The gentle hum of the puddle jumpers engines filled the cabin as it shot from the gate and out into the atmosphere of the planet below. Shooting across the void and starting to circle about it. Behind it, the Stargate shut down with a hiss and continued it's orbit around the planet as it had for who knew how long.
Sheppard looked out from behind the windshield as he piloted the jumper into a lower orbit. With Dr. Mckay happily looking at the screens as they lit up with readings. Behind him Ronon sat leaned back in the chair, glancing over at Dr. Beckett who was seated behind Sheppard. Tayla had stayed behind on this one, due to the fact she had matters to attend to on the mainland and Dr. Beckett had decided he needed to try and get out of the city.
"Look Doc, does not look too scary does it" the sarcastic tone filled the few moments of silence. A slight chuckle was coming from the back, and not from Doc. Sheppard's eyes glancing back to see the smirk on Ronon's face. That was not helping the situation at all. All the while Dr. Beckett stayed silent and stood from his chair to stand in the space between the cabin and back of the jumper, looking out at the world below.
"Interesting, this planet is around 90% land mass, near opposite of Earth" McKay half muttered as he looked ahead "Air is showing as safe, so how about we get a closer look" With a simple shift the jumper began to descend towards the planet. Sheppard so far, feeling maybe this won't turn out to be once again another failed attempt at exploring something peacefully.
As they dropped below the continuous cloud line, into an area that seemed to remind Sheppard of the Pacific Northwest back on Earth the rubble began to appear. "Damn, this place once took a hell of a beating," he said as they glided over the toppled buildings, and crashed cruisers of some kind. "Well, whoever these people are they look like they were advanced," Mckay said as he looked at the display screen, tapping it now and then "Used to be, any signs of life?" Looking back up to the screen, Mckay half shook his head "jumpers having trouble reading life signs for some reason, but as far as I can tell.. no."
Ronon leaned forward "Wraith destroy them?" Sheppard nodded "That would be my guess, and I am also betting that they gave them one hell of a fight check out some of the downed ships, some kind of fighter I am guessing." He moved the jumper around slower, as Beckett leaned forward from where he stood to see better. "Rodney check out the walls, and the roads." Sheppard moved the jumper up, pointing towards a long walled road looking structure that went North "Almost looks like the city was designed to keep the people in, everything else around it is just wilderness. "or keep something out" Beckett's voice holding a slightly concerned tone. "Why did you have to say that?" McKay glaring back at the doctor who only stayed silent.
"I don't know, but I find it interesting. Seems like pretty much the entire planet was untouched besides the city, and maybe there are more cities connected to it from these road things." Sheppard said as he began to direct the jumper past the city, following the "road" somewhat. McKay looked up "Sounds like maybe they were a bit more careful environment-wise that we Earthlings are" There was a collective chuckle from three out of the four men in the jumper, as Sheppard moved the shuttle just outside of the city wall.
McKay seemed to go pale as he rapidly began to look at the screen and to a scanner "Oh.. that's not good" Sheppard looked over him in an instant "What the hell do you mean not good?" "Not good as in, some kind of energy burst that I can not explain just pulsed from somewhere farther North," he said as he continued to try and figure out what the screen was showing him "No way.." He looked back to the others "Only one thing can cause that kind of bur.."
He was cut off as the jumper shook violently, causing Beckett to half fall to the floor and everyone else holds to their seats "Rodney start talking!" Sheppard attempts to try and regain control of the craft back under control futile as systems around him began to shut down "I am trying! It.. it is causing all systems to shut down I don't know how or why but it is!" The engines of the jumper stalling into silence as the ship continued to shake " I am losing everything we are going down" Sheppard let go of the controls, reminding himself to tell Dr. Weir sorry for calling the idea of crash harnesses being added to the jumpers a stupid unnecessary idea. "Lock in everyone!"
With wide eyes, Mckay fumbled for the harness pulling it over his arms as he then hugged his equipment to his chest. Watching as the tree line rushed ever closer. Ronon mean-while looked back seeing an exceedingly terrified Beckett attempting to stand and half crawl back towards his seat, but unable to make much progress "Doc grab on!" His large arm extending from where he as strapped in, able to take hold of the doctor's hand.
It was seconds too late, as the jumper clipped one of the treetops. Sending the jumper into a roundabout tailspin as it fell towards the ground. Ronon could not hold the doctor from that, as his hold slipped and Beckett slammed into the back of the shuttle with a yelp like sound. "Dead.. we are Dead!" Mckay yelled as the jumper slammed into another tree causing it to spin and twist harder "Rodney shut the fuck up!" Sure, things did not look good at that particular moment. But the jumper was a bit more durable that it was currently given credit for.
