Five Horsemen Productions

[Rudy Pena]

I'm getting closer on the next chapter, so what should I call it?

It involves the city business getting streamlined again, and diplomatic pressures regarding the Coalition.

I shall think of something to help you out.

[Aragon101]

Without knowing exactly what the main plot is, tis difficult to give an idea for a name

I'd say think of something political like "Economies" or something.

Oh question, will Sam be a main or a recurring? given that she does have alot of knowledge of Ancient Tech, i'd think she'd want to learn from Janus.

[ussrelativity]

Well, she will be recurring.

Sheppard's main team will be of him, McKay, Ronon, and Ford. Teyla is essentially an ambassador between Atlantis and the Coalition worlds. Having a Pegasus native helps.

[ussrelativity]

Here we go.

7x01 "The Road"

Spoiler:

Out in space, a lone Wraith cruiser is heading toward a planet. Suddenly, another ship phase shifts heading toward it, and begins firing. The Wraith ship takes solid damage.

The Wraith ship turns its attention to the other ship, which matches the design of the one that Ford was on. It turns to fire at it, at which its shots are blocked completely by its shields.

On the Wraith ship, the commander is informed that the enemy ship is undamaged. He orders a squadron of darts to outflank the ship.

A small group of darts emerge from the cruiser, only to be cut down by an extremely fast shock-weapon. All of the darts are shredded.

The commander is angered.

“Who are they?!” He pounds his chair and gets up to personally man his weapons control. The cruiser fires again and again at the other ship.

“The ship does not appear to belong to Atlantis or their Traveler allies.”

“Find out who!” The commander became more angry. The bridge of the cruiser is shaken more violently than before.

The other ship fires again at the Wraith ship. The outer hull of the Wraith ship fractures extensively. A secondary explosion occurs in the dart bay.

“A dorsal section has decompressed. Our weapons are down!”

The Wraith commander was both angry and humiliated.

“Withdraw.” He ordered.

“Yes, commander.”

The subordinate engaged the controls. Nothing happens, except the ship is rocked again.

“Hyperdrive will not engage.”

“Is it offline?” the commander asks.

“No, engines are still operational, the hyperdrive just won’t engage.”

Thinking quickly, the commander had to change tactics.

“Signal the hive.”

“Our signal isn’t working.”

“WHAT?!”

“We can’t contact the hive. Our communications are impaired.”

“Get this ship as far away from that as possible, immediately!!”

The Wraith cruiser tries to flee at conventional speed, but the other ship matches its every move. The ship throws forward three drone weapons toward the Wraith ship, damaging it further. The commander sees the entire thing from his ship.

“Lantean weapons! How can they possess that?!”

The ship fires a yellow beam weapon at the cruiser, bringing it to a stop, then fires it again.

The Wraith’s command deck is a wreck. The commander looks up at the forward view of the other ship in defiance.

“How?…… How?”

The other ship fires three charges at the cruiser, breaking it apart and destroying it.

On the bridge of the other ship, the commander is the same person who was with Ford before.

“Gather all the information from the debris, including a few samples. The hive carrier they were attempting to contact would likely come on their own after some time. Shift and wait for them and we can take another round of observation.”

The ship, in full view, phase shifts again.
______________________________________________________________________

Several weeks have passed since Janus’ arrival in Atlantis. He spent most if not all his time in his lab, and modified it so that only a few select individuals could enter, such as McKay, Zelenka, and himself. At first, his presence was directed toward restoring full power in the city. He secluded himself to most, except McKay and a few once word got out in the city.

Only at intervals did he allow more of the expedition to work with him. There were several groups amongst the Pegasus refugees that demanded to see “the Ancient.”

Janus was testing the expedition in order to engage them. At first he worked only with McKay and Zelenka. Outside of his work, he would converse with Woolsey about modern society on Earth, and the future of humanity.

Ronon, not having as much time off-world these days, with all the Pegasus refugees coming into Atlantis, rather than them going to see the other populations, kept training with other personnel. He wondered what Janus was like, how he was still around, how strong he was…..

Carter was the one most skeptical about him. She hadn’t had much of an opportunity to talk and work with Janus. She thought that he was hiding something from everyone on Atlantis, and that she suspected that she was aware of something.

Atlantis was about to start deploying a series of small defense satellites that would have two to three person crews. With the arrival of Janus, it would appear that production could perhaps be accelerated and improved.

Janus was not concerned with their own production directions, but with restoring full power to the city and asserting self-sufficiency for Atlantis.

