Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Early the next morning General Brennan contacted Atlantis and earth.
xxx
Atlantis
When one of the Army Special Forces Extraction Teams arrived for their briefing with the CO, he told them their mission.
"When you return to Atlantis your counterparts from earth will be waiting to take the prisoner back to earth," their CO told them.
"Why earth Colonel?" one soldier asked.
"That's classified," he answered.
"When do we leave sir?" another soldier asked.
He told them. "Dismissed," their CO said.
Their counterparts on earth were being told about their mission at the same time.
xxx
Eönwë and his Maiar saw a great encampment a few hours out and the other children of Eru Ilúvatar. He also saw the strange thing and wondered what it was; and knew he'll get the answers to his questions when they arrive.
xxx
"Riders are approaching Colonel," Sam told Salar.
"Thank you Sam," she said and then contacted General Brennan.
The Host of the Valar came to a halt on Eönwë's command when a woman surrounded by many guards was standing there waiting for them. He knew instantly she was their Supreme Commander. "I'm Eönwë, Lord Manwë's Herald and Commander of the Host of the Valar," he said when he rode up to her.
"I'm General Charlotte Brennan, the Supreme Commander of all the Atlantis Galactic Federation Armed Forces. My President, the leader of my Government, has authorized me to give you certain information," she replied.
Eönwë nodded his head and dismounted his horse.
"Follow me," Brennan said.
King Finarfin, Prince Ingwion and the other elves were shocked that none of the other children of Eru Ilúvatar gave deference to Manwë's Herald nor the other Maiar who got off their horses and followed Lord Eönwë into a large tent.
"Ten hut," Dima said, and everyone in the tent stood at attention.
"At ease," Brennan said and sat at the head of the table with General Dima sitting on her right; then General's Jaro, Boro, Thos and Colonel's Salar and Santana. Eönwë sat on her left and his Maiar Captains and the King and Prince sat on the other side of the table.
General Brennan introduced herself again and then the others: this is General Stefan Dima, who's a human; this is General Jaro and he's a Dunn; this is General Boro, who's an Aldan; this is General Thos, and he's an Iden. This is Colonel Milan Salar and Colonel Robert Santana, who're both human. Colonel Salar is the Commander of this post," she told them.
The King and Prince had never seen anyone with General Jaro's and Colonel Salar's coloring; and they and the Maiar studied the non-human children of Eru Ilúvatar.
Eönwë then introduced his Maiar Captains, King Finarfin and Prince Ingwion.
"Sirs and ma'am," they all said.
None of the others knew that Eönwë had contacted the Valar when he arrived and that they were looking into the tent and listening to their conversation, or that Lord Ulmo was in the tent unclad.
When Morgan Le Fay appeared in the tent Eönwë noticed the others didn't seem surprised by her presence. He, his Maiar Captains, the King and Prince looked at the woman bathed in pure white light and they all knew she was good, but she wasn't an Ainu.
"Hello Morgan," General Dima said looking up at her with a smile on his face, and she returned the smile. "This is Morgan Le Fey and she's one of the Ancients."
Olórin nodded his head and smiled at her and she returned the nod and smile.
"I thought when an Ancient fights an Ori it's a battle until the end," Colonel Salar said looking at Morgan with a raised eyebrow." What happened to Adria?"
Everyone saw the Colonel smile and Morgan disappear in white light.
"What was her answer Colonel," Brennan asked.
"She said Adria's no more ma'am," Salar answered.
'It seems we did our job better than we thought," Dima said laughing.
"Maybe she's back in the other Ancients good graces," Colonel Santana said.
"She doesn't care about that Colonel," Dima turned and said to him. "When they kicked her out she became a free agent, and she can do what she damn well pleases without having them looking over her shoulder. They've already punished her and they can't do it again."
"I admire her sir. She took Adria head on because she knew it had to be done," Salar said.
"So do I Colonel," Brennan said smiling at her.
Eönwë and the others wanted to know more about the Ancients and Adria.
"What is Morgan?" Olórin asked.
"She's pure energy and pure thought," Santana answered.
Others appeared in the tent with glasses and cups, and after General Brennan told them at ease, they began serving everyone.
