Disclaimer: The characters of Stargate belong to MGM. The universe of Doctor Who belongs to BBC.


'Not all Time Lords perished into the Time Wars. One escaped into another universe.'


The Destiny's Time Lord

Everett looked up and saw the growing red dot on Doctor Stealth's side. The man saved his life and now lay dying in his arm. Stealth smiled wide.

"It is not over, Everett," – He said with fading voice. "It is just the beginning."

Everett looked up. Rush, Chloe, Matt, Grier and TJ had just come in.

"Oh my god," – TJ said and rushed to him but he pushed her back.

"You can't do anything, TJ," – He said barely. "But it is not necessary either."

Suddenly his face and hands started to glow in an odd yellowish light.

"It has begun." – His voice became coarse and he stood up pushing himself away from Everett. "Prepare yourselves to be amazed."

The yellowish light suddenly flared up in intensity. The result was astonishing...


Chapter 5

The Battle for Destiny

Previously...

Destiny's crew wakes up after three years in the stasis pods. Everything seems ok until they find a deletion point and no explanation. Even Eli is acting out of character hiding something about the two weeks.

Destiny then jumps out of FTL and a stranger comes aboard but he bolts away before anyone could stop him. All attempts to find the stranger fail until he reappears in the disguise of Dr. Ian Stealth who briefly takes over the ship and returns it to the previous galaxy and sets a new course taking the ship closely back to Novas. Every attempt to alter course fails.

On one stop out of FTL, Colonel Young, Lieutenants Scott and Johansen, Chloe and Dr. Volker become stranded on a world after the Stargate is destroyed by an old foe – the drone ships. Destiny resumes course.

Colonel Young, Colonel Young, Lieutenants Scott and Johansen, Chloe and Dr. Volker find a strange alien technology, which in turns is very similar to the gates. They manage to catch up with Destiny.

Meanwhile, Dr. Stealth while still working on his secret project, receives a distress call. He takes a shuttle and goes to rescue the stranded ones. He arrives just in time but is stranded in turn.

Destiny resumes its course until exits FTL and stops dead in front of a Lantean warship full of Ancients. Communication with the ship stays unanswered. The Ancients then subdue the crew of Destiny using a modified stun bomb. Only Dr. Rush escapes capture.

Though the Ancients had taken over the ship they are also unable to alter the navigation system. Their analysis of the ship's status is not encouraging. The ship had been through a lot but they are determined to repair it.

Their commander, Veun, decides to use the humans as work force to gather materials in order to be able to repair the ship. Veun makes the offer to Colonel Young packed with legitimate threats. At first Young refuses but after a show of force, his people are sent to a rogue planet outside the galaxy to mine the necessary materials.


And now...

"Sir, it is Eli." – Matt said as he reached Everett's position.

"What about him?" – Everett looked up putting down the shovel.

"He's missing. We can't find him."

"WHAT?" – Everett exclaimed. "What do you mean he's missing?"

"We did a head count. He's not here. We've looked a click in every direction but…"

"Oh damn," – Everett sighed. "Alright, form teams of two. Keep in radio contact every half an hour."

Everett took Sergeant James with him and started from the last place anyone had seen Eli. It was near the temporary camp they had formed. It was a closed cave but it provided shelter. Of course going to the bathroom while in suits was no picnic when Everett came to think of it. From time to time, the Ancients dropped in to check on their progress.

The terrain around the cave was rather hill like with lots of vegetation. It was still difficult to believe a planet and all its usual components can exist without a sun. The atmosphere of the planet was thin and did not allow for prolonged periods without the suits.

"I have something." – James said pointing to the ground. There were footprints the size of Eli.

"Excellent," – Everett said. "Let's track them. Inform the others of the relative direction."

"Yes, sir," – James replied and made the call over the radio.

Everett wondered what Eli was doing. Why had he run away? Today was the first day after they had run into the Ancients and the tenth day since they got out of the pods. It seemed now a lifetime away. The trail was two hours old as best as Everett could determine and it was heading straight to the north.

Half an hour later, it had become clear Eli's lead was growing shorter. Eli's footing was showing signs of trailing. His stops were happening more and more often. Soon they found his grey outer garment they were all so familiar with on the ground.

The next stop he had made they found his shoes. Everett was getting really puzzled. Eli was obviously out of his suit but why in sanity's name was he without his shoes was beyond him at current.

And then in the distance, Everett and James saw something lying on the ground. They hurried as fast as they could. Reaching the mass on the ground, they saw it was the rest of Eli's clothing fashioned to look like a body.

"What the hell…" – James exclaimed looking at the colonel. "Is he running around naked?"

Everett only shrugged. Ever since they woke up something in Eli was making no sense at all. It was like he was Eli and not at the same time. Sometimes, Everett would think he was some poor ghost of the Eli they knew.

The footprints however were still very much visible and they followed them. They led upland till they reached a cliff with randomly scattered rocks of different sizes. Everett scoured the area but found no trail or traces of Eli until he heard James' cry. He rushed to her and saw lint on the cliff's edge. The lint was out of Eli's red shirt as when they found it among the other clothes it seemed a part had been torn out. Next to the lint on the ground there was a small red dot. It was definitely blood.

