"You better be thinking about helping him," Markus said. "My people won't be willing to come with you if you do anything to harm the guardian."

"When did you get here?" Sovaer asked.

Markus sneered at him. "Don't underestimate me boy, or old men in general. Just because I'm not as spry as I used to be doesn't mean I'm incapable of getting somewhere quickly in a hurry."

"In other words you were carried," Sovaer said.

"You're learning boy," Markus said in a praising voice. "Now as I was saying, no hurting the guardian."

"I believe I can help with that," Sujanha said, appearing in holographic form.

"Who are you?" Markus asked. "You related to Eir in some way, you look like her only more human looking."

"I am a member of the same race," Sujanha said. "I am just using a different model body. My name is Sujanha and I the one controlling the ship above you."

"And what do you reckon you can do to help?" Markus said. "And don't say putting him out of his misery."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Sujanha said. "The problem as it stands is the Zarasian programming and technology that has been implanted into his mind. I would like to put him in stasis until a solution can be found."

"Meaning?"

"He'll sleep."

"It won't hurt?"

"No."

Markus nodded. "Alright then good enough."

Jason also made a sound of agreement.

"Very well then," Sujanha said.

In a flash of white light the hulk vanished.

"Well well, that was interesting," Markus said upon seeing the transport beam in action as opposed to the sweep light. "Don't forget his things in the hut."

"Of course," said Sujanha. "They've been placed in storage."

"Now then I guess we'll be leaving," Markus said. "I'll tell my people to gather their things."

"Just like that?" Teyla asked.

"Just like that missy," Markus said.

"I'm surprised," Todd said. "Not many people are willing to leave their homes so easily."

"Don't underestimate us Wraith," Markus warned. "We've known a day like this was coming for some time now. We've been preparing for it."

Seeing the SPECTREs exchange puzzled looks Markus sighed. "Oh my, young ones these days. No foresight whatsoever."

"You know I'm older than you right?" Todd asked.

"As am I," Eir added.

Jason grunted.

"You should get wise before you
get old," Markus warned them. "Anyway I didn't mean this day, I meant one like it. You didn't think we didn't realise that a day might come when the guardian wouldn't be here to protect us? That we would have to brave the woods and travel to the towns or die because the demon hounds wanted our hides? Oh we knew alright so we prepared to take everything we needed and leave at a moments notice. The only difference in this case is that we can take everything of ours and not just the things we had stored."

"If you gather your possessions together I will beam them and your people aboard," Sujanha said after a moment's silence.

"Thank you," Markus said.

"Then you and I will be going on a trip to the other settlements," Sujanha added.

"Eh?"

"You will be the messenger who will present our offer to the other people of this world," Sujanha said. "With me at your side of course. I trust this will be acceptable to you?"

Markus burst out laughing. "Oh you got me pegged missy that's for sure. Oh I'll do it all right, of that you can be certain."

"By the ancestors what have we done?" Sovaer muttered.

"I'm blaming you," Ronon deadpanned.

"Why me?"

"You took charge."

"You want to be in charge big guy?"

"Nope."

"Damn."

It didn't take the locals long to amass a pile of crates in the village square containing all the essential things they would need once they left the village. Of course since most of them were filled with food and medicine, along with all the other supplies they would require to survive leaving their home behind, they were largely superfluous. On Concordia they would have all of the food and medical care they could ever require along with a roof over their heads. The majority of these supplies, along with their livestock, would remain in a dematerialised state for re-materialisation when they finally returned to this world. While these items were gathered quickly, the rest would still take sometime. Since they had the opportunity to take everything they possessed with them they were. It took a while to strip the houses bare of everything that wasn't nailed down, and in some cases everything that was nailed down, but eventually they were ready to go.

