Same Time As the Resolution's mission

Hyperspace, Enroute to P6G-452, Lucian Kassa Production Planet

BS-305 Nemesis

Amy sat back in her chair, reading over the last of the reports on the state of the galaxy. Finishing up, she nodded to herself. The Unigate Task Force was doing well for itself, winning almost every engagement they had with the Ori and holding their own defending the refugee planet of Getaway.

Right now, Nemesis was on a different mission of her own, heading towards one of the Lucian Alliance kassa production planets, with the aim of firebombing the kassa fields.

Kassa was a highly addictive, genetically engineered corn offshoot, and one of the Alliance's main sources of income. They got people addicted to the stuff, then sold it to them, usually at a high price, which the addicted person would usually pay. They could also threaten to cut off the supply if a village or town tried to revolt, giving the Alliance a fairly strong form of control over their populace.

While bombing the fields would mean many innocent people would suffer from withdraw, it would also set the Alliance back drastically, having to deal with the loss of income, and the insuring riots.

Yes, it would anger the Alliance, but it they had not forgotten the beating they had taken at the Supergate, and with a super-dreadnought protecting Earth, the Alliance would be hesitant to take any decisive action.

"All stations report ready Colonel." Will called out from his place at weapons, bringing Amy back to reality. "We are five minutes out."

Amy nodded. "Stand to battle stations."

Crewmen scrambled to their posts, preparing for battle. Amy's hair shifted to a neutral brown as she readied herself for the coming fight. After the last time SG-1 had been to P6G-452, the Alliance had posted at least three Ha'tak around the planet to defend their money crop.

This would be a fine test of the Nemesis' combat capability.

"Load MkVIIIs into the missile tubes. We'll probably have to engage an Ha'tak before we can make a run on the crop fields."

Nemesis would be doing the firebombing herself, as she had no 302s use for the runs, so she had been given an array of incendiary missiles to use.

"Coming up on the target." Lewis, their british pilot said, eyes fixed on his screen. "Dropping out of hyperspace… now."

The purple of hyperspace abruptly faded away into realspace, with the planet of P6G-452 filling up most of the port side of the viewport. There was a Ha'tak almost directly ahead of them, just a little above the Tau'ri battleship's plane of flight.

"All railguns, open fire, target shield generators."

Nemesis'' wing mounted heavy cannons thundered alongside her rapid-fire railguns, lacing the pyramid with shells before it could raise it's shields.

"Mark eights, now!"

The VLS missile tubes flared, sending two naquada nukes flying towards the burning ship, and the anti-capital ship nukes blew massive holes into the central superstructure, sending the crippled capital ship drifting, and secondary explosions started erupting.

"What have we got, Will?"

"Two Ha'tak, Apothis refit, closing from opposite sides of the planet. They're launching Gliders. We've also got launches from the planet, Al'kesh and Gliders as well."

"Do we have a clear opening to hit the fields?"

"Some of them. We will have to engage before we can hit others."

"Very well. Launch the first barrage of incendiaries and send the signal."

"Firing."

Amy watched as six missiles curved and descended to the planet.

"Rig for anti-fighter, we'll have to deal with those Gliders first.

"Roger that, rigging for anti-fighter."

Colonel Albert Reynolds nodded. "Alright boys, there's our signal. Prepare to move out."

Reynolds kept an eye out as SG-3, SG-12 and Starfleet's donated team of four MACOs-designated SGM (StarGate MACO)-checked their gear one last time. The group had inserted to the planet two days earlier via Nemesis' Tel'tak, in anticipation for the Nemesis' raid.

"Here come the bombs!" Bosco called out.

Reynolds smirked as he watched the missiles scream by overhead. A second later, there was a staccato of booms as the payloads detonated.

"Goodbye evil Orville Redenbacher!"

One of the Starfleet people, a small, petite brunette, burst out in a fit of british giggles at that. Reynolds smirked. "That's our diversion. Let's move."

