Disclaimer : The characters and genre used belong to the appropriate owners I hold no right or ownership to their work.

Author's note: This is my first attempt in a long time at writting a fanfic , I welcome any pointers in reviews and will try to improve my work as the story develops. I will not take abuse if you don't like my story don't read it, leaving abusive reviews just to be spiteful helps no one .


Briefing room 2 weeks later

John sat at the head of the table waiting for everyone to arrive for the mornings debrief , taking a moment to look over the agenda for the meeting he reflected on all that has happened in the past 2 weeks , particularly the changes he can feel in himself since he began training with Atlantis.


Flashback

Under the direction of Atlantis John found a secluded location to begin his training and assumed a relaxed meditation position and prepared to begin his training.

" Okay John to start your training we will be focusing on strengthening your body first before we work on any abilities you may have. To do this I would like you to try connect to the core off energy you have with in your self , to do this you need to use your ATA gene to reach out like you would do when you interact with Alteran technology , but rather than focusing outward you need to focus inward until you feel the connection . This may take some time but you will immediately know once you have succeeded".

Following Atlantis advice and the lessons on meditation he gained from his time in the time dilation John closed his eyes and tried to sense what Atlantis has described . Immediately he could sense all the technology in the room reacting to his ATA gene, from the door controls and the lights to the power conduits in the walls . Quickly refocusing inwards he tried to shut out the distractions around him ,briefly noting Atlantis dimming as much of the surrounding tech as she could so he wouldn't be to distracted, he aimed his ATA gene on himself and searched for his core . Time passed without him noticing as he lost himself in meditation , frustration building and he kept sensing his core just out of reach, like trying to grasp the wind only for it to slip away and become unfocused because of something else drawing his attention.

Suddenly before he knew what was happening the connection with his core was made . Like getting zapped with electricity John felt his whole body come alive , a shiver ran through his body , the hair on his arms standing up , he felt his very essence thrumming with energy . Just as quickly as it had come it faded jolting him out of his trance .

Gasping for breath hunched over he exclaimed " holy crap that was so cool , can I do that again ? "

Laughing and full of pride Atlantis replied " well done John congratulations on making the connection. I knew you could do it and it only took you 2 hours , it normally takes a lot longer than that . Now that you have made the connection we can start your training . Reach out once more and I shall tell you about your first task , it should be easier now that you have found your core".

John didn't need to be told twice , eagerly he began meditating reaching for his core, within minutes he made the connection proving Atlantis right that it was a lot easier the second time round . He took a moment just to bask in the feeling of energy coursing through his body before he sent a mental nod to Atlantis to say he was ready to begin .

" Now that you can interact with your core we will use it to begin strengthening your body , by doing this you will gradually become stronger and faster also your senses will improve as will your over all health .To begin this process you need to immerse your self in your core and direct it's power throughout your whole body infusing your body's cells with its energy . I will warn you that this will be very tiring the first few times until your body adapts to the changes so make sure to rest and eat a full healthy diet , begin when you are ready and stop immediately as you have spread the energy throughout your body as too much exposure too soon will be detrimental to your health".

Taking a second to fully process the instructions John then sought out his core and sent the energy throughout his body . It was a slow sluggish process at first as his body wasn't used to having energy course through it but gradually he could feel the warn tingle of power encompass him from head to toe ,reveling in the feeling as if he had come alive first the first time , almost losing himself in the sensation he barely registered the warning nudge from Atlantis to stop before he went to far .

With a jolt he came back to himself as the power slowly receded back into his core feeling as if he had done a marathon and 12 rounds with Ronon in the gym . Slowly he eased himself up onto wobbly legs as he made his way back to his quarters for the night after the intense experience.

