51: Ashes

Natalia knew something had gone wrong as soon as the two had beamed onto the platform. The damaged systems, pushed to their breaking point, failed on this final transport. McCafferty jumped back from the main console as a shower of sparks erupted from it, followed by a thin column of smoke tinged with the stink of ozone. Both Aithris and Jonas were sprawled across the platform, their own bodies wisping smoke. It was Aithris who appeared to have received the brunt of whatever had caused this, and he rolled onto his side uttering a pained, almost pitiful moan.

"No, no, Aith!" Natalia rushed to his side, eyes brimming with tears at the sight of the Nomad. Much of the clothes on his back and side had been burned away, as had the blue-tinged flesh underneath. Now the affected areas were covered in an array of bloody blisters, as was part of his face. She fell to her knees beside him, doing all she could to swallow her emotions in front of the Colonel and the others. Nearby, Daniel and John had gone over to Jonas. He was burned in a few places, but his injuries were less severe, as if he had been protected from the brunt of the explosion that had caused them.

"Aithris, look at me!" Natalia gently grabbed his head, turning it to face her. She swallowed in a mix of anguish and horror when she saw the bloodied, burned sockets in which his eyes had previously occupied. He was barely conscious now, presumably overcome with pain, and she put an arm under him as to heft him up partially, allowing the wounded Nomad to rest on her knees. Although she was holding back her tears, her next cry was filled with unbridled emotion:

"I need a medical team in here, right now!" She was shouting at McCafferty, who looked stunned more than anything else. To his credit, he had already put the call in as soon as the pair had materialised, and the medical personnel arrived only moments later, hauling along two stretchers. Jonas was responsive, unlike Aithris, and his eyes opened as he was lifted upon one of the stretchers. He looked to Aithris, worry creasing his sweaty, dirtied features. And then his eyes drifted to Natalia, and she saw a look of guilt take hold.

"He took the worst of it," Jonas muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. She did not reply, so intent she was on tending to Aithris. He was being carried out on the other stretcher now, and she stayed with him, keeping a hold of one of his hands. She felt him squeeze it, indicating that he was still partially aware, at the very least. Daniel tagged along, whereas John had looked upon the whole scene with a taut, intense expression. Within him, anger roiled, and whilst the others headed for the infirmary, John Sheppard made a beeline for the bridge.

The infirmary was busy, with Elsie at rest on a bed at one end while those who had been injured when the creature had been beamed aboard were being tended to on the other beds. For Aithris, however, the medical team cleared a space and promptly set the wounded Nomad upon a fresh bed. Natalia was forced to stand back to allow the medical team to work, stripping off the Nomad's tattered clothes in order to better tend to the burns that covered something like half of his body. She lingered as long as she could, watching the messy work take place, until a curtain was pulled closed before her. She nonetheless remained where she stood, aware of several other sets of eyes that watched her with curiosity, makalvari ones among them. She cared little for what they may have thought of her, and she instead found herself falling deep within her own thoughts.

She could not lose Aithris, not like this. She was so tired, so beaten down all she wanted to do was curl up on the floor and go to sleep. Yet, she had to remain awake, had to keep an eye and an ear out for any news as to Aithris' progress. She wanted to be here for him when they were done, or worst case, she wanted to be with him when he died.

She became dimly aware that someone had walked up beside her. Elsie, she realised. A reassuring hand fell upon her shoulder, and the Lieutenant's voice sounded then:

"Come on, Staff Sergeant. We should leave them to their work." Natalia turned around to face the woman, who offered her a reassuring, if mildly uncertain, smile. A fresh bandage had been applied over her ruined eye, with a few smaller dressings covering the cuts left in that side of the face from the explosion that had almost killed her. Overall, she appeared to be well enough, standing on her own two feet and no doubt dosed up on painkillers. With the commotion all around within the infirmary, Elsie's wounds were minor compared to the others some of those here had suffered.

