Chapter 3: Off-world Missions and a Small Problem
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The sun rose over the city that morning, casting a gentle, warm glow through the windows, waking Avallana's occupants up one at a time. The only exceptions to the early wake up call were Terrence, Cameron and two others, as well as Sheppard's team.
"Okay, so the whole moving period went easier than expected" Cameron said.
"Exactly. That is why we are going on missions today" Terrence said, zipping up his thermal.
"We'll be back around the same time as you" Sheppard said and the Brit gave a nod. "Good luck on your mission" the Colonel said.
"It'll be easy. Chuck, dial the Gate" he called up.
The address connected and the team walked through together in relatively high spirits. The brought weapons along with them just in case of any trouble, however unlikely it may have been.
(Lumera)
Upon stepping out, they found themselves already in the settlement of the Lumen and two of the guards standing nearby released a small sigh of relief. They were taller than most humans and were dressed in long blue robes, over which, gold armour protected them. Their helmets were simple and yet possessed a sort of grace.
"Welcome to the world of Lumen" one of the guards said, his silky voice soothing them of any fears that they may have had.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance" Terrence said, a small smile directed at them.
"May we ask for the reason of this visit?" the other asked politely.
"We travel as peaceful explorers. We merely wish to make new allies in this galaxy" the Brit replied easily.
"Very well. Follow us" the first guard said.
The four humans followed the taller men over a bridge made of white wood and into a large forest, yet the most significant part was that the homes were built in the trees. Unlike M7G-677, these homes looked more permanent and were more curvy in design. They were connected by a series of bridges, which Terrence could have sworn, were made by the branches having woven together perfectly.
"Please wait here" one of the guards said. Mitchell tapped his shoulder, noticing he was distracted and pointed directly ahead and honey-brown eyes widened even more.
A large staircase wound around the large trunk of a tree, heading towards a very large house, most likely the home of the leader. Sunlight flowed between the leaves, leaving a beautiful pattern on the ground.
"She will be with you now" the guard said, returning down the stairs.
"Thank you" Terrence said in reply, and again Mitchell tapped his shoulder and pointed in the same direction and his jaw dropped.
A woman, as tall as the two guards walked gracefully down the steps toward them. She wore a long grey dress which seemed to flow. She had gentle grey eyes with an even gentler smile to match and her beauty was unlike any they had seen before. Her raven hair was straightened and draped over her shoulder and her pale skin was flawless.
"Welcome travellers" she greeted. "I am Helena of the Lumen" she introduced.
"My name is Terrence Jones of the Tau'ri" he said, choosing to use their name that was used in the Milky way. "This is Cameron Mitchell, Sergeant Stackhouse and Corporal Davidson" he introduced them one by one.
"My guard tells me that you travel here looking for allies" the woman says and the other nods.
"Yes" was the simple reply.
"Yet you bear weapons. Why?" she asked in curiosity.
"We've run into bad situations from time to time in our travels. These are merely to defend ourselves with if necessary" Mitchell spoke and she nodded.
"You should have to worry here, Cameron Mitchell of the Tau'ri. This world is safe" she reassured. Helena gestured to follow her up the stairs and with an inward groan, they did so, Terrence walking ahead of the group. "It is not often that we see visitors" she started.
"I don't see why not. This planet, this settlement, it's beautiful" he said.
"Thank you. Though please tell me, what world do you come from?" she asked.
"It's known as Agnos. Our city is known as Avallana" the Brit explained.
"The city of the Lanteans. Why do you inhabit it?" she asked.
"We discovered the Lantean capital, Atlantis. With the Lanteans gone, we thought that we would see what we could learn from their technology. The city isn't in this galaxy any more" he said, trying to dodge the fact that the city was in fact still intact.
"We heard of it's destruction from our few allies. So you came back to Avallana?" she asked as they approached a large table in a pure white room.
"To continue our research, yes" Terrence replied.
"Please sit" she said. The table was close to the floor and several white cushions lay around it. They each took a seat and relaxed a little bit.
"How are you familiar with them?" Cameron asked.
