Disclaimer: The Stargate Atlantis show and its characters are not my property, only the idea of General Linia and the immortals are mine; Sateda, zero point modules, Ronin Dex and the rest of the Stargate Atlantis show are not mine.
The dull roar of conversation surrounded Linia as she sat in the back corner of the local pub. Linia sat back in her chair and toyed with the untouched tankard of ale in front of her.
"People truly see what they want to see," she thought to herself.
She has come to this particular pub regularly for the last several weeks, in an effort to learn more information. Dressed in a dark and drab peasant outfit, Linia can easily blend into the tired travelers who frequent this particular pub. Although Linia would prefer travelling in her armor, the appearance of the Immortal's armor has become too well known. Villagers flock to them wherever they go; requesting their help, protection, or just their presence… almost as if we were visiting royalty…
"They are very eager to help us, but their overwhelming enthusiasm is more of a hindrance than a help in our search…" Linia thought reflectively, "which is why I am here now, investigating in a more undercover fashion. Although, I may have to move on soon, I haven't gained any substantial intelligence since I first came to this pub." Linia concluded, once again swirling the amber liquid in the tankard. "The owner even hasn't noticed that I don't drink…" She thought, quietly chuckling to herself. The ale she always ordered was purely to create a more authentic disguise.
As Linia came to this conclusion, she noticed a change in the atmosphere of the pub. A commotion quickly spread through the room as the patrons began to whisper about 'strangers' and the 'city of the ancients'.
"Wow, something interesting may actually come from my time here," Linia thought with a grin as she leaned further back into the shadows her corner was encased in.
The pub grew strangely silent as four strangers entered. They were unlike any of the peasants who frequently traveled through this village. They dressed in a strange armor (which seemed to be made out of cloth) and carried alien weaponry. What kind of warrior wears cloth as their armor? As Linia watched from her corner, the four men introduced themselves to the village elder as a team from the Ancestor's city of Atlantis. They went on to express the desire to learn about any unusual alien technology or artifacts in or around the village.
The village elder welcomed the strangers, and invited them to join him at his personal table. The elder then proceeded to inform the strangers about the nearby ruins of a city of the Ancestors. He tells the strangers that the village children occasionally play close to the ruins, and that these children will return with stories pertaining to mysterious lights and unknown devices. The strangers express gratitude for the information, and after enjoying the hospitality extended by the elder the strangers soon left. As the four men left, Linia heard them discuss transmitting the information back to Atlantis and Major Shepherd.
"Atlantis… I've heard about the people living in that great city of the Ancestors. They're a group of foreigners who have claimed Atlantis for their own, and have even tried to establish themselves as the central authority and law in this galaxy. I think I need to have a talk with their leader." Linia thought, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "But first, I have a bone to pick with my dear friend, the elder."
Linia stood up slowly made her way across the room toward the elder's table. The elder's companions had just left, and Linia slipped soundlessly into a chair directly across from the elder. This elder, known both in the village and surrounding communities as 'Master Carpenter,' earned his renown through his skill in the art of carpentry.
"Ah, my dear Madam Conlan, what can I do for you?" the elder inquired of Linia.
"I have a question which is in need of answers, Master Carpenter," Linia stated with a steady gaze toward the elder.
"You have been with us a long while now, longer than most traders," he commented. "And yet, no one seems to know what it is you trade, or why you have graced our small village with your presence."
"I needed information Master, I told you that the day we met," Linia replied leaning forward. "Now I would like to know why you gave the most important information pertaining to your village to those strange foreigners while not even hinting about it to me."
"Do you mean those old ruins?" The elder said incredulously, "I never would have thought you wanted information about those, you never asked about ruins."
Linia closed her eyes for a second and took a deep calming breath. I was here searching for information for weeks, and I'm not told this because I didn't ask about ruins! "I'm asking now, sir… will you tell me where they are?"
A few minutes later, Linia walks briskly from the pub and headed toward the outskirts of the village. At the edge of the village, she was joined by Lt. Colonel Crevan Lorcan and Majors Quaid Mago and Aibhe Torin. All of whom were also disguised as common travelers.
"General, may I ask why you are leaving the village so soon?" Lt. Colonel Lorcan asked as soon as they caught up to Linia.
"I finally have some useful information. Ruins of an old city of the Ancestors lay approximately an hour's march to the west of here."
"Do you think the Genii will come for the technology?" Crevan inquired.
"Yes, Lorcan, I believe they will, and very soon."
"But wouldn't the Genii have already tried for the ruins? They have been here a long time already," Major Torin asked Linia.
"They would have if they knew about them. A team of the troublemaking foreigners living in the Ancestor's city of Atlantis just now learned of the ruins, and they left to report this find to their superiors. As soon as the superiors arrive to investigate the ruins, the Genii will also arrive to claim the technology in the ruins for themselves." Linia informed her companions as she continued walking outside of the village to the cache they had created for storing their supplies and armor. "The Genii have been very consistent recently about arriving close to the same time as the foreigners when the Ancestor's technology is involved. Until now we have only been able to pick through the remains after both groups have left, in our effort to find clues as to where the Genii traveled next. This time, however, we are here first, so we can prepare a nice welcome for them." Linia concluded with a sly grin on her face as her companions began to energetically propose plans for the trap they were about to set.
When the four arrived at their supply cache, Linia began to distribute orders. "Lorcan, take Mago and pick up Barrow and the rest of our group that we left with our ship. Go ahead and fly the ship to the ruins, we might need the supplies we left on board. Torin will send you the exact location when we find it."
"Yes, Ma'am." Lorcan acknowledged as he and Mago climbed in one of the two small two-person land-vehicles used as ground transportation.
