All hell broke loose as scientists worked to man stations and pull up sensor readings. All Abbie could do was yell, "Prepare for impact!"
The drones fired relentlessly upon Atlantis, shaking the city slightly, as they hit a few major towers.
Abbie slapped her earpiece, "Shaun, we need those drones now! We have to fire something."
Rustling in the background was her answer then, "Rodney and I don't have the reprogramming code done yet. You either can have me fire regular ones or call for Destiny."
Abbie debated her options. She turned to the scientist on the console behind her and leaned against it. "Bring up sensors and find Destiny. Rush probably found a way to make that ship fight." A few seconds later, a map of space came up on the screen behind the scientist. A blue dot lit up for Destiny and a red for Atlantis. Destiny was headed for the white dot, the Wraith. Abbie watched. Glancing back at the scientist she said, "Hail Destiny and patch my earpiece in."
As she said the last word, the Wraith drones came in for another run. This time, Atlantis was ready and the crew rolled with the fire. Abbie waited impatiently as the scientist tried to contact Destiny. Finally he had a connection and nodded for her to begin. Abbie waited impatiently as the scientist tried to contact Destiny. Finally he had a connection and nodded for her to begin. "Destiny, this is Atlantis. Regular drones won't do much damage to this new ship. Do not engage. It will be the death of you."
Rush responded quickly, "What do expect us to do? Earth is in danger and Destiny, at the moment, is the only thing protecting it."
Becoming frustrated, Abbie retorted, "Rush! Do you have a death wish? It would be suicide. Give us time to think and let us engage. We have better shields and Destiny isn't in any shape to fight. Go back and protect the SGC."
Abbie didn't wait to see if Rush did what she had told him to. He would when faced with death. He cared about himself first. Abbie walked onto the balcony. Looking down, she saw Dacey looking up at her.
"Major Dacey Sheppard, please come up here."
Dacey nodded and stood. She jogged all the way to Abbie. Zola and Wen stepped forward to join the discussion. Dacey stopped a few feet from Abbie, completing the half circle. She spoke first, "Yeah Abbie. Please tell me to do something. I can't stand this waiting."
Abbie hit her earpiece, "Shaun, do you have the drones done yet? We're running out of time. We need a plan now."
"No, we don't have the codes done. We are about half done."
Abbie shook her head. They wouldn't finish in time. "Head to the chair room. Fire everything we have."
She turned to the semicircle and spoke instructions, "Dacey, contact the Marines with the Ancient gene and tell them to get into the Puddle Jumpers and F-22s. I also have to ask you to think of an alternative of how to destroy the hive. I'm not ready to athorize the extreme messures you want but, I will think about it. Zola and Wen, I need you to stay close."
Abbie turned and left the balcony. She stepped up to the window overlooking the gate room, leaving Zola and Wen puzzled over what messures she spoke of. Zola turned to face Dacey as Wen kept staring after Abbie.
As Dacey finished telling all the Marines with the gene to get the Jumper bay, Zola asked, "How do you want to destroy the hive?" A few seconds passed and Atlantis rocked again. Wen finally faced Dacey.
"I wanted to gate to the ship and plant a bomb at the core. I figured if I died, it would just be one last person."
Zola opened her mouth to speak as Dacey's earpiece sounded with a chirp. Dacey hit the thing and a few Marines spoke. They were in position. Dacey ordered them to take off and engage the enemy and fly in pairs. When she was done, she looked at Zola with expectant raised eyebrows. "For starters, that would be suicide! Secondly, you are the Major, you can't just leave your people. And besides, how do you know where the core is? We haven't met a ship exactly like this before!"
Dacey became frustrated. Her grey eyes flashed anger as she began to defend herself, "Yeah, well, at least I would have died doing something! And If I died, at least it would have been my mistake and me! If I come up with a big mistake, many could die."
Dacey stomped off to the gateroom. The soldiers saluted and she nodded. The Marines relaxed and resumed their previous positions as she squatted. Zola gaped after Dacey. Wen barely turned to watch her. Zola walked up to Abbie. "You can't seriously be considering what Dacey is proposing." Zola leaned towards her and stuck her thumb in Dacey's direction. "She'll get herself killed. You would lose your best military man."
