A/N: The story Lucifer bears influence on this one and they are in the same universe.
A/N1: The chapters to follow will follow different people from the expedition and their experiences in the dreamless state before converging together and finally waking up...
Mystery Solved
Disclaimer: The characters of Stargate Universe belong to MGM. The characters of the Four Orders are entirely my own.
AU/SGU/FO: A powerful being from another universe appears on the Destiny just as Eli's time had run out. Stranded on the ship he has to figure out how to go home and the best way is to help the crew of Destiny.
Season Two – 'Dreamless State'
Premise:
The crew of the Destiny had gotten into stasis as they planned to ride out the issues they had in the current galaxy. Stasis was to last 3 years until the Destiny reached the next galaxy (hopefully). It was supposed to be a dreamless state...
However it is anything but dreamless. Drawn into different realities, the crew of the Destiny (at first completely unaware) has to deal with their unresolved feelings before understanding their new environment and finding a way back to their real home – the Destiny (where as we know another mystery looms)...
Previously:
Colonel Young went into stasis and woke up in his bed (in his own house – completely unaware of his true reality) next to his wife Emily.
They had some naughty time together before Emily informed him they were to visit the Johansens (and that brought some long forgotten feelings back to the surface).
Everett had to reminisce on the days (of old and of the new old) till reaching the conclusion it was a bad idea but Emily was adamant they go.
Reaching the house, some weird flashes jump into Everett's eyes, but quickly disappear...
And now:
Chapter 2
The last thing Master Sergeant Ronald Grier remembered before entering the stasis pod was the face of his commanding officer Colonel Young. He, Rush and Eli had convinced everyone that this is the best option they had to survive – stasis – a dreamless state. It was to last 3 years and then their problems would be gone. 'Where have I heard that before?' Ronald had thought at the time.
Ronald had no problem with their solution. He was a soldier, a good soldier that followed his commanding officer's decisions without questioning them too much. Sure they were times he had some doubts but Colonel Young had held his ground and his decisions had been justified, military speaking. That did not make them very popular though. But that was the burden of command.
He had though his problems with command. Before they ended up on the Destiny he was facing court martial offense for assaulting a senior officer – Colonel Telford. In Ron's opinion the man was a jackass and he deserved everything that had happened. The only person onboard Destiny that shared the same opinion was Dr. Rush. Ron did not like him either as he had led a revolt against the military command in the past...
Actually Ron did not like most people onboard the Destiny. The only people he succeeded to bond to, were Lt. Matthew Scott, his girlfriend Chloe Armstrong, and Dr. Lisa Park, who went blind when they went to refuel inside a blue giant, and strangely enough he developed a respect for Camile Wray when they were stranded in Home World Command that was bombed by the Lucian Alliance.
Life onboard the ship was like an extended version of the survival training of the SGC with elements of unpleasant surprises (the weird telepathic aliens that abducted and genetically modified Chloe Armstrong and who apparently were interested only in the sip). Anyway the last two years had been very hectic and weird. But he did his duty to the best of his abilities (despite several times when his confidence had been shot to pieces) and perhaps proved his worth to Colonel Young.
Still, if they ever returned to Earth (unless dying before that or growing too damn old), he would have to face his court marshalling. He did get into an altercation with the jackass and he would have to pay the prize for that (like every other good soldier in his place would do).
Now, the door before him finally closed. He heard the pod come to life and sensed the sudden shift in temperature. He felt his body drift away. It was time to sleep now. He would close his eyes and when he opens them again 3 years would have passed (though for him it would be like a day or a moment). He closed his eyes to ease the process and darkness fell all around him...he was in the dreamless state...
"Lt. Colonel, Lt. Colonel!"
Ron felt someone frantically shaking him and that forced his eyes open. He did not recognize the face that stood above and then he felt the very unpleasant effects of dizziness. He attempted to stand up but rather unsuccessfully.
He focused his thoughts and slowly everything started to take shape. His momentary disorientation passed.
"Are you alright, sir? Sir!"
It was the same face that he now recognized Master Sergeant John Lithgow, his second in command. Still for a moment, the face looked like someone else. He believed it belonged to Senior Airman Riley (whom he had met somewhere).
"Sir? Can you stand up?"
"Of course, I can, MSgt." Ron said and sat up. Standing up proved a bit difficult, when he sensed a piercing pain coursing through his right hip. "Ok, I might need you to get me up!"
"Sure thing, sir." MSgt Lithgow said and helped his commanding officer to stand up. Just as they were to leave, a bundle of grass and dirt flew in their direction when a shell exploded nearby and they had to hit the ground again.
"What's going on?"
"You don't remember?"
"Would I be asking otherwise?"
"We were ambushed by the Lucian Alliance and cut off from the gate." John explained as they succeeded to get up. "Lean on me, sir!" Ron obliged and they got moving.
"What happened to me?"