"He'll pull through, I'm sure of it," Elsie added. "You and I, we should go wash up. Get some rest, maybe something to eat. No use hanging around here."
Natalia knew she was right, but at the same time she had no desire to leave Aithris. Sure, there was little she could do here, yet to leave him now just struck her as intrinsically wrong. Nonetheless, waiting around would only serve to make her all the more anxious. She needed a distraction, and her exhaustion was beginning to catch up with her even now. If she sat down at all, there was a good chance she would fall asleep then and there.

"I just…" Natalia trailed off, swallowed, and then tried again: "I don't want to leave him. He wouldn't leave me."

"Then we'll wait out in the corridor. I'll get us something to drink." Elsie started for the exit, and after a pause, Natalia fell into step after her. They emerged into the cold blue-grey corridors that weaved their way through the cruiser, and out here by the infirmary entrance were a couple of padded benches for seating. Natalia settled down on one of them, finding some relief in the rudimentary cushioning now under her backside. Elsie wandered off to find a water dispenser somewhere, leaving Natalia to stew in her own thoughts. Just what the hell had happened down on Langara to give Aithris such burns? Something had gone wrong, and she suspected she would find out just what soon enough.

As she had expected, she was now struggling to keep her eyes open. She lay across the bench, trying to find a comfortable position. Ship personnel milled by, some looking hurried, with a few offering her extended, curious glances. None made any comment as to the dirtied, sweaty and clearly exhausted Russian Staff Sergeant now taking up the bench. By the time Elsie returned with two cups of water, Natalia had fallen asleep on the bench, her chest heaving steadily in that gentle, up-and-down rhythm of one who had descended into a deep slumber.

Elsie settled down on the neighbouring bench. Her ruined eye stung, but otherwise the painkillers the med-techs had given her had helped reduce it overall. She gulped down her share of water, crushing the paper cup in her hand as soon as she was done. And, seeing as Natalia was in no hurry for her cup, Elsie chugged that down too. From the somewhat frantic air of the place about her, Elsie got the impression that there was much more going on than the commotion in the infirmary. Something had happened that should not have, something that had set some of the personnel who wandered by into a jog. At that moment, the ship rattled, shaking all around as if hit by some kind of earth tremor. Seeing as how they were in space, Elsie found this potential cause very unlikely.

Testament to her exhaustion, Natalia barely stirred from sleep in response to the rumble. No alarms sounded, so they had not been shot at. Elsie stood up, an anxious sense of foreboding building in her gut. It was curiosity that drove her down the corridor and for the nearest elevator.

John had run onto the bridge of the Odyssey, fury coursing deep within. Aithris had been severely wounded, with Jonas having come very close to the same fate. He wanted to know why, and so he had left the two to be taken to the infirmary whilst he stormed his way to the cruiser's bridge. When he walked into that familiar space, he had not expected to find such an uneasy quiet within.

No one was saying anything. The officers on duty, many seated at their assigned stations, had stopped in their assigned tasks to set their eyes on the forward viewport. Cameron Mitchell stood just ahead of the commander's chair, his own eyes locked upon the sight that now filled the forward-facing windows. And there was Kav'rak, a few paces to Cameron's right, his yellow eyes wide and his head plume having spread in a manner that suggested either fright or surprise.

John found that, for the moment, his intended words escaped him. Instead, he strode into place to Kav'rak's right, following the collective gazes of all those in the bridge to what had transpired on Langara below.

Even now, the brilliant white light that had first erupted from the northern reaches of the nation of Kelowna continued to blaze, and despite the distance at which the Odyssey orbited the planet, it was still bright enough to necessitate squinting, or a slight turning away as to place it in one's peripheral vision. That light had since swallowed up most of the main continent of Langara, a tumultuous and towering shockwave spreading outwards from the source of the blast. Down on the ground, it would have been fast and unrelenting; yet from up here, it moved at an almost leisurely pace. Yet, as John watched on, he knew that with every second that passed, many miles worth of the planet's crust was churned and uprooted. The immediate concussive shockwave had swept aside the clouds that had previously been swirling over the planet's surface, reducing most of them to thin wisps. Light continued to broil within the heart of the explosion, an explosion that John had to estimate was now the size of North America and expanding ever outwards. The planet was being torn asunder right before their very eyes.