It was a long way down as Everett saw from the cliff's edge. He did not anything could survive the fall. But he was not ready to give up. He ordered James to spread out in a large circle around this place and look for any sign of intent trickery. He did not want to believe Eli had given up and simply taken his life by jumping off the cliff.

But the search yielded at nothing. The others joined them too and continued searching but there was no sign of Eli. Matt and Grier with great risk for their lives managed to reach the bottom of the cliff only to discover nothing.

The odd disappearance of Eli and his body kept the stories alive for as long as they were on that planet. The speculations varied from the absurd to the impossible. Everett grew more distant from his people. He had been seen scouring further and further around the way Eli had passed by trying to find any indices what really happened to him.

Everett was still convinced Eli was alive somehow. He had to be somewhere. Bodies don't simply vanish into the thin air. But his search after twenty days led to nothing. Eli had disappeared. His body was nowhere to be found.

The crew held a memorial service though. Eli was remembered for who he was – a bright light into their lives. He had been just a kid when he came to them and had grown into a man they depended on for everything.


Many months later…

A lot of time had passed since Destiny had stopped in orbit of the rogue planet. Work on the surface mining materials was going smooth. There were no more incidents except a few minor accidents here and there but it had been taken care of. Despite all the Ancients provided medical assistance when required.

Destiny was being refitted and repaired somewhat. The perfect repair was no possible but still the best was done to fix all the hull breaches and mend the damaged systems onboard. The one thing that seemed impossible to mend was the ship's energy capacity. Restoring the original one hundred percent was simply beyond repair without extensive stay somewhere and a space dock with at least a thousand people work force.

The Ancient ship Venkrat was coming and going to different locations to pick up other resources necessary for repair and food supply for both Ancients and humans. And Dr. Nicolas Rush was onboard too. He had made his existence virtually undetectable and even from time to time he would blend in with the rest of the Ancients.

Over the months, he had managed to learn more about their captors, the ship and their true reasons for being here. He learnt they had escaped the war with the wraiths as it no longer suited their captain to be fighting an unwinnable war and being dictated around by the Atlantis grand council however not before they got their hands onto the original plans of Destiny, and some of Janis' research on time travel.

It turned out even among the Ancients there was such thing as classified information, well restricted. From the original files, Rush was able to see something that has not been shown or seen by anyone else but the grand council. What he saw in there was uplifting and utterly strange. The ship was a combination between three races' ingenuity – programming, strategy and power.

Many things about his idols the Ancients had been shattered with these files. He learnt things about the ship he never thought even existed. The ship after all seemed to respond to voice commands something he thought was invented a long time after the ship's launch. There was also something related to the use of the Ancient gene and it was not only as the master code for the ship's systems. And most importantly, there was a mention of a secret buffer where Destiny was designed to store the first twenty five percent of every recharge of energy collected.

It had to do with a secret drive, a new form of propulsion. But in order for it to work it required an insane amount of power. Destiny even at maximum capacity was not able to provide that much power, and even if it was inside a sun, it was still not sufficient. It required another component and Rush's thoughts went straight to the other ship – the Guardian. What if the two combined efforts?

There was also a mention but only a mention of an experimental form of communication even through an open event horizon. So, Rush thought, it was possible to send a signal through a billion and so light years away.

There was one other thing in the schematics something their captors had probably omitted and thought unnecessary to use. The ship possessed a master control to override all systems and it required the ancient gene.

The ship's AI was the other interesting thing. Apparently it had taken many countless generations to make it work. The Ancients had subsequently used the same parameters for the creation of the Replicators but once again misunderstanding the original design input and overlooking several of its initial protocols the Replicators turned out to be a giant failure. The ship's AI however was a different story. It had been more than just successful it had been perfect.

The next problem that had bugged the original designers again for centuries had been the power generations. Rush had noticed since their arrival that this particular form of gathering energy is the only prototype the Ancients had ever used. They had never replicated that power grid on any other ship or city ever since (after the launch of the seed ships and Destiny itself that is). It has always made him wonder why and now he knew. The technology to gather energy straight from the sun has never originally been Ancient in the first place. This particular technology belonged to an alien race they called the Herald. And though it had been applied to the seed ships and Destiny it has never been used again.

The strategic thinking of the ship was programmed by yet another race. When Rush read who programmed it into the ship's systems he had hard time believing what he was reading. It seemed impossible. The text in the database had reminded him of another area but essentially it read – 'Alterrans not of Alterrans'. When he found the names and the descriptions his jaw had fallen to the ground. How it was possible was beyond him. He and his crew had encountered and witnessed many strange things in their lives aboard the Destiny but this one was beating everything.

Speaking of his crew, Rush had started to think about how to get them out of their captors' clutches. He had wondered what they would do with the Ancients if they manage to regain control over Destiny. It was still a great honor to be able to learn from living Ancients even if they were not the original builders of the ship and despite what the war with the wraiths had turned them into. But he could not afford to think of them this way right now. They had captured his crew and treated them quite offensively and it was time the people of Earth struck back.

He had begun preparing for this moment. He had already managed to hide some of their own weapons – P90s and stuff throughout the ship. But the main thing was to isolate the Ancients from control of Destiny's systems. And that was going to be a problem. He needed at least three or four people with him to hold the bridge while he isolated the necessary systems. This meant he needed to create a big enough diversion and the Ancients were never going to fall for it. He was certain of it.

