"Normal speech"
"Gothic around non-Imperials."
"Mental Links."
"Ship Names."
"#Ancient to every one#."
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Xeno Major & life-good-hp: Unfortunately all AI nowadays are either comparable to Hal or 343 Guilty Spark. The simplest thing to say is that yes, the AI will be comparable to 343 mainly because he has most elements an off kilter/rampant AI possesses and because I, personally, think he's an interesting character. But it will be mainly my own creation.
Long Live Warhammer40k: thank you and I will try my best.
DocNitro: The whole point of this book is the defeat of the Replicons, they are near unstoppable and sudden overwhelming victory by the Imperials would just be a load of shit that some uninspired, dim witted twit would write just to make his guys seem all powerful 'n shit. Now assuming you have read this far then you should have already seen the race list. If not then let me say this go back and look at it (chapter 4). Now for your other point, along time ago me and Ravenor had a long discussion about that. The Iratus bug in all manor, form and purpose is a Tyranid scout organism. However the Wraith are not. Now that they have developed sentience and their own psychic network they are no longer Tyranids. Its simple evolution; like how we no longer call a frog a fish. The Tyranids on the other hand could not become the Wraith; the Hive Mind wouldn't, couldn't act like the Wraith do. This controlled feeding is completely outside their norm, the only time they have culled instead of striped is when they are faced with extreme resistance or are surrounded and cut off like many splinter fleets. If you would go look at my profile then you can see my plans for the future book.
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O'Neil and Sheppard came jogging into the command room panting lightly as the entire city began to awaken. Beams of light varying in intensity and colour reached up to the glass sky from the formerly dark city. The humming of millions of watts of power filled the room as the ZPMs returned to life. Entire volumes of text scrolled across the screens as the city ran thousands upon thousands of programs to wake itself up and prepare for duty. In the centre of it all were McKay and Carter, looking very lost as their screens changed faster than their eyes could follow.
"Carter what have you done?" O'Neil asked an air of resignation around him.
"I, we have apparently activated the city, sir. But…" Carter said trailing off at the end.
"But what?" O'Neil asked.
"The computers are all activating these strange programs." Carter said scanning another stream of numbers before they vanished.
"Strange in what way? Strange like Daniel or strange like a three headed mouse?" O'Neil said getting an indignant "Hey!" from Daniel.
"What we should be more worried about is that sound." Sheppard said.
"I agree. We have no idea what is going on in this place." Teal'c said, stepping away from the door to stand beside O'Neil.
"This conversation is irrelevant. You all need to return to the Jumper before you suffocate." Gideon said as he sealed his helmet on.
"He's right sir, we can't last much longer out here." Carter said.
"I know, I know. Alright everyone, pack up and let's go back!" O'Neil said a hint of defeat in his voice.
"Myself and Gideon can continue exploring without you." Samuel said twisting his helmet into place.
"General, sir, if this place is like Atlantis then it should have an environmental system. If they can find it then we could move around freely." Sheppard said swaying on his feet.
"Right, for now every one back to the Puddle Jumper." O'Neil said seriously.
The journey back to the Puddle Jumper was almost as boring as the trip up to the control room. The seemingly endless procession of identical corridors was only broken by the brief and strained conversation of the SGC personnel as they struggled to breath. To say reaching the cool fresh air of the Puddle Jumper was relief would have been an understatement. The sudden rush of fresh air as the ramp descended was more refreshing than any breeze.
"Now that we can breathe again. Samuel, Gideon you go and try to find the environmental controls and turn them all the way up. We have no idea how long the Jumper's going to last, so hurry. Sheppard and Carter you two try and get this thing to cloak at least. Every one else take five." O'Neil said before sitting down in the co-pilots seat, swinging his feet onto the dashboard and pulling his cap over his eyes.
"Do you know what were looking for?" Samuel asked Gideon who just shrugged in response. "Can any one tell us what this device look like?" Samuel asked.
"Yeah, it looks like a large group of panels with a single massive screen in front of them." Sheppard said from the front of the craft total oblivious to the glares from the marines.
"You just described every room in this place." Samuel moaned.
"Here just take this" McKay said holding out a camera from a M.A.L.P. "and we'll tell you when you've got it. If the layout is the same is should be in the basement of the central tower." McKay finished.
"Good luck." Teal'c said from his seat.
"Luck is unnecessary when you have the Emperors guidance." Gideon said quietly.
"Indeed." Teal'c responded before beginning his cycle of Kel no'reem.
"I do enjoy a good walk." Gideon said as he handed the camera to his servo arm to hold.
"I can't believe we missed the match for this." Samuel said with a sigh as the Jumper's hatch closed with a muffled thud.
"Oh, what match?" Gideon asked.
"I forgot that you've been cooped up looking over Vanem's crazy schemes. Angelus found this thing called football and… well lets just say it's a game made for him." Samuel said with a sigh his exhaust jets blasting out a cloud of superheated air.
"I'm probably too old then." Gideon said with a chuckle as he walked into the central towers base.
"Maybe." Samuel said with a hidden grin. "Say, what has Vanem been doing? Last I heard he was trying to convince the Asgard to help him make a Machine Spirit." Samuel said forcing open a doorway, the screeching of tearing metal echoing through the empty building.
"He's trying to build a Titian." Gideon said with a small shake of his head as his servo arm swung back and forth taking in every detail with its M.A.L.P. camera.
"A Titian? What the hell is he thinking? We only have about half the schematics for one and that was a complete accident." Samuel muttered as he smashed down a door, the Ancient architecture standing no chance against the armoured foot of a marine's power armour.
"Actually, if we can replicate the Atlantis Control Chair mechanisms then we could begin to construct a Titian. The Asgard have proven more than adapt in using incomplete schematics." Gideon said over his shoulder as he led the two marines down a flight of stairs.