There were three Zero Point Modules in the city now, thanks to Janus. McKay was taking serious heat from Woolsey and the other department heads about resource allocation from a single module. The problems only multiplied with the influx of refugees.

How many refugees were there in Atlantis now? 11600 give or take a dozen. If there was one major concern other than the Wraith, it was maintaining order with all the refugees.

There were some scuffles now and then, and it was hard enough for the military personnel to keep up with the increasing demand, so many Athosians volunteered to help with security amongst the refugee population.

Even with three ZPMs, they would still have to remove them when the time comes. When the Wraith arrive. They couldn’t allow them to be taken by the Wraith.

Reports were coming out from various Coalition members that the Wraith attacks were becoming rather eccentric. When the Wraith would cull a planet, they were putting at least twice the amount of Wraith soldiers on the ground and using their stun weaponry, proceeded to ‘tag’ many of the taken with a marker.

Sheppard wanted to get back out there as soon as possible. What was he doing just being there in Atlantis? The city was at full power, the defenses were being upgraded. They should just go out there and blast as many of their ships as they could, like with the Replicators, he thought.

“If we had Atlantis in the fight, we could really work their numbers down.” Sheppard thought to himself. “Three ZPMs, we can fly. It could work.”

He remembered something that Janus said to him.

“If you know why our kind are gone, why take the same path?”

No way would Sheppard want to go down the same road. They had a lot of advantages over the Wraith. The city shield, faster ships, more powerful weapons. Sitting around wasn’t his style. It’s not like his team didn’t already know that.

They had to do something about the Wraith, and something big. It’s not it was before. The Wraith were much more aggressive in their cullings, and taking entire villages. They were much more tactful in their operations. Either they were approaching their death knell, or something very ugly was about to happen to Atlantis, and possibly Earth.

The sooner they got back out there, the better.

City business. The norm of it was the expedition did their operations and experiments as before. Now it has become an issue of security amongst the refugees. Eleven thousand refugees is not a light task to handle. 85 composed the Atlantis security detachment. The Athosians helped somewhat, but it was getting more difficult.

What more could be said than the obvious?

Ford knew it.

Ford ‘crossed paths’ with Sheppard’s team several months earlier after he was dropped off from a ship. His objective was to gather intelligence with his other operatives regarding Atlantis, including their defenses, industrial capacity, and operational intent regarding the Wraith.

No one outside of him and the two others knew.

Woolsey was hesitant to allow him roaming status in the city, given all the refugees and resource limitations. Sheppard went out on a limb for him with Woolsey and the I.O.A.




“It’s a great honor for my people to do this. I can help so many if I accept this.” Teyla said.

“Not having you on the team leaves us down a member. I can’t just appoint a replacement.” Sheppard said back.

“Colonel, you know that in the long run, it will have been for the best.”

“You really sure about this? You won’t be out in the field as much, you’ll have those Coalition people breathing down your neck.”

“I can handle them. Mr. Woolsey will also be with me during some of the meetings.”

“I still think it’s better to have the meetings here in Atlantis more. With the Wraith being more brazen now, I think it’s best we have our people city-side more.”

“We have to show to the Coalition that we are willing to put our people out there, and not simply give our support for show.”

“No point arguing with you on this, is there?” Sheppard asked.

“The decision is not only mine, but Mr. Woolsey’s as well. As the official ambassador of Atlantis, and being a native to this galaxy, this will grant me considerable leverage to negotiate with the leaders of the Coalition worlds.”

Sheppard thought for a moment.

“Aiden also wants to return to active duty. Since I will be leaving, he should be the one to take my place on your team.”

“I wondered if you were going to bring that up.”

“You see my point.” Teyla pointed out.

End Of Chapter 1.


I do apologize for taking too long. I did realize that it had been a while, since I wrote more, so I figured, while many of you are waiting for ROTA (as I am, too), I should put up another installment of my own work for you to enjoy.

[Rudy Pena]

It is good, I do wonder what Sam thinks Janus is up too.

[Aragon101]

Evil Janus! just kidding

I dunno, i always figured Sam would be cautiously optimistic, and more forward with Janus, she'd certainly start questioning him about the time ship.

I'm also not too sure about this new race that can take on the Wraith. Although i AM curious as to the ideas you've got.

moar plz?

[ussrelativity]

Well, they can't exactly take on the Wraith head-on. They are working rapidly towards the moment that they do wipe them out. And they are willing to fight their way through humans to do it.

And in more recent times, they have effectively allied themselves with the Asgard.

From the first chapter, it is shown that they are demonstrating observation and weapon testing.

[ussrelativity]

I'll have another chapter up in a day.

