A/N: Sorry it so long to upload this chapter. I'm taking a few courses, so my time is divided between those and writing these chapters. Do not worry, I'm still writing but it would take time between writing the chapters and uploading them to the site. In the meantime, enjoy. Cheers.

Atlantis, Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy; more than ten thousand years ago.

"Hera," Athena cried out as she finished getting ready in the room they shared. Hera, the young brunette, was putting on her shoes while Athena rushed to the chest of drawers and took out a cream coloured vest. The long-haired redhead put it on while saying, "we are going to be late."

"I'm ready, Athena," grumbled Hera as she placed her feet on the floor and got off the bed before turning around and presenting herself to her older sister while raising her arms up to her side, "well, what do you think of this dress."

Athena narrowed her eyes at her sister who modelled her blue and brown dress. The redhead then sighed and arched her eyebrows at the ten-year-old, "Hera, you do realize that we are going to our class? And only after that, we will have time for some enjoyment?"

"I realize that," Hera replied walking around her bed and towards Athena who reached down and grabbed the blue and white tablet on the top of her bed, "but I decided to begin the festivities early." Hera grinned at the frowning Athena while grabbing the tablet off the top of her bed. Athena was about to say something when their door chimed.

"Yes, come in," Athena spoke as Hera stuck her tongue out at her sister before they both turned to Moros who walked in through the door that led to the living room of their apartment. Moros smiled at both Athena and Hera while holding a brown coloured box in his hand. Athena put her hands behind her back and a smile formed at the sight of the older man while Hera rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "Good morning, Father," Athena said as Moros hugged Hera and then he reached out towards Athena. The redhead rushed over and hugged her father and younger sister before parting seconds later.

"Now, Hera," Moros said looking down at the brunette, noticing the dress she was wearing, and then looking over at Athena who raised her hands and shook her head saying that she told Hera not to wear those clothes. Moros then sighed and smiled turning towards Hera once again before saying, "you realize the day of your birth is today, and…"

"And we are to leave through the Stargate for mother's burial site," Hera interrupted before continuing on, "and yes, I realize that Athena and I have a lesson with Marius, but we are leaving Lantea after that class. So I felt it would be better to wear what I am wearing and…."

"Very well, very well," Moros chuckled shaking his head before getting down on one knee and handing the sealed box into Hera's hands. Hera was about to open the box when Moros gently asked her to wait until they were at Melina's grave- a tradition for the family where Hera and Athena would spend the day of Hera's birth in celebration with their mother; the hologram that Moros developed would tell them stories from a vast database installed in the emitter. "You can wear this dress just for today, but every other day you…"

"Have to wear the uniform," Hera said before turning her head to her sister, "just like Athena." Hera then turned back to her father and nodded her head. "I promise."

"Good," Moros said before leaning forward and kissing Hera's forehead. He then stood up and hugged Athena tightly, parting a few seconds later; but not before kissing her cheek. Moros then explained, "I will meet you after your lessons at mid-day. In the meantime, I have to hurry to a council meeting."

"We will see you soon, Father," Athena said with a smile while Moros tussled Hera's hair. He then walked out, leaving the two sisters in the room alone. Hera was about to open the box in her hand to take a peek, but Athena cried out and said that if she opened the box then the brunette wouldn't be getting the other present, "and it is a very nice present from me to you."

Hera rolled her eyes upwards before nodding her head and rushed to her bedside table. Hera pulled out a drawer and then placed the box inside before they left the room hand in hand. The two sisters walked to the transportation module where Athena pressed down on a location on the screen before a bright white flash of light enveloped them. The two of them, upon reaching their destination, rushed out and then hurried through one hallway after another until they reached a room.

Athena swept her hand over a panel to the right of the door frame and then watched the door slide open to reveal an older man in a grey and white uniform standing behind a pedestal that had a holographic image of a bipedal creature with two arms, an elongated head, sharp teeth, and razor sharp nails on three fingers. Behind the pedestal were twenty tables and chairs, two of them empty until Athena and Hera took their seats after hurrying onto the room. They apologized to Marius, their biological sciences teacher, as the door to the classroom closed shut with a hiss.