"You mean the Nova Cannon? That thing put the Ragnarok out of commission for two days." Samuel said dejectedly.
"Yes but it exceeded most expectations, even if we had to hide Thor for a while." Gideon said smiling at the end.
Samuel stopped for a second and when he heard the pops and crackles of the vox he said. "Is this the place?" Gideon swung the camera around to show the double doors the two were standing in front of.
"That is what it look like on Atlantis. Hey Doctor Jackson what does that say?" Sheppard's voice crackled over the vox.
There was a moment's pause filled with a quiet humming and faint snoring before Daniel answered. "Yeah that's the place; Environmental Control."
"Roger." Samuel said cutting the transmission. "Gideon can you open this? I don't think it'll budge easily." He said rapping his white armoured knuckles against the thick door.
"I'll try, my dear Apothecary." Gideon said retrieving the camera from his servo arm.
The servo arm extended a small drill and plunged it into the wall beside an inactive key pad. The drill screeched for a second before it sunk into the metal like a knife into butter. The drill retracted and Gideon walked over, he scanned the circuitry behind the keypad for a second, his helmet hiding his facial expressions. Suddenly his servo arm shot over to the left door and punched a hole straight through it. Samuel jumped back, startled by the sudden violet action of the Tech Marine, shouting his protests while being completely ignored.
"Samuel once I open a gap, you force the doors apart." Gideon said, he and his servo arm grabbing onto the side of the hole.
"Right." The Apothecary answered.
Gideon pulled on the hole and the left door began to slide into the wall, although it screeched in protest the entire time. As soon as the gap between the two doors was the size of a hand Samuel jumped in and forced the two further apart. The doors opened with extreme difficulty, if it wasn't for the enhanced strength of the marines and their power armour then it would have been impossible. Once the doors were far enough apart and Samuel was certain they wouldn't suddenly snap shut and trap him the two marines squeezed through the doors into their destination.
"Which station do we access?" Gideon asked as he looked at the rows of screens, each with a thousand lines of words and code speeding across them.
"That one at the centre on the far wall." Daniel's voice said.
Gideon slowly walked towards the blue screen his eyes scanning the darker corners of the room alert for any movement. "This one?" He asked pointing the camera at the large screen.
"Yes." Daniel said.
Gideon reached out but before he could touch the array of clear keys Daniel shouted through the vox caster. "Wait!" There was a small pause then. "This can't be right." He muttered to him self.
"What is the problem?" Samuel asked as he stared at the lines of text on one of the many screens.
"It says that the Environmental system has already been activated… and that the saturation level is at eleven percent." Daniel replied sounding very confused.
"What's the problem with that?" Samuel asked his hand moving towards the bolter at his waist.
"The Environmental system can only be altered manually. To prevent remote sabotage." Sheppard said his voice full of concern and curiosity.
"That means that something is already here." Gideon said lowering his hand to the holster of his bolt pistol.
"I told you that a lock down was a bad thing." McKay's voice muttered over the vox.
"Samuel, we're going back to the Jumper." Gideon said drawing his bolt pistol slowly.
"Understood." Samuel replied holding the bolter loosely in his hands.
"Major Sheppard, is the Jumper cloaked yet?" Gideon asked, slowly walking towards the semi-open door.
"No, the power system is completely wrecked." Carter replied with a slur in her voice.
"Then I suggest you hold tight until we return, then we need to find a more defendable position." Gideon said while following Samuel back up the stairs.
There was the sound of spitting and plastic falling to the floor before any answer came. "I agree we'll begin setting charges in the Jumper." Carter said before leaving the vox network.
"Gideon I have a bad feeling about this." Samuel said from the front, his grip tightening on his bolter.
"I know." Gideon said calmly. "It makes your second heart beat." He said a hint of enjoyment in his voice.
"Yeah." Samuel said as they headed towards the light at the top of the stairs.
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Bra'tac had firmly and resolutely decided that he didn't like helicopters; they were noisy, bumpy and slow. The old jaffa far preferred the seamless and quiet flight of a Death Glider or a Tel'tak. It was his pride as a warrior, and only that, which held him back from vomiting his breakfast all over Jacob Carter when the accursed machine bucked in the air for what seemed the hundredth time.
"How much further?" Bra'tac asked his face steadily becoming paler.
"We're almost there." Hammond said edging further away from the jaffa master.
"Sir, we're coming in for landing." The pilot said through his microphone, his voice blasting out of a speaker on the wall.
"Okay, you boys ready." Hayes said to his strange group receiving a nod from Jacob Carter and General Hammond while Bra'tac murmured something.
"Why did the Asgard and Astartes get to teleport?" Bra'tac asked as the helicopter once again bucked in the winds.
"Stein's too heavy and Beyla draws far too much attention." Jacob Carter said a hint of sympathy in his voice.
"But why only them?" Bra'tac prompted.
"Because the orbital transporter can only take two people at once and by the time it was recalibrated we would have arrived." Hammond said fixing his hat onto his head as the helicopter bumped down on the ground.
"Alright gentlemen we've arrived." The pilot's voice boomed through the speaker.
Bra'tac nearly threw himself out of the helicopter and began kissing the grass covered lawn as he muttered several phrases of hope and salvation in Goa'uld, or Jaffa as it was now called. The guards waiting at the edge of the lawn stared in apparent shock as the strangely dressed man chanted in a weird language while the President quietly watched in apparent humour.
"Jacob, we better get him inside before he starts a shrine." Hammond whispered to the Tok'ra agent.
"Come on Bra'tac." Jacob Carter said, taking the Jaffa under the arm and pulling him to his feet.
"This way gentlemen, its time to brief the generals." Hayes said walking off towards a very aristocratic looking manor house.
"The fun never stops." Jacob Carter muttered as he helped Bra'tac towards the house.