The other problem was his, own people. He had to think of a way to keep them out of harm's way. The Ancients could easily decide to dispose of them and he had to find a way to make sure this doesn't happen at least not right away. Once Colonel Young and his men get a hold of their weapons it will be a different story. But short of disabling the engines for good he could not think of a big enough distraction to occupy the Ancients' time.

Once the first few Ancients fall they would know for certain there is another human onboard they had missed and would adjust the biometrics and detect him. Rush was indeed a genius but he could not mask his life form signature unless he disables many of those systems. It was damn inconvenient. But there was a price to be paid in any war.


Meanwhile, at the non planet, the mysterious Dr. Ian Stealth was making the final touches of a work that could astonish even the greatest civilizations that had ever lived. He had managed to patch and connect two systems that were never designed or meant to work together.

He had now only to wait for the right time to intervene. He had some time to spare. The true story of this adventure was hidden in moves predictably unpredictable. It was what he liked about the human race. At times, they were a monster this universe could not have hoped better and at others they were the Samaritans, the most carrying and responsible of all the others. It was the loveliest contradiction in existence.

His time among them was nearing its end. He had to return soon to his own place. There was something else of great importance for him – the fields of Trenzalore. He had to be there. It was destiny that beckoned him. He had to be there for one of his oldest friends – the infamous one, the one their universe called – the Doctor. He was quite the walking menace but then again so is every other member of their race.

Ian sighed. Yes, there was much to be done and as always time was short. There was never enough time for anything. But that is what made it so interesting and exciting. What faces were they going to make when the final element of the puzzle comes forth? It made him smile. But he was an element they could never know about. It was for their, own good. And so smiling for the last moments of this adventure to come he went to sleep.


Back on the rogue planet, everyone was asleep. Only Everett was up. His thoughts were dwelling into the past as well as into future. Much had happened since they left the Icarus base. They came to this wonder – Destiny. They brought its systems back to life, fought each other, then with aliens, then the Lucians came, then they lost people, then Rush made a surprise, and then the double Destiny, and on top of everything they met their descendants that had done well though.

And again into trouble with the drone ships, and just when he thought everything was over they were back with the drones, and the Ancients came. And they enslaved him and his people so they can fix the ship and not get their hands dirty mining vital materials for the repairs.

Here they lost Eli. Eli was the bright star of the group and his young protégé whether he had realized it or not. It was a senseless loss. Eli took his own life and yet there was no body. It was like he had evaporated or ascended as some have come to believe, mostly notably Chloe and Matt. Well, Matt was not really a believer but he believed Chloe.

The Ancients had sent word – tomorrow everyone was going back to the ship. They have apparently repaired it sufficiently. It also meant they were going to leave them on the next habitable world. Even in their cruelest the Ancients were not barbarians. Everett sighed. It was time he got some rest he would need it for whatever comes tomorrow.


The next morning, four Venkrat shuttles came to pick them up. They were then transported to Destiny and placed in cargo room four. It was smaller than their previous accommodation but the Ancients apparently wanted to keep a close eye on them.

From the outside the ship looked definitely better. All the hull breaches were gone and most of the weapons' platforms had been restored. Another engine module was added to compensate for the lost one thus FTL efficiency had been increased.

The energy capacity of the ship had been increased from forty percent to seventy one. In such short a time it was a rather remarkable achievement. The shield efficiency had also seen improvement. Most of the previously burnt relays have been replaced with new ones. And thus more areas of the ship were now available.

There were a few other things the Ancients had decided to upgrade and improve and now the ship was more dangerous than before. Its automated internal and external systems were at full capacity.

Commander Veun awaited Everett and his people in the gate room. He was standing on the stairs and addressed them all.

"Welcome back humans!" – He said. "Your contribution towards restoring Destiny to a better level is deeply appreciated, which is why we decided to drop you on a habitable world with no gate and thus no danger to attracting the wrong kind of aliens.

The world we have selected has plenty of water and vegetation that will help you, start off well. We shall leave also the necessary supplies for you to last at least until the winter comes. We will also leave one of Destiny's shuttles with you and the long range communication stones so you can speak to your loved ones at home.

You have found Destiny in more or less deteriorating condition and you have managed to reserve it as best you could but your race is limited. Your working knowledge of our technology is also limited. Three, four years down the road and your luck would have run out so you should be glad you met us.

And…"

"Will you continue Destiny's mission?" – Everett interrupted his speech.

"Colonel Young, Destiny has fulfilled its mandate. The ship will return home with us."

"Then why not take us with you?" – Camille asked.

"You have fulfilled your usefulness too, Ms. Wray and thus we part ways."

"Fulfilled the mission, really?" – Everett eyed him stepping forward. "Have you learnt how the universe operates then? Have you got the answer to the ultimate question to all life and destiny?"

"Destiny's true mission was to learn, Colonel, learn of the universe. The lure of the knowledge you suggest was there only for the inferior. Destiny has completed this part of its mission and it is now time it returns with us home to share the knowledge."

"I don't suppose the ship agrees with you?"

