Author's Note: This has been one of the most difficult chapters for me to write. Much planning has had to occur for the following two chapters after this one. I apologize for the delay, and I hope you find this chapter worth the wait.
On Atlantis, Sheppard and Mitchell sat in the Hologram room watching the progress of the five ships across the intergalactic expanse between the Milky Way and Pegasus. Five small blimps were moving exceeding fast given the distance, but for those watching on Atlantis, it was an eternity. Ronon and Teal'c had given the recruits they day off from training to rest for the coming battle. Once the orbital part of the assault was complete, Sheppard would lead a group of fifty puddle jumpers to drop off the top recruits and the SG Teams for the ground assault. Teyla and Lt. Adams would be joining SG-1 for this mission, as Col. Sheppard and Dr. McKay would be piloting puddle jumpers.
Dr. Keller had taken Dr. McKay back to their quarters where they were spending the afternoon together before Rodney would have to go into battle. It was a thought that Jennifer was not looking forward to, but she had to remind herself that he had faced far worse situations than this. He would have the full support of the SGC with him on this mission.
O'Neill was glad the improvements to the city allowed him to watch the holographic displays of the ships progress and later the battle from his office. He had wanted to keep the Hammond here for safety, however, Carter had every right to demand that she be a part of the fleet. He knew the odds were in his favor but he was nervous anyway. This battle put all of this family in danger, except himself. Col. Carter, Daniel, Teal'c, Mitchell and Vala all would have their necks on the line for this one.
Hours later in the Pegasus galaxy, the Nemesis dropped out of hyperspace at the rendezvous coordinates, the Hades and Ares were just moments behind, while it was expected the Apollo and Hammond would be another half an hour. Lorne and Ellis reported in everything was good. Once the Hammond and Apollo arrived the five ships did a review of the latest Hyperspace reports for the three planets. It was seen a group of wraith cruisers had left the planet they designated Beta and were heading to planet Alpha, their first target. It was a large group of about twenty-seven cruisers. Since they were at least another five days aways from Alpha, they would strike Alpha then deal with the convoy.
A final check with all the ships to report readiness and Gen. Caldwell gave the order to enter Hyperspace for Target Alpha. The Hammond and Apollo would be given a two-minute head start, to time their arrival together. Onboard the Apollo Col. Telford was anxious to prove himself and that of his crew. The Ares and Hades whose crews were made of members that had previously been in the Pegasus galaxy fighting the wraith were ready for some payback, while the crews of the Hammond and Nemesis had little experience in the Pegasus galaxy, but were well experienced from the Ori war.
On Atlantis, Col. Sheppard was getting the Puddle Jumper pilots ready, Teal'c and Ronon were getting the recruits suited up in the Mobile Armor, while Mitchell was preparing the SG teams, who would be using the more mobile Stun Armor. Gen. O'Neill sat patiently watching the display in his office. Gen. Landry was overseeing the troop's preparedness. Walter had operations prepared to dial up the gate directly to the Alpha Target, Midway station was prepared as well in case anyone needed to route through them. Gen. Caldwell would signal when they were ready for the ground troops and everyone in Atlantis was watching in the Puddle Jumper bay on a large holographic display Col. Mitchell had requested Avidan to project for them of the battle.
The Nemesis was the first to arrive just outside of Target Alpha (P4E-284), followed closing by Hades and Ares. The Hammond and Apollo were fifteen seconds behind.
Caldwell over fleet communication, "Bring up Hyperspace Jammers. Target the hive ships first, then bring down the cruisers."
Nine hive ships were in orbit, with thirty-five cruisers, as Carter came over the communicator, "We are detecting three hive ships on the planet with another two ascending to orbit, with five more cruisers."
"Let's take them out! Fire at will!", Caldwell cried.
Ares was taking a flanking position on the right of Nemesis, while the Hades was taking a flanking position on the left. The Apollo and Hammond were maneuvering around to protect the backsides of the BC-306's. Nemesis opened fire first with firing four Mark IV Phase missiles at the nearest Hives to them. Hades fired next with three Mark IV Phase missiles at the hives nearest to it. Hammond had moved into position to fire missiles on the three hives still ascending from the planet surface. Col. Carter hoped the debris would take out more wraith on the surface. Apollo took a position on the far side of the Hades to fire missiles at a group of ten cruisers. The Ares fired two missiles at the hives nearest to them.
That's when the wraith's first attacks landed. They concentrated their fire on the Nemesis, six hive ships and a dozen of the cruisers were focused on the Nemesis. The one issue with the Phase missiles they were slow, not fast like their hyperspace brother, patience was necessary, and with the Hyperspace Jammers working you couldn't use the Hyperspace missiles.
"Shields down to 90%, sir!" helmsmen called out on the bridge of the Nemesis.