The manor house's interior was exactly like its exterior, reminiscent of royalty and colonial power. Huge paintings hung from the walls depicting people, events and just plain landscapes. The mahogany floor groaned under the armoured mass of the Space Marine and Bra'tac was distracted several times by rooms full of silverware, lush dining spreads and expensive carpets. The quarto of aliens and dimension hoppers were led to a large lecture theatre built out of metal and pine. The seats each had a small table for note taking and a massive high definition screen sat at the front. Spinning slowly on the screen was the basic outline of a Ha'tak.
"I have never seen so much silver outside of a Goa'uld palace." Bra'tac said a hint of disapproval in his voice.
"You wouldn't like the Cathedral then." Jacob Caret said happily.
"The Chapel on the Emperors Light is a small testament to the Emperor's might." Stein said.
"I thought the ship itself would suffice." Beyla muttered.
"Now, now don't bicker." Haynes said sitting down in a soft leather chair.
"So who's coming?" Hammond asked placing his hat down on a chair.
"All the Generals, with or without knowledge of the Stargate, we managed to recall and some civilian advisors from NASA." Hayes said brushing invisible dust of his lapel.
"So about six hundred people." Jacob Carter said flicking through one of the handout files.
"As long as no one will try to shoot us I am content." Beyla moaned as she flopped down into a seat.
"There will be no shooting? I only brought a Zat'n'ktel." Bra'tac asked drawing the coiled weapon from inside his cloak.
"Bra'tac put that away." Jacob Carer said nodding towards the door as it opened.
The first three people to walk in seemed unfazed by the seven foot armoured behemoth and the skinny little grey alien but the man after them was a completely different story. He was a two star Army General and when he saw the black mass that was Stein he stopped dead in his tracks blocking every one behind him, a second later before the shouts of annoyance from the people behind him had properly registered he laid eyes on Beyla. To say his reaction was comical would probably have been accurate; he stood pointing at the Asgard, his bottom jaw hanging open, while Beyla patiently stared right back. A quick glare from Hayes sent him on his way a look of fear and shock plastered on his face. The procession after was quick most people more focused on not making themselves look like asses in front of the President than staring slack-jawed at the little alien.
"Alright this is a briefing I want you to pass down to your subordinates when you return to your posts and for them to pass it on to theirs." Hayes said sweeping his gaze across the room. "Now I present Lieutenant General Hammond." He finished and sat down quietly.
Hammond cleared his throat and began. "As many of you know the basic objectives of the Stargate program and if not it's in the file, I'll skip everything in there, this is the basic attack ship of the old galactic power; the Ha'tak. It's capable of subjugating a world and can travel faster than light. This ship is completely obsolete since the arrival of the Adeptus Astartes." He said gesturing to Stein who stood behind him his arms folded over his chest. "Acting in conjuncture with them we have built an empire…" Hammond drifted off as a commotion at the door caught his attention along with everyone else in the room.
A tall, tanned man with short black hair and bear walked in wearing a plain grey suit and carrying a note pad in a hand. He smiled apologetically as he clambered over people to get a seat. Hammond cleared his throat again and opened his mouth to speak but before he could his eyes snapped open and he along with Jacob Carer, Stein and Bra'tac all drew their collective weapons and pointed them at the man.
"Well, well it's been a long time since this many guns were aimed at me. How are you doing by the way?" The man asked in a conversational tone.
"We killed you." Stein growled out his finger tightening on the bolt pistol's trigger.
"Correction you killed a clone. Helpful little creations if I might say so myself." The man said smiling calmly at them crossing his legs and folding his hands in his lap.
"Why are you here Goa'uld?" Selmak demanded his eyes flashing in anger.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" The man said his voice turning into the deeper bass version of a hosts and his smile widening.
"Die Xeno!" Stein shouted pulling the trigger of his bolt pistol.
The round flew towards the still smiling man before it suddenly bounced off a golden field that rippled like water for a second before vanishing from sight. The bolt exploded in the ceiling shower the nearby Generals with plaster.
"That wasn't very smart." The man said playfully.
"Guards arrest him!" Hammond shouted to the two armed men at the door.
"Stop!" The man shouted his voice booming through the room. "Anyone tries anything and we all become a happy little radioactive dust cloud." The man said unbuttoning his shirt to show a metallic device attached to his chest with a small flashing blue light in the centre above a bluish grey block.
"What do you intend to do?" Hayes asked rising, to his feet his diplomatic face secured on.
"Ah, you must be the President. It's an honour to meet you. Your world is so fascinating, this TV you have, truly marvellous." The man said his smile reduced to a superior smirk.
"What do you want? Ba'al?" Hammond asked slowly and the Goa'uld just smiled.
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O'Neil, despite his laid back attitude and sharp sense of humour, was not a careless man. On the contrary he was very cautious, loyal and brutal when his subordinates or friends were in jeopardy. That fact had been proven time and again when he had risked everything to try and pull his men (and Carter) out of the fire, even if it landed him in the frying pan. So when a large group of about forty slow moving blue blips came into view on the small handheld Life-Sign-Detector resting comfortably on the pilot's seat, followed almost immediately by the Auspex hanging from the cargo netting emitting a series of increasingly loud clicks O'Neil's mind instantly mapped out every exit strategy, enclosed route, visibly open buildings and ambush point that he had seen on his short jaunt out side the Jumper. Before he had even left his seat he had at least three plans roughly mapped out in his head, after all you don't get to be the leader of Earth's primary team without a good reason.
"Sheppard, Teal'c, Davidenko. Come with me." O'Neil said fixing his cap firmly back on his head and grabbing the Ancient Life Signs Detector from the seat.
Daniel Jackson folded away the small notebook he was reading from and looked up at O'Neil as he passed. "Something Wrong?" He asked looking over at the clicking Auspex.