At long last the villagers were ready depart, having been beamed aboard the Asgard ship that hung lazily above the village. Markus had been very insistent about one thing though, no matter what that Zarasian transport would be coming back into his or the villagers possession. The Alliance would have free reign to take it apart to learn its secrets or scour its memory banks but at the end of the war it would be put back together again or replaced. The old goat had even gotten them to sign a contract agreeing to such, much to Sunjanha's amusement, before taking his place on the bridge of the Asgard ship. The six SPECTREs could easily picture Markus standing beside Sujanha as the vessel moved through the atmosphere towards the first of several towns. Upon arrival the pair would beam down and make the offer to the locals and hopefully eventually take them to Concordia.

Finally the SPECTREs were free to depart this world and move on to the dinosaur planet, with much the same mission as they had been given for this planet. This time though they firmly believed they would find a Zarasian outpost, possibly even a valuable one at that if hulks had been dispatched here for field testing.

The Alliance desperately needed a victory, the war council was being held and the mood was grim. Against a ship like the Doom Bringer, a ship that had seemingly been built for conquest, the Alliance had no hope of winning a forward conflict. Instead they were turning to guerrilla warfare tactics, striking at the enemy from the shadows. Head on confrontations against the Doom Bringer weren't possible but the rest of the Zarasian Empire was another matter. The soft flesh, the body that supported the Zarasian Empire, was a far easier target than the Zarasian flagship. And of course without support from the Empire the Doom Bringer was simply a single ship that would eventually run out of fuel in the form of food and water for the crew that manned it. Ironic as it was the Alliance was adopting the opposite strategy to normally preferred warfare, at least if you want to end a war quickly and with only few losses. Instead of killing the head so the body would die they would kill the body so that the head would die.

To this end Borealis would push further into Zarasian territory while Atlantis was brought up to take her place as a forward supply base. Borealis was one of the secret weapons that the Alliance had been hoping to withhold for some time to come. But now circumstances required that the base ship be brought forwards to the front lines instead of simply striking out from the shadows through the use of ships. Of course she would still be operating in that role but now, if a particularly juicy target arose, she would get the chance to use her own formidable weaponry. Borealis was simply such a powerful asset, being both fast and formidable, that it would arguably be foolish not to use it to the fullest. There was after all a galaxy on the line, and possibly not just one.

So it came to pass that the SPECTREs said goodbye to Markus, the villagers and the world filled with giant wolves to travel to a world filled with vicious dinosaurs. It wasn't long before the rest of the team pointed out to Sovaer that he had unintentionally been asking for this outcome when they were being sent on a scouting mission. Sometimes the universe answers, even if the answer isn't one you want to hear.

M1M-316

The dinosaur world as it was called was actually quite beautiful. It was a vibrant green world, untouched by pollution that came as a by-product of the presence of mankind or any developing race. If it wasn't for the natural hazards in the form of large reptiles, some of whom could and would swallow a grown man whole, then it would have been a lovely place to live. However though there were herbivores among the indigenous animals there were also dangerous predators and so the planet had not been seeded with human life. Instead it was dinosaur life that flourished here, and flourished with a passion.

How some years ago a new presence had arisen on this world. Though they had not realised it at the time SGA-1 had stepped foot on a Zarasian controlled world while hunting for a suitable alpha site. Knowing of the dangers presented by the indigenous predators the Zarasians had never seen fit to build their base around the stargate when ships would allow them to easily bring supplies. Like so many travellers that had stumbled across the world over the millennia SGA-1 had fled to avoid being eaten. No one ever returned to the planet after their first visit, and that fact had kept the Zarasian base hidden ever since its construction. Recently though the dinosaurs that skulked around the electric fences that protected the base found themselves suffering from a different fate than one they expected. Normally they would just be left alone, since they didn't pose an immediate threat and as such it was a very popular feeding spot for a number of herbivores. However that policy had recently been changed and many specimens from a number of species had been captured by the Zarasians for study. The Zarasian scientists were skilled geneticists, one only had to look at the reapers and hulks to see that, and now they had acquired new DNA to experiment with. In the labs of the base hybrid creatures were being nurtured and were quickly growing to maturity. With every passing moment the power and diversity of the Zarasian ground forces was growing, quite literally in fact.