I'm getting back into writing this again.

With ROTA on a slower pace, I figure I should pick up my own pace to keep everyone happy.

[Rasunda]

Good. Can't wait for more

[Rudy Pena]

I'll have another chapter up in a day.

I'm getting back into writing this again.

With ROTA on a slower pace, I figure I should pick up my own pace to keep everyone happy.

That is cool, I am very much looking forward to reading some more.

[ussrelativity]

Wow! I really got going on that last scene.

I truly hope to keep a far stronger pace with this one. Here, we will get to explain more with Ford and what he's been up to, and what else happened in Atlantis 4x11.

I am introducing a new semi-recurring Traveler character with this chapter.

Spoiler:

Above Atlantis, a Traveler ship exits hyperspace and begins a decent to the surface. Across several balconies and sections of the city, various groups look out as the ship lands near one of the piers. A jumper leaves the tower and hovers near the front end of the Traveler ship. There are some smear marks on the left side of the ship.

In the control room, Chuck reads the acknowledgement from the Traveler ship.

“They’re down on the West pier. Jumper Five is examining the damage.”

Woolsey stepped forward to the display.

“Have Zelenka’s team move to the West pier when they’re ready. Have Caldwell beam the Traveler captain directly to the control room. It’ll cause a scene for them to move past the crowds around the city.”

A minute later, the Traveler captain was transported into the control room.

“You’re Woolsey?” he said.

“I’m Richard Woolsey, the commander of the Atlantis Expedition.”

“Formal. As you already know, we were attacked by a Wraith cruiser, but we escaped. We’ve taken some battle damage, and we were relatively close to your city, so we decided to come here.”

Some time later, Woolsey is in the conference room with the Traveler captain, Himoal.

“We can repair your hull, and retrofit your engineering assemblies, but we do require a compensation that I had relayed to you before.”

“You need more security in your city.” Himoal pointed out. “And you want me to provide you with some of my men.”

“We have nearly 12000 people here in the city currently. We need additional resources to handle the refugees. We have 300 comprising our expedition, plus an additional detachment of 85 from Earth to handle the refugees.”

“And with you taking on so many, you want us to provide additional manpower. Perhaps you should stop bringing so many of them in.”

“Our people have expressed concern about bringing in so many into the city, with what available security we have. We received a detachment from our home planet to handle security matters, but we are being stretched too thinly.”

“All the reason for you to stop bringing them in.” Himoal stated.

Woolsey took a moment.

“I have the same concerns you do. Until recently, we only had one Zero Point Module to utilize in the city, with our sending of two others back home. We now have a full complement in the city, and can easily handle the additional refugees for now.”

Himoal was curious. How were they able to obtain the new modules, when for years they were continually relying on just one to get by?

“And how did you get new power modules?”

“There’s a new arrival in the city. This one is responsible for manufacturing new power modules, and is working to improve the city’s shield efficiency.”

Himoal became rather intrigued.

“How would he be able to actually make these Z.P.M.s?”

Woolsey paused for a second.

“He’s an Ancient.”

“How long has he been here?”

“Just over a month.”

“You’ve obviously gotten better at keeping your secrets more secure. You’re certain the Wraith don’t know?”

“Our communications have been tightened. The Coalition of worlds that was formed doesn’t know yet.”

“I still don’t know how you were able to accommodate so many in just a few months. How many more before you reach your limits?”

“At the height of the Ancient’s civilization in Pegasus, there were as many as 35-40,000 living in the city.”

“Nearly 40,000 Lanteans. What you have is scores of refugees that aren’t doing anything but taking up space. They need to be able to make something of themselves. This city is not an appropriate place for them.”

“We are aware of how many we have in the city.”

“Do you really plan to take in another 25,000? Your leaders couldn’t possibly want that.” Himoal was making a strong point, though Woolsey kept his form.

“They want us to have them moved as soon as possible.”

“And yet, you continue to accumulate more. You do see where this is going, don’t you?”

“We wouldn’t have brought this many into the city without a long-term plan for resettlement."

“Resettlement, is it? Does this have to do with your home galaxy?

“We have had a final plan in the works for some time. Setting up settlements is much easier in the confines in our home galaxy, though we still encounter difficulties.”

“I’m sure you would.” Himoal was interested in the plan.

“There is still the issue of temporary security.”

“How many of my people do you want doing your busy work here?”

“If we can get a detachment of at least 45 troops added to our main complement, we will compensate you with repairs best possible for your ship.”

“I should be able to do this.” Himoal stated. “There is one additional request I have. The point-defense weapon systems you used in your first major defense against the Wraith, I want to have this added to my ship.”

