The rain had returned, come to add its misery to an already miserable situation. Carefully, 13 forms skulked through the torrent toward the Ancient ruins using massive trees and large mossy stones as cover. Sheppard and Mitchell watched the ruins through their monocles from two different positions.
"Southeast looks clear," Mitchell's whisper sounded from the radio. "Are you sure MacKay's doodad is working?"
Sheppard looked at MacKay.
"Of course, it's working," the scientist hissed in exasperation as he glanced at the life-signs detector once again. "They're there. A handful in the field and most in the ruins." The man almost looked hurt by the doubt in his ability.
"Are you sure you're reading that thing correctly?" Sheppard asked.
"Oh, of course, that's it," MacKay growled sarcastically. "I've decided now is the perfect time to forget how to read a simple display."
"Rodney says they're out there," Sheppard said into his radio. "Stay on your toes."
Team by team, they advanced. One group would move forward while the other two would cover. The advancing team would hunker down behind cover fifty feet ahead of the others and the next team would advance to their flank. The final team would again move fifty feet ahead of the first and the whole process would repeat.
Major Teldy's team was moving forward when one of her marines screamed. The distinctive sound of Wraith stun weapons filled the air.
"Down!" Mitchell shouted as he released a burst from his weapon. Several wraith drones fired upon the three teams, fortified in two places behind Ancient rubble. They caught Major Teldy's team in a crossfire and her second marine went down a few seconds later.
"Sheppard!" Mitchell said over the radio. "We have to get the pressure off Teldy. If you can take the left flank, the right should fall pretty quick. We'll keep their attention while you move."
"Right," Sheppard said. "Moving now."
Mitchell opened up with his MG36, sending a steady spray of lead at the left Wraith position. Vala and Jackson joined him, firing bursts from their P-90s at the left. Only Teal'C joined Teldy, Mehra, and Cadman in firing on the right position, though the impact from his staff weapon's discharge kept the wraith's attention far better than any of the human weapons.
Virtually ignored, Sheppard and his team circled around the left Wraith position. For several minutes, they snuck around the battle, four pairs of eyes locked on their massive quarry. But, when Major Teldy took a Wraith stunner to the face and went down, Sheppard growled.
"We have to move faster," he hissed, as Cadman was clipped by a wraith stunner. "Once Mehra falls, Mitchell won't be able to keep up enough pressure to hold the wraith back from them."
"Perhaps," Teyla responded. "But that only happens if Sgt. Mehra falls."
"Yeah," Ronon agreed. "I don't like their chances."
As if on cue, Dusty rose like a specter from her cover and fired a burst at the right-side Wraith position. A drone's head rocked back and the creature fell dead to the ground.
"Maybe you're right," Sheppard conceded. Too late, however, as their increased speed caught the attention of the very Wraith they hoped to surprise. A volley of stun energy slammed into the trees and rubble around them.
"Oh, great," MacKay muttered. "They've seen us. Now what do we do?"
"Now, we're close enough for these," Sheppard said pulling a pair of grenades from his pocket. Tossing one to Ronon, he showed the large man how to hold the grenade with his thumb over its spoon. Both men pulled the pins and threw the explosives. Seconds later, a pair of thunderous explosions rocked the area. When the smoke cleared, Wraith corpses were draped over ancient rubble.
While Sheppard's team moved in to check on the dead wraith, the final Wraith position fired desperately at the three groups of targets. But incoming fire from three different directions steadily cut the wraith numbers down. Supported by an enraged Dusty, the other two teams surrounded and eradicated the remaining wraith in less than two minutes.
"Sgt. Mehra!" Sheppard called. "What's the status of your team?"
"Captain Cadman is coming around, but Staff Sgt. Collins, Gunnery Sgt. Lubbok, and Major Teldy are still out. No fatalities, however."
"Good. Rodney, are there any more wraith around?"
"Uh, no," he said, stepping around Vala and checking his scanner. He and Vala had been looking over the fallen wraith in their final position. "The scanner shows…" A blinking light out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. "Lookout!"
Vala's head whipped around in time to see his body flying at her. Rodney slammed into her, driving them both over a piece of collapsed wall.
Another explosion shook the area.
"What the hell was that?" shouted Mitchell.
"Wraith self-destruct," MacKay groaned, coughing from the smoke and dust kicked into the air. "I only barely noticed it." Only then did he realize he was laying on top of Vala. The woman was grinning up into his face. Her eyes only shifted away when Jackson rushed in.
"See that?" she asked Jackson. "That's how you treat a woman. You could stand to be a little more heroic."
The look of worry on Jackson's face quickly changed to exasperation as MacKay rolled off Vala.