When the SPECTREs arrived here they began a sweep of the planet, searching for the Zarasian base that they believed to be present. Scanning the planet did not reveal anything to suggest the presence of a base but they knew that the Zarasians had ways to mask their presence so a more in depth scan was required. To search for the base they searched not for the presence of a base but for the lack of one and anything else. More specifically they were searching for an area of land that had a distinct lack of the natural gases that should be present. While stealth technology could mask the presence of the buildings and power sources from immediate detection it also hid everything else in the immediate area. As a result while stealth technology worked well in the vacuum of space it had a crucial weakness in a planets atmosphere. It took time but eventually they were able to locate the hidden base on sensors, and once they knew where it was they could begin to infiltrate it.

Parking their still cloaked ship some distance away from the base so that it would not be stumbled upon the six SPECTREs approached the outskirts of the base on foot. With their personal cloaks active they were completely invisible to the hulks and tanks positioned along the fences. Presumably these guards were here to stand against any dinosaurs that might try to get past the fence and yet there were no dinosaurs to be seen for miles around. They were completely undetectable and went completely unnoticed even after they took a run up and leapt over the high electric fence that surrounded the base. With six thuds they landed, leaving shallow impact marks where they hit the ground. Avoiding the roving patrols they crept deeper into the heart of the base, searching out information on what secrets it held. This certainly did not appear to be a military base like the one previously encountered. Despite being expansive there were no large barracks for reapers, or shipyards or even places for ships to land for that matter. Instead this appeared to be a more scientific in nature, guarded certainly, but not solely military.

"Okay we're in," Sovaer said. "Any preferences for where we look first?"

"Give me a moment," Todd requested as he tapped away the micro computer on his wrist.

"What are you thinking?" Teyla asked.

"Now that we're inside the dampening field that renders ship sensors useless I'm searching for power signatures," Todd explained. "I'm trying to determine which buildings are drawing more power than others."

"You know something we don't?" Ronon asked.

"I'm not going to answer that," Todd replied with a smirk. "However if this is, as we suspect, a research outpost then it must have labs with equipment that draw on significant amounts of power."

"Any luck then?" Sovaer asked.

"Let's see," Todd said, as he scrolled through the readouts. "There are several high energy signatures which are most likely power generators. Several smaller signatures regularly spaced around the outskirts of the base which is probably the sensor dampening field emitters. Ah yes we should check out the big building."

"Because?"

"Because it's drawing much more power relative to its size than the others, none of which are centralized. If there is something important then it is most likely in that building."

"Thermals?" Sovaer asked Eir.

The Asgardian switched her visual input to infra red mode and stared at the large concrete building Todd had indicated.

"Multiple heat blooms," she reported after a little while. "The majority are small, human shaped, reapers or humans most likely. Some smaller, less strong, which is probably equipment. Multiple large blooms though, several of which are moving."

"Hulks maybe?" Todd surmised.

"Possibly but some are large, larger than a hulk I think. It's hard to say with everything else in the way."

"Let's go see for ourselves then," Sovaer said.

Silently the six SPECTREs stalked off to the largest building in the entire base. The nearest side door was locked and could only be opened by entering a code, so naturally they were briefly delayed while Todd removed the panel and hacked the door mechanism and then they were in. The internal corridors were a pale white, the surfaces gleaming with a light shine that suggested a highly sterile environment. If they had removed their helmets and not breathed in air through filters then they would note that the corridor had that disinfectant smell associated with hospitals.

"Eir," Sovaer said. "Lead the way."

"This way," she said, setting off down the corridor.

The group walked silently down the corridor, occasionally moving aside to keep Zarasians or reaper patrol from walking right into the cloaked group. The six of them were completely invisible but all it would have taken was a single bump for their presence to be revealed and the alarm to be raised. It was ironic that with all the advanced technology being used to conceal them they could still be caught in the act by someone walking into them. The level of security present clearly showed that this was an important building. It seemed like every two minutes they passed a patrol of cyborg reapers, the corridors were lined with sensors and cameras and every one of the doors had an electronic lock. Whatever the Zarasians were working on here it was clearly something they deemed very important.