General Brennan dismissed them after everyone was served.
"What does dismissed mean?" the King asked the female General after taking a sip of his tea.
"Permission to leave," she answered.
xxx
"The white light and the Ancients are connected, and in order for you to understand that connection you'll have to know the story of the Ancients; and Colonel Santana is here to tell you that story," Brennan told them. "Colonel."
"Thank you ma'am," he said. "The universe we live in is endless, and goes on forever. The Ancients awoke well over 50 million years ago on a planet called Celestis, which is at the other end of the universe, and they were the first humans."
Sam told the Maiar and elves how many years that was based on the Year of the Trees (9.58 Years of the Sun to 1 year of the Trees = 479,000,000). "That's a conservative estimate," Sam told them.
"Mortals awoke that long ago?" Prince Ingwion asked with a surprised look on his face.
"Yes," Brennan answered.
"That's why Morgan looks like a mortal," Olórin said nodding his head in understanding.
"Humans were awaken in three different places in the universe at different times and the Alterans were the first humans," Santana replied.
"And we all converged on this foul world in the Pegasus galaxy," Dima said.
"You may continue Colonel," Brennan told him.
"Thank you ma'am," he said, and told them the story of the Ancients and Ori and why the Ancients left their home world. "With great power comes great responsibility and the Ancients knew that, but the Ori didn't and that power corrupted them. Before the Ancients left their home world they made a weapon of great power to destroy the Ori, but decided not to use it."
"Why didn't the Ancients use the weapon to destroy the Ori?" King Finarfin asked.
"They thought they'd become like their sisters and brothers and they weren't going down that slippery slope," Brennan answered.
"They made the right decision," Olórin said.
"When the Ancients arrived in our home galaxy thousands of years later, which we call the Milky Way galaxy, they first settled and the planet Dakara; but left after they set up the Stargate Network and seeded life on the worlds with a stargate," Santana told them.
"How did the Ancients seed life?" Prince Ingwion asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The Alterans were given the knowledge to seed life. The Ori only seeded life in Ori home galaxy, whereas the Ancients seeded life not only in the Milky Way galaxy, but also the Pegasus galaxy; Ida galaxy; Andromeda galaxy; Triangulum galaxy, and thousands of other galaxies extending far out in the universe. However, they had no say in what that life was going to look like. When the Ori seeded life in the Ori home galaxy they were all humans like themselves. When the Ancients seeded life in the Milky Way galaxy none of them were human, but many were humanoid and some were non-humanoid; and none of them looked like themselves, which surprised them," Santana answered.
"The Ancients never seeded life on earth because they moved and lived there after they left Dakara, and they never knew that's where men were going to awake eons later; and that was the reason why none of the life forms they encountered looked like them," Brennan told them. "The Ancients and Ori only planted the seeds, but it's the Lord who decided what His children were going to look like, and not the Ancients or the Ori."
"In some cases the Lord decided not to give life to those seeds and let them die out," Salar said.
xxx
"The Ancients left earth after a plague swept across the Milky Way galaxy and traveled to this galaxy over 10 million years ago, which we call the Pegasus galaxy, and they were here millions of years before you arrived," Santana said looking at the Maiar. "As I said earlier, they set up a Stargate Network in this galaxy; and a stargate is nothing but a wormhole which takes you from one planet to another in the same galaxy – and you're literally walking across the stars. The Ancients were also great builders and the gifts that were bestowed on them all had to do with space and the stars; and they could also extract any substance from space. When the Ancients seeded life in this galaxy, almost 60% of the people in were human, but not all, and General Jaro is from the Pegasus galaxy."
The Maiar, King and Prince looked at the General.
"The Ancients also seeded our home world, along with General Thos' home world," Boro told them.
"The Aldans awoke in the Andromeda galaxy and the Idens awoke in the Triangulum galaxy," Brennan told them. "The Aldans are the 6th Great Race and the Ancients kept an eye on them like they did the Asgards, who awoke in the Ida galaxy."
"The Ancients were also men's teachers in the Pegasus galaxy and taught them how to live their lives; but they never showed themselves to the different mortal races, and they called the Ancients, the Ancestors. The Asgards did the same thing in the Ida galaxy, and they too never showed themselves to the other mortal races in that galaxy because they were non-humanoid," Santana told them. "When the Ancients walked through the stargate to another world in this galaxy, they encountered a race that was just as powerful as they were," Santana told them.
