Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.
Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/
Review Responses
stark40763: Ah, if only it were that simple. Just wait and see how that goes.
Shadow of Realm: Nadier may have been a power hungry idiot but at least he was a good leader, and a good leader won't needlessly sacrifice his men. And i find being targeted by a ship mounted railgun to be a very good negotiating tool.
Jedi Carpet: Thats what i was aiming for, a classic episode style rescue, glad you like it. Also anyone who is kind enough to leave a review i will respond to at some point.
Daniwilder: I'm sorry it took so long, and i hope another chapter so soon helps to make up for it. On the plus side if anyone wants to re-read everything they should be happy with the improvements. Oh and, do you doubt my good will towards Petra and her people?
Unknown System
Near a small green world, with an even smaller moon, a hyperspace window tore open and deposited the massive bulk of the Arima and her sentinels back into normal space. Her only passengers were Echidna and the Wraith known as Todd.
"Matriarch, we have arrived at the planet," said Todd, respectfully.
"Indeed," said Echidna. "And I've told you before, I am your mother first and Matriarch second."
"My apologies, Mother."
Echidna sighed, "You know sometimes I think I should never have left you alone if this is the result."
"You are Echidna, the one true Matriarch to all Wraith," argued Todd. "It is only right that you be afforded the respect you deserve."
"But to respect me you will do as I ask. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about your sense of humour so I know when you are winding me up," she added.
Todd smirked, "As you say mother."
Echidna cringed, while Thypeous chuckled over the mental link.
"My love, try and remember that he's just happy to have you back, as am I."
"I know, but he knows how much I dislike being treated like I am some great leader," Echidna replied.
In their mental world Thypeous shrugged. "Get used to it. Soon you'll be looking at the respect of thousands of Wraith, and quickly to, now that the Tau'ri have started the mass conversions."
At which point Todd gave a polite cough and dragged Echidna out of the mental landscape she had slipped into.
"Might I suggest we get started mother," he said.
"Do not worry my son," said Echidna. "I had Thypeous deploy the hornets when we arrived. The sensor data should be coming in now."
As Todd turned to the console in front of him, bringing up the data the hornets were sending about the planet below.
"I still can't believe you let Sheppard name them that," he muttered, though not very quietly.
"Darts no longer seemed appropriate and the man does seem to have a knack for naming things. Todd is rather a good name for you," she added.
"Todd is not the name you gave me, mother," said a slightly annoyed Todd, as he went through the data.
"And no one else knows your real name anymore because you gave it up when you saved me," was the stern reply.
"I did what was necessary to keep you alive, and if my name became one of infamy then so be it. It is a small price to pay."
"But the name Todd is known, you are a legend amongst the Tau'ri and the Wraith for your exploits. Todd is the name the Tau'ri gave their ally and it is a name I will have you carry on using. I will not have you forced to carry the burden of your past when you have only ever tried to do the right thing."
Todd sighed.
"Very well mother. If that is what my Matriarch commands," he added with a smirk.
"That's my boy."
"Indeed. Oh and I'm giving my vote to the name hornet so I'm afraid your outnumbered son."
Todd snorted. "Well your hornets are back on board father, except for the one scouting the moon which seems to have suffered engine failure and crashed. We should probably retrieve it."
"Hmm, the poor creatures haven't been out and about for millennia so I suppose that should be expected. I'll run checks on the others to make sure they are all alright."
The hornets, like the sentinels, may look like their counterparts in shape but were fundamentally different in design. Instead of a pilot they possessed a simple animalistic mind. This means that, once they were fed basic instructions telepathically, they are capable of performing independent tasks without the need for constant input from the Arima. They were, essentially, the trained pets of the Matriarch, as Todd had so eloquently put it when asked.
"I'll bring us around to the moon. What's the report on the planet?" asked Echidna.
"There are numerous villages, but all have been abandoned. In fact the scouts have found no life signs on the entire planet. It would seem the Genii reports are accurate."