"Welcome to our biology lesson, Athena and Hera," Marius said with a frown on his face, "you are late."

"Sorry," Athena squeaked once again while Hera nodded her head vigorously.

"And Hera," Marius sighed, "I realize today is the day of your birth so I will not report on your improper attire," Marius continued with a stoic look on his face as several of the other children patted Hera on her back and wished her well. After Athena patted her sister's back as well, Marius clapped his hands together to get the attention of the children before pointing a finger at the hologram. He swiped his finger for the holographic image to switch to that of a worm-like creature with an exo-skeleton around its body, and wings sprouted on its back appeared. By now, everyone in the class stopped what they were doing and stared transfixed at the holographic image.

"Disgusting," Ganos Lal whispered leaning towards Athena who shuddered at the slime that covered the creature.

"Yes," Athena whispered.

"What is that?" Many students whispered while Hera narrowed her eyes at the creature.

"Ewww."

"What kind of a monster is that?"

There were several other comments as Marius stood beside the hologram with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at the student's reactions before glancing back at the holographic image. A chill ran up his spine at seeing the creature before he looked back at the students. Marius released a cough, getting the attention of the students, and then said, "here is a clue. This creature was among millions more that could have ended the Alterran race."

"They do not appear to be Iratus bugs," Ganos commented.

"This creature is native to Avalon," Marius said taking a few steps forward, "and while the Wraith are dangerous," Marius then motioned to the hologram, "these creatures are just as deadly, perhaps even more so."

"In our ancient history lessons, we learned of the plague that nearly wiped out our ancestors," Athena said nodding at the hologram, "could the plague have been a by-product of experimentation done on these worms?"

"There are several theories on what caused the plague," Marius said nodding his head, "the most pre-eminent being the ancient Alterrans worked on genetically engineering their own bodies to achieve ascension. It was that genetic engineering that resulted in an airborne pathogen- the galactic plague- which targeted all life in Avalon." Marius then looked at the creature, and then back to Athena, "good try, but these creatures were dead long before the plague."

Athena looked at Hera who shrugged her shoulders before the both of them turned to Marius once again. She then glanced at the other students in the room who were as confused as she was about the identity of the holographic creature before looking back at Marius who stared at the creature for a few seconds before turning back to his students once again.

"Boys and girls," he said pointing to the hologram which now showed the worm rearing up and extending its wings. The students gave a collective shudder as what looked to be the unarmoured head open up to reveal rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth that dripped with pale coloured slime, "I would like to introduce to you all the creatures that caused the deaths of over seven hundred million people." At hearing the gasps from the students in front of him, Marius scanned the looks of shock and horror before glancing at the hologram, and then back at the students. He then continued, "say hello to the Nirathi."

P1Z-276, 0400 hours.

With the two moons in the twinkling night sky, the deactivation of the Stargate's event horizon didn't mean that SG-2, Teal'c, and two medical units of four people each were suddenly covered in jet-black darkness. There was enough light to see each other, though not as clearly as in daytime- but just enough along with their immediate surroundings. The group could clearly make out objects close to them such as the MALP, the metallic cases on the ground, and the bags containing tents for a week-long expedition. They could also make out the tall grass that shone under the moonlight and the trees that peppered the surrounding area- trees that swayed in the gentle breeze.

The rest of the light was provided by the torches clipped to their vest pockets. The beams of light bobbed up and down as the group picked up their bags and cases before beginning their trek towards the village. Each of the men and women in the large group carried two metallic cases with Teal'c and Colonel Ferretti leading them down the direction highlighted by the tablet in the latter's hand.

Thanks to scans taken from the drone's camera, it was estimated that the journey on foot to the village would take two hours at least. By the time they reached the village, Colonel Ferretti and Teal'c expected dawn to break. The journey was planned just so that the sun would be visible in the sky by the time the group reached the village.