"It was before their war with the Wraith. The Lanteans came to this planet, seeking to build a small stronghold to study the ability to manipulate the world around them. Their experiments however, failed and we were exposed to some sort of radiation. We fell ill shortly afterwards, but the Lanteans told us that the radiation was not fatal to our kind" Helena began to explain.
"You were there? All those years ago?" the Brit asked and she nodded. "How?" he asked, shocked.
"It would appear that the radiation had somehow altered us. Not only did we grow taller, but we had gained some sort of longevity. Not even the Lanteans could explain what had happened. Then we discovered that we possessed the very ability they were attempting to replicate. They theorised that the radiation had taking something from us, and like the Wraith, we can remain alive so long as we are properly nourished" Helena said, captivating them.
"And the bridges that connected your homes together...?" he let the question hang.
"Were woven using that ability" Helena finished. Several more of the Lumen came in carrying many plates of fruit and goblets which they laid down.
"What about the Wraith?" Cameron asked.
"We've never been culled. Using our abilities we can manipulate the trees. We still need a lot of practice with it though. We can make branches thicker to support our homes or add branches and many leaves to provide us with a natural shield which covers us from their sensors" she said, before gesturing to the spread. "Please, eat. Consider it a meal between allies" she said with a warm smile.
"So you've never relied on technology?" Terrence asked.
"We believe in preserving our planet. Why waste such beauty in the perfection of something which would inevitably be destroyed by the Wraith?" she said, taking a small sip from the goblet.
"A valid point. But what if the Wraith did come here?" Cameron asked.
"Our guards are more than capable of holding against a Wraith ground attack. We may look like we lack experience, but we can fight" Helena stated confidently.
"In return for our friendship, what would you want in return?" Terrence asked and she smiled.
"Only that we remain allies. To be called upon when needed most" she said.
"That's it?" the Brit asked, before taking a bite out of some fruit. "Wow, that tastes amazing" he said and she chuckled.
"When we do trade, which is rarely so these days, we offer our fruits which grow throughout the year" she explained.
They spent the next couple of hours explaining about their respective races such as their politics, beliefs and other aspects about them. Cameron listened intently as well about their role in the war against the Wraith and how they barely managed to break a siege with them. Soon however, they knew that they had to go, and Helena personally escorted them back to the Stargate.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Terrence. I hope to see you again" she said and he smiled.
"You as well Helena. Thank you for the hospitality" he said and she nodded.
(Avallana)
Upon getting through the wormhole Chuck waved for him to up to the Control Room and he did so quickly, finding the screen showed a planet. The Brit looked at it momentarily before turning back to the technician.
"What's up?" he asked.
"We received the results of the sensor scan" Chuck explained.
"Go on" the Brit said a little wearily.
"The planet on that screen is home to a large Wraith facility. They've gone to great lengths to keep it hidden as the coordinates are not showing up so I'm assuming they're blocking them" he explained.
"What about a Stargate?" Cameron asked.
"Non-existent. The planet doesn't even show up on the database" Chuck said.
"Keep monitoring it for any more activity" Terrence said before turning to Cameron, a frown on his face.
"That frown isn't a good look for you" Mitchell said.
"Well until that ship is repaired it'll be permanently stamped onto my face" he said and then an alarm went off and the Gate began to dial.
"We have an unscheduled off-world activation!" Chuck said, raising the Stargate shield.
"Have we got an IDC?" the Brit asked.
"It's the SGC" Chuck said and he lowered the shield in case anyone was coming through. The large monitor behind them showed an image of General Landry and Terrence turned, giving him a nod in respect and Cameron giving a salute.
"General Landry. How can I help you?" he asked, sounding a little frustrated.
"The IOA has gone back on it's word" the older said and Terrence scowled.
"Please tell me that this is the IOA's version of a joke? Why have they gone back on their word?" he asked, anger slowly building. Cameron was concerned then for the menacing tone in his voice. It was official, seeing the Brit angry, was not something he wanted to see too often.
"I'm afraid not. The Ori are a large threat and with our own Control Chair out of commission we need Atlantis here" Landry said.
"Please don't tell me you agree with them?" he pleaded.
"I do. We'll still be sending you resources as well as the new BC-305 as a Pegasus only vessel" he said and Terrence sighed.