What was perhaps most interesting about the nature of this explosion were the strange swirls of blue-white light that seemed to sweep upwards from the blast. They were racing into the surrounding space, and the first one that struck the Odyssey caused the entire ship to lurch. Warning lights flashed on multiple terminals. Cameron turned to the young Lieutenant seated at his right, his eyes narrowing into a worried frown.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Some kind of subspace shockwave. We can only observe a small part of it." He frowned, as readings appeared across his display. "The hyperdrive is giving off some funny readings, sir."

Another of the shockwaves struck the ship then, this one shaking it with a greater violence. John put a hand to the top of the nearest chair, steadying himself. Cameron, despite having his hands on no such hold, kept his balance.

"Hyperdrive malfunction, sir." The Lieutenant piped up worriedly then, and his gaze locked upon Cameron's own. "Those shockwaves, sir, it's as if they're tearing through subspace itself."

"And the makalvari ship?" Cameron asked.

"I can't tell for sure, sir, but it's likely they're suffering the same as we are."

"All right, then get us out of here."

John took a few steps forwards, if only to get a closer looked at Langara ahead. That brilliant white light was fading now, gradually so. More of the shockwaves blossomed forth from the heart of the explosion, and again the ship shook all around. At the far wall, a dinner plate-sized panel suddenly came away, followed by a shower of sparks and a burst of flame. Immediately, one of the airmen present raced over to the blown conduit with a small fire extinguisher, holding the trigger down as he doused the flames with non-conductive dust.

"Hyperdrive isn't responding, sir," the Lieutenant announced. The ship rocked about them again, and this time Cameron did grab a hold of his chair. He sat down upon it, brow furrowed as he considered their options. He turned to Kav'rak, whose previously surprised expression had morphed into something serious, if contemplative.

"What kind of weapon is this, Major?" Cameron asked him. Ahead, Langara's surface had become shrouded with clouds of brown dust and debris, thrown up from the detonation. It was as if a large portion of the planet itself had been blasted away, revealing the swirling molten mantle beneath the upper crust that had previously been present. The massive plume of churned up dust and rock that had been torn away and now filled the planet's skies crackled with white arcs of energy, for the exotic energies of the bomb continued to react to its surroundings. Such a disaster would leave nothing alive, certainly not on the surface of the planet. John was no expert, but a significant portion of the planet's atmosphere had likely gone, so unless the Langarans had airtight bunkers on the other side of the planet, he was beginning to think that the odds of finding any survivors were shockingly poor.

"It works at a subspace level, essentially interfering with the very fabric of reality," Kav'rak explained. "It also affects every piece of technology that might utilise such wavelengths. That includes hyperdrives and stargates. The disturbances this bomb has caused around this planet will not go away. I would suspect, given enough time, that most of this star system will become inaccessible by hyperspace. And by stargates, for that matter."

"So, what? Does that mean we can't get out of here?"

"If you get further enough away, your hyperdrive may start working again."

It was John who spoke then, and he stepped towards Kav'rak with a look on his face that suggested his patience for the games of the makalvari had evaporated completely.

"Who did this?" He demanded, his voice cold, yet commanding. Kav'rak, slinking back a step, then motioned towards the makalvari cruiser still visible through the forward viewport.

"Brigade Leader Tav'kar," the Major replied. "I suspect he wanted to test the bomb on a real target, rather than some asteroid somewhere. Mind you, the one that he used was the only completed one of that kind of yield. The tests we've carried out before were much smaller."

John said nothing, at least not at first. Instead, he lashed out with one fist in a blow that came fast and without warning. It clocked Kav'rak across one side of his beak-like snout, knocking the makalvari backwards a few steps. His head snapped back and he fell against Cameron's chair, before his footing gave way completely and he fell onto his side, landing with a grunt across the floor. Cameron stood up then, eyes widening somewhat, and he looked about ready to reprimand the Colonel. Instead, as soon as the initial shock had passed and the realisation of what had happened hit home, he seemed to relax just a little bit.

"Millions, Kav'rak," John barked, looking down at the stunned makalvari. Kav'rak rubbed at his jaw with one clawed hand. "Hundreds of millions of people. Innocent people."