"Did the Ancients seed that world?" Nienna's Maia asked.
"Yes they did ma'am," Santana answered.
"What does a non-humanoid look like?" King Finarfin asked.
"Sam show them the Asgards and Nox," Brennan said
"Yes General," he replied and a projection appeared around the tent.
"That's Thor, who was the Supreme Commander of all the Asgard Fleet," Brennan told them.
The King and Prince looked at the strange little creature, but the Maiar knew the Asgards were one of Eru Ilúvatar's children.
"That's Lya and she's a Nox," Brennan said when she appeared. "The Nox were very close to nature and lived in the forest. The Ancients loved the water and built their cities on water. We don't know what the Furlings look like, but we do know that they too were non-humanoid and they loved making things from wood. The Ancients seeded the Asgards, Nox and Furlings home worlds; and the Nox and Furlings were awaken in the Milky Way galaxy and they too had the ability to ascend, but not the Asgards because they weren't given that gift."
"Don't forget General that the Ancients seeded many other worlds far out in the universe, and I'm sure they're other Great Races out there," Boro said.
"Point taken General," Brennan replied.
"We thought all mortals go beyond the circles of the world," Oromë's Maia said.
"We all do, but the Alterans were the exception. They were given the choice to either go beyond the circles of the world or to ascend, and all the Ori ascended at the same time. The majority of the Ancients did so over time, but not all of them and some chose to go beyond the circles of the world," Santana replied.
"The Lord had His reasons for doing that," Salar told them.
xxx
"The Ancients made things that the sun couldn't destroy, and the majority of the things they made came from the light," Santana said.
"The light?" Olórin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The Ancients made many things with the light, or the Lord's light as we call it, and they could change and manipulate the light to suit their purposes because they were given that gift. They infused many crystals and stones with that light and each crystal or stone had a different function. In it's purest form the light is too bright and blinding for anyone to look upon, and if someone tried to use one of those crystals or stones and they didn't know its purpose, it would have dire consequences for them. That's why you don't touch anything they made," Brennan answered.
"We learned over time the reasons why they made those crystals and stones and their purpose," Santana said.
"How did they make the light?" King Finarfin asked, thinking about the Light of the Two Trees and the silmarils.
"We don't know," Santana answered.
"But the Aldans can also manipulate and change the light," Brennan said.
The Maiar and the King and Prince looked at General Boro.
"So could the Asgards General," Boro replied to Brennan.
"Point taken General," she replied.
xxx
"Now I'll tell you how the Ancients and the white light are connected. Over 100 years ago the white light came to Arda and took the majority of the humans in the East and South. When we found them over 100 years later we knew who killed them and how they died. The humans on Arda saw a white light take their loved ones and friends; but they also heard a sound and saw something else before the white light appeared. What they heard made them look up and they saw something they'd never seen before and couldn't describe, and then they saw a white light take everyone they knew and loved, which they couldn't comprehend. What they heard was a Wraith dart and the white light they saw is a Wraith culling beam. You've always lived in a bad neighborhood and this is the Wraith's home galaxy and always has been; and everyone in this galaxy knows about them and now so do you. The Wraith are an immortal race and they're tall, strong and they all have long white hair. Each Wraith hive is ruled by a Queen, who's very powerful, and the Ancients knew they'd met their match.
The Ancients fought the Wraith for over a hundred years and they were the only ones standing between the Wraith and everyone else in this galaxy. They eventually lost to the Wraith and the remaining Ancients either ascended or returned to earth through the stargate on Atlantis – and then the Wraith had complete control over half of this galaxy. When the Ancients returned to earth they were surprised to see us, and some of them became our teachers and married into the local population, and the rest ascended. The Wraith then culled most of the mortals in this galaxy; and that means they killed them by feeding on them," General Brennan told them.
"They ate them?" Prince Ingwion asked wide-eyed.
"In a manner of speaking, yes," Brennan answered.