In fact, they were going to stop in the outskirts of the village, about a kilometre away, before beginning their examination of the village proper. Upon reaching their location which was marked on the tablet, the group would make camp – Teal'c, Colonel Ferretti and the others in SG-2 would set up the sealed medical tents while the medical unit prepared their Hazmat suits. It would be the medical team, in full hazmat gear, who would first enter the village to run scans on what was happening. One team of three would be heading for their primary target which was the building where SG-17's subcutaneous transmitters were discovered by the drone, one person from another team was supposed to retrieve the drone that SG-17 used when they arrived on-world, while the rest of the medical staff were supposed to be testing the surrounding air, water, and ground. The fear was that there could be some kind of viral outbreak, especially since there were no people sighted by the current drone's thermal camera.

In fact, there were no animals in the immediate vicinity of the village. While setting up the tents, Teal'c looked up at the drone in the distance as it circled above the village. He then lowered his head and looked out at the eerily quiet village as a chill ran up and down his spine. The former First Prime turned his head to stare at a forested area in the distance before looking away- he felt as if there was someone or something watching him.

Teal'c walked up to Colonel Ferretti and helped him set up a long table while Dawn and Satterfield opened up four cases. They took out monitors and laptops which were placed on the table where Grogan began attaching the various parts together to form a monitoring station. Two screens showed the readings from the drone, three screens showed images from the medical team's hazmat suit cameras, and the other screens would show images from the cameras that were due to be placed around the village and the camp.

'There's something that happened to the people who live here… at least who are supposed to live here,' thought the Colonel to himself as he stared at the thermal images from the drone's camera which showed no signs of life anywhere in the village. Once the monitor bank and the tents were set up with the medical team prepared to leave for the village- the others began taking out and preparing the generators that would power the floodlights that were about to be placed around the camp.

"Colonel Ferretti, Teal'c," Dr Palmer, the head of the medical teams, said as he stared at the senior members of the expedition through his hermetically sealed helmet, "we'll be heading up to the village now."

"We'll keep an eye on you guys here," Colonel Ferretti said before glancing at three of the staff being the doctor carrying metallic cases of testing gear. It would be about thirty minutes later that the medical team entered the village and, while SG-2 and Teal'c watched on the screens, the team split up into their pre-arranged groups and began their medical examination.

Atlantis, more than ten thousand years ago.

"You thought the Wraith were frightening?" Marius said while he placed his hands behind his back. His eyes swept across the students sitting in front of him, some had been staring at the Nirathi, while the others were whispering among themselves. He then coughed to get the children's attention.

And once he had their attention, Marius continued, turning to the hologram and then back at the students once again, "this is only one of what would be swarms composed of hundreds of these things. Swarms which if released on a Wraith-world, they would kill everything in that world- both Wraith and human."

Athena listened, her mind creating horrifying scenarios, as Marius spoke of how the Nirathi fed. She imagined herself grabbing onto Hera's hand as they ran from a swarm of hundreds of Nirathi. While Marius explained how the Nirathi fed, Athena imagined the worms breached Atlantis. She and Hera were running away while people screamed in horror all around her. Athena 'saw' the worms eat through many of her friends while she continued to run with Hera.

Suddenly Hera slipped behind her and fell to the floor. There were screams all around while Athena turned around and stared in stunned shock as the flying Nirathi swept down and crushed Hera. She saw her little sister decimated as the hundreds of Nirathi burrowed through her body and then rushed out through her chest.

And then the Nirathi came after her. Athena ran as fast as she could while screaming for help. But there was no help; the Nirathi swarm chased her for another three steps before she felt sharp teeth pierce her arms, her feet, her back, and the back of her neck. Athena opened her mouth to release a gasp, but there was no sound since the Nirathi tore through her back and ripped through her lungs. The last thing she saw before darkness overcame her was the worms ripping through her chest in a shower of blood and gore.

"GASP!" Athena gasped out loud in class after she was forced out of her own imagination. She shuddered before her eyes shifted to a few students, including her sister, looking back at her.

"Athena?" Marius said with a smile on his face, "let me guess, you were thinking about the Nirathi?"

"Ye… yes," Athena said, and as she did… her body involuntarily shuddered. And then there was another gasp, followed by another. There were a few others who had let their imaginations go wild before Marius spoke.

"Now, why am I telling you about the Nirathi?"

"So that we will be unable to sleep at night?" one of the other students said to some giggles.

"Not exactly," Marius replied while he walked between the students before continuing, "the Nirathi were just worms, how bad could they be? But the first Nirathi the Alterra encountered? Well, they were killed."