"Just going to meet the locals. Carter get this thing rigged to blow in five minutes. Daniel and Doctor… whatever your name was, unload every thing you can from this thing and pack it." O'Neil said checking the chamber of his pistol.
"Good hunting sir." Carter said while sticking a block of C4 to the underside of the Jumper's control panel.
"Teal'c'll bring you back something nice." O'Neil said over his shoulder as he followed the jaffa out the craft.
"General do you think it's wise to shoot first and ask questions later?" Sheppard asked, a hint of worry in his voice as O'Neil tucked an extra three frag grenades into his vest.
"Quick lesson Major. What ever is in this place is coming en mass, I'm just being prepared for the worst." O'Neil said.
"Indeed O'Neil, whenever you are involved it normally involves at least one fire fight." Teal'c said.
"Don't worry Sheppard you'll get used to it." O'Neil said happily handing the Life Signs Detector to Sheppard. "I don't have a clue how to use that." O'Neil said motioning for Sheppard to take the lead.
"What about the marines?" Davidenko asked pointing over at the central spire.
"They can take care of themselves." O'Neil said.
"O'Neil it would be advisable to warn them. They are prone to shoot without warning." Teal'c said.
"Gideon, Samuel, come in." O'Neil said into his radio.
"O'Neil we are just leaving the tower, what seems to be the problem?" Gideon's voice replied.
"Me, Teal'c, Sheppard and Davidenko are heading towards a group of life sings we've found. Just giving you the heads up." O'Neil said.
"Confirmed, we will meet up with you." Gideon said his voice full of caution and a little hint of anticipation.
"Roger, O'Neil out." O'Neil said signalling Sheppard to watch out for the marines.
Another inhuman roar washed over the group, their chests rumbling with its sub-audible tones a distinct note of fury was hidden in the noise. It was followed quickly by noises similar to a cat and dog fighting, a loud screech followed by growling, barking and more screeching; then silence. Davidenko and Sheppard shared a small glance while Teal'c turned to look at O'Neil his question written in his single raised eyebrow.
"Major the signals?" O'Neil asked subtly sliding his finger to the safety.
"Forty four slow… wait… something's heading towards them really fast." Sheppard said watching as a blue dot smashed into the cluster of wandering signals. The slower dots began to scatter, albeit slowly, as three of their number vanished from the screen. The Quicker dot began moving around charging groups of the original dots, almost like it was challenging any of the slower ones to come close. "Okay, the fast one has stopped and the slow ones are scattered." Sheppard said confused.
"Is it a Wraith?" Teal'c asked staring intently in the direction of the signals.
"No it's defiantly not a Wraith. I don't know if this thing can tell anything else, but it's blue so that means it's definitely not a Wraith." Sheppard said turning the Life Signs Detector for the jaffa to see.
"Should we still go? If they're killing their own?" Davidenko asked looking between Sheppard, who was scrutinising the device in his hand, and O'Neil who was staring up at the deep blue glass ceiling.
"You say something?" O'Neil asked looking at the Russian Major.
"Never mind." Davidenko muttered walking over to Teal'c.
"Hey Sheppard stop day dreaming and lets go." O'Neil said waving a hand in front of Sheppard's face.
"Yes sir." Sheppard said his voice distant.
The streets of the city were very wide with boxes that may have once held plants of some kind and benches seemingly growing out of the floor lining the walls leaving the central road clear, giving the impression that the place was once very busy. The group of slower blue dots were now thoroughly scattered any pretence that they had been organised gone with the wind, if any existed in the bubble; the solitary high speed dot was still in the same place having not moved an inch since it charged and killed three of the slower dots. Walking on an interception course with the SG-team were two black dots that everyone agreed to be the marines, the Life Signs Detector not knowing what to make of the two augmented super humans.
Sheppard held up his hand and signalled for everyone to stop, as two distinct voices drifted through the street.
"Just answer the question my dear Apothecary. If you could go back, would you?" The distinctive voice of Gideon asked.
"I don't know, we did our duty and gave our lives for the Emperor and we have so much more to do here." Samuel answered doubt and worry thick in his voice his bolter gently held in one hand.
"True, but shouldn't we try and return to the side of the Emperor?" Gideon asked glancing from the side of his eye at Samuel.
"No, everything happens for a reason. We are here because of His will and we must honour that." Samuel said tapping his helmet, as it hung from his waist, with his index finger.
"A good answer but…" Gideon stopped midsentence and in a smooth motion raised his bolt pistol and aimed it directly at Sheppard's head followed less than a second later by Samuel who levelled his bolter on Teal'c. "Why didn't you tell us you were there?" Gideon asked tilting his head to the side and lowering his bolt pistol.
"We were about to." Sheppard said, his relief evident due to his head not becoming a piece of wall art.
"O'Neil, do you have any idea what those noises were?" Samuel asked walking over to the Air force General.
"No, but something attacked the group that was heading for the Jumper." O'Neil said following Sheppard along as they again started towards the solitary signal.
"Interesting, Gideon and I haven't found any indication of who activated the life support. This city seems to be far more automated than Atlantis." Samuel said quietly.
"O'Neil, we are in grave danger." Teal's said stopping Sheppard by tapping him on his shoulder with his staff weapon.
"Why?" Sheppard asked looking at the frowning jaffa.
"He's right. Listen." Gideon said nodding down the street.
The sound of tearing flesh and snapping bones drifted down the street. The wet ripping noises were followed by a series of growls and what sounded like bone scraping across metal. Gideon moved on past Sheppard and came to a stop at the intersection of their smaller road with a larger one; peaking round the corner he saw a large creature vaguely humanoid squatting on the balls of its feet over a carcass of another humanoid. The creature was taller than him with long, extremely muscled legs and arms, from what he could see the animal appeared to have talons instead of fingers or toes and its hands were firmly imbedded in the dead body as it tore another chunk off. Down the things back were a series of bone spines on either side of the spinal column that were a very dark pigment with a vibrant red base. The creature was wearing a shredded brown pair of trousers and the tattered remains of a sand coloured vest hung from its grey coloured hide, both garments were covered in blood both new and old. Slowly turning away Gideon carefully moved back towards Sheppard.