Already, they could see the massive columns of smoke rising from the kassa fields kilometers away as they burned.

The operatives moved fast toward the Lucian Alliance main logistical facilities on the planet and the Lucian Second it held, Worrel, the same man that had captured SG-1 when they first visited the planet.

The group moved fast and silently, staying in the foliage and stopping every time natives or Lucians rushed by, probably trying to stop the fires.

The building came into sight: a three story concrete-like building with a defensive wall, armed with staff emplacements and grunts armed with projectile weapons. It was undermanned, however, as Worrel sent his men to fight off the Nemesis or try to put out the fires.

"Set up for ambush and breach." Reynolds ordered, leading his soldiers to a small hill next to the place. "Oxton, you're fast, right?"

The young woman smirked. "They don't call me Tracer for nothing, luv."

"Good. When we open fire, I need you to get in there and tear the place up, keep them off balance."

Reynolds positioned himself and slid a grenade round into his M4A1's underslung launcher and was proud to see two of his other men follow, while one of the Starfleet people pulled out a grenade launcher and their combat engineer used his fabrication pack to set up mortars and turrets.

"On my mark… Mark!"

Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk

One photon and three frag grenades landed inside the defensive perimeter and exploded, throwing debris, men, and meat chunks everywhere. A microsecond later, the assault team opened up with their guns and phasers, even as a round from the engineer's quantum mortar landed on the wall and blew open a hole for them.

"Cease explosive fire!" Reynolds ordered as he gunned down a soldier caught out in the open. "Tracer, go!"

She was already moving, sprinting down the incline at an incredible pace, her speed no doubt augmented by her specialized suit of powered armor.

She weaved about, dodging the bursts of fire directed at her blurred form, evading zat and staff blasts, or sliding underneath enemy bullets. Within seconds, she had reached the breach and a pair of submachine pistols appeared in her hands.

As she prepared to spring through the gap, a Lucian soldier stepped out from cover, wielding a staff cannon taken from a glider, and leveled it at Tracer. Reynolds knew that if she was hit, even with personal shields, there would be nothing left of the small woman, so he aimed down his sights and tried to gain a clean shot.

Tracer knew the danger as well. Spotting the threat, she launched herself up, using the defensive wall to gain elevation as she sprayed fire at the heavy trooper.

He shied away from the blasts, but managed to aim the cannon and fired.

There was a flash of blue light and suddenly Tracer was on the ground, closing fast with the trooper as he stumbled, stunned by they way the girl had dodged almost certain doom.

The Overwatch operative gunned the man down and was suddenly out of Reynolds sight. Those on the wall were mostly dead or turning their attention inward to deal with Tracer.

"Move in and smoke them out!" Reynolds ordered, getting up and running across the road

Three smoke rounds were sent crashing through the building's windows, obscuring the sight of all inside.

"Courtyard is clear." Tracer called over the radio.

"Copy that. Split up, stack for breach."

SG-3 and 12 split for both of the building's exits, with two members of SGM going with both groups to cover them with their high tech shielding and weapons.

There was another set of screams as more missiles landed in the kassa fields, setting them ablaze. The smoke was starting to fill the sky.

Bosco set a breaching charge on the door and backed away, nodding to his commander.

"Ready your infrared goggles." Reynolds ordered, flicking on his safety and pulling out his zat. "Breach on my mark… Mark!"

Both doors exploded inward and Tracer went in first with another flash of blue light, spraying stun fire into the room as she did so.

"Oxton, storm the main office! We can't let Worrel escape! SG-12, clear this floor, the rest, with me!"

Tracer disappeared upstairs as the rest followed, stunning accountants and anyone else they saw as they moved.

Coming to the main office, Reynolds smirked as he found Worrell, unconscious and cuffed, face planted on the floor with the expert MACO sitting in his chair, grinning.

