Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Atlantis

Colonel John Sheppard stood in front of the Stargate and looked across the team at the bottom of the control room stairs. "OK People! This is a straight forward mission, we're going to locate that outpost, secure it, and then get to work finding out whether what we want is down there."

Sam Carter stood to one side of him, wearing her off-world gear and ready to go. She looked up at Chuck, Atlantis' resident technician, and gave the order. "Activate the Gate." With that, Chuck began dialling the address for M1K-773 and soon afterwards the Stargate activated, causing the unstable vortex of the wormhole to form only a meter from Sheppard and Carter's backs. "Let's go" she said, smiling as she thought about the potential of the discovery that could await them on that planet.

The two Colonels stepped out of the way, allowing Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagan to lead the way, an excitable Rodney McKay finding it hard not to dart in front of them. Behind him were his sister Jeannie Miller, and his friend/sometimes rival Radek Zelenka. Major Alicia Vega brought up the rear. Sam was about to walk through herself when John placed a hand on her shoulder. "You sure you want to come? McKay isn't always spot on about these things… I wouldn't be surprised if the most interesting thing we find end's up being a few nicely arranged rocks…"

Carter chuckled. "Don't worry John, from what I saw in the database this place could be pretty important. You don't want me missing out on the fun now, do you?" the two officers shared a smile, and then John led the way through. Sam caught something out of the corner of her eye before she followed, and turned. Dr. Daniel Jackson stood at the top of the stairs, one hand in his pocket the other up in the air, waving his old friend off. It wasn't the first time Sam had left him in charge, but even the first time she had, she had trusted him implicitly. Sam returned the wave before heading out through the gate.

Galactica's CIC

Admiral Adama and Laura Roslin stood in Galactica's CIC, staring across at each other. The room was silent while they awaited confirmation of what could possibly be the greatest news they'd heard since they escaped the Colonies. The tension in the room grew thicker with every passing second, until finally, a voice came through over the radio and filled the room. "Galactica, this is Starbuck." Everyone in the room tensed, not daring to move. "This baby is habitable." With those four words, the room erupted, the mood changing in a split second. Smiles grew across the faces of both Roslin and Adama as they came together and embraced each other. This may not have been Earth, but it would do, for now at least.

"So Madame President, what's our next course of action?" Adama asked, still embracing her. The smile widened on Laura's face.

Meanwhile, far below the Galactica in the atmosphere of this new planet, Starbuck and Apollo flew side by side in their Vipers, staring up at the azure blue sky, and then down at the emerald land below them.

M1K-773

"See Sheppard? I told you it was here. You just wouldn't listen…" Rodney McKay was smug. Smugger than usual, and that was never a good thing. But frankly, John couldn't care less. They had emerged from the forest, and there it was, right in front of them. The Ancient outpost, only about 150 metres over some slightly rocky terrain. And if the outpost was there, then the Aurora Class Warship was likely just underneath.

The team stood there, each one in slight awe. The outpost itself was pretty damn impressive. It stood at the base of a mountain, carved into it almost as if it were some kind of old Lantean temple. Of course the reality of it, and especially what the team expected was underneath it, was much more interesting. Radek was the first one to break the silence. "Well then. Let's get to work." With that, the team began walking towards their destination, each one of them with nothing but the thought of an Aurora Class Ship on their minds.

Within minutes, they were there, at the base of the impressive structure. "Right, Vega and Ronon, you guys stay up here and let us know if any uninvited guests come knocking."

Vega gave Sheppard a salute "Yes, Sir!" Sheppard sighed.

"What've I told you about that?" he asked, causing the younger office to smirk and relax. "The rest of you, you're with me and Colonel Carter."

The rest of the team began walking deeper into the outpost, but Sam put a hand on Sheppard's shoulder as he had done to her before. "John, what have I told you about that?" She flashed him a smirk.

"Sorry… Sam" he replied, before returning the gesture. Both officers began following the team, leaving Vega and Ronon almost in stitches.

Colonial Raptor

Bill Adama sat in the front of the raptor, something he rarely did. This time, he wanted the best view he could possibly get as they set down on this new planet. Previous flyovers hadn't detected any intelligent life, and if there were any civilizations in the vicinity then they must have been extremely well hidden. He felt bad about making Laura stay on Galactica, but until he was absolutely certain the planet was safe, he wouldn't be letting her come down, no matter how much she tried to make it. He wasn't willing to risk her life.

