SURVIVING THE SIEGE, tag for Siege II
PART EIGHT: WELCOME TO THE DAEDALUS
Sheppard jogged after the air force lieutenant that had met him when he landed on Daedalus, the woman setting a pace that brooked no argument. It wasn't long before they were moving through the bulkhead doors on to the bridge, and the lieutenant stopped dead, snapping to attention. Sheppard was a little slower on the uptake, but he also saluted the Colonel who was peering over his shoulder at them from the command chair.
"Major John Sheppard, sir!" the lieutenant called before Sheppard could speak.
"Thank you lieutenant," the colonel acknowledged, before looking back at Sheppard. "Welcome to the Daedalus, Major."
"Thank you sir," Sheppard replied, walking forward, his eyes already taking in the holographic display showing the Wraith cruisers and darts bearing down on them. It looked far more advanced than any military technology he'd seen.
"Like it?" the Colonel grinned. "We've learned a few things from our allies, the Asgard. That, and they've let us borrow some of their technology as well."
"Oh, uh, yeah, nice." Sheppard had turned his head, to see the Wraith darts swarming like bees around Atlantis on another screen. "Oh God. We have to—"
"I know what we need to do, Major. First things first, though. I've been told there is something leaking serious radiation in the back of your puddle jumper. Please tell me we didn't make that monstrosity."
"What? Oh…the bomb. No, sir. We—"
The colonel cut him off with a wave, "No matter, does it work?"
"We were going to use it to destroy that last hive ship, sir. A similar one already destroyed—"
"Ah, that explains the almost kamikaze suicide move you were about to make, yes?"
Sheppard's jaw tensed, the muscles flexing as he contemplated his answer to that question. The colonel met his eyes, and nodded.
"I see. Tell me, how were you not obliterated? I thought the jumpers didn't have shields?"
"This one does," Sheppard replied. "Courtesy of a Wraith we blew up once. Now, Colonel, I mean no disrespect, but…" He jabbed a finger at the screens. "Please do something!"
The colonel arched an eyebrow, then, oddly, smiled. He turned around to stare back at the display screens before him, "I'll let that slide, Major. Now, what say we finish your little mission."
Sheppard's eyebrows knotted, "What?"
"Captain," the colonel looked towards a dark haired man sitting at another console to his left, "Don't raise the shields yet. I don't want those bastards to know what we're doing until the last minute, and I certainly don't want them to know how powerful we are." He glanced up at Sheppard, arching an eyebrow, "That was Doctor Weir asking you to take as many Wraith ships as possible with you, wasn't it?"
Sheppard blinked, realizing that the colonel must have overheard his communications with the City. "Uh, yes sir, it was."
"Well, I've never been one to turn down a lady when she's asking for help." He smiled, turning to a red-headed ensign sitting to his right now, the woman watching him with a steady gaze, obviously waiting for orders. "Head towards the hive ship, Ensign. With luck, the three cruisers aiming for us and the rest of those darts will follow, probably hoping to overcome us before we get there." He looked back at the blond man, "And captain, as soon as you think we're close enough, and there are as many of those damn Wraith ships as possible within range of the nuclear bomb's power, send it over and raise shields."
"Send it over?" Sheppard just felt very out of his element, like he was about ten steps behind.
"Yes sir," the captain called out over Sheppard's question, rapidly typing away on his keyboard. Meanwhile, the red-headed ensign typed in a few commands of her own, then reached forward to take hold of the ship's main steering controls. A tiny smile graced her face as she judged the distances to the cruisers, and beyond them to the main hive ship.
"Hang on," the colonel grinned up at the Major. "Ensign Perkins is one of the best damn pilots I've ever seen, Major, but she's a little reckless."
The Daedalus suddenly burst forward, playing chicken with the Wraith cruisers, as the ensign expertly dodged and weaved…sending them straight to the hive ship.
Sheppard grabbed at the back of the colonel's command chair, even though he hadn't actually felt the motion. Somehow, it just made him feel better as the displays turned red with danger.
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Zelenka sighed, dragging his tired carcass out from under the console and looking at the one working display screens. Whatever power was left in the consoles was now going to run the biometric sensors, and only the area around the control room.
Unmoving white dots representing humans littered the areas around the five generators, all of which had clearly been destroyed. More white dots littered the halls around the control room, where many soldiers had taken their last stands. None of them moved, except for four up in the jumper bay overhead.
Thankfully, it appeared that there were not that many yellow dots still on…no…wait….
He heard Elizabeth sigh as two new clumps of yellow dots appeared on the balconies, obviously just beamed there by the darts overhead.
Within moments, a sizeable force of Wraith, at least two dozen, were moving from the balconies to the halls.
Heading here.
"We have maybe five minutes," Zelenka noted morosely, "and they'll be on us again."
"Yes, but at least this time, we'll know which direction," Elizabeth answered, her voice back to its previous hyper-calm. "We just need to keep holding them at bay, until the Daedalus does…whatever it is going to do."
The sounds of the hanger overhead opening up turned both Zelenka's and Weir's heads…and a jumper descended from above. Weir couldn't help but smile as it bobbed a little.
Rodney peeked out from his torn open console, peering through the wires and other guts he had pulled out from it. He smiled as the jumper came to a hover just next to the balcony, turning so that the main window faced the control room, showing a smiling Beckett in the pilot's seat.
"Great, Carson, keep her there," Rodney called out, ducking back beneath the console.
"What?" Carson replied over the radio. "Keep her where?"
"Right there, where you are," Rodney replied, not even bothering to look out again. "Zelenka, can you rip one of the main power cords from one of the other consoles? These ones aren't long enough."
