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.

I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander.

For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/

Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/

Review Responses

AlexanderD: For a good guy you need an equally bad guy, in Zarins case he's covering for pretty much the whole cast.

BIG Z1776: A counterstrike will be coming, eventually but not right now.

Shadows of Realm: Now is your chance to find out.

Cdoctor: And the last one was pretty much a given. Twists and turns in all directions.

Oddliver: Thanks.

Kevin Trevino: Don't worry they can read what's in the database, unfortunately that's how they know it isn't anywhere they can find. The Ancients don't deliberately leave these things lying around without some form of protection i'm afraid.

vash1914: I'm always happy to hear your suggestions, i may not use them but i will listen to them.

stormwolf3710: The question is what it cost to survive.

Naginator: Thank you.

Just a Crazy-Man: Then i'm explaining everything clearly.

Celestia

In the aftermath of the fighting the allied forces were attempting to clean up after all the damage that had been inflicted on the station and on the Tau'ri fleet. In the long arms of the station sat the entirety of the battlecruiser fleet. A quarter of the fleet was undergoing repair work for extensive damage caused by the ion cannon volley while the rest were either undergoing minor repairs or had their crews relegated to other duties.

With the arrival of the joint Asgard and Tau'ri fleets, with the Aror in tow, the station became even busier as the crews from these vessels added to the controlled anarchy and damaged vessels came into dock to receive work in a dedicated repair yard. With the crews of the Pegasus class vessels being pulled to perform duties on the station it was easier to simply have the vessels dock and pool their resources to get the Tau'ri fleet back in operation as soon as possible.

On in a small briefing room on the station that offered the occupants comfort and privacy a selection of individuals from the allied races gathered at the request of Minister Jakose. Todd, Sheppard and Thor, who was still in his combat form, sat around the circular table, waiting for Jakose to arrive and share the important news he had for them. The call had been so sudden that Todd and Sheppard were still wearing their races respective battle armour.

"So," said Sheppard, having gotten bored of waiting in silence. "Anyone know what this is about?"

Thor shook his head.

"No," said Todd. "But it had better be important enough to be worth wasting my time waiting for him to turn up."

"We all have things to do Todd," replied Sheppard.

"Minister Jakose also has a lot on his mind at the moment," Thor stated calmly. "We should be patient with him. The coming days will be difficult for him and he will need our support."

Sheppard sighed.

"What do you know about Sovaer's condition Thor?" he asked. "I've been trying to find out more but nobody's talking."

"Why do you believe I might have more information?" asked Thor innocently, although he had trouble pulling that off with his current rather intimidating form.

"Because I know you and the Vanir talk to each other and you want to know as much as I do," Sheppard shot back.

"I see," said Thor.

"Just tell him what you know," grumbled Todd. "It will pass the time."

"See even Todd wants to know," Sheppard said smugly, earning a glare from the Wraith.

"This is not to be made public," Thor stated before looking pointedly at Todd. "And it is not to be shared with the hive mind."

"However," continued Thor before the others could protest. "I cannot stop you from telling those you deem it necessary to know so I can only ask that you tell those who need to know."

"I will tell no one besides my parents," Todd assured him.

"I'll only tell the important people but I won't spread it around," Sheppard added. "They'll probably find out about this anyway."

"Agreed," said Thor.

"Now, what do you know about Sovaer's condition?" asked Todd.

"He is comatose," said Thor, leaving an awkward silence.

"What happened to him?" asked Sheppard.

"He apparently interfaced his mind with the computer of the Zarasian flagship in order to sabotage the ship," explained Thor. "In doing so though he was apparently discovered and in order to prevent his location from being discovered he had Jakose forcibly sever the connection."

"It caused brain damage," Todd surmised.

Thor nodded.

"Parts of his brain are registering as inactive and the rest are well below normal levels of activity. There has been no visible damage to his actual brain but his cybernetic implants have suffered some damage. Apparently a data storage chip he had implanted has become fused to his brain stem and the links cannot be severed remotely or surgically without killing him."

"Jakose must feel like crap," said Sheppard, saying what they were all thinking.