"This was not my doing, Colonel." Kav'rak looked up at him, contempt apparent in his yellow eyes. "Tav'kar is ruthless. He would use this new weapon to secure power for himself. That cannot be allowed to happen."
"Why Langara?" John felt oddly cold. The thought of so many lost so quickly was mind-boggling. No conventional nuclear bomb could have managed this kind of destruction so easily, not even those infused with either naquadria or naquadah. What had happened, and it continued to happen right down there on the devastated remains of Langara, was outright genocide. An entire people, obliterated, all because the makalvari had wanted to 'field test' their new toy.

"I assume it was because of the portal to Hell, Colonel," Kav'rak stated, with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Tav'kar probably thought it a worthy target. That said, I doubt he was fully aware of the explosive yield of the bomb itself."

"Those were human lives, Major." Venom laced John's voice. "Of course, you don't care about human lives, do you?"

Cameron interjected then, if only to try and defuse the situation. John was about ready to beat on Kav'rak further, even if he knew full well it was not going to improve the situation. If anything, the one responsible was over on that other ship, well within their reach if they went about things sensibly.

"Are your ships shielded against the subspace disturbances?" Cameron directed the question to Kav'rak, who was in the process of getting back upon his feet. Kav'rak turned to him and shook his head.

"They affect our ships as much as they do yours."

"Then we have a chance." Cameron shifted his attention to John. "We can't use our transporter and we can't jump into hyperspace. One thing we can do is get the bastard who just wiped out an entire planet."

"If we try approaching in a ship, they'll shoot us down," John countered.

"Our scanners have been disrupted, same as our hyperdrive. We can assume that the Brigade Leader's ship is suffering from the same problems." The implication was clear: there was to be a boarding action. Cameron was risking a great deal, going ahead with such a plan. After all, it could very well be construed as an act of war. The last thing any of the higher-ups back on Earth would have wanted was an open conflict with a people who were supposed to be their allies. Still, John could see there was a chance here, especially as any long-range communications systems, operating on subspace methods, would likely be just as disrupted as the likes of the hyperdrive and scanners.

"We may be able to shield the approach of any boarding craft," Cameron said. "As it stands, we have no hyperdrive, no shields, no communication with Earth and only rudimentary scanner functionality. That bomb left us with little more than sub-light engines. Since the makalvari ship hasn't high tailed it out of here, we have to assume they have all the same problems we do. So, instead of sitting here waiting around, or even slowly dragging ourselves away from Langara, we can get a hold of this Brigade Leader and make him answer for what he did."

John was tired, exhausted even. Any further running around and he might just well collapse. And yet, he knew he could not sit out what Cameron was suggesting. If anyone was going to board the makalvari ship, he would be it.

"Sir, I would like to volunteer for the mission," he said to Cameron. The General eyed him for a moment, unsure of whether to accept the offer or not. Whatever doubts he had seemed to disappear quickly, and Cameron gave him a nod.

"As you wish, Colonel. We'll get a boarding craft organized immediately." He then turned to Kav'rak. "And you, Major. You're going with him. This is partly your mess. You're going to help clean it up."

Although he was still feeling the pain of his burns, Jonas pushed his way out of the infirmary despite the protests of the medical staff. He knew something had gone wrong on Langara, more so than the rebels and the demons and everything else. Something more, some kind of explosion that had left Aithris severely wounded. He needed to know what, and his first thought was to head to the bridge. Dosed up on painkillers, he limped into the corridor, still feeling the sting of the burns that had occurred on his left side and along the arm there. This did not include the bloody gash left in his thigh by Kavul, but that had been bandaged up adequately enough for the time being. It did, however, leave him only able to move at a limp, with each step sending forth another jab of pain through that limb and into his torso.

He did not need to go to the bridge to find out something of what had happened to Langara. Rather, he stumbled past an observation lounge on the way. Normally, such a space was only occupied by a small handful of those crew members currently off-shift, but this time around there had to be more than a dozen clustered inside, all gathered at the window that offered some kind of angle towards the front of the ship. It was not the best angle, yet it was enough to offer a solid view of Langara. As Jonas entered, he became aware of some hushed exchanges, even some horrified gasps sounding from amongst the group. They were all looking on towards the planet, barely able to take their eyes off of the calamity occurring.