"Little bastard tried to sneak out through an escape ladder." Tracer said. "He wasn't expecting me."

"Good." Reynolds pulled out a locator beacon, planted in on Worrel, and radioed the Nemesis. "Nemesis actual, we have the target ready for pickup.

"Copy that, standby."

A moment later, Worrel was snatched up in a beam of white light.

"Phillips, bring the Tel'tak around, we need pickup."

"On my way."

"Colonel, we've got hostiles incoming down the road."

Reynolds turned to SGM's combat engineer. "You set up defenses?"

He nodded. "They should be hitting the mines…" Boom Boom Boom "Now."

"Everyone, inside, we're taking the escape tunnel. Set claymores and traps. Philips, hold off, we'll call you in when we get back to the surface."

"Roger. Hurry, it's getting busy around here."

"We've expended all our incendiaries." Will informed over the impact of plasma rounds on the shields.

"Got it." Amy grunted as another barrage of cannon fire splashed on the ship's powerful shields, thanking the ZPM that was hooked up the ship's grid, supplementing their power systems.

"More Ha'tak entering the system, five of them."

"Alright, I'm done tangling with this SOB. Will, if you will. Two drones."

Will shook his head at the joke and grabbed a pair of specialized controls. As he did, two plates on the front of the ship opened as they reacted to the Ancient gene in Will's blood. With an exertion of his mind, he sent only two of the deadly weapons spiraling towards the opposing Ha'tak, bypassing the shields, spearing through the Pel'tak, down through the central pyramid, targeting power lines and shield generators as he went, until the drones burst out the bottom, circled back around, phased through walls, until finally detonating inside the ship's main reactor.

"Have we accomplished all mission objectives?"

"A-firm. Worrel is secured in the brig, all primary targets have been destroyed, and the strike team is extracting right now."

"Excellent. Lewis, set a course for the rendezvous point. Make an quick five second jump in any direction first, then proceed for the RP."

"Roger." The battleship came about and opened a hole into subspace, leaving behind burning fields and wrecked ships.

Nemesis had proved her worth.

Pegasus Galaxy

Lantea

Atlantis

"Doctor Weir, we're detecting two hyperspace windows opening."

"That should be Steadfast and Hardy, right on time. Thank you, Chuck. Open a channel."

Chuck nodded. "You're on."

"Hello Captains. On behalf of Homeworld Command, I welcome you to Atlantis."

"Thank you, Doctor." That was Kor'rok, the Klingon captain of the Steadfast, one of the iconic Galaxy-class refits still hanging around Starfleet, even after forty years in service. "Requesting permission to beam down with Captain Vs'tisss along with supplies for Atlantis and Daedalus."

"Permission granted."

John Sheppard grinned and leaned over the railing, watching floor in front of the Gate as showers of blue sparks started raining down, resolving into beings and crates of supplies.

The Klingon at the head of the group looked around for a moment, nodding, before giving out orders to the personnel around him. "Start offloading the crates." He started up the stairs, a Gorn following. Both wore MACO variants of command red alongside captain's pips, with some extra additions. The Gorn wore some Klingon-style accoutrements to his uniform: armored shoulder pads and armor plating under his uniform jacket. He was armed with a standard type-2 phaser, a d'k tang at his belt, and a mek'leth. Kor'rok, in comparison, only had a warrior's sash.

Sheppard joined Weir and Rodney as they met the two captains at the landing.

"Captains, welcome to the Lost City." Weir greeted.

"Not so lost anymore." Captain Vs'tisss quipped, a quiet hissed underlying his translated speech. The Starfleet Gorn was… different, compared to others of his species. He was short, even for the males of his species, standing at a human six foot even. His scales were all black, incredibly varied from the traditional green or brown scales known among the Gorn.

"Indeed." Captain Kor'rok, the grizzled veteran of the Dominion War, agreed, looking around. "Interesting design. But is it practical?"