Gideon looked back at the corner, confident that the creature hadn't detected him he nodded towards Samuel and pointed out suitable fire point. Samuel and Teal'c nodded and quietly as possible moved towards a cluster of pant boxes that would serve as good cover. The creature either ignored them or was still unaware of their presence as it continued to devour the corpse. O'Neil tapped Sheppard on the back and they moved into position to cover the corner if the creature charged out. Gideon smiled lightly to Davidenko as he prepared to jump round the corner. The stale air hung heavily around Gideon making him even more alert to the cruel snapping of bones and ease with which the creature tore away flesh, nodding to the hidden group he stepped out.
Immediately as the large red threat made its début, the creature stopped feeding and turned to face him snarling out its warnings and threats. The creatures face was elongated forward to give room for its massive jaws giving it a lupine appearance. The mouth ran almost from ear to ear, the thin lips were curled back in a snarl leaving the teeth exposed. The teeth themselves were a collection of incisors and canines that looked wickedly sharp and were not highlighted by the blood running over them or the chucks of meat stuck in-between the gaps. The creature was completely bald, allowing the three golden yellow eyes on each side of its face complete one hundred and eighty degree vision and almost perfect triangulation of distances. The two eyes behind the primary ones were small but obviously active as they focused on Gideon quickly the slits for pupils narrowed then widened increasing the creature's peripheral vision.
The creature growled menacingly the spines on its back coming alight with a massive network of blood red lines all coming from the base. The creature coiled back on its hind legs preparing to fling itself forward to defend its meal, the muscles bulging even further under the strain. Gideon fired three round at the creature one blasting off its left claw, another exploded in a spine sending a fountain of blood soaring in to the air and the third skimmed its face and blew apart the body behind it. The creature howled in pain as blood poured in unrelenting torrents from its wounds suddenly the blood stopped to flow and the creature began roaring into the sky. Gideon fired again but the creature dove out the way right into the firing line of Teal'c and Samuel. A staff blast smashed into its side the scorching plasma enraging it further as its ribs were bared to the world. Two burst of three bolter rounds sent it sprawling to the ground limbs and torso a shredded mess.
Gideon followed by Davidenko slowly approached the creature as its yellow eyes closed. "This is very interesting specimen." Gideon said holstering his bolt pistol.
"Yes but what is it?" Davidenko asked poking the creatures head with the barrel of her long las.
"I have no idea." Gideon said signalling the other to approach.
Suddenly the creature grabbed the offending las rifle bending the metal under its grip. Davidenko hopped back as the creature threw the bent long las away rising to its feet, its flesh writhing as new bone, muscle and skin grew into its wounds. The creature screamed in pain it roar echoing through the city and levelled its gaze on Gideon and Davidenko. Its once yellow eyes were now blood red and a stream of blood poured out from each eye. Lunging forward, its previously incapacitating wounds ignored, it made a swipe at Davidenko with its remaining claw, the talons tearing through her uniform leaving four ragged gashed exposing her stomach. Gideon fired his bolt pistol at the weaving creature being rewarded with a scream of pain as another spine exploding in a shower of blood. Before he could fire of another round the creature was upon him. It dove at him, extending its legs forward like a bird of prey attacking its food. The talons on its feet smashed into Gideon's armoured waist, digging out deep cuts and sending them both sprawling to he ground. The creature pinned Gideon's bolt pistol with its remaining hand and kept him pinned with its extremely strong legs rendering his servo arm useless. As soon as the creature thought it had achieved dominance, it lunged its head forward straight at Gideon's unprotected face. Gideon raised his arm to defend him self and the creature's jaws clamped around Gideon's arm at the last second the marine struggling as the things teeth tore into his armoured limb. The two fought for a second, blood still pouring from its eyes and wounds while spittle from the creatures mouth flew everywhere, as they wrestled on the ground the cremate armour of the marine cracking under the massive crushing force the creature was employing. Several orange staff blast impacted the creature's side with their characteristic thumb, sending it rolling off Gideon as the plasma blasts burnt away at the not quite yet healed flesh over its wounds.
The creature began thrashing on the ground screaming in agony as the muscles on its arms and legs writhed and twisted appearing to atrophy before their eyes the wounds on its torso slowly closing up. Gideon rolled onto his side his arm and stomach sore from the attack. A burst of bolter rounds to the head ended the creatures screeching, leaving the smocking carcass sporadically twitching.
"Gideon are you injured?" Teal'c asked his eyes not leaving the creature.
"No, no just a little sore." The old marine said examining the cracks in his armour with anger.
"Davidenko are you okay?" Sheppard asked examining the Russian woman.
"Yes, it only got my clothes." Davidenko said running her finger over the thick gashes in her shirt.
"That thing sure took a lot of damage." O'Neil said kicking the shattered head much to Samuel's dismay as he cut strips off and stored them in vacuum sealed boxes.
"Indeed, I suggest we return…" Teal'c was interrupted by the radio abruptly springing to life.
"Sir, we need help!" Carter's voice shouted out from the radio, the sounds of gun fire in the background. "Under heavy attack need help." The message continued before cutting out.
"Move, move, move." O'Neil said jogging back the way they came the distant noise of rifles like rolling thunder.
"No rest for the wicked." Sheppard muttered taking one last look at the corpse of the strange creature before running after O'Neil.