Eventually they arrived at the chamber with the largest heat blooms, at least according to Eir.

"It's through here," she reported.

"Todd," Sovaer said.

"I'm on it."

It took him a couple of minutes to hack the lock but eventually they were in and the door slid open with a gentle hiss. The group stepped in to a large chamber filled with bubbling tanks of clear liquid, each of which was occupied by a large lizard like creature.

"Damn!" Sovaer whispered softly.

"Well I guess we know what was generating the heat blooms," Todd said.

"What are they?" Eir asked.

"Dinosaurs," Teyla said.

"These are the dinosaurs? But they they're so big," Todd said.

"I told you they were big," Teyla pointed out.

"Yes but these things aren't just big," Todd said. "They're huge."

He wasn't joking. Each of the specimens in the tanks had to be at least fifteen feet long and that not including the tail. There were several different kinds of lizards in the tanks but they appeared to belong to two distinctive evolutionary groups. One of them appeared to be a quadruped with four thick limbs but was not dissimilar to a tyrannosaurus, and possibly it was related in some way. The other tanks were occupied by creatures with a thick armour plate running along their backs and a spiked tail.

"The armoured dinosaurs would appear to be a breed of ankylosauria," ISIS informed them. "The others bear a resemblance to the xuanhanosaurus genus and definitely theropods."

There was a brief pause as the SPECTREs assimilated this information and processed the fact that it meant practically nothing to them.

"ISIS," Sovaer said. "While I'm sure that people who already have knowledge about dinosaurs would find that interesting I should point out we aren't those people and as a result the information means nothing to us. Also, how do you know that anyway?"

"The databanks on the ship contain limited data files from the Weir," ISIS explained. "Since information on dinosaurs is deemed to not be classified material they are included. I accessed they known information of fossil records and made a comparison using the visual data transmitted from your suits sensors."

"I see," Sovaer said.

"Shall we press on?" Eir asked.

"Where to?"

"The next chamber."

"There's another chamber?"

"Well there is a door at the end of the room," Eir pointed out, and indeed there was and it was a big door at that.

"I've got it," Todd said, heading to the control panel.

"You're slipping," Ronon joked.

"I like to think of it as blinded by dinosaurs," Sovaer retorted.

"Moving on," Todd said. "Let's see what's behind the big door."

When the door finally opened with a gentle rumble it revealed a chamber just as large as the last and just as filled. The major difference though was the specimens in the tanks hadn't been taken from the planet but had been growing, and several were still growing. The shapes that were immediately visible in the first tanks were strange. Mutated. Deformed. They weren't natural creatures. They were certainly lizard like creatures but they weren't supposed to look this, they should have massive bulges of flesh sticking out of them or stunted or overgrown limbs and heads. Clearly these things were the products of Zarasian experiments, most likely involving the specimens in the other room. As they walked further and further into the room it felt like they were walking through the history of the Zarasians experiments. Each tank they passed held a creature that was a little less deformed than the last. The muscles were a little more defined and the limbs a little thicker and eventually other features became more apparent. The hybrids in the first of the tanks appeared to be combinations of reapers and xuanhanosaurus DNA but those in the last few tanks appeared to include elements of ankylosauria in their genetic make up, specifically the armor plating and spiked tail. Around their sharp featured faces was a breathing apparatus, linking to oxygen tanks outside the tanks.

The tank in the far end held the final completed product. It was a massive creature, its face a strange combination of human and lizard features that made it seem almost humanoid despite the large tail. Its four limbs were thick and powerful, and ending in clawed four toed feet. Floating in the tank it appeared to be at fifteen foot tall standing on its hind legs, with the long spiked tail adding at least five more feet.

"Wow!" Sovaer said. "That thing is a monster."

"I think that was the idea when they made it," Eir said.