If finally hit the ground, slamming half nose first the small ship clipped and landed on its side, causing it to continue to roll over a few more times before coming to a stop upside down. Gear flung around the entire jumper as everyone hung upside down from their seats "Not dead are we Rodney" Sheppard muttered as he looked out the front of the jumper at the tree line "Yet" was the only response received. Ronon on the other hand, was already attempting to get himself down "Doc.. you okay?" He called as he tried to twist around to look back into the jumper "Shit, yeah, Ronon can you see him?" Sheppard began to slowly unbuckle himself without falling to the floor. "I can kinda see him.. he is not moving at all" the Runner now swinging himself down from the seat and moving to the back of the jumper. Shoving crates and bags off of Beckett "Doc" he said again gently shaking his shoulder as he heard Sheppard's feet hit the floor. "I mean.. he is breathing just not awake." said glancing up at the Colonel who knelt down feeling for a pulse "Yeah, alive just out. Honestly, I was expecting him to be in a bit rougher shape.. get him somewhat moved and flat while I get McKay down" McKay was still hanging from the jumper seat, struggling to work with the buckles. "Rodney, I am gonna get you down from there, and you are gonna start using that magical science shit to figure out what the hell just happened" tugging at the straps as McKay only nodded his head in silence, "I think I can manage."
Within half an hour, they had managed to get the back hatch on the jumper open, a bit difficult with it upside down but they made it work. McKay was working away as best he could, as his equipment would shut down roughly every 10 minutes. Sheppard and Ronon had managed to get a decent look around; they were not far from where one of the road walls met the city walls, at least meaning they could try and find better shelter if need be. The situation was so far, not to bad, but not exactly what they had in mind.
As they worked on the jumper, Dr. Beckett finally started to come around. Ronon had managed to prop him up in the doorway of the jumper, making it easy for everyone to see him from outside for when he did wake up "What in the hell.." he muttered as he began to wake. His head was pounding, and his entire body ached. "Easy Doc" Sheppard called as he walked back over to the jumper. Pushing his gun to his side "was a bit of a rough landing, sorry about that" he said as he knelt down next to him "Are you okay? Can you tell what might be broken or anything? You have been out for about half an hour." Carson slowly tried to sit up more, wincing as he leaned against the hull "Honestly I don't remember much from the landing, and it is probably best I don't" he looked back towards the cockpit of the jumper, able to see Mckay working away "Everyone else okay?" "Yeah Doc we are fine, what about you?" The doctor sighed "Honestly. I am guessing a bad concussion, considering I was out for a while. I am guessing a few broken ribs though I can not quite tell what ones. My right shoulder feels dislocated" the pain increasing, as the shock was finally starting to wear off. "There is probably more, I just can't feel it yet" Sheppard patted the shoulder that hopefully was not dislocated "Well, just hang tight. We are figuring it out. " he said as he stood up, walking up into the cockpit of the jumper leaving the doctor to rest.
"Okay Rodney, what the hell just happened," he said as he paused, looking at the supplies scattered around the jumper. McKay looked up, having sat down on the floor of the jumper leaned against the center console. "Okay well. Let's see; power pulse knocked out all of our electrical equipment. We crashed, and here we are" Rolling his eyes, Sheppard tapped on some of the controls above with no reaction "Okay, well. Right before all this went to hell, I said only one thing could cause a burst like that?" "Okay, I am listening "well I was right on that. One thing can. A ZPM" Sheppard instantly turned around, looking down at McKay "There is one here?" "Yes, as far as I can tell. Somewhere farther North is where the burst came from. Speaking of that, it is an absolute pain. This pulse goes off every ten or so minutes. I can get my equipment to work for a few.." he stopped as the screen on the scanner he held went dark "before the pulse shuts it back down again."
Sheppard looked out the back of the jumper, able to see Ronon looking around the landscape with a pair of binoculars. "So if we get the jumper working, we have 10 minutes to get out of the atmosphere before that pulse makes us drop from the sky again?" "yeah pretty much. But as far as I can tell the Jumper is not in horrible shape. Sure the outside is pretty dented up, but it can still get us from here back to Atlantis. We just have to get out before the pulse hits again." "And get this thing rolled over somehow" McKay looked up, and did a half nod "Good point" Sheppard looked out again, walking away "Just do what you can if anything we walk north and turn the damn thing off ourselves."
As Sheppard walked back out of the jumper, Ronon looked back "Come look at this, we are being watched." Looking at the other man with a puzzled expression, Sheppard took the binoculars and put them to his eyes looking where he had been pointed to "It has been watching us for almost 20 minutes now. It does not really move, just its and watches" Finding the pile of rubble to focus on, Sheppard was honestly a bit shocked by what was, in fact, watching them.