"The ship? Ha!" – Commander Veun laughed. "The ship may have an AI, Colonel, but it doesn't have an opinion of its own. We are the masters of the ship, its builders; it obeys what it is told."

"NO!" – Everett interrupted raising his voice. "You are from the race that built it yes, but you are not its master. The ship has a mission to complete even if it takes another million years."

Veun smirked amused. "It is commendable, Colonel but Destiny is no longer your concern. Take them to their cell. Tomorrow they leave."

Everett and his crew were escorted back to their cell. There near the corner Everett found a small note. It bore Rush's signature. He called Matt, Wray and TJ to him.

"What is this?" – Camille asked.

"It's Rush."

"Rush? He's still at large?" – Camille was impressed. The man was indeed a lot of trouble.

"Yes," – Everett nodded. "He has a plan."

"Oh, dear us," – Matt exclaimed. Everett eyed him. "Sorry, sir, but Dr. Rush's plans sometimes are borderline crazy."

"Yes, we need it to take back our ship." – Everett said.

"It's their ship." – Camille countered.

"No, on this point Rush and I agree. Destiny is our home and we're taking it back. We are fighting for it."

"But they are going to leave us alone. They are more qualified to deal with this ship anyway."

"This ship has a mission to complete and we will make sure it does. Ancients or otherwise, this is our home. And no one other than the original builders has a claim on it. We were here first and we are not giving up on it." – Everett was determined for the first time since they had come onboard. He was certain what their destiny was and he was no longer fighting it. The ship was worth it. The Ancients had the tendency of giving up, well not the human race. Of course they could have learnt a lot from each other but Veun decide to run and Everett to stay and face the challenges. No, they were going to fight for it.


Destiny dropped out of hyperspace near a planet, the very planet Veun had in mind to drop the late crew of humans. He ordered the humans to the gate room.

"Well, we are here. It is goodbye time!" – Veun said with a smirk. He was really glad he was getting rid of the pesky humans. But it was simply not meant to be.

The ship suddenly jumped back to FTL. Veun frowned. His crew knew well that this would overtax the engines. There had to be at least four hours between jumps. He made contact with the bridge.

"Why is the ship back in FTL?"

"Sorry, commander, but we are not in control. Destiny is!"

"WHAT?" – Veun shouted out of his skin in anger.

"The ship's automated systems have taken control. We can't slow it down."

"Take con…" – Veun was so pissed that even talking was becoming difficult. He drew breaths hard his anger choking him. He closed eyes and calmed his breath. "Take the humans back to their cell until we sort this out and make contact with the Venkrat!"

Everett's hope made his heart race. Something unexpected had come to their rescue. It seemed Destiny had its moods.

On the way back, they were surrounded by eight Ancients. They were almost back when a small ball, the flying kino appeared before the lead of the column.

A voice commanded. "Duck!" It was Rush's voice. The Ancient guards did not understand but the humans reacted instinctively and ducked. A wave came from the kino and the Ancients were flat on their backs.

"What the hell happened?" – Matt asked while getting up.

"Whatever," – Everett said moving to the front of the column. "Rush, where are you?"

Rush appeared from behind the corner smiling wide. "It worked."

"What worked?" – Grier asked.

"Doesn't matter!" – Everett said. "Let's vacate the area! Take their weapons!"

"This way," – Rush urged and they followed him after relieving the Ancients from their weapons.

They went two levels up and into a large room slash lab. Rush went straight for the controls and isolated the room out of the main controls. The room was now a secure spot for them. Here the Ancients could not touch them even if they vent the atmosphere in the outside corridor they will be still safe.

"Ok, ah, we are fine for now if they vent the atmosphere outside."

"What?" – Camille asked.

"I've managed to isolate this room and hook it to the life support systems and in order to do anything to this room they'll have to do it manually."

"That's my man!" – Everett exclaimed. "What's the plan?"

"Well, I hoped the events will turn into a different direction and different time frame. Unfortunately the Ancients acted too early. But never mind, I have a way of taking over completely the systems of the ship."

"How?"

"Well, there is a control panel in the gate room."

"There is only the console at the gate. You can't take over the ship from there." – Brody disagreed.

"Mr. Brody, I have seen the original plans of Destiny. There is a control panel in the gate room that can only be activated by someone possessing the Ancient gene, which is why it can't be me!"

"But I thought you said the technology here predates the gene tech?"

"Yes, I did and I have never been happier to be wrong. Not all systems are designed this way only a few."

"And the other part?" – Everett asked.

"The other part is a bit more complicated. We need to transfer the command path outside of their control. Now the gate room is a plan but dangerous one. They can easily vent the atmosphere and whoever goes there will not survive. No, we need to take over the bridge and hold it. And we need to create a diversion so we can go to the bridge and seize control. Once we have secured the bridge we can dictate terms but Colonel…" Rush shook head. "It is going to be messy."

"No shit, Sherlock!" – Everett sighed. "I know. I wished we had more weapons."

Rush called on a map of the ship and then pointed at various locations. "Here, here, here, and here, I have placed four P90s, guns, and ammunition. It should be enough until you reach here, which is the main storage of our weaponry. Now the door is locked so you'd have to use C4s."

Everett listened mesmerized. He was amazed of first how Rush had managed to avoid detection for over six months, and then carefully place weapons all across the ship again without anyone noticing. The man was full of surprises.

