Ace In The Hole
Chapter 18
The bridge of the Odyssey was unusually tense, currently the only earth built 304 with a cloaking device she was of course the only ship deemed safe enough to venture out away from the cities protection and although they were on a routine sentinel placement mission no one was quite sure if the Asgard had improved the Wraith technology enough to make them visible to Wraith scans.
Lt. Colonel Jason Marks was a well liked and respected officer that had been in Earths fledgling fleet from its very beginnings and although it might not be official, many of the crew and even Colonel Sheppard himself saw it as a mere technicality that Odyssey was not his ship, the crew trusted him to get their job done and more importantly to keep them safe.
"Helm…. Lay in a course for our last destination"
"Yes sir…." the young lieutenant at the helm was tapping at the consol in front of him almost lost in his own thoughts
"Lieutenant?... is there something wrong?" the young man looks up for a moment looking slightly confused and hesitant.
Marks can't help the smile that creeps across his face, he knows that he had given that look to his CO many times before it's the look that says give me a second more I'm on to something and I'm gonna impress you.
"What have you got lieutenant?" the young man breaks into a sheepish smile and nods to his CO before continuing.
"Sorry sir…. It just occurred to me…. Dr McKaye thinks the Asgard might be helping the Wraith right" Marks nods in agreement kind of confused at where the young lieutenant may be going with this "Well sir…. I was reviewing the sensor logs from a few days ago…. The ones from PX8-9YU…."
"And?"
"We didn't scan for them…. I mean why would we?... but the logs show that there were three Asgard life signs aboard the damaged Wraith hive ship…. Thought you might think it important?" The young lieutenant raises his eyebrows and grins slightly at the grin his CO gives him.
"Helm…. Get us back to Atlantis…. Now!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes sir…. I double checked Lt. Deans findings myself sir…. We never thought to do a scan for them but their life signs were detected and recorded in the sensor logs" Marks tells the pacing Sheppard
"If they are still there a small team may be able to…"
"I know Rodney…."
"We need to figure out what other technology they have given the Wraith…. And more importantly they are sitting on top of the gate way to unlimited power…. They are one ring platform away to discovering it…." Rodney is almost panicking.
"I know Rodney…."
"That and it's a way to Earth and god knows where else…."
"I get it McKaye…. Good work Marks…. This pans out Deans gets put in for a promotion" Sheppard grins "Be ready to head out soon"
"Yes sir" Marks smiles and turns to leave Sheppard and McKaye to their planning.
Less than two hours later the Odyssey is on route to 9YU with Sheppard, Lorne's and Stackhouse's teams on board as well as a nervous Dr Cairns
"You know when I signed up for this I didn't realise that it meant that I would be sent out on missions…. I'm not exactly the Rambo type" Cairns sigh's to a smirking Rodney
"Well now you get to see the master in his element"
"Hardley…. Radek is still on the Nautilus station I believe"
"What!... You can't seriously believe that fuzzy…." Rodney stops seeing the smirk on Dr Cairns face "Oh… funny…"
"Do you think an hour will be enough time to get it out and back on board safely?" Cairns asks suddenly serious
"Probably not…. Only one way to find out though"
"Do you always feel this anxious before these kind of missions?... I kinda feel excited and bricking it at the same time"
"Bricking it?"
"Oh…" Cairns laughs "British term you know crapping myself"
"Oh…. Well this mission not so much…. If I was going with the others…. I would be…. Bricking it big time!" both McKaye and Cairns head up to the briefing room to meet up with the others
The briefing room on board the Odyssey was relatively small and more closely resembled a small college lecture theatre with a small podium down front off to the side of a screen.
"OK guys…. to save time I thought it would be easier to go over things here on route rather than in the city…. First McKaye and Cairns are going to ring down and have exactly 60 minutes to get that mini gate and pedestal removed and back on board the Odyssey" both doctors nod to Sheppard "Stackhouse you and your team are to go with and help with the heavy lifting" Sheppard grins at Stackhouse's frown
"Gee sir …..Thanks"
"You're welcome Sergeant" Sheppard nods never dropping the grin "While down there we are going to locate the Asgard and try to beam them up…. But…. if we can't get a lock on them Lorne's and the rest of my team will go down by cloaked jumper and try to extract them"
"If they are still there…. The hives could have moved on by now" Rodney babbles.