" I know you feel pretty rung out at the moment , however in time you will find the process easier and you will begin to see and feel the benefits , for now you must rest and recuperate. I would like you to do this exercise everyday until I say otherwise after which we can begin your next step of training ".I

Flashback end


Atlantis wasn't wrong , at first John spent the first few days tired and aching however the more he did the exercise the more he could feel the changes happening . Already in his 40s John had began showing and feeling the signs of aging with the wear and tear of combat life taking its toll , but since he began this training, already in just 14 days he feels more energetic, the aches and pains have slowly started to fade. And though he wouldn't say it out loud especially in front of Rodney he thinks his skin is getting healthier and younger looking . Along with feeling more energetic he found his stamina when training with the marines has increased allowing him to train longer and keep up with some of the younger recruits , he was definitely looking forward to seeing how far he can take the physical improvements, his inner nerd making him think of the different superheroes he could imitate like those in the comics he reads , chuckling to himself he came out of his day dreaming as people began taking their seats for the briefing .

" Good morning all , I've Called this meeting so we can all get an update on any progress we have made since our last meeting , then plan our next move . Radek let's start with you and your team , how goes the repairs on the energy collectors ? ". Asked John

Radek took a moment to look at his tablet before he turned and addressed the room .

" we have made good progress with the repairs , we have completed repairs on the one damaged tidal generator and performed some minor maintenance on the other tidal generators. They are all now working at peak efficiency. Of the 8 wind turbines in need of repair we have fixed 5 , the remaining 3 need to be complete overhaul or replacement. I have assigned a team to check on all the other turbines throughout the city and report back on their current status so that we can pre-empt the need for further repairs down the line . Upon review of the damage I realised that fixing the solar collectors requires materials that we currently don't have access to . So instead my teams turned their focus to the lighting rods , we are still in the process of assessing the extent of the repairs needed , however of the 22 lightning rods needing fixing we have completed work on 5 . I believe barring any unexpected delays we should finish repairs within the next 2 weeks . Although I would like to point out even with the collectors working at peak efficiency there is substantial damage to the power conduits and relays throughout the city which is reducing their effectiveness".

As he listened John opened his connection to Atlantis so that she could listen in on what was being said . Sending a query on how this would effect the speed of the recharge process and how they could go about fixing the damaged relays he received a reply from Atlantis .

" John upon reviewing the systems Dr Zelenka has repaired and taking into account the damage to the power systems I believe my original estimate of a 51 days recharge time for the first generator is now reduced to 30 days. Once we being repairs on the conduits and relays I believe that time will go down further, I estimate that the next generator should reach full charge in 25 days of starting the recharge process . We can begin repairs once we have more materials stored up to work with". Explained Atlantis to which she received a mental nod of understanding from John .

" that's very good work Radek already Atlantis is seeing a difference in her energy collection capabilities , if you and your team keep to schedule we should have the first generator fully charged by the middle of next month . As to needing materials for repair of the solar collects and the work on the power conduits and relays . I will allocate whatever material is left over from the production of the harvesters and drones which should slowly increase as we create and deploy additional harvesters . Once there is sufficient material for you to use I will have Atlantis notify you".

As John was talking he thought back to last week when Atlantis walked him through the process of creating more harvesters and drones .


flashback

John was sitting in his office going over his paper work and reports from the various department heads when he felt Atlantis reaching out to him .

" John I have just received a subspace alert from the harvesters. They have finished their gathering cycle and are on standby near the gate awaiting the recall order . You need to head to the control room to send the command and sort them for off loading their harvest . " explained Atlantis.

Following Atlantis direction John made his way to the control room and over to the console he used before to deploy the harvesters . Already the screen above the console was showing the status of the harvesters. Listening as Atlantis taught him the recall command John realized it was the same process he had used the week before to recall the Tria. As he input the command he could hear Atlantis reach out through subspace and send the command . Mineralis messor revocatus ad urbem Atlantis. almost immediately he sensed the reply of acknowledgement from the harvesters quickly followed by the gate activating with an off world activation .

" unscheduled off world activation , receiving unknown IDC " called out airmen Salawi from her station at the gate controls .

" it's okay Salawi lower the shield it's the harvesters returning , all personnel clear the gate room". Commander John as he moved to the balcony to observe the return process.

Working in reverse of how they were deployed one by one the harvesters exited the gate hovered for a second before disappearing to the depths of the city in a flash of light . All told it took less than a minute between the gate opening and closing for the recall process to be complete .

" John you must now go to the command chair and we can begin the process of creating more harvesters and drones now that we have the materials available. This will also serve as another lesson in using some of my more complex systems".

