Chapter 13: No Man's Land
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC.
Long time, no see! Battled writers block and various other incidents these past months so I haven't been on top form but I am back. Yes I am changing the fate of Michael.
Loros didn't wait a second longer when Radek gave the coordinates of the drop out point. He would, however, be limited to pulse guns only as the drone firing system was damaged by the virus that had spread from the computers and into the Helios. Right now, his ship was a more defended variant of the Daedalus. It didn't deter him however, and he also chose to take the mission solo, preferring to dedicate the resources of the Helios to assisting in the repair of the still damaged Orion.
"Loros, are we go, or no go?" Colonel Caldwell asked him.
"We are go" the Ancient said.
"Very well. On my mark, 3, 2, 1 mark" he said.
Two hyperspace windows opened and both ships jumped to hyperspace immediately. The entire flight, Loros was occupied in trying to get the drones ready to fire again. According to the report on the damage done by the virus, it's jamming the power flow from reaching the primary weapons but it was eliminated before it could deal damage to the pulse weapons and shields.
"I'd have to find a way to re-route the power…but that would be more than what the non-essential systems can provide…" he muttered. "I'm going to have to draw it from the shields, twenty five percent per salvo should be enough…providing they don't intercept the drones themselves"
And so it took him several hours alone just to create the path for the power to flow along. He could substitute fifteen percent of the shield power with non-essential systems, so he could potentially deal with the Hives very quickly. However, that would mean both the lives of Rodney and Ronon if they couldn't get them out of there.
"May they be received by my predecessors, for they will have died in the defence of not only Earth, but also Atlantis" he whispered his prayer for his ascended brethren. With a deep breath, he was ready to drop out.
However, Loros hit a snag the moment he did. He didn't count on all the Darts creating a barrier between the Helios and the Hives. The Daedalus was already exchanging fire with one of the Hives that looked to have suffered severe damage, and his sensors told him that radiation was present, so one of their missiles had made it through. He had no time to ponder their headstart as the second Hive decided to ignore the Daedalus and open fire on the Ancient vessel, it's shielding preventing the weapons fire from damaging the ship with ease.
"Loros, now would be a good time to open fire" Caldwell said over the secure channel.
"I do agree, Colonel. I am almost ready to engage however I need a few more moments"
"There's a Hive bearing down on your position" the ship commander pointed out.
"I am aware Steven. Firing drones" he said and the once bright yellow shields seemed to fade a little as they lost a large chunk of power and the yellow bolts of light surged from the drone launch points. Joined by the pulse guns, which kept the fighters busy, the drones were able to make it to one of the Hives, peppering the organic hull with holes as they wrought destruction on the Hive, which soon ceased to exist with a powerful and fiery explosion. The Hive that was engaging the Daedalus activated several more of its weapons and began to fire on the Helios, taxing the slightly depleted shields.
"Preparing a second salvo" he reported to them.
One of the pulse guns clipped a Dart, which lost control and rammed full force into the Helios, jolting the ship enough to move it and taking out ten percent of the remaining shield power. Some of the panels sparked inside and the relay he had created had malfunctioned, causing him to utter a rare Lantean curse.
"Colonel, drone firing ability has been compromised"
"Shields?"
"Sixty-five percent"
"Concentrate your fire on the darts, draw them to you so the Daedalus can take out the fighter bays"
Loros swung the Helios around to face the second Hive and began to move his weakening vessel so that he could attract the remaining Darts with limited success. Half of the Darts firing on the smaller human ship broke off and began to fire their weapons in rapid succession, causing panels to gradually spark out as weapons fire began to bleed through. Now he was merely buying time for Earth by keeping this ship occupied. The anti-fighter weapons were designed for just that with the possibility of damaging cruisers, however they were not able to do any real damage to a Wraith Hive unless they were focused on a particular spot.
Their fighting went on for several more minutes with the Helios gradually incurring more damage as time went on. Some sections of the shield had collapsed entirely, leaving some sections exposed and he was now leaking atmosphere. He initiated an emergency lockdown so he could try and transfer the air to the bridge and he deactivated everything but the weapons, shields and bridge lighting. He was fighting a losing battle now. A holo screen showed up in front of him, displaying a smaller red dot leaving the Hive Ship, a transport if he wasn't mistaken and it was trying to hail either him or the Daedalus on the secure channel.
