It had been six months since the hive ship was destroyed in orbit. During that time Stargate Command was run out of Atlantis due to the dominance of the Pegasus gate over the Milky Way version. This benefited those on Atlantis because it significantly increased the number