"The city was designed for just that; being a city. Her shields can hold off a bombardment for months, and she can defend herself very well, but she's mostly meant for living and scientific research." Weir replied. "May I introduce Atlantis' military commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard."

The klingon nodded his greeting. Sheppard nodded back, grinning ear to ear. "You can't believe how giddy I am."

Kor'rok rolled his eyes. "Great, more Trekkies."

Vs'tisss hissed in amusement as Weir shook her head. "And this is Doctor Rodney McKay."

The doctor waved somewhat timidly. "Hey there."

Vs'tisss smelled the air. "Ahhhh, the one who gave Admiral Antillesssss a hard time."

Kor'rok nodded. "You got a orange Viss?"

"No, but I think I have a lemonnnn."

Rodney paled and took a big step backwards. Kor'rok rolled his eyes. "Afraid of a mere fruit? Are you a warrior, scientist, or a spineless Denlb Qatlh?"

Rodney glowered at the Klingon and the Klingon scowled right back. Sheppard was almost giggling in fanboyish glee.

Abruptly, Kor'rok burst out laughing. "Good, you can stare down a Klingon. There is hope left for you, Mckay. Come. We have much to discuss."

There was a flash of white light as Colonel Caldwell beamed in on the main floor.

"Ah. Captains, let me introduced Colonel Steven Caldwell, commander of the Deadalus."

Caldwell nodded to the alien commanders, not even blinking. "Captains."

Kor'rok nodded back. "Colonel."

The Air Force officer turned to Weir. "My people will begin to transport the supplies up to the Deadalus. Captain Kor'rok, if you could spare a team, I could use help speeding the repairs along."

"What'd you fight, a Wraith Hive or two?"

"A solar flare."

Kor'rok blinked. "Well. What else have you done?"

"Rodney blew up a solar system." Sheppard put in.

"Okay, it was three-quarters of a solar system and I didn't mean to."

"And Colonel Carter made a sun go supernova."

"Interesting."

"If you're done telling the captains what we've blown up, we should head to the conference room." Caldwell interrupted, slightly annoyed.

"Of course." Weir nodded. "If you'll follow me."

Leading the group into the conference room, Weir let them take their seats before turning to the captains. "Now, we know that you were sent to deliver supplies and give us support, but what else do you plan to do?"

Kor'rok glanced at Vs'tisss. "We will respond to any distress calls or settlements under attack by the Wraith, but we will not actively engage them just yet. We wish to keep our presence a secret from the other residents of Pegasus for now. I do have several teams of MACOs I can place here to use as a fast reaction force if needed."

"Stay off the Wraith's radar." Sheppard nodded.

"And make it seem like a new power has entered the playing field." Caldweld continued. "If you are discovered, we should play on that line of thought. The Wraith, so far, believe Atlantis destroyed, so they wouldn't think of an alliance with the Tau'ri or that you had come from the Milky Way, just a new power making its way to the galactic scene to fight the Wraith, or maybe a power from another galaxy."

"We could change the external identification of our shipssss to another language, sssay Klingon or Andorian." Vs'tisss agreed. "Play on the deception."

"The problem is that if any Wraith see our people and are capable of reporting back, then we will have to move Atlantis." Sheppard informed them. "Or they will send as many Hives as they have to in order to either destroy this place or capture it to gain access to Earth."

"We've dispatched stealth probesss to known Wraith strongholdsss and systems. We should have a good idea of their forces when we engage them or if they make a move on the ccccity."

"Good to know." Weir stood. "Well, I'm going to be leading some teams down into the ocean to check out an Ancient Drilling Platform we found on the ocean floor. Colonel Caldwell, you will have command of Atlantis for the duration."

"Wait a moment." Caldwell stood up. "Doctor, a word in private?"

Weir nodded and moved off towards her office. Kor'rok turned to Sheppard. "So, how are you going to get down there?."

