A/N: Thank you again to those who've read and even more so to those who've reviewed.
Sheppard activated his headset radio. "Larrin? Please respond, Larrin…" He sighed, "look, I'm sorry I was rude, okay? So how about you just fly back, pick us up, then we can all sit down and have a nice, long chat about this…"
Ronan raised his eyebrows in disbelief at Sheppard.
"Larrin, please…oh, screw this," Sheppard snapped, wrenching the radio from his ear and tossing it away in anger. "That's right, you run, Larrin, 'cause the next time I see you, I'm – I'm gonna put a bullet through your left foot!" he yelled at his radio earpiece, lying discarded on the floor, feet from him.
"What are we going to do?" Teyla asked the others, as Sheppard continued to glare at his earpiece in an amusing fashion, as if he could see Larrin through it.
"Kill some Wraith?" Ronan suggested, holding up and tilting his blaster.
"I think she meant escaping, big boy" Rodney said sarcastically.
"Escaping could involve killing some Wraith," Ronan persevered, without heat.
Rodney rolled his eyes and made an exasperated sound. He turned to Sheppard.
"I say we head back to the Jumper and blast out way through the gate."
"They probably would've dialled in by now to stop anyone from getting off this planet," Ronan guessed.
"Probably. Probably. There's a slight chance they haven't yet. I'll take that chance," McKay said stubbornly.
"It's a fool's chance," Ronan told him.
"Well, excuse me, for putting my faith in our only small, tiny, little chance of living!" McKay said furiously.
At that moment, the doors to the room Teyla had come out of opened again. The team spun around, raising their weapons.
Todd stood stock still before them, arms raised, with four guns aimed at him.
"Sheppard! What a surprise to see you here!" Todd exclaimed in mock delight.
"Likewise," Sheppard replied in a tone that suggested otherwise. "Been keeping busy?"
"Fairly," Todd answered evenly. "I did organise this little event, after all."
"Don't you just hate it when these wild parties get out of control?" Sheppard smiled sardonically, as the sounds of firing stunner rifles and the screeching Wraith Queens reached them from the room behind the doors Todd had walked through.
"Indeed," Todd agreed dryly, inclining his head.
"You got a ride home?" Sheppard asked in a friendly manner.
"I do."
"Mind giving us a lift?"
Todd tilted his head to the side, grinning in amusement. "I cannot help but wonder…it is most irregular that you did not arrange a way home beforehand. Or has something gone wrong?"
"Our ride…bailed out on us," Sheppard admitted embarrassedly.
"Ah…" Todd's eyes widened in understanding and his expression grew more amused.
"So how about that lift, then?"
"Well, I'd rather not–" Todd stopped speaking as Ronan moved forwards and jammed the barrel of his blaster into the side of his head threateningly. "– but since we know each other so well…"
Not long afterwards, a cloaked Jumper shot up into the sky, heading for open space. The team was onboard with Todd sitting silently behind Rodney, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, looking a little nervous. Ronan sat behind Todd; hand on his blaster and glowering at the back of the Wraith's head.
"Alright, we're entering thermosphere," Sheppard began, but broke off, looking out the windscreen. "Whoa."
Everyone else looked out too.
A fierce battle was raging before them; the Wraith ships were all attacking each other in a devastating free-for-all ship brawl. Even as they watched, several explosions went off along the hull of a nearby severely damaged Hive ship, two Cruisers firing savagely at it. Countless Darts danced around and around the larger ships in a colossal aerial dogfight, exploding ceaselessly like a fireworks display.
A beeping from the main console drew Sheppard's eyes from the scene of chaos. "Alright, we're nearly there," he announced and turned to Todd. "You're up."
Todd got up and moved over to the console, activating the communications. "This is your commander," he said authoritatively. "I am approaching on a vessel. Open the bay doors at once."
As the still-cloaked Jumper approached a Cruiser shooting its blue energy weapons, its bay doors opened, allowing access.
Moments later, Todd and the team entered the bridge of the Cruiser. Everyone staggered as the ship was rocked by weapons fire.
"Status?" Todd barked at his second-in-command, Kenny, who was standing at the main console.
"We've sustained serious damage, commander," Kenny reported. "We just lost weapons."
"It does not matter. We are leaving now." Todd said.
Their Cruiser sped away from the battle and escaped into a hyperspace window.
Later, as the Cruiser plunged through hyperspace, Sheppard spoke to Todd.
"If you can drop us off at the nearest Wraith-free planet so we can gate home, that would be great."