"They drain your life force and that's how they eat," Jaro said. "The Wraith are part humanoid and part something else, and it's that something else that dictates their eating habits and they need to feed on other humanoids in order to survive."
"That's what the Ancients found when they walked through the stargate on that world. They knew mortals were on that world, but they didn't know there was something else on that world before they seeded that plant, and that something else killed all the mortals by feeding on them, and that something else turned into the Wraith afterwards," Santana told them.
"It's there biology and they can't eat the same way we do," Salar said. "No one can change them and they can't change themselves. They are what they are and it's their nature."
"The Wraith had been in hibernation for almost 500 years and when they awoke they were hungry, and they found plenty of food on Arda, but we don't know how they found out about this world," Brennan told them. "Sam show them the humans we found from Arda from both of the cullings."
"Yes General," he replied and a large screen appeared around the tent and they saw the skeletal remains of the Atani in cocoons.
The Maiar wanted to know what Sam is and how he did that, and the King and Prince were astonished at the sight before them.
"I can see the two of you have never before seen death on such a grand scale," Boro said to the King and Prince.
King Finarfin was sickened by the sight and Prince Ingwion had his mouth slightly open.
"But you have," Olórin said.
"We've seen much worse," Jaro replied looking at the Maia.
"Where did you find them?" Eönwë asked.
"In another part of this galaxy?" Brennan answered.
"How did they get there?"Eönwë asked.
"Sam show them the Wraith culling Arda," Brennan said.
"Yes General," he replied and they saw the Wraith hive ships in space above Arda releasing their darts, which descended upon Arda and cull the human population and carry them back to their ships.
"They were among the stars," the Prince said surprised.
"We told you the Ancients traveled across the stars to reach our home galaxy and they did that in space ships, and those were Wraith hive ships above Arda," Brennan replied.
"Space ships are ships that travel across the stars," Santana told them.
"Sam show them the Wraith leaving this star system," Dima said.
"Yes General," he replied and the projection showed the Wraith ships jumping into hyperspace.
"What's that?" Prince Ingwion asked.
"The Wraith opened a window to another dimension, which we call hyperspace and jumped in. The Ancients were the first race to make hyper drive engines and travel around the galaxy in another dimension, and there's more than one way to travel through space," Boro answered.
"Space is vast and to get from one place to another takes a very long time, depending on your propulsion system. The Ancients built the Stargate Networks to make space travel easier for everyone," Salar said.
xxx
"What do the Wraith look like?" Eönwë asked.
"Sam show them the Wraith," Brennan said.
"Yes General," he replied.
"You can't see their faces," Eönwë said looking at three Wraiths.
"All of them wear those masks and no one knows what they look like; however we do have a picture of Todd," Brennan replied and his face appeared on the screen. "He's not very pretty, is he?"
"No," Olórin answered.
"When we arrived in the Pegasus galaxy over 500 years ago we didn't know about the Wraith and we inadvertently woke all at them at the same time. When they awoke they realized there wasn't enough food for all of them, which instituted a Wraith civil war and the strong Wraith killed off the weaker ones; and by that I mean the ones without a Queen, and their civil war lasted for years. My guess is that most of the Wraith are dead and only those hives remain, but I could be wrong. I'm sure our good friend Todd is still alive because he's a survivor and if he knew anything about those hive ships he would've told us," Brennan told them.
"Why?" Eönwë asked the General.
"Todd has his own agenda and he's helped us in the past, but he never told us everything. Todd is very unusual for a Wraith, in that he has sense of humor and a sense of honor. It was Todd who told us how they defeated the Ancients, but Todd being Todd didn't tell us everything and we found out the rest on our own," Brennan answered.
"After their civil war the Wraith changed their tactics and they did that in order to survive," Jaro told them.
"It turns out when we awoke the Wraith by accident they went to war with each other and most of them died as a result. What the Ancients couldn't do with all their power, we did by our own ignorance," Santana said.
"You're right Colonel and we got lucky, and sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Brennan replied.
"The Ancients had the greater power and might, how did they lose?" Prince Ingwion asked with a perplexed look on this face.
