![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carpenyxTitle: Deus Ex Machina (7/?)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
carpenyx
Rating: NC-17
Characters: Main SGA Characters, with appearances by Zelenka and Major Lorne.
Pairings: Ronon/Melena
Word Count: 2,701
Warnings: Character Death, Sexual Content
Spoilers: Through season 3, most importantly "Sateda", "Progeny", "The Real World" and "The Return: Part 1". This story takes place in a future alternate season 3.
Beta:nytel
Disclaimer: I do not own, just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy with my Flyboys. No copyright infridgement intended.
Summary: He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.
A/N: Cross posted at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
atlantisfic, lostcityfound, stargate_fanfic, satedan_fire, and rdfever
Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 7
Talus’ Residence – Bethdsha
John stood still, staring at Ronon. Though he’d had a good idea what he was getting himself into, he wasn’t completely prepared for what had happened next. With simplicity, Ronon squeezed the trigger of his pistol. It was quick and precise – the beam of energy hitting his intended target at point blank. John couldn’t tear his eyes away from Ronon, the shock immobilizing him temporarily.
Ronon spun the pistol around his finger adeptly before holstering it. He towered over the dead body of the man who had violated his wife. John wondered if he felt any guilt for what he’d just done. It was hard to tell, as Ronon’s face remained impassive as he kept his eyes locked on Talus.
“Ronon?” John spoke finally as he took a step towards him.
Ronon glanced at John, saying nothing. He was unreadable as he looked away and stepped over the dead body, his actions indifferent.
A light breeze started to circulate through the residence of its quite dead inhabitant, causing Ronon’s jaw to tighten. The lingering scent of her assaulted his senses and for a brief moment a pang of guilt surged through him. It wasn’t because of what he’d done, but for wasting precious moments on someone inferior. He wanted to be with her, not here.
“I wasn’t expecting-” John began, but was quickly interrupted by the other man.
“I did what I had to,” he said flatly. Ronon walked to the door, glancing around him once more. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life she’d had, a life without him. Though she bared herself to the night before, there had been moments when she’d found happiness and comfort here, before all the pain.
Ronon reached for the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door. He looked over at John. “Coming?”
John shook his head as he looked down at Talus. “Yeah,” he said quietly.
“We should get moving,” Ronon suggested gruffly. He knew it wouldn’t be long before Talus’ men came looking for him. Neither one of them would be safe here for much longer.
***
Conference Room – Atlantis
“Do we have any solutions?” Elizabeth questioned, clearly frustrated.
Rodney raised his hand. “I have one…”
“Please,” she said as she gestured for him to continue. She felt a tinge of hope knowing that Rodney had an idea.
“We don’t know if the idea will work,” Zelenka admitted. He looked from Elizabeth to Rodney, shrugging his shoulders slightly.
“But there’s a very good possibility that it could work,” Rodney added stubbornly.
“Do we have any other options we can consider?” she asked as she looked between her two top scientists.
“No,” Rodney said regrettably.
“There is a small percentage of it actually working,” Zelenka paused, hesitant.
Elizabeth looked at Zelenka expectedly. “Go on,” she pressed.
He sighed heavily. “It could end up killing her,” he explained.
***
Forest – Bethdsha
“Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?” John asked as both men made their way through the forest in the direction of the Stargate. They remained off the main path, avoiding any unwanted encounters.
“Would you have agreed?” Ronon questioned, looking sideways at Sheppard.
“Well, probably not,” he answered with a shrug.
“That’s why,” Ronon said flatly.
“If we’re lucky we’ll get out of here without a scratch,” John commented as they continued making their way through the dense foliage.
Ronon perked his head slightly, looking back and forth. “You jinxed us,” he said ironically.
“Huh?” John looked at Ronon questioningly.
He shot Sheppard a glare to keep quiet. Ronon squatted, positioning his pistol. “We’ve got company,” he said after a long pause.
***
Stargate – Bethdsha
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel some sort of thrill from stepping through the Stargate, even on the life or death missions. Major Lorne walked down the steps, leading away from the Gate, followed closely by his team.
“We’re going to make this quick as possible; we find them and get out.” Lorne headed towards the DHD, surveying the area. He estimated they had about a five to ten minute walk to the tree line. Adjusting his P-90, he shook his head and wondered if this would be as easy as he’d hoped.
