Continuing Stargate

[Rudy Pena]

That's cool you have a girl?

lol, yes, but we are working things out.


And great ep.

[cuttingedgex23]

No Rodney in "final exams"???????? *starts sniffling*

How can u guess star Atlantis characters and not through Rodney into the mix?! *shocked and appalled*

Rodney and Sam moments are almost as osm as Sam and Jack moments *starts to cry*

[s09119]

No Rodney in "final exams"???????? *starts sniffling*

How can u guess star Atlantis characters and not through Rodney into the mix?! *shocked and appalled*

Rodney and Sam moments are almost as osm as Sam and Jack moments *starts to cry*

I rely on Rodney too much; his chemistry is just too fun. This time around I wanted to see some Teyla development... and Woolsey is just a blast.

[cuttingedgex23]

I rely on Rodney too much; his chemistry is just too fun. This time around I wanted to see some Teyla development... and Woolsey is just a blast.

But but but but but but but.....ITS RODNEY!!!!!

Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

[s09119]

14x07 "Final Exam"
Synopsis: The team is stranded in the Pegasus Galaxy while searching for Pandora's Box, and must come to terms with the possibility that they may die offworld.

Spoiler:

(30 second recap of "Pandora," "The Time Traveler," and "Resistance")

The Daedalus is travelling through hyperspace, en route to an exotic location. In the mess hall, Mitchell and Vala are playing cards, with Carter running a diagnostic on a tablet computer nearby. Daniel is reading a book at the far end of the room, seemingly engrossed in what he's doing. Suddenly, Mitchell shouts that Vala's cheating, but the latter merely smiles innocently and shrugs. Cam turns to Carter and complains that Vala's breaking the rules again, but Sam just gives him an encouraging smile and returns to her work. Sighing, Mitchell resigns himself to dealing with yet another loss.

With the game over, Vala goes over to where Daniel is sitting and leans over him, asking what he's so interested in. Jackson blankly explains that it's a book on Pandora's Box, written by a noted German historian that has done extensive research on the Stargate Program. He's scouring all Earth-written texts that may hold a clue to the weapons' location, but so far it seems pointless; Pandora knew what she was doing when she hid it, but this latest lead does look promising.

Apparently, the Atlantis Expedition stumbled across an old reference in the Ancient database to a planet in the Pegasus Galaxy that the Lanteans reserved for the highest levels of research, things that were classified to even most of the High Council. Pandora herself was briefly assigned here, before returning to Lantea, but bio-sensors confirm that she returned at least once following her peoples' exodus to Earth. There's a chance she may have left the Box there.

Suddenly, the PA system announces that they've dropped out of hyperspace over Atlantis, and that they have an incoming transmission from the city. The team heads out to hear what their comarades have to say. Once they're on the bridge, Col. Caldwell opens the channel to below, and an image of Richard Woolsey appears onscreen. The administrator of Atlantis greets SG-1, and says that Dr. McKay is still going over the database for any new information on the planet in question (M17-884), but so far it appears that very little remains to be found. Regardless, Teyla Emmagan has requested to join SG-1 in their search, and Woolsey sees no reason to disuade her if they agree, though he does point out that she's under scrutiny from the IOA, and if she messes up their mission, she may face suspension from offworld duty. Carter quickly says yes, remembering how skilled the Athosian was, and asks Caldwell to beam them down to the city so they can get on with their mission. The Colonel quickly obliges, transporting SG-1 immediately, and takes up guard position in orbit.

The team materializes into the jumper bay, with Woolsey holding out a hand to greet all of them. Teyla comes up from the staircase, already dressed in offworld gear (having guessed Sam would say yes), and thanks Carter for allowing her to come along. The Colonel says it was no problem, then clicks his radio and asks Chuck to dial up M17-884, which he promptly does. While they wait for the stargate to activate, SG-1 and Teyla make their way into the nearest jumper, with Vala asking the latter how her son is doing. Teyla proudly announces that Torren just recently had another birthday, then somberly apologizes, remembering that Vala's own daughter, Adria, is essentially dead. Vala tells her not to worry about it, but looks somewhat downcast regardless. Carter takes a seat in the pilot's chair and powers up the gateship, giving Woolsey one last wave, lowering the jumper into the gate room, and heading through the wormhole.