"With you it's a full-time job," Jackson griped.
"Don't anyone worry about me," MacKay muttered, working a finger in his ear and yawning to get his ears to pop. "I'm fine."
"We are quite thankful that your heroic actions did not result in your injury, Rodney," Teyla said, giving him a placating smile. "But those actions won't matter if we are surprised by a wraith attack. The scanner?"
MacKay patted the pocket that usually held it before remembering he'd dropped in his charge to tackle Vala. The man groaned in frustration as he walked to where he'd dropped it. Pieces of it were scattered for dozens of yards in every direction.
"It would appear that we're going in blind," Teyla sighed.
"At least we know there are no more outside," MacKay said.
Sheppard motioned Sgt. Mehra and Col. Mitchell to join him. "All right, here's what we do. Mehra and Cadman will carry their comrades back to the village. Mitchell's team will join my team inside the standing ruins. With luck, we'll clean out the remaining wraith fairly quick."
"With luck is right," MacKay griped. "I didn't get an exact count, but there must be at least another 30 wraith inside. How are eight people supposed to clear out that many?"
"Rodney is correct," Teyla agreed. "If there are truly only 30 wraith remaining, then our remaining defenders could easily safeguard our village. It might be prudent to have the women remain and Major Lorne assist us while my people collect the injured."
Col. Sheppard nodded and spoke into his radio. Moments later Lorne joined them and a team of four volunteer villagers were carrying the unconscious back to the village on stretchers.
"What's the plan, Colonel?" Major Lorne asked.
"You and Cadman will join Colonel Mitchell's team, and Sgt. Mehra will join us. My team will take point and we'll clear these ruins room by room. Any questions?"
After a collective shake of heads, the two teams struck out toward the standing ruins. The ruins shared the coloring and architecture of Atlantis, though it was substantially smaller. Where Atlantis was meant to be a city, this place was obviously meant as an outpost. Likely fallen during the war, much of the outpost was rubble scarred from energy weapons. Pieces of decorative columns lay scattered around and several walls in varying states of collapse were visible. Even twisted remains of ancient catwalks could be seen. At the core of the ruins was the center tower of the standing ruins, if you could call them that. Though many of its walls were in better condition than the rest of the ruins, pants and trees grew out of jagged holes in its walls.
The two teams took position on either side of its door. Mitchell grabbed a groove in the door and pulled. It didn't budge.
"Try the panel," MacKay said, pointing at the lit panel at Mitchell's shoulder. The man waved a hand over the panel but, again, the door didn't budge.
"Any more bright ideas?" Mitchell growled.
"Give me a minute," MacKay sighed. Moments later, the panel's cover was off as MacKay bypassed the locking mechanism. Finishing by bridging two crystals with a third, the door hissed as it started to open.
"See?" MacKay said smugly. "If you just pay attention…"
He was cut off by a burst from Mitchell's MG36. A wraith that had been hiding just out of sight died the moment it popped into view.
"Yeah," Mitchell drawled. "If you just pay attention."
Embarrassed, MacKay's mouth opened and closed several times. He glanced at the rest of his team for support, but was met with stern and exasperated glares.
Inside the standing ruins was a hall, ending in tons of collapsed rubble. An open doorway to the right, where the wraith had been hiding, opened to a room almost entirely choked with debris. Just before the hallway ended in a wreckage-blocked stairway upwards was a closed door to the left. According to the research team that had been studying this sight, it led to an ancient underground laboratory.
"This one's locked too," Col. Mitchell said testing the door.
"If the wraith took the control room, they're probably all locked," Rodney said as he moved to the door panel.
"I guess we're in for a long day," Sheppard said.
The door hissed open to a stairwell that led 100 feet down into an underground complex.
"You know, if I were going to set a trap…" Mitchell let the statement hang.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure it's the only way down," Sheppard said and waved Mitchell's team to take the lead.
Warmly lit metal stairs clanked under military boots as the groups slunk downwards into the Ancient laboratory. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, the two teams rushed toward the relative safety of the stairway bottom. And directly into an ambush. Wraith stun energy filled the stairwell only twenty feet from the bottom, both Cadman and Dr. Jackson taking several direct blasts.
"We're caught in a choke point!" Ronon roared as he fired his particle magnum. It left a smoking hole in the side of a wraith. The creature fell dead into the stairwell.
"We must move forward!" Teal'C shouted as his staff released a volley of bursts. Two more Wraith fell dead.