Jonas weaved his way through the gathered crew members. None gave him a second glance, unaware as they were of his connection to the planet below. Jonas paused before the sturdy window, looking onwards to his home world. His heart sank as soon as he laid eyes upon what had happened to it, and for a moment there he simply froze in place. No feelings, be they dour or otherwise, filled him then. Rather, he was simply stunned, eyes wide when faced with the destruction wrought upon Langara.

A portion had been blasted off of the planet's surface altogether. The massive cloud of upturned dust and dirt and rock had plumed high into the atmosphere, spreading its choking thick cloud across the planet's surface altogether. The exposed magma of the mantle roiled and glowed amongst it all. Various wispy formations of gas had been flung off into the space around the planet, and Jonas realised with mounting horror that Langara had essentially lost a significant portion of its atmosphere. Never had he seen such destruction on one world; sure, he had seen what a Goa'uld mothership could unleash, the same with an Ori vessel. He knew the capabilities of the weapons of the people of Earth, yet even a naquadria-enriched warhead could not cause this level of destruction. This was something else, something far in excess of anything he knew. From the shocked people around him, it seemed even those of Earth were unfamiliar with the means to cause such massive destruction with one single bomb.

This was not the doing of Gorum Kavul, or even of the creatures that had spilled out of that collapsed mountain. This was the doing of someone else, and Jonas sighted the makalvari cruiser off in the distance then, floating stalwart whilst backgrounded by the destruction of Langara behind it. He knew who to blame, then.

Millions of people, gone in seconds. How did one wrap their heads around such an astronomical death toll? Jonas had done everything for his world and his people; he had fought the Goa'uld, the Ori, and even rebels to try and bring peace and unity to a planet that had been rife with distrust and conflict for centuries. He had seen good friends die at the hands of alien aggressors, had even lost a family to needless violence inflicted by a madman. And now, seeing what had become of his world, all of it seemed to have been for naught. Why had he suffered so much and for so long? What had it all been for, when his world had suffered such destruction, the kind he had been unable to prevent?

It was not the sheer amount of death that had occurred that got to him most. Rather, it was the fact that he had not been able to stop it. That somehow, somewhere things had gotten out of hand. He had fought as he had in the past, and yet it had not been enough. What was one to do, when their best efforts were not enough?

Despair. It was all hitting him now, threatening to drag him down into its murky depths, from wherein he would be hard-pressed to escape. Whereas those crew members around him felt little more than immediate horror, perhaps even awe, towards the destruction before them, Jonas felt it all on a far deeper level. None of these people had even set foot upon Langara, and none even knew that he was from that world. They were ignorant, and that ignorance only encouraged an intensifying anger to build within him.

"Jonas?" Daniel's voice. It sounded from behind him. Jonas spun around, his train of thought interrupted. Daniel was there, still looking as dirty as he had been when he had been plucked off of Langara. Now, his expression was one of deep sympathy.

"I'm sorry," he said, and it sounded weak. Daniel knew it was just that, and no words could hope to soften the blow of what Jonas had just experienced. On a normal day, Jonas would have appreciated Daniel's efforts, nonetheless. Here and now, they were the last thing he needed to hear. Brushing past him, Jonas headed for the exit. Daniel hurried after him, no doubt worrying over his state of mind. Like any good friend should, yet Jonas was in no mood to talk, nor to do much else for that matter.

"Jonas, wait!" Daniel was held up then, almost colliding with a pair of airmen coming from the other way in the corridor. Jonas slipped around a corner, his face set into a solid, stoic look. He found the entrance into an elevator, ducked inside and hit the button for the crew quarters level. Before Daniel could catch up with him, the door had slid closed and the elevator was on its way down.

Daniel stopped before the closed door, unable to help but feel some deep sympathy for his friend. He knew that nothing he might have said or done could make the situation any better, but he at least had to try. Unfortunately, it appeared that Jonas was in no mood to take heed of his efforts.