Linia and Torin watched the others drive off, then climbed in the other land-vehicle and drove west to find the ruins. The land vehicle was a small open air vehicle consisting of a long seat on which the driver and a passenger could sit, and propelled by four hover devices located at the four corners of the vehicle. This vehicle quickly became the favorite all-terrain transport for the Immortals, since it proved to be highly versatile for water, land, and harsh terrain.
The village Linia and her squad departed from lay nestled beside a wide trade river in a fertile valley. It is located about two miles downriver from the large cliff walls which surround the valley, and across the river from a large forest. Behind the village a vast grass field which filled the remainder of the valley. In the middle of the forest across the river, where Linia is now headed, sits the only mountain inside of the valley. As Linia and Torin drove around the border of the forest, they found a funnel-like opening into the heart of the small mountain.
They followed the 'tunnel' into the heart of the mountain, and the walls opened into an open-roofed cavern sheltering the ruins they searched for. Yet, the ruins in this area were only a section, or slice, of the Ancestor's city that once existed here. The remainder of the city was encased inside of the mountain itself.
"This isn't a mountain… This mound was formed by the ruins when the city was destroyed…" Linia stated as she and Torin began to look around the ruins.
"This is incredible." Torin exclaimed. "What kind of destruction would it take to turn a city into a literal mountain of destruction?"
"For the moment that is not our concern." Linia replied as she surveyed their surroundings. "Signal the others Torin… I think this will be the perfect location for our welcome."
Barrow, Lorcan and Mago arrived and unloaded supplies for the ambush. The squad armed themselves with sniper rifles in addition to their signature weapons and donned their armor in preparation of their greeting for the Genii. Then, Quaid Mago flew the ship to a secure location (around the back of the mountain of ruins from their location) while Linia and the rest of the squad began to set trip mines for the ambush.
Within a matter of minutes a net of trip mines surrounded the first room inside of the ruins which the canyon entrance emptied into. The squad settled into defensible sniper positions around the ambush location, and waited for the Genii to arrive.
Quaid Mago took his position closer to the entrance, in order to warn the others when their enemy arrived. Before long, he could see a Genii soldier coming down the tunnel. Mago signaled the squad and they waited for their enemy to enter the trap.
The Genii turned into a unit of twenty which spread into the first room, loudly discussing the possibilities on how to quickly remove any valuable technology before the Atlantis team's arrival. Linia signaled her squad, and they all picked their targets.
Five soldiers went down from the first round of shots. Linia reloaded as she watched the Genii trip the net of mines in their attempt to escape. Explosions enveloped the area, and Linia signaled the squad to hold as she waited for the dust to settle. I need one of them alive to answer our questions. She thought as the area slowly became visible again. She saw no movement from their enemies as the dust cleared, yet this did not mean that none survived.
"Barrow, did they trigger all of your mines?" Linia asked.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm not getting a reading from any of them now."
"You'd think they'd have been smart enough to not have run in every direction." Major Aibhe Torin responded.
"Can anyone this stupid really have gotten the upper hand on us?" Major Quaid Mago questioned.
"That doesn't make them smart," answered Lieutenant Colonel Crevan Lorcan, "just lucky."
"And this is the end of their luck." Linia stated. "Lorcan, take Mago and watch the tunnel entrance; we don't need any surprises. Barrow and Torin, come with me. I want to see if any of them survived."
Lorcan and Mago established sentry positions around the tunnels entrance as she, Barrow, and Torin descended into the rubble to search for survivors among their enemy.
"General, I think we may have done too good of a job. There's no way anyone survived those blasts." Barrow commented as they carefully made their way into the debris.
"They may still be able to give us the answers we need. Search for anything. We just need something that will give us a clue about the location of their base."
"Yes, Ma'am." Torin responded as she knelt to search the pockets of a Genii soldier.
"General, you need to wrap it up. We have company coming."Lorcan signaled over their helmet communicators.
"That's faster than I expected, the explosion must've gotten their attention. Barrow, Torin… did you find anything?"
"No, we need more time." Barrow responded.
"We're out of time. Fall back to cover." Linia responded.
"General, I found something!" Torin exclaimed, holding up a data storage device she found on the soldier.
"Good work, Torin. Get behind cover… hurry." Linia ordered, as she pulled up her rifle to cover her squad's retreat behind cover.
The squad was safe behind cover within a few seconds. But, before Linia could take cover herself the newcomers entered the ruins with guns raised.
This can get very unpleasant very fast. Linia thought as she sized up the four newcomers. Cloth attire… light weapons… motley crew… definitely the Atlantis people's first squad… and that would make the leader…
"Major Shepherd I presume." Linia stated as Lorcan and Mago cautiously moved behind the newcomers with their guns closely trained on them.
"How do you know that?"
"The entire galaxy knows you major." Linia replied as Barrow and Torin left their cover to guard their general. "Can you travel anywhere without completely disrupting the life and order of the region?"
"What do you mean? And what did you do to these people?"
"I have heard much about you and your squad major, and most of it was not flattering." She answered as she slowly lowered her gun. "This meeting does not need to end violently. We are not after you, no matter how much we disagree with your tactics. We only seek the Genii."
"Shepherd, I think I know these people. You do not want to challenge them." The roughest one of the four spoke to Major Shepherd.
"Your companion is right … you do not want to challenge us." Linia calmly reiterated. "But, I wonder… how much does he know about us." Who is this scruffy man… he seems very familiar… she thought taking a closer look at him.
Art Barrow stepped closer to the familiar stranger, and slowly lowered his own gun. "Specialist Dex?"
"Ronon?" Linia asked in shock, as she signaled her squad to stand down.