"There" the Admiral said, pointing to a large open space near a mountain. The pilot complied with his orders and changed the Raptor's course. The other 6 Raptors behind them followed suit.

Ancient Outpost

"So, do you think Carson likes Jen?" Vega asked her Satedan friend as they stood 'guarding the door'. They really had gotten the shitty end of the stick.

"Are you kidding?" Ronon laughed. I don't think it, I know it. And he's not the only one…"

"Hey? Know something you're not telling me, big guy?" Vega asked, playfully punching Ronon's shoulder. Ronon smiled. He liked teasing Vega. Similar to Teyla, she had become like a sister to him over these past couple of years. But while Teyla was like a big sister, Vega was more like a little sister.

"Well…" he started, but stopped after a single word, suddenly looking very alert. Vega began to ask what was wrong, but Ronon shushed her. Then, she heard it too. It sounded a little bit like a Wraith Dart, but they could both tell it was different. They stepped into the shadows so as not to be seen, and then they saw where the sound was coming from. A fleet of small ships, definitely not Wraith in design, flying across the sky… and setting down right between them and the Stargate. Ronon squeezed his radio. "Sheppard, Carter, we've got company."

Ancient Hangar Bay

The team had managed to locate an Ancient transporter, and in a flash found themselves hundreds of metres underground. They stepped out of the transporter, which was surprising large compared to those in Atlantis, and were met with an Ancient door like those back in the city. The lights came on as soon as the team were detected, just as had happened in the outpost above. The door was directly opposite the transporter, and there was nothing more than a wall on the right, but when the team looked left they saw a corridor which stretched as far as the eye could see. "Well, looks like this is the place…" Jeannie said, cautiously.

"Oh, thanks a lot Sherlock, and for your next party trick?" Her brother chimed in once again in his almost trademark sarcastic manner, earning him a smack from both Jeannie and Sam who were either side of him.

"Meredith!" Jeannie said in a stern voice. Over these past few years Rodney had grown much closer to his little sister and her family when they moved with her to Atlantis, but he still couldn't help himself. The brilliantly minded woman constantly reminded herself that he was like this with everyone and not just her, and that helped her cope with him.

"Come on kids, enough playing around…" Sheppard ran his hand across the crystals at the side of the door, causing it to slide open. "…Time to see what we're all on this little field trip for."

With that, the team walked into the Ancient control room, and looked out through the glass façade into a very dark hanger. They stood for a moment. "There's nothing there! There's nothing…" Radek began saying what was on everyone's minds, but suddenly he stopped, and began gawping as Sheppard ran his hands across the Ancient control panels causing the hangar to illuminate… revealing the pristine Aurora class ship sitting there, untouched for thousands of years.

The team cheered, there had been a nagging part of them that felt that the ship wouldn't be there, but that fear had luckily been put to rest. They were about to get to work when Ronon came on over the radio. The signal was weak, Sheppard putting it down to the depth they were currently at, but he could just make his friends words out… They had company.

Colonial Raptor

The hatch of the first Colonial Raptor opened, filling the small ship with real oxygen. Admiral Adama was the first person to step out and onto the ground, taking those first few steps for his entire people. He looked out over the lush green forests and the tall, imposing mountain standing above him. The sky was an amazingly deep blue dotted with light, fluffy clouds. A tear welled up in the corner of his eye. He was a strong man, but this sight made him want to fall to his knees and thank the gods for what they had stumbled across. "We've made it…" he said, quietly.

"You're damn right we have" Kara said from behind him, a massive smile on her face. She jumped down off the raptor and placed her hands on her hips, taking in the view before her. "Just like Earth was…"

"Is this Earth?" asked Adama, as the other Raptors opened and Colonials began piling out.

"No." Kara replied. "Looks just as good though." Adama was inclined to believe her.

"This is amazing." said Lee as he stepped out and stood alongside Kara and his father. "I never thought I'd see something like this again…"

"Oh Lee, you should have a little more faith" Kara laughed, before walking out over the grassy plain. Lee followed, still taking in the sights.