"This is Colonel John Sheppard. Authentication code Alpha seven Tango three" he said and Loros could not believe his own ears right now. John was alive?! How? All indications were that he had died in their first engagement with both of the Hives but he was speaking to them right now. Nevertheless, relief coursed through him, so much so that the increase in morale was affecting his ability to fight in a positive manner. He took out several darts and even damaged a Hive weapon.
"Colonel Sheppard, we'd written you off!"
"Oh don't get all emotional on me now. Look, I've got McKay, Ronon and Michael aboard a Wraith transport"
"Michael?!" both the Lantean and Caldwell exclaimed.
"Yes, sir. And he's got a plan I think you're gonna like. But it probably won't be long before they start shooting at us"
Loros was relieved as the four were beamed on board just before the transport was destroyed. The codes were disabled now, but they had no nukes that they could send over. The Lantean then thought in detail.
"Colonel, beam several of my drones over and I can activate them remotely"
"You'll have to disengage your shields…"
"Consider it done"
The last of the shielding was dropped and he took heavy damage from the Hive, but nevertheless he was able to get the drones active just as it damaged the Daedalus severely. Explosions rocked the large ship and it exploded, finally ending the battle. Loros listened in as the Daedalus faced an easily solved predicament, their life support was now down and they were shuttle breathing.
"Loros, what's your status?"
"Severe damage sustained, multiple hull breaches, however my life support is still functional. I can tow the Daedalus back and I can have your crew beamed aboard. There is one problem that will require some help"
"And by some help you mean me?" Rodney asked and he rolled his eyes.
"During the fight, several of my shield emitters were damaged and I do not have full shield coverage. Normally this would not be an issue, however, the damage sustained has made the hull very fragile and if I were to jump…I would most like tear the ship apart…"
He beamed over everyone to his ship, Michael included, and soon they were working to restore full shield coverage. Thankfully, the damaged emitters were not in the exposed sections of the ship, but nevertheless, the damage was rather severe. Despite that, they were able to send a distress signal to the Orion, which would be able to tow the Daedalus back to Atlantis and the Helios would limp back after the emergency repairs were conducted. Loros and John were forced to act professional, but it could be seen in their eyes that they were ready for a large reunion.
"What the hell happened?" McKay seethed.
"Took fire from a Hive, had a Dart slam into the ships side which disabled the shields, dropped my shields, and took more fire…" he listed off in monotone.
"You just like making work for me, don't you?"
"It gives you a challenge, does it not?"
"It could take a while to get the ship going!" McKay exclaimed.
"Sublight capabilities may be weakened but the hyperdrive is perfectly intact and capable of carrying the Helios back. Just prioritise the shield emitters and then we can return to Atlantis so that we may rest. I imagine your time in the Hive could not have been pleasant" he said and Ronon scoffed.
"You kidding me? He almost fell asleep in the cocoon they had him in" he chuckled and Loros' brows shot up.
"I have heard and seen many things in my life, however, willingly falling asleep in a Wraith cocoon is definitely not one of them"
"They were warm!" he protested.
"Still, it's a Wraith cocoon, McKay" John pointed out.
"You guys can joke around when we're back on Atlantis. Right now I'd rather focus on fixing all of our problems just so I can get some sleep" Caldwell said in exasperation. "Hermiod is already working on the emitters, however he could use some extra help to make the process go all the more faster"
"Try not to compete with him Rodney. He is an Asgard after all" Loros chuckled.
"My simulations were done before he was"
"When it comes to alien technology, he may have an edge. Let's get to work" Caldwell said, leaving the room and its occupants flabbergasted.
"Did he just insult my ability with Ancient technology?!"
"You blew up 5/6 of a solar system" Loros said in monotone.
"Are you really gonna keep reminding me of that?!
After several hours, the Orion had arrived and was able to tow the crippled Daedalus into hyperspace just before all of the shield emitters were finally back up to running capacity. The relief could be felt by the entire crew as Loros sat down to do some final checks.