"True but if they are there…. We need information…. We need to know what they have given the Wraith and why…. Marks?"
"Sir?"
"Your job is to get us all out of here safely once they find out…. I'll leave it up to you how to do that" Sheppard smiles at the confused officer "You want Odyssey full time Colonel you gotta show the brass you are up to the job…. Show me and them you are up to the task"
"Yes Sir" Marks nods looking slightly nervous all of a sudden
"OK people…. let's get moving…."
Almost an hour later the ship drops out of hyperspace and immediately cloaks before heading in closer to the planet.
"Sir…. Slight problem…." Lt. Deans says looking at his monitor frowning before displaying his finding on the main screen for all to see.
"Oh that's not good" Marks agrees
"What's going on?" Sheppard asks sprinting into the bridge finally
"We have 4 hives in orbit and 1 more on the ground…. There are also 11 cruisers in formation with the hives…. Kind of makes this tougher…. Sir" Marks states looking more than a little panicked.
"On the bright side…. Looks like they can't see through our cloak" Sheppard shrugs
"Makes the mission a little more dangerous though sir…. don't you think?"
"For me and my team…. Not so much….But you and your crew handling the getaway…."
"We'll get the job done Sir"
"I'm sure you will" Shepard nod's before tapping his radio "Sheppard to McKaye…..Good to go Rodney…. One hour!"
[I know jezzz….. McKaye out]
"The hives are jamming beaming…. Looks like your missions a go sir" Marks nods after checking.
"Sheppard to Lorne"
[Go ahead Sir]
"Looks like we gotta do it the hard way as usual….Sheppard out"
Less than 20 minutes later Sheppard and the small group head hesitantly into the damaged hive after landing the cloaked jumper near to the damaged section of the ship
"The hive is redirecting most of its power to re-growth attempting to repair itself" Teyla says quietly
"Looked pretty banged up to me"
"OK Lorne you and your team stay with the jumper…. We will go find the Asgard" Lorne nods before Sheppard and the others disappear deeper into the hive.
Tense minutes of silence quickly pass and Lorne can't help notice that Alex is unusually quiet
"You Ok Lexy?" Lorne can see from his face a mixture of nerves and wonder.
"We fought…. Well the Ancients fought the Wraith so long…. It's just…. I have never actually been on a hive before" Alex says wonder creeping into his voice
"Well…. This is about as close as I like to get…. One eye on the hive and the other on a clear path to the jumper and home"
"Do you think this will go as easy as it soun…." Alex is cut off at the sound of the ships alarm sounding
"No!... it never goes easy" Lorne sighs
[Sheppard to Lorne]
"Go ahead Sir"
[Kinda got pinned down by a patrol on the way back]
"We'll come get you Sir"
[Better make it quick…. For naked short asses they weigh a tonne…. Sheppard out]
"Guys… lets go save their butts again!…. Lexy…. Stay with the jumper" Lorne sees the annoyance flash across Alex's face "You're our secret weapon…. Lexy…. Just wanna keep it that way" Alex nods slowly understanding and watches as Lorne and the others disappear down the corridor.
"This is so unfair" Alex half sighs.
"Odyssey…. This is McKaye we are almost done should be ready to ring up in another 15 minutes" Rodney states as he finally starts unbolting the last of the bolts holing the pedestal in place.
"Dr McKaye…. You have less than 2 minutes…. Colonel Sheppard's team was discovered mid extraction and they are coming in hot" Rodney starts pacing frantically
"What?... Are you crazy…. We'll never get this thing out in time to get bac…."
BANG!... Rodney spins around to see the pedestal lying flat on its back with a large boot sized dent in its front and Stackhouse grinning beside it.
"Are you insane?... that thing is important" Rodney clammers
"His idea" Stackhouse points to Cairns
"We gotta go Rodney…. Better busted than not at all!" Rodney nods at the young scientist and grabs his tools together quickly before Stackhouse and Cairns grab the pedestal and follow their team mates as they wheel the mini gate back up the ramp towards the ring room.
"Odyssey…. We are on our way back…. McKaye out"
"Report!"