Major Lorne tapped his radio. “Colonel Sheppard, do you read?” Lorne received nothing but static, the Colonel either was out of range or incapacitated. He shook his head, frustrated.
“Nothing, sir?” One of Lorne’s team members asked.
Lorne shook his head. “Richards,” Lorne addressed his fellow team member.
“Yes, sir?” Richards answered as he came up beside Major Lorne.
“You’re on Gate duty,” he explained. “Keep an eye out; let us know if you see anything or anyone.”
“Yes, sir,” Richards said as he took his position by the DHD.
“Samuels, Smith, you’re with me,” Lorne said as he started heading out.
***
It wasn’t long until they reached the tree line, ten minutes at the most. There was no indication of inhabitants on the planet or the presence of Colonel Sheppard and Ronon – the latter part was discouraging.
“Sir,” Samuels said, addressing the Major as he looked down at the life signs detector in his hand.
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
“Life signs,” he explained.
“How many?” Lorne asked, lowering his voice as he peered through the surrounding trees cautiously.
“Two, coming in this direction – the Colonel and Ronon, maybe?” he suggested. “They’re about two clicks from here,” Samuels told him, though he seemed hesitant to continue. His eyes locked on the life signs detector.
“But…” Lorne prompted.
“There’s about a dozen or more life signs showing up, not that far behind them.”
Lorne looked over his shoulder at Samuels. “Not liking those odds.”
***
Conference Room – Atlantis
“This is your solution?” Carson questioned as he rose from the table. He looked between Rodney and Doctor Zelenka. “It could kill her…?” He understood what was at stake, but it didn’t change that Carson was uncomfortable with the risk they would be taking.
“You said it yourself, she’s going to die if we don’t do anything,” Rodney pointed out as he addressed Carson.
“This might be our only chance of saving Atlantis against what the Asurans have planned, as well as saving her,” Zelenka explained.
Carson shook his head, dejectedly.
“Before we debate whether or not to proceed, it might be best if you explain what the plan is first, Rodney.” She wanted to head off any impending argument that was sure to transpire at any moment.
“When we were in Asura, I was able to successfully reprogram Niam, in order to eliminate his aggressive nature by rewriting the base code,” Rodney explained.
“I remember.” Elizabeth nodded.
“Well, the idea is similar,” he told her. “To what degree, we aren’t sure, but she is linked to this device,” he said as he indicated to the transmitter. “Which means there is some sort of subspace networking between this and Melena.”
“I thought you deactivated the device?” Elizabeth asked, regarding Rodney.
“I did,” he replied as a matter-of-factly. “It’s a matter of reactivating it.”
“And you can do that?” she questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he responded, slightly unsure of himself.
“Are you certain?” Elizabeth questioned. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. If he was right, this could provide for an efficient solution to their problem.
“Well, no, we can’t be certain that it’ll work.” Rodney shrugged his shoulders. “But, if we can overwrite the nature of her programming, we would turn this around. Not to mention, if we can mimic the programming, we might be able to transmit something back to them, something along the lines of a virus,” it was hard to miss the almost excited tone of Rodney’s voice. “We might be able to make the nanites do what we want, such as attacking Wraith tissue which would let us use the EMP to destroy them or at least shut them down.”
“But there’s a hitch,” Zelenka added. “The nanites could easily retaliate and kill her anyway.”
“If their mission isn’t to kill her, but to carry out certain tasks, why would they turn on her suddenly?” Elizabeth questioned.
“It’s kind of the same principle of us activating the self destruct rather than falling into the enemy hands - they would react by killing her.” Zelenka explained.
“What’s the likelihood of that happening?” Elizabeth questioned.
“I don’t even know if it’s possible yet,” Rodney admitted.
“We’ve only played with the idea. It’s going to take several days before we can come up with anything solid and worth attempting,” Zelenka told her.
“Time isn’t on our side; we need to do as quickly as possible. How much time will you both need?”
“Ideally, a couple of months,” Rodney snorted.
“We don’t have that luxury, Rodney,” Elizabeth told him sternly.
“We can try to have something ready within a day,” Zelenka half-said, half-asked.
Rodney glared at Zelenka.
“Ok, let’s get to work-” Elizabeth was interrupted by the sounds of commotion outside the conference room.