That's when the missiles started reaching their targets. The four hive ships fired at by Nemesis simply vanished in a bright light. The three hive ships in the atmosphere were a fireball plummeting back down to the surface. Two of the hive ships targetted by the Hades had maneuvered enough to miss the blast in the dead center of their ships, however when those missiles detonated the blast destroyed half the ship and left the other half beginning a quick descent back into the atmosphere. The hives fired on by Areas had been reacting faster than their comrades, quickly moving their ships out of their existing positions. While the two missiles the Apollo had fired failed to detonate directly in any of the ten cruisers that were in a cluster, when they did detonate, the explosion pushed three of the cruisers into another four taking out seven in total.
Ares and Nemesis opened up with the Asgard Beam weapon to target each of the Hive ships. A massive cloud of darts could be seen coming up from the surface. Apollo and Hammond began targeting Cruisers with the Asgard Beam. Hades unleashed a number of drones to target the approaching darts. Ares and Nemesis made quick work of the two hives ships, destroying them on their 2nd and 3rd hits with the Asgard Beam.
A number of cruisers started to make a run for it, however, they were failing to jump to hyperspace. Ares and Nemesis began a chase of those cruisers taking them out. After fifteen minutes the orbital battle was over. A total of twelve hives and forty cruisers were destroyed, an untold number of darts rained back down on the planet as the Hades had taken care of them.
Gen. Caldwell signaled Atlantis a successful orbital attack. They would monitor the planet and bombard the surface for any remaining ships they could find, then signal for a ground assault. Apollo found another two cruisers on the surface and used their Asgard Beam to destroy them. If there were any additional hives on the surface they were overgrown by the forest which was not uncommon, making them difficult to detect from the vegetation.
Thirty minutes later with no surface activity, Gen. Caldwell sent the signal for the surface attack to begin. Back on Atlantis, things became very active.
Mitchell called out, "SG Team this is another day in the office, we will recon, target and infiltrate, while the Mobile Armor teams will take the brunt of the assault. Consider them our tanks. Now get to your Puddle Jumper!"
Ronon and Teal'c had divided out the Recruits, they could only take ninety recruits as their Mobile Armor took up additional space in the Puddle Jumpers. Larrin would be staying behind, as she had suffered a severe concussion the day prior. All Puddle Jumpers were reporting ready. Col. Mitchell and SG-1 was in Col. Sheppard's Puddle Jumper. Dr. McKay was piloting Puddle Jumper with Teal'c and three other recruits.
"Dial-up P4E-284 Walter!" ordered Landry, "Men and women in harm's way today may God shield you! Now take the fight to the wraith!"
A few moments later and the Stargate activated. Col. Sheppard lead the Puddle Jumpers through the gate to P4E-284. It was a sight to see fifty Puddle Jumpers zipping out of the bay and through the Stargate. Col. Sheppard wondered when the last time so many Puddle Jumpers had been launched from Atlantis.
On P4E-284 they had expected some Wraith presence at the gate when they exited but there was none. The last Four puddle jumpers through the gate had been ordered to secure the gate after completing a sweep of the area. In fact, there was no resistance at all. Scans indicated a few wraith about ten clicks from the gate. Sheppard, McKay and three other Puddle Jumpers delivered their teams a click away from the detected wraith. A hill could be seen in the terrain and Sheppard warned them it was likely a Hive ship, to confirm and call for reinforcements. SG-1 took the lead to identify the hive, while Teal'c lead the fifteen Mobile Armor units in a straightforward attack on the Wraith.
Col. Mitchell sent Teyla out on point, with her knowledge of the wraith she was far superior at tracking them. Daniel and Vala took the rear, while Mitchell and Hailey took lead. It didn't take Teyla long to find the entrance. A group of twenty wraiths was gathered around the entrance. Teyla radioed SG-1 and Teal'c to confirm the location. SG-1 was quickly beside Teyla, who took up a tactical presence, while Teal'c and the Mobile Armor patrol he was leading could be heard approaching. The Wraith took a defensive position, thinking they were ready.
Teal'c and his patrol came in line of sight and the wraith opened fire with their stunners, having no effect on hitting the mobile armor. SG-1 used this time to attack the wraith from behind, taking them out quickly and easily, with them cornered on both sides. Minutes later and the wraith were down, and SG-1 were preparing to enter the hive. They hoped to be able to capture a hive intact for further study.
Col. Mitchell and Teyla took the lead. Vala was examining the materials of the hive.
"If the Goa'uld had ever gotten the wraith technology I can't imagine how difficult they would have become to defeat," exclaimed Vala.
Daniel nodding, "Imagine if a Goa'uld took a Wraith as a host?"
"That is not something I want to think about. Let's pick up the pace, I don't want to be very far behind the Colonel," explained Hayley.
"This way to the queen," explained Teyla. A few hallways later, a message came over the radio, a group of twenty darts was making for the gate. Puddle Jumpers were moving to intercept. That's when they entered the central chamber. Inside they found the chamber empty. Instead, they found a device with a display changing rapidly.
"Am I the only one thinking that is a bomb?" asked Vala.
"No!" shouted Mitchell then over the radio, "Emergency Evac everyone off the planet, the hive is rigged to blow!"
Five seconds later SG-1 was onboard the Hammond.
