Thanks for the reviews people, keep them coming! This may be the last chapter for a little while as I go back to school tomorrow and will be fairly busy preparing for my A-levels, but I'll keep posting as regularly as I can. Incidentally, positive reviews encourage me to write more ;-)
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As John walked out of Elizabeth's room, he was almost knocked over by Mckay as the engineer crashed into him.
"Ah, Sheppard, good. There's something you need to see." Rodney set off back towards the living area and led John over to a work station. "I did what you asked, looked at the sensor data, and I think I know who we're dealing with."
"Really? Who is it?" Rodney smiled slightly.
"Some old friends of yours actually." On the screen was an image of one of the skimmers. The picture zoomed in on the jacket of one of the men, revealing a worryingly familiar symbol. John leaned in for a closer look.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me! Alright, keep this to yourself for now, just get back to work on those shields. Odds are they'll be more challenging next time." As Rodney walked off, John ran a hand through his hair. "Damn."
"What is it?" He looked over to see Elizabeth standing in the doorway. Her eyes were clear, there was no sign she had been crying.
"How the hell did you do that so fast?" She sighed.
"Long experience. Now what's wrong?" John grimaced.
"Found out who we're up against." He pointed at the screen. Elizabeth walked over next to him, her arm lightly brushing his in a way he couldn't help but find distracting.
"Right. Fantastic."
A few hours later, the crew was gathered at the table in the living area.
"Alright, we have a problem."
"Another one?" Lorne asked sarcastically.
"Thank you Marcus, be quiet now." Elizabeth said to him, leaving him quiet but smiling. "As I was saying, we have another problem. The people we're up against... It's the Genii." The crew looked at each other nervously. Ronon spoke next.
"So are we still doing this?"
"Well that's the thing. I want to do this, and John is always ready to go after the Genii."
"Yeah, with good reason." John piped up.
"Yes, but that's irrelevant. Anyway, I want to do this, but I'm not going to force any of you. The Genii...well, we all know what they can do, but I'm not going to sit here and let them get away with murdering two innocent scholars. So I'm asking you to help me." Lorne leaned forwards.
"Captain, I'm with you all the way, but can we really go up against the Genii? They've got more men than most armies... we do this, we're going on their most wanted list."
"Maybe, but maybe we can do this without them knowing it was us." Everyone turned to look at John. "What? I like hurting the Genii as much as the next guy, but we can hardly take them on in a fair fight. So we go in, steal whatever it is they're excavating, and call it a day." Everyone looked at Elizabeth who was staring right back at John. "Look, it may not make up for what they did, but it will hurt them. We try anything else, we're dead." Elizabeth nodded slowly.
"Alright John, we'll play it your way. But I want this ship ready for combat. Rodney, be ready to divert all secondary power to shields and engines. Teyla, Ronon, Lorne, we're going to need those railguns perfect. John, you and I will check our sensors, and then I want to check the missile launches for any damage, the Genii hit us heavily around that area. Let's get to work." They all stood, and went their separate ways. John followed Elizabeth to the cockpit, where they started diagnostics on the sensors.
"So, you think we can pull this off?" John asked casually.
"I don't know, and lose the fake voice will you?" He glanced over guiltily and was rewarded by a small smile
"Sorry. I know you want justice, but I really don't think we can handle a full on war with the Genii."
"Even with the best pilot in the galaxy?" Elizabeth asked in a teasing tone. John couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, even with me."
"Hey, I was talking about myself. You're not even a close second!"
"Oh please, I could fly rings around you and you know it, why else would you keep me around, apart from the pleasure of my company of course?" John asked cockily, and was surprised to see Elizabeth blush slightly. After that, they settled into a comfortable silence as they continued to prepare the ship for combat. The sensors all appeared to be working, and the missile tubes were clear.
"Well Captain Weir, I'd say your ship is in pretty good shape, as long as Mckay doesn't overload the shields."
"Yeah... I hope you're right."
SGA-SGA-SGA
The Pegasus dropped out of hyperspace a long way out from the fourth planet of the Helios system. John turned slightly to Elizabeth who sat next to him in the co-pilot's seat.
"Alright Liz, let's see who's waiting for us." She glared at him.
"Don't call me Liz." She rolled her eyes at his hurt expression. "Fine, but never in public." She leaned over to look at his display. "Well, doesn't look like there are any ships in orbit...but the Genii have a nasty habit of surprising people." John grinned.
"Yeah, but so do we. Right, I've pinpointed the location that Jackson gave us...I'll head in on the opposite side of the planet and hug the ground, should give any ground sensors a hard time."
The Pegasus moved slowly down towards the lush green planet. It entered the atmosphere smoothly, then John smiled and activated the intercom.
"Alright boys and girls, this may be a little bit rough."
"Rough?" Mckay's nervous voice was instantly heard. "How rough? Cos I'm really not good with bumpy flying."
"Well then I suggest you strap in Rodney, we're in for some fun."
John increased the engine power, accelerating the Pegasus directly towards a large mountain range.
"John, I don't want my ship scratched! What the hell are you doing?" Elizabeth demanded.
"Well Liz, I'm going to have to fly over that mountain range to reach the target. The higher we go." He paused as the Pegasus leapt over the first few mountains and went into a near vertical climb just a few metres from the mountainside. "Sorry. The higher we go, the more visible we'll be to scanners. The closer we are to ground, the harder it'll be to track us." He dropped the ship down into a narrow valley between two huge mountains, and then plunged it down towards the large plain that opened up beneath them.
"Johhhhn!" Elizabeth's voice was nearly a scream as John pulled out of the dive at the very last second. She glared at him, but when she spoke her voice was once again calm. "Don't. Ever. Do that to my ship, alright?"
"Sorry." He activated the com again. "Alright Rodney, you can stop throwing up, acrobatics are over."
"I was not throwing up!" Rodney protested.
"Yeah, you were too busy praying for your survival!" Lorne laughed.
"Alright guys knock it off. Lorne, check the skimmer, we'll need it." Elizabeth interrupted. "Teyla and Ronon, break out the guns, P90s + blasters." John nodded.
"ETA, two minutes."