"We're going to take a Puddle Jumper with shields down to check it out, make sure the platform isn't flooded or compromised. We don't want anyone beamed down there to be instantly crushed by the pressure." The pilot turned to Vs'tisss. "Your people are welcome to join us."

"I think I willll."

In the end, Weir won the argument with Colonel Caldwell, and the Deadalus' commander ended up taking temporary command of the floating city. They took off down towards the ocean floor, flying two Jumpers, as it would have been a bit crowded in a single Jumper with the addition of the Starfleet team.

"I thought you said the platform was here." Vs'tisss was listening in on the conversation going on in the other jumper with dry amusement.

"It's a mobile drilling platform, it could have drifted." Mckay retorted to the other scientist. "Keep scanning, it should be here somewhere."

Vs'tisss listened absentmindedly as the group in the other Jumper talked about someone's actual name, for a couple seconds, until he got bored and intervened. "Gentlemennnn, we should split our Jumperssss apart and attempt to triangulate the platform's location."

"Hey, that's a good idea." Sheppard said brightly. "Mckay, why didn't you think of that?"

The line was silent for a moment, but Vs'tisss could just imagine the scientist gaping his mouth like a fish as he tried to come up with an response. The Gorn hissed quietly in amusement.

"Major Lorne, alter your courssse."

It took them only three minutes to find the platform. As the Jumpers approached, the platform lit up with external lights.

"Now, where is that docking port…"

"Systems are coming online easily." Mckay reported. "Everything's fine, and we should be able to start drilling anytime."

Weir looked slightly alarmed. "Have you?"

"What? No."

"Good."

"The Lanteanssss most likely abandoned the station due to the siege." The Hardy's captain said.

Weir nodded. "Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to check." She turned back to Rodney. "Go over the logs before you hook up power."

"This place is intriguing." The Gorn captain commented. "Even with the awesome power of the ZPMs, they still used alternative sourcessss."

"Well, you have to imagine, putting miniature universes inside crystals is a tricky business."

Vs'tisss grinned toothly, only for his grin to fall as Weir's radio crackled.

"This is Sheppard. Everyone drop what you're doing and fall back to the control room. We may have an uninvited guest."

Weir frowned and clicked on her earpiece. "John? What's wrong?"

"Teyla's spidey sense is going off. She senses a Wraith nearby."

"We did a complete life signs scan. It was one of the first things we did when we stepped aboard the station. Look, I promise, there is no one here but us." Mckay assured them, arrogance on full.

Vs'tiss shook his head in annoyance and nodded to one of his officers, who pulled out a tricorder and started scanning.

"I know Rodney, but I am sensing it even closer now."

"Look maybe it's the pressure, it has been known to do things to the mind."

"Or maybe the presence she'ssss detecting is shielding itself." Vs'tisss suggested. "Twitch, what do you have?"

Twitch, an Andorian science officer that came down with them, slowly spun around, holding his tricorder in from of him and keeping an eye on the readouts.

"Ms Emmagan, can you tell which direction you feel the presence?" Twitch asked, stopping for a moment.

Telya closed her eyes, and, after a moment, raised her hand and pointed. "That way."

Twitch frowned. "Captain, I'm getting a very faint reading in that direction."

"Any idea what it isss?"

He shook his head. "It's on the very edge of the tricorder's range, and that's even with a sensor focus."

Vs'tisss turned to Mckay. "Do we have external sensorsssss?"

"Coleman?"

The American scientist shook her head. "The external sensors took some damage over the years. I should have them up in hour."

"Twitch, help her."

"Yessir."

Teyla shook her head. "I cannot shake this feeling." She paused. "There is a way for me to be sure."

Sheppard, Ronon, and Weir shifted uneasily.

"If I can reach out with my mind and establish a link…"

"Whoa," Sheppard interjected. "Don't you think that's a little reckless?

"If there is no Wraith, then there will be nothing to link with, and therefore no risk. We should at least try."

