"This is the Lantefying chamber" Mokar said. He lead Sheppard and Carter inside the lab he and O'Neill had set up on Atlantis simply because the later didn't think Gamia was a pleasant planet.
"Lantefying?" Sheppard raised an eyebrow as they entered the room. It was split in two, to the left was an Alterran control console on a slightly raised podium protected by a force field, the same kind used to separate Lantean and Alterran sections in the city. To the right a staircase lead down to an open area with nothing else there.
"O'Neill came up with the name" Mokar said. "He thinks Lanteans would be more useful to us and I agree, so we had this section rebuilt to the Lantefying section so we can 'upgrade' more than one at a time. We can treat thirty humans at the same time here, but for now it's just the two of you."
"So what do we do?" Carter asked.
"Go down there and wait, it will take an hour at most." He crossed over to the console above.
"We're just going to stand here?" Sheppard asked. While they stood there two force fields formed around them and pushed them into a corner.
"No, over there. The first and second spots are beneath your feet and you'll need to stay inside the fields or the transformation could end badly."
After five minutes Rodney came running into the room with a face as red as a tomato. "Come on. You couldn't wait for me?" Rodney complained. Sheppard had never seen him so sweaty.
"Did you really run Rodney?" Sheppard asked. Next to him Carter raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss this for the world, the chance to become an Ancient, priceless."
"To bad you're late then" Sheppard mocked.
"He can be processed separately" Mokar corrected. "You'll be done a while after them. Just step down and I'll deal with you."
"Really?" Rodney said, his face cracking up in a wide smile.
"Here you go General" the doctor said and handed O'Neill a note.
"I didn't think you'd be done so soon" O'Neill replied and looked down on it.
"It's not hard to determine the cause of death when there's a bullet sitting inside their brains. It's been proven to be fatal many times."
He frowned. "They were executed?"
"Aye everyone were, both Colonel Mitchell and Vala were among the victims. All but the last one."
"General Landry." O'Neill read of the bottom of the note. "Killed at close range by nine millimeter bullet along with symbiote toxin. He was a Goa'uld?"
"Unless the Tok'ra's begun killing their hosts, aye."
"Have you checked for any more of the slimy bastards?"
"Aye. As far as I can tell he was the only one, the rest were brainwashed but the stunners seem to have broken that."
"Keep them in the medbay for now Carson, I don't want to have anyone of them breaking out and causing trouble."
"And there we go. Three new Lanteans, the computer should already have reserved new rooms for you in the Lantean section" Mokar said while the forcefield around McKay shut down and he joined the other two.
"O'Neill said something about access codes" McKay said with glaring eyes.
"You'll be given them when you need them. Personally you'll be returning to Earth McKay, they will need a technical advisor when they build the outpost."
"Really?" McKay complained. "I get Lantefied and that's what I get to work with?"
"All in due time Rodney" Sheppard eased. "I'm sure there will be some project for you to sink some spare time into. Right?"
"Many thing will need to be done as Sheppard say, but right now we need the outpost so we can organise the defense of Terra."
"Can I pack some personal things first?"
"Take the time you need, Chuck's ready to dial the gate when you're ready to return."
"You sure there isn't anything here on Atlantis you need my help with, there's plenty of things to repair."
"Go Rodney, he told you to go to Earth, so go" Sheppard scolded.
"I guess I should get going then?" Sheppard asked.
"Not yet." Mokar motioned for the two to follow him out of the room and across the hall into a much smaller lab. "Since you're bringing the Tria back here you will need to have an understanding of the systems."
"So I guess that's what the headsucker is meant for?" Sheppard motioned for the wall furthest away.
"Neural interface" Mokar corrected. "But yes, I will download some of my knowledge into its data banks and it will be downloaded into your mind."
"So you control the amount of data?" Carter asked.
"Yes, I chose what you will get and the amount you receive" Mokar said as he worked the neural interface. "There is already finished neural downloads, but they are meant for Alterran or Lantean minds, it will take your bodies time to reach that level. So I am creating these two after your minds."
