The
planet Cellos,
the
Pegasus Galaxy.
Much of the world known to the Genii as Cellos was covered in churning, freezing waters – there was little in the way of land mass, save for a small island in the northern hemisphere upon which the Stargate was located, and a number of tiny rocky ridges that were scattered across the ocean-world's surface to the extreme south.
For much of the year, the world was cold and dark, and little in the way of plant or animal life existed anywhere; save for a some huge, thick green foliage that was able to retain the little amount of sunlight the planet got for an incredibly long length of time, and some of the strangest, most deadly insect-like creatures the Genii had ever encountered…
It was a miserable, unhabitable planet – no one had even tried to live there in over fifty years. So it was the perfect place, in Commander Acastus Kolya's calculating mind, for the final showdown between himself and John Sheppard.
Kolya looked over at the hostage they had taken – a man who had revealed his identity to be Colonel Steven Caldwell, commander of the battle-cruiser Daedalus, serial number 5502894. Caldwell promised them that he would tell the Genii no more – and the steel-eyed determination that shone out of his steady gaze led credence to his bravado.
But the man was not there for the Genii to interrogate – well, at least not yet. No, he was simply bait, to make sure that Sheppard would come to the planet and face Kolya, to finally put an end to this saga once and for all.
Acastus was dressed in the full combat uniform of a Genii Commander; with the tight-fitting cap, the military garb of an officer, the leather belt and holster… no auto-gun this time, as Kolya had absolutely no intention of using one.
He was clutching a long-bladed dagger in one hand, and was clenching and unclenching his other hand into a fist… ready for combat, waiting for Sheppard to arrive so the battle could begin.
There was nobody else visible throughout the desolate environment… just Kolya, standing right out in the open, and Caldwell, tied up tightly by his hands and feet, sitting on the ground by a large, twisted-looking old tree-stump off to the side.
# A #
"Well, I cannot see any other Genii besides Commander Kolya," Teyla Emmagan said, after having peered down the telescopic sights of a high-powered, G36C Elite sniper rifle, and carefully checking the terrain all around the supposed 'fight zone' way out ahead of them. "I think he is waiting for you alone…"
Lt Colonel Sheppard nodded absently. He really hadn't expected Acastus Kolya to bring any force in support – the Genii obviously wanted to settle this score just as much as John himself did.
There was too much hatred between them to let this slide by… and far too much at stake, for both parties, for that to be satisfactory.
"Are you sure about this, Sheppard?" Ronon asked, in a low growl. He had met the Genii for the first time up in space, onboard the Daedalus, and they had not made a good impression in his mind…
"No, Ronon, I'm not… but I have to do this. It's the only way this is going to end," Sheppard replied honestly.
He looked around at the members of his team, all of whom were crouched low to the ground just like John himself was, trying not be make themselves seem too obvious to any possible observers or lookouts. At Ronon Dex, the big, burly fighting man; at Teyla Emmagan, the shorter, lithe Athosian leader; and at Dr Rodney McKay, the overconfident, egotistical scientific genius – this was his team.
And now, they were all here in support – even McKay, who looked positively scared out of his mind.
John looked further ahead of the group, towards the Genii warrior standing out there on his own, waiting… his heart was racing away inside his chest, and he couldn't stop clenching and unclenching his fists – Sheppard was itching for a fight. He had to go, had to finish this – right there and then.
Although he had a bullet wound to the right shoulder, John Sheppard was feeling pretty much 100 fit and healthy, ready to go – thanks to the strong painkillers Dr Carson Beckett had injected around the wound, along with a steroid tablet he had taken which was really starting to kick in.
Coming down was going to be real tough… but Sheppard was not looking that far ahead. No, his focus was set squarely on one thing, on one person.
"Stay here, all of you – keep your eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary, but don't act unless you have to…" the Colonel ordered. He glanced around at the other three, and saw each of them nod in turn that they understood the situation. "This will end when Kolya's dead!"