"Alright," – Everett said and moved to the screen where the map was. "Where are their main forces?"

"Ok," – Rush sighed. "Here, you have at least a dozen of them. They patrol in groups of twos and threes. Now, near the bow, the airlock bow, you have at least six, maybe seven, I'm not sure. Veun kept rotating.

Now, near the bridge there are four rooms of at least a dozen each. So the bridge is heavily guarded and one is enough to close the doors, and then we are screwed.

Ah, then, you have twenty in this area. They patrol this and this corridor. You should be careful in this area. The shield is not that stable – it jumps. The Ancients are much more used to gravitational changes than we are so be careful.

Here, there are two. One is the niche here and the other just a few paces off of here. If we take them down it has to be simultaneously otherwise they'll raise the alarm.

Now if they notice you, which are bound to happen at some point, keep yourselves close to them so they can't use the life support against you or gravity."

"Speaking of gravity, can't we deactivate it like Stealth did?" – Chloe interjected.

"In essence it is a good idea but only Stealth and Eli knew how to operate that system, sadly enough." – Brody answered.

"Alright, so we keep close to them to avoid them falling into traps, what else?" – Grier asked.

"You need to disable a few control consoles – one in the main control room and one in the engine room so one of the groups will take Mr. Brody and the other one Chloe."

"What about you?"

"I'll be heading for the bridge." – Rush said. "And one other thing even if we could get to the gate room to activate master reset the ship has to be out of FTL otherwise we will vaporize on the spot."

"And the gate room, how many are there?" – Everett asked.

"At any given time – at least six."

Everett sighed deeply. "This is not going to be easy gentlemen. Rush is right. It is going to be messy. Alright, Matt, you will take Chloe and head for the engine room. Grier, you take Brody and head for the main control room. I'll take Rush and head for the bridge. Lieutenant James, you take your group to the bow of the ship. Our goal is to incapacitate the opponent, cripple them but if you have no other choice shoot to kill. The rest will split into four teams and sweep the other zones.

Of course first we must all go and get more weapons and stun grenades and then we go…"

Everett selected and made the teams. They were almost ready. He stood before them.

"We have all been through a lot together. When we first came aboard our priority was to get home. With time this changed. This is our home now and one day I'm confident we will get the opportunity to gain either a two way from Destiny to Earth and back or a direct way home. Either way, Earth is not lost upon us. This ship is our best way of doing so. But we have also bled for it and we can safely call it home. And we will fight for it.

The Ancients came to us and we greeted them with open arms. We could have avoided all this with peaceful talk but they decided to go on the war path and the war path is what they will get.

I know some of you do not want to hear this but the truth is that throughout their history the Ancients have given up many times and chosen to run instead of facing the fire. These ones aboard are not any different. They had run away from the war with the wraith. Now, they are planning to do the same.

Well, I'm here telling – we are drawing the line. There will be no more running. They will face the consequences at least once.

This ship has a sacred mission. Countless generations have died to make it happen. And we will make sure their efforts are not in vain. If there is even the slightest chance this ship could go on for another million years we will give it a chance.

We owe them that much. Do not get me wrong we have sacrificed a lot but the opportunity to be on the other side of the universe and to see all this is worth the sacrifice.

The first time we came I said we were the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Today, I can proudly say we are the right people, at the right time at the right place. We have earned the right to be the masters of this ship. We have still a lot to learn and we will. We will have difficult times too that part is inevitable but we will survive because we are the Human Race and if there is something that defines us is that we DO NOT GIVE UP EVER!

We strive for more, more than we are, more to be better, more to learn, and more to help those in need, which is one of the other reasons we are so often in trouble but this is who we are. And we are not going to give up our principles because a bunch of scared Ancients that did not have the guts to fight, to resist. They have come onboard, taken us prisoner, made us work, mining day after day, and then fix the ships systems. I say NO. They do not appreciate nor deserve to be onboard. THIS IS OUR HOME, OUR SHIP AND WE ARE TAKING IT BACK. NOW WHO IS WITH ME?"

The room exploded of cheers and tears. Everyone's hands were up, even Camille's. Everett had managed to beat himself with this most inspiring speech.

The cheers cooled down and they got ready, each with their assignments. The battle for Destiny was just beginning.


The Ancients onboard were still unaware the humans were free and arming themselves. Their inability to override Destiny's hostile program was driving their commander out of his skin. The communications external and internal were nonexistent. They were unable to make contact with the Venkrat.

"Take the ship out of FTL!" – Veun was screaming on the bridge.

"I wish I could accommodate your request, sir." – Chief Vidora replied calmly. "But Destiny has engaged maximum security protocols, which only the master reset can override but being in FTL I wouldn't recommend it or we will be all vaporized."

"Curses!" – Veun spat and stormed out of the bridge. He headed straight for the gate room. There he was just an inch away from actually summoning the master reset control panel but caught himself in time to realize that by blowing himself up Destiny this abstinent ship still wins and he loses. He was not about to kill himself. But once they were out of FTL he will get rid of the entire AI system. The AI was always trouble, especially the one on Destiny. It was very different from the ones they used with the Replicators.

"Commander Veun!"

"WHAT?" – He bellowed.