"Is it safe?" Carter asked.
"I would not do it if I did not think it was" Mokar said as he stepped away from the machine. "Sheppard goes first, then you Carter."
"Here goes nothing" he said and shoved his head into the neural interface. Half a second later he fell to the ground but got up just as quick. "Wow."
"Anything good in there?" Carter asked as she tapped his head.
"It's amazing. I could built the Tria from scratch with this" he said as he moved out of the way so Carter could have a go. After hesitating for just a second she stepped up and let the light wash over her. The light continued for almost eight seconds, then she fell down on the floor with limp limbs.
Sheppard knelt down next to her when she stayed down. "What happened?"
"The information she needed was far greater than what you were given which led to much higher stress within her brain, it most likely shut off to protect itself" Mokar explained while she begun to move.
"There's so much in here, it feels like it's going to cause my brain to have a meltdown" she complained as she scraped herself of the floor with the help of Sheppard.
"Yes, the Alterra mostly used a manual workforce and therefore we did not do much research with nanites and replicators. The Lanteans seem to have gone the other way after the last of us died or Ascended, they did an incredible amount of research into the subject. I have not yet been able to go through it all myself."
"But still the way they did it, it is incredibly simple and safe" she said, then her mood jumped off a cliff. "Until they built the Asurans. They did not think them through at all did they?"
"No. The Lantean database is not entirely clear on the timeline" Mokar admitted. "But I figure less than two weeks is a good estimate."
"Two weeks?" Sheppard asked in surprise. "I would have thought it took them years to do."
"They already had replicators John" Carter said as he mind hyper processed the knowledge to find what she wanted. "They used the old design and changed the programming to be more aggressive, I could simply revert back to the old design. Of course I will have to add some extra safety parameters."
"You are correct, but I will leave that to you Carter" he said before turning to Sheppard. "I think it is time for you to go, they are waiting for you and time is not something we have in abundance at the moment."
"West pier right?"
"Yes."
"Nanite lab?" she guessed when Mokar led her out of the lab and down one of the halls.
"No, I have had everything you need moved to a lab with higher security." They stepped into a transporter. "It is where such research should be done."
"Off world activation" a man shouted from the makeshift control room where he could control the gate's shield and the dialling. "We're not receiving IDC."
"Raise the shield" Weir instructed. Before she could find a working radio O'Neill stepped up and stopped her hand.
"They're friendlies" he said and removed a hand from the DHD. Some additional augmentation by Mokar had allowed him to use the DHDs in the same way a true Alterran could.
"You know that for sure?" she said as the shield vanished.
"Yes" he said as Teal'c came through the gate along with forty men who were all dressed in the SG uniform.
"You've done some redecoration in the gate room Jack?" a voice asked. He knew it belonged to the Major leading SG-32, a man he had hand picked for the task after the first siege of Atlantis.
"It was too modern Major. We chose to go with an Ancient style" O'Neill replied before grabbing Teal'c and moving away a short distance. "I hope you did as I told you?"
"Indeed. I have stunned all of them in case any of them were brainwashed."
"Good. I'll be taking the Apollo to pick up some people Dr. Weir wants to return so keep them in line until then."
"I will see to it O'Neill" he said as O'Neill disappeared in a white light.
"Kofi" Weir said as she approached her friend who sat below a tree.
"Elizabeth. I were told you had been killed half a decade ago" he replied as he looked up. "Imagine my surprise when you ask me to meet you."
"Sometime things are exaggerated" she said while looping her arm around his and leading him away. They had met in a park outside his hometown, yet she did not think they were safe. "But I do admit I thought my time had come a few years ago."
"Last I heard you were doing some top secret work within the military, I did not think you would be the one to abandon the cause for the military."
"Sometimes ideals have to be given up for the larger things" she said as they crossed over a stream on an old stone bridge. Without one more word she grabbed a firm hold of him and before he could react they were walking over the side of the bridge. "Like the fate of our planet or something similar."