"Shields are covering the ship at 5%, hyperdrive is active…I would suggest sitting down and holding on… with shields this weak there will more than likely be some turbulence" the Ancient said, hoping that was all they would have to contend with. When damaged, he had never jumped to hyperspace with less than twenty percent shields. "3…2…1… mark!" he said and the ship went straight into a hyperspace window, the turbulence being felt immediately. "Evening out…" he said and soon the ship stopped vibrating. "Shields are holding…no stress on the outer hull…power levels are stable…"
"We survived this…" McKay said in amazement.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Loros asked and again Ronon scoffed.
"He had doubts on the Hive"
When all was said and done, Elizabeth had returned a while later and they were discussing the overall situation. The Daedalus had been repaired to a working capacity so it could limp home and receive a full work over, the Helios damage was considerable but repairable, the Orion was now back to a full working capacity, but the biggest elephant in the room had yet to be discussed.
"What do we do about Michael?" the Atlantis commander asked.
"Do we use the retrovirus? Tell him that he has contracted a pathogen that requires regular injections to keep in check until a permanent solution can be found?" Loros suggested. "The last time he was allowed to roam, he led a Hive here and almost succeeded in reaching Earth"
"There's no reason why we can't" Beckett said in agreement. "We made considerable progress with it whilst we were working on it for the alliance. I believe that with a little time, we may be able to create a permanent solution. We'll just have to knock him out"
"He is a quick learner when it comes to fighting. With some training, he will become a valuable member of the expedition" Teyla said. "I do recommend that we do not station guards around him so he does not become suspicious and any material relating to the experiment on Michael should be removed"
"I'm surprised you would agree to this" Elizabeth said.
"It is really the only option that we have this time…" she said and they nodded.
"So it is settled" Loros smiled.
"Well then, I suppose we can begin to put all of this behind us. Colonel Sheppard, Loros, you've more than earned a rest. Take the rest of the day off to recuperate. I need to organize a mandatory rest day or this entire base may go completely nuts" Elizabeth said and John grinned.
"I can agree to that"
"How would it drive you nuts? All your paperwork is handled by me and you get to go off-world all the time, sir" Major Lorne grinned widely.
"Is that so?" Elizabeth asked.
"Oh would you look at that, I'm tired, come on let's go" John said, rushing out much to the amusement of his colleagues. They were all allowed to go and rest, save for Rodney, who despite his protesting, really wanted to get to work on the Helios so he could learn more about the inner workings of an Ancient warship.
The proper reunion between John and Loros was emotional, which would have been a shock as John didn't normally do well with emotions. However with his Lantean, there was always emotion, and he seemed to open up a lot more. They did not leave the room for anything, content to remain together with little touches and constant kisses just to reassure one another that they were alive and there.
"I truly thought you were gone…" Loros said as they snuggled up on the bed.
"I know… Elizabeth told me that the minute you came through the gate you looked ready to kill someone"
"I was… but you are here. That is all that matters"
John's kissed the Lantean gently, all of his emotions poured into the simple contact and vice versa as Loros began to move his lips against the Colonels. They soon began to deepen it, tongues making gentle contact, a dance rather than a battle to dominate, and hands began to roam. Loros' hand slid up John's shirt, the contact making said man moan slightly, swallowed up by the passionate kiss. They broke for air when John remembered something that Loros had said in Ancient back a while before the battle.
"I remember you speaking to me in Ancient. You said 'dilectione mea' to me before. What does it mean?"
"It means 'my love'" he said softly with a smile. "I love you John Sheppard, have done so for a long time now" he said and John's heart swelled, a large smile on his face.
"You do?" he asked and the other nodded. Loros was met with another passionate kiss which soon became heated to the point that they undressed one another. John lay on top of the other, whose arms were wrapped around his shoulders. "I love you too…" he said breathlessly before being pulled back down. Their erections rubbed against one another, drawing small moans out that were muffled by their kiss.
"If you're not ready…" John began.
"I am not…not yet. This will do for now. Just having you here in my arms…is more than enough"
The lust soon dissipated as they exchanged lazy kisses with one another. After a day like today, the feeling of encroaching sleep was indeed a welcome one, and they drifted off together, small smiles on their faces.
I will be updating this more often, I promise. I also want to ask you guys a question. I've been recently watching the show through again and I'm finding a growing love for Major Lorne. I've read a lot of fiction with him and John too, so I was wondering what you would think to it being a threesome. Let me know in a review.