PRESENT DAY

"Colonel Sheppard! Report to the briefing room immediately!" Rodney yelled over the city's communication speakers. John groaned and jumped up off his back.

Thank you, Lord… John thought wearily.

He had been training again with Teyla and Ronon. His back was killing him, his head hurt, and he had a suspicion that he had twisted his arms in incorrect directions. Sore muscles and all, Teyla recommended that he take a rest. He eagerly slumped down on a bench and fell asleep. Being the usual nuisance, Rodney woke him up to go to a meeting? One thing was for sure. He was going to strangle Rodney if this meeting wasn't an emergency.

Teyla grabbed the training supplies and hurried out the door. Sheppard shook his head and Ronon helped him up.

"You should take some more aspirin." Ronon suggested. Sheppard shook his head.

"I already took the maximum dosage. Carson would kill me if he knew how many Tylenol I take just to stay alive when I'm training with you two…" John replied.

They wearily made their way to the briefing room, Sheppard cursing McKay with every step and Ronon silently agreeing. The doors hissed open into the large room. The pentagon shaped table lay before him, Teyla, Rodney, and Dr. Weir already at the table. Teyla had even changed clothes.

Did it really take me that long to get here? Sheppard thought.

"Nice for you to finally show up, John…" Weir said, smiling at him as he and Ronon found their seats. Sheppard laid his head down and groaned. Tylenol had failed him. Weir glanced at Teyla, who had a guilty look on her face. Rodney had finished typing in something on a laptop. The view screen activated and the screen showed a blank area.

"We… have found evidence of an Ancient super-weapon." Rodney explained. Sheppard's head rose off the table and glanced at the view screen. A small arrow flashed up on the screen and the film started. The screen was taken from the MALP. The probe emerged from the gate to show a large crater the size of a football field. No plants had grown into the surrounding area. Something shined in the center of the field.

"What's that?" John asked, pointing at the small speck. Rodney looked at the screen, and then opened a small box sitting on the table. He reached in, grabbed something, and tossed it to the Colonel. Sheppard caught it. It was a personal shield device, similar to the one Rodney had found after they first got here. Sheppard put it on the table and put a finger on the top. It began to glow a green light and hummed.

"We also found remnants of a ZPM in the area. I sent up a UAV to see if it's safe to go into investigate." Rodney said with a happy glint in his eye. John lifted his head.

"Hold on a sec. How do we know that the hole isn't from an asteroid impact?" John asked. Rodney's temper grew.

"Because ancient weaponry leaves a very distinct energy marker. One like this has drone cannon written all over it." Rodney said, a vein sticking out of his neck.

"Can we be positive that the ancient weapon is still there, Rodney?" Weir inquired.

"Well… it's hard to say…"

"What does that mean…?" Ronon asked.

"There's residual energy from a large explosion all over the place. It's masking a power source, if any. If I can get to the planet with better sensors, then the weapon should be revealed."

"How can the energy still be there after ten thousand years?" Weir asked.

"The energy isn't over the crater or around it, it is in it. The very soil there is infused with the energy signature. Any soil sample will testify to that." Rodney said. Weir nodded and turned to Teyla.

"Tell me about the planet, Teyla. Have your people gone there before?" She asked. Teyla looked long and hard at the glyphs displayed on the screen.

"My people have gone to this address before… long ago. There were no signs of settlement. We searched for months. The entire planet was devoid of human life. There was a legend that in the old days, when the Ancestors lived there, the Wraith became angered with them and destroyed all traces of the people, instead of harvesting them." Teyla explained. Sheppard nodded.

"That would add up. Ancients created a super weapon, they tested it, the Wraith got pissed, end of story. But if that gun is lying around somewhere on that planet, we could really use it. Maybe even make it an effective Alpha Site?" John said. Weir stood up.

"Agreed. Once the UAV comes back positive, your team will be going to the planet to search for, and maybe salvage a weapon. Dismissed."

Sheppard stepped out of the Gate along with his team. The crater stretched out before them like an ancient scar, a bottomless black pit in the middle of a large, golden field. The humans began the long walk around the pit. Rodney glanced over to the Colonel and caught up with him.

"Ya know what I noticed?" Rodney started.

"Hard telling…" Sheppard said.

"Out of all the planets we've seen, none of them match Earth… Evolution wise…"

"I noticed that…"

"I mean… none of them are at the same stage, or with similar democracy. They are either behind our stage of development, or they are in a different form of social rule…"

"Rodney, this is the Pegasus Galaxy. You're not going to find an intergalactic Denny's anytime soon…" Sheppard started. He stopped and listened. The wind had changed. Teyla and Rodney watched him quietly. Ronon also froze.

"Did you feel that…?" Sheppard whispered to Ronon. The tall warrior nodded and pulled out his energy pistol. The others hefted their P-90's and looked to the skies. A slight humming began to surround them from all sides. The noise grew louder and louder until they all covered their ears with their hands. Rodney yelled something. Everyone looked up at the sky.

A large hyper-space window burst into life. The vortex was a twisting, writhing mass of death and oblivion. There was a bright flash of light and a sound of twisting metal and two cones of orange light burst from the dissipating hole. Sheppard thought they were giant drones. The humans got some cover behind two bushes and watched the descent of the two projectiles. The light around the objects dissipated. Teyla gasped.

They were two people; Falc'ner and Havoc to be specific, both unconscious. The Atlantians rocketed to the dirt and impacted the center of the crater. There was a thunderclap and a shockwave of air. Sheppard shook himself awake and pulled out a pair of computerized binoculars. Havoc lay in the dirt, head bleeding profusely. Falc'ner groaned and wobbled to his feet. He looked over his own body…

And screamed…

His body was intact, but the wormhole had done something to him. His arms and neck had strange lines tattooed on the skin. His face was cracked, like made of very loose scales. His hands were now claws. The skin had taken a pale grey hue. Most important of all, he was weaker. He roared into the air.

"What did you do to me? What did you do!" He screamed; his new voice a fierce roar. He reached down a hand on Havoc's neck. A round of P-90 bullets tore into his shoulder. He screamed and looked up at the SGA team, which holstered their guns. Falc'ner turned and fled into the forest, a freak of nature. The team descended around Havoc. Sheppard silently swore that he was looking at a real-life Vash the Stampede with black hair. He reached down and took a pulse. It was still strong. John stood.

"He's hurt bad, but Carson should be able to fix him up." John said. Ronon looked wary.

"Are you sure that's smart?" Ronon asked. To John's surprise, Rodney took his side.

"Actually… Yes… I think… he's the weapon we are looking for…" McKay said, staring disbelievingly at his scanner computer. "His energy signature is the exact same as the crater residue." John sighed and stared at the sky. He was gonna hate writing the report on this one.