They shoot out of a spacegate over a beautiful world, and begin to descend through the atmosphere... it's raining quite heavily, and a lush jungle sprawls out below them. Daniel looks over the scnerey in awe, muttering that the Ancients sure knew how to pick their worlds, then pauses and points into the distance, where dozens of Lantean-style spires are shooting into the clouds. Teyla remarks that Rodney thinks this planet was once a Lantean metropolis, but many of the towers that once covered the planet have crumbled to the ground in their caretakers' 10,000 year absence. Carter puts the jumper through a series of spins to get through the maze of walkways that connect the towers as Jackson pulls up the HUD and points out the spire they're looking for; the largest and thickest of them all, just ahead.

As they turn around one final tower, they see the one they want and gasp. It's enormous, stretching higher than any building on Earth, and its rainslickened surface glimmers in the dim sunlight. Jungle vines have wound their way over almost every inch, but Carter is able to spot the mercifully-vine-free jumper bay entrance near the top, and she brings the craft in for a landing inside. As it touches down, a dull thud echoes throughout the hall, and the team disembarks, emerging in a hot and humid chamber holding three other jumpers, though one of them looks as though it was blasted in half by something. Carter and Mitchell go to close the bay doors via nearby controls, when suddenly a blue blur flashes by the entrance. Everyone looks around in confusion, but then Teyla stiffens, her eyes flashing; the Wraith are here.

And indeed, high in orbit, a Wraith hive ship is waiting, dispersing hundreds of darts down to the jungle world below. They scream down from the sky and into the ruined Lantean city, opening up culling beams over every inch. As the team watches un-noticed from the jumper bay, Vala asks why they'd be interested in a run-down place like this, but Daniel feels it's fairly obvious. The Wraith are after Ancient technology, probably ZPMs or the like, and are no doubt continuously scavenging all former Lantean outposts. It was just their luck that they'd pick the same day to go exploring here. And that's when he, too, freezes, realizing that if Pandora's Box is here, there's a good chance the Wraith will find it. And that would be very, very bad.

Motioning for the others to move away from the bay entrance, Mitchell waves the closest doorway open and suggests they start looking then. There's no way they're going to make it to the spacegate with that hive ship anyway, but if the Box is here, they need to get going. They start heading down a long hallway, turning on their flashlights to see in the pitch-black corridor. Carter remarks how odd it is that the door controls are still powered but the lights have yet to come on, and as they turn the corner she sees why; a large portion of the tower has been ripped away over the years, and conduits can be seen dangling down to the abyss below from their own side of the spire. There's roughly a one-hundred foot drop until the two sides connect again, and a ten foot gap between their half of the building and the other. But on the plus side, the other half of the corridor seems to have power, evidenced by the flickering lights, and Mitchell suggests they try and jump it.

After several seconds of debate, Cameron pulls back around the corner, runs as fast he can to pick up speed, rounds the corner again, and leaps across, falling heavily on the other side. One after another, Vala, Daniel, and Teyla complete the same feat, the latter landing lightly and on her feet, a testament to her fitness, leaving Carter alone on the side with the jumper. She rushes back, then starts to run in preparation for her jump, but just as she rounds the corner, her wet boots slip on the floor, and she tumbles down, sliding toward the edge and the perilous fall over it. Just as her torso starts to go over, she reaches back and grabs a dangling power conduit, holding on for dear life and pulling herself back into the hallway. As she stands, though, she winces, looking down at an ankle that appears to be somewhat twisted. Sam tests her weight on it and surpresses a gasp, then yells across that she's not going anywhere like this; the others will have to go on without her. Mitchell starts to protest, but Sam says she'll try and do what she can from this side, and for the team to hurry and find what they can. No one likes it, but the rest of SG-1 and Teyla continue on, leaving Carter to limp back to the bay.

Eventually, the team comes across a room resembling the control rooms seen in places like Atlantis, possibly meaning they've found the primary Operations Center for the tower. Teyla, who says she was given the ATA gene therapy, waves a hand over the nearest console, and the entire room comes alive with light. Daniel immediately radios Sam, telling her what they've found, and asking just how they're supposed to interface with it. Carter, trying to activate some external monitors in the jumper back, replies that they'll need her laptop. She picks up the case and slowly limps toward the hallway, telling Daniel to come meet her at the gap and she'll throw it across.

While Jackson heads, Mitchell heads down a staircase into a lower level, poking around looking for a lab where the Box may be stored, if indeed their information is right and it's here. In the control room, Teyla and Vala ae powering up the main systems; sensors, life support, subspace communications... which, unfortunately, aren't working, and, most importantly, the database. Almost at once, Teyla recognizes that it's heavily encrypted, and radios Daniel to tell him that they need him ASAP to start working.