"Get everyone off the planet!" shouted Mitchell.
"We are, the Nemesis just beamed up the last person. The puddle jumpers are making a run to orbit, we're beaming the stragglers into orbit," cried Carter.
Another twenty seconds and the hive detonated. The explosion destroyed everything in forty clicks of the hive.
"Everyone made it out in time. It appears the darts used the time to escape through the gate," explained Carter.
"They set a trap for us," stated Mitchell.
"One we walked right into," Vala replied.
They Hammond and Apollo shuttled the Puddle Jumpers to the nearest space gate, where they used the galactic bridge to return home. The fleet would take two days before proceeding to target Beta, to face the wraith again, if they remained in place. Many a happy face waited for those who returned on the Puddle Jumpers. Gen. O'Neill breathed a sigh of relief that nobody was lost in the mission. This had been a close one.
The Fleet had a convoy of Cruisers to go deal with. The fleet dropped out of hyperspace around the cruisers immediately throwing up their Hyperspace Jammers. After that it was like shooting fish in a barrel as Gen. O'Neill would say. Five minutes and the battle was over, with hardly a scratch on the shields.
Two days passed, everyone was repeating the same motions they had previously. SG and PJ teams were getting the Mobile Armor units ready for another ground assault. Gen. O'Neill watched the progress of the ships as they approached Beta (P5M-367) this was a moon, orbiting a gas giant. Just like before they dropped out of hyperspace and immediately brought up the hyperspace jammers, systems coordinated and fired the Mark IV Phase Missiles.
Fifteen hive ships were in orbit, with only ten cruisers. However unlike previously the hive ships immediately began evasive maneuvers. In fact so well they only one hive ship was destroyed in the initial volley of missiles, another three hives were damaged, but not enough to remove them from the battle.
"Let's do this the old fashion way, beam weapons and rail guns," ordered Gen. Caldwell over the radio. They hives instead of concentrating fire on the BC-306's targetted the Hammond, trying to take out the smaller craft first.
"Shields are dropping to forty percent!" yelled the airmen.
"We have three Z.P.M.s our shields should be holding!" exclaimed Carter.
"Their weapons fire, is over five times as strong, as what we have seen in the past!" exclaimed the airmen.
"So they found an improved power source while we have been gone," replied Carter.
The Nemesis and Hades positioned themselves on each side of the Hammond to take some of the weapons fire. That's when the darts were released, the scanners showed over seven hundred darts were released. Concentrated fire on the hives began to take out the hives. Weapons fire strength wasn't the only thing enhanced with these wraiths and their new power supply. The Hammond was able to restore shields to full power, with the Hades, and Nemesis taking some of the hits now. They Apollo was employing a tactic of staying very evasive to avoid any concentrated weapons fire. The Ares was taking some hits but was not drawing enough fire to drop the shields.
The Ares was using drones to take out the darts effectively, fortunately, they had not been enhanced. The Nemesis and Hades targetted on a hive still targeting the Hammond. After five bursts of the Beam weapons, the hive was destroyed. The Ares had swung around and was keeping the darts busy, firing a second volley of drones, taking out the last of the darts.
There still remained ten hive ships. The Hammond took to an evasive flying pattern targeting the same hive as the Apollo, each taking shots as they passed the hive. Finally, after the seventh strike, the hive exploded. The Hades and Nemesis were concentrating their fire on one hive at a time, and slowly destroying them.
"General have you noticed none of the ships are attempting to flee?" asked Carter over the communicator.
"Yes Colonel, they were probably informed that was useless from the previous attack," replied Caldwell.
"Sir something is not right. How did they come up with a power source for all of their hives this quickly?" asked Carter.
"I don't know Colonel. I'm troubled by it as well," answered Caldwell.
Seven hives remained, and all of the BC-306's and BC-304's were showing the strain. Ares's shields were holding at fifty percent, while Nemesis and Hates were down to thirty percent. Apollo still remain at seventy percent, while the Hammond had thirty-five percent shields.
"General, I believe they are using some sort of distributed energy device. Every time we take down a Hive, the other hive ships get stronger shields and weapons fire, getting an energy boost from another source not draining," exclaimed Carter.
"How is that possible, Colonel?" asked Caldwell.
Carter answered, "Nikola Tesla theorized that the most energy efficient way to disperse power was by broadcasting it. In fact, he was developing a system to do just that."
"Colonel! How does that help us now?" asked Caldwell.
"We need to find that energy source broadcasting the energy to take it down," replied Carter.
"Then do it!" ordered Caldwell, "I don't know if we can last much longer."
"Yes Sir!" replied Carter.
Carter turning to the scanner starting looking for any kind of sensor reading for a power source.
Telford over the communicator, "Sir if they are not trying to run, can we try to use the Mark IV Hyperspace Missiles?"
"Everyone drop your hyperspace jammers!" ordered Caldwell, "Fire missiles at will!"