"I'm afraid that that does not coincide with my plan," Todd said ominously.
Instantly, Ronan drew his blaster and aimed it at Todd.
At once, the Wraith guards on the bridge raised their stunner rifles and surrounded the team.
Rodney grimaced, staring around at all the stunners aimed at his face. "Oh, boy. Here we go again…"
Ronan did not lower his blaster.
"As you undoubtedly know by now, Michael intends to release Verzu. If he is efficient, he would probably be at the planet where she has been imprisoned by now," Todd said.
Sheppard yawned pointedly, stretching his arms over his head. "Wow am I tired. Can't wait to get back to my quarters and have a hot shower…take a nap…"
"Verzu is not only a threat to the Wraith, but to all humans as well," Todd growled menacingly.
"So it's the Replicators all over again, huh?" McKay said.
"More or less," Todd agreed.
"Why should we believe you?" Ronan spat, keeping his blaster raised. "You could be lying."
"And why is Verzu even a threat to us?" McKay piped up. "And while we're on that tangent, who even is Verzu?"
"Verzu is a Wraith Queen. One of the most powerful and feared Queens of the entire galaxy," Todd answered, his eyes flitting from Sheppard's impassionate face, to Teyla's sceptical expression, to Rodney's fear-filled appearance and finally to Ronan's eyes, dark with hatred and mistrust. "She is what we call an Ancient Queen, due to the fact that she fought in the war against the Lanteans all those years ago. She was a superb leader, winning many battles for our kind against the Lanteans. But she was also a terrifying leader. She gained a reputation for her cold-blooded ruthlessness, even towards her own soldiers. Even the Lanteans learned to fear her and she became renown across the galaxy to every race. Known and feared."
Todd paused, looking curiously at the silent team.
"We've met a Queen who fought in the Ancient-Wraith war," McKay reminisced. "Found her sleeping right beneath Atlantis. Teyla managed to overpower her."
"Thank you, Rodney," Teyla said with a small smile.
"Well, if we've dealt with one of these Ancient Queens before, what's another one then?" Sheppard said with bravado.
"You vastly underestimate an extremely dangerous Queen. Possibly the most powerful Wraith ever to exist," Todd warned direly.
"How did she come to be imprisoned?" Teyla asked.
"After we had won our war against the Lanteans, many Wraith feared that Verzu would attempt to seize complete control of the galaxy. She commanded the largest alliance of factions by far. Armies of soldiers and countless ships at her disposal…All the other Queens feared she would make herself the leader of all Wraith, the Queen of Queens…And so they all conspired together to bring her down. They ambushed her flagship at a rare, vulnerable moment. She was captured and imprisoned in a special complex on an isolated planet and has remained there ever since, Believe me when I say that freeing her is in neither of our best interests."
"Because if she's freed, she'll take over this galaxy for herself and wipe out anyone that opposes her," McKay said in bored voice. "I can see how that's not in your best interests, but for us, the only difference is that there'll just be someone different feeding on us. Why should we care who gets to feed on us? I'm certainly not risking my life for that."
Todd walked closer to Rodney, his face contorted with rage. Rodney suddenly looked nervous and took an involuntary step back.
"If Verzu learns of Atlantis's continued existence and she will, she will take it upon herself to finish the siege she started so long ago. You and your people survive today only because we Wraith are in disarray and civil war. If the entire Wraith race were united under her, a massive, coordinated assault on Atlantis would become inevitable. Do you wish for that day to dawn, Dr. McKay?"
"…no," McKay said in a small voice.
Todd retreated from Rodney to the main console. "We are travelling towards the planet with the only Stargate that can connect to the one on Verzu's containment planet. I organised the summit for the alliances in the hopes that I could persuade them to band together to stop Verzu in the event she is released. Even if I had been successful, the chances of defying her with the combined weight of our factions would have been slim. Now with our divisions and infighting worse than ever, it will be borderline impossible to stop Verzu from gaining anything her heart desires."
"Then what chance do we have of stopping her?" Sheppard exclaimed.
"That is why I have no intention of stopping her," Todd responded curtly. "I intend on preventing Michael from releasing her to avert this potential crisis. And you're going to help me."
Todd glared at Sheppard, as if waiting for confirmation of his team's participation.
Sheppard turned to his team, "I suppose something we could get out of this is killing Michael, at least. Alright, we'll help," he said to Todd.
"Good. We are almost there. You should prepare yourselves," Todd advised, as he strode to his associate, Kenny and began giving orders. Kenny nodded and left the bridge through a door.