"The Ancients had the Wraith on the run and back on their heels and they were picking them off one-by-one, which was a smart tactic. Then the Wraith did something they'd never done before – which was to fight the Ancients together and combined all their might, and it worked. It was a simply military strategy on the Wraith's part and they were ruthless and smashed the Ancients. The Wraith are smart and clever and the Ancients found that out the hard way, and so did we. When you know why you're losing to your enemy, you have to change your strategy and tactics, and that's what the Wraith did, and the Ancients couldn't adjust or adapt.
Another problem the Ancients had was trying to save everyone – which was a noble goal, but impossible because no one can save everyone – and we saved who we could. When we found out about the Wraith we knew we couldn't go head to head with them and we used different battle tactics, which was stealth warfare, and they never saw us coming; and we did the same thing the Ancients did in the beginning and picked each hive off one at a time. It was never about power, but your battle tactics against power, and you can always get around power. The Wraith proved that against the Ancients and we proved that against the Wraith. The Wraith think they're better than everyone else and everyone is beneath them, and they thought they were invincible because they defeated the Ancients. They also don't fear anyone because they have no reason to. We learned a lot about the Wraith by our encounters with them, and they're extremely hard to kill and they're strong and powerful and can snap you like a twig," Dima answered.
"These are not orcs, goblins, trolls, dragons or men, and only our guns and other weapons can kill them," Thos said.
"Why?" Eönwë asked.
"The Wraith's biology is very unique and unlike anything we've ever seen before and their wounds heal instantly," Brennan answered.
"However, the Wraith bodies are humanoid like ours and we found out a bullet has the same impact on their bodies as other humanoid bodies. A bullet is a projectile and damages a body on impact and the damage is internal. A bullet can shatter bones; travel through the body hitting vital organs, or break up into small fragments internally on impact. When a bullet enters any part of a body, blood splatters everywhere. Unlike a spear or an arrow, a bullet travels at a greater velocity and distance because it's coming out of a barrel instead of a hand...and the longer the barrel, the bullet being ejected can travel at a greater distance. When the impact of that bullet hits, it's devastating to the body, and if it's a head shot, the head will literally explode, and if it's a body shot, wherever the bullet hits will come right off. The bullets we used on the Wraith did the same internal damage to their bodies and hit their vital organs – and that's how they died," Santana told them.
"Why do you need such weapons?" Olórin asked.
"There's no difference between an arrow and a gun – you're aiming and shooting," Brennan answered looking at the Maia. "Those swords are going to cut off your enemies heads and other body parts, and a bullet does the same thing – the only difference is how it's done."
"Wars are fought differently now, and they're fought at a great distance and the weapons we use are very different and much more powerful. You didn't send a scouting party to scout out the terrain you're going to be fighting on; nor did you send any engineers to build roads, bridges or cut through mountains to make it easier for your Army. You don't come into a place and start a war without being prepared, and you have to know everything about your enemy before you send men and women into harms ways...and that's what a professional Army does. Before we came here we knew everything about this place; who the enemy is, and everything he has, but we're not going to tell you because this is not our war to fight," Boro said to Eönwë.
"You also have no miliary intelligence and those eagles don't know everything, but we do," Jaro replied.
"We're not a professional Army like you are," King Finarfin said.
"We know," Brennan replied. "We all went to the War College to learn how to fight wars and we do this for a living and get paid for it; and we can tell that those fresh face puppies out there don't have any combat experience and they've never heard a shot fired. We're all battle harden and tested and we've seen many battlefields. I wonder how they're going to react when they see a friend's body parts strewn everywhere; or from the stench of the dead and rotting bodies on the battlefield, and when someone's blood and brains splatters in their faces. In the end you're come to know the true horrors of war like we do, and your victory will come over dead and mangled bodies and utter devastation. War is a brutal and nasty business, but it's a necessary evil. When we find the Wraith we're going to war with them because of what they did to our fellow humans on Arda."
"How are you going to fight them?" King Finarfin asked.
"The battles are going to be fought in space," Brennan answered.
"How?" Olórin asked.
"The same way battles are always fought in space," General Thos answered.
"We don't know how battles are fought in space," Prince Ingwion said.
"We know," Jaro replied.
"That's going to be a nightmare ma'am and sirs," Salar said turning and looking at them.
"Yes it is Colonel," Thos replied.
