" he exclaimed as a small dot appeared out of no-where. It stayed for a second, then vanished. "What the..." he whispered.
Elizabeth shook herself out of her reverie. "John, anything on your end?" she said into her radio.
"Nothing yet," he answered.
"Teyla, what about you?"
"Nothing."
"Ronan, have you found anything?"
Ronan straightened up, holding something in his hand. "She was here," he said to Elizabeth.
"How can you be sure?"
He studied the thing in his hand. "I know," he said, darkly, and threw the thing aside. It was a Wraiths' skull.
I pressed myself against the wall, catching my breath. This was the right room, I was sure. They were getting the power for this place from generators. I wasn't stupid, I had stopped at a remote computer terminal to get information. If I disabled this one, they would be in big trouble.
I glanced inside, one guard. Easy.
I sprang in, knocking the guard aside with one kick, pulling him upwards and slitting his throat. I ran over to the generator. "Ok," I whispered to myself. "This could be tricky."
John and his team crept through the corridors of Atlantis. They had just rounded a corner, the one that led into a generator room. He caught his breath as he saw a figure leaning over the Naquadah Generator.
"This is Colonel Sheppard," he whispered in his radio. "Target has been sighted, we're moving in."
As he signalled to his men to advance, the girl turned and stared at him.
I started as I heard a noise behind me. I whirled around, expecting to see a Wraith, but instead I saw...a man. Just a man. A prisoner, like myself?
I stared, and he changed into a Wraith before my eyes. Bullets rained around me, making sparks against the walls. I gasped and turned invisible. I ran to the wall and pressed myself against it. What had happened? I clutched my head in agony. They had stopped firing at me, but why had they been using guns with bullets?
I broke off that thought angrily, I had to complete my mission.
John ordered his men to cease fire. The girl had disappeared. "Dammit!" he muttered.
"What happened?" asked Elizabeth.
"She's gone." replied John.
Elizabeth looked at Beckett.
"Just disappeared into thin air. Looked pretty surprised to see me though," continued John.
"It's possible that the drugs I have been administering are taking affect," said Beckett, "she may see things differently to the way we do, due to the abnormalities in her brain."
"Are you telling me that this girl has hallucinations?" hissed John.
There was a silence. "I think," said Elizabeth "that we can assume that she isn't completely.."
"Sane." finished John.
Elizabeth sighed. "Possibly," she admitted.
Daring to peek around the door, I saw that they had stopped firing. I crept to the generator, and carefully removed the small device in the centre.
Rodney jumped in surprise as the power went off with a hum. "Oh no," he breathed, tapping on the keyboard like a maniac.
"What happened?" asked Elizabeth.
"She cut the power," explained Rodney. "All primary systems are down, including life signs detectors."
I grinned and slipped the device into my bag. Before I ran I placed another skull on the floor next to the dead guard.
Guessing wildly I swept right past the Wraith-man. Every time I blinked he changed.
Elizabeth turned to Rodney, whose face was dimly outlined by the flashlights.
"Rodney," she began.
"There was nothing I could have done," he interrupted. "There was a guard at the generator," he stopped, because Elizabeth had her hand up.
"Can you get me city-wide?" she asked.
Rodney glanced at the screen. "I think so, just give me a minute."
I slowed to a walk, clutching at the stitch in my side. My stomach groaned loudly. I sat down, and tried to remember when I last ate.
I must have dozed off, because I awoke to the sound of...nothing. It puzzled me, I sensed someone near, but I neither see or hear anyone.
I leapt up and drew my sword, creeping around darkened corners, until I reached a small room, that joined two corridors together.
A team walked slowly in through the opposite doors. They were led by a tall, dreadlocked man. Even though he was human, I was convinced that if he found me, he would kill me, even if he wasn't a Wraith.
Still invisible, I pulled a dagger from my belt.
Ronan scanned the room. "She's not here," he began, "Let's carry on."
There was a gasp of pain behind him, followed by another, and then two soft thuds. He turned, and silhouetted against the dim light, was a figure. In her left hand was a dagger, dripping with blood.