"Push forward!" Sheppard growled as two more wraith bursts flashed into the hallway. Col. Mitchell groaned as one of the bursts clipped his head. Burning through ammunition to keep wraith heads down, the remaining shooters pushed forward. One of the three remaining wraith went down from weapons fire. The final two thought to shift the advantage into their favor with hand-to-hand combat. Ronon and Teal'C had other ideas. Ronon's Satedan sword first removed the hand of a wraith drone, followed quickly by its head. Teal'C caught the wrist of his attacking wraith and stabbed it in the throat with a Jaffa blade.
"Who's down?" Sheppard hissed as he motioned Ronon and Dusty to watch the two directions of the corridor they found themselves in. There were a handful of doors on each wall of both directions, with a closed door at the far end of the right corridor.
"Cpt. Cadman and Dr. Jackson are unconscious," Teal'C rumbled. "And Col. Mitchell is semi-conscious. I doubt he will continue to be an effective warrior."
"I'm jusht fine," Mitchell slurred. "Point me towardsh the bad guysh." His slurring bravado was tempered by the fact he couldn't stand on his own.
"No, my team will move on," Sheppard said. "You and your team will hold the stairway and protect your wounded."
Col. Mitchell tried to speak, but the wraith stunner to his head had started to affect his ability to speak. His words only came out as gibberish and drool. Instead, he motioned that Teal'C should join them. Sheppard opened his mouth to challenge the point, but Vala spoke first.
"Colonel Mitchell's right," Vala said, grinning as she slipped a new magazine into her weapon. "You'll need Muscles with you to take out the rest of the wraith. If any of them think to get at my Daniel by getting around you, I'll give them something else to think about."
Sheppard wasn't happy about the idea of leaving the wounded under the protection of one person who was half-unconscious and the other a civilian. But Vala was right. He needed every shooter he could get his hands on to kill the remaining wraith.
"So, which way do we go?" Dusty asked, looking in both directions.
"I might have an idea," MacKay said looking at a wall panel. Quickly removing the panel revealed a display and interface underneath. After a few seconds of punching information in, he turned back to the group. "Almost all the power is going to someplace called the Synthesis Lab. Its that way." He said pointing to the door at the end of the right hallway,
With a nod from Sheppard, the six moved out.
As they moved along, each side room was checked. Both on the left were empty, looking like labs that were left in the middle of whatever experiment they were working on a million years ago. The right door, however, led to more than just a small and barren supply room. It also contained a handful of desiccated corpses.
"I'd hoped for so much better," Teyla sighed as she checked one of the corpses. "His name was Genla and next week would have been his 20th birthday." She shook her head sadly.
"I'm sorry," Sheppard said as he and Rodney helped her sort through the dead. "But this was…" he stopped at the slightest of sounds that came from a wall locker.
His weapon up, Sheppard nodded for MacKay, the closest person to it, to open the locker door. The instant the door was open, there was a sudden flash of movement. A foot moved at an incredible speed, whipping out to crack MacKay in the face.
"Stop!" Sheppard commanded, causing the woman to halt her second kick just in time. For a moment she stood there, foot frozen in air and in shock, staring at the man with confusion and terror on her face.
"Oh, thank god!" the woman gasped as her terror befuddled mind finally sorted out who they were. "I thought I was going to die!" she looked at the desiccated corpses and her voice lowered so much she was almost inaudible. "I thought I'd end up like them."
"Don't worry," Teyla said soothingly. She wrapped an arm around the woman. "You're safe now, Dr. Baxter."
"You know her?" Sheppard asked. The woman was wearing the traditional Atlantis outfit, the flag on her arm denoting New Zealand.
"I do. Dr. Baxter was one of the first through the gate to explore the ruins. We were supposed to have tea this weekend."
"I didn't think I'd be alive to have that tea with you," Dr. Baxter said, a hitch in her voice.
"You ok, Rod?" Sheppard asked.
Rodney was sitting against the wall, a semi-dazed look on his face. He'd been fast enough to turn his nose away from the kick, but his cheek was already swelling badly.
"What the hell was that?" Rodney gasped, rubbing his cheek.
"That was why you stand out of the way when opening things for us," Sheppard said. "Now buck-up because we still have to find where the rest of the wraith are hiding."
"You're going after them?" Baxter gasped. "Everybody else is dead. Why don't we just leave?"
"We can't leave, we have other things to do." Baxter looked distinctly terrified at the idea, but Sheppard led her out of the room and pointed at Vala and Mitchell. "You'll be staying with them. They'll keep you safe until we return."
She nodded and, while she shuffled uncertainly toward her two new protectors, Cadman helped MacKay to his feet. "Nice technique, Rodney," she whispered to him with a grin. "Use your face to intercept the attack. I don't think that technique is taught very often."