Eagerly John made his way out of the room throwing an at ease command in his wake to the people in the gate room . Quite excited at the prospect of not only learning something new but also at the thought that by the end of the day they will have 600 drones with which to defend themselves with . Which went a long way to easing a worry from the back of his mind .

Not long after John was reclined in the control chair fully immersed in the city's systems, already looking the display showing the harvesters unloading their cargo and the city's stores registering the added raw materials . I

" As you can already see the raw material is being sorted and catalogued for our use . In addition to the unloading process the harvesters will be linked to my mainframe , from there I will be able to review all sensor data and telemetry gathered throughout the harvesting process . This will help us in keeping current and up-to-date on the development and changes happening on that planet and surrounding system as a lot of our current data is 10000 years out of date. ".

" that's an added bonus I wasn't expecting , it would be nice to be able to gate to a planet with prior Intel , the galactic landscape has changed so much in just the last 5 years alone . It's always a risk traveling blind . So what do i need to do now to start making the drones and new harvesters ? ". Queried John

" first you need to focus on the automated construction lab , once you visualise it you will see that the system has registered the new materials and will provide with a list of what can be created. Once you see the list you need to select what you want made then input the command to start the process. From there you will see the status of the construction such as power use and material cost ". Patiently explained Atlantis

Doing as Atlantis directed John flew through the city's systems until he came upon what he was looking for . The first thing he noticed to was the display showing the level of materials stored- which was a pathetically small amount compared to what could be stored within the city - from there he searched for the list that Atlantis described showing what could be made , upon finding it he received quite the shock, not only at the size of the list - hundred of the thousands different items - but also what the list included, from simple control crystals all the way up to an Aurora class warship and everything in between .

" Wow I didn't know you could make ships Atlantis ? I thought that the ancients just had ship yards or dry docks like the one we found on Taranis .Does that mean you created all the ships the ancients used ? Asked the shocked colonel.

" while as you can see I do posses the technology to create ships I have not needed to do so in many years . When we initially arrived in the galaxy millennia ago I created vessels for exploration and the seeding of gates throughout the galaxy . Once the Alteran people spread throughout the galaxy and started colonizing different worlds they built facilities such as the one on Taranis for the sole purpose of ship construction after which I was rarely called upon to create them my self. Even at the height of the war with the wraith I only made 6 ships all of which have since been lost in battle. ".

As listened he could feel Atlantis sorrow over the loss of the ships she had built come through their bond , whilst not fully sentient like the city ships, he knew from experience that each ship he had encountered had its own quirks and personality. Taking a moment to send comfort and support through the bond John then turned back to the task at hand .

Returning to the list he searched until he found what he was looking for , something he did quite quickly as the majority of the list remained blacked out due to insufficient resources . Selecting first the creation of additional harvesters he saw that with the materials available up to 6 harvesters could be produced. Aware that they needed to also produce a shipment of drones he input the command to produce only 4 harvesters . Upon doing so immediately he felt the production process begin and with it a new display showing the materials being allocated , the time until completion as well as the power cost which was an alarming 2% of their only ZPMs power .

" uh Atlantis if this is going to take a chunk out of our only ZPM each time we do this were going to run out of power before we even get round to doing any repairs ". John commented wearily .

" I understand your concern however you need not worry the ZPM is at 89% charge which is more than enough to last us until the rechargeable generators are fully powered. Once the other generators are full we can take the power needed from them instead of the ZPM . However it that take longer than I anticipate there is another option for power which I am keeping in reserve until I think we need it . For now we will be able to manage with the power we have available". Reassured Atlantis .

Taking Atlantis for her word and trusting she knows best in these matters John refocused on the display and looked at the countdown till completion. Showing that the process will be finished in 8 hours -2 hours per harvester - he returned to the list and selected the drone production this time . Pleasantly surprised to see that there will be surplus materials left over for next time he set in motion the production of the 600 hundred drones . Once again feeling and seeing the process start John monitored the power cost and noticed that a single drone was being produced every minute meaning the whole shipment will take 10 hours until completion .