Outside, the Wraith continue searching the city, with dozens of darts combing the massive landscape. A cruiser slowly comes out of the clouds, heading for one of the outlying towers, no doubt ready to drop ground troops to investigate on foot.

Back in the control room, Daniel has jacked Carter's laptop into the main control console, and suddenly its screen flashes with English translations of the Ancient computer's databank. Teyla was correct, and it is encrypted, but Daniel thinks he can decipher enough of the code words to figure out the password, and gets to work. While he does that, Teyla and Vala prod the other consoles, the former accidentally activating a hologram projector... which generates an image of Pandora herself. The Lantean says that she has "just begun work on my latest idea," having just been given "the blessing of the High Council." Vala guesses that this is an older entry, back when she was just starting her research here, and when she had yet to be critiqued quite so heavily by her superiors. Teyla, agreeing, begins scanning the entires for ones with more revelency to the Box and its possible hiding place.

(Start of "Final Exam," please see next post for more)

[s09119]

(End of "Final Exam," see previous post for start)

Spoiler:

Downstairs, Mitchell is opening the door to a laboratory almost completely filled with dust. The Colonel caughs violently, waving his P90 to clear the air, and looks around. He doesn't see much, though, and turns to leave. As he does so, he looks out the window just in time to see a Wraith dart headed directly toward him, its culling beam active. Swearing, Mitchell leaps back into the hallway, missing the beam by mere centimeters as it transports everything that was in the lab itself to its buffer. Raising Carter on the radio, he tells her what just happened and asks what the chances are of her knwoing how to get some shielding going to protect them. Sam, still working in the jumper bay, says that if they power anything like that up, the Wraith aill probably be made aware of their presence, though she admits it might be worth the risk to prevent them from being randomly culled. Limping over to a control panel, she says she'll look into it for him.

In the control room, Teyla continues to browse the files of the numerous Lantean scientists that worked here, but pauses at one in particular. Bringing up the name (in Ancient), she asks Daniel what it says. Jackson looks at the holographic words and reads, "Conaal... Em..." He pauses, staring at Teyla, then finishes, "Conaal Emmagan." Both he and Vala stare at the Athosian woman, not understanding how one of her ancestors could possibly be listed as a scientist at this outpost. Teyla opens the file on him, again asking Daniel to translate. This time it says that he was a young Athosian intellectual that befriended several Lanteans of the time, and was eventually invited to continue his research into faster hyperdrive technology at this facility. He accepted and stayed on as a staff member here until it was abandoned, eventually returning home and marrying. At first, Vala doesn't understanding, pointing out that the Athosians are quite primitive, but Teyla reminds her that her people were once very, very advanced, as evidenced by their ancient city ("Rising, Part 1"). Still, this is a shock to her.

Just then, Daniel manages to crack the Lantean encryption, and gains access to the database proper. He radios Sam and says that he'll transfer access to it to her work station, and Carter thanks him, saying in reply that she's almost hacked her way into the internal shielding controls. In the jumper bay, she hits a few keys on an Ancient computer console, then looks up at the ceiling in time to see it flash briefly. The tower is now shielded. The field isn't strong enough to absorb any sort of attack, but it will at least stop things like scans and culling beams. There's a good chance the Wraith will realize this soon, but what's done is done.

While Daniel searches for references on the Box, Vala asks Teyla if she's okay. The latter assures her that she is, but she is somewhat shocked to learn that her people were considered equals to the Ancestors, worthy enough to work alongside them in the lab. Snorting, Vala remarks that the Ancients did have a thing for superiority, but Teyla quickly cuts her off; for all their faults, she says, the Ancients are responsible for so much good in the universe. To work alongside them must have been a truly incredible opportunity. Pulling her away, Vala asks if that's why she wanted to come along with them, like she knew about this beforehand. Teyla shakes her head, saying that Dr. McKay did find a reference to Athosians living with Lanteans in this outpost, but she had no idea that it was to this extent. Her people will be overjoyed to hear this once she vists New Athos.

In the jumper bay, Carter has finally got the external monitors working, and she's watching the landed Wraith cruiser drop off hundreds of troopers at a nearby tower. She pulls up a map of the crumbling city and sees, to her horror, that the vast system of bridges will lead them to this central spire soon enough, and when that happens, they'll easily be able to overrun SG-1. Thinking fast, she radios Mitchell, telling him to get down to the bridge access corridor and seal the entrance. Cameron, still poking through different labs, gives the affirmative and rushes off to secure the tower.