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Carter unloaded another burst into the chest of their assailants. The man collapsed face down with little more than a grunt his blood pooling around him, the other continued their slow shambling charge of the Puddle Jumper. About twenty men and women were walking slowly towards the Puddle Jumper; they were all dressed in either long white robes with a black or blue collar or they were wearing uniforms similar in colour and appearance to the standard Tok'ra soldier. All of them had vacant looks on their faces and groaned lightly as they moved in stiff, jerky motions. Every one of them sported a varying degree of injury ranging from cuts to what looked like bite marks.
"Sam their not stopping!" Daniel Jackson shouted firing his pistol into the approaching crowd.
"I know Daniel! The others are on their way!" Carter shouted in return while making a scything kick at the legs of the closest woman. The woman continued to pull herself forward, even as the other people behind her trampled over her.
"This is really, really bad." McKay muttered, whipping the sweat from his face as he primed the last charge in the Puddle Jumper.
"Rodney, are you done yet?" Carter shouted as the wave of flesh grew ever closer.
"Done!" McKay shouted back. Taking a deep breath and drawing his pistol he ran out of the Jumper.
"Daniel lets go!" Carter shouted blowing the brains out of a drooling male. The man juddered one of his eyes hanging from the optic nerve before he collapsed to the ground unmoving.
Daniel Jackson hopped backwards and frowned as the group drew ever closer to him before he turned and ran after Carter and McKay who were firing randomly into the mass of people.
"Clear!" Carter shouted as she pressed the detonator when the mass of moaning people passed the Jumper.
The fireball engulfed most of them sending flaming and non-flaming body parts along with geysers of blood flying everywhere. McKay ducked as a flying and burning foot soared over his head. Most of the people caught in the blast died but several of the ones that were merely maimed or set alight continued their relentless advance.
"This can't be happening, this can't be happening." McKay mumbled as he took several fearful steps backwards sweat pouring off him.
"Rodney calm down." Daniel said over his shoulder as he squinted at the carnage before him.
Carter raised her P-90 and shot a flaming woman through the chest, the burning body collapsed to the ground a second latter the body fat spitting and crackling. "Rodney, Daniel fall back to the tower." She said gunning down a man, who despite having his arm blown off and half his face burnt off was till coming at them.
"Sam we don't know where these things are coming from." Daniel said firing his pistol at a crawling man.
"The tower is our best bet for now." Carter said pushing Daniel towards it and turning to run her self.
Suddenly the very familiar whoosh, thump of staff weapons sounded behind her craning her neck to the side she saw Teal'c, O'Neil and Samuel firing into the pursuing people. Bolter rounds exploded bodies, plasma burnt their bodies and liquidated their organs and the P-90 tore through bone and flesh. The spasmodic movements of the crowd made them easy targets for the three men while they were slowly being charged.
Gideon and Sheppard were already working on locking the door when McKay ran up to them followed closely after by Daniel Jackson.
"Get inside and help Davidenko sweep the place." Sheppard said typing in a sequence on the wall panel.
"Right." The two scientists answered in unison.
At the far side of the hundred meter courtyard in which the flaming remains of the Puddle Jumper lay, hundreds of similarly dressed men and women began to pour from the building. The groaning horde moved as one writhing mass of people, their progress across the courtyard was slow but steady.
"O'Neil." Teal'c said incinerating a man's face with a plasma blast.
"I know. Sheppard you better be ready!" O'Neil shouted over his shoulder.
"Gideon you got this?" Sheppard asked the marine who was rummaging through the crystals he had pulled out of the wall.
"I believe so." Gideon said holding two identical crystals up then throwing one away.
"Sir, good to go!" Sheppard shouted firing into the mass of
"Alright, everyone inside." O'Neil said squeezing off another burst of gun fire.
Just as O'Neil began to walk backwards, a high pitched screech echoed over the square. At the far end a wall suddenly collapsed sending a cloud up dust into the air, a dark shadow was moving in the falling rubble. The mass of people parted like the Red Sea as a massive creature barrelled through them, head down, coming right towards O'Neil. It was roughly the shape of a gorilla but that is where any similarities ended. Its skin was a stone grey colour matching the material the city was made of, its arms were almost insanely muscular and each hand had become a large blob covered in a brown substance that melted into the wrists in a jagged pattern making the hands like maces. Its head was covered in a similar substance that obscured the entirety of its face; the head piece was lined with bump running from the front to the back along its centre. The shoulders were armoured in a similar way and the chest was covered in interlocking plates of the same material.
O'Neil turned and ran as fast as he could towards the door while Sheppard and Samuel covered him. O'Neil dove into the door followed quickly by Sheppard and Samuel, Gideon smashed his hand down on the control panel and the thick doors hissed shut. A second later a there was a massive bang and the five inch thick doors bulged inwards. Another high pitched scream resounded in their ears and a series of snarls and grunts followed. O'Neil let out a breath he hadn't remembered holding and looked over at Gideon who was fiddling around with a second keypad. Suddenly there was a loud roar and two more bulges stretched through the door smaller than the last but stretching the first so that the metal groaned in protest. Another set of blows smashed down on the door, the metal bending and warping even further, stress fractures shooting across it in interweaving patterns.
"Sheppard, you got any Claymores?" O'Neil asked quietly.
"No." Sheppard whispered wincing as another tow blows rained down on the door cracking it open a little.
The creature's armoured face appeared at the small crack, it had no eyes the armour covering most of its face. It had long jaws filled with sharp teeth like most predators, a long muscular tongue hanging out of its mouth and it had a massive sheet of wet skin, which pulsed in and out as it breathed, stretching across the front of its face. It stuck its muzzle into the crack the membrane like skin flapping wildly as air was drawn over it. The creature roared and from what everyone could see it was drooling heavily. Another set of blows crashed down on the door the crack widening to almost hand size.