# A #
John Sheppard walked slowly down the open field that stretched out in front of the Stargate on this world… he kept walking, with his eyes set forward with cold, unwavering determination. It was time for the showdown…
He was unarmed – Sheppard did not know if Kolya was, also, and did not even know if he was meant to be unarmed, but he took the chance because he thought he understood his foe's proud, honour-bound psyche.
It was strangely twisted in many ways, yes, but deep down Commander Kolya believed in his own personal cause – he was a fanatic, and as such, was willing to do viciously brutal acts of violence and treachery to see that his aims were met.
But now, that was all going to end… because Lt Colonel Sheppard would not be leaving this world until Commander Acastus Kolya was dead.
"Major Sheppard, it's good to see you again!" Kolya's voice boomed out, and the Genii snickered almost derisively. "I must say, I did not really expect it. I wonder, how did you fair against my two insurgents? Oskar is one of the most competent Genii operatives we have…"
"I wouldn't really call him all that competent, myself – the man got himself killed, after all," Sheppard replied coldly. "And it's Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard now, not Major – I was promoted."
"Well then, Lieutenant Colonel…" Kolya scoffed, "are you ready to die?"
John Sheppard smiled back at the Genii, and then turned his head slightly to the side. "I was just about to ask you the same thing, Kolya."
The look of superior confidence flittered across his face for just a moment… then began to fade. Acastus moved to his side with sharp, angry motions, snatching up a long-bladed weapon from out of a scabbard halfway down his right calf, and threw it hard at the ground right at John's feet.
The sharp dagger sliced through the ground, til it was sticking up in the air, handle-first. Sheppard looked at Kolya, and saw for the first time that the Genii was holding a bladed weapon of his own, and was beginning to move in on him right at that moment!
And so, the fighting began…
# A #
"What's happening over there? Is Sheppard alright?" Rodney McKay demanded. He was nervously wringing his hands, looking around the place for the slightest hint of danger. The Daedalus incident had sapped away what little strength and courage that he had – now, all Rodney wanted was to get back to Atlantis, to return to some semblance of normalcy, and try to get everything back on track again.
"It's begun, Rodney," Teyla Emmagan replied curtly, staring down the sights of her high-powered rifle. No matter what, she had been told implicitly by John NOT to intervene on his behalf. That might just prove to be a very tough call, but she knew what this was about between the two fighters, and understood the score that had to be settled… Teyla would follow Sheppard's instructions, and keep out of their personal conflict.
Neither McKay nor Ronon Dex said anything, as they both tried to see as much as they could of the battle with their naked eyes – Teyla got a much clearer picture of the knife conflict through her telescopic sights, and what she saw did not fill her with much in the way of confidence.
# A #
Sheppard raced forward to snatch up the dagger that was sticking out of the ground at his feet… only to have to duck aside at the very last moment to avoid a swipe Kolya made for his throat! The blade sliced past through the air, barely missing his neck by a mere whisker!
Rolling out of the way as Acastus moved in for a brutal kick to the side of John's ribs, the Colonel took the blow to the guts with a painful groan but still kept moving along the ground, til he came bounding up onto his feet with a fluid jump, his own blade whipping out to almost catch Kolya across the side of his face as he came rushing forward.
The Genii managed to pull himself up at the last moment – avoiding having the first blood drawn in the knife-fight by but a split-second.
Both combatants were quick-thinkers, and were obviously quite evenly matched opponents for one another. Acastus Kolya's eyes burned with incessant rage as he moved in for the kill, rolling on the backs of his heels as he strode purposefully in towards John Sheppard…
The Genii spun to the right side at the last moment, as John swept his knife-arm out first for a pre-emptive lunge forward. The move caught Sheppard off-guard, and Kolya was able to get in low and fast upon John's suddenly-exposed midsection – as he darted past the military-man from Earth, Kolya was able to slash out across his opponent's side with his sharp-bladed dagger, cutting a deep gash into John's body.