Telford was the first, to fire seven missiles in the vicinity of the two hive ships. Four missiles missed entirely, however one missile was a direct hit, against the shield, and drained the shields, allowing the Apollo to fire a direct hit from the beam weapon destroying the hive. The second hive took substantial damage from the second missile that hit it, after the first drained the shields. The Hammond was there to fire the energy beam to completely destroy the hive.
The Nemesis and Hades fired a volley of fifteen missiles each toward the remaining five hives. What the hives hadn't noticed was the Ares slipping in from the side, and firing an additional fifteen missiles. Four of the hives were destroyed from the resulting blasts. However, the fifth hive remained and sensors showed its shields were at full strength. Ares, Hades, and Nemesis concentrated fire on the remaining hive ship, however, their weapons were having no effect on the shields.
Carter over the communicator, "Sir, we have to find the source that is generating the power signal. That single hive is absorbing all of the power and it's more than we can overcome with our weapons."
"Our scanners have not detected anything. Do you have any ideas?" asked Caldwell.
"It may be possible that source is hidden in the background radiation of the gas giant this moon orbits. Let me take the Hammond and investigate," replied Carter.
"Go find that power source and destroy it," ordered Caldwell, "The rest of us will try to keep this hive busy."
The Hammond immediately broke orbit and headed toward the gas giant. Sensors were scanning for any signal that could be the power source. They circled the gas giant, sensors picked up nothing but the strong background radiation that was getting stronger and stronger.
"Take us back to the moon and monitor for the radiation levels to see where they drop off," ordered Carter.
"Yes ma'am!" replied the helmsmen.
As they approached the moon and the area where the hive was maneuvering, they saw the radiation fluctuating. As the hive came close radiation dropped, and when it moved away it increased.
Carter over the communicator, "Sir the hive has a device that is converting the background radiation into power."
"How do we defeat it Col. Carter?" asked Caldwell.
"We need to maneuver them into a hyperspace window, once they do that they will be vulnerable. I think!" exclaimed Carter.
"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Caldwell.
"They Hyperspace Missiles sir! I need ten minutes to modify several and then I can do it," replied Carter.
Carter went to work modifying the five hyperspace missiles so they would draw power from the naquadria in the warhead to open a large enough hyperspace window for the hive to enter. She hoped five would be enough to force the hive into one of them.
Caldwell concerned, "Col. Carter we are taking a beating out here I don't know how much longer we can hold up here."
"Almost ready sir!" explained Carter.
"Colonel we need what you have now!" ordered Caldwell.
"Lead the hive in a straight line, sir! Keep enough distance in front of you, as I'll be opening the hyperspace windows for the missiles and detonating once the hive enters," replied Carter.
Carter to her helmsmen, "Once I fire the missiles break us away from them, as the explosion could be violent."
The Ares, Nemesis, Hades, and Apollo were retreating with the Hive in pursuit. Carter fired the 5 missiles targeting an arch around the front of the hive. Activating them as they passed the hive. It shifted to the left as one on the right activated, leaving Carter to activate one on the left, and center. The hive was forced by its own momentum to enter the center hyperspace window. Carter detonated the missiles as the hyperspace windows closed. Sensors showed the hive destroyed.
"Excellent job Col. Carter!" responded Caldwell over the communicator.
"Thank you sir!" replied Carter.
"Carter can we assume the Wraith on the ground is probably taking advantage of this as well?" asked Caldwell.
"Sir I don't think so. There is ionosphere and that should be shielding the moon's surface from the radiation," replied Carter.
"Everyone please take the next hour and determine damage. We will then bombard the moon for any potential bases before we call in the ground forces," ordered Caldwell.
An hour later, the reports started coming in. Ellis and Lorne reported their ships were ready minus ninety percent of their drones. Telford reported that a shield generator was down, that he was at eighty-five percent shields, engineers were repairing it as quickly as possible. Carter reported that three of the six shield generators were down with the beam weapon down as well.
Caldwell ordered the Hammond and Apollo to move to a safe distance from the moon, to avoid any further weapons fire from the planet. Nemesis, Hades, and Ares would conduct the bombardment. The Nemesis, Hades, and Ares settled in over the planet to begin firing on the wraith cruisers they had seen. They covered a wide area out from the Stargate. After sensors were showing no wraith on the surface. Gen. Caldwell sent the signal to Atlantis to begin sending in the ground troops.
Col. Sheppard, signaled the Puddle Jumpers to make ready. Fifty Puddle Jumpers made their way from the launch bay to the gateroom and entered the gate. Col. Sheppard, turned to Col. Mitchell in the back of the Puddle Jumper, "I don't think
Col. Sheppard, turned to Col. Mitchell in the back of the Puddle Jumper, "I don't think you're going to have much to do here. It looks like they blasted everything on the surface from orbit."
"Hopefully they left us something to do, we didn't get to do much before," replied Col. Mitchell.
Hailey spoke up, "At least we were able to warn everyone in time to get out at the last site."
"We should be extra cautious. The Wraith seem to have changed their fighting tactics, and we don't know fully where those darts went to," replied Daniel.
Vala concerned, "Does something not seem right to you all? I have a funny feeling."