"Do you know of anyway to help him?" asked Todd.

"As it stands we are unable to quite comprehend just why this happened in the first place," said Thor, somewhat sadly. "Until we can understand the full extent of what has happened to him we will not to able to progress with a possible treatment. It is doubtful there even is a treatment for his condition, his brain is not damaged it is effectively empty. It is as if he is no longer inside him."

"Wasn't his brain damaged in someway though by a virus?" asked Todd.

Thor gave the Wraith a long look before replying. Apparently the Wraith had been more interested in Sovaer's condition than he let on.

"The virus affected his cybernetic implants but the effects should not have transferred over to the biological parts of his brain," stated Thor. "It appears though that it has had an effect we could not predict and cannot fully explain and this has resulted in his current condition."

"So it may have but it may not have," said Sheppard. "You don't actually know what the hell happened to him or how to go about helping him."

Thor opened his mouth to say something then hesitated.

"Unfortunately that would seem to be the case," he admitted. "It seems we can only wait and hope for him to wake up again."

Sheppard sighed.

"If he doesn't wake up Jakose isn't going to take it well," said Sheppard. "Those two are pretty close. It would kill him if he lost him because of this."

"My people have also suffered because of this battle," responded Todd, with visibly restrained anger. "The war has not even officially started yet and we have already taken losses."

"We all lost people in this battle," Sheppard reminded him.

"But it is not your race that the Zarasians are threatening with annihilation Sheppard," snapped Todd.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Jakose, walking into the room.

Todd and Sheppard had been so focused on venting their anger at each other that they had failed to notice the door open.

"What do you mean human?" asked Todd, failing to hide his frustration.

"I mean that Zarin threatens us all," replied Jakose, sliding a crystal into the circular holographic projector in the centre of the table. "If he is not stopped then he will subjugate all life in the Pegasus galaxy, then he will attempt to spread his influence to other galaxies."

"How do you know this?"

Jakose stared at the Wraith, his lined face showing the effects that his capture and subsequent interrogation had had on him.

"I'm not in the mood to explain everything right now and since you will no doubt want to know how I know what I know let's just cut to the chase," he said before pressing a button on the projector.

As the projector hummed into life Todd and Sheppard exchanged slightly nervous looks while Thor's face remained impassive. This wasn't the same Minister that they were used to dealing with.

The projection displayed an aged man standing in front of podium with a large curtained off shape behind him. Flanking him were two beefy men in Zarasian military uniforms.

"Before you ask, yes that is the same Zarin who broke away from our people so long ago," said Jakose, glaring at the image. "And yes this was taken from the Zarasian flagships computer core."

On the screen the elderly Zarin began a speech.

"Fellow Zarasians it is a glorious day for our people. It seems like so long ago when we first stepped out into the galaxy to prepare for our fight against the Wraith. It is our destiny to overcome them as decreed by the Ancestors. They gifted us with the tools to use to bring about their end and my people I can stand before you now to tell you that their vision, my vision and your vision is one step closer to becoming a reality."

An unseen crowd cheered at his words.

"My people we have come far in these past decades, ever since we cast off the shackles of those who would not accept what would be our destiny. We have done so much in these past years but it is with a heavy heart that I say to you that there is still so much more to do. The path to victory over the Wraith will be a long and arduous one and will involve more than what can offered by a single generation. I promised to lead you to some day lead you to victory and I shall keep that promise. Using the gift of the Ancestors we shall rise and dominate the Wraith. This gift was hidden in the Ark and has been hidden from you all so that we could one day harness all that it offers us. As you know I was there when we first entered the Ark, I was alongside the search teams as they searched through what the Ancestors left us and I made a discovery that would change everything. You have all heard the message the Ancestors left us and I ask you now to remember the final words of that message, 'Find the Ark and you will see the face of the enemy' and in a sealed section trapped in stasis that was what I found. Behold now the face of our enemy. Behold the Wraith!"

Behind him the curtain fell away to reveal a Wraith queen strapped to a metal chair. Her hands and legs were held in place by strong leather straps which, despite her desperate thrashing, she could not break and a leather gag covered her mouth and muted her cries of defiance.