Easing himself out of the control chair now that he was finished John grudgingly set about returning to his paperwork , mentally asking Atlantis to notify him forin 8 hours so that he could inspect and deploy the harvesters .

flashback end


Refocusing on the briefing John addressed Dr Kusanagi next on her progress.

" Miko according to Atlantis the Tria should arrive at the gate tomorrow which means we can go abroad and begin the salvage and repair work . Are you and your teams all set to begin ? "

"Yes colonel , I have reviewed the Tria ship logs that you sent me and have a complete view of what needs to be done and in what order we shall proceed " . Miko responded calmly

" that's great news , how much work is needed and how long do you think the work will take? I havent had the chance to review the logs myself yet ". John asked eagerly

" the amount of work varies greatly in what we will be fixing , to start with the ships structural integrity is at a strong 87% once we have the materials available the ships automated repair function should quickly bring that up too 100% again. Next there is the power systems ,from what I have been able to find most ancient vessels get their power from 3 separate sources .the first and primary source is the main power core not too dissimilar to our naqueda reactors, that is fully functional and not I need of any repairs . The second power source is like the generators on Atlantis and is rechargeable through means of solar collectors which line the ships outer hull, this unfortunately is completely depleted and in need of recharging , once the ship is back here I plan to park it as close to the Sun as is safe to speed up the recharge process and perform the repairs from there . The final power source is the optional choice of a ZPM, according to the ships logs the Tria was equipped with a charged ZPM however the ancients took it with them when they abandoned ship. ".

Pausing to look at her notes she once again addressed the room.

" there is some minor damage to the power relays which should only take a few hours at most to fix . Next is the shields , currently the shields are only functioning at 22% efficiency this is due too several of the shield emitters being damaged or destroyed. I would strongly advise against placing the Tria in any situation that could cause any undue stress on the shield for fear of straining the emitter beyond repair . Depending on what is available and what is needed for the repairs I foresee only needing a few days to get the shields at the least up to 60-70% power a week should be enough time to get it back up too full. Sensors , communication and enviromentals are all working fine and won't need anything more than a quick check over. Next is weapons , of the 30 pulse cannons 24 are fully operational 4 are in need of minor to medium repairs and the final 2 need total replacement, once again depending on what we have available those systems should only need 3-4 days too finish. As to the ships drones , there aren't any, however the firing mechanism is fully functional so we need only resupply the drones stores when they become available then we're good to go".

" finally the engines and this is were most of the time consuming work will be done , first is the hyperdrive , to put it bluntly it's shot to pieces and there's no fixing it . We're going to have to take out the whole thing and put a new one in its place , oddly enough doing that will actually be easier and faster then trying to fix and patch it back together as we have done in the past , however gaining the equipment and pieces we need will be tricky , I'm hoping you and Atlantis might have a solution to that particular problem . And finally is the sublight engines , I understand that the crew were in desperate times , however they did an awful job of reworking those engines it's going to take at least 2 weeks to sort out the mess and get the engines back to anywhere near normal . So all together assuming everything goes right and that you can help us get the parts we need , and all goes to plan we should have the Tria fully functioning and mission ready in 2 - 3 months".

As she spoke John was listening and taking notes all the while Atlantis was in the back of his head listening and making her own list of points . Looking up from his pad as she finished talking he once again realised it was his turn too address the room.

" thanks Miko for your report it's given me a good idea on how to plan our next steps . To start off with , the next shipment of harvesters will be returning today so we will have a surplus of materials after the creation of additional drones and harvesters. I will allocate those surplus materials for your use and have a new hyperdrive made as a priority , after which any material left over will be split between your self and Radek . We can hold of the Tria 's other repairs until we have her safely parked in orbit, just work on getting her home first . " John said looking to both doctors getting a nod in reply

"Next after talking with earth and explaining some of what we plan to do general O'niell has granted our request for the Odyssey to be dispatched for the next supply run and should arrive within the 2-3 days . In addition to getting the supplies and equipment we requested which included a Tok'ra memory device, the general has temporarily assigned colonel Carter as commander of the Odyssey whilst the Hammond undergoes repairs so we will have the use of her expertise for the 2 weeks that she is here before the return trip to earth . Also Dr Novak has been permanently assigned to Atlantis to help with the integration of Asgard tech and help oversee the repairs for the sun zu as she is the foremost expert on the X-304s systems and has the most experience working with the Asgard core."