"We have no response from Hinta and Dorros."

"SO?"

"They were supposed to report back once they have put the humans back into their cells."

Veun calmed himself. "Did you check on their posts?"

"I did. They are not there and neither are the other six."

"Send people to check on the humans and find those idiots." This was really not the time for other problems.

The order was obeyed eight more guards were sent to the humans' cells. But they did not report back either. Two hours later, Veun realized they were missing too.

"Where the hell are they?"

"Unknown,"

"UNKNOWN?" – Veun's patience was getting off the roof.

"They have not reported."

"I see that you idiot. Contact the bow quarters. Tell subcommander Velista to come here. I will check with them where they are."

Subcommander Velista arrived promptly with twenty guards. Veun took the lead and headed straight for the area designated as prison for the humans. Reaching the cells, they opened the cell doors only to find the place vacant of any living soul.

Velista picked up an object from the ground. It was a guard's blaster. It was burnt.

"Commander," – Velista showed him the find. "A weapon was discharged into this."

Veun realized what it meant the moment he saw it. The humans were free and armed. He cursed under breath.

"Sound general quarters. Arms yourselves!"

"Yes, Commander,"

"Bridge, this is Commander Veun. The humans are free and armed. Use the sensors to find them."

"I'm sorry I can't accommodate that particular demand, Commander!" – Everett replied on the coms.

"Colonel Young?" – Veun exclaimed baffled.

"Yes, your men are indisposed at the moment. The bridge is ours. I'm going to give the chance to surrender otherwise things will get unpleasant."

"HOW DARE YOU?" – Veun bellowed losing all colors. "THIS IS OUR…"

"NO. IT IS NOT. IT IS OUR SHIP NOW! You do not belong here, Veun." – Everett replied back sharply. "Leave our ship or I'll ship you home in little boxes."

"You will pay for this human! None will survive this time."

"We will see about that."

"Listen little piss end, I have fought in the war with the wraith. I have killed many of them."

"And yet you lost the war in case you were wondering and we won it. There are few of them left. We've kicked their arrogant arses and we shall do the same with you. Hell, we've even the beaten the heathen Replicators and destroyed Asuras as we destroyed the ORI too. You won't be that much of a nuisance." – Everett heated up too. He had enough of these arrogant Ancients. "Leave our ship while you still can or God is my witness I will destroy the last of you!"

"Way to go, Colonel," – Rush said visibly impressed and amused.

"Who's that?" – Veun asked almost choking of the anger coursing through him.

"Oh, that is someone that has been among you for the past six months, someone you never saw, one of ours. You missed him the first time arrived." – Everett gloated. His anger was choking him too. He severed the connection. "Rush, get me control of the ship."

"I'm working on it." – Rush said.

"Commander Veun, they have taken the bridge."

"I noticed subcommander. Storm it!"

"I wish I could comply but we are in a middle of a battle. We can use your support!"

Veun did not bother replying. The need to make contact with the Venkrat became a necessity as with its help he will crush the humans. He quickly understood the humans were wagging war on all fronts where his men were thus creating enough confusion and separating his forces.

He had one chance and it was in the shuttles. They were modified to send encoded transmissions at long distances. So, Veun headed that way. On the way he had to duck a few times as battles were fought in almost every corridor.

He reached one of the shuttles and sealed the door behind him. He initiated the communication link and satisfied made contact with his ship. It turned out they were following Destiny but just could not catch up with it yet as it was still in FTL.

"What is the situation, Commander?" – Captain Feru asked.

"The damned humans are attacking us. That's what the situation is. For now, we are holding but it is not going to last. Apparently we had missed a rat and he had freed them. They've managed to take the bridge and the engine room."

"Don't worry, Commander. We're coming. The humans will soon perish."

"I know. I'm getting back into the thick of it."

"Good killing, sir!"

"Good killing, Captain!"

Veun left the shuttle and got into the fight. He was fierce warrior and was striking his opponents with malicious viciousness.


"Sergeant Grier,"

"Matt, what is it?"

"We're losing ground. We have to fall back!"

"Understood,"

Matt and his team had to retreat. Of course every combatant was aware of the danger in hitting the engines but this did not slow the Ancients' advance.

"Colonel, we've lost the engine room." – Matt reported while shooting carefully and covering their retreat.

"Were you able to disable the controls?" – Rush asked.

"Yes," – Chloe replied.

"Good then mission accomplished."

"Lieutenant Scott, move to help Sergeant Grier's position." – Everett ordered.

"Yes, sir," – Matt replied. "Chloe, do you know a shortcut?"

"Yes, Eli and I used it the last time we ran into the Lucians. This way,"

Matt and his team managed to slip through the Ancients' hands and reappeared near the main control room where Grier's team was having great trouble passing.

"Sergeant!"

"Lieutenant!"

"How are things?"

"Not good, there are two of them behind that corner but we can't reach them."

"I see them. Do you have any grenades?"

"No,"

"Well, I do." – Matt said and pulled two of them.

"We need to circle back and hit them."

"Matt, give me the grenades." – Chloe offered.

"No, Chloe, I'll do it."

"You are needed here. I know the way."

"Corporal, go with her." – Matt ordered while passing her the grenades.