When Commander Acastus Kolya darted away from Sheppard's late slashing attempt to strike him, he left his younger foe reeling from a deep, bloody gash to his lower left side. John looked down at the wound, saw the copious amount of blood that was pouring out of the fresh gash, and quickly jammed his spare hand up against it, trying desperately to keep the slash closed over as much as possible so he didn't bleed out.
Sheppard silently cursed his momentary slip in concentration – this was no rookie he was dealing with! And Kolya had made him pay dearly for that small mistake…
This was a life-and-death battle – there couldn't be any mistakes!
Kolya moved in smoothly again, slicing out with his knife first directly for John's face, and then quickly shifting direction, striking down into his left shoulder before the Colonel even realized it!
The blade sunk deep into John's shoulder, til it scraped up against bone, and he cried out in absolute agony. But still, the sharp, intense pain of the wound helped suddenly to sharpen the fighter's focus, and Sheppard was able to battle through the initially crippling blow to strike out immediately against his adversary!
Acastus was not expecting, after having gotten Sheppard with two very solid strikes of the blade in a matter of seconds, for him to launch a blistering attack back at him straight away, but that's what John managed to do… with Kolya's knife still sticking out of his left shoulder!
With vicious slashes and jabs coming from all directions, John drove Kolya back about ten feet, watching carefully as Acastus managed to duck and weave away or under every one of his attacks… until, at last, he began to get the measure of his man.
Kolya was on the defensive, without a weapon as it was still sticking out of John Sheppard… and he was beginning to panic. Sheppard suddenly went low, very low, and cut out for the side of Kolya's left leg. The dagger found its mark and slid right into the Genii fighter's left thigh, almost up to the hilt. Acastus let out a painful scream and almost immediately dropped down onto his right knee on the ground.
Without further ado, with his own dagger jammed right into his enemy's leg and Kolya's weapon still buried in his own left shoulder, John started laying into Acastus with right and left punches, smashing his fists one-two into his foe's face, with all his might behind each and every blow. When his nose was busted from one of Sheppard's punches, and blood started to pour out of it at a great rate, Kolya's lips twisted into a sneering parlay of a smile, and he launched himself bodily straight at John…
It was a last-ditched move; a desperate attempt to shift the fight back in the Genii's favour. John saw it coming, could see by the way Kolya shifted his body-mass at the last moment before leaping up at him just what he was planning to do – so he moved to the side at the last instant, and struck out hard at Acastus' stomach as he went on by with his right boot!
The kick to Kolya's guts was perfect – the Genii Commander took the full impact, and immediately dropped down to both knees, completely winded. His face was all puffy, covered in sweat, and his eyes were bulging out of their sockets in strain. John walked slowly up to the fallen warrior from behind.
Now Sheppard was unarmed, with his own dagger still protruding from Kolya's thigh, but he had the Genii's own knife sticking out of his left shoulder so he still had a weapon at hand, if necessary… in a manner of speaking, at least.
But he did not want to end this with a weapon – not if he didn't have to, at least.
Lt Colonel Sheppard wrenched the military cap off Commander Kolya's head, and grabbed hold of a thick handful of his dark brown hair, yanking the older man's head back savagely so his foe was looking back at him right in the eyes. John had Kolya's head bent back at a severe angle behind him, but he hardly cared in the least for the Genii's discomfort, not after all that had passed between them…
"I warned you that if you ever tried anything against me and my people again, that I'd kill you, Kolya!" Sheppard roared. "You just had to test me out at this, didn't you? You couldn't just let it all pass…"
"No, John, I couldn't!" Kolya shouted back. "Would YOU have let it go if I had been the one to triumph, back in Atlantis when we met for the first time? Or if I'd managed to take the ZPM you and your team were so desperately pursuing? I don't think so – it's about pride, Sheppard! Pride and arrogance! Now, just finish this…!"