Abbie glanced at Zola, "We may have no choice. The Puddle Jumpers and F-22s may distract the ship but, if we can't get a weapon we can use against them, we will fail and Earth will be culled. I can't let that happen. Nobody deserves that."
Abbie began walking to the communication console as Atlantis shook. Reaching it, she said, "Patch my earpiece in to the SGC." The soldier quickly began rearranging crystals. The soldier looked up after a moment. He was clearly done. Abbie tapped her earpiece and started, "General Mitchell, this is Atlantis. Please respond."
For what seemed like an eternity, silence hung in the air. There wasn't even static. Finally, Mitchell spoke, "This is the SGC, what the hell is going on up there? I haven't seen a fight this big since Aunt Nelly challenged my cousin for the last roll at supper. Our sensors were knocked out and we have literally been skakin' in our boots."
"Atlantis came to Earth as fast as possible but, the alien ship got here first. We are trying to defend Earth. However, the ship is too advanced. We can't keep this up forever. Any suggestions would be great."
The conm went silent and Abbie worried the SGC had been destroyed. She tilted her head to see the screen with the sensors up. The dot representing Destiny was moving away from the scene. Abbie thanked a higher being for giving her that one miracle. When Abbie had concluded the SGC was gone, the link began to produce static. Then Mitchell started talking, "I'm sorry baby, we've got nothing here. Your mother, Sam, can't even think of anything. She said she would try to."
Abbie released breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Sighing, Abbie knew what had to be done. She pushed off the console and swiveled to look at the gateroom. She walked onto the balcony. Abbie searched for Dacey among the Marines. She yelled, "Dacey!"
Dacey turned, still crouching. Her face turned up as she spotted Abbie. She glanced at her feet and stood. She jogged up the stair and to Abbie. Abbie spoke after sighing, "I might need you to go to the ship. Unless you have any other options, I will have no choice."
Dacey told Abbie, "No. I have nothing. I will do this. Let me do this."
"You can go alone or take a small team. When you're ready, go to the rings and ring over to the ship. Contact me before you leave. Keep this mission on a need to know basis; I don't want to alarm anybody. We are desperate, please, don't fail me."
Dacey nodded and started jogging to the new transport rings. Atlantis hand got her own modified set at the last overhaul. The rings were bigger than regular ones, so they could ring Puddle Jumpers. The ringroom was a floor few floors below; it was right off the Puddle Jumper bay. Dacey debated whether to go alone or not. She hit her earpiece came to her, "Dacey to Zola, Wen, and Shaun. Meet me in the ringroom and don't tell anyone where you are going. Shaun, bring a naquadah bomb, lifesigns detector, and a pad."
Three voices spoke as one, "On my way."
Dacey stopped in front of the door to the room. She waved her hand over the control crystal panel. The door made no sound as it slid open. The room was barely large enough to hold the rings and the control console on the far side of the room. Dacey glided stalked to the console and looked down at the control crystals. The crystals looked like the ones in the gateroom control but, they had different symbols on them. She pressed a few down and a holographic screen popped up in front of Dacey. It showed all the transport rings close by that could be transported to. She scanned the map, searching. Finally, at last her eye fell on a ring system in the hive. Smiling, she congradulated herself; she had been right, that since the hive was half Ori, it had an Ori ring system. Dacey pressed another crystal down and the hive rings lit up. Dacey left the console like that and walked to the middle of the room and waited. Now, if the Wraith transported over soldiers, she would get on their ship undetected. It took only a few more minutes for Zola nd Wen to arrive. Shaun took slightly longer but, he showed up with the bomb and was armed. Attached to his vest was a P-90. The trio came and stopped in front of Dacey; all of them waited for orders.
"Ok. We are going to ring over to the hive. When we get there, prepare to be fired on. I don't want anyone dead. Then, we'll find the core and blow up the whole damn ship. Got it?"
Zola and Wen stared at her in serious ways that suggested they would but, they didn't want to. Shaun opened his mouth and gawked. Finally, shaking himself out of his shock he said, "What?" His voice broke as his pitch went way up. "You have got to be kidding me. We are going to this ship that not only can damage Atlantis but, beat us to Earth?!"
Dacey glared at him as she walked to the console and pushed one crystal, the one to ring to the selected ring system. Dacey paced back to the ring and stopped in the middle. Before Shaun could step out, the rings came up from the floor. White light blinded the four as they were dematerialized and transported.