Echidna sighed tiredly. "Six worlds checked and all have been picked clean. It seems that I will be forced to carry out the threat I gave, I'll have to kill my children."
"If they refuse to accept the life you offered them mother, then they are no family of ours," Todd stated flatly. "Besides it does not have to be you who puts an end to this. I have no fear of doing what I should have done long ago when I saw what my brothers and sisters were turning into."
"You still blame yourself don't you my son," she said sadly, sinking lower into her throne chair. "You think you allowed your brothers and sisters to turn against me. In your eyes it doesn't matter how the rest of the galaxy sees you because you already believe you are a monster."
Todd refused to turn to face her, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the console in front of him.
"It was my fault mother," he said in a low voice. "I saw that they were becoming twisted and yet I did nothing. You were just happy to have your children back safely but I saw that they weren't my brothers and sisters and I did nothing until it was already too late."
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look into his mothers loving eyes, glistening with held back tears.
"It is not your fault, it is mine. I put you though this misery because I wanted us to a family, because I had felt that the universe had already taken from me too much. But I still have the family I need. I have you and Thypeous and now I have my descendants to care for. I will not disregard my responsibilities as a mother any longer. I will protect my child if I can, and I will protect you from this. You have already done to much for me as it is."
Todd gave a weak smile in return. "It is my duty to serve you, mother."
Echidna returned the smile with one of her own. "And it is mine to serve you."
They embraced each other, as the ship began to circle the moon and was struck by weapons fire. As they struggled to maintain their balance Thypeous screamed over the telepathic link.
"Wraith ships bearing down on us. Count; one hive ship, a dozen cruisers, and several hundred darts with more being launched. Sentinels are engaging the cruisers."
Even as the Arima was being rocked by the concentrated weapons fire, her sentinels reacted automatically and began to engage the attacking ships. The single main weapons on each sentinels tip targeted a cruiser while hornets were launched from the sizeable hangers on the underbelly to engage the massing darts.
Hunting in packs the hornets quickly met the fast approaching darts and began exchanging fire, racking up the kills. Like a trained team of hunting dogs each pack of five flawlessly worked together to overwhelm the limited skills of the drone pilots they were facing, dealing out much more damage than they took.
Meanwhile the sentinels had charged their main weapons and opened fire on the charging cruisers. As they edged closer to the Arima the sentinels reacted automatically, targeting the cruisers that were exchanging fire on them over the cruisers heading determinedly towards the Arima. Three cruisers quickly succumbed to fire from the sentinels, their organic armour unable to withstand against each ball of energy that burned into their hulls with deadly accuracy.
In fact the remaining three cruisers seemed indifferent to this constantly directing fire towards the sentinels while their fellows continued to hurtle towards the Arima. Plummeting like meteors from above drawing ever closer, temporarily filling the blind spot that had been left open as Echidna staggered to the control chair so that the ship could return fire. But it was already too late, as the cruisers neared closer and closer until their aim became and moments before they impacted Thypeous screamed over the telepathic link.
"FOUR CRUISERS ARE RAMMING! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" before the ship shook from the collision.
The combined mass of the four cruisers tore into the highly durable hull armour of the Arima. Ripping through layer after layer of weakened organic matter they burrowed deeper and deeper into the armour, before finally exploding and burning through the remains damaging the systems beneath. The four cruiser impacts had seemed like stones thrown at an angry Wraith queen but unbeknownst to Echidna, as she finally sat in her chair and seized control of her fleet telepathically, they had been carefully aimed.
As she sat in the chair and the interface connected with her mind Thypeous was screaming at her over the link.
"ECHIDNA DON'T CONNECT!"
But it was already too late, the interface had been activated and the damage was done. The main telepathic amplifier, which had been damaged when the cruisers impacted the ship, failed to hold the massive amounts of power being channelled into it and exploded. The ramifications were horrific, the damage to the ship was negligible but the psychic feedback sent through the interface momentarily shattered Echidna's mind. The energy sent spiking back tore through her body, her Wraith physiology allowing her to recover from the damage but leaving her greatly weakened as a result. She slumped in the chair, exhausted from the assault on both her body and her mind, feeling herself slipping closer and closer over the edge towards unconsciousness.
