Chapter 5

Lantea - Pegasus Galaxy

Life was slowly returning to normal for Atlantis. The city ship was home again on the planet it had slumbered upon for so many years. Off world teams were reestablishing contact with allies after a month's long absence. Tauri battle cruisers had been fighting the Wraith during that time, but the population appreciated that Atlantis had returned. A one hundred and eighty man contingent of Army Rangers and Special Forces went along this time with the sole purpose of reconnaissance and striking against the Wraith and the Genii. Tauri kindness would no longer be mistaken for weakness in Pegasus.

On entry into the Lantean system Atlantis began the deployment of duplicates of the satellite weapons that the Ancients had once used, and on which Peter Grodin was killed. Daedalus, Apollo, Odyssey, Hammond, and Sun Tzu were also in the galaxy, under cloak and equipped with zpm's.

The enemies of the Tauri in Pegasus were in for a large surprise.

Minnesota

Still no fish in my pond? Well why ruin a good thing thought General O'Neill. Taking a sip of his beer while sitting on his dock and lazily eyeing his bobber. In a bright white flash he suddenly found himself elsewhere. This looks strangely like an Asgard ship he thought for a moment.

"Greetings O'Neill" said Thor.

"And who might you be?" asked the General.

"O'Neill, I am Thor and I have much to explain."

Along Destiny's previous path

They had watched Destiny's crew enjoy the planet created for other purposes. The crew members were so much like the ancients; several even had the Ancient gene used in activating Ancient technology. Could the time have arrived? Could they have progressed so far so fast? If it was so then truly they were the fifth race as the Asgard had professed. It was agreed that the Destiny must be observed, its crew studied without becoming aware of the observation. Unknown to Destiny several sh.i.p.s had been shadowing the Ancient vessel, even monitoring communications on the Ancient stones. More and more everyday it seemed that the Asgard were correct. Soon they would have their answer.

Ares

Col. John Sheppard sat in the captain's chair of his new command. Ares was the newest Athena Class vessel. Assigned to the Pegasus galaxy she was meant to be the cornerstone of the fleet there. Sheppard could not have asked for a more perfect posting. Dropping out of Hyper Space the cloak was engaged. The long range sensors aboard Ares began searching for any trace of the Wraith in this system. Luck was on their side and they did not have to wait long.

Detecting three cruisers and a hive ship entering the system the Ares lay in wait. From the Wraith approach profile it looked as if they were preparing for a culling. Once the sensors detected a stargate energy signature on the both the hive ship and the forth planet from the sun it became clear that yes this was indeed a culling in progress.

Dropping the cloak and powering shields they were now detectable to the Wraith fleet. Six drones sprang towards the hive ship while the Ares engaged the cruisers with Asgard beam weapons. The cruisers disintegrated on impact. The hive faired little better. With drones closing on the hive little could be done in the Wraith command center. Savagely tearing through the hull, the drone weapons sliced cleanly through only to reenter and do it all over again. Aboard the Ares the explosive decompression of the hive was clearly seen on the view screen. The battle was over in less than a minute. With a few shots thousands of Wraith perished. Across the galaxy the Tauri fleet would repeat this same procedure. For the first time in ten thousand years the Wraith felt fear. The Tauri were coming.

Garina

Loka was a proud commander of the Genii. Having served his people for his entire a.d.u.l.t life without fail he was rewarded with command of an elite training center of Genii light infantry. It was he who had rallied so heavily for a force to strike out at Atlantis. It was also he who had pulled the political strings so heavily to have troops he trained used for the mission. Kolya had been a fool to allow such a small group of people defeat him so easily. Loka intended to go back to Atlantis in the future, capture it, and put his people on the pedestal they so rightly deserved.

Each day he watched the training of his recruit's progress. He kept the pressure intense, pushing them harder and harder until they were ready to face the enemy. A second failure could not be allowed to happen. Atlantis must be taken with all the military supplies it held. Loka was a man driven by nothing more than sheer hate. What Loka didn't realize was that the Atlantis crew knew very well who he was and what role he played in the deaths of its expedition members. Those murders in cold blood had not been forgotten.

Climbing the stairs of the speaking platform of the training camp, Loka prepared to give his daily address to his recruits while they stood in formation. Grabbing the microphone and clearing his throat he was just about to speak when his chest tore open. Loka fell like a heap of twisted limbs and torn flesh. Twelve hundred yards away the Special Forces sniper smiled inwardly. Toggling the radio beneath his ghillie suit the sniper breathed "ready to beam". With a white flash he was whisked to safety before he could be detected by the now panicked Genii forces on the ground. On twelve other planets the same scenario played out with shooters being whisked away by Jumper. The most reliable of the Genii field grade commanders went down without ever knowing they were targets in one day