O'Neill raised an eyebrow when he came into the chair room right behind the Angelos and they pulled a stunned scientist, Dr. Rodney McKay, from the chair. To say that the Tak'Kol had misfired was an understatement, it had managed to fry the nervous system of every living thing in the base they had encountered, human, cat, dog, spider, ant, everything had died. Still Dr. McKay had managed to survive long enough for the Angelo to come and stun him.
While it was a good sign that someone had survived the blast he had more pressing matters to take care of. From the control room in the central tower Mokar gave him control when he sat down in the chair. They had begun to prepare the city for take off as soon as they arrived, so it was only a matter of sending power to the engines for him now.
In the back of his mind a thought formed and the chair responded by showing a hologram of the city with clusters of white dots in the two ships parked on the piers and small groups in the control room, ZPM room and the chair room. Then there was a lone dot clinging to the outside of one of the towers in the inner city.
While the hologram had formed behind the chair his subconscious mind had received the information and processed it. Inside the upper part of the central tower one of the jumpers rose from its parking spot and shot out of the top, accelerating far beyond the capabilities of the inertial dampeners, as the sensors registered the integrity of the failing railing .
He fell and the adrenaline rushed through his body, time seemed to slow down while he used his arms and legs to turn around so he could see where he was going. A jumper shot past him and dove into his path. Without warning the jumper slammed on the brakes and he felt the open hatch catching part of the uniform as he tumbled past it while it closed. Once inside he heard the humming sound of the inertial dampeners working hard to compensate. The jumper hit the shield and sliced through it into the water, throwing him forward into the cockpit of the barrel shaped craft.
When he pulled himself of the console at the front he realised he could not see anything, then his hands found one of the controls the jumper's interior lit up again.
In the control room O'Neill could feel how Mokar blocked incoming messages from the two ships in orbit above the planet which moved in their direction. From the closest of the 304s, the Hammond he believed, a salvo from its railguns spat out and impacted the shield.
To O'Neill's surprise several more systems opened up to him on Mokar's command. When he sent power to them white energy bolts shoot out from multiple points in the city, where defensive turrets had risen from the towers, and into the aggressive ship. With a mental command he held the turrets back when the ship's shield failed. Another thought activated the hyperdrive.
With all the power found in the small vessel going to the engines and with smoke rolling out of the inertial dampeners he felt every G he pulled as he piloted the craft upwards, straight towards the glowing stardrive and the city which distanced itself from the planet. The closer to the stardrive he got the more the jumper moved side to side and he could see the jumper's shield rippel and deforming.
He closed in on the city and there a flash from one of the 304s above the planet, a split second later the right drive pod exploded. White streaks jumped from the city in retaliation and the 304's shield dropped, in response it turned around and moved away from the city. For a few seconds the city just hung there, then the city's stardrive tore a hole through the fabric of space into subspace.
It was with relief that Sheppard piloted the limping jumper up the side of the central tower and into the hangar above the gate. Moments before the city had been sucked into hyperspace the jumper's and the city's shields had merged and the later had extended to surround the jumper too.
As the smoking jumper landed in its spot a welcoming party formed around it. Inside Sheppard drew the Zat he had managed to hold on to and opened the rear hatch from behind cover of the wall which separated the front and rear compartments. Pressed against the wall he took a few shoots out of the opening hatch to deter anyone from rushing inside.
After a few minutes he saw no trace of the figures he had seen standing around his chosen spot and threw a glance over his shoulder. The man standing in front of the viewport seemed awfully familiar, like a classmate you had been in the same class with through your entire time in school but now after thirty years they had changed. As his mind tried to place the man the man walked around the ship and came into view again at the rear. "Hello."
"Stop right there."
"Stand down Colonel, you're among friends" the man said and held up two empty hands.
"I'll shoot you if you come any closer." He put a blast in the wall right next to the man.
"Stand down Colonel or I will have to make you stand down." Out of nowhere the man held a weapon in his hand.