"As do I, I'm beginning to sense a large number of Wraith," replied Teyla.
Col. Sheppard to the other Puddle Jumpers, "Everyone stay alert, we've got a bad feeling about this."
"There what is that?" pointed Vala off to the left, "It seemed like it shimmered."
"This is McKay the last of the Puddle Jumpers have arrived," McKay came over the communicator. The Gate shutdown as McKay's Puddle Jumper exited.
"There is it again over there!" shouted Vala.
"I saw it as well!" exclaimed Daniel, now everyone crowding to see out the view port.
"Colonel, I've seen that before it's a hologram!" exclaimed Hailey.
Sheppard over the Communicator, "Everyone stay alert possible hologra..." He didn't get to complete that statement as the Puddle Jumper came to a crashing stop. Passing through a hologram into a spire that was cloaked, and appeared to be shielded as well. Everyone in the Puddle Jumper was thrown forward. Col. Sheppard found himself on the bottom of a pile of people, as the Puddle Jumper crashed down to the surface.
Teal'c in the Puddle Jumper with Rodney McKay, "Get me over to that area now. Tell Puddle Jumper two through twenty to drop off the ground teams there. Ronon will find a suitable location for the rest of them." Rodney relayed the order to the other Puddle Jumpers.
Rodney brought his Puddle Jumper over Sheppard's downed Puddle Jumper as Teal'c lead his squad out the back for a free fall in their suits. Other Puddle Jumpers did the same.
Gen. Caldwell overall communicators, "We have locked on to all personal for immediate beam out if necessary. Give us an emergency call if it's needed."
Teal'c found himself missing from the waist down. He was standing on a structure about twenty feet above where the crashed Puddle Jumper was, apparently in a cloak. Maneuvering was proving to be difficult as he could not see where his feet where, or what he was standing on. Several of his squad had fallen straight through the cloak to lower buildings or presumably the ground.
Vala and Daniel were the first to extract themselves from the pile in the crashed Puddle Jumper. They began helping others out. Col. Sheppard was able to breathe again with everyone off of him.
Rodney came over the communicator, "They have a holographic projector and a shield. The planet hasn't been blasted, it only appears that way. I think we are below the shield but the hologram is starting to fail."
Around the planet the images of the devastated vegetation and destroyed Wraith Cruisers began to disappear, with what appeared to be a city. Spires rising up from the surface similar in material to a hive ship began to appear.
Ronon came over the Communicator, "We have met a force of the Wraith on the southwest side of whatever this is, from the gate. We have engaged. We could use some aerial support."
"Indeed, we are scattered around these building tops working to get down now. Ground forces under my command gather at the spire with the horns," replied Teal'c.
Mitchell to his squad, "Let's meet up with Teal'c's group at that spire."
"I'm going to catch a Puddle Jumper and provide aerial support, something tells me it's going to be needed," replied Sheppard, "Lt. Jones bring your Puddle Jumper over here and pick me up."
SG-1 made it to Teal'c location to meet up with other SG team and the recruits. The Wraith were beginning to surround them at this location. Sheppard had taken over Lt's Jones's Puddle Jumper and was once again leading the Puddle Jumpers in formations to provide aerial support. The two separate battles were swinging in their favor, but the wraith numbers were increasing.
"Col. Mitchell, we need that shield brought down, we can't beam you out of there in an emergency, and we can't provide any support," Caldwell replied over the communicator.
"I may have it General!" replied McKay over the communicator, "I'm tracking it now."
"Puddle Jumper thirty to thirty-five provide cover and support to McKay to bring down those shields." ordered Sheppard.
Five minutes later, "I have it, target that plain tower straight ahead!" cried McKay over the communicator. All seven Puddle Jumpers fired drones at the tower, destroying it. A flash of light as the shield over the base dropped.
"Good work Rodney!" shouted Sheppard.
With two battles occurring, spread out over the base, the ships in orbit could not provide aerial support, the Puddle Jumpers were having to provide all the aerial support. The Wraith were slowly being pushed back into the base, being pursued by multiple squads.
Teal'c over the communicator, "Squads one and four take a flanking position on the left, squads two and five direct assault on the entrance to that tower. Squads three and six cover our rear."
"The Wraith have the higher ground over us on the eastern side, Sheppard can you provide some tactical support?" asked Ronon.
Sheppard responded, "Puddle Jumpers twelve and nineteen take out that tower that has them pinned down over there!"
Col. Mitchell advised, "Teal'c I'm taking SG-1, SG-8, and SG-13 to work between these two groups of wraith to try and pin them in from each side."
Col. Mitchell lead the teams between the two groups of wraith trying to remain concealed. SG-1 and SG-13 made it past the groups, however, SG-8 were spotted and pinned down. SG-1 and SG-13 split up each taking a separate group to flank.
"Teal'c we are beginning our assault from this side, let's catch them between us!" radioed Mitchell.
