Morning came all too quickly and they were ready to check for the dimensional rift on the terraformed moon. They sent thru a malp first, per the standard procedure. When it showed the moon was definitely habitable, they went thru. After sending the malp back, they followed the directions from the laptop.
"So how do you know if there is one of these rifts?" Sheppard asked as they walked.
"Use the instincts that tell you you're being hunted. Trust me, you'll know." Xander answered.
It didn't take them long to understand what he meant. They found a bit more here then their counterparts had. There was a building. Overrun with creatures. Which attacked as soon as they saw the humans. After a very intense fight that resulted in several injuries, they made their way into the building. Finding a computer, McKay quickly downloaded it and they planted charges and activated them. Once everything settled, they approached and were relieved they could no longer feel anything.
"Why does it feel like that?" Sheppard asked as they walked back to the Stargate.
"Because it's so far away from what is normal for us that it makes us react on a base, instinctive level that it is wrong. Beyond that, I really don't know. Our ancestors labeled them portals to Hell because of that feeling and what comes out of them. Add in the fact that the Ancients labeled the creatures daemona, which became our word for demon and you can understand why." Xander answered. "Maybe it really is Hell, I don't know. What I do know is, that they eat people. So it's us or them."
Once back on Atlantis they headed to the infirmary. Once treated and since none were bad enough to require an overnight stay, they left the database with Willow and headed out to the first facility. Once again, they confirmed their counterparts information and downloaded the database and simply blew the place and moved onto the second one. Where they found the same thing and repeated their actions, before returning to Atlantis.
Willow continued studying the Atlantis database, while Rodney went thru the databases recovered from the three places, comparing the information to what they already. While they were doing that, the rest of the group was checking if Jesse's discoveries matched here as well. The Park was a pleasant surprise. The chem lab, not so much, since it too released something toxic when accessed. Fortunately, they'd taken the precaution of wearing hazmat suits, so they were all fine.
Rodney found that the information from the two facilities matched but he found something of interest in the database from the building on the terraformed moon. The location of the world where araitis bugs were first found.
The address didn't appear in Atlantis' database and appeared to be in an isolated corner of Pegasus. They sent thru a malp. What they found was move horrifying then anything yet seen. A world overrun. The Protectors could identify several dozen known types of demons. The Ancients had simply abandoned the world and worse, left a Stargate there. Holy gods, those things could have escaped at any time in the last 10,000 years. To buy some time, they sent thru a drone and destroyed the 'gate. Then they notified Stargate Command, who promised to send the Hammond to deal with the planet itself.
Since they still needed to actually confirm that the araitis bugs themselves were demonic, they set out for a world were they were known to live.
"All we need is to get within a few hundred yards of one to know." Xander said they walked. "So we don't even need to get close."
"That's good to know, since I hate those things."
"Why?" Kyle asked.
"One of them fed on me. Then there was getting infected and nearly turning into a human version."
"Oh man, I'd hate them, too." Heidi said.
"Jesse still hates the giant praying mantis lady." Tor said.
"Giant praying mantis lady?" McKay asked.
"Yes, she could make you think she was human. For some reason, she would catch male virgins, use her pheromones to arouse them and use that to fertilize her eggs, before eating the males she captured."
"So she could merge her DNA like the araitis bugs can?" Rodney asked. "That's more potential confirmation that araitis bugs came from the same place."
"Yeah unfortunately, it is." Xander agreed, then froze.
"Boss." Kyle said.
"I feel it, too." Xander answered, turning around slowly. So did the others. A Wraith. Fortunately, it was some distance away. Not so fortunately, it had seen them. And then they heard the scream of darts overhead.
They began firing their P90s at the darts but it wasn't enough, they were all scooped up.
When they came to, they were in holding cells.
"Cordelia are you alright?" Xander asked, making his way over to her.
"Yeah, but do you feel that, Xander?"
"Demons." He answered. "This confirms it, the Wraith feel demonic, which means so are the araitis bugs. But that's for later, right now, we need to get out of here. Just because we're immune to the Gou'ld doesn't mean we are to the Wraith."
They soon found that their weapons had been taken. The only good news seemed to be that they were all in the same holding cell. They didn't even have their packs with their food in them. And considering the Protectors higher metabolism that was a particularly bad thing.
"I assume you've been captured before by these guys since Jack says you're as much of trouble magnet as I am. What can we expect?" Xander asked.
"Usually? Interrogation, followed by threats, followed by us escaping In some dramatic fashion." Sheppard told him.
"Any chance we can skip the interrogation and threats and go right to the dramatic escape?" Heidi asked hopefully.
"Hasn't happened yet." Sheppard answered. Disappointing everyone.