Vs'tisss growled low in his throat and opened his mouth, smelling the air. "I ssssmell nothing but the people here. It might be near the ssssensor reading…"

"If there is a Wraith nearby…"

"We need to know."

Teyla gasped.

"Telya?"

She blinked a few times, reorienting herself, looking almost confused. "I'm sorry. I was mistaken. I did not find anything."

"Well, good to know."

Vs'tisss growled low and opened his mouth, taking in the scents as the Atlanteans talked. Telya smelled… different. Her scent had changed. Closing his mouth, he kept his observations to himself, and resigned himself to keep an eye on her, following the humans as they left the crew quarters to explore once again.

"Your friendship is very important to me." Teyla assured Ronon. "I would hate to do anything that would make you uncomfortable."

It was almost funny, Vs'tisss thought, how Teyla proceeded to knock the big brute unconscious, but he didn't laugh. Instead, he stepped out from behind the corner and shot her with a stun blast.

The Gorn stepped over and tapped his combadge. "This is Vs'tisss. I need someone with a medical kit to my position, I have two downnnn."

"Sheppard here, I'm on my way. What happened?"

"Missss Emmagan attacked Ronon Dex. I ssstunned her."

"Did I hear you right? Teyla attacked Ronon?"

"And knocked him unconscious. Twitch, do you have external sensorsss yet?"

"Almost. Give us fifteen minutes."

"Work fast. I have a feeling we'll need it. Everyone else, stay alert."

"Teyla wouldn't attack Ronon out of hand." Sheppard defended his team member.

"Nor am I implying that." Vs'tisss replied. "I believe Misss Emmagan was under the influence of that Wraith mind ssshe sensed earlier."

"How did you know?" Weir asked.

"Ssshe smelled different." The captain sighed at their confused expressions. "You must understand, a Gorn's sense of ssmell is very acute. After her attempt, Misss Emmagan's overall ssscent had drastically changed. I sssuspect we'll find out what happened from her when ssshe wakes up."

As if on que, Ronon groaned, sitting up slowly.

"Whoa, easy there big fella."

"Teyla, she-"

"It's alright, we got her." Sheppard nodded over to the other bunk, where Teyla lay zip-tied.

Vs'tisss walked over to the Starfleet standard issue medpack and loaded a stimulant into a hypospray. "Madam, with your permissionnnn, I'd like to wake her." He asked Weir.

She nodded. "Go ahead."

The captain carefully injected the hypo, then backed up, taking a guard position, with his massive clawed hand resting on phaser as Sheppard and Weir.

Teyla blinked her eyes open sleeplily, slowly becoming aware of the world around her, then the zip-cuffs around her wrists and the friends frowning down on her.

She sat up abruptly. "The Wraith! She's here-"

"Woah woah woah! Calm down Teyla." Sheppard comforted her. "Start over. Slowly. What do you remember?"

Teyla nodded, rubbing her forehead as took deep breaths. "I remember reaching out, feeling the other mind, then a rush, and finally nothing." She sighed. "It was stronger than any mind I've ever encountered, and I don't know where she is."

Sheppard did a double take. "She?"

"Yes, I believe the Wraith is a Queen."

"I hate Queens."

Teyla looked down at her wrists. "My I have these removed?"

Weir turned to Vs'tisss. "Captain?"

He nodded and opened his mouth. "Sshe smellsss back to normal."

"Good." Sheppard pulled his combat knife and freed the Athosian.

Suddenly Vs'tisss growled. "I sssmell ssalt water." He turned to the humans, pulling his phaser. "And death. The Wraith is on the ssstation."

The Gorn captain prowled the halls, mek'leth in one hand and phaser in the other. Sheppard was with him, P90 sweeping the halls.

Vs'tisss looked at the tac-pad attached to his wrist and linked with his tricorder, following the life sign. "Thirty metersss down the hallway, then ten on the left." He whispered. "Ssshe's close."