"The Nirathi, you mean?" asked Ganos.

"The Alterra," Marius clarified, "the Nirathi were a voracious species. The worms killed the first Alterra they set their sights on and… well, like I described a moment ago… they tear through bodies. And once the victim is dead, the worms properly feed. They eat first the flesh, and then the bones, until nothing remains except for a pale, thick, viscous substance."

"Their after-meal droppings," Athena said.

"That's the first sign of an infestation," Marius said, "but do you know how the Nirathi spread?"

The class was silent as Marius reached the hologram and then turned to stare at his students. He waited a few seconds for their answer before he put his hands on his hips and said, "the liquid left behind after their feedings is not only their waste, but it contains their eggs. Some Alterrans who went in search of the missing Alterrans brought back the liquid to their labs on Sovar, Kiaris, Essianis, Lorian, and Asirias. Five Planets… a population of a little over seven hundred forty-three million lives in total," Marius stared at the stunned faces looking back at him before he continued, "and all of them dead."

Marius then stared at the holographic worm and said, "it was theorised that the the eggs, upon encountering a new environment, hatched at an accelerated rate. The Nirathi multiplied at night in only a few hours, and then millions of people were killed."

"What happened to them?" asked Ganos.

"According to records," Marius said shaking his head, "no signal was sent to Earth about any problems. However, when there was still no contact after thirty days- not even a data broadcast to Earth on the latest statistics in regards to crime, hunger, the economy and so on, a subspace message was sent to those worlds. When there was no answer, a task force from Earth space was sent to the five worlds…" Marius sighed before continuing, "the ships found no Alterran life signs. The teams who were beamed down to investigate found themselves ankle deep in the pale thick liquid."

"The Nirathi ate through the entire population?" asked Hera.

"Yes," Marius nodded his head in confirmation. Hera and Athena turned their heads to look at each other, and then at Marius who went on to say that the teams sent down to the planet were attacked by the creatures a few seconds later. "the records indicated that the screams of the dying away teams could be heard through all the ships."

"Our ancestors had the technology to beams their people back to the ships," a female student stated while she leaned forward. "They should have…"

"And have those worm things beamed onto the ships?" Hera asked while Athena looked at her sister and then turned her head back to the silver-haired young woman who frowned before leaning back in her seat.

Athena then turned towards Marius and said, "the planets were destroyed?"

"The Hyposenea, one of the ships in orbit along with her sister ships over the other affected worlds, downloaded every bit of data from the computers in the research section of the Science Unit relating to any experiments on off-world creatures," Marius said, "and from there, they discovered data on these creatures. Including the original world where they were retrieved."

"And it was destroyed," Athena said.

"They were bombarded from orbit until no life remained," Marius said before the hologram switched to that of a Wraith commander, "now that we have learned about an ancient Foe, we have to move on to the present day."

P1Z-276, 0630 hours.

Dawn didn't know why, but she felt relieved when the sun rose over the distant horizon. She looked up at the sun through her sunglasses for a second before looking away. Turning back to the bank of screens in front of her, she sat down with her arms crossed over her chest and stared at the monitors. The Medical staff had just made their way into the village after having separated and all Dawn could think was, 'this looks like a ghost town. Where are all the people?' It was while Dawn leaned forward and stared at the top row of screens that Colonel Ferretti and Teal'c walked up behind her and said the same thing she had been thinking.

"There are no life signs in the immediate area," Teal'c said. And that was something that made Dawn very nervous as she looked to the right of the monitors, and towards the village in the distance.

"I've sent Satterfield and Grogan to patrol further away from the perimeter of the camp with the life sign detectors," Colonel Ferretti said. Since the medical team were not allowing any patrols near the village, Colonel Ferretti ordered Satterfield and Grogan to patrol quite a distance away from the village. The hope was that the townspeople made it out and was hiding far enough away from the town itself.

At least that was the thought.

And it was two minutes earlier that Colonel Ferreti received news from Satterfield that they had found no life signs, absolutely none. There were no people, no animals, no rodents, and no birds- nothing that was alive.

There was nothing, except for the life signs of the people currently from Earth.