“You want weapons.” Woolsey firmly replied. “That is something I can’t readily give.”

“You’ve given weapons to agrarian civilizations here. What is so different here?”

“The railguns we have and use are highly advanced technology, and that is something that we are not willing to trade.”

“You know that you would have assisted our ships in the past for smaller compensations before. And you are pressed for additional security in your city.”

Woolsey paused for a moment. Himoal must have known about their situation before hand.

“You knew.” Woolsey was blunt.

“Yes, I did. If Larrin was informed, it would come to us sooner than you probably would think. For the weapon system, I am willing to double the contingent.”

“I still can’t directly give you this level of weaponry. For one, the technology is designed for our ships and bases. It’s not exactly as you could say compatible.”

“You can let us determine that. You know that we are quite adept at salvage operations for starters.”

“Let’s stop with repeating what each other already knows and get to the point. Can you provide the 45?”

“Yes. And of the railguns?”

“I’d have to discuss this with my leaders.”

“In other words, no.”

“I’m not saying that.”

“Woolsey, you’re the type of person who made a living filling out papers and giving such sterile directions. If you were a soldier operating out of this city, would you be eager to fight the Wraith with people like your leaders managing your units?”

“Do you have another point to make?”

“My detachment will be ready in two hours. I’m returning to my ship.”

He leaves.

“That went well. I should have had Teyla here.” Woolsey said to himself.


Ford was in another part of the city amongst some of the groups. At some point later on, he casually headed for Janus’ lab, careful not to be seen.

He could get through several sections normally, but there were some secure areas where he would be noticed more by the personnel. He moved through another section, then stopped before another corridor with two guards.

He cautiously observed them for a second. He wasn’t trying to break in to another section of the city like a Genii would, he was trying to get to Janus without anyone noticing and asking questions.

A voice sounded off in Ford’s head.

“Take the route in the other direction, and then head for the transporter.”

Ford was a bit startled for a second.

“Yes, it’s who you think it is. You can take the transporter to another section and continue from there. I can keep the others from detecting you.”

Ford looked around for a second.

“Your wife’s name is Vina. Shall I convince you further?”

Ford continued down the other direction and entered a transporter. As soon as the door closed, the transporter activated. Ford found himself in another section.

“Keep going.”

Ford went on.

“Look to your left.”

Ford did so, and there was Janus just a few feet from him.

“There you are.” Janus said.

“How’d you do that?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“You sure aren’t like any Ancient I’ve heard of.”

Janus wasn’t surprised by that comment.

“Let’s head to my lab.”

“Aren’t there people between here and there?”

“They can’t see us.”

“Me either?” Ford asked.

“You and I can walk by them as if we were never there.”

Over the next several minutes, Janus and Ford walked through several more sections of the city, and no one seemed to notice either of them.

Ford was quite shocked about how Janus kept himself as they went through the sections, especially as Janus walked through one of the scientists. Janus then turned around to Ford.

“They can’t hear us either. You can speak more freely.”

“Uh, can we walk through the walls, too?”

“Yes, but I would prefer that we keep to the actual corridors.”

As they came to the corridor outside the lab, Janus went right through the wall without triggering the light switches as McKay did before. Ford slowed just before the wall.

“You can safely enter. There’s no one else here.”

Ford stepped into the lab, and saw a detailed holographic display of one of the ships he was on previously. He took a second to examine it.

“Where’d you get that? Aw, hell I’m not surprised anymore. So what are you getting at?”

“Your people are showing a lot of initiative towards a single goal, the extinction of the Wraith.”

“You can say that.”

“You still aren’t ready yet.”

“No, we’re still testing our more powerful weapons. We can take a Wraith cruiser one-on-one.”

“Particularly thanks to your ace-in-the-hole phase shifting and extensive shield efficiency.”

“That and a few things we picked up when the rest of them were blasting each other over Asuras. We don’t have those Asgard guns that the 304s got.”

“That will be one problem should you try and take them on directly.”

“They’ll try and stop us when we start targeting planets that have collaborated with the Wraith….. or Atlantis.”

End of Chapter 2.

[Rudy Pena]

It is very good, I do wonder what else the Traveler Captain is up to.

[Aragon101]

Just read it.

Railguns aren't hard to build. I can't see the Travelers not being able to build something like Earth has if not better. Although the animosity does add a nice tension

How are they feeding 12000 people? :|

Interesting, will be waiting for more

[ussrelativity]

More should be up very soon.

[Rudy Pena]

More should be up very soon.

I look forward to reading more good stuff.