With a vicious tug back, John Sheppard had Kolya's head locked in a tight vice in his right arm, began to twist his foe's head around to the side, to yank it back brutally and snap his neck… when suddenly, Acastus reached up with his right hand and took hold of the dagger, still sticking straight out of John's shoulder!
The agony of it when Kolya jammed the weapon deeper into Sheppard's wound was intense, almost overwhelming… John had to really struggle to fight unconsciousness – as he knew instantly that if he gave in and let the darkness overwhelm him, he would be as good as dead, at the mercy of the Genii Commander. Then, Acastus yanked the knife right out of John's left shoulder.
Though there was another agonizing bout of pain to ride through, Sheppard at least was able to grit his teeth and bear this suffering a little easier. But now, he was faced with a somewhat reenergized, reinvigorated Commander Kolya, with one knife in his grasp, and the other sticking out of his leg!
He had been so close to ending it all… but John knew he would have found it hard to live with himself afterwards, killing a man so callously like that, snapping their neck in such a brutal manner – even if it was Commander Kolya.
This at least, though it was far more dangerous, made it a fight, and would take away much of the guilt that came with an enemy kill.
Commander Kolya yanked the knife that was sticking out of his leg straight out – he let out a sharp gasp of pain, but quickly put that to the back of his mind as his eyes focused intently on Sheppard. He rose up to his feet and moved quickly in for the kill…
With one smooth, skilful counterattack, it was over in a matter of seconds.
Acastus Kolya moved quickly in, with his knife darting straight into Sheppard's exposed chest, but John suddenly twisted sharply to the right, and snatched hold of the Genii soldier's wrist as he manoeuvred himself out of immediate danger. Now, clutching hold of Kolya's dagger-hand by the other man's wrist, John twisted his opponent's hand viciously to the right… until the sound of the Genii's wrist-bones being snapped became quite audible, and he screamed out in savage agony.
Sheppard did not hesitate – he simply forced Kolya's own arm back around, with the dagger and his now-limp hand, and drove Acastus' own knife back into his throat!
The point of the bladed weapon made contact with Kolya's jugular, punctured it, and slid right on through til it hit bone, wedged deeply in the Genii's throat. His eyes bulged open and blood began to pour down out of the gaping wound in his neck… Kolya knew he was deeply wounded and was in serious trouble, John could tell by the look of bewilderment and horror that glittered in the Genii's usually cold, dark eyes.
Lt Colonel Sheppard twisted the dagger into Kolya's neck harder, and then let go of the weapon, leaving the Genii standing up on his own two feet for a few long moments. Kolya staggered about on his feet slightly, wheezing heavily as he struggled to breathe through his shattered windpipe, with the knife now sticking out of the front of his neck…
Then he fell down hard onto his hands and knees, succumbing at last to his taxing wounds… Kolya's eyes were bulging wide open in dread, as he tried desperately to breathe, to suck more air down into his burning, screaming lungs…
But he could not breathe. The dagger was in the way, had sliced straight through his windpipe, and Kolya was bleeding out heavily… blood was soaking into his tunic, was leaking down his body and onto the ground. The Genii Commander was a dead man, and he was also intelligent enough to realize it.
As he sat there dying, half-slouched over as he was on his knees before his enemy, Kolya made a last, final effort to look up at Colonel Sheppard – to behold the face of the man who had killed him.
John looked back down on Commander Acastus Kolya. He too was badly wounded, but he had fought better when it counted, and never once let his dire predicament overwhelm him. John was able to take advantage of small opportunities when they presented themselves, and that, above everything else, was the reason why he was standing there at that moment, looking down on his deadly foe… the victor.
"Goodbye, Kolya," he said softly to his Genii adversary.
With those final words, he pulled the dagger out of the other man's ruined throat with a vicious tug, and threw the weapon aside, onto the ground far enough away to be out of reach of his foe.
Kolya sat up there on his knees for a couple more seconds, wheezing deeply, trying desperately now to breathe… and then he fell over hard onto the ground, on his right side, and inside of a minute the Genii Commander was dead.
