Prologue
Moros tried to keep it hidden, but with the city submerged it became harder than ever to keep things secret. Let alone something this big. Janus built his time machine, against the expressed wishes of the council, and a human from the future had somehow activated it. All they gave him was a slap on the wrist. Alberich seethed at the very notion. When he approached the council with his plan to end the war, they called his ideas barbaric and immoral. Threatened to exile him if he ever went through with the experiments. He cowed at the thought of being forced to live amongst those savages.
And yet the fact that a savage was able not only to activate the device, but to fly the gateship as well, was just more proof to his mind that his ideas had merit. He would drag them kicking and screaming out of the mud and to a greater purpose if he had too. But no, the council said stop. So he stopped, the fool. He wouldn't say he was friends with Janus, but they had worked together enough in the past that he felt comfortable approaching Janus with concerns the man might do something rash in retaliation for whatever punishment he was given. But his fellow scientist was no worse for wear, that same smile plastered on his face.
That was the last straw. If Janus could build something as reckless as a time machine with no consequences, some silly threat wouldn't stop him from carrying out his grand plan. Securing the resources for his project was easy. A few well practiced lies, expediting a work order or two, and he was able to have everything delivered to an old off-world research lab in a remote system on the edge of the galaxy.
He was lucky to have read the reports from that station years before. The sun in that system was giving off a unique radiation that prevented the formation of a stable hyperspace window in its vicinity. They had initially sought to study the phenomenon to weaponize it against the Wraith, but there was an accident. An Aurora class vessel was assisting the ground team with their endeavor, when something went wrong. The ship was damaged and it crashed on the planet below. Most of the crew survived, but the loss of a precious warship was too much for the council and they scrapped the project. The lab had been abandoned since, until now.
When Moros announced not a day later that they were to begin the final evacuation of Atlantis it felt like a punch in the gut. They were giving up. Letting the Wraith win. But not Alberich. He couldn't. Not after centuries of war. He would restore their legacy, even if the others were too afraid. He continued his preparations, and even tried to get the human, Weir, to tell him about the events of the future, anything to gain an advantage. But she spouted some nonsense about protecting the future, so he moved on.
It was easy enough to stay behind. The others were all so focused on themselves, and their own preparations to leave, that they never noticed him slink off. Once the final group was away, he was able to secure the final piece he needed. A ZPM.
He wasn't even supposed to know about it. But he knew one of the scientists on the team that constructed them and, with a little alcohol, was unable to keep a secret. Something that was always getting her into hot water with the council. It was built as a backup to the three installed in the city, if something ever went wrong. Thankfully it hadn't, and while it was well hidden, knowing where it was made it easy to find.
With ZPM in hand, he returned to the gate room, and dialed his new home. He hesitated before stepping through the gate. He didn't think leaving would be so hard. The city had been his home all his life. All his father's life. And his father before him. Just hours before he had felt so sure of his decision, but now staring into the void, he was afraid to jump. He would miss this place. And if by some miracle his plan actually worked, and he was able to win the war, he might be able to return. But that would be a long time coming. Taking a deep breath, and steeling his resolve, he stepped through the gate.
A/N
A bit of a short entry here, but they will get longer. This is something that's been floating around my brain for a while now. One of the things I really like about Stargate is how connected the lore is and how by the end of the series all the advanced technology earth has can be traced back to a previous episode. But there's a real divide between the first six seasons and the latter half in terms of integration I intend to fix. For example there is no mention of the ATA gene or ZPMs or any technology that requires either until the season 7 finale, other than Thor telling O'Neill his genetics are advanced after he is cloned and the ancient repository head-grabbers.
I have pretty grandiose plans for this fic and most of the big picture events planned out already and if I don't run out of time or inspiration this should carry through SG-1, Atlantis, and beyond(not SGU). This will mostly be told from the perspective of an OC, if its not your cup of tea I understand, but encourage you to give it a shot. I will also reference some of the events from the books. If you haven't read them, most of them are episodic but there is a series of them that picks up about six months after the Atlantis finale I would recommend.