"The archives from the Ark tell us that this creature was captured towards the end of the war when it was already too late to turn the tide. Those who captured the creature sealed it away for us to find and study, so that we could learn about our enemy while they were still ignorant to our existence. Today I can tell you that the first fruits of that research have come to light. Already plans are underway to create an army of soldiers using the DNA of her own children. We shall turn the enemies own strengths against them!"

Another round of applause followed this last statement. The two guards stepped closer to the captive Wraith queen. One of them pulled out an injection gun while the other loosened the bonds on her right hand, giving her just enough wiggle room to raise her hand to chest height but not enough to undo her other bonds.

"See how she fights against us. She is a monster! If let loose she would feed on us all until we were but dry husks. But fear not my people for I will not let that happen."

Another round of cheering followed before Zarin raised his hand for silence.

"Right now though she starving and I intend to give her a snack we will all find satisfying."

Two more drags dragged in the carcass of an unconscious and severely malnourished Wraith. Its muscular development was stunted to the point that it was practically a skeleton with its shirtless chest revealing skin stretched impossibly tight over its ribs.

"From this queen we harvested eggs to produce the creature you see here. In doing so we took our first step toward creating the army we need to bring this galaxy under our rightful control. Now the queen here has a choice eat or go hungry, but while I stand here before you I will not allow any Wraith such a luxury."

The queens eyes widened in horror as one of the guards injected her with the gun he carried. As the substance injected into her veins took effect her eye lids began to droop and her body went limp.

"Feed Wraith," Zarin commanded.

At the command the queen's hand shot out and clamped onto the Wraiths chest. Seemingly without any hesitation the queen fed, until the skeleton of a Wraith had withered to the point that its skin had almost turned to dust. At that point Zarin ripped open his own uniform to reveal his chest and skin wizened by the ravages of time.

"See how she submits to my will and now she will do so again. My people I promised you that I would lead you to victory against the Wraith and so I shall."

He approached the queen as the two guards dragged away the lifeless husk, kneeling before her.

"Wraith," he commanded. "Give me life!"

The queen jerked at the order, her hand clamping down on the exposed chest of Zarin. As she did Zarin began to convulse as the queens hand locked in place. As life force flooded into his body the years began to fade away from his body and Zarin grew younger before their very eyes. His skin tightened, his hair darkened and his muscles regained their definition and when the process was finished and the queens hand withdrew he was a young man once again.

Rising to his feet, his shirt still undone to reveal the toned muscles beneath, he turned to face the unseen crowd.

"I am Etere Zarin," he intoned. "The eternal leader of the Zarasian Empire from now until the end of time itself and I shall lead us to victory over all!"

The recording paused at that moment and the assembled races stared at the frozen image they realised that this was the same Zarin who had they had met some time ago, leading the Zarasian fleet against the Wraith. The man who had broken away from the Averians all those centuries ago was the same man leading the Zarasians this very day. He had found a way to stave off death and remain young forever.

The atmosphere was so grim it was almost palpable. Except for Jakose, who had seen this before, the race representatives were staring at the image with a mixture of horror and shock. The look on Todd's face was slightly surprising though, it was a complex blending of shock, horror, anger and disgust. The way his hands opened and closed it was almost as if he was reflexively moving them as though he still had feeding slits on his palms. Though they knew of his wish to protect his kind from Zarin and his ambitions they did not expect him to take such offense to this display, especially considering he had discarded his ties to his old kind long ago except for when it suited him.

Jakose slowly withdrew his hand from the button on the projector and stood up, the frozen image of Zarin remaining in place.

"In case it wasn't clear gentlemen," said Jakose as he turned to leave. "We are now at war with Zarin and the Zarasian Empire."

Sheppard and Thor nodded silently while Todd simply stared at the image in front of him. Jakose didn't even turn his head to look at them or wait for a reply, he simply walked towards the door.

"Wait!" said Todd, in a loud clear voice.

Jakose paused and turned to look at him. The others looked at him too and noticed that his clenched shaking hands and the fact that his gaze had never left the screen.

