Title: The Pi Covenent
Author: AshtakRa
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: Ronon/Lorne, Sheppard, McKay
Rating: PG (for now)
Summary: A comrade recovered, but how much of him remains? Weir mentioned the existence of advanced civilisations but did not elaborate on their intentions - The Pi Covenent could be their doom, or their salvation.
Chapter Eleven
In the chaos of command Chuck clawed his way back to his console. The entire room was at an angle, which of course meant the whole city was; one or more of the ballast tanks had been ruptured, it was the only explanation. His screen flickered, power was intermittent but enough to show him his theory was correct. In true fashion the situation was probably going to get worse as two more of the tanks were in danger of breaking open. If that happened the city wouldn't sink but fall half in to the ocean; possibly capsizing.
Woolsey was unconscious, Radek was missing and he could not see any military people; Chuck sighed and shook his head – so not the way he wanted to take command.
"Report!" he yelled, hoping someone would respond in the semi-darkness. Thankfully someone did, listing power levels. Then someone else called out parts of the city that were taking on water. More reports starting coming in; not one person questioned that Chuck had taken control; probably not a job any of them wanted right now.
"Synchronise the remaining ballast tanks, get the city level before another tsunami hits; order all military units to prepare for intruders." Chuck checked the readings on his monitor; the line of tsunamis circling the planet had hit so quickly after the energy wave that they had been unprepared. He estimated they had thirty minutes before being hit again. "Prepare to lower the shield."
It was a testament to command's professionalism that no-one argued; they had all heard the power level, or lack thereof. The shield almost collapsed under the first onslaught – if not given time to recharge it would never stop another round of tidal waves.
The shield was lowered.
SGASGASGASGASGA
Sharmilla-Joth smiled as the data flowed in. The city was intact. It had been a gamble to send the energy pulse since they may have destroyed Atlantis – but it was necessary or it would be months before they could breach the shield. The plan had been for the prototype to infiltrate Atlantis, gain their trust then find a way to disable defences. Unfortunately communication with the prototype had been disturbed and then completely severed.
Luckily Sharmilla-Joth had a back-up plan.
The screen suddenly changed and icons appeared next to the city. This made her smile more; the shields were down and that meant that Atlantis was wide open.
"Begin transport – prisoners are not required, get me the database!"
On the surface of Pi-Antikos ten panels lifted slightly and wave after wave of attack craft swarmed out, heading straight for the ancient city.
SGASGASGASGA
The barrel was pushed into Ronon's head and he grimaced. Focused on Lorne and then the city lurching from some giant collision he had not heard the soldier's approach.
"Give him over and there'll be no trouble." It was the Texan – Ronon knew he should have broken bones instead of just knocking him out earlier.
Spinning around Ronon wasn't quick enough; the big marine just stepped back and held the pistol to his chest instead. "Your devotion to that thing makes me sick." Ronon watched the other's eyes, in it he saw madness, not lunacy but the madness of belief. This guy actually believed he was doing the right thing.
"Excuse me, but I believe we have unfinished business," the voice of Lorne sounded behind the Texan. He tried to turn but Lorne easily knocked the weapon aside, back-handing him then round-house kicking the man into the wall. His eyes rolled up unconscious.
Lorne turned to Ronon, his eyes had a soft blue glow and the tattoos were shining gold. Silence reigned between them for some time before Lorne sighed, "For what it's worth Ronon, I am sorry – had there been another way…"
"Don't want to hear it," Ronon said huskily. "Let's just finish this and you can go wherever you need to go."
Lorne stared at him before nodding slowly. He put on the remainder of his armour and it came on line. Segments extended and lights flickered across the surface. One segment snaked up and covered one eye, another encased his hands in claw-like gloves with a metal frame. Turning to the wall Lorne held it out and a sudden glow was followed by a burst of silent thunder, the wall opposite exploded into molten sparks.
The smile that crossed Lorne's face was almost feral. "Several more soldiers approaching – shall I?"
Ronon nodded and said something he never thought would come from his lips. "No killing."
SGASGASGASGA
"Engage defence systems – we cannot raise the shield yet!" Chuck went from console to console. Half their team were either unconscious or dead and each of them had to cover several systems. A fleet of vessels was approaching and they had only minutes to repel the attack. The room lurched dangerously.
"We're unable to stabilise the tanks – one more goes and the entire north section will sink."
Chuck didn't even note who said it – their choices were limited. He gritted his teeth, wishing McKay were here and cursing Radek for being out of contact.
"Divert all power to the engines."
Jenkins, a recently arrived tech, spun to face him. "You can't be serious? We barely have the power for shields – if we use the engines their's no way to have shields as well – we'll be vulnerable to the vacuum of space."
Chuck stared him down – hoping his expression was a mirror of McKay on a bad day.
"We're not leaving the atmosphere – now start diverting that power."
SGASGASGASGASGA
Watching the water sink below them as Atlantis lifted off Ronon and Lorne looked at each other in bemusement.
"There goes the swimming option," muttered Lorne.
"Suits me – hate the water."