As the telepathic link with the fleet was severed protocols ingrained within their programming, designed to prevent loss of control of the ships guardians, automatically kicked in. The hornets eliminated their targets before turning back to the hangers they came from, dodging weapons fire from the darts they had just been duelling with. Meanwhile the sentinels finished off the last of the cruisers before manoeuvring to the underside of the Arima and latching themselves to the ships docking ports. With the hornets back in their cradles, and the sentinels latched onto the hull of the Arima, the Wraith flagship was at the mercy of the remaining enemy hive ship and a swarm of darts. The ambush had been carefully planned and carried out with deadly efficiency, with the end result being that the Arima had been rendered unable to defend itself, and unable to enter hyperspace without Echidna to command her.
Todd was quickly by his mother's side, examining her condition while mentally screaming at his father.
"What is our status?" he asked frantically.
"All enemy cruisers have been eliminated but there are still a large number of darts out there, along with a hive ship."
"The sentinels should be more than a match for a single hive ship, have them take it out."
"Defensive protocol would have them do so automatically, but the kamikaze cruisers damaged the main telepathic amplifier. When the connection was severed prematurely the guardian forces were automatically recalled once their current targets were eliminated."
Todd growled. "In other words we're defenceless."
"In other words, this wasn't a chance attack. They knew exactly where to hit us. We're just lucky they are holding fire for now."
Echidna moaned as she began to regain consciousness, "What happened?"
"We were ambushed mother. They knew exactly where to hit us, for now we are disabled," said Todd as he stopped her from trying to rise from her seat.
"Rest now my love," said Thypeous, as tendrils emerged from the control chair to envelope Echidna, easing her discomfort as they started to heal her. "Let your body heal."
"Who could have done this?" she asked tiredly.
Over the Wraith hive mind came a low, evil chuckle accompanied by two familiar voices.
"Who indeed?" the voices asked, followed by shrill laughter.
Echidna paled and tried to rise up out of her chair, but was stopped by the tendrils and her son's strong hands.
"No, it can't be," she moaned.
"Did you think you had killed us?" the voices taunted. "Did you think we had fallen before the pathetic humans who you had allied yourself with? Did you really think it would be so easy as to give them permission to kill us?"
"Stheno, Euryale, how?"
"Did you really think that was us ruling over that desolate world, controlling a mere handful of followers?" they spat in disgust. "We were among the great leaders who secured our rightful place as rulers of this galaxy and you thought we would be content studying a relic of the past."
"How did you survive? Your ship was annihilated."
The voices laughed mockingly. "What's the matter our clever mother can't figure it out? Oh yes, that ship was utterly destroyed and all aboard perished, but we weren't aboard."
"But I sensed your minds aboard that ship. Your subordinates knew you were there, you must have been aboard."
"And yet we can be in two places at once, but not since you betrayed us."
Realisation hit her like a hammer, "No you couldn't have…you would not have allowed it."
"Oh but in this form and with these gifts we can be so persuasive."
"You cloned yourselves, didn't you?" spat Todd. "And then once you copied your minds across you tortured your clones into obedience."
"Ah aren't you clever brother? Here take a look." Over the link they sent images, horrific images of the sisters torturing their doubles. Over and over they drained them to a withered and nearly lifeless state before restoring them once again.
"Clever enough to see that your course will lead to the destruction of our race," he retorted, dispelling the images from his mind.
"And yet it is you that is at our mercy, weak and vulnerable and unable to do a thing about it."
"And yet you have ceased fire even though you know that every second you waste is time for the systems to repair and the Matriarch to recover."
"Only because we choose it."
"Because you need this ship intact," he accused.
Their response was uncontrolled laughter. "We needed a cover story, an excuse for our limited presence. But now it is no longer necessary, and with our clones killed the Arima can be disposed of. Mother will not be allowed to interfere with our plans any longer, but your knowledge will aid us greatly."