As John was explaining this Rodney was going through a range of emotions , on one hand he was happy to finally get a crack at the Asgard core , elated to be working with the beautiful and brilliant Sam Carter but also annoyed and the inference that he needed Novaks help , although if he was being honest with himself he could admit that she has spent most of her career in the Stargate program working on the earth ships .

" once the Odyssey arrives and they have of loaded their supplies Elizabeth , Daniel I want you both to work on finding that replicator ship using the Tok'ra device. once found we well send the Odyssey and a team of gene carriers to go and secure it and bring it back here . Have you had any success with trying to recall your memories from that time ? ". Asked John now addressing the 2 former ascended

" well with help from Daniel and his meditation techniques I have begun to recall some of my time amongst the replicators , whilst I still haven't remembered where we landed the ship I do know that we started out towards the planet in question from the replicator home world and that we travelled through hyper space for just under 2 days . So we have at least narrowed a galaxy wide search down to an area close to the old home world , if Rodney can work out the average speed of an Aurora class hyper drive we should be able to get a better idea of where to look . I'm hoping with the recal device I will have more luck , I'm sorry I couldn't do any better than that. " explained Elizabeth in a downtrodden tone.

" Hey don't worry about it Elizabeth ,like you said you've managed to narrow down our search of the whole galaxy to a relatively short area. Don't beat yourself up over this you did the best you could and that's all any of us ask". Reassured Daniel knowing that him and Elizabeth weren't to dissimilar in habit of blaming themselves when things don't go right.

" Okay then we'll good job you two for giving us an area to start in , just 2 more things before we can get back to work , first Radek how's Dr Parrish getting on with the hydroponics bay and protein re sequencers ? "

" well colonel according to the report he sent me this morning Parrish and his team have managed to clean and repair all the hydroponics bay and have already begun producing crops, they estimate that we shall be entirely self sufficient for fresh fruit and veg by the end of the month with surplus supplies that we might begin stockpiling and trading with . As to the protein resequence machine they too have been repaired and we have uploaded the food profiles of many of the things served in the mess hall such as different kinds of meat ,eggs and milk . At this point in time unless we wish to expand our food variety we have no need for further food supplies from earth or through trading , they have even managed to produce a variety of tea and coffee much to everyone's joy".

A moment of cheering went around the room as they all recall how tight food and coffee supplies can be and the end of each month . And the prospect of having additional earth style food to eat was an added bonus.

" That's great news Radek that will help us a lot especially when it comes to sorting the budget for the expedition , food and drink supply take a big chunk of our monthly spend towards running this place . Plus extra food for trade means we can find more allies and help supply those in need . Okey then finally Rodney how are you getting on with your projects ? ".

Lost in thought about the extra supply of food and drink it took Rodney a minute to respond .

" Right sorry , so as I said before if Sam can do it so can I , I've looked over the Asgard beaming technology and the way the computer core synthesize's material and I'm confident I can make the adjustments needed so we can make whatever is required from food , clothing to equipment and medicine and anything in between . As long as we have the basic profile of what we want the computer will fill in the rest . The only draw back is the power requirements . According to Sam's reports when she did this she had access to the Odyssey power core a fully charged ZPM and the Asgard power core , granted they were trying to survive in the ship for decades we won't need that plus the power consumption isn't drastic , but I'm guessing from the way things are going John you would like to make it so that we never have to ask earth for supplies and have us synthesize what we need instead ?. " Rodney asked

" well if this works the way I think it does then yes I would like it if we could make our own supplies. My plan is to reduce the cost of the expedition to the point where all that they're paying for is the personnel which would give them an incentive to keep the programme going . As to the concerns over power consumption, according to Atlantis pretty soon power supply won't be a problem . That pretty much clears up what we needed to cover today , the next week few weeks are st to be quite busy so all of you take the day get your selves organised and rested . Dismissed .


AN: hey guys I know it's been a while so I've made a bit of a longer chapter and have started to move things along in the story , I will try to update more regular but life and my muse make things difficult .Once again any pointers are welcome .