The next morning – Atlantis time – they gathered once more in the larger briefing room. Carter looked a little stiff from her experience with the Mok the day before when she stepped to the front of the room, but she smiled a good morning to everyone and looked ready to start discussing plans.
"Now that the Light Ones have found all the Mok on Talonopolis, we're ready to start clearing the planet," she said to the group in general – although she was looking at Mitchell, in case she had something to say about that. And Melony certainly did.
"I'd still like to see this thing working before I risk it," she said. Unlike Carter, Melony felt fine that morning. Of course, Talon had everything to do with that – that and the fact that Carson had given her one of the best backrubs she'd ever had. "Are you sure it'll even work on non-sentient creatures, and not just humans and the likes?"
"We'll run tests on it," Sam said, nodding, "but Doctor McKay and I are certain it'll beam up anything – not just people."
Rodney nodded his agreement, and Melony was satisfied for the moment, anyways.
"So what is the plan then, Colonel?" She asked. "I know we're supposedly going to trick the Wraith into thinking that Talonopolis is the amazing new feeding ground that they've been dreaming of, but what are you planning on doing once we get them there?"
She had an idea of what was planned, of course, but she wanted to hear it out completely.
Sam had expected this.
"We're going to use the telemetry device on one of the darts to trick the Wraith into thinking we're one of their scouting parties."
"A party that has found the copious feeding ground that they heard about when they woke up," Rodney added.
"From what we know of them, the Wraith will head that direction, probably stopping occasionally to… cull… a world here or there, and they'll be joined by the other hive ships, because this world they're going to be coming to is going to be too much of a temptation to resist. None of them will want to miss out on a chance at Talonopolis."
"You're sure they'll all come?" Jack asked from the seat he'd taken next to Melony. "What's to keep our group from not telling the others, so they have a monopoly on the really good place?"
"It doesn't work that way, General O'Neill," McKay said, before Sam could answer. "The Wraith aren't like that. It's not a society where the different hive ships all strive to be superior or more successful than the others. They keep in close contact with each other – and will always share a particularly fine feeding area."
"Not to mention," Daniel said, speaking up. "The Wraith also seem to have some kind of telepathic thing going on… the other hive ships probably couldn't hide the existence of such a spot even if they wanted to."
"What one hive ship knows, they all know?" Melony asked.
Daniel nodded, as did Sam and McKay.
"Not to mention, we're going to try and broadcast it to all of them at the same time."
"So what's going to keep them from rushing to be the first there?" Jack asked.
"What they'll do is send scouts," Sam said. "To check things out."
"Scouts?"
She nodded.
"As far as we can tell, the Wraith aren't really all that good at tactics and fighting – nothing like we are."
"They haven't had to learn," McKay said. "Being immortal will always make you a better warrior than someone you can kill with a touch."
"They're not immortal," Sheppard said. "They die."
"Well, they die if you shoot them enough times," Rodney said. "But if all you have is a pitchfork, you're not going to have much chance against them, now are you? And that would make them seem pretty immortal to those that survive the culling…"
True enough.
"So… they'll send scouts?" Jack asked, more to pull the attention back to the topic at hand. He, personally, agreed with Sheppard. The Wraith would die. He'd seen it.
McKay nodded.
"Before they commit themselves, they'll want to see what they're looking at – what kind of resistance they'll get."
"So what do we show them?" Melony asked. "Do we dress the Jaffa up as farmers? Or leave them as they are?"
Tao scowled at the thought of dressing as a farmer, but Sam nodded.
"If they don't think the Jaffa are going to be a threat to them, it'd be easier to take them all out – and the hive ships with the smaller populations won't hold back to see what happens, and the Wraith will be overly confident."
"That makes sense," Melony said, nodding. "So then what?"
"The Wraith will activate the Stargate – effectively trapping the inhabitants of the planet – and will start to strafe the settlements with the darts, beaming up people for later consumption…"
"Why does it turn my stomach every time someone says that?" Sheppard asked, frowning.
"Because it's disgusting," Weir said. "Then what happens, Colonel Carter?"
"Then the Jaffa and the other volunteers dodge into the lava flows – which will protect them from the darts – and we have a few pilots swoop in and beam them into our darts, and send the darts through the gate device Colonel Mitchell and Talon will have prepared."
"I thought you wanted this device to be situated in the lava base?" Jack asked.
"That's the best place for it," Sam agreed.
"That'd take some pretty fancy flying – to get the darts into the lava base."
"Fancier than you'd think," she said, nodding, "Because they need to beam in the 'farmers' at the same time, and then get through the device before we activate the other ones."
"What other ones?" Tao asked.
"We have two other devices. One is the shield-dropping device that Talon engineered. The other will be a bomb."
"But not just any bomb," McKay said, seeing a look of doubt cross the First Prime's features. "A huge one – powered by the Light One's power sources and amplified by those crystals your people brought. Situated in the lava base – in the hot room, which is the most unstable part of that system – we'll set it off as soon as the Wraith shields are all dropped."
"And the people are all evacuated." Sam added.
"Yes, of course." Rodney shrugged. "The planet will go up in an instant, taking the Wraith with it. And not just the darts on the planet, either. This explosion is going to be huge. Huge."
"Define huge," Jack said.
"Big Bang huge…" McKay said, smugly.