Title: Show No Fear

Author: Feral Geek
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: Chapter 23, if you're here and don't know the story, go back to chapter one and start reading.

Disclaimer: Amie no own Stargate or Wraith, they own Amie (they keep her in a little box in one of the Hive Ships with a laptop so she can write this crap without getting sued)

A/N: My loyal minions...-cough- readers...I meant readers...I have a task for you! Everyone who reads this chapter will please go to the author page belonging to SNBRADY and read her fic 'The Unseen' I guarantee you will love it (I do!) and you must leave her beautiful reviews.

yey! -love-

My writers block is gone! Huzzah! All is good in the world...sooh...

ONWARDS!

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Surprisingly, the Darts fit into the gateroom, although it would be dangerous to try and fly one in at high speed.

Still, it was a very disconcerting to see the two depart, one after another, through the Stargate.

Needless to say, a number of the Lanteans were relieved to see them go.

--

Much of what happened next was a blur.
High above the planet, the two Hives fired upon one another, out of visual range, but not out of contact.

All around Darts and Cruisers swooped and fired, screaming though the air, crashing or exploding into hundreds of pieces.

On the ground drones fought one another.

About to join the fray, the duo was stopped by Malka, her voice slamming into their heads with orders to return to the Hive.

They had special orders waiting them.

Thus they flew through the fight at full speed, not stopping to engage the enemy.

Although they did blast anything that got in their way to pieces.

Much of the Hive was empty, there were no Darts or Cruisers in the main docking bay, and no drones standing guard, all of them out fighting, leaving behind a small group to fight off any intruders that might make their way through the fighting taking place in the space around them.

Malka was already waiting for them in the docking bay, standing on one of the wider pathways, surrounded by her personal guard.

She did not even give them time to pay their respects for all formalities are flung away in times of battle, instead passing out the orders.

Dalkar was to lead a group of Darts to attack the hyperspace drives on the enemy Hive, providing a distraction while Cavan led a larger force against the main body of the Hive, going for weapons systems and eventually the Hive interior.

In the space of ten minutes, both of them had been promoted to commander without an explanation.

Later they would learn that they had been given the positions due to the fact that they had both proven themselves worthy during earlier combat training.

They were not supposed to have given the positions until a later date, but the other commanders were occupied with other tasks or dead.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Orders had already been given to certain soldiers, and all were ready and in position, waiting for their respective commanders to join them and lead the attack on the enemy.

Thus the pair darted back to their ships, touching minds with the Wraith they were to be working with, passing along strategies and gathering information on the enemy as they flew out to meet them.

--

At times, Cavan was glad that the hoods of the Darts were opaque, it kept the pilots mind focused on the task, and they did not see the enemy all around; only registering them as tiny dots that could easily be eliminated.

Once again he contacted his men, and seconds later they converged outside of the enemy Hive.

There should have been twenty Darts, but only twelve arrived.

Still, that was enough.

The group formed a series of arrow points, four groups of three that tore through the enemy and scored a number of direct hits along the Hive's exterior.

Further off, Dalkar and his group were successfully drawing away the attention of the enemy Hive's protectors, the Darts wheeling away from the main entrance and heading back to their location, leaving openings for Cavan and his men to enter the Hive.

Not only where they offering a good distraction, but they were inflicting heavy damage on the enemy hyperspace drives, effectively keeping them unable to flee.

He had even sent some of his men to work on the sub-light engines.

Dalkar had been the top strategist of his age group, eventually being sent up to work with other age groups, where he had met Cavan.

Their friendship had been allowed; the elders finding that the two worked well together able to devise plans and strategies that would benefit not only one, but the other as well.

Not many Wraith their age had fully grasped the idea that at times it was better to work in groups and share credit, than work alone and get all the glory.

Once again this allowance would be to the benefit of the Hive, for there was now a large gap in the defense around the main entrance, allowing them to sweep in, and fire upon the enemy from within.
They managed to wreak quite a bit of havoc before the enemy began to regroup and fire upon the intruders.

One of the first Darts to go down was the one piloted by Cavan, the small ship's wing blasted off, sending him tumbling from the sky. Cursing, he tried all of the controls as the Dart plummeted through the web-like pathways, finally managing to pull up enough to skid along one, allowing him to scramble out before it dropped off the edge.
His relief at being alive lasted for only a moment, as he was soon overtaken by enemy Wraith.

At first they were easy to handle, the group was small enough that he could send some falling to their deaths, while sucking the life from others.

However more came, and it became harder and harder to fend them off, the circle they had formed tightening slowly, forcing him back along the pathway.

High above, Darts from his own Hive flew, screaming through the air and firing upon every target they could find.

Good.

One of his attackers took the momentary distraction to plunge the spiked end of a large stunner into his body.

Thankfully a movement at the last moment sent the spike through his shoulder and nothing vital.

It might heal, but he was bleeding out very quickly, the blackish liquid streaming from the hole.
One hand pressed against the injury, and he took another step back, a look of shock on his face as he slipped and fell into nothing.

The world went blue.

And then he saw nothing.

--

His distraction had only worked for a short amount of time, long enough to allow Cavan entrance, but the moment explosions sounded from within, those attacking his men broke off and headed back, almost completely ignoring Dalkar.

After all, the damage had been done, there was nothing left to do there, but inside was another story.

Furiously, Dalkar led an attack on the retreating Wraith, following them back down into the enemy Hive, refusing to let his friend be killed.
That refusal was partly out of loyalty and affection, but out of another, more selfish reason.

If Cavan was killed, it was likely that the alliance with his Hive would be broken off.

That meant Dalkar could not return to Atlantis.

And that, of course, meant that he would never again see Adrienne, whom he had grown somewhat fond of, or Doctor Savoie.

It was that last bit that made him most angry.

Although he refused to admit him, he had grown incredibly fond of the odd human female, and had even recently exchanged names with her.

And for the most part, their conversations had been growing less and less strange.

So he pushed the Dart to its top speed and entered the enemy Hive, a single word escaping him as he did so, a name, "Catherine."

It was almost unconscious, repeated over and over as he fired upon the fools that had dared to attack his home, sending them spiraling into the great abyss.

His group cleared the air, and he swooped down to take out a group of Wraith battling on one of the pathways, a single fighter, one tiny dot surrounded by others, eliminating them.
As he closed in, the dot changed color, taking on a bluish hue that identified him as one wearing a tracking device that Dalkar had created with Cavan's help.

Pressing one of the controls, the hood of his dart became clear and he was able to see the group.

The dot he had been interested in was Cavan, who was now reeling away from the group.
Dalkar was close enough to see the blackish blood dripping from his mouth and from between his fingers, hands pressed against a wound made by one of the larger stunners.

He had been run through.

Dalkar pulled up sharply, sending the culling beam down to scoop his wounded companion up, before firing rapidly upon the group and making his exit, calling his soldiers along with him.

Other minds from his Hive began to call, it was time to pull back, enough damage was done and the enemy ship was falling apart.

Pleased, Dalkar began the short trip back home.

-TBC-

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A/N: review! you know you wanna!