"You think this is the prototype?" Todd asked.

"I hope so," Teyla said. "The idea of many of these things running around is troubling."

"So what are we going to do now?" Ronon asked. "Destroy this thing?"

"Destroying this specimen won't make a difference if the research data remains intact," Todd said. "And if they have genetic samples which can be used to make more then its loss won't even slow them down."

"Still though it would give them something to worry about," Eir said. "This creature represents a successful blending of multiple DNA strains and unless they have large amounts of genetic samples to draw upon there is a limit to the number they could make. They would need to recreate the original and that would take time."

"Okay then," Sovaer said. "We need to destroy this facility along with any samples and research data they might have."

"Not the easiest of tasks," Todd pointed out.

"No but then again none of our tasks are always that easy," Sovaer replied. "And it's not like we haven't done something similar in the past."

"We do have explosives with us," Ronon added. "Plant them around a few naquadah generators and the explosion should be pretty big."

Jason grunted his agreement.

"This is all assuming of course that they haven't already begun mass production," Eir pointed out.

"We live in hope," Sovaer said. "How much explosives do we have between us?"

Ronon smirked. "How much do you need?"

Sovaer returned the grin. "Plant a few charges around these tanks. Even if we can't get to the computers we can get rid of the results of their research."

"That will only do so much good," Todd pointed out.

"Yes but it should make a nice diversion if we happen to need one."

While Ronon and Jason started rigging powerful charges at certain positions around the two chambers the others continued searching the room for information. There were several consoles around the room that would hopefully contain research information. Ideally they would be able to simply erase all the data from the computer core without having to blow it up, but alternatively they could go for the quick and messy option and rig the reactors to overload. The resulting explosion should take out the entire base and good deal of the surrounding landscape.

"Anything?" Sovaer asked.

"Some research data. Testing logs, failed experiments," Todd said. "It looks like they were combining reaper and dinosaur DNA. Our friend in the tank there appears to be the result."

"Anything else?"

"There are a lot of security protocols here," Eir replied. "But there are references to another one of those things and a type two prototype."

"So we need to take out another one of those things?" Sovaer said.

"One that is probably moving around."

"Sounds like fun," Ronon said.

"We ready?" Sovaer asked.

"Say the word and this place goes boom."

"We should move on," Todd said. "I've planted a virus in the computer core that will erase all the stored data in two hours."

"Nicely done," Sovaer said. "Let's go hybrid hunting."

The six SPECTREs moved through what they were quickly coming to realise was a monstrous complex. The exterior had deceptively made them think it was much smaller than the internal space revealed it actually was. One thing they had realised was that they were actually descending the further in they travelled, which suggested that a number of floors were actually underground.

Eventually they made their way to a large open arena that was crawling with reapers and Zarasians. From an observation window they could see the large hybrid lizard in the middle. Unlike the one in the tank though this one was conscious and moving about and looked much fiercer than its double. Surrounding it were a dozen hulks that did nothing to make it seem any smaller, especially since the thing was standing on its hind legs and overshadowed them. Overlooking the arena was an open air platform that was occupied by several Zarasian officers and scientists, and one figure in a pitch black robe.

"You think we should name this thing?" Sovaer asked.

"Not a bad idea," Todd said. "Might as well do it before Sheppard can."

"John does come up with some interesting names," Teyla noted.

"How about reapersaur?" Sovaer suggested.

"Dinoreaper?" Todd suggested.

"Reaptile?" Ronon suggested.

"Behemoth," Eir said.

The others mulled it over before murmuring their approval at the name behemoth.

"Behemoth it is then," Sovaer said. "So what do you think they're doing down there."

"Probably a weapons test," Todd said. "They want to see how it will hold up against strong opponents."

"Yes but hulks?"

"Why not?" Eir asked. "If they can beat hulks then they can take on anything. Maybe even Titans."

"So this could be their answer to the Titan," Sovaer surmised. "In that case we had better get rid of it sooner rather than later."