Working on training Sheppard pressed the Zat and a blue discharge flew out towards the man. Instead of collapsing a green shield formed around the man and then a light blue bolt hit him square in the chest.
"About time you woke up." He opened his eyes and the bright light in the room burnt into them. "Looks like we're due to break out again."
"Rodney?" he asked as he recognised the voice. "What happened?"
"I was stunned. We're in one of the storage rooms in the control tower, I think." Rodney helped Sheppard of the hard floor. Just like Rodney said it seemed to be another of the nondescript rooms which seemed to fill no real function in the city and therefore the expedition had stoved their stuff inside them. Before they had the chance to say anything more the door opened and four of the most beautiful people either of them had seen stepped into the room dressed in pure white clothes.
"Come with us, The Divine wishes to speak with you" one of them said and gestured for the door.
"You got any of that?" Sheppard asked.
"They're talking Ancient, they asked us to see their god" McKay said.
He headed for the door with McKay following right behind. "Great, the Ori's here" Only now when the four took up positions around them did they see the wings coming out of their backs.
"Do…" McKay begun before a sharp look from the man, if you would call him that with the wings, at the front cut him of.
Many minutes after being led up and down corridors, through rooms and up many stairs the man who had shoot Sheppard approached them. He waved his hand and their guards split up and disappeared into the city again.
"Guys. Come on. Hurry up." The man motioned for them to follow.
"So you're this God of theirs? I thought a god was more serious" Sheppard said. He did nothing to increase their tempo.
"Who me? No. He's off to Avalon. We dropped him of a while back." The man checked his wrist were a white band with a slightly wider circle on his skin told of a lost watch. "I'm not sure how long it's left, but would you mind hurrying up a bit?"
"Where is that?" Sheppard asked.
"It's the Ancient name for the Milky Way" McKay filled in. For whatever reason they both shifted to a light jogging to follow the man.
"He prefers Alterran, but we'll get to that later." They hurried up another set of stairs and took a right turn into a corridor.
"How long until what then?"
"Not what. Where. Aycleon, it's supposed to be a metal core planet with a global ocean, we hope it'll be the first cornerstone of the Pegasus infrastructure" he said as they turned into the chair room.
"Slow down just for a minute now." The man sat down in the chair and leaned back. "Who are you and why are you telling us this?"
"Come on, I gave you both the jobs you have right now, hell I'm the reason this city's even in this galaxy at the moment." A handful of holograms faded into view over the chair, they came and went as O'Neill needed them.
"General O'Neill?" Sheppard asked. His voice was filled with disbelief. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't know you've had a positive meeting with a Wraith."
"I didn't." A hologram floated over to the two. "That's my identification code, check it when you get the chance."
"Care to put us in the loop Sir?"
"Terra's been taken over by the Goa'uld, seems like they managed to take Atlantis too. But now we're here to take it all back." Above his head one of the holograms expanded. First it covered the roof with the blue-white-black striped view of hyperspace, then it spilled down the walls and poured onto the floor. From the base of the control chair a miniatyr of Atlantis was built up tower by tower and pier by pier. "That sounded better in my head."
"I'm sure it did Sir." The view of the room changed as the city left hyperspace. To one side a star was blown up to fill the wall and large parts of the floor and roof while a planet stretched out on the opposite side. Meanwhile the miniatyr city shrunk in size to be the right scale. "Still if you're really who you claim to be I'd like to have some more proof."
"I'll give you all the proof you want later Colonel" O'Neill said. The city begun to fall towards the planet. "But right now you have a mission Colonel, take a jumper through the gate and pick up something from the other side. That should give you some proof of our intentions."
"What are we looking for Sir?" Sheppard asked as he city begun to shake.
"I don't really have time to explain it all right now Colonel." The city begun it's descent through the atmosphere. "I kind of have my hands full setting this thing down smoothly and getting the gate ready for you."
"How did you get into the city in the first place?" McKay asked. He had been very quiet since they entered the room as his brain had to tried to figure out how they managed to take the city without more resistance, long enough that his ego gave in.