John looked at his commanding officer with growing concern. It was justified as there was blood on his face. "You went ahead to try and commandeer a shuttle but I guess one of the bombs must hit near you. When you failed to report, I came to look for you. Luckily I found you."
"Yeah, lucky me," Ron said.
"We succeeded to commandeer an Alkesh. And it is where we are going."
"How's the battle going?"
"Badly, we are losing." John replied. "We are almost there."
"Do you have contact with any of the other units?"
"We heard only from Major Scott's unit. They have barricaded themselves in some mountain fort..."
"We have to go and get them."
"We will as soon as the Doc takes a look at you."
"The others are important too."
"Yes, sir, but we need you too. Besides Major Scott can hold them off until we arrive."
"No other units?"
"They are either out of range or have no radios, or they are..." John did not finish that sentence. Truthfully he did not want to. They had suffered enough through this weird campaign.
Ron remembered now. The Lucian Alliance had become bolder attacking Earth outposts throughout the breath of three galaxies. Earth Command still believed they had some issues to work out. But Ron knew better, one doesn't negotiate with warlords, one kills them.
Their current leader Simeon was a fanatic who hated Earth in his guts. All negations with him had proved pointless and all teams sent to negotiate never returned either. They had recently got the intel (from someone in Simeon's inside circle) to the whereabouts of their missing diplomats and naturally Earth Command sent several teams (Ron's team being one of them) to recover them.
Instead, they marched straight into a trap. It was not the first time they had done something like that and it won't be the last. The commander of the whole operation, General Carter believed they could still pull it off. So they divided all their teams thus hoping that would divide the enemy's forces as well.
And it worked but up to a point. As it turned out, Simeon was also very paranoid so he had left a legion of reserves. When the SGC teams broke through his lines and nearly got the job done, he unleashed the Alkesh bombers that bombed everything (his troops alongside the SGC teams) and then he released his reserves. Well, it was a sound tactic. Every smart general keeps reserves.
And this is where that left Ron and his team. They were cut off from the gate so they had to seek alternative transport. Ron went to scout ahead while his team (along some of the rescued diplomats) stayed behind.
He had just reached the grassy ridge when several Alkesh passed by his position and unleashed hell. Ron had to run fast but apparently not as fast as he thought because a bomb had fallen nearby and the blast wave hit him and he had lost consciousness until his second in command had found him.
They reached the commandeered Alkesh that de-cloaked before them.
"Oh, thank the Gods, you found him."
"Yeah, whatever! Take a look at him, Doc. He seemed a bit off when I woke him up." John said and put down Ron.
"Open wide," The unit Doctor, Captain Groves, commanded and Ron promptly obeyed. "Follow my finger, left and then right, good...now look at the light."
"Well,"
"He'll live. He has a mild concussion." Captain Groves said. "But I do have to ask you, sir, to remain still and on the ground for now."
"Like this will keep me down..."
"I'm sorry, sir, but as a medical officer I can and I am overruling you. This is an order Lt. Colonel Grier. Sit tight."
"Sure thing, Doc." Ron was not particularly happy about it but understood why. He needed to be in top condition but mostly he needed to save his strength should the occasion arise. "Any contact with other teams?"
"Yes, sir," Lieutenant Markovic replied. "We heard from General Carter."
"Where is the good general?"
"Well she and her team are stuck on the West Ridge. It is mostly forest and difficult for the bombers to...do their thing."
"How many diplomats did we rescue?"
"Almost everyone, at least, this was the information before all hell broke loose." Markovic said. He was the communication geek in the group and could MacGyver anything to make a radio. "Right now, we have four in the back plus those saved by Lt Scott's team in that mountain base. I think he said they were a dozen or so."
"And General Carter's?" John asked.
"I think she said she had another six."
"That brings them to what...half of the hostages? What has he done with the rest?"
"Let's not assume the worst, MSgt." Captain Groves said.
"I suppose the others are either not here or the worst." Lt. Markovic said.
"Or we haven't found them," MSgt Lithgow suggested.
"This doesn't exclude the part of being..."
"We got the point, Lt." Ron interrupted. "Can this thing fly?"
"Yes, sir,"
"Where do you want us to go, sir?" MSgt Lithgow asked.
"We need to make contact with Earth." Ron replied.
"Sir, I'm sure by now they have figured out we are in deep shit. And so they will send a MALP or a reconnaissance drone and find out our little mess and then they will shut the gate and send no one else."
"It is possible, Grimm Master." Ron said. "But they will send a ship as reinforcement."
"And we all know how long that will take – three weeks."
"Lithgow, I have never pictured you as walking Doom-clock pessimist."
"It is not pessimism, sir, it is pure realism." Lithgow replied. "We are 3 million light years away from home."
"They will take that Z thing and be here within three four days tops."
"I doubt Earth Strategic Command will agree to send another ship."
"They will." Ron affirmed. "There is too much at stake."