"Get into position. I want controlled fire, aim for the soft spots." O'Neil said quietly as he walked down the corridor and knelt down aiming square at the door.
"O'Neil, even if we kill this creature there are still the masses attacking us." Teal'c said the end of his staff weapon snapping open with its usual crackle.
"One thing at a time." O'Neil muttered fishing out the two grenades from his vest.
The crack widened ever further under the continuous blows while Gideon still fiddled with the second panel.
"Gideon get over here." Sheppard said through his teeth as the creature hand came clean through the door.
"Give me a moment." Gideon answered his servo arm drilling into the wall next to him.
"Gideon move now." O'Neil said his voice full of authority.
"In a moment." The tech marine muttered shifting crystals around in the wall.
"Fuck!" O'Neil shouted as he ran towards the marine.
The creatures head smashed through the door, just as O'Neil reached Gideon and pulled him down, its jaws slamming down a centimetre from his head. A blue field suddenly sprang into life and bisected the creature through the chest. The creatures front half fell to the floor its cut completely cauterised by the shield, outside its legs and lower torso crumbled onto the ground. O'Neil blinked in surprise as the armoured creature deflated.
"You could have told us." Sheppard said lowering his P-90 with a sigh.
"When did you figure this out?" Carter asked looking at the shimmering blue shield.
"The control keys on the panel are similar to the ones I have been shown that activate the city shield." Gideon said getting to his feet and examining the corpse.
"So you guessed?" Daniel Jackson asked holstering his pistol.
"Mostly." The old marine said with a smile.
"You're turning into Baltus." Samuel said squatting down beside the creature's head.
"Maybe, but he seems to have a lot of fun." Gideon said checking the cracks in his armour which had widened a little since he last looked.
"You... you guessed, on that!?" McKay said startled.
"Relax McKay it all turned out okay." Sheppard said calmly.
"But, but it almost eat the General." McKay said waving his arms at O'Neil.
"I said relax." Sheppard said staring McKay down.
"But, but… never mind." McKay said hanging his head.
A single man appeared at the door, he looked at the assembled team before lunging forward only to have his hands and most of his arms destroyed by the shield. The man lurched back groaning loudly as others began to crowd around. In a second they fell upon the halved carcass of the armoured gorilla thing. The mass of people began tearing it apart shoving uncoordinated handfuls of still warm meat into their mouths, flinging blood and pieces of organs everywhere.
"Okay that's just sick." O'Neil said plainly as two men fought, albeit slowly and jerkily, over a piece of intestine.
"Samuel, lets get this thing further inside." Gideon said grabbing onto one of the large arms.
"Carter, what happened to all the supplies?" O'Neil asked looking longingly over the grotesque feast at a pile of neatly stacked containers.
"They were lost in the retreat." Carter answered with a grunt as she heaved on the dead corpse making it shift an inch.
"Okay, let's get your pet somewhere we can study it." O'Neil said kneeling down and grapping hold of the severed chest.
"Jack, how are we supposed to get back?" Daniel asked as he and Davidenko began pulling on the head.
"One thing at a time Daniel. One thing at a time." O'Neil strained out as he pushed the body forward.
"This is going to be a long day." McKay muttered as he and Teal'c grabbed onto different arms and pulled.
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Samuel hummed lightly as he sawed another chunk of the animals armour off, the substance proving to be nearly as hard as stone. Different pieces of dissected organs lay around the seventh floor lab. After the activation of the city the transporters had come online otherwise they would have never got the quarter ton lump of meat and bone up the stairs. McKay was still moaning about a hernia he thought he was developing. The Apothecary had tasked Carter and McKay to helping him, they were far from biologists or medics but his choices were limited. The creature on the other hand had proven to be fascinating, although the brain was troubling.
"Would you look at that?" O'Neil whistled looking out a window over the mass of twisting people.
"You see some really weird shit sometimes." Sheppard said watching as another man was dragged down and devoured by a mob of others.
"Any idea what they are?" Daniel asked looking over at Samuel.
"Come one Daniel, look at them their z…" O'Neil was silenced by Daniel slapping his hand over his mouth.
"Don't say it." Daniel warned for once in his life looking threatening.
"Okay Daniel, okay. They're zombies." O'Neil said grinning happily.
"What did I just say?" Daniel all but shouted.
"I was going to say they were zebras." O'Neil said with a shrug.
"As in the zombie from your films?" Teal'c asked from his seat in the corner.
"Yeah, the brain eating, re-animated, unstoppable horde that is a zombie." O'Neil said happy to once again enlighten Teal'c to his own little world.
"That would be… so cool." Sheppard said smiling.
"No, no, no, no. There is no such thing as zombies." McKay said adamantly.
"Did your mother tell you that?" Sheppard asked pulling his head in from the window.
"Yes… I mean no. You can't bring the dead back." McKay said almost angrily.
"Tell that to Daniel." O'Neil said pointing at the archaeologist who just waved apologetically.
"But, but, you just can't..." McKay said deflating.
"Then maybe he as ghost. Come to send us all to our doom." O'Neil said with Sheppard providing ghost noises in the background.
"Just give up Rodney you'll never win." Carter said rubbing her left eye.
"Gideon here, the residents have managed to break into the first floor I'm sealing it off now." Gideon's said over the radio the intermittent sound of P-90 fire in the background almost hidden by his voice.
"Roger, I'll send Teal'c down to help." O'Neil answered nodding to the jaffa who got up and left the room.
"So when do you think rescue is coming?" Sheppard asked bored as he watched the dark masses smash against the building's walls like the sea on the shore.
"It's been what four, five hours since we left. So knowing Weir I'd say about ten maybe fifteen at a stretch." O'Neil answered tapping the face of his watch.
"O'Neil we have sealed the first floor but, the lack of those larger creatures worries me." Teal'c said the sound of loud banging on metal just behind him.
