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Author's note: Hello readers thanks for the reviews and nice comments. I will try to improve my writing and take on any suggestions you have to help me progress further as an author. I'm looking for a beta to proof read my work any suggestions on who can fill the role would be appreciated.
The pounding of feet was all that could be heard in the early hours as John made his final loop of his morning exercise routine , years of service in the military has conditioned him to rise early and keep himself in peak physical condition .
Originally running was just to exercise but as the years passed John used it as time to clear his mind and prepare for the day ahead , even more so once he arrived in the Pegasus galaxy.
Finding himself as an airforce officer in charge of a group of enlisted marines who resented him for colonel Sumners death was difficult to begin with . It wasn't until he took out the the Genii invasion force single handed did those under his command truly begin to respect his orders and his role as leader .
By time they had made contact with earth he had gained a strong bond of respect from those under him, which continued to this day where being assigned to serve under his command was seen as a much sort after post , and those who are assigned fight tooth and nail to remain in his service.
John's constant needs to put himself on the line for others was one of the main things that made him such an easy commander to follow .
As he neared the end of his run he wondered if the decisions he's about to make and the consequences will make or break the trust that's been built over the years .
" Good morning John are you ready for your briefing with the staff ? " . Atlantis greeted as John settled into the control chair and initiated the interface .
" morning Atlantis, I'm as ready as I can be there's a few things I want to cover with you first before I begin the debriefing "
" How may I be of help , what is it you wish to know ".
" After I left last night I began to make a list of what needs to be done and what direction I would like things to go in.
My first priority is defence , while we can raise the shields we exhausted the supply of drones we had too fight back with and the damage is too extensive to safely take the city into hyperspace . How can we go about fixing these issues ".
The lack of drones was something that had been weighing on his mind since the battle with queen death . Should they come under attack they could raise the shield however that would severely tax the power reserves .
Without the drones the was no means off offence and they couldn't rely on the Daedalus or Apollo to be there to help them out.
" both of those points I wished to discuss with you today as the solution is one in the see the construction of drones is one of the systems that you now will have access to , likewise the advance repairs can be made now that restricted technology is available". Atlantis explained
" your telling me you have a drone factory somewhere because that would be really awesome , why can only use now and not before and how does it help make repairs to the city ? ".
Relief over making new drones was palpable for John, knowing that even a handful of drones can take out a hive ship so the thought off a full compliment was a very appealing concept .
" The drone factory and automated repair systems use the same base technologies. They both use matter conversion that changes raw material into whatever is required such as drones . Or in the case of repairs the entire city is filled with nanites which take the raw material and use it to repair structural damage and fix broken systems . "
A bolt of trepidation and unease ran through him at the thought of being surrounded by nanites.
Atlantis sensing his distress was quick to offer reassurance. " I promise you John you have nothing to fear of these nanites, there sole purpose is to enact repairs , they are incapable of higher thought like the replicators you have encountered. They can only be directed by someone from this control chair ".
As Atlantis explained things the chair responded to her promoting displaying the schematics and programming for the nanites so John could see for himself there is no risk .
" thanks for showing me this , it's not that I don't trust you it's just that we've not had a good track record When it comes to nanites " . Seeing all the schematics and instinctual understanding what the programming was eased his fears over there existence .
" hey 'Lantis what does it mean by insufficient resources and why is it wondering if I would like to deploy remote devices ". Despite understanding some of what he was seeing John was still new to the role of Guardian so he couldn't grasp everything right away .
" what you are seeing is the reason why this technology was restricted . As I explained the matter conversion works by using the raw materials which are stored in the depths of the city . These materials are collected by means of remote complex mineral harvesters ".Once again the schematics where displayed replacing those of the nanites .
"At the beginning I had a fleet of 50 harvesters which would be deployed throughout the gate network and then automatically return once full. However during the war the wraith learned this was how we produced and maintained our technology, thus they began targeting and sabotaging the harvesters making them no longer a viable option . Currently there are only 3 harvesters remaining and the mineral stores are depleted ".
" if we sent out the harvesters could you make more out of the materials gathered ? And how much raw material would we need to complete all the repairs and produce the drones " .
" with the materials gained from 1 of the harvesters I could produce 2 new harvesters or 600 drones , I would recommend production of additional harvesters be a priority until there are at least 20 as the required materials to conduct repairs is extensive".
John thought this over , the need for drones was important however in the long run more harvesters would be of more benefit .
" how about this ,we deploy all 3 harvesters and when they return we use 1 of them for drones and the other 2 to create more harvesters that way we can defend ourselves and begin the process of increasing the number of harvesters ". John suggested think for the time being it fills both of their needs.
Detecting his concern over being able to protect his people Atlantis conceded to his request " agreed I can see your need for drones would more pressing initially . It is almost time for your briefing was there another matter you wished to discuss ? " .
" yeah I want to make us as self sufficient as possible , one of our biggest dependencies is that of food production is there anything we can do to ease that ? ".
" Yes there is there are number of hydroponic bays and protein resequencer's throughout the city that have yet to be utilised . They may need cleaning and servicing before use, however once operational they will meet most dietary needs ".
" That's great I will send a team to evaluate them and see if we can get them up and running. Well I had better get going I have feeling this briefing is going to take a while ".
John jumped up from the chair making his way to the briefing room feeling the bond settle into the back of his mind , Atlantis sensing gentle waves of support and reassurance .
Dr Meredith(Rodney) McKay poured himself what would be his 12 th cup of coffee so far that day as he took in the rather odd selection of people taking their seats for the briefing .
Seating himself in the chair closest to the coffee cart he looked across at doctors Zelenka and Kusanagi discussing some inane experiment that wasn't worth his time .
dismissing them his eyes moved onto Dr Carson Beckett who was sitting quietly next to Dr Daniel Jackson
- taking a moment to glare at the raised eyebrow Jackson was sending him over the mug of tea in his hands - his attention was taken as Elizabeth Weir sat down.
Rodney's eyes softened as he took in her appearance - looking as if she hadn't aged since before meeting the replicators or having been ascended - the years after her loss had taken there toll , seeing her sitting there safe and whole eased some of the guilt inside over his part in her death.
Rodney himself had changed over the years , no more so than since his time as the wraith Quicksilver . Shedding the excess weight and gaining a more youthful appearance made him look at least 10 years younger -something he was very pleased about - although the were side effects from his time as a wraith.
The full head of shocking white hair was the only physical side effect that was apparent , it was his mind however where the biggest change was . Despite becoming human again Rodney had kept his ability for wraith telepathy enabling him to hear others thoughts and communicate with the wraith no verbally .
having learned how annoying being a telepath can be from when he encountered the ascension machine Rodney had taken to only glancing at the surface thoughts of those around him instead of delving deeper.
Using this ability Rodney took a read of the room gaining insight into what the others were thinking , surprisingly everyone there was just as confused and curious as himself as to why they had been called together.
Just as he was about to voice his opinion on the matter colonel sheppard walked in and took the seat at the head of the table - a place he had always avoided in the past-
it wasn't the surprise at the choice of seating or the serious look on his friends face that unsettled him but rather the fact that the colonels mind was completely blocked from his ability to read .
In that instant as the colonel leant forward to start the briefing did Rodney realise there is something fundamentally different about best friend and that this wasn't going to be a normal briefing.