Sheppard nodded, traversing down the hall to the corner. The captain stacked up beside him.

"Go."

The two turned the corner, the tac-pad screeched an alert, and the Queen was on them, moving at inhuman speeds, sending the Sheppard flying into a bulkhead and catching Vs'tisss in a psionic grip, sending him to his knees as he fought the intrusion into his mind.

She hissed. "I am unfamiliar with your species, but I saw into the girl's mind. You have a ship that can take me from here. Contact your ship and take me from this planet." She ordered, lacing her words with her mental power.

Growling low in his throat, Vs'tisss started to rise.

"I will listen to none of your wordssss." He ground out.

The Queen grinned. "Your resistance is admirable, but ultimately futile."

Then she grunted as nine millimeter handgun rounds tore into her back, breaking her concentration. She spun, grabbed Sheppard and threw him again.

Vs'tisss stood and roared.

The enraged captain was on her before the Wraith could spin back around, mek'leth raised and slashing across her chest. She staggered back, snarling.

The Gorn closed again, keeping the pressure on.

The Queen weaved through the strikes, taking shallow cuts as she did so, until she blocked one, forced his arms up, slammed him to the wall, then, raising her right hand, connected and started feeding.

Vs'tisss groaned, but before the feeding could go too far, he opened his mouth, and bit down on her shoulder.

The Queen howled, letting go as the gorn ripped free, taking chunks of meat with him. Backing up, he spit them out.

"You taste terrible."

The Wraith looked at her slowly healing shoulder, the little bit of food she was able to drain from the captain working to heal and enhance her body. "It stings. Poison?"

"Known only to my kind. Now, monsterrr, you die."

Roaring again, Vs'tisss surged forward, claws extended, running on Gorn battle rage and the Wraith enzyme that had been injected into his system. Leaping up high, he crashed down on the Queen's shoulders, sending her to the floor. On top of her, the captain started tearing at her face and torso, ripping great gashes into the evil beauty's form.

But Wraith were notoriously difficult to kill, with an incredibly high pain tolerance, and the Queens were even harder to take down. Using her great strength, she kicked him off.

But the enraged captain wasn't that easy to stop. Landing on all fours, he halted his momentum. Rising, he pulled a dk'tang out from his boot.

This time, the Queen charged, moving with incredible speed and trying to distract him with her mental powers.

Those had no effect. Starfleet officers were trained to resist minor and major psionic attacks, and Vs'tisss was ready for them.

The Queen slashed at the captain with her own claws, but most simply bounced off his thick hide, only tearing up his uniform. Only a few slashes managed to break skin and scale.

When they managed to hit.

Vs'tisss' arms were not idle. While his empty hand fended off attacks, the hand holding his blade went on the offensive, stabbing at the Queen.

The deadly dance went on for minutes, but it was quickly becoming apparent that the Gorn was winning.

The captain finally managed to land his blade deep into the Wraith's stomach, burying the weapon to the bladed crossguards. Snarling, he twisted and pulled the blade free, making her fold over slightly.

Reaching out with his empty hand, he grabbed her arm and pulled her off balance, putting all her weight on her front leg. Kicking out, he broke her kneecap, sending her collapsing to the floor.

Grabbing her hair, he exposed her neck, jammed the blade into the curve of her throat, and pulled.

Her head came free, pouring out black blood. Raising the decapitated head high, Vs'tisss roared, reveling in his victory.

"I was not ready for today."

Breathing heavily, the Gorn turned to Sheppard, who laid on the floor, having watched the conclusion of the battle with wide eyes.

Huffing, Vs'tisss discarded the head and activated his combadge. "Twitch, have the medkit ready for impact and slash wounds and something for adrenal overload.

"Yessir. What happened? I thought I heard roars."

"You did. I just killedddd the Queen."

Whistles came from the other end. "That's very impressive, Captain." Weir congratulated him. "Well done."

