Title: Alien Devices
Author: SlayersGrl
Summary: The team finds an Ancient outpost on a deserted planet. Strange devices and an unexpected encounter may provide them with exactly what they've been looking for. But are they willing to pay the price?
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters... I'm simply writing for entertainment and because the plot bunnies won't leave me alone.

Author's note: Sorry about taking so long to post this. I was having a minor case of writer's block. But it's all taken care of now. Hope you enjoy! And thanks for all the encouraging reviews so far!


The team found it rather easy to pry their physicist away from his scanner long enough to eat with them. When it came to McKay, food always comes first. The rest of the evening was spent discussing their discovery and making plans for the next day.

Rodney was rather frustrated by the fact that he had yet to uncover how the strange device worked. He always prided himself on being able to unravel any scientific mystery, but this one had him stumped. Eventually, he decided that he must need some of his equipment back in his lab. He was sure that once he had the device back at Atlantis, then he would definitely be able to figure out how it functioned.

But they still had a lengthy task to complete before they could return… "Major, don't think you're off the hook for tomorrow. I need you to test the rest of the devices so we can start packing the ones we're going to take back."

"Oh, joy… I can hardly wait…" was the muttered response. McKay thought he could detect some hostility behind the statement. He briefly wondered if the major was still angry about his earlier comment. But he didn't have a chance to inquire about it since the major ordered Ford to take first watch and then headed to bed.

Rodney shrugged his shoulders. He'd talk to him about it tomorrow. Then he too drifted off to sleep, dreading his turn at watch duty.

The next morning, Teyla watched in amusement as Rodney rolled out of his sleeping bag and then stumbled over to where she sat. She silently handed him a fresh cup of coffee which he eagerly snatched up. Then he wandered over to where he had left his equipment and began to study his readings from the previous day. Moments later, the other two members of the team awoke and she repeated the gesture for each. It was by unspoken agreement that no one started any real conversation until after everyone had had their first cup of coffee.

Sheppard quickly downed his and then turned to Ford. "What do you say to a little stroll around the woods?" He felt bad about leaving the lieutenant with babysitting duty the day before and he figured a nice walk would help to wake the two of them up. He knew he was in for a long day…

"Sure sir!" Ford exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He was tired of being stuck inside.

The two eagerly left to check the perimeter. Teyla found herself with nothing to do for the time being so she walked over to check on Rodney. He didn't notice her presence until she cleared her throat to ask a question. "Have you made any progress?"

"Uh… not really. I have lots of interesting readings, but I really need to get back to my lab before I can run a full diagnostics."

She simply nodded her head in understanding. But before she could reply, her radio sprang to life. "We have a problem," John's voice calmly stated.

"Go ahead Major," Teyla replied.

"A Wraith dart ship just flew overhead. We don't think they spotted us, but there could be more in the area. We're on our way back to the outpost now. Stay where you are."

"Understood." Teyla then turned to her other teammate.

"That's impossible!" Rodney declared, his mind already churning out possible factors that would have alerted the Wraith to their presence at the outpost. "Unless…" He jumped up and ran back to the Ancients' lab, quickly scanning the various devices to find what he had suspected.

"Teyla?" a voice called out from the main chamber of the outpost.

"We're in here!" she replied. "Dr. McKay has found something."

The two military officers rushed into the small room. Ford stood guard at the door while Sheppard turned his attention to the scientist. "Please tell me you found a weapon we can use."

"No, but I think I found out why the Wraith are here…" He then held up a small device that had previously been sorted into the defective pile. It was emitting some sort of energy signal, but it did not appear to be doing anything. "I think it's a transmitter like Teyla's necklace. But it seems to be a newer model. The energy signal is different so it made it harder to pick up."

"You mean we've been broadcasting our position since we got here?"

"Well, since we started handling these devices… You must have… activated it…" Rodney replied.

Sheppard sighed in frustration. He had hoped the Wraith wouldn't be able to detect them inside the outpost since it was buried in the side of a cliff. But since they had a homing beacon practically pointing straight at them, he knew they had only one choice. "You have five minutes to grab your gear, and then we're leaving."

"We can't just leave all of this behind!" McKay protested.

"It's not worth your life," Teyla interrupted. "We can return later once the Wraith have left."

Reluctantly, Rodney nodded his head in agreement. He may be willing to make certain sacrifices in the name of science, but losing his life wasn't one of them. He quickly rushed around the room grabbing the devices they had previously decided to take back and a few they hadn't had time to test yet.

Meanwhile, John and Teyla were packing up the rest of their gear. They decided to grab only what they would need on the way to the gate and leave the rest behind. Just as they were about to yell to McKay and Ford to hurry up, they heard the sound of ships landing outside.

Sheppard glanced out the outpost entrance and confirmed what he had already suspected. "We're too late," he announced, "They're already here. We'll have to find another exit." He then headed back to the lab to collect the rest of his team, Teyla right behind him.

"Sir?" Ford asked, concerned to see is C.O. heading in the wrong direction.

"Change in plans," he replied. "McKay, is there any other way out of here besides the front door?"

"Uh, no… in case you haven't noticed, we're buried in the side of a mountain. Our only option is to leave the way we came in." He paused, realization just hitting him. "We're screwed aren't we?"

"Not necessarily…" Aiden interrupted. "Since there's only one entrance, it should be relatively easy to defend."

"We do not have enough firepower to hold off a Wraith assault," Teyla countered. "And we should not stay here much longer. I can sense them approaching."

"Alright, we need to move further underground. Hopefully they'll be satisfied once they find no one here and simply leave." John realized his plan sounded rather pathetic, but it was all they had.