At her feet were the two men of his team.
The man reacted instantly, raising his gun and pointing it at me. I smiled slightly. "Found you," I said lightly.
Ronan frowned in confusion. In that fraction of a second, the girl kicked out, and his gun slid across the floor. He drew his sword as the girl raised her own.
Then she came at him, flickering in and out of sight. She parried all of his stabs easily, and jabbed him with the point of her blade. They both fell back, then charged. Their blades met in a deadly clash of metal, and crossed over each other. Her face came inched from his, and he saw in her eyes complete and utter madness. Her mouth was barred into an insane grin, as she forced him back against the wall.
A single flick of her wrist, and his blade clanged onto the floor. She held the cold edge of hers against his throat. He waited, glaring at her. Then a piercing pain in his side made him jump. She released him, and he looked down at the handle of her dagger protruding from his side. He slide to the floor, gasping and grimacing in pain, as she ran out of the room.
I slumped into a corner, put my head in my arms and curled into a ball. Let this insane nightmare end, I thought. I could hear a choir, harmonizing, beautiful voices, just like the one at home. I saw my little sister running through the doors of our hut, a huge grin on her face. My relentless memories continued, and I watched helplessly as my home was torn to shreds. Flames engulfed the village, as I heard the screams of my mother and sister as they died. In my mind, I turned and walked through the woods ignoring the blasts that shot past me.
Tears fell freely down my bloodstained checks, burning them with sadness.
"You're ready to go," said Rodney.
Elizabeth nodded. "We're not trying to hurt you, she began. "If you can hear this then please know that we mean you no harm."
I lifted my head.
"I cannot imagine how you must feel," continued the woman's voice.
I got to my feet, not caring that I was visible and walked back the way I had come.
"We think we can help you, whoever you are. You are sick, but we can help you get better."
I moved towards the little room with the strange device in it. I pulled the middle part out of my pocket, the part I had removed earlier.
"Please respond," finished Elizabeth, rather lamely.
There was a ghastly pause. "Can she hear me?" she asked Rodney, who nodded. Elizabeth turned away in defeat.
Then, the power came on with a soft hum.
"There she is," said Rodney, pointing at a solitary dot, moving slowly across the screen.
"John she's heading for the east pier."
"Understood," he replied, and signalled to his team.
Ronan leant against the wall, the bloody dagger lay beside him.
"Ronan?" called a voice.
"In here!" he gasped.
Teyla ran in, and crouched beside him. "What happened?" she cried.
"Girl...stabbed...and ran," growled Ronan, struggling to sit up.
"Medical team to our position," ordered Teyla into her radio.
I walked slowly through the double doors that led to the pier. I shut my eyes and listened to the steady heaving of the sea.
I took a step forwards so that I stood right on the edge.
"Don't move," said a male voice from behind me.
John stared at the girl. "Come with me, and I won't hurt you."
The girl stood still, with such sadness on her face it made him want to cry.
"We can help you," he continued.
She shook he head. "No one can help me," she said softly. Slowly, she pulled a gun out of her belt.
John tightened his finger on the trigger of his own.
A single tear ran down her face as she lifted the gun to her head.
"Don't!..." cried John, dropping his gun and holding out a hand.
She smiled and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Relief
Sweet relief
falling
falling
falling
John watched in terror as the girl fell backwards. The splash as her body hit the water cut through him like a knife. "Elizabeth," he whispered into his radio.
"Yes?" came her immediate reply.
"She's.." he swallowed. "She's dead. Killed herself."
There was silence in the control room. "Understood," sighed Elizabeth.
Beckett sniffed. "Oh my god," he said quietly.
"You had better return to the control room, John," said Elizabeth.
John nodded. Slowly, he turned and walked away.
Her face was completely calm. A slight smile played around her lips as her long hair swirled around her face. Her eyes, still open, stared at the retreating light that she would never see again. Currents played around her, and bubbles rose slowly to the sky as she sank. No one knew her name. No one would remember her. No one would talk of her again. She could be at peace with the ones who were ripped away from her life.