“Doctor Weir, we have a situation,” one of the technicians said over her earpiece.
***
Atlantis
It would only be a matter of time before more marines were alerted of the prisoner’s escape. In haste, Melena stripped the weapons from both of the dead guards. She strapped one of the guns over her shoulder and held the other, her finger delicately poised over the trigger.
Melena quickly ducked out of the chamber, leaving both of the marines’ bodies sprawled out in the middle of the cell, directly in view of the security cameras.
Though she met no resistance as she ran down the first long corridor, she rounded the corner only to be met by two armed marines.
The marines quickly trained their funs on the escapee, barking an order at her, telling her to stand down. She came to a sudden halt, inclining her head. She looked at them inquiringly, a smirk on her face. Both marines continued shouting at her to disarm.
“Very pleasant people,” she muttered as she took a step forward casually. The marines instinctively opened fire on her, but it had no effect. A grin slowly appeared on her features before she returned the gesture – downing the marines swiftly with her own gunfire.
She made no effort to make sure they were debilitated as she stepped over both of the bodies and continued down the corridors that lead to the center of the city.
***
Forest – Bethdsha
Major Lorne lowered his weapon, positioning it at his side. He tapped his radio, “Colonel Sheppard, do you read?”
Static.
“Colonel Sheppard?” he asked again.
“Major Lorne?” came the surprised and labored voice of Colonel Sheppard over the radio.
With a sigh of relief, Lorne said, “Good to hear your voice, Colonel.”
“Tell me about it! We’re running hot; can you get to the jumper?”
“It’s cloaked,” he radioed back.
“I got it covered,” Sheppard told him and second later the jumper appeared only a couple of meters from where Lorne and his team were positioned.
“Who’d you piss of this time?” Lorne said into the radio sarcastically after ordering Samuels to power up the jumper.
“You really don’t wanna know, Major. You get your men out of here. We’ll be right behind you.”
“We’ll be here for backup, just make your way to Stargate, Colonel.”
***
“Richards, dial Atlantis and tell them we’re coming home. We’re about ten minutes from the Gate,” Lorne said over the radio to his team member stationed at the Stargate.
Lorne and his team boarded the jumper. Samuels, piloting the jumper, turned it about and lifted it up from the ground. He positioned it in the direction Colonel Sheppard and Ronon were coming from. As soon as they appeared, running out of the forest – they made their way straight for the Stargate.
It wasn’t long before a group of men came running out of the tree lines, firing their weapons upon the Colonel and the jumper. Samuels fired up the weaponry of the jumper, sending a droid at the front line as a warning shot. The force of the blast sent some of the men reeling back as the weapon exploded into the ground.
As soon as Colonel Sheppard and Ronon reached the Stargate, they radioed Major Lorne and his team. Both men cleared through the event horizon, followed by the jumper.
***
Doctor Weir’s Office – Atlantis
“What’s going on?” Elizabeth questioned, walking out of the conference room.
“You better come see this,” he suggested. She followed the technician into the control room.
McKay, Zelenka, and Carson followed her out into the control room.
“A few moments ago, all of the systems started going haywire,” he explained, gesturing to the monitors that were displaying erratic codes. “Looks like we’ve been hit with a virus.”
Rodney cocked his eyebrow. “It is a virus,” he confirmed.
Elizabeth felt her stomach knot anxiously.
“We got this video feed moments before everything went crazy,” he told her as he turned the monitor around. A video came up on the screen, displaying the incident with Melena’s escape and the death of at least two of Atlantis’ marines.
Carson sighed, shaking his head.
Elizabeth closed her eyes, disgusted. “Turn it off,” she said quietly. “Get the marines stationed at all exits and entryways of the Gate room and control room.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“Damn,” Elizabeth cursed under her breath. She walked over to the overhang, looking out over the Gate Room. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how they were going to deal with Melena’s escape. Elizabeth’s attention was brought to the Stargate as it began powering up.
“Doctor Weir,” a technician called out.
“Yes?” she replied immediately, keeping her eyes locked on the dialing gate as the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach grew.
“I can’t confirm anything, we’re locked out of the system,” the technician informed her.
She sighed, closing her eyes. “Is the shield operational?” Elizabeth asked as the event horizon sprung forth.
“No, ma’am.”
A group of marines surrounded the Stargate, their weapons trained on the wormhole.