He had bled out over the grassy ground, from the fatal wound to his neck.
John, in agonizing pain all over himself, crouched down over his foe and closed the dead man's eyelids over. It was finally done with…
But then a noise over near a motley collection of old tree-trunks made Sheppard look up… and he saw, much to his horror and disbelief, a group of Genii emerge from hiding, their rifles raised and expressions of murderous fury plastered all over their faces.
They were less than fifty yards away from him… Sheppard glanced over at Colonel Caldwell, tied up with ropes the way he was nearby, and made his choice – he had to go for the Colonel, there really was no other alternative.
When the Genii-controlled Puddle Jumpers uncloaked in low orbit overhead, all five of them, Lt Colonel John Sheppard didn't even pause to look at them – from the moment he saw the Genii troops emerging from the tree-line, he knew things had just gone to hell, to the Jumpers were hardly a surprise at all…
# A #
What WAS a surprise, to everyone on the planet, – especially John Sheppard – was when the first Genii Puddle Jumper to uncloak suddenly exploded in a massive, intensely-bright ball of flames, after being struck from above by an Ancient-designed drone weapon!
"Need any assistance, John?" a warm, familiar voice asked over the team's encrypted radio channel – it was Dr Elizabeth Weir!
"Elizabeth! Damn, I'm I glad to hear your voice!" John Sheppard exclaimed, when he thumbed the radio 'TALK' button. He had not stopped running over to where Colonel Caldwell was bound up, after snatching up one of the two bloodied knives along the way. "Excellent timing, too!"
"Yes, well I couldn't just let my chief military officer go wandering off through the Stargate, into what could easily be a major trap, without all the backup I could provide!" Elizabeth said with a light chuckle. "Now, let me and your people give you the air-cover you need – get Caldwell, get your team and get back to the Stargate!"
"You got it!"
Another Jumper exploded, really close by – the wreckage plummeted into the ground barely a couple of hundred yards away, tearing through the thick bushland, and scattering flames and debris all over the place. Chalk up another kill to Weir and her Atlantean Jumpers…
John looked quickly up at the sky overhead – and immediately grinned broadly. Dr Weir had managed to get no less than eight Puddle Jumpers to this planet – and had positioned them in a higher orbit than the Genii Jumpers.
When the Genii had revealed themselves, the Atlantean Jumpers had been in a vastly superior position than their enemies – now they were down to three, and the Jumpers were only now managing to turn their ships around and engage this new threat in dog-fighting manoeuvres!
Quickly, back to the situation at hand… John reached Colonel Caldwell at last. He hurriedly told the Colonel that everything was going to be all right, that Kolya was dead and the Daedalus was back at Atlantis being repaired, and then went about cutting through his bonds so that he could pull Caldwell up onto his feet.
But then, a shadow through the trees off to the right made Sheppard pause, and turn…
A female Genii soldier stepped forward, from out behind a tree-trunk, clutching an auto-gun. At that range, both Caldwell and John would be cut to pieces as soon as she squeezed back far enough on the trigger – there was nowhere they could go, nothing either one of them could do.
The woman – John didn't know it, but he was looking into the enraged face of Venetia, Commander Kolya's trusted technician and expert on advanced technologies – was gripping the weapon very tightly in her right hand, and looked about ready to fire it right at them both…
Sheppard braced himself for the impact to come, and for death.
# A #
But the gunfire never did come. The Lt Colonel opened his eyes at the last moment… and saw, much to his surprise, the woman's head snap back sharply as she was struck by a high-powered sniper rifle round!
Teyla Emmagan had come through for him, and at the very last moment too! The shot had to have come from a mile away, very close to the Stargate… the team must have been moving back towards the Gate. But Teyla had kept her eye out, and had come through to make the shot when it was needed.
Now though, they couldn't just stand around and wait for more Genii to make their move on them – they had to keep moving!
"Come on, Colonel!" John encouraged. "We have to keep going!"