"Roger, Teal'c get back up here and seal all the doors you can behind you." O'Neil answered throwing a glass tube out the window and watching it plummet into the crowd below.
"I wonder what happened here." Daniel said putting away his note book.
"Who knows? Space plague." O'Neil said.
"Done that." Daniel answered.
"Mind control." O'Neil countered.
"To make them eat each other?" Daniel asked rhetorically.
"Endlessly looped through time till they went insane." O'Neil said unconsciously shivering at the memory of that incident.
"Maybe." Daniel said scratching his head.
"Hypnotic drug." Carter offered.
"We would be affected by now." McKay said.
"Hey Sheppard you feeling hungry?" O'Neil asked.
"A little, why?" Sheppard answered.
"You'll have to fight me for Daniel." O'Neil said with an evil smile.
"Why me?" Daniel whined.
"'Cause you'll be the easiest to eat." O'Neil said plainly.
"What about McKay?" Sheppard asked with a smile.
"We'll use him to placate Carter and the others while we escape." O'Neil said laying out his master plan step by step.
"You, sir, are a genius." Sheppard said smiling.
"I know." O'Neil answered smugly.
The hum of the transporters sounded and Daniel walked out to greet the other. A second later he went flying past the door and something howled. Samuel grabbed his bolter and charged out followed by O'Neil, Sheppard, Carter and McKay.
The creature was long and very thin, just smaller than a man on all fours, its bones were showing through its thin skin. It had light brown skin with yellow armoured patches along its shoulders and hind legs with cruel looking barbs on the back of its hands. From the knuckle down each hand had been replaced with a sickle-like claw that clacked on the floor as it moved them one by one. The creature roughly resembled a wolf without a tail or fur; its muscle weren't evident like the hulking behemoth they had been dissecting but the ones they could see looked sinewy and twitched sporadically. The things head was long and thin like its body, the pure black eyes were angled forward and the jaws had been replaced with what looked like a serrated beak that was dripping blood onto the floor. Behind it in the transporter were the bloody remains of something that had been thoroughly torn apart and splattered across the walls.
Sheppard and Carter backed away to get Daniel who was lying on the ground moaning behind them. The creature stayed perfectly still its black eyes making it impossible to tell were it was looking the clacking of its claws against the floor getting steadily faster.
Suddenly it threw itself forward, its muscles propelling it extremely fast the first round of fire swept over its head and before anyone could fire again it was upon them. A backhanded claw connected with O'Neil midriff, smashing him into a wall with a loud crack. Samuel smashed it over the ribs with his bolter the creature howling in pain as its thin skin tore open and light weight bones snapped underneath the assault. With a powerful mule kick from the hind claws he was sent sprawling down the corridor his armour having ten symmetrical gashes across the chest and power cords, effectively rendering him inert. McKay fired into its side the bullet passing through with extreme ease. The creature hollered in pain, its intestine hanging out of the hole. The creature slashed at his face, its claws tearing down the right side shredding his eye and cheek. McKay stumble backwards the blood pouring down his face not enough to stall his reactions. He raised his right hand in a feeble attempt to stop the lunging animal. The beak snapped shut on his fore arm the creature's momentum sending them crashing to the floor. His Radius and Ulna (bones in forearm) snapped like twigs in the things mouth, his blood poured from the open corners of the creatures mouth along with its drool. McKay screamed silently as blood streamed off his face and his bone ground and cracked in the creature's mouth. A hailstorm of bullets shredded its side as Carer and Sheppard opened fire, the thing howled in pain blood pouring in unrelenting torrents. Then it stopped and began to convulse, blood streaming from its eyes and its mouth stretch open in a hollow scream. It snapped back to reality, the pain apparently forgotten and lunged at Carter faster than ever.
Carter didn't have a chance to react before it reached her the creature missed taking her head off by an inch and its shoulder slammed into her, crushing the air out of her lungs. Sheppard fired another clip into the creature's side splintering its shoulder blades; it simply turned on him and lashed out. He blocked the claws with his P-90 but he was still sent flying down the corridor. He landed with a loud smash his P-90 evicting two of his ribs and taking up residence.
Sheppard, holding his side, looked up as the creature approached him blood pouring from its mouth, its hide covered in pieces of its own organs and blood. The thing was breathing heavily as it approached him ignoring the moaning McKay and the still Samuel, its now blood-red eyes fixed on him. The hum of the transporter sounded behind Sheppard and he closed his eyes waiting for the bite on his neck but it never came.
The sound of objects shooting through the air and a wet thump followed quickly after. Opening his eyes he saw several bluish grey rectangles fly over his head. Turning around, wincing at the effort he looked up at his apparent savoir. A ball of light with three rings spinning around it in irregular orbits was hovering above his head.
"Great I'm dead." Sheppard said wincing again.
The ball of light floated closer to him and he stared at it awaiting some all powerful voice to tell him to come into the light. That notion of thought was broken off when the ball began to speak. "Joy. I have located you. We have much work to do, Architect." It said the light flashing brighter with every syllable.
"The fuck?" Sheppard questioned.
The hum of the transporter sounded once again and Teal'c, Davidenko and Gideon appeared in looking relatively calm until they registered the scene of carnage around them. Teal'c and Davidenko went immediately to McKay who was rolling around in a pool of his own blood. O'Neil and Carter were just recovering, Daniel was still out cold and Samuel was glaring at Gideon as he berated him for letting his armour's power get severed. Sheppard turned to look back at the ball of light only to find it gone.
"Architect, why are you delaying?" The ball of light voice asked from above his head Sheppard looked up to see it floating over him. He promptly slurred out an excuse to sleep and passed out. "How troublesome." The light ball muttered.
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Sorry it took so long, I got this really annoying eye infection, but hey it's long. Anyway, please review and ask question it keeps my moral high. Till next time.