A small wave of relief washed over Elizabeth as Lieutenant Richards, followed by Colonel Sheppard and Ronon stepped through the Stargate. As soon as the puddle jumper cleared the wormhole, the event horizon shut down. Her relief was quickly replaced by fear, as the Gate started dialing up again on its own accord, not even a second after shutting down.
“What’s going on?” she questioned, looking from the Gate to the technician.
“I don’t know,” the technician said as he and Doctor McKay attempted to get some sort of information from the computer systems, but it was futile.
***
Gate Room – Atlantis
Within moments of the Stargate activating, Melena ran into the Gate room with her weapon raised and aimed in front of her. She halted suddenly in the center of the Gate Room, coming face-to-face with Ronon and Colonel Sheppard.
“Mel?” Ronon questioned, a look of confusion on his face.
“Stand down!” Elizabeth ordered. She was standing at the top of the staircase, looking down at Melena.
Melena whipped her head around, grinning slowly.
“What’s going on?” John asked, looking from Elizabeth to Melena and then back again.
“Ronon,” Melena said as she moved towards him. “Ronon…” she whispered, dropping the gun to the ground and wrapping her arms around his waist.
Ronon slipped one arm around Melena protectively, looking at Doctor Weir, his face a mixture of puzzlement and anger that threatened to come to the surface.
“Ronon,” Elizabeth warned as she descended. “Back away from her, she’s-”
“Ronon, please…” Melena murmured softly, slowly maneuvering them towards the event horizon, subtly. “They don’t trust me… they want to hurt us.”
“Ok, I’m sure we can work this out-” John said, not having a clue as to what the hell was going on.
Melena wasted no more time as she used all of her abnormal and surprising strength to fling herself and Ronon through the event horizon.
“No!” Elizabeth shouted as Sheppard whipped around, attempting to stop what was happening, but it was too late. Both Ronon and Melena had made it through the Gate before it shut down.
TBC
Previous Chapters:
+ Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6 +
Author:
carpenyxRating: NC-17
Characters: Main SGA Characters, with appearances by Zelenka and Major Lorne.
Pairings: Ronon/Melena
Word Count: 2,701
Warnings: Character Death, Sexual Content
Spoilers: Through season 3, most importantly "Sateda", "Progeny", "The Real World" and "The Return: Part 1". This story takes place in a future alternate season 3.
Beta:
nytelDisclaimer: I do not own, just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy with my Flyboys. No copyright infridgement intended.
Summary: He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.
A/N: Cross posted at
atlantisfic, lostcityfound, stargate_fanfic, satedan_fire, and rdfeverChapter 7
Talus’ Residence – Bethdsha
John stood still, staring at Ronon. Though he’d had a good idea what he was getting himself into, he wasn’t completely prepared for what had happened next. With simplicity, Ronon squeezed the trigger of his pistol. It was quick and precise – the beam of energy hitting his intended target at point blank. John couldn’t tear his eyes away from Ronon, the shock immobilizing him temporarily.
Ronon spun the pistol around his finger adeptly before holstering it. He towered over the dead body of the man who had violated his wife. John wondered if he felt any guilt for what he’d just done. It was hard to tell, as Ronon’s face remained impassive as he kept his eyes locked on Talus.
“Ronon?” John spoke finally as he took a step towards him.
Ronon glanced at John, saying nothing. He was unreadable as he looked away and stepped over the dead body, his actions indifferent.
A light breeze started to circulate through the residence of its quite dead inhabitant, causing Ronon’s jaw to tighten. The lingering scent of her assaulted his senses and for a brief moment a pang of guilt surged through him. It wasn’t because of what he’d done, but for wasting precious moments on someone inferior. He wanted to be with her, not here.
“I wasn’t expecting-” John began, but was quickly interrupted by the other man.
“I did what I had to,” he said flatly. Ronon walked to the door, glancing around him once more. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life she’d had, a life without him. Though she bared herself to the night before, there had been moments when she’d found happiness and comfort here, before all the pain.
Ronon reached for the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door. He looked over at John. “Coming?”
John shook his head as he looked down at Talus. “Yeah,” he said quietly.
“We should get moving,” Ronon suggested gruffly. He knew it wouldn’t be long before Talus’ men came looking for him. Neither one of them would be safe here for much longer.