"You mentioned in your report that you encountered a Wraith queen on the Zarasian flagship, was it this one?" Todd asked, and they realised he was staring not at Zarin but at the barely visible image of the queen behind Zarin.

"It was," confirmed Jakose. "Why?"

"Because," said Todd in a voice so low it was almost a growl. "That is my sister Eurielle."

"Todd," said Sheppard, daring to break the silence that followed. "Don't take this the wrong way but I really have to ask. Did you…do you…like Eurielle?"

Todd's gaze snapped away from the image to lock with Sheppard's, fixing him with a piercing glare. If looks could kill Sheppard would be a blast shadow on the wall.

"Do not mistake her for those traitors Sheppard!" Todd growled. "Eurielle meant and still means as much to me as both my mother and father do. The bonds that can form between Wraith are stronger than can you know, more so for siblings."

Sheppard didn't have much of a response for that besides than a muttered apology.

Todd took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Eurielle shared my ambition to keep our mother safe," Todd explained. "At the time of the rebellion against our mother she hesitated but with my assurance that it would keep us all safe that she went along with it. But because of that hesitation she was treated with mistrust and eventually that fact led to her downfall.

"What happened?" Jakose asked.

Todd sighed.

"She was one of the first few sent on our retaliatory strikes after we had grown an army strong enough to take on the Lanteans. We had been building up our forces for some time, letting our enemy think that we were weak before we surprised them and struck out before they could hope to react. Some of them were costly battles though, since we knew the Lanteans would offer resistance in order to protect their more valuable worlds when they realised how much of a threat we were. It was during the battle for one of these worlds that I thought she had perished but instead it seems she was captured."

When it was clear this was the most that Todd was willing to part with for the moment the others decided to pitch in to break the awkward silence. The anger and frustration they had been feeling before had now diffused after seeing how dejected Todd looked.

"You're positive that's her?" Jakose asked, sitting back down.

Todd locked his gaze on him.

"I'm sure," he said adamantly.

Jakose sighed.

"Todd there is something you should know. The queen I encountered was heavily drugged and it seemed like they had operated on her," he hesitated before continuing. "I can't be certain but the wires going into her would seem to indicate that she had some cybernetic implants like the reapers."

Jakose fixed Todd with a look of sympathy.

"She may not be the same sister that you remember. I'm sorry."

"Do not talk about her like she is dead," Todd snarled. "I have already lost her once. I will not lose her again. I have not lost her yet."

Todd's gaze seemed to bore into Jakose with a flaming intensity.

"Do not give her back to me and then take her away again. I will not let you."

"Todd…" began Sheppard before being silenced by the murderous look Todd directed at him.

"I will not give up on her Sheppard," he growled. "Not until I see her lifeless body with my own eyes. Not this time."

"Todd, listen to me," said Sheppard firmly. "If we are going to get her back at all then we need to be able to find that ship and board it. Now as it stands we don't have a clue where that particular ship happens to be so we can't even destroy the thing, let alone disable and board it."

"Actually," said Jakose with a thoughtful look on his face. "That might not be entirely true."

In the control room Colonel Telford was having a heated discussion with the stations AI, although discussion is only appropriate if you use the term rather loosely. In reality he was giving a list of instructions and the AI was repeating them back to him.

"You are to identify station personnel by correlating life sign readings with subcutaneous transponder readings," Telford ordered while pacing in front of the hologram.

"Station personnel are to be identified by the combination of life sign readings and subcutaneous transponder readings," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"If a life sign suddenly vanishes or drops beyond normal levels you are to inform the command staff immediately," Telford ordered.

"If a life sign vanishes or enters danger levels I am to inform the command staff immediately along with the medical staff," said Celeste, earning a smirk from the command staff. "Confirmed."

If Telford was aware of the slight sass everyone could hear he didn't acknowledge it and kept pacing. He certainly wasn't complaining about the improvements the AI was making to the orders.

"If evidence of the presence of un-authorised personnel onboard is detected you are to alert the command staff immediately," Telford ordered.