Squads two and five pressed on the wraith who were now contending with fighting two separate groups. The Wraith were forced to start falling back. Over on the eastern side, Ronon and his squads were pinned down with a tower providing significant firepower to keep his seven squads cornered. Two Puddle Jumpers appeared firing drones at the tower taking out the weapon.
"All squads charge!" shouted Ronon.
Ronon led his squads in a direct assault on the base of the tower, quickly overwhelming the wraith guarding it. Leading his squads into the structure he found it descended into a maze-like complex below ground. Col. Mitchell's plan succeeded, they were able to drive the squads back giving Teal'c and his squads some combat room. They began the push to the entrance of the tower and found it descended into a maze-like complex as well. Mitchell and Teal'c split teams off with squads accompanying SG teams to maneuver through the maze. Progress was slow as most teams were encountering Wraith, but they were able to be overwhelmed and pushed back.
"Col. Carter what is the status of the Hammond?" asked Caldwell.
"Sir we have teams working on the shield generators, I expect it will take another four to five hours to repair the three generators. The beam weapon I'm not sure we can fix sir, without landing," replied Carter.
"Carry on Colonel!" ordered Caldwell, "Col. Telford how is the Apollo?"
"Sir I have my best men on the shield generator, they say it will be fixed in two hours." replied Telford.
"Keep me informed of any changes," replied Caldwell.
Caldwell turning to his helmsmen, "Send a message to Atlantis, Ships intact, ground assault is progressing, slowly with considerable resistance. In addition, we have encountered advanced technology that previously was not used by the Wraith."
"Yes Sir!" replied the helmsmen.
Gen. O'Neill sat in his office watching the battle over the monitors as best as he could. The ground assault couldn't be monitored like the orbital battle. A knock came on the door.
"Gen. O'Neill, it is Thor, may I enter?" asked Thor.
"Come on in Thor!" greeted O'Neill.
"How is the battle progressing?" asked Thor.
"Not as well as I hoped," replied O'Neill, "They are meeting considerable resistance on the ground assault."
"Col. Carter is safe?" asked Thor.
"Yes she is safe, the Hammond took considerable damage and shields are having to be repaired, but she is safe," replied O'Neill.
"Excellent, let us hope things continue to be positive," replied Thor.
Rodney was maneuvering around the wraith city taking scans and trying to provide some details to help teams move more effectively. However, that was proving to be difficult, due to the depth and the interference from the wraith structures.
"Sheppard, this is McKay, I can't get any effective scans of the internal structure of this city. I can't tell if the city is five feet deep or five hundred," informed McKay.
"OK Rodney keep trying we need to figure out where all of this advanced technology came from," replied Sheppard.
SG-1 found a hallway the heaviest guarded they had encountered so far. Mitchell called in two squads and another SG team to assist. Twenty minutes later they can the hallway clear. Progressing slowly down to see what was being guarded, they found a brightly lit room around the corner and down the hallway. Located inside the room were a number of computers but of an unknown origin. They were not the wraith, nor lantean in origin. However, this is not what drew everyone's attention.
"That is a Queen. I have never heard or seen a Wraith Queen in such a manner," exclaimed Teyla. A Wraith Queen was suspended in a clear tube, in some form of a liquid, with electrodes attached to her.
Hailey spoke up, "This technology is not like anything I have seen. It's not even close to the Wraith technology I've studied, nor anything of Ancient origin either."
"These symbols are not similar to any language I've seen," explained Daniel.
"This certainly is the center of their new technology. I suggest we shoot first and ask questions later," stated Vala.
"A little C-4 should do the trick, and hopefully slow down the other wraith if the Queen isn't here to command them." replied Mitchell.
"We should study this technology," replied Hailey.
"A small amount of C-4 to take care of the queen and leave the rest of this intact." replied Mitchell.
Mitchell placed a one pound block of C-4 on the tube containing the queen, attached to a remote detonator.
Hailey spoke, "I thought you said a little?"
" A Relative term I'd prefer to use all twenty pounds of C-4 we have between us," replied Mitchell.
"Typical military blow up everything you don't understand!" replied Hailey.
Daniel nodding, "Typically I would agree with you, but in this case, I think we should add more."
"What?!" cried Hailey.
"Sweetie this is technology that is far beyond us and way more advanced. You saw the trouble the ships had in orbit and cloak they were using here," replied Vala.
Teyla responded, "A wraith can never be too dead, especially a queen. Col. Mitchel may I suggest your idea of all the C-4."
"Well if the lady insists!" replied Mitchell, proceeding to place the remaining C-4 around the room and tube.
SG-1 with Teyla and Adams headed out into the hallway and began making their way further down the hallway when they encountered a large room, completely barren.
"Why do they have a completely empty room this large here?" asked Adams.
"That is a very good question," replied Daniel.
"Col. Mitchell detonate the explosives now!" shouted Teyla.
Mitchell knowing they were a safe distance away was already preparing to detonate the explosives, hit the trigger immediately on hearing Teyla. The dust from the explosion could be seen in the hallway.
"Teyla what's wrong?" asked Daniel.
"I could sense the queen she was sending a signal for help," explained Teyla.