***
Conference Room – Atlantis
“Do we have any solutions?” Elizabeth questioned, clearly frustrated.
Rodney raised his hand. “I have one…”
“Please,” she said as she gestured for him to continue. She felt a tinge of hope knowing that Rodney had an idea.
“We don’t know if the idea will work,” Zelenka admitted. He looked from Elizabeth to Rodney, shrugging his shoulders slightly.
“But there’s a very good possibility that it could work,” Rodney added stubbornly.
“Do we have any other options we can consider?” she asked as she looked between her two top scientists.
“No,” Rodney said regrettably.
“There is a small percentage of it actually working,” Zelenka paused, hesitant.
Elizabeth looked at Zelenka expectedly. “Go on,” she pressed.
He sighed heavily. “It could end up killing her,” he explained.
***
Forest – Bethdsha
“Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?” John asked as both men made their way through the forest in the direction of the Stargate. They remained off the main path, avoiding any unwanted encounters.
“Would you have agreed?” Ronon questioned, looking sideways at Sheppard.
“Well, probably not,” he answered with a shrug.
“That’s why,” Ronon said flatly.
“If we’re lucky we’ll get out of here without a scratch,” John commented as they continued making their way through the dense foliage.
Ronon perked his head slightly, looking back and forth. “You jinxed us,” he said ironically.
“Huh?” John looked at Ronon questioningly.
He shot Sheppard a glare to keep quiet. Ronon squatted, positioning his pistol. “We’ve got company,” he said after a long pause.
***
Stargate – Bethdsha
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel some sort of thrill from stepping through the Stargate, even on the life or death missions. Major Lorne walked down the steps, leading away from the Gate, followed closely by his team.
“We’re going to make this quick as possible; we find them and get out.” Lorne headed towards the DHD, surveying the area. He estimated they had about a five to ten minute walk to the tree line. Adjusting his P-90, he shook his head and wondered if this would be as easy as he’d hoped.
Major Lorne tapped his radio. “Colonel Sheppard, do you read?” Lorne received nothing but static, the Colonel either was out of range or incapacitated. He shook his head, frustrated.
“Nothing, sir?” One of Lorne’s team members asked.
Lorne shook his head. “Richards,” Lorne addressed his fellow team member.
“Yes, sir?” Richards answered as he came up beside Major Lorne.
“You’re on Gate duty,” he explained. “Keep an eye out; let us know if you see anything or anyone.”
“Yes, sir,” Richards said as he took his position by the DHD.
“Samuels, Smith, you’re with me,” Lorne said as he started heading out.
***
It wasn’t long until they reached the tree line, ten minutes at the most. There was no indication of inhabitants on the planet or the presence of Colonel Sheppard and Ronon – the latter part was discouraging.
“Sir,” Samuels said, addressing the Major as he looked down at the life signs detector in his hand.
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
“Life signs,” he explained.
“How many?” Lorne asked, lowering his voice as he peered through the surrounding trees cautiously.
“Two, coming in this direction – the Colonel and Ronon, maybe?” he suggested. “They’re about two clicks from here,” Samuels told him, though he seemed hesitant to continue. His eyes locked on the life signs detector.
“But…” Lorne prompted.
“There’s about a dozen or more life signs showing up, not that far behind them.”
Lorne looked over his shoulder at Samuels. “Not liking those odds.”
***
Conference Room – Atlantis
“This is your solution?” Carson questioned as he rose from the table. He looked between Rodney and Doctor Zelenka. “It could kill her…?” He understood what was at stake, but it didn’t change that Carson was uncomfortable with the risk they would be taking.
“You said it yourself, she’s going to die if we don’t do anything,” Rodney pointed out as he addressed Carson.
“This might be our only chance of saving Atlantis against what the Asurans have planned, as well as saving her,” Zelenka explained.
Carson shook his head, dejectedly.
“Before we debate whether or not to proceed, it might be best if you explain what the plan is first, Rodney.” She wanted to head off any impending argument that was sure to transpire at any moment.
“When we were in Asura, I was able to successfully reprogram Niam, in order to eliminate his aggressive nature by rewriting the base code,” Rodney explained.
“I remember.” Elizabeth nodded.
“Well, the idea is similar,” he told her. “To what degree, we aren’t sure, but she is linked to this device,” he said as he indicated to the transmitter. “Which means there is some sort of subspace networking between this and Melena.”