Carson's voice crackled over the radio again, and Elizabeth could see that he now looked very confused as he held the controls. "What do you mean, hover? I thought I was going to land this and—"
"Nope, I need you exactly there, though, if you don't mind, could you turn it around and open the rear hatch?"
Carson's mouth was wide open, "But Rodney, I can't do anything while I'm in here. If I have to keep her hovering like this, I won't be able to help if—"
"Oh, stop your whining," McKay snapped, dragging himself out from under the console. He took hold of the thick black wire Zelneka had pulled out for him, and looked towards Carson, waving it in his direction. "You're probably the safest person in Atlantis right now. When the Wraith attack again, they won't be able to get to you in there. And, if it all goes to hell, you can just escape through the wormhole, or cloak and fly up out of here. What's there to complain about? You're the luckiest man here." Turning, he knelt down and pulled out a similar thick black wire and worked to attach it to the one in his hand.
Carson's eyes widened as Rodney spoke, then suddenly narrowed.
"You radge bastard!" he snarled. "No wonder you agreed so quickly! You knew this would happen! Did you guess I'd volunteer as well?"
Rodney shrugged, not answering, intent on his patching.
"You did, you tosser! You saw me coming up behind Elizabeth and...How could you!" Carson raged, causing the jumper to sway a little as he jerked the controls. Elizabeth and Zelenka both took a step back from the balcony, but Rodney simply stood up and turned to face Beckett. He wasn't smiling anymore, he simply stared. Carson's anger faded in the light of that dark expression.
"Turn the jumper around, and open the rear hatch."
The underlying menace in his tone and the dead stare was so un-Rodney like that Carson couldn't maintain eye contact. A moment later, he did as he was told, the rear hatch opening as he turned. Rodney proceeded to direct him, as if teaching a student driver how to parallel park, until the rear hatch was flush with the balcony.
"Zelenka, can you get in there and configure the jumper's controls while I patch it in here?" Rodney asked, turning to look at Radek.
The Czech stared at him a moment, then, slowly, nodded, walking towards him from the console next to Elizabeth. "The detonator for the second bomb is on the console," he noted somberly.
Rodney handed him the end of the black wire, "Got it. Once in, stay in there, in case the Wraith attack again."
Radek didn't reply to that command. He just took the wire, then climbed over the balcony rails into the jumper.
In moments, he was calling out that they were all set.
Rodney nodded, tweaking a few more wires, then watched approvingly as the console lit up. He and Elizabeth turned at the same time to look at the heretofore dark display screen, to where the external sensors were back on line.
To see UN-01 practically on top of the Hive ship.
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Several hits had shaken the Daedalus, causing several showers of sparks inside the command room as certain outlying systems were damaged, but, for the most part, it had made it through unscathed.
"Sir," the captain called, "They're all in range, sir."
"Atlantis," Colonel Caldwell hit his radio, "This is Colonel Caldwall on the Daedelus. Do you read me?"
Elizabeth Weir's voice echoed over the comm., "Yes, Colonel, we read you. What is happening up—"
"Are you prepared still to detonate the nuclear bomb the Genii provided?"
Surprise was evident in her voice as Elizabeth replied, "I…yes? Of course. But how—"
"Be prepared to do so on my mark. Captain, are you ready?"
"Yes sir," the man replied, hand hovering over a control.
"Atlantis?"
"Ready," Elizabeth replied.
"Captain, send it."
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Inside the jumper bay, the large black bomb disappeared in a flash of white, as Asgard technology transported the bomb directly to the center of the Wraith hive ship.
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"Now, Atlantis!" the colonel yelled over the radio. "Captain, raise the shield!"
McKay punched the remote on the console, detonating the bomb, his and Elizabeth's eyes, and everyone else's in range, fixed on the display.
On the biometric sensor, yellow dots continued their unerring march towards the control room.
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The last Wraith hive ship split in half, like a broken cookie, silent white light tearing it into hundreds of pieces. The three battle cruisers in range disintegrated, caught in the blast, and close to thirty darts disappeared as well.
Shielded with the power of a ZPM, the Daedalus watched it all happen around them with a grim satisfaction.
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"Wow," Radek breathed, watching what was happening in space unfold on the display that Carson had called up on the jumper. Red dots disappeared from the screen like filth washed from a dashboard, leaving only a handful that hadn't been close enough to the blast…and the bright yellow dot staying constant in the middle that looked as beautiful as the sun to them all.
Elizabeth just looked at Rodney, and the scientist looked back. He smiled at her, the first truly happy smile she had seen on his face since this had all started.
"Look!" a soldier called, pointing towards the other display. Sure enough, the dotsrepresenting the Wraithwere disappearing rapidly from all over Atlantis, as the remaining darts pulled their soldiers back up. "They're retreating! And the darts are all leaving!"
"We've won," Elizabeth said, leaning on the console between her and McKay. "I can't believe it. We…they…we did it. Rodney…." She turned to the scientist, just in time to see him step down from the dais to the floor below, his eyes on the ground. He swayed suddenly, alarmingly, and Elizabeth tried to reach over the console to catch him. "Rodney?"
"What's the matter?" Carson called from inside the jumper. "What's wrong with him? Radek, unhook those wires!" Zelenka, who'd been staring out the back of the tiny ship jumped, turning quickly to do as he was told.
Rodney lifted pale blue eyes to Elizabeth, their color seemingly faded inside the bruised and stretched face. "You know," he said, as if discussing the weather, "I think I need to sit down."
And then his eyes rolled up in his head.
"Rodney!" Elizabeth yelled, as McKay collapsed into a heap on the floor.
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TBC
(You knew he had to collapse sometime!)