"If you say so, sir,"
"Still, we need to get in orbit. It is as you said MSgt: we have to ensure there are no more surprises."
"Yes, sir," Lithgow said and occupied the pilot's seat. "Alright then Lt, let's get this bucket in the air."
The Alkesh's engines roared and the ship took off and headed straight for low orbit.
"Don't forget to cloak the ship," Ron reminded.
They engaged the cloak as they reached the upper atmosphere. The sight when they finally reached orbit was not pretty. There were four Ha'Tak class vessels spread in attack formation.
"Well that's not good." Lithgow observed. "Orders, sir!"
Ron remained pensive. The situation was not good at all. Still, there was no sign of the USS Hammond either. He knew for a fact that General Carter had come with it. So where was it?
"Do you pick up the Hammond?"
"No, sir," Lithgow replied. He rechecked the instruments but there was no sign of that ship.
"So where the hell is it?"
"It is possible they picked up the Ha'Taks and cloaked or hid or worse..." Lt Markovic supposed.
"Let's not jump to any conclusions just yet." Ron said. He did not want his or their hope to fade away. He resented the lieutenant's grim view of the universe although it was a legitimate possibility. Still, he could not see any wreckage, so there was still hope. "No wreckage, right MSgt?"
"None that I can pick up." Lithgow shared as he examined the instruments again.
"Good, so the Hammond is somewhere. We just need to find it and level the plainfield."
"Sir, even if we had the Hammond, we are no match for four of those ships."
"No, we are not, but we can use the Hammond to beam our people up and then jump to hyperspace before our friends here have the chance to stop us."
Ron stood up.
"Lt. Colonel, what do you think you are doing?" Captain Groves protested.
"Doc, get me to the controls,"
"Colonel, you have to rest..."
"And I will as soon as we find the Hammond." Ron replied.
"Alright," Captain Groves ceded and helped Ron to the pilot's seat that MSgt vacated just moments ago.
Ro took the ship for a good look around the Ha'Taks and found no signs of wreckage. So far, they were not picked up and that was good. He went even further outside the planet's perimeter and still nothing.
There was always the possibility the Hammond is cloaked but he somehow doubted it. He scanned space all around them but there was nothing to be found. He believe the Hammond's most logical course of action were to jump to hyperspace and then return but there may not have been time or they could have had other orders.
So, if their orders were stay where will they hide? Ron hoped his assumption was correct and then spotted something promising. It was a small nebula (more like a small star dust cloud). It was barely enough to hide a ship, the size of the Hammond.
He directed the ship inside flying very slowly. He suspected the Hammond would be cloaked so he did not to collide with it. Otherwise that would be one hell of paperwork.
"Lt Markovic, get the GDO for the Hammond's outer doors."
"You mean hangar bay doors?"
"Yes, those,"
"Sure," Markovic said and got what was needed. "Now what?"
"Start sending the signal and let us all pray."
Ron flew carefully forwards changing position every now and then. He had begun to think he might have been wrong but fortune favours the bold. On the last pass he made, something did happen.
"Sir, over there!" MSgt Lithgow pointed.
"I see it." Ron said relieved and turned the ship around.
The hangar bay doors had opened and Ron drove the ship in. "Close them!" He ordered as he began landing the ship.
The outer door closed and darkness befell them. "Someone find the lights!" The Alk'esh shot light around itself. "Markovic, see if you can access the ship's systems and have to power up, at least here in the bay!"
The good lieutenant obeyed the order and soon got access to the ship. The preliminary search showed that there was no one onboard and the ship maintained low power and the cloak, waiting for remote orders. He secured the hangar bay and pumped in some air and pressure by raising the outer shields.
"We are good, sir." Markovic announced. "Bay is pressurized."
"Excellent," Ron exclaimed. "Doc, you will help me get to the med bay and the rest of you will go to engineering and the bridge, and will get the ship ready."
"Yes, sir!"
Captain Groves got Ron to the medical facility. He had hard time though doing so as Ron experienced some unexpected pain around the liver area. He put him under the scanner and discovered he had internal bleeding. Hopefully it was something he could easily correct.
"I will give you a sedative, sir."
"Not yet, first secure the ship, and then you can enjoy yourself, Doctor."
"Sure," Captain Groves nodded and got to prepare for surgery. His commanding officer needed immediate action otherwise he might die.
In the meantime, Ron explored all areas of his body where it hurt. And while he did that he experienced the second weird vision. He saw a woman, very familiar to him, near Captain Groves, putting on her surgery gloves. She gave him a smile and uttered: 'You are very brave for offering a liver to save Dr. Volker's life. Thank you Ronald...'
Ron closed and opened eyes. He must have started to hallucinate. It was never a good sign but the vision was not over though it was a different one. He was on some kind of ship and seemed to be flying towards another one, a bigger one and it looked awfully familiar... it resembled a large chevron...
To be continued...
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Lordheaven