Ten minutes later, there were two explosions and the two troublesome Ancients fell dead. Chloe appeared from around the corner.

"Excellent," – Grier exclaimed. "Let's move out."

The corporal that came with Chloe suddenly clutched his chest as blood poured and he fell onto the floor. Chloe managed to duck and take cover. Worried for her, Matt advanced and saw the very pissed Commander Veun and twelve of the Ancients advancing.

"Chloe, come on, quickly now!" – Matt shouted providing covering fire.

Chloe did not wait to be told twice and ran ducking blasts that were leaving holes in the walls.

"Move back!" – Grier commanded. They had to retreat. It was not a perfect position.

Suddenly Destiny dropped out of FTL. Veun cheered in his mind and advanced shooting at everything that moved.

"Contact the Venkrat immediately. Tell them to send reinforcements."

The Venkrat appeared shortly after in Destiny's visual range.

"Colonel, we have a problem." – Dr. Volker said and pointed outside.

"I see them. Rush, do we have control of the weapons?"

"Yes, we do!"

"Then open fire on the Venkrat!"


Destiny's weapon system kicked in and opened fire on the incoming ship. Veun was informed of this unfortunate development.

"WHAT?" – He shouted. "They will pay for this a zillion and one time. Tell them to reach the airlock no matter what and…"

"Commander, the Venkrat is not responding." – Velista interrupted him.

"WHAT?"

"The channel is open but it is vacant. Wait, I'm getting the distress beacon."

"WHAT?"

"They are under attack! From inside the ship!"

"Clarify?"

"There are intruders onboard."

"Humans?"

"No, sir, they report some strange being with a buzzing weapon causing devastating explosions!"


And yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was Dr. Ian Stealth. Once Veun had concluded his transmission with the Venkrat Dr. Stealth was on the move. He activated the amber portal and the gate opened onto the deck of the Venkrat travelling in hyperspace. He swiftly got onboard.

His sudden appearance in the middle of the engine room startled its occupants. But he was not going to give them any time to ponder what to do next. He took out a ball resembling a kino and threw it in the air and then ducked. It turned out it was stun grenade. All occupants still standing were hit by the stun wave and fell onto the floor.

Dr. Stealth stood up promptly and walked to the control console. He isolated the needed pathway and proceeded there without losing any time.

He found a small room. It did not look very special or something but it was a containment unit. The Ancients were keeping in it gaseous samples. What they did not know was that one in particular was actually a living being. He released the seals and let the creature out.

"I need your assistance." – Stealth said to the cloud of vapors that stood before him. "Once we jump back to normal space I want you to clinch yourself into the life support ventilation and block the air. I'll do the rest."

The cloud of vapors took briefly the form of thumb up and then moved to its designated target awaiting the ship's return to normal space.

Dr. Stealth moved onto the quarter's area. There he started to seal in the doors of each crew's room locking most of them in. The all too familiar buzzing sound accompanied each door locking. Satisfied Dr. Stealth continued by sealing all corridor doors as well. He managed to isolate a great deal of the massive ship before anyone even realized he was onboard.

Then the ship dropped out of hyperspace and headed straight for Destiny. What they did not expect was for Destiny opening fire at them. But they did not have the time to ponder either as Dr. Stealth started destroying vital system with his buzzing tool. Sparks flew everywhere as he was advancing on the bridge.

A few tried to stop him in hand to hand combat but they had utterly underestimated the crafty Dr. Stealth. He was full of surprises. He had just disabled the main communication array as he got into combat with more than one opponent and it was more than he could handle.

But to his rescue came the cloud of vapors. It basically choked the Ancient crewmembers.

"Thank you!" – Dr. Stealth said and continued on his way. The Ancients had sealed the bridge door but his buzzing tool was unstoppable. The bridge doors opened swiftly and Stealth flew in. "Hello! I'm the Lord Guardian of Gallifrey!"

The crew on the bridge were indeed quite surprised of his intrusion but were on their feet quickly. The battle was intense but Stealth emerged victorious with the help of the cloud of vapors.

"Now then, you naughty Ancients," – He said and sat on the command chair. He directed the ship straight to the airlock despite the infernal Destiny's weapons were pouring at him. The Venkrat docked with Destiny and Stealth ran to the airlock as quickly as he could. It was one hell of a run.

He released the seal and opened the door, and then he had to duck. There was one hell of a battle going on there.

"Oi, take care of these," – He turned to the cloud of vapors and ran out of sight. He reached the main storage where he had left something very special and disappeared into it.


Commander Veun and his people were losing ground despite their best efforts. The humans turned out to be a bigger pain than a whole horde of angry wraiths. They were pushed back to the gate room. Veun considered activating the reset controls but with the Venkrat out of game it was really no use. Their only way out of harm's way was through the gate.

"Dial the gate!"

"Where to?" – Velista asked.

"It doesn't matter. Just out of here!" – Veun said while shooting back at the incoming humans.

Velista got at the control console and activated the gate. The gate started dialing. The dialing was complete. The gate opened the unstable vortex.

"We have a connection." – Velista informed although it was perfectly obvious for anyone.

"Then let's go!" – Veun commanded.

They all crossed. Veun was last. He heard the door locks blow and hurried through. When he arrived on the doors side his jaw fell to the floor. They were not on some planet. They were back in the gate room.