Todd's eyes widened in shock and he abruptly severed the link. He turned to Echidna, put his hands on her temple and sent a command to her exhausted mind.
"Sleep now mother and when you wake all will be well."
But she would not do so willing. She fought the command and her fractured mind made her pay the price. As her eyes slid shut her dreams were plagued by memories.
10,300 years ago – Iratus bug homeworld
The cave was dark, damp and filled with life. Moving life. Creeping life. This life was now only scuttling insects, which had herded her and her team deep into this cave with the soul purpose of ending their lives, and her. Soon, vey soon, like her team mates before her she would become the food for the insects queen. By now her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she wished they hadn't. Around her she could she the withered, dead husks that had once been her team mates and as the final horrific screams around her died out she knew her time would shortly come. She wanted to run. She wanted to get away from this place, away from this world of nightmare creatures and back home, back to her love, back to Thypeous. But she could not. The queens spawn had covered her, dragged her down and would bite her whenever she struggled against them until she submitted to their will. But even as she pondered this she could hear the click, click, click as the queen scuttled to her. She could feel her heart racing and sense the creature's on her part to make way for the approaching horror. Its presence chocked her as it neared, forcing her to screw her eyes shut just so she could pretend it wasn't coming for her. When at last it sunk its teeth into her neck she couldn't help but scream, scream until she had no air left in her lungs then inhale deeply and scream again. But she could sense something new, something she did not expect. The pain, oh the pain, was there but she did not feel her life slipping away from her. She felt strange, like her insides were burning. The queen latched onto her neck began to shake and spasm and she quickly joined it. Her entire body thrashed and she felt a white hot pain in her hands, like her palms were being cut. As their thrashings continued the queen finally detached from her neck, letting out a high pitched wailing that could almost have been a scream. The wailing was contagious, with the cry quickly being taken up by the queen's young, pouring off of her, desperate to get away. Suddenly finding herself unencumbered by the creatures she did the only thing she could, she ran. She ran from the creatures, ran from the cave and then kept running.
She stumbled through the forest, clawing at her stomach, growing ever more desperate. She was hungry, so hungry, oh so very hungry. The slits on her palms were throbbing, a dull ache that would not go away and would only get worse the hungrier she got. It didn't matter how much she consumed, normal food would not satisfy her hunger no matter how much she consumed. Numerous fruit trees had been picked clean in her desperation and her hunger had only grown worse. Either she would have to consume greater amounts to satisfy her self or her body now craved something else, but what she did not know. A snap of a twig and her head snapped around to the location of the noise, and was then that she saw it. A large dark coated wildebeest that had stumbled into the nearby clearing, her presence unnoticed by the creature. In her hunger fuelled state her senses were heightened. Her hearing sharpened to the point where she could hear every beat of its heart, every panicked breath it took. It seemed so much like her; lost, scared and confused, but more importantly so full of life. Her hands were throbbing more than before and instinct seemed to kick in. Before she knew what she was doing, she running, flat out, straight at the creature. Before it had noticed her presence her raised palm connected with the wildebeest's side as she tackled it to the ground. Instinct forced her actions as she penetrated the creatures flesh and started to feed. She could feel it, the energy being drained from the creature and into her, and it was wonderful. Instinct left her and she continued of her own will, draining the life from the beast, leaving behind a withered, decrepit, lifeless husk. She stared at the remains of the once proud wildebeest and realized what she had done, realized what she had become and realized that after days of unbearable pain her hunger was gone and she felt strong.
The decision had been made, the path chosen and started down, and despite her wishes she knew that there was no other choice in the matter. She stared at the clearing in the forest, which was slowly being covered by the creeping tendrils, and the large mass at the centre of it all. A mass that had started out as the man she loved, but once he had injected himself with the pathogen he created the tendrils had begun to grow inside of him until they expanded outwards and started to absorb the forest around him. It would be a long time before the process was completed, but if it was successful then they would have eternity to spend together. If not, then she would treasure the Arima as the great gift Thypeous had deemed it necessary to sacrifice his physical form for. She turned away from the clearing, to retreat to the home they had made together, until such a time as her new home would be ready.