"To who?" asked Mitchell.
"I don't know, but it was a last resort for her," replied Teyla.
"That doesn't sound good. She knows the other colony of Wraith couldn't get here in time to help them," explained Hailey.
Mitchell over the communicator, "Everyone we found the queen and she has been killed in the explosion. However we believe she may have sent a signal for help, we do not know who to,"
"Roger that Mitchell we will keep scanners active and monitor for any new company," replied Caldwell.
"Has anyone seen an exit from this room?" asked Vala.
"Don't tell me we just sealed ourselves in this room!" exclaimed Daniel.
"Oops!" replied Mitchell.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the base, Ronon was leading several squads through the tunnels searching for any wraith. However, they were not encountering any. They all seemed to have pulled back and Ronon was beginning to wonder where. Ronon was beginning to wonder if they had missed a potential side tunnel or something they wraith may have gone down. However, they had found very little and the tunnel they were in continued winding around.
Finally, Ronon heard the sounds from up ahead and there was a side tunnel. He positioned a squad on either side of the tunnel preparing to ambush the wraith. When suddenly another squad came bounding down the side tunnel. Quickly Teal'c opened his visor.
"The wraith seems to have withdrawn down this passage, but we have found no further trace of them," informed Teal'c.
"They have to be down this tunnel here. We have been down the entire length of the tunnel in the other direction," replied Ronon.
"Then let us continue to explore this tunnel together," replied Teal'c.
"Indeed!" replied Ronon. Teal'c raising an eyebrow at his comrade.
Another twenty minutes and they found themselves staring at a door. Teal'c placed a block of C-4 on the door to blow it open. Once it was clear he detonated the explosive. Following the blast, Ronon lead three squads into the room.
"Ronon Dex who is with the Lanteans, we the wraith surrender!" yelled a wraith commander.
"Excuse me?" asked Ronon, who was scanning the room and estimating there was two thousand wraith sitting with their hands' extended surrendering.
Teal'c entering the room, "Ronon we have thirty-six men with us, they have easily two thousand and yet they surrender to us?"
"Wraith never surrender, what are you up to?" asked Ronon.
"I can assure you our only intent is to surrender and be taken prisoner someplace away from here," replied the wraith commander.
"I do not like this," replied Teal'c.
"Neither do I," replied Ronon, "Explain yourselves!"
"We would rather surrender to you as your prisoners and waste away than the horror that is coming," explained the wraith commander.
"What horror?" asked Ronon.
"We know not what they are called, but our queen fearing the end our kind made a deal with a race who was considered equals of the Lanteans for our protection. They gave us the technology you have seen to defend ourselves, but our queen gave them over a thousand of our warriors. If additional help was required, it would cost additional warriors." explained the wraith commander.
Mitchell over the communicator, "Everyone we found the queen and she was killed in the explosion. However we believe she may have sent a signal for help, we do not know who to,"
"Roger that Mitchell we will keep scanners active and monitor for any new company," replied Caldwell.
Meanwhile, on board the Hammond, Col. Carter was waiting to hear from her engineering teams on the status of her three shield emitters that were down.
"Lt. Andrews do our scanners show anything new?" asked Carter
Andrews quickly responded, "No ma'am nothing new within sensor range. Radiation levels from the gas giant have returned to expected levels."
"Ma'am we have shield emitters one and two up and working. but at half strength. Shield Emitter four is still failing. Our shield on the forward aft is down, but rest of the ship is at seventy-two percent," informed Banks, "And I'm getting an incoming message from the Apollo."
"Thanks, Banks, and put the message through to my screen here," ordered Carter.
"Col. Carter would it possible for one of your technicians to assist in the repair of our shield emitter?" asked Telford.
"Your crew still not up one hundred percent on the ship Colonel?" asked Carter.
"Not under these conditions," replied an exasperated Telford.
"Contact Col. Ellis see if he has someone to spare, they would be more familiar with the Apollo. My crew is completely tied up trying to get these three emitters back up," replied Carter.
"I was hoping to avoid having to do that," replied Telford.
"Sorry Colonel, I just don't have anyone I can spare right now. I've been running diagnostics to help verify the computer system for the shields," replied Carter.
"Thanks, Colonel, I'll ask Col. Ellis for another technician," replied Telford. With that, he cut the communication.
"I would not want to be him. Col. Ellis is protective of the Apollo," replied Carter.
"No ma'am, I'm glad I'm not in his shoes. I was told Col. Ellis went over every system three times before turning it over Col. Telford," replied Banks.
"Now that doesn't surprise me one bit," replied Carter. Carter resumed running diagnostics on the ship's computers. Fifteen minutes later she isolated the problem to a broken conduit that was not delivering the required energy to the shield emitters one and two. She radioed the repair teams to repair that conduit.
"Banks and Andrews anything new on scanners?" asked Carter.
"No ma'am everything is quiet. Almost too quiet," replied Banks.
"Wait just now there is a bleep in subspace according to the scanners. Trying to decipher it!" replied Andrews.