“I thought you deactivated the device?” Elizabeth asked, regarding Rodney.
“I did,” he replied as a matter-of-factly. “It’s a matter of reactivating it.”
“And you can do that?” she questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he responded, slightly unsure of himself.
“Are you certain?” Elizabeth questioned. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. If he was right, this could provide for an efficient solution to their problem.
“Well, no, we can’t be certain that it’ll work.” Rodney shrugged his shoulders. “But, if we can overwrite the nature of her programming, we would turn this around. Not to mention, if we can mimic the programming, we might be able to transmit something back to them, something along the lines of a virus,” it was hard to miss the almost excited tone of Rodney’s voice. “We might be able to make the nanites do what we want, such as attacking Wraith tissue which would let us use the EMP to destroy them or at least shut them down.”
“But there’s a hitch,” Zelenka added. “The nanites could easily retaliate and kill her anyway.”
“If their mission isn’t to kill her, but to carry out certain tasks, why would they turn on her suddenly?” Elizabeth questioned.
“It’s kind of the same principle of us activating the self destruct rather than falling into the enemy hands - they would react by killing her.” Zelenka explained.
“What’s the likelihood of that happening?” Elizabeth questioned.
“I don’t even know if it’s possible yet,” Rodney admitted.
“We’ve only played with the idea. It’s going to take several days before we can come up with anything solid and worth attempting,” Zelenka told her.
“Time isn’t on our side; we need to do as quickly as possible. How much time will you both need?”
“Ideally, a couple of months,” Rodney snorted.
“We don’t have that luxury, Rodney,” Elizabeth told him sternly.
“We can try to have something ready within a day,” Zelenka half-said, half-asked.
Rodney glared at Zelenka.
“Ok, let’s get to work-” Elizabeth was interrupted by the sounds of commotion outside the conference room.
“Doctor Weir, we have a situation,” one of the technicians said over her earpiece.
***
Atlantis
It would only be a matter of time before more marines were alerted of the prisoner’s escape. In haste, Melena stripped the weapons from both of the dead guards. She strapped one of the guns over her shoulder and held the other, her finger delicately poised over the trigger.
Melena quickly ducked out of the chamber, leaving both of the marines’ bodies sprawled out in the middle of the cell, directly in view of the security cameras.
Though she met no resistance as she ran down the first long corridor, she rounded the corner only to be met by two armed marines.
The marines quickly trained their funs on the escapee, barking an order at her, telling her to stand down. She came to a sudden halt, inclining her head. She looked at them inquiringly, a smirk on her face. Both marines continued shouting at her to disarm.
“Very pleasant people,” she muttered as she took a step forward casually. The marines instinctively opened fire on her, but it had no effect. A grin slowly appeared on her features before she returned the gesture – downing the marines swiftly with her own gunfire.
She made no effort to make sure they were debilitated as she stepped over both of the bodies and continued down the corridors that lead to the center of the city.
***
Forest – Bethdsha
Major Lorne lowered his weapon, positioning it at his side. He tapped his radio, “Colonel Sheppard, do you read?”
Static.
“Colonel Sheppard?” he asked again.
“Major Lorne?” came the surprised and labored voice of Colonel Sheppard over the radio.
With a sigh of relief, Lorne said, “Good to hear your voice, Colonel.”
“Tell me about it! We’re running hot; can you get to the jumper?”
“It’s cloaked,” he radioed back.
“I got it covered,” Sheppard told him and second later the jumper appeared only a couple of meters from where Lorne and his team were positioned.
“Who’d you piss of this time?” Lorne said into the radio sarcastically after ordering Samuels to power up the jumper.
“You really don’t wanna know, Major. You get your men out of here. We’ll be right behind you.”
“We’ll be here for backup, just make your way to Stargate, Colonel.”
***
“Richards, dial Atlantis and tell them we’re coming home. We’re about ten minutes from the Gate,” Lorne said over the radio to his team member stationed at the Stargate.
Lorne and his team boarded the jumper. Samuels, piloting the jumper, turned it about and lifted it up from the ground. He positioned it in the direction Colonel Sheppard and Ronon were coming from. As soon as they appeared, running out of the forest – they made their way straight for the Stargate.