As Sheppard's team talked amongst themselves, Todd subtly turned his back on them, slipped a device out of the pocket of his cloak and pressed a button on it. A red LED on the device began flashing. Smiling to himself in satisfaction, Todd slipped the device back into his pocket.
\/
The Cruiser dropped out of hyperspace and headed down towards a planet that was rock red all over. It landed on a flat, barren plain of red sand that stretched to the distant horizon. The bay doors opened and a Jumper shot out, the team onboard, accompanied by Todd, once again.
Under Todd's direction, Sheppard piloted the Jumper towards a distant mountain. As they drew closer, it was revealed to be a volcano. Todd reassured them that it was inactive. The Jumper dived into the crater and landed in a heavily wooded area, next to another Wraith Cruiser.
"Well, looks like Michael beat us here," McKay observed, gazing at the Cruiser after the rear hatch had lowered and the team had stepped out. The dense foliage blocked out all sunlight so it was eerily dark in the crater, despite it being in the middle of the day.
"No doubt he is already in the process of releasing her as we speak," Todd said. "There isn't much time, we must hurry."
"Alright. Chances are he probably brought some hybrids along too, so everyone be on the lookout and be ready for a fight," Sheppard said, loading a clip into his P-90. "Let's go."
They followed Todd to the far wall of the crater where there was an entrance to a tunnel that descended into the depths and darkness of the volcano. Mist was pouring out of the pitch-black opening.
Todd grinned maliciously at the abject terror on McKay's face. He swept unhesitatingly into the tunnel and was swallowed up by the darkness.
Sheppard grimaced and entered cautiously after Todd, gun raised and ready. Teyla followed confidently, her gun likewise raised.
"Maybe I should wait out here in case, y'know…" Rodney stuttered, turning to Ronan who wordlessly pushed Rodney in after their colleagues before walking in himself, blaster held casually at his side.
Inside the darkness, Sheppard, Teyla and Rodney clicked on the flashlights attached to their P-90s while Todd drew from his pocket and activated a glow stick that shone with a bright, ethereal blue light. Everything was bathed with a ghostly bluebell glow.
Holding the glow stick high above his head to illuminate the tunnel, Todd led the way as the tunnel slanted downwards deeper into the volcano. After a few minutes, Todd came to an abrupt stop, gazing at what lay before him. The rest of the team halted behind him too.
They were standing on the edge of a massive abyss. An ancient, crumbling stone walkway, twenty feet long, led to a large, stone platform in the middle of the abyss. A Stargate and a DHD stood on the stone platform.
"This doesn't look safe," McKay said at once, looking apprehensively at the walkway.
"If Michael and his hybrids got across, then so can we," Todd said and began strolling across the walkway.
The team stepped carefully and slowly after him, McKay cringing as if though he were expecting it to collapse at any moment. But they made it across to the stone platform alive and uninjured.
Todd examined the DHD closely, which had two Wraith devices attached to it.
"What are those?" Sheppard asked him, pointing at them.
"This one–" Todd indicated the device that sat on the top middle of the DHD, "–is a security device and acts as a lock on the DHD. The DHD will be unusable unless you input the correct password into the device. Only a select few Wraith were given the password to visit Verzu's planet periodically to ensure all was well and that the security arrangements were unbroken."
"Do you have the password?" Teyla enquired.
Todd grinned. "As a matter of fact I do. I managed to steal the information from a rival alliance." The device had several buttons on it, all different sizes and different colours. Todd pressed seven buttons and a red light on the device turned green. "There, the DHD is now active."
"Then what does the other one do?" McKay asked, pointing to the other similar-sized Wraith device that was too attached to the DHD and linked to the password protector with several small Wraith fibres like wires.
"A hacking tool," Todd said, glancing at it. "Michael obviously used it to crack the password to gain access to the DHD."
Todd began dialling the gate and the flashing chevrons lit up the gloom. The team moved out of the way as the unstable energy vortex exploded forwards and then receded into a shimmering, blue puddle.
As Sheppard made to walk through the gate, Todd called our sharply, "Wait!"
Sheppard stopped and Todd motioned for him to move away. He complied and from his pocket, Todd produced a sphere-shaped Wraith device the size of a tennis ball. He knelt down and rolled the device along the ground into the event horizon.
"Now, we go," Todd nodded.
Sheppard turned and walked through the event horizon. Todd followed him. Then Teyla and lastly, McKay and Ronan entered the same time as each other.