"I don't think we're out of the woodsssss yet. Twitch, are the external sensorssss online yet?"

"Affirmative." There was a pause. "And you're gonna want to get up here. We've detected a Wraith Cruiser half-buried in the sediment."

"The cruiser is set to self-destruct." Rodney reported from the Wraith cruiser, after he and a security team beamed over via Hardy.

"Can you stop it?" Kor'rok asked from his place on the Steadfast.

"I don't think so. Look, even with a translation program and your Starfleet tech team, I don't think we can get the command codes in time! And since Scally over there went all 300 on the Queen, we can't get it!"

"Then we needdd another alternative." Vs'tisss said in the Hardy's medbay, as his wounds were treated by a nurse with a dermal regenerator.

"What we need is to make the self-destruct a non-factor!" Rodney exclaimed. "The cruiser is situated over very, very thin crust, it's why the Ancients put the platform there. If this cruiser detonates, it will breach the crust, and the initial blast will be magnified a thousand times over."

"Extinction level event?" Kor'rok asked.

"Almost certainly."

"The city would be protected." Weir put in from Atlantis. "With three ZPMs behind us, we can take almost anything."

"It would be safer if we move the city off the planet entirely."

The nurse backed away from Vs'tisss. "All good."

He nodded his thanks, then turned back to the display. "I would rather not destroy the ecosystem of a planettt if I can help it. We'll keep that as a last resort. Doctor Weir, I would advissse you prepare for a possible launch."

She nodded. "I'll have Zelenka lead the effort."

"Let us know if you need assistance." Kor'rok reminded her. "Any other ideas?"

The Gorn captain hissed to himself. "I have... one. It's… unorthodox."

He explained, to the Lantean's shock and gaping mouths. Kor'rok, however…

He grinned.

"We're all finished up here captains. Ready for takeoff." Weir reported, stepping away from Chuck's console.

"Copy that. Beginning operation."

"How long do we have before the cruiser blows?"

"Fifteen minutes." Chuck replied.

Weir turned and strode out onto the balcony, looking out at the ocean beyond the shield surrounding the city.

[BGM: Star Trek Into Darkness: Sub-Prime Directive]

As she watched, bubbles started to rise from a point, several hundred meters beyond the shield and floating city.

The volume of bubbles began to rapidly increase, stirring the water, until finally, abruptly, a form burst forth.

Rising from the ocean, with millions of gallons of water cascading off her hull, was the Hardy. A hum filled the air, felt even through the shield, as her anti-gravs pushed the ship out of the water

Rising with her, connected by a tractor beam, was the dark, malevolent form of the Wraith cruiser they had freed from the sediment. With a roar of her main sublight drives, the Hardy pushed hard for space.

Steadfast was there to meet them, paralleling their line of flight and adding her own tractor beam and engine power to the equation.

As they rose through multiple layers of the atmosphere, they gained more and more speed, getting further from the city until all Weir could see was three specks in the sky.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash in the sky as the cruiser's self-destruct finally went off.

Weir ran back into the control room. "Status!"

"The explosion scrambled our sensors in that area." Chuck replied. "I can't tell if they survived."

"Open a channel." The crewman nodded back. "Hardy, Steadfast, this is Atlantis. Please respond."

Static.

"Hardy, Steadfast, this Atlantis, please respond."

A console beeped. "Comm from Daedalus! They have them on sensors!"

"I can confirm!" Rodney replied, smiling at the sensor board as the two dots representing the Starfleet vessels appeared on the radar.

"Atlantis, this is the Steadfast. We're all good over here."

Weir smiled. "Good to hear it captains. I believe congratulations are in order."

"Just another day as a Starfleet officer, Doctor."

'You know,' Weir thought to herself as the city shield lowered, 'Things might not turn out so bad after all…'

Author's Notes: Well, it's been a while. No, the story isn't dead yet, it's just slow going. So I decided to write an interlude following other places in the universe. It's nice.