'Where's everything else?' Dawn thought to herself. And that was the same question the others were asking themselves.

While the remaining members of SG-2 and Teal'c were staring at the monitors hopeful that they would be cleared to enter the village, the Med teams were doing their job.

They walked through the village in their suits searching for any signs of what happened, however, they were unable to catch a whiff of the stench surrounding them thanks to the respirators in their helmets. As they walked about, the Med team had a handheld device for measuring the presence of an airborne contagion- so far they found nothing.

It was then that another young woman from the medical team, Dr Stewart, called out on the radio that she and her partner were in the center of the village, "I guess it's the town square," she said stepping over some of the streamers that lay on the grass. She saw the pile of charred wood that indicated a fire was burning earlier, "and there was some kind of..."

"Dr Stewart," the woman's partner called. The young man called for Dr Stewart once again before she could continue and finish what she wanted to say about what she thought was a bonfire that burned out earlier in the night since she could still see wisps of smoke. She then turned to the young man who looked at her while standing and pointing at something. As she walked over to the young man, Dr Stewart just missed stepping into a few puddles of clear, thick liquid that was spread out on the grassy ground.

"I'm at the drone," another one of the Med team, Dr. Reynolds, said getting down to one knee just as Dr Stewart reached the young man who called for her. Dr Reynolds grabbed the drone off the ground which, thanks to the camera on the man's helmet, Dawn and the others were able to see as well. They saw that the propellers were broken, the pod containing the camera was slightly cracked, and the frame was dented in various places.

"Looks like it fell out of the sky," Colonel Ferretti pointed out before leaning forward and speaking into his radio, "anyway to get back whatever data it collected? I'm sure there are pictures and video… anything that can help us find out what happened to SG-17."

"We'll have to take this back to the SGC, sir," the young man said before he opened the case he was carrying for the drone. He then gently placed the drone onto the soft lining of the case before closing the cover and standing up. With the case in his hands, he told Colonel Ferretti that he was returning to camp so that the drone could be given a preliminary examination by Satterfield, "we could connect the drive to the computers in the camp to ensure that nothing was corrupted."

"Copy that," Colonel Ferretti said before asking Teal'c to contact Satterfield. After Teal'c nodded his head, the Colonel went back to the screens just as Dawn leaned forward with her eyes narrowed, "Summers?" the Colonel asked.

She was staring at the monitor which showed the camera feed from Dr Stewart's point of view. Dawn watched in trepidation, hopeful that the pale, thick goo that dripped slowly off of a pen in the doctor's hand wasn't what she thought it was, 'no, it can't be. The Nirathi are supposed to be dead. All of them destroyed.' Dawn kept on mentally telling herself that there was nothing to worry about, that the puddle of viscous goo could be something else while she watched Dr Stewart dip the tip of her pen back in the puddle and then bring it out. Dawn saw thick strands of the goon dripping from the tip just as Satterfield responded to Teal'c saying she was returning.

Just as Dawn was about to turn around to Colonel Ferretti and tell her about what she learned about the Nirathi, she stopped and looked back at another one of the monitors before quickly standing up with her eyes wide open. She then reached for her own radio and said, her voice quaking in fear, "Dr Stewart, do you see any clothes in your area? Anything at all?"

"Nothing," was the reply. Dawn then had a faraway look in her eyes while recalling what Marius said all those years ago about the puddle of thick goo having pieces of clothing that were floating on the surface- the Organic parts were eaten by the worms while the synthetics were left alone. Dawn then turned to look at Colonel Ferreti who, after the former got off her seat in worry, had been asking her if she was alright.

Dawn gulped. She hoped that she was wrong, she hoped that what happened here in the village was just a coincidence while suddenly feeling relieved that the sun was rising high into the air, 'the Nirathi multiplied at an alarming rate during the night before killing entire worlds.' But Dawn also knew she didn't want to places her friends in danger. Fighting against vampires and demons was one thing, but when faced with an enemy that could very well eat through those very same demons, Dawn felt that they needed to be warned. They needed to know what she knew.

