Chapter 183

Pegasus galaxy, Wraith stronghold

It had taken weeks to reach their destination. Finally though, the Hive had arrived. The end destination was one long held in Wraith hands. During the Ancient/Wraith war, this world at the outer edge of the Pegasus galaxy had served as a fallback position while the Ancient fleet had advanced deeper into Wraith territory. Again this distant world served that very purpose once again.

The planet itself was barren, almost totally devoid of life. Life did exist here though, in some form. Lacking zpm's to power a growth facility like the one destroyed several years ago by the Atlantis expedition, a series of smaller scale facilities existed. While unable to produce new Wraith in numbers equaling larger facilities, the number of soldiers produced was still impressive. Neighboring these facilities on the cold and rocky terrain, Hives and cruisers were being grown to carry these new soldiers out into the stars.

In orbit above the planet stood an impressive sight; a mega space station of sorts. Like Wraith vessels, this station too was alive. Composed of organic biopolymers, the internal layout of the station was identical to that found onboard a Hive ship. This station however branched out in a star like pattern, allowing for up to twenty Hive's to dock simultaneously.

As the seat of power for the Wraith nation, it was here that the Queen known as The First kept her throne. As a nation in retreat, the remaining Queens maintained their presence here at the command of The First. In the throne room of the facility, cast in an eerie light through the dimly lit fog blanketing the cavernous throne rooms floor, sat The First. The assorted Queens and commanders who served her felt the gamut of emotions that surged through her mind. The reason for this was the moments before arrived commander and soldier that stood with bowed head before First.

"You expect me to believe that my followers are now being culled by the humans?" First demanded furiously.

"What the soldier beside me witnessed leaves no doubt that the Lantean's are doing that very thing my Queen." The replicator infected commander replied.

"Ridiculous." First spat with anger.

"That was my first thought as well my Queen." The commander offered.

"If the humans are in fact doing as you say, then what is the purpose of such an affront?" First inquired carefully.

"I do not know my Queen." The commander replied.

"Then tell me what you do know!" First thundered.

"Not long after our departure from the site of the culling, the humans attempted to finish what they started. In the ensuing battle both of my cruisers were lost." The commander admitted.

Moving from her throne to the commander's position with frightening speed First seized the commander by the throat. With a strength that belied her diminutive size, the Queen tightened her grasp on the commander's throat, dropping him to his knees. Relishing his discomfort, First felt the warmth of contentment as she exacted a physical toll on the subject who had failed to answer the questions she demanded. Had she been aware of the single nanite that transferred from the commander's epidermis to her feeding hand, she would have felt a range of slightly different emotions.

Videum

Standing in the operations center of the city ship, Colonel Reynolds looked down into the gate room and saw the expected device arrive through the wormhole originating in the depths of the SGC. The device resembled a lava lamp like he'd had in his room in college, the Colonel thought. Like a lava lamp, this device too would provide viewing enjoyment for whatever audience it might find. The effects of viewing a similar device was something SG-1 had once become intimately familiar, much to their chagrin.

It was technically known as a Goa'uld Light Matrix Hologram Generator. When activated, this device would fill a room with beautiful and undulating waves of shimmering violet colored light. That people were drawn to this light like a narcotic was not due to its beauty, but more to the resonating frequency pulsations that emanated from its base. After exposure to these pulsations, an effect akin to drug addiction took hold in the viewers. Leaving the devices immediate vicinity and the limited range of the pulsations resulted in withdrawal symptoms that had once resulted in the suicide of an SG team member.

In the base of the device was a system not found in the original design. Integral to the lower framework of the device stand were a series of localized sensor transceivers, and a location plotting booster. It's often said that every device no matter how big or small had a destiny. This device certainly had a particular destiny mapped out for it from its time of construction. Minutes earlier a text formatted message had been sent to Rel'dar requesting precise coordinates to deliver a gift meant to thank the Jaffa for the alliance they believed cemented with a fictitious people. The message had been very clear though that all Jaffa leaders and the captured Tauri serviceman must be in attendance when the gift arrived.

"Any word yet Bill?" Colonel Reynolds asked.

"It's coming in now. Everyone we requested be there is confirmed to attend. We also have exact coordinates to beam the device Colonel." Dr. Lee replied.

"Then let's not keep them waiting. As soon as we have confirmation that everyone is in place on their side and ours, beam the device to their location." Reynolds ordered.