Arima - Bridge
Echidna was jolted out of her dreams by a bright light shining in her eyes. She groaned and batted the pen light, held by Dr Keller, away.
"How you feeling lass?" asked the familiar accent of the one she knew as Dr Beckett.
"Where am I? What happened?" she asked, as she groggily sat up, finding the tendrils that had held her gone.
"We received your distress signal and towed the ship back to our system," said Keller. "The ships healing systems and your own regeneration abilities seem to have repaired the damage, but you'll need a good meal in you to regain your strength."
"Distress signal?" she murmured. "I sent no distress signal."
Her eyes snapped open.
"Where is my son?" she asked in a panic. But when she received no answer her panic only grew.
"Typheous, what happened? Show me!" she demanded.
"Very well. I am sorry my love." This was the last thing she heard before the memories flooded into her mind.
Flashback
Todd watched his mother as her eyes closed and her drooped. When he was sure she was asleep he turned back to the control console.
"Father, I'm setting a course for orbit around the sun. I'm also activating a distress beacon on a frequency I know the Tau'ri use."
"What are you planning Todd?"
"The hull armour of the Arima will be strong enough to withstand the radiation field long enough for the Tau'ri arrive. In the mean time I'm going to give those harpies what they want, eventually."
"Why do they want you, when this ship holds the potential knowledge to allow them to strengthen their ships?"
Todd sighed. "Because father, I found a way to interface ZPM's with a hive ships systems to make it potentially even more powerful than the Arima."
"What, how?"
"That is a question I do not intend to answer, to anyone."
"If you give yourself up to them they will torture you to get the information you have. You saw what they did to their own clones!"
"I will go into a temporary state of hibernation, which should buy me some time before they wake me. Besides torture is something I have and can survive, at least until mother finds me."
"I know her Todd, she will not stop. She will come for you."
"I know father. That is the one thing that will allow me to survive the ordeal to come."
"The sentinels can be piloted you know, once I unlock the controls temporarily."
Todd grinned. "I know. I think it's time for me to return the favour."
"Don't worry I can grow a new one."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"Go to umbilical three. That one was the least damaged so it should survive long enough for what I believe you have planned. Oh and before you ask there is a shuttle onboard."
"Goodbye father."
"Goodbye my son."
And with that, as the Arima headed towards the sun with the enemy fleet gaining on them, Todd left to board the sentinel.
"You win sisters, I am coming to you," he sent.
The lone sentinel detached from the Arima, and turned to face the enemy hive. Engines firing at full thrust the sentinel charged forwards, as the Arima slid ever closer to the radiation field. As the ship continued charging towards the enemy hive, with Todd at the helm, the sisters realised what he was planning and began to open fire. Bolt after bolt of pure energy impacted the hull of the sentinel, slowing but not stopping the inevitable collision. The hive desperately tried to turn away in a vain attempt to avoid its fate but to avail. The hull of the sentinel held under the constant barrage of fire and even the suicide collisions of the dart swarm could not stop it completely. Just as a shuttle left both the hangers of the sentinel and the hive ship the hive was struck. The burning and scarred remains of the sentinel hit the hive full on, tearing through the weaker bio armour just as its biological reactor detonated. As the hive was consumed by the explosion of the sentinel its own reactors went up, consuming the remains in fire.
On board the shuttle Todd slumped in his seat as he forced his body into hibernation to stave off the inevitable torture from his sisters aboard the other shuttle.
As the memories poured into Echidna's mind her knees went weak and she collapsed on the floor. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cried out with both her voice and mind. The hive mind was consumed by her grief, sorrow and loss, and underneath all of those emotions of despair, anger. Anger at the betrayal of her child, anger at the kidnap of her child, anger at the horrible suffering they would put her through in their lust for power. She vowed that they would know this woman's fury. They would fear the oncoming storm, and ultimately they would know a mothers wrath.
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