Ancient Outpost

"Hmm… They look like they could be Genii, going on the uniforms, but I don't know how the hell they got their hands on those ships…" Ronon took a closer look at the new comers through his binoculars. They were in the open plain and slightly lower down than the entrance to the temple, so at least the team had the high ground. The unexpected guests were in a much wider part of the plain as well, so it was possible that the team could make it back to the forest without taking casualties. But at the same time, they couldn't let these people take the Ancient Outpost, or the ship underneath. They would have to send re-enforcements back through quickly.

"So what we got?" Sheppard asked, coming up beside Ronon, taking out his own binoculars.

"There's dozens of them…" replied Vega, readying her weapon.

"We've taken on more enemies than this before… I'm sure we'll be fine." Sheppard had a slight tone of uncertainty in his voice, and the others picked up on it.

Colonial Raptor

As Kara came about half way to the edge of the tree line, she noticed something at the base of the mountain, a reflection of sun in a strange looking structure. She realised straight away what that meant… She casually turned around, and began walking back towards the Colonials. She stopped Lee who had been following her, and hugged him, bringing her mouth close to his ear. She whispered in his ear "There's toasters up there… Watching us." Lee's eyes flicked over, and he caught another flash as the sun reflected off a pair of binoculars.

"I see them." He replied, and they both began walking back to the Raptors. Eventually, Kara broke into a run, trying to make it look like she was just being competitive with Lee. Up above, Sheppard was growing suspicious, and warned the team to get ready to head back to the Gate.

Kara was now within twenty metres of the closest Raptor. "Toasters!" she shouted out a warning to the Colonials at the top of her voice, it echoed across the plain and even the expedition members heard it. Straight away, the Colonials were ready to fight.

Ancient Outpost

"Did she just say Toasters?" Sam asked, but no one had time to answer as a bullet from a sniper embedded itself in one of the columns of the outpost, almost clipping Rodney and causing him to become hysterical.

"What the hell did we do!?" he shouted, wondering why these new people would open fire on them for no apparent reason.

"I don't know but we're not sticking around to find out!" Sheppard darted off to the edge of the tree line, gesturing for the team to follow him. McKay and Zelenka raced ahead alongside him, with Teyla, Vega and Ronon in the middle. Sam brought up the back, running alongside Jeannie who hadn't quite got the hang of this part of the job. "Keep running! If we're moving they'll find it a hell of a lot harder to hit us!" Sheppard called out, hoping that his advice proved true on this occasion. He finally reached the tree line, and noticed that the crazy soldiers were running towards them. He got everyone past, and Jeannie and Sam were just about to reach him, when one of the enemy soldiers got in a lucky shot, causing McKay's younger sister to fall to the floor.

Jeannie screamed in agony as the bullet pierced her leg. Sam dragged her to the edge of the tree line as Teyla, Ronon and Vega came running back. Rodney was too far ahead to know what had happened, and ran to the Gate as fast as his legs could carry him, thinking everyone was still behind him and not realising that only Radek was.

"Get her back to the Gate, me and Sheppard will provide cover fire!" Straight after giving the order Sam had her gun pointed at the Colonial soldiers, with John following suit. The others grabbed Jeannie and helped her get out of the line of fire, feeling bad about leaving their friends behind but following Sam's order regardless.

Tree Line

Kara Thrace ran towards the enemy Cylons as fast as she fraking could, prepared to fire them as soon as she had a clear shot. Suddenly, a hail of bullets came towards them taking out three of the marines, causing both Starbuck and Apollo to dart for the tree line. Frakers! Starbuck looked at Apollo as they ran, they knew what to do. They would block off the toaster's means of escape, and then make them pay.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Colonial marines sprinted towards the enemies' position, all guns blazing. Sam and John decided it wasn't a good idea to stick around any longer and began running through the forest towards the Gate, but before they could get far enough away the Colonials reached the tree line, one taking aim at Sam and pulling the trigger, shooting her in the back.

"Sam!" Sheppard watched as his friend fell to the ground, and ran back to her, only for Starbuck to jump out in front of him. "Shit…" Starbuck smiled a wry smile, before smacking the man in the head with the butt of her gun. Sheppard was knocked unconscious, seeing nothing other than the very happy look on the blonde woman's face as she hit him.