Lorne raised an eyebrow. "That's not entirely true."
Ronon snorted in a mixture anger and amusement. "Don't do that, I'm supposed to be pissed at you."
"Look," Lorne tried to explain. "I may not be the original Evan Lorne, or the copy you thought I was – or… I'm not really sure what I am now but its something new." He put a hand on Ronon's shoulder. "I still remember all that we have, I feel all the same things. If there was a way for me to stay, I'd like for you to want me to stay."
Ronon looked long and hard into the azure blue eye. "You really mean that don't you?"
A cheeky smile broke out across Lorne's face. "I'm only human."
His expression grew serious and he looked out to the west. "Incoming!"
As they watched dozens of sleek vessels, silver globular designs, came screaming in. A dozen rail guns started firing immediately, creating a spectacular light show as the small ships' shields flared. Some failed and exploded in blue-green fire; but others kept coming and released energy pulses that rocked the city.
"We need to get to command," said Ronon firmly.
SGASGASGASGA
Multiple consoles exploded in a shower of sparks and white smoke. The acrid smell of burnt wiring permeated the air and Chuck fought the urge not to gag.
"What's our status?"
"Power is down to half a percent, our ability to remain airborne is in the minutes."
"Then we need to be quick, have we found a location?"
Xiu, who was usually only ever found in the labs brought a tablet over. "Here and here, or possible here in a valley," she pointed at various landmarks, each level enough to land the city. "I have to say though, there is no way to estimate what kind of damage we'll do to the super-structure."
The tower shuddered as several enemy ships scored direct hits. "Worse than that?" grimaced Chuck. He studied the map carefully. "The valley, at the foot of the mountain range – that way they have only one approach vector."
Xiu smiled in appreciation. "That would have been my choice also."
Barking out several more orders Chuck checked his own consoles. They were down to four rail guns, half a dozen 50mm and ten units armed with anti-aircraft weapons. Once down there would be no power for shields but they might be able to punch a wormhole through the interference – they just needed to buy some time to evacuate and blow the city. Chuck was under no illusion – they had no way to fight off an enemy who had a world-ship at their command.
"Where the hell is McKay when you need him?" Chuck muttered through clenched teeth.
SGASGASGASGA
The rings disappeared into the floor and Sheppard took in yet another vast room – this one full of what looked like armoured vehicles. Room after room had revealed weapons, soldiers and vehicles that both impressed and scared the shit out of him.
"Yes, great – but how much more do we need to see?" grumped McKay, looking to their host.
The middle-aged face of Kellerax-Six sighed unhappily. "We have to keep moving to avoid detection – the Integrate is efficient but they have a world to watch and I can mask our movements somewhat."
"To what end?" asked Sheppard. "Can you get us back to Atlantis?"
"Probably, but I am unsure what that would achieve."
McKay was biting his lip, obviously mulling something over. Sheppard punched him in the arm. "What is it McKay?"
"Kellerax-Six said he thinks the program is on Atlantis – but not the database; he also mentioned the only reason we have escaped capture, apart from our ring-hopping, is that Sharmilla-Joth had to adapt her attack plan – stay with me Colonel I'm trying to make a point. If they did not expect to have to divert more resources to an original attack then they expected to just walk on in and take Atlantis, and how would that be possible without an inside man?"
"Lorne," said Sheppard.
"Exactly," McKay snapped his fingers. "But their man has not performed his duties as expected – either he's dead or…"
Sheppard turned to Kellerax-Six. "He's gone rogue – your Integration can't control him can they?"
The large alien harrumphed loudly. "We never could, Sharmilla-Joth believed so much in the power of Integration she ignored that the best soldiers have independent thought; perhaps the fact I managed a small bit of re-programming did not hurt."
"So," continued McKay. "This program you require is not on any computer – it is Lorne, the very cloned soldier you sent our way is what can bring about this civil war."
"Yes." Kellerax-Six's answer was filled with sadness and remorse and part of Sheppard understood. He may not agree with his people's march to war but Kellerax-Six was still betraying them and committing many to death.
"Hold up," Sheppard held up a hand. "We keep talking about clones and that has me thinking – exactly how are you producing them, I know from experience that excessive cloning is dangerous and unpredictable?"
The young face of Kellerax-Six turned to face him. "In order to combat the inherent degenerative process of re-cloning from existing copies each soldier's template is drawn from the primary specimen before being imprinted with the Jokilurhaminox bio-weave."
McKay's head whipped around and Sheppard felt a sharp pain deep in his chest. They both spoke at once.
"Primary specimen?"
Kellerax-Six seemed genuinely confused. "Yes, the person you know as Evan Lorne."
"But he's dead? You can't clone successfully from a dead organism – not in the numbers you're speaking, even using him cell by cell could not produce the soldiers in the amounts we've seen."
"You are correct."
Sheppard staggered back, the reality hitting him. "You mean to say… Evan Lorne is alive?"
The face of Kellerax-Six frowned, the lines on his ancient face showing his confusion.
"Of Course."
Tbc…