Ten minutes later, the four found themselves hiding in a darkened room at the far end of the underground outpost. They had set up a few lines of defense as they went. Several blocks of explosives were placed along the hallway at key locations, set to detonate by tripwire if the Wraith got too close to their hiding place. Also, they had barricaded the entrance to the room as best they could. It probably wouldn't hold for long, but hopefully it would buy them some more time.

"What do we have left?"

Ford quickly inventoried their supplies. "Three P-90s, two clips each. Four 9mm handguns, a few blocks of C-4, a handful of grenades, and our utility knives." It was barely enough to take out one Wraith, and they were definitely facing more than one.

"Oh we are so dead."

"Shut up McKay! We're still breathing aren't we?"

"Not for long…"

Any reply Sheppard had was cut off by a loud explosion down the hall.

"They definitely know we're here," Teyla said, readying herself for the impending battle.

"Everyone take position. We're only gonna have one chance at the element of surprise."

"I never thought I'd die like this…" Rodney muttered as he moved to stand behind a table for cover.

Ford replied as he too moved into position. "Relax. We're not going to die."

"Are you kidding me? We have no chance in hell!"

"Shut up!" Sheppard whispered. "Get ready to fire on my mark."

Suddenly, the door began to vibrate in its frame. The Wraith were pounding on it to gain entry to where their victims awaited. The hastily constructed barricade could barely hold up against the beating and was crumbling under the pressure.

"Here it comes…" Ford whispered.

As the door finally collapsed, Sheppard called out his order to fire. Any other sounds were drowned out by the hail of automatic weapons fire as they unloaded their clips into any flesh they could see in the hallway. The initial assault only lasted seconds, but it was hard to determine what sort of affect it had on the Wraith. Once the firing stopped, the room was once again plunged into darkness.

"Did we get it?" McKay asked incredulously. He refused to believe it was going to be that simple.

"Well, I think we got one of them at least," Sheppard replied as he dug around in the darkness to grab one of the grenades. "But now we've just announced our location to every other Wraith down here."

His words rung true as they all heard the cry of angry Wraith just outside the door. Without hesitation, the major pulled the pin from the grenade and lobbed it through the doorway. The resulting explosion was enough to rock the entire outpost, but it succeeded in its purpose.

"Two down…"

"Ten more to go," Rodney added as he glanced at the life signs detector.

"Ten?!"

"Hey, don't yell at me! I just count the dots!"

"Sir, we definitely don't have enough explosives to take out ten more Wraiths…" Ford replied. He hated to admit it, but it didn't look like they'd be walking away from this one.

"Wait…" Sheppard quickly turned to Rodney. "McKay, give me the device."

He was confused by the request. "Which one?" He had a whole bag full of devices, none of which seemed particularly relevant to their current situation.

"The one that works. The transporter or whatever it is."

Teyla, however, immediately picked up on the major's line of thinking. "You plan to use it as a weapon."

"Of course!" McKay explained as he rushed to retrieve it from his bag. "It can provide us with all the firepower we need!"

"We've got incoming!" Ford shouted as he let loose with a hail of bullets. Two Wraiths were just breaking through the crumbling remains of the door frame but they were driven back temporarily by the gunfire.

John quickly grabbed the device from Rodney and put it on. Then he also took the life signs detector. He tried to determine the area to hit for the most effectiveness. He noticed a cluster of four Wraith standing just outside the room. "Alright, here goes nothing…" Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on imagining a small explosive materializing in the center of the small group. The device glowed and a moment later, a loud explosion resounded from the hallway.

But at the same time, John screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor.

"Major!" Teyla called out. She quickly checked his pulse and found it to be strong. For the moment, he appeared to be just unconscious.

"What happened?" Ford demanded. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Maybe it has some sort of rebound effect. The Ancients probably never intended it to be used as a weapon and therefore must have engineered fail safes into the design," Rodney theorized. He could only hope the device had not seriously injured the major. Although, it probably wouldn't matter soon… They would all be Wraith food if they didn't come up with some more options.

Teyla glanced up from her fallen team member to glance back at the entrance. She quickly raised her weapon and opened fire. The Wraith fell to the ground only to be replaced by another. She knew this would likely be their last stand, but she was not ready to give up without a fight. Beside her, she could hear Ford and McKay firing their weapons as well. She shifted so she was standing between Major Sheppard and the ensuing battle. Then she threw a grenade into the mix and dove to the ground to avoid the blast, using her own body to shield Sheppard's.

As she lay on the ground, she heard a soft voice whisper in her ear, "Teyla?"

"Major?" She was surprised to find him conscious. By his expression she could tell he was confused about what was currently going on. "You passed out for a few minutes. The Wraith have broken through. We are trying to hold them off."

Sheppard nodded his head and then quickly rose to his feet. He glanced over at the chaos and his eyes widened in surprise. He counted five Wraiths in the small room, each closing in on his teammates. The bullets were slowing them down, but not by much. And they were too close to take out with explosives.

It was at that moment that he knew they were all going to die. No matter what they did now, it wouldn't be enough. He closed his eyes and sadly shook his head. "What I wouldn't give for all of us to be as far away from here as possible…"

Had he actually had his eyes open, the major would have been shocked to see the scene suddenly blur and fade away, only to be replaced with a more familiar one. His team found themselves standing in front of the Stargate buried deep beneath the ground in Colorado.

But their shock quickly turned to concern as Major Sheppard toppled forward. Teyla and McKay quickly grabbed him and lowered him onto the cold metal ramp. Teyla desperately felt for a pulse. She raised her eyes to meet Ford's. "He's not breathing!" she exclaimed.