It wasn’t long before a group of men came running out of the tree lines, firing their weapons upon the Colonel and the jumper. Samuels fired up the weaponry of the jumper, sending a droid at the front line as a warning shot. The force of the blast sent some of the men reeling back as the weapon exploded into the ground.
As soon as Colonel Sheppard and Ronon reached the Stargate, they radioed Major Lorne and his team. Both men cleared through the event horizon, followed by the jumper.
***
Doctor Weir’s Office – Atlantis
“What’s going on?” Elizabeth questioned, walking out of the conference room.
“You better come see this,” he suggested. She followed the technician into the control room.
McKay, Zelenka, and Carson followed her out into the control room.
“A few moments ago, all of the systems started going haywire,” he explained, gesturing to the monitors that were displaying erratic codes. “Looks like we’ve been hit with a virus.”
Rodney cocked his eyebrow. “It is a virus,” he confirmed.
Elizabeth felt her stomach knot anxiously.
“We got this video feed moments before everything went crazy,” he told her as he turned the monitor around. A video came up on the screen, displaying the incident with Melena’s escape and the death of at least two of Atlantis’ marines.
Carson sighed, shaking his head.
Elizabeth closed her eyes, disgusted. “Turn it off,” she said quietly. “Get the marines stationed at all exits and entryways of the Gate room and control room.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“Damn,” Elizabeth cursed under her breath. She walked over to the overhang, looking out over the Gate Room. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how they were going to deal with Melena’s escape. Elizabeth’s attention was brought to the Stargate as it began powering up.
“Doctor Weir,” a technician called out.
“Yes?” she replied immediately, keeping her eyes locked on the dialing gate as the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach grew.
“I can’t confirm anything, we’re locked out of the system,” the technician informed her.
She sighed, closing her eyes. “Is the shield operational?” Elizabeth asked as the event horizon sprung forth.
“No, ma’am.”
A group of marines surrounded the Stargate, their weapons trained on the wormhole.
A small wave of relief washed over Elizabeth as Lieutenant Richards, followed by Colonel Sheppard and Ronon stepped through the Stargate. As soon as the puddle jumper cleared the wormhole, the event horizon shut down. Her relief was quickly replaced by fear, as the Gate started dialing up again on its own accord, not even a second after shutting down.
“What’s going on?” she questioned, looking from the Gate to the technician.
“I don’t know,” the technician said as he and Doctor McKay attempted to get some sort of information from the computer systems, but it was futile.
***
Gate Room – Atlantis
Within moments of the Stargate activating, Melena ran into the Gate room with her weapon raised and aimed in front of her. She halted suddenly in the center of the Gate Room, coming face-to-face with Ronon and Colonel Sheppard.
“Mel?” Ronon questioned, a look of confusion on his face.
“Stand down!” Elizabeth ordered. She was standing at the top of the staircase, looking down at Melena.
Melena whipped her head around, grinning slowly.
“What’s going on?” John asked, looking from Elizabeth to Melena and then back again.
“Ronon,” Melena said as she moved towards him. “Ronon…” she whispered, dropping the gun to the ground and wrapping her arms around his waist.
Ronon slipped one arm around Melena protectively, looking at Doctor Weir, his face a mixture of puzzlement and anger that threatened to come to the surface.
“Ronon,” Elizabeth warned as she descended. “Back away from her, she’s-”
“Ronon, please…” Melena murmured softly, slowly maneuvering them towards the event horizon, subtly. “They don’t trust me… they want to hurt us.”
“Ok, I’m sure we can work this out-” John said, not having a clue as to what the hell was going on.
Melena wasted no more time as she used all of her abnormal and surprising strength to fling herself and Ronon through the event horizon.
“No!” Elizabeth shouted as Sheppard whipped around, attempting to stop what was happening, but it was too late. Both Ronon and Melena had made it through the Gate before it shut down.
TBC
Previous Chapters:
+ Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6 +
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-18 03:57 am (UTC)The McKay and Zelenka scene was perfect, just how'd they react to each other. And Weir's comments were spot on too ;)
Stupid Melena, don't play with Ronon's emotions like that!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-18 05:39 am (UTC)I'm sure a little scared of Rodney, it's all David H.'s fault! He's just so brillant of an actor and Rodney is a brillant character, it's hard to do him! hehe
Yes, Melena is mean to Ronon! :( Bad Melena.