Mitchell over the communicator, "Everyone we found the queen and she was killed in the explosion. However we believe she may have sent a signal for help, we do not know who to,"
"Roger that Mitchell we will keep scanners active and monitor for any new company," replied Caldwell.
"Lt. Andrews I need to see that bleep now!" ordered Carter.
"Yes ma'am, on the primary screen now. The computer is not identifying it as Wraith," replied Andrews.
"Where was the source of this message burst?" asked Carter.
"Scanners couldn't identify it, ma'am," replied Andrews, "They barely picked it up."
"The computer can't identify it as any known language including Wraith. That means this message is meant for someone we don't know," spoke Carter.
Meanwhile, Col Sheppard and Dr. McKay were busy leading the Puddle Jumpers providing aerial support for the ground teams. However with most of the ground teams now underground, they were taking out strategic targets as they were able. McKay would find the targets and Sheppard would coordinate the attack on it.
"There are three towers over here with canons attached to them, marking them on the computer for you," informed McKay over the Puddle Jumper channel.
"Puddle Jumpers 17 and 39 take-out those towers please," ordered Sheppard.
"Yes sir!" came two separate voices.
"Sheppard, there are a series of hangars here. It looks like they building, err I mean growing a number of cruisers. By my count at least twenty ships," informed McKay.
"Puddle Jumpers six, eleven, thirteen, thirty-one, and forty-five take out those hangars," ordered Sheppard.
"Sheppard I'm getting some strange readings here, over this building," replied McKay, "We have people down below it so we can't destroy it."
"What kind of readings?" asked Sheppard.
"It is a subspace field similar to the long range communicator the ancients had," replied McKay.
"Could the ancients have had a base here that the wraith took over?" asked Sheppard.
"No, I checked the Repository of Knowledge and other than placing a stargate here the ancients never did anything with this planet," replied McKay.
Sheppard getting anxious, "Can you tell where it is connected to?"
"No, it's impossible to tell, unless there is something in the data stream that would give it away, and I don't have the equipment here to even begin to analyze any data that might go over it," replied McKay.
"What do you mean might go over it? Isn't it communicating now?" asked Sheppard.
"No it's just connected, leaving a trace my scanner is able to pick up," replied McKay.
"OK, we'll leave this are untouched unless there is a strategic reason not to. Once the ground team has cleared the base, you can get in there to investigate," replied Sheppard.
"I'm going to continue to scan this area, for any other signals," replied McKay.
"Roger that! Things have slowed down here pretty quickly," replied Sheppard.
Rodney sat hovering about one hundred feet over the building. Continuing to scan for any signals coming from the building. After about ten minutes of scanning and having nothing to show for it, he decided it was time to move on, and investigate this further later. As he peered around for a direction to scan in, his scanner beeped.
"Sheppard, I just detected ..." spoke McKay, who was unable to complete his statement as the building below him exploded shaking his Puddle Jumper violently.
Mitchell over the communicator, "Everyone we found the queen and she was killed in the explosion. However we believe she may have sent a signal for help, we do not know who to,"
"Roger that Mitchell we will keep scanners active and monitor for any new company," replied Caldwell.
"Rodney are you all right?" shouted Sheppard over their communicator.
"I'm still in one piece," replied McKay, getting his nerves under control. He then examined the data burst he picked up. Took him a minute to examine it.
"Yeah someone sent some sort of signal over that subspace link. A warning would have been nice I was above that building when it exploded," shouted McKay over the communicator to everyone.
"Dr. McKay, do you have something on the data burst?" asked Caldwell.
"I don't have the systems here to decode it. I'll need the system on the Hammond, would be best," replied McKay.
"Dr. McKay, we captured the data burst here, the system here can not identify it, and no known language," replied Carter.
"Sorry no warning, Teyla sensed the wraith queen was sending a signal and I had to detonate to try and stop it. Guess I wasn't fast enough," replied Mitchell.
Teal'c over the communicator, "We have a serious issue, Ronon and I have approximately two thousand wraiths in a room surrendering because they do not want to face the horror that is coming."
"This is not sounding good in my book," replied Caldwell.
Meanwhile back on Atlantis, O'Neill was sitting in his office monitoring the ships in Pegasus with Thor.
"You seem nervous O'Neill?" asked Thor.
"I am, all my closest friends are there in Pegasus, with the exception of yourself. If something was to wrong, I don't know if I can handle it." replied O'Neill.
"Your friends have been through some very tough situations and have shown great intellect under pressure. I am confident in their ability to handle any situation," replied Thor.
They sat silently watching the holographic display for a few minutes when suddenly the Apollo disappeared from the screen.
"Thor what's going on?" asked O'Neill.
"That would only happen if the ship was destroyed or something malfunctioned with the Asgard core on board," replied Thor, as the Hades disappeared.
A subspace communication came in directly to O'Neill's office, it was from the Hammond.
"Jack! Three ships just appeared here, they used wormhole drive we didn't see them coming, their weapons are passing right through our shields!" shouted Carter, as the Ares disappeared, "Jack I lov..."