It sat back on its haunches, hind legs tucked under like a dog would. It had a long snake-like body with a fluffy mane running from the back of its head to its tail. Large, fluffy, bird-like wings curled against its back as its head looked forward. It had long, elk-like horns and ears set just below them, tipped backward with long whisker-like frills off of the end of its nose. Bright blue eyes focused on them. It had a grey body, save for the mint blue color of its belly, horns, and fur. The same mint color moving in swirls around its main body and wings. He had never seen anything like that in person.
He pulled the binoculars away from his eyes "Looks like a damn dragon." He said handing back the binoculars as he watched where the "dragon" had been sitting "Really? Does not look like anything like that Game of Thrones dragons" he said as he stopped and looked at Sheppard "Well Ronon, those dragons are just one idea of what they could look like. This one here is more of what we on Earth call an Eastern style dragon. Long bodies, horns, generally much more peaceful than the ones on Game of Thrones" He took back the binoculars, looking back out to the rubble to find nothing "Well.. looks like it may have gotten tired of watching us" he said as he handed them back to Ronon.
"Dragons.. bloody dragons" Beckett muttered as he attempted to get a feel for his shoulder. *what you damn well get for thinking you need to get out of the city more* It had just been a suggestion in passing, he had never really expected to be drug out on one of these missions any time soon. He looked out of the jumper, and the fear was instant "You might quit arguing over what a dragon is 'cause the damn thing is right over there!"
Sure enough, the grey and green animal slowly walked out of the tree line. It was only really the size of a tiger, and its body moved like one as well. Its head held slightly higher as it curiously walked towards the men and the downed jumper. Ronon was up instantly, gun lifted and pointed as Sheppard spun around to look at the animal moving closer "Easy Ronon, it's not blasting us with fire just yet" he said as he held out his arm. It walked over to the jumper. Sniffing at the hull as It sat down, tapping the metal with its claws. It was curious, having probably never seen anything like it before. Turning it walked closer to Sheppard, who had one hand on a gun ready, the other held slightly out. "Easy.. we are not here to hurt you or steal your treasure or something like that." It moved closer, head up as it sniffed his hand curiously, and seemed to nod its head. Still, it had not made a noise as it walked towards the jumper door. Ronon and Sheppard just behind it as it peered inside. McKay was still in the front section of the jumper and now refused to come out as the dragon looked inside.
Carson was frozen. The dragon now next to him he was able to see the induvial scales. The way its claws seemed to work like fingers as it moved into the jumper with him. It sat down in front of him. The entire group silent as they watched. It leaned close, sniffing Carson up and down before looking him in the eyes. It's breath hot against his face as it lifted one of its paws up. It was holding one of its claws up, almost like a finger and slowly moved it back and forth in front of Carson's eyes. Seeming to gauge his response to following the claw with his eyes. The dragon looked at him and seemed to nod its head as it went to his dislocated shoulder. Its paws felt like hands as it held onto his upper arm, and shoulder, gently moving the limb. "Ohy that hurts!" He used his one good arm to try and shove the dragon's paws away. It let go and seemed to look him over again. "What is it doing?" Ronon was still ready; all honesty he probably was ready to wrestle the damn thing "I don't know.. Inspecting him? Maybe knows he is hurt or something I don't speak Dragon!"
The dragon looked at Carson, then back out to the others. It slowly turned around, leaving its head just outside the jumper with the rest of its body out in the small clearing. It looked back, then again to Carson before it exploded in size. Its wings flung out, as it's entire body grew within seconds. Ronon and Sheppard were launched backward by the force of the growing wings slamming into them. McKay at this point was finally jumping up from his position, attempting to fumble around for a weapon as the dragon now sat double the size of the jumper. Carson was sitting in utter terror, eyes wide as the dragon's head now was now nearly twice the size of his body. It's huge blue eyes looking at him curiously as it leaned back and opened its mouth "Rodney it is about to bloody eat me!" He attempted to push himself backward, but he was not fast enough. The dragon gently closed its mouth around the doctor's body. His head was sticking out one side and his lower legs the other. He could feel the animals hot breath around him as it lifted its head out of the jumper. McKay was now running out of the jumper with an acquired handgun. The dragon was already lifting off, its wings slamming down as its body began to gain air. The force of the air knocking McKay off his feet as he struggled to try and get a shot off at the dragon currently kidnapping their doctor. "Carson!" He could see the other man now unconscious in the beast's mouth as it kept working its way into the air. Gaining speed and altitude soon its wing beats did not knock them over with each downstroke. John and Ronon managing to scramble to their feet as the dragon took off Southwards towards the destroyed city. A few bursts of gunfire, as they watched it fly away and roll away from the gunshots. Sheppard lowered his gun down, watching as the dragon disappeared over the tree line.
The three stood in silence, looking at the sky and the ground at the huge claw marks it had left behind. Rodney was standing in the upside down doorway of the jumper looking at the other two. "A dragon. Carson just got kidnapped by a fucking dragon."