The tree-line was now positively swarming with Genii – they surged forward en masse, their combined fury focused squarely upon John Sheppard and Steven Caldwell. "Teyla, we sure could use a guardian angel right about now…" John muttered to himself, as he and Caldwell ran for all they were worth back towards the Gate, and safety.
# A #
Overhead, the battle raged on as the three Genii-piloted Jumpers that remained tried their best to duel with the Atlanteans.
Dr Elizabeth Weir sat in the co-pilot's chair as one of the new members of the expedition, Lieutenant Ron Schroeder, took the Puddle Jumper into a steep, sharp-banking left turn, right on the tail of a Genii Jumper. He was an African-American, a Marine pilot who was still getting a handle on some of the incredible technologies that were at the disposal of the Atlantis expedition – but Ron happened to be one of the most naturally-brilliant Puddle Jumper pilots Elizabeth had ever seen.
The Lieutenant, with only a simple thought, activated the drone weapons capacity, locked onto the targeted Jumper, and fired a pair of drones right at the enemy-controlled spacecraft, in an incredibly tight turn that few pilots would have been able to carry off.
The lead drone weapon shrieked in through the distance between the two Jumpers, and struck the targeted vessel in the right side, tearing through the engine manifolds and shearing a vicious pathway of destruction straight through the entire length of the craft. As the Jumper began to drop out of the sky and plummet towards the ground, the second drone slammed into the rear of the spacecraft… and completely obliterated it!
Schroeder was able to pull their Jumper quite easily out of their descent, and guide their craft straight back into the fight… though now, it was blatantly obvious to the Genii in the Puddle Jumpers that they had ZERO percent chance against eight Atlantean Jumpers, piloted by far more experienced aviators then themselves.
So, they tried to bug out of the fight – they tried to retreat into the upper atmosphere, then out into the dark void of space itself.
Weir was not going to have any of that – which was why five of the Jumpers were sent off in pursuit, and they managed to catch up to and take down one of the Genii vessels.
The last Genii Jumper, prudently, immediately slowed down instead of making its suicidal run on the upper atmosphere, and powered down their thrusters… they were surrendering. Two Atlantean Jumpers moved up to flank both sides of the Genii spacecraft and, contacting the Genii on their own radio frequency, told them to land on the other side of the Stargate, away from their own massing forces.
The Genii Jumper did exactly as it was bidden to, its occupants knowing that any deviation away from what they were told to do would result in instant destruction.
And Weir and Schroeder in their own Puddle Jumper, along with the other five available Atlantean Jumpers, were freed up to begin to sweep down upon the Genii ground forces – in direct support of the two fleeing military officers making a mad dash for the Stargate.
As soon as the Atlantean Jumpers began to bring their full firepower to bear upon the Genii ground forces, it was pretty much decided. The Genii Strike Force hardly stood a chance…
# A #
John Sheppard and Steven Caldwell were being pursued by a pair of Genii ATVs – weapons-fire from the rear gunners of both vehicles were striking the ground all around them both, zipping through the air all around both fleeing men… when suddenly, both of the Genii attack vehicles exploded when they were struck by a couple of drone weapons!
The burning wreckage of both ATVs were launched high into the sky, and flipped end over end through the air before they came crashing back down hard onto the ground, further on ahead from where they had been struck – burning and in flames, all twisted and shattered remnants of their former selves.
The rest of the ATVs were further back, with most of the ground forces – getting bombarded from the sky by the airborne Puddle Jumpers acting in support of their withdrawal from the planet. But the Genii troops that were getting too close to Caldwell and Sheppard were proving to be an issue.
Teyla Emmagan was picking off Genii warriors from a distance with her sniper rifle, taking them down one after another as John and Caldwell raced back towards them. As the two men got closer, and the Genii right behind them came within range, Ronon Dex began adding his own firepower to the mix, blasting away at the enemy with his own unique laser-pistol.
They were dropping the enemy troopers left and right… but still, the Genii kept on coming.