"What the hell?" – Veun exclaimed.

Velista ran to the door but stopped in midway. She just realized the lights were coming up all around her. She ran to the control console instead. Checking the date she exclaimed.

"Commander!"

"What?"

"We're three back in time!"

"What?" – Veun exclaimed stunned. He moved to check on the data but there was no mistake. They were three years into the past. The smile on his face grew. They had the chance of rewriting history. "Excellent! Now we fix this once and for all! Who's that?"

"A human, we ran into him and shot him!"

Velista was standing above the bleeding to death Eli Wallace.

"Good, we began with one the rest awaits!"

"If only that were true!" – A voice interrupted.

Veun turned around and gaped in awe at a strangely dressed man. He wore a long black tuxedo with a white scarf, orange striped shirt with silver beads, black tie on orange balloons, white sneakers with orange ties, and a black bowler hat, again with orange stripes.

"Hello!" – The man smiled wide. "Welcome to Destiny!"


"Dr. Volker, they are in the gate room." – Corporal Barnes informed.

"I noticed and they are dialing out. I can't stop it from here. You will have to storm the gate room. We can't let them get away."

"Understood,"

Not far from there, near the galley, Colonel Young was defending his position having come to the rescue of his people. The battle there was vicious. The Ancients were trapped with nowhere to go but they were not yielding either. Young had offered them to surrender but instead they send many blasts in his direction.

Matt and Grier were coming but their way was blocked by other Ancients retreating from a different position.

"Damn, we are pinned." – Matt exclaimed while discharging his P90 into an imprudent Ancient.

"I noticed." – Grier said while trying to take down another such imprudent guest.

"We have to put them between two fires."

"Well good luck with that," – Grier exclaimed. "The opposite corridor is in shambles after they detonated some bloody explosive."

"We have to try. The colonel needs our help."

"Lieutenant Scott, we could use some help with the gate room." – Corporal Barnes called on the radio.

"We are pinned here, Corporal!" – Grier replied.

"The Venkrat just docked." – Volker informed over the radio.

"Oh, great, they got reinforcements."

"Not really," – Corporal Denis replied. "It is Stealth and something I'm not sure how to describe."

"Meaning what?"

"Well, it looks like a cloud of vapor. It is choking the Ancients."

"A cloud of what now?" – Matt exclaimed stunned.

"How can a cloud choke someone?" – Brody asked.

"I don't know but it is doing it anyway." – Denis replied.

"It could be some form of a creature like the ones we encountered on the desert planet, Lieutenant." – Rush interjected. "Ha!"

"What?"

"I have seventy percent control but still not enough to flush those assholes. Just a few more minutes."

"Corporal Barnes, storm the gate room, now!"

"Yes, sir," – Barnes responded. "Alright, let's go! Blow the door!"

Barnes and her team advanced onto the door, placed some C4s and retreated a safe distance.

"Fire in the hole!"

The controls of the door blew and the doors opened. She and her team moved in but just in time to see Commander Veun cross the event horizon.

"Dammit!"

"What?"

"Veun and his goons managed to escape."

"Where to?"

"A nearby planet,"

"We will pick them up once we clean the ship. Shut down the gate and come join us!"

"Yes, sir,"


Meanwhile near the galley the fight was getting uglier. Everett watched as several of the civilians that had taken arms had fallen around him. Hatred poured like disease through him. It was time they ended this massacre. He advanced a few steps and shot down two Ancients guards standing guard at the doors.

He noticed the rest retreating to another room and followed them imprudently in his anger. He opened the door and scanned the room with a single look. He barely managed to evade a blast that left a hole where his head stood a second ago.

An Ancient advanced on his position but Everett took a knee and shot him in the head. The Ancient fell like a ripe fruit from a tree. Everett then rolled on the side and took out two more the others opened fire at where he used to be.

"Surrender. This is your last chance." – Everett shouted hoping this time they will listen to reason but alas more blasts pierced the walls behind him. "Be it your way then!" He said and opened fire.

What happened next was impossible to predict. Two Ancients stood up and charged. Everett took them out but miscalculated and the last one was pointing his blaster at his chest. There was no way out and then out of the blue Dr. Stealth appeared before him taking the hit. Everett did not think even twice. He shot the son of bitch with no mercy until his entire clip ended in him.

Dr. Stealth turned around. Everett looked up and saw the growing red dot on his chest. Dr. Stealth then turned on his heels and fell on the ground. Everett held him in his arms. The man saved his life in that one decisive second. Stealth's smile was wide.

"It is not over, Everett," – He said with fading voice. "It is just the beginning."

Everett looked up. Rush, Chloe, Matt, Grier and TJ had just come in.

"Oh my god," – TJ said and ran to him but he pushed her back.

"You can't do anything, TJ," – He said barely. "But it is not necessary either."

Suddenly his face and hands started to glow in an odd yellowish light.

"It has begun." – His voice became coarse and he stood up pushing himself away from Everett. "Prepare yourselves to be amazed."

The yellowish light suddenly flared up in intensity. The result was astonishing... They all stood with their jaws nailed to the floor. What their eyes were seeing simply could not be.

"ELI!"


To be continued…

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Lordheaven