"Dr McKaye and his team have just ringed back aboard…. And the jumper is just leaving the atmosphere…. They have several darts chasing them sir…. Looks like their cloak is damaged"
"Great…. This just keeps getting better and better"
"Hyperdrive is currently offline…. The hives are jamming us sir"
"They know we are here somewhere…. The jumpers heading away from the gate…. Ok guys…. Let's do this…. Helm lay in a course for the jumper…. Remember keep as much distance between us and those cruisers…. Let's get our guys back people"
The Odyssey drops its cloak and heads towards the planet at tremendous speed, immediately the wraith hives and cruisers in orbit begin to change direction and head towards the Earth vessel
[Sheppard to Marks]
"Sir…. Port bay is open and waiting"
[You do realise you are uncloaked Jason?] Marks can't help the small smile creep onto his face.
"Yes Sir…. We are calling this the Sheppard manoeuvre Sir…. If it works that is"
[ETA 2 minutes…. May need you to take out these darts on our six though…. Sheppard out]
"Power up rail guns…. Target and destroy the darts soon as they enter range…. Helm soon as the jumpers onboard alter course don't wait for my order….Lt. Simms cruisers?"
"They are going to be in weapons range in 2.2 minutes sir" the young women says looking up from the console briefly
"Doesn't give us much of a window sir?" Lt Deans says hesitantly.
"She can do it…. Can't you girl" Marks taps the arm of his chair and smiles.
The second the jumper enters the landing bay the Odyssey begins to turn around and head almost directly away from the planet, she immediately opens up with her rail guns and begins to rake fire across the approaching darts but as they compete the turn a larger blast hits the shields shaking the ship violently.
"One of the cruisers took a shot at us…. Shields are down almost 18% and engineering is reporting power in the capacitor is fluctuating… Sir" Lt Deans states sounding unnerved
"Come on girl hold it together….distance?"
"Less than two minutes to target"
"See if you can push the engines a little harder…. keep that cruiser out of range…. We need our shields to make this work"
"Sublight's are already at 105% of maximum sir but I'll push them to 110%... may burn out the system before we get though Sir"
"She will hold together….. Come on girl just a little further"
Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, Lorne and Alex come running to the bridge panting
"Report" Sheppard is a little surprised at Marks when he just holds his finger up.
"Weapons…. lock on…. prepare to beam as soon as we are clear…. Don't wait for the order" He states before turning to look at his CO "I take it your mission went ok Sir"
"That remains to be seen" Sheppard cocks his head questioningly "This your Sheppard manoeuvre?…. Running away at sublight…. Gonna take a while" Sheppard grins
"No Sir" Marks nods to the view port ahead and a small moon is rapidly growing in the distance
"Gonna try hiding behind it?"
"No Sir…. Had a better idea…. You may wanna hold on sir"
The Odyssey skims as close to the large moon as possible flying over the top of the moon heading further out of the system
"Weapons away"
"All hands brace for detonation!" Marks states
The ships suddenly jolts violently as a huge blast wave hits the shields from behind, it takes Sheppard all his time to stay on his feet before a second blast wave hits the ship finally throwing him down, unfortunately for Sheppard Ronon falls on top of him with a thud.
"Report!" Marks states clutching the chair tightly
"Shields held down to 28% sir"
"Contacts?"
"Sporadic…. Sir…. Jamming fields down…. Hyperdrives online" Lt. Deans says with a grin.
Finally pulling himself to his feet and thumping Ronon on the arm for crushing him Sheppard looks to Marks in confusion.
"Helm bring us about"
The scene in front of them is utter carnage with blazing chunks of hive ships and cruisers drifting lifelessly, It doesn't take Sheppard long to figure out how
"The moon….?"
"What moon… sir?" Lorne asks looking at Sheppard
"The moon we flew over…. The first blast shattered the moon I take it?" Marks nods with a smile knowing Sheppard was smart enough to catch up quickly.
"The second blast was just enough to accelerate the debris to the desired speed…. Seems it was mainly made iron and such…. Thought I would throw a few cannon balls at them…. I just needed to get them to line up for it….Sir" Marks explains with a nod.
"Sir one hive ship is still left drifting heavily damaged…. Power is off line" Lt. Deans states looking to Marks then hesitantly to Colonel Sheppard. Sheppard just shrugs his shoulders and turns to walk away
"Your ship…. You deal with them…. I need a shower" Sheppard walks off happily down the corridor as he hears Marks order
"Helm lay in a course…. Let's show them we mean business this time…. And let's not forget the hive still left on the planet also"
"Yes… Sir!"