"Colonel," Dawn said standing up straight and approaching him, "we need to get out of here, now. If…"

"Summers, we can't," the Colonel interrupted, wondering what had gotten Dawn so worried, "not until…"

"If this is what I'm afraid it is?" Dawn interrupted the Colonel, "then SG-17 is already dead. And…." Dawn glanced at the village in the distance before turning her head back towards Colonel Feretti and Teal'c, "and we could be facing an enemy that feeds on organics. Colonel, these things... If what happened here is what I think I studied about in Atlantis? Then, these things are the very same creatures… the very same monsters… that killed nearly seven hundred million people on five planets."

"What?" the Colonel said in disbelief while Teal'c stared at Dawn and titled his head.

"Colonel," Dawn said, "I hope to God that I'm wrong but…"

"I've located the signal from the subcutaneous transmitters," Dr Palmer said. Dawn and the others turned towards the screens just as Satterfield returned with Grogan in tow, the latter of whom said that there were absolutely no life signs around the perimeter of the camp.

"It's weird, and…" Satterfield knitted her eyebrows in confusion as she glimpsed the look of worry on Dawn's face. She then turned to both Colonel Ferretti and Teal'c while asking if there was something wrong. But before she could get an answer, Satterfield and Grogan heard Dr Palmer whisper through the speakers on the table.

"I'm reading a massive jump in level of ammonia, and… eww," Dr Palmer said after opening the door, checking the tablet in his hand, and then looking up into the room before stepping into a pool of viscous liquid that covered the entire floor of the house.

"No," Dawn whispered as she watched Dr Palmer slog through the liquid with the other two as their camera's swept past uniforms that were covered in goo. They watched as Dr Palmer crouched down while the other two walked past him- one walked up to the bottom of the stairs, and the other one to a hearth in the rear of the house where a large pot was hanging over a pile of charred and slightly smoking wood. They could hear the 'squish' sound from the boots sinking into the goo while Dr Palmer was saying that the bodies were all gone. It was then that Dawn whispered after a gulp, "not gone," turning to the Colonel, the brunette said, "eaten. Colonel, that goo is the waste excreted from a species called…"

"I hear something," Dawn gasped upon hearing the voice of the young man in the house standing at the foot of the stairs through her radio before she could finish her sentence, "a buzzing up the stairs, and…"

"Colonel," Dawn said with fear etched in her voice while her heart pounded in her chest, "get them out. We need to get out, we need to…."

"Aaaargh!" Dawn turned back to the screens upon hearing the scream to see the camera feed from the man who was at the foot of the stairs. The group in the camp could only watch helplessly as worm-like creatures with an exoskeleton slithered down one step and another while behind them, some of the other worms took flight and rushed at him… Dawn placed her hands over her mouth in shock when there was another scream, this time from Dr Palmer. The first man who was attacked fell into the goo, his body trembling violently, with the camera pointed at Dr Palmer who was covered in those worms. Dawn saw his body be eaten through in a matter of seconds before there were more screams outside the house while the Colonel yelled through the radio at everyone to get back to the Stargate. "We can't," Dawn whispered as she turned back to the Colonel who had his eyes opened wide while he looked over her shoulder. Dawn heard the buzzing sounds before she turned around to see a black cloud, a swarm of thousands of the carnivorous worms take flight into the air.

They swept through the town killing the medical teams before taking into the air. Dawn felt her shoulder being pulled back before hearing the Colonel hiss, "move it, Airman."

"I'm not…" Dawn wanted to say that she wasn't an Airman, she wasn't part of the military. But as she watched the Colonel and Teal'c push the remaining SG-2 members toward the trail that led to the Stargate, Dawn decided it didn't matter. She started to run after Teal'c with the Colonel, and leading them was Satterfield and Grogan. The group took off running towards the Stargate, but Dawn knew in her heart it was useless to run.

'The Stargate's too far away,' she thought before looking over her shoulder as she ran. The creatures flew up into the air and went past the drone. Dawn tried to rack her brain and recall if Marius ever taught them how these murderous creatures hunted their prey. Just as Dawn had that thought go through her mind, her eyes widened at the swarm of creatures- changing direction mid-air and flying towards them.

'Oh no,' Dawn thought as the swarm go closer, 'no, no, no!'

TBC.