"Get going and you might have the chance to find that out yourself" he urged while the city plummeted down towards the planet wide ocean.
Before Rodney had the chance to say anything else Sheppard dragged him out of the room through the door they had entered. With the two out of the room it sealed all entrances and nothing but the city and the ocean below existed for O'Neill as he steadied the city. A few kilometers above the planet he sent more power to the sublight engines and the city slowed in to stop four hundred meters above the surface. With the sensors scanning the planet since they left hyperspace he got precise readings of the entire planet. With a thought he sent the city racing across the surface to an area with large veins of many rare materials Mokar had told him the processing facility lacked. As the city closed in on the location he lowered it until it touched the water. With the city in the water he cut all power to the engines and it sank below the surface for half a minute while the water flowed around the shield and the city bleed of speed into the water. Then the city's ballast shifted and she rose back to the same level she had had on both Lantea and New Lantea.
Shortly after the city had settled and the waves around the city had died the gate activated and Jumper One flew through. Six seconds later the gate activated again and a second jumper arrived in the city, then again a few minutes later as Jumper One returned.
When Jumper One landed in the jumper bay O'Neill was waiting for them along with Mokar and Teal'c. The Alterran in a more elaborately designed white jacket and plain white pants while the other two had the white Lantean standard clothes.
"We have the package Sir" Sheppard reported with a large grin after he and McKay stepped out of the jumper.
"There's no real use though, she's trapped in the nanite body and you'd have to grow her a new body which is ridiculously hard and then you'd have to transfer her consciousness in the new body" McKay explained as they hauled the Asuran body of Dr. Weir out of the jumper and onto a floating Alterran stretcher. Then a light seemed to go up inside his mind. "You can do that can't you? Grow a new body for her?"
"Of course I can" Mokar said. He touched the stretcher which begun to float away. "I will have to build a new facility unless the Lanteans installed such facilities in the city after my creator ascended."
"You'll need my help." McKay stretched himself to full length and inhaled so much that Sheppard expected him to burst. "I'm an expert in Ancient systems, Nanites and the city. If there's a lab I know where it is, and I can create an interface between the nanites and her mind, it's new, so it might take me so time. A day, two at most."
"If that is something you would like to to then you may do so McKay." With a wave of his hand in the direction of the stretcher Mokar stopped it. "We will need her on her feet in a week, you will have three days to find the equipment we will need to grow a body."
"Plenty of time then." The arrogance was flowing from every opening in McKay's body as he took the stretcher and left the room.
"You can count on Rodney, he'll get it done" Sheppard said when the former had left the room.
"I do hope so, at least it will be another thing lifted from my shoulders." He motioned for them to follow. "Am I correct in assuming the two ships which have landed on the piers of the city are ships of war?"
"Yes, they're two of our BC-304s, the Apollo and the Sun Tzu, they took heavy damage fighting the Wraith" said O'Neill.
"Then they're in need of repairs?" He let his shoulders drop and sighted. "It seems everything is at the moment."
"Yes, rather heavy repairs too."
"That is unfortunate." They walked down the stairs into the control room. As he touched a few buttons on one of the consoles a holographic screen flashed to life above it and showed the output of the lifesigns detector. "Something or someone survived on those ships, if you're with us, like McKay seems to be, Sheppard, I would like you to secure those ships. Teal'c and four of the Angelo will come with you."
"Yes Sir" Sheppard said after a nod of approval from O'Neill. "However I do not think Rodney's is on any side Sir, it's more likely he got so excited he forgot about the change in leadership."
"You answer to O'Neill just like before Sheppard, only now I ask him to do things." Teal'c handed Sheppard a bag. "You'll find basic Alterran infantry equipment in that bag. And do not call me Sir, the Alterra do not use such titles."
"I will figure out something else to call you" Sheppard teased before Teal'c motioned towards four of the Angelos who stood nearby.
"We've got an errand to run, so we'll be back in a few hours" O'Neill said as they split up and he and Mokar made for the gate which was already dialling.