"Why are you here again?" he muttered to the grinning woman. She led him to the door at the end of the corridor where he again worked his magic on its panel.
The door hissed open to a massive, two-story room. A monstrous machine sat at the room's center, humming as its glowing consoles gave a multitude of readouts in the Ancient language. They came out on the second floor, a mezzanine that circled around the central machine. Numerous small rooms were built into the surrounding walls, both top and bottom floor. Several had transparent walls, obviously meant from their furnishing to be offices or conference rooms.
"Split up," Sheppard whispered, motioning Dusty, McKay, and Cadman to join him. "Stay toward the walls and keep to cover."
Sheppard and his group moved left while Teyla, Ronon, and Teal'C moved right. Rodney's attention was on the monstrous machine when Dusty suddenly dove atop him. Several wraith blasts smacked into the wall where his head had been a moment before.
"Thanks," he gasped, looking back at Dusty.
"Less talking, more shooting," the woman growled as she sent a burst into the drone on the mezzanine before them.
The earsplitting cacophony of gunfire filled the room as the two groups opened up on the remaining wraith. Cadman sent several bursts into the drones, taking two out before falling. She took three stun blasts to her chest and dropped.
Teal'C and Ronon moved forward, their weapons scoring holes in both ancient furniture and wraith drones alike. Teal'C was moving forward, firing at a collection of drones on the bottom floor, when he noticed movement in a doorway he approached from the corner of his eye. A quick shift moved his body just far enough out of the way that the hand of the drone that had hoped to surprise him skipped off his shoulder. Teal'C twisted, the back end of his staff driving hard into the drone's body and propelling it forward. The wraith screamed as it flew off the mezzanine to crash into the ground floor.
Ronon was moving down the stairwell when a pair of wraith drones rushed at him from the sides ground floor. His particle magnum was ripped from his hands, but he whipped his sword from its sheath with his free hand. Grabbing the outreaching hand of one drone, his flashing blade severed that arm. The drone roared in pain as he tossed the arm at the other drone, it instinctively catching the flying limb. Ronon's sword hissed through the air, severing its head from its shoulders. A burst of P-90 fire from behind him put down the wraith with the missing arm before it could do anything else. Ronon nodded a thank you to Teyla as he retrieved his particle magnum.
"I don't suppose you have anymore of those grenades?" Rodney shouted as he watched the two large warriors defeat their ambushes on the opposite side of the mezzanine. He could see two doorways on their side of the mezzanine between them and the stairway down.
"Nope," Sheppard said as he sent a spray of bullets into a wraith trying to hide behind furniture on the bottom floor.
"We don't need any," Dusty roared as she moved forward. As expected, a wraith hiding in the doorway tried to ambush her without luck.
Dusty ducked low, its arms passing just above her head as she drove the butt of her squad assault weapon into its foot. It bent reflexively at the pain and the woman drove the barrel of her weapon into its descending face. The drone staggered back into the room with Dusty hot on its heels. The sound of weapons fire filled the room, followed quickly the sound of a body hitting the floor. Seconds later, a wraith staggered from the room with dozens of bullet holes in its body. Dusty stepped from the room even as the creature dropped dead to the mezzanine.
"Don't suppose you want to clear that room as well?" Sheppard called. Dusty grinned and rushed forward with Sheppard and MacKay right behind her. Sheppard entered the room with Dusty as MacKay covered the stairway. It took only seconds for the pair to kill the two wraith drones hoping to ambush them.
The two groups approached from opposing sides, catching the remaining wraith in a crossfire. The drones fought desperately against a withering crossfire but one after another fell, their bodies shredded by bullets or seared by Jaffa staff and particle magnum blasts. In minutes, only the wraith commander survived. All weapons were pointed at him, but he smiled wickedly.
"You will not fire," it growled. Its hand was hovering just above its self-destruct button. "Should I activate this, more than just us will fall victim." It flicked its eyes to an object in an alcove of the great machine they hadn't expected to see.
"It's a ZPM," Rodney gasped. "If he blows himself up, that ZPM will take out everything around us, including the village."
"Correct, human," the wraith commander hissed smugly. "I will be leaving through the gate and taking the power device with me. You will not attack, because your weapons cannot kill me before I activate my destruct and destroy this entire…"
A single shot rang out and the commander's head snapped back. It toppled lifeless to the floor, blood draining from a hole in its forehead. All eyes turned to Dusty, who stood and shifted the smoking M-249 in her arms.
"Hell of a shot," McKay gasped.
"Meh… not bad," she sighed. "Except I was aiming for its left eye."