Far upstairs, Daniel has come across a file on what appears to be Pandora's Box, and calls Vala and Teyla over to see. According to the database, Pandora was working on the doomsday device for several months here before other lead (and much older) scientists began to question the morality of such a weapon. The young prodigy promplty took her research back to Atlantis, where she completed and demonstrated it for the High Council, obliterating an entire fleet of Wraith ships in the process. That's as far as the official file goes, but then Jackson opens the page on Pandora itself, and the sensor logs confirm that she returned to the outpost roughly a month after the Lantean Exodus, remained for three days, and gated home to Atlantis.

Vala asks what lab she worked in, and Daniel brings up a schematic of the tower. Scanning over the readout, he mutters that she wasn't actually working in the control spire, and instead was operating out of... the tower that the Wraith cruiser is now parked on. Teyla, incredulous, remarks that they can't have come all this way just to give up, and Daniel agrees, but he sees no way to get in there without getting themselves killed. That's when Carter, listening over the radio, suggests the jumper; it can cloak, after all, and fly them right over to the second tower.

Downstairs, Mitchell agrees with the plan, and rounds a corner into the bridge-access corridor. He waves at the door panel to open the hatch to the bridge, shouting for Carter to get the jumper ready... and encounters a rather large problem; a dart deposits a group of Wraith to scout ahead of the others right at the other end of the walkway, and they immediately see Mitchell and open fire with their stunners. Diving behind an outcropping in the wall, Mitchell returns fire and shouts over the radio for Carter to get going; the Wraith know they're here now.

In the bay, Sam limps into the jumper's control seat and powers it up, raising it off the ground and activating the cloak. But as she passes out of the bay, the shield she raised briefly interacts with the cloak, flashing brightly in the darkening sky. A passing dart pilot apparently notices this, and fires in the general direction of the bay. The first two plasma blasts hit the side of the tower, but the third hits the jumper as it slips out, knocking out the cloak and exposing the gateship. In the cockpit, Carter swears and guns the drive pods, roaring out of the hanger and swinging around under a bridge, but a few darts are already on her, and several more are maneuvering around ahead of her to cut her off.

She fires off a few drones to dispatch the darts behind her, then dives down into the thickest nest of crumbling towers, the other Wraith fighters hot on ther tail and firing on her position. She flips on the shield just in time to absorb a few hits, but she knows it won't last very long. Spiraling upward between two spires, and managing to ram a dart into one, she radios Daniel, Vala, and Teyla, telling them to get to the jumper bay, take one of the other ships, and help Mitchell.

In the control room, Daniel hurriedly downloads the raw data on Pandora and the Box to Carter's laptop, then leads Teyla and Vala down the hall to the gap in the building (they can see Carter's jumper soem ways away). They quickly make the leap across and run to the bay, getting in one of the other ships. Teyla sits down at the controls, looking over them nervously, not sure that she can do this. But Vala puts a hand on her shoulder, reminding her that her ancestor was deemed worthy to work and fight as an Ancient, why shouldn't she? Comforted, the Athosian powers up the drive pods, cloaks the ship, and takes off.

Several floors below, Mitchell manages to gun down one Wraith, but as he leans out to shoot again, his leg gets hit by a stunner blast and he goes down, his P90 scattering across the floor. He yanks out his pistol, but the Wraith are already advancing down the bridge for him. Suddenly, a drone rips the walkway to shreds, and the warriors fall down into the chasm beneath. Mitchell, shocked, watches as Teyla's jumper slowly comes into view and backs up to the entry to the tower, its rear hatch lowering and Daniel stepping out. Cameron shouts a thanks and waves for Jackson to help him get into the ship.

As soon as he's onboard, Teyla cloaks the jumper again and takes off, heading to help Carter fight off the darts. But Mitchell, recovering from the stunner hit, points to the cruiser instead, telling her to target its vital systems and take it out. At first, Teyla protests, saying that Colonel Carter is far more valuable, but Daniel sides with Mitchell; the cruiser is keeping them from possibly obtaining Pandora's Box, it needs to be eliminated. Giving in, Teyla turns to the cruiser and targets its hyperdrive and weapons modules, evading plasma bolts as it sees them and opens fire. She looses six or seven drones on it, and a massive explosion rips across hits hull. Evading one last plasma blast, she fires the fatal drone into its center, and the entire cruiser explodes, destroying the tower it was latching onto in the process.