"Let's watch what happens first though," Teyla said. "I want to know what we'll be up against."

"Sounds like a plan," Sovaer said.

In the arena the thirteen figures stood motionless, waiting for the order to begin.

On the open air platform the cloaked figure stepped forward, his metallic hands tightly gripping a large computer pad.

"Begin," he intoned, pressing a button on the pad.

The hulks, armed only with their wrist mounts, raised their weapons and fired at the behemoth, but it had already started moving. Diving forward onto all fours it charged forwards at a frightening speed, revealing a metallic shape on its back with a glowing red light. Before the hulks could even react to its proximity it was on them. Two of them were brought down as it slammed into them and were gutted by its sharp claws. Another was decapitated as the spiked tail off the behemoth swung round in a wide arc to impact its armoured head. The headless body of the hulk dropped like a ton of bricks, blood pouring out of the mutilated stump that was all that remained of its neck.

The remaining nine hulks retaliated by firing plasma bolt after plasma bolt into the armour plated hide of the behemoth. The shots burned and scorched the behemoth but did not kill it. The behemoth spun around in response, its tail bringing down another two hulks. The two corpses trapped beneath its four fingered clawed hands were unceremoniously scooped up and flung at their living brothers knocking another two to the ground. The five still standing hulks moved together while still firing, realising that taking on that thing at close range was suicide. While they were pulling back the behemoth moved forward and finished off the two hulks on the ground. As it charged forwards and spun around its tail clipped yet another hulk, lightly wounding it but not killing it. Unfortunately that didn't save it from when the tail swung back around and slammed down onto its head, smashing it into a bloody pulp.

By now the behemoth was beginning to feel the effects of the near constant bombardment of plasma bolts. Its natural armour plating, combined with its tough and thick hide and dense muscles had kept it standing this long but its shaky movements gave away the damage done. If the fight lasted much longer then it would be in trouble and apparently it knew it. The behemoth charged at the remaining four hulks, who dived to the side to avoid it. As they moved away from the lumbering beast glowing blades sprang from wrist mounts and were swung at limbs. Surprisingly though, despite the deep gashes in its limbs, the behemoth didn't so much as twitch let alone show signs that it was in pain. The creature seemed completely unfazed by the fact that it was apparently on its last legs. Instead it just swung its tail around and knocked all of them to the ground, not injuring them but leaving them dazed on the ground. They were completely helpless for when the behemoth swiped at them with its claws as they tried to get up.

By now the behemoth was showing fatigue from the battle. Its hide was scorched and burned from numerous plasma bolts and there were deep gashes on its limbs that squirted out blood with every step it took.

On the observation platform the robed figure casually typed something on its computer pad. The behemoth turned to the corpses of the dead hulks. Moving to the nearest one the creature ripped open the ribcage of the hulk and started devouring its guts. This continued with the other hulks until they were all nothing but bones. As the onlookers watched the behemoths wounds knitted themselves together, healing before their eyes. Clearly the creature had inherited the healing characteristics from its reaper DNA.

In a matter of moments and a feast of the dead the behemoth was restored to its former state. Leaving the remains behind the creature lumbered off through a now open door, curling up to rest.

"Damn!" Sovaer said softly. "I really do not want to have to take that thing on."

"Neither do I but we do need to destroy it," Todd said. "If they can begin to mass produce that thing then our ground forces will be in serious trouble."

"Such a large creature would take time to grow to maturity though," Eir pointed out. "That would limit the number they could deploy in a short period of time."

"Unfortunately these people like to think long term," Sovaer replied. "And we have no idea of their production capabilities. They could make thousands of these things in a relatively short amount of time."

"So our mission just remains the same then," Ronon said. "Let's go hunting."

"We'll take that control collar as well though," Sovaer said. "We might learn something from it."

The six SPECTREs moved away from the window and began to make their way down to the behemoth pen. They didn't notice as they left that the cloaked figure was looking towards them. In the shadows created by his hood Azamoth smiled a predatory grin.

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