"Can I at least make a recommendation?" he asked and Landry gave a nod. "Move it into more open waters when you can. The cloak is still a massive drain on your power" he said and Landry nodded.
"We're waiting on repairs before we can do that but it will be done. I'm sorry Terrence" Landry said and with a reluctant nod, the communication was cut and the Gate shut down.
"Bloody hell!" he shouted as he whacked the panel a good one in anger.
"Hey, easy" Cameron attempted to soothe.
"Contact another team, tell them to get ready to depart for the Genii homeworld to begin repairing our relations with them. Without Atlantis we going to need allies" he said and Chuck nodded.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Cameron asked.
"I'll send two Puddle Jumpers as back up. We managed to find a bay with them" Terrence said.
Never in his life had he felt so angry. He stormed back to his office and sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose and he sighed not in anger, but frustration. He understood their reasoning, he really did, but he couldn't shake the anger that the city had been taken from it's home of many millions of years.
"Relax. We still have a city to use" Cameron said.
"You're right. We'll just have to continue on as normal. I'll inform the personnel when they return from their own missions" he said and he grabbed his tablet.
"You gonna be okay?" Mitchell asked.
"I'll be fine. Just a bit miffed is all" he said with a half-hearted smile and the other nodded.
"Well I'm going to get some coffee. You want some?" the Colonel asked.
"Tea, two sugars and a small drop of milk, thanks" he said with a grin and Cameron got up, grumbling about 'awkward Brits and their tea habits' and he chuckled, feeling a little better. He was dreading telling Sheppard that Atlantis wasn't coming home, the man was one of the ones who was protesting vehemently to it's staying on Earth.
(Hours Later)
The team he requested earlier had already left for the Genii homeworld and AR-1 returned from it's mission to see a very grim commander. What made their own feelings of dread worse was when the Brit gestured for Sheppard to join him in his office.
"What's going on?" the Colonel asked warily.
"The IOA is refusing to send Atlantis home when the two years are up" he said and he cringed.
"What?!" the Colonel exclaimed, a glare set on his face.
"They said that they needed the city on Earth to defend against the Wraith and any other impending threats such as the Lucian Alliance. Even General Landry agreed to it" the Brit said and Sheppard looked ready to murder.
"Those bastards told us we could have it back!" he exclaimed, his glare set on him.
"Hey, don't set your glare on me. I protested as much as you did!" his voice was rising, just as he did from his seat.
"So what do we do now?" he asked, calming down after seeing angry honey-brown eyes.
"We carry on as normal. There's not much else we can do" Terrence said, sitting down and seeing to deflate.
"Okay" was the simple reply as he too sat down. "I'm sorry for getting mad at you" he said, sounding a little awkward as he apologised and the Brit smiled warmly and waved him off.
"It's fine. You're pissed, I'm pissed, we're allowed to get angry at others at the moment" he said and Sheppard's trademark grin. "We're still getting a ship in return only it's the first new 305. I haven't seen the schematics yet so I don't know what it looks like. However it is a Pegasus only vessel" the Brit said.
"Crap compensation" Sheppard said with a small scowl.
"Better that than nothing. How'd your mission go?" Terrence asked, quickly changing the subject.
"The Athosians were happy to see us after a while however it took us a while to find the Travellers, there colony has been moved elsewhere. They were pretty glad to see us as well" Sheppard said and the other smiled.
"Good to know our allies haven't abandoned us yet" he said.
"Yeah, what about the Genii?" Sheppard asked.
"I already sent a reinforced team to their homeworld to begin repairing relations with them. Their are two Jumpers with them so they won't think to try and do anything" Terrence reassured him as soon as he saw him tense a little.
"You sure they know what they're doing?" Sheppard asked.
"I'm not the only diplomat here you know?" he asked with a grin.
The IOA had left an even more bitter taste in their mouths than all of the other times that they had investigated the expedition. Needless to say, there will always be anger between the expedition and the IOA, no matter what their intentions were, but life had to go on.
Incognito, man you have to get an account so I can respond to that whopper of a review. You would do well as a Beta reviewer. I'll answer that review when you get an account as that has given me a lot to think about. And I apologise in advance of my other races names, nothing could come to mind.