Daniel and Mitchell shout in despair, seeing any chance of recovering the Box vanish as the debris tumbles into the abyss. Regardless, there's little left for them here now, and Teyla turns the jumper toward the tower where Carter is destroying darts one-by-one. Suddenly, one of the Wraith ships gets a lucky shot in, destroying Carter's jumper's starboard drive pod, and the ship careens into the jungle below. Teyla dispatches the rest of the darts in the area with drones, then brings her own jumper down into the foliage, spotting Sam's downed ship smashed into a massive tree, the rear hatch opened and the Colonel herself waving from the opening.

After recovering Sam, the team's ship shoots through the clouds into orbit, avoiding the plasma fired by the still-waiting hive ship and dialing the stargate. Even with darts rapidly approaching, there's plenty of time to connect to Atlantis and get through. They're safe.

Once back on the city, Woolsey meets with Colonel Carter (now on crutches) and the others at the gate as they prepare to dial Earth and go home. Richard says that, according to intelligence reports from the Travelers, the hive ship they encountered was formerly loyal to a Wraith called Todd, who gained access to a list of high-priority Lantean outposts when he hacked Atlantis' database a few years ago. This was just the latest on his "to search" list, and whatever Wraith was now in charge on that hive decided to check it out. He regrets the destruction of Pandora's lab, too, which could have been teeming with amazing inventions, but Daniel dismisses it; after going through the rest of the files on her, they discovered she had spent her time there cleaning it out anyway. There was nothing of value left, especially not Pandora's Box. Nodding, Woolsey also adds that Teyla has passed the IOA's exams with flying colors, given that she practically saved SG-1.

As the stargate dials up, Teyla arrives and thanks the team for taking her with them. This mission taught her more than she ever dreamed, and it was an honor to work alongside them. Vala embraces her then, saying that she's welcome at Stargate Command anytime, and the others also smile and thank the Athosian. Then, as the wormhole forms, she and Woolsey wave good-bye to the team as they step through and head on home. After all, they have their own war to fight.

[cuttingedgex23]

The only thing missing was a Sam/Rodney moment *pouts*

The episode was pretty good, but not ur best.

[Crazy Tom]

Bit of a practical cncer: Why would a havily classified, top secret facility, conducting possibly extremly dangerous experiments be housed in a metropolis. Wouldn't a sytem of underground bunkers spread out all over a planet and its moon and connected by beaming stations be safer?

If nothing else it's kind of conspicuous!P

[s09119]

Bit of a practical cncer: Why would a havily classified, top secret facility, conducting possibly extremly dangerous experiments be housed in a metropolis. Wouldn't a sytem of underground bunkers spread out all over a planet and its moon and connected by beaming stations be safer?

If nothing else it's kind of conspicuous!P

We're talking about the Ancients here, Tom. Use some common sense

[Apollo214]

I thought it was good, I've liked the last few eps.

So is the box in the Pegesus or the Milky Way?

[Vampyr]

Like he's going to just flat out tell us?

[Rudy Pena]

Another great one!

[s09119]

I thought it was good, I've liked the last few eps.

So is the box in the Pegesus or the Milky Way?

Like he's going to just flat out tell us?

Actually, I did flat out tell you. I can't remember offhand, but in one of the earlier S14 episodes (I think it was "Resistance"... maybe), Daniel discovered that Pandora left the Box in Pegasus when she returned to Earth.

[Vampyr]

Actually, I did flat out tell you. I can't remember offhand, but in one of the earlier S14 episodes (I think it was "Resistance"... maybe), Daniel discovered that Pandora left the Box in Pegasus when she returned to Earth.

Ssssshh... They don't know that. >.>

[s09119]

...

SG-1 attempts to unlock the mysteries of "The Station"!

While exploring a planet on the edge of the Milky Way recently scouted by the Der'kal, the team discovers an alien transportation device very similar to a ring platform. Curious, they transport themselves away, and arrive within a massive orbiting space station. As they spread out and explore, they quickly realize that this facility is far from ordinary, and far more alien than they had originally thought. In fact, perhaps most disturbingly, Carter can't make heads or tails of any of its systems.

But to make matters worse, the Der'kal are still in the area, continuing their own investigation of the station. And if SG-1 can't find way to either defend themselves or escape back to the stargate, they could find themselves in the clutches of the enemy... with no hope of escape.

"The Station" will feature no notable guest stars.