McKay was already at the Stargate's D.H.D. (dial home device), punching in the symbols of the city of Atlantis – he was finding it extremely difficult to work under the battlefield conditions that he found himself in, with bullets whizzing by all around him, and devastating explosions rocking the very ground he was standing on.
Rodney was crouched down quite low, but had to pop his head up entirely too far for his liking to make sure that he was hitting the right symbols – there was a lock, the Gate's event-horizon did its regular blowback, and then McKay was up and racing towards safety, escape…
"Come on you guys, time to go!" he shouted back over his shoulder. Dr McKay punched in his own I.D.C. code well before reaching the active Gate, then turned around to check on everyone else, to see that he was not the only one making a beeline back towards the Stargate, and to Atlantis… he tried not to look too cowardly, whenever possible.
Sheppard helped Colonel Caldwell hustle on up to the Stargate, and once he was through the event-horizon with McKay, turned back to Teyla and Ronon.
They were both taking shots now and then at Genii that were still rushing towards them, but the fervour of their enemy's attack was now well and truly gone… thanks in large part to the intense Jumper bombings against their assault force.
As the six combat-active Jumpers hovered in low-orbit around the battleground, the Genii began to drop their weapons onto the ground and raise their hands in surrender in large numbers. In fact, not one single fighter that was still left standing kept their guns or bladed weapons – they were all sick of the bloodshed, and were now well aware just how outgunned they truly were by the Atlantis force.
John smiled broadly. He looked over at Teyla and Ronon, and saw that both of them were grinning from ear to ear, as well. At last… it was over…
"Well then… Elizabeth, it seems that we all owe you our thanks!" Lt Colonel Sheppard said, using the handheld radio. "I never expected help like this, and you sure had impeccable timing… but this day sure would have turned out differently if your Jumpers weren't flying shotgun for us!"
"Anytime, John," came Dr Weir's relieved voice. "I'm glad you're all alright…"
# A #
EPILOGUE
The city of Atlantis,
the Pegasus Galaxy.
"So, how exactly did you all manage to get to this rendezvous planet, without activating the Stargate on that world?" John Sheppard asked a very smug-looking Elizabeth Weir. He was sitting in the briefing room of the Ancients' great city-ship, Atlantis, surrounded by the rest of his team and the senior staff of the great expeditionary force.
John was heavily bandaged from the three severe wounds he had battled through, but a few days previously, and was still in a great deal of pain from his injuries… though the pain was numbed considerably thanks to Dr Beckett and some mild painkillers.
"Well, that was a little stroke of genius from Dr Zelenka here…" Elizabeth said with a slight smile, indicating the quirky, sometimes quite nervous scientist from the Czech Republic who was sitting over near the corner of the briefing room.
Dr Radek Zelenka seemed somewhat surprised that somebody had spoken his name, and he gave a startled cry out as he jumped a little out of his seat. Then, quickly regathering himself, the scientist explained, "Well, Colonel, it was quite easy, using the Ancient database in Atlantis' computer records, to extrapolate a Gate address of a planet relatively close to the world whose Gate address the Genii had given us, as the meeting-point. IF that indeed would be the world where the meet would occur, we could have Jumpers overhead, flying at maximum speed from the nearest planet with an active Stargate, in less than 30 minutes. Dr Weir had eight Jumpers deployed immediately, with herself in personal command of the force."
John Sheppard was impressed, with both the smart thinking of Zelenka, and the bravery and instant decision-making of Elizabeth Weir. There were definitely times as commander of the Atlantis expedition when she outshone herself…
Sheppard turned his attention now to a slightly shaken-up, still unnerved Colonel Caldwell. His command ship, the USS Daedalus, was receiving parts and overhaul repairs done to nearly every function onboard the vessel – it would be down for a month at least, and that was an optimistic view of the situation. In anyone's books, the vessel was damn well lucky to make it back to Atlantis in the first place, considering the hell it had been through from the Genii attack.