"If sensors indicate the presence of un-authorised personnel onboard the station I am to immediately alert the command staff and local security personnel and attempt to identify the intruders," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"The presence of reapers onboard is to be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"The presence of known hostile races is to be reported immediately to command staff and station security forces," stated Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Once reapers are detected you are to immediately access gate room weapons, which should be installed soon enough, and neutralise them," ordered Telford. "If they are in the hanger bays you are to seal them, beam out any of our personnel and then open the hanger to space. If they are in corridors you are to lock those sections down only if you cannot beam them into space. If they are still in the hangers after you have vented them you may engage them with the station defence drones but take it easy on the station."

"Upon detection of hostile forces they are to be engaged using appropriate defensive weaponry and assets and if that is not an option they are to be locked down and isolated from the rest of the station," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Any enemy ship movements detected by long range sensors are to be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"Any ships matching a configuration of those used by hostile forces within sensor range are to be reported to the command staff immediately," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Any hostile ships with weapons range are to be neutralised immediately," ordered Telford.

"Any ships within weapons range matching a configuration used by hostile forces and not transmitting a friendly IFF are to be disabled," said Celeste "Confirmed."

"If there are any unknown ships within weapons range you are to raise shields immediately," ordered Telford.

"Any ships that not transmitting an IFF and do not match a configuration used by known hostile forces necessitates the activation of station shields and weapons being placed on standby," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

Telford suddenly stopped pacing.

"That's all I can think of for the moment," he admitted.

"Confirmed," said Celeste.

At their consoles Chen, Perkins and Jones suppressed a smirk.

Telford glared at the room in general and then resumed his pacing.

"Any errors in critical systems are to be reported immediately," Telford ordered.

"Critical system errors are to be reported to command staff and engineering teams," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Any physical damage to critical systems is to be reported immediately," Telford ordered.

"Damage to critical systems is to be reported to command staff and engineering teams," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"People accessing the secondary control room are to be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"Access to the secondary control is to be reported to command staff," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Unexpected activation of the stargate will be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"Unscheduled activation of the stargate will be reported to the command staff and gate control room said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Upon an unexpected dial in you will activate the gate shield and iris," ordered Telford.

"Unscheduled dials in will necessitate the activation of the gate shield and the closing of the iris," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Implement new operating directives from now on," ordered Telford.

"Yes Colonel Telford," said Celeste.

Her hologram flickered as the directives Telford had just stated were added to the AI's situational command directory and initialised.

"Operating directives have been logged and are now active," said Celeste.

"Good," said Telford. "How long until the software patch from the ISIS system will be installed?"

"Installation was completed before you began your list of new operating directives," said Celeste with a hint of mischief.

"Good," said Telford.

"Also Colonel I should add that system is included in the ISIS abbreviation," added Celeste.

"Thank you Celeste," said Telford, slightly grumpily.

"You're welcome Colonel," said Celeste.

One thing was for certain, Celeste had certainly inherited the same personality traits as ISIS as a result of the patch.

In the hangers of the station people were moving in a frenzy of activity, shouting orders and requesting parts. This was of course only for small scale and entirely internal repairs, for the larger and external repairs the industrial emitters had been brought into play. Beams of light were cast on the hulls of ships, stripping away the twisted patches of hull plating that marred them and the damaged components beneath and enacting repairs. To save both time and resources the damaged pieces that had been removed were recycled into pieces of working components and patches of hull plating.

The only way to actually repair the hulls of these ships to the standards the yard dogs required was to use the industrial beams. As it stood the hull was a single solid piece of metallic alloy, aside from the doors and blast covers over the windows, which meant that damaged pieces couldn't simply be replaced because there were no actual pieces. If they were desperate they could have simply patched the hull but with the resources of a dedicated repair yard available to them there was no need.

Despite the apparent frantic nature of the activity steady progress was in fact being made to restore the battlecruiser and destroyer fleet to full working order. Soon enough a horde of predators would be ready to take to the stars again and go hunting for Zarin and his empire.

Please Review. Not as exciting as the last few i know but give it time.

I am now taking requests for what you want to see in coming chapters, the next chapter is finalised content wise and contains some parts that are long overdue but the future chapters are all open to ideas.