"This is one of the gate ships from the alien city in another galaxy, correct?" he asked as they crossed into the cloaked jumper Elizabeth had taken to the meeting.
"Yes, we call them jumpers" she said as she slid in behind the controls and motioned for him to sit down next to him. "But I did not come here to brag about this. I take it you are aware of the current situation?"
"Yes how could I miss it? An alien species taking control of both American continents and many larger cities around the globe, even if I am no longer the Secretary-General of the United Nations I could not miss such a thing."
"Both? Out intel said only the united states had been compromised."
"Things move fast Elizabeth, your intel could be no more than a week old."
"Do you know who their leader is?"
"Enap. Or at least that is the name that has been leaking out."
"Perhaps Daniel will know more about him" she said as a blue outline formed in front of them.
"What is that?" he asked as they sliced through the cloaking field into the hangar of the Apollo.
"Welcome to the Apollo" she said as the jumper touched down. "There is much we need to talk about and little time."
"What would you ask of me Elizabeth?" he said as they strode out into the hangar.
"To help me secure Earth" she said. She pressed the transmit button on her radio. "Jack, we're on board, you're good to go."
-We are going- Jack replied as the ship accelerated away.
"From the aliens?" he asked.
"Yes, they're called the Goa'uld. You should know who they are since you seem to know about the jumpers" she answered.
"I know who they are" he confirmed.
"Then things will be much simpler" she said as they left the hangar behind and headed for the rings. "In under two weeks we think a second alien fleet will be arriving to eliminate the first, we hope they will destroy each other while the militaries around the globe take out any Jaffa left on the ground or in the air."
"Two weeks is far too little time to draft a treaty of unification Elizabeth. Leaders have tried to unite the countries of Earth many times, but it can not be done." They stepped inside the rings which flew up from the floor and washed them in a white light.
"That is what we have Kofi, if we do not then many more will die." The rings lowered and they were left in the Antarctic outpost. "I imagine you still have much pull within the political world, as do I. They will listen and we will point them at the Goa'uld."
"That's a big hole" Zelenka commented as he and a team of engineers were lead around a walkway.
"Yes, it is where the outposts fit when one is built beneath the city" Mokar replied as they walked around the hole. "I've tried to start up the equipment for a while now but I do not have the time to personally repair it."
"Which is where we come in" Zelenka guessed as they were lead into a room.
"Yes, our more advanced technology requires plenty of rare substances, many of which have been exhausted in our old mining facilities, this world contains most of what we need."
"We'll do our best" Zelenka promised as the team fanned into the room and begun their work.
"Use this if there is anything you need." Mokar handed him an Alteran communicator. "I will have to leave the city a number of times over the coming days, but this should be able to reach me as long as I do not leave the galaxy."
"I'm sure we can solve this by ourselves, otherwise we will call up the blueprints or call you" Zelenka said confidently.
"I am sure you will" Mokar said as he wandered out of the room. They had teams across the city doing repairs, yet this was the first and only team he had allowed in the Alterran section of the city, he did not like them walking around freely in here, but for now he had have to tolerate it if he were to have the systems operational any time soon. For now he needed to check upon the facilities O'Neill, Teal'c, Sheppard and McKay had surveyed a couple of days ago.
"Azriel, Nisroc, Alizur" Daniel said and greeted each of the Angelos in turn. Mokar had given him a neural download to supplement the holes in his Ancient along with the rest of the basic languages used in the Alterran realm.
"The Divine has instructed that we be your guards on your journey" Azriel said. They took up position around Daniel who stood in front of the active gate.
"Come then, we have many places to visit" he said as he stepped through the gate. He disliked having soldiers with him on diplomatic missions, but he wasn't about to argue with a bunch of angels, an Alteran and most likely Jack.
As an ascended Asuran Elizabeth had come into contact with several advanced civilisations and Mokar had thought it wise to establish contact as soon as possible. With Elizabeth busy trying to piece Earth together the lot had fallen on Daniel and he had picked it up like a kid getting a new toy for christmas.