"Colonel, what's the situation on the Daedalus?" he asked, just to get everything out in the open, verbalized so that everyone understood the gravity of it's damage.
"Look, we are very lucky that the battle-cruiser wasn't destroyed in that initial drone attack," Caldwell began. "I've lost my entire flight deck, with every single X-302 and their logistics, as well as much of the sections surrounding that facility. Nearly every single electronics device needs a complete overhaul and replacement parts. There are twenty-seven breaches in the vessel's hull in total; seventeen of which are severe and mean that the environment of space can leak into various sections of my ship. And forty-six personnel onboard the Daedalus were killed in the Genii assault."
That was a very bad tally for the Colonel – and to add to everything else, his harrowing experience as a brief prisoner of war to the Genii Commander, Kolya. John Sheppard did not even want to begin to imagine what Caldwell was going through, both mentally and emotionally, at that moment.
"And what of the Genii prisoners we captured?" Teyla Emmagan enquired, curious. "I heard that they had been sent through the Stargate… they were not released so soon after capture, were they?"
"No Teyla, not in the way you are thinking…" Dr Weir replied. Then she looked over at John Sheppard. This aspect of events, John knew, still didn't sit very well with her, and he could understand that because he knew what kind of person she was on the inside… a good person, who found some of the grittier aspects of her new job hard to deal with. So he took over the explanations.
"We made a trade – the Genii that were operating with Commander Kolya were in fact meant to originally bring him in, as Kolya was supposedly a traitor against the Genii rulership. But the Strike Force switched sides, and joined with the renegade Commander," John said. "So, we made a trade – a goodwill swap, of sorts. The Genii leadership got those that remained of their traitor force back, and we in return were able to work out a temporary treaty between the Genii homeworld and Atlantis – in the hopes that the peace between us would last, and it can evolve into a permanent treaty."
"That's… good news," Teyla said, but the look of confusion, and not a little concern as well, was quite clear for all to see all over her face. She was obviously wondering just what kind of environment they had sent the 'traitor' Genii back into – just what kind of punishment they were likely to be given.
John truly did not care, because the trade had been worthwhile for them all – the Genii as a collective, at least for the time being, could be considered as a 'neutral ally' and not as a danger to them. He doubted their immense differences could be settled with a document and an agreement between a couple of leaders, but then, if it kept the peace between both sides at least for a little while, then it was worth it… right?
There was one thing that their new Genii 'allies' were not aware of – and most of the people in the briefing room were also in the dark about, at least for the time being (save of course for Sheppard, Colonel Caldwell as ranking military officer, and Dr Elizabeth Weir).
And that was, that Kolya's chief scientific mind, the man who had managed to activate the ancient Wraith EMP weapon AND had figured out the secret to the Ancient gene necessary to use much of their technology, including FLYING the Puddle Jumpers – had agreed to defect to Atlantis in exchange for sanctuary from the Genii authorities!
He had been in the sole surviving Genii Puddle Jumper – and had thrown himself at the mercy of the Atlantean explorers from the moment he learnt of the rest of his comrades' fate, to be shipped back to their homeworld as disgraced, defeated traitors…
The old Genii technician, by the name of Kayne, who seemed on the verge of death's door and probably posed little in the way of a 'physical' security risk, – but could easily do nightmarish things to the city, via technological sabotage – was under stringent round-the-clock guard, with no less than six heavily-armed Special Forces sentries watching over him at all times.
They were not about to risk the same Genii infiltration assault, an attack from within that had almost worked the first time round, happening again. The officers in charge of each watch were given very lenient rules of engagement with Kayne… if they even considered that the Genii was posing even the slightest risk of escape, or was doing something that could be considered dangerous, then they were to open fire immediately!
Out of all the death, destruction, turmoil and suffering, at least one pleasant point could be made from all this, the Lt Colonel thought ruefully to himself – Commander Acastus Kolya was finally dead and buried, both figuratively and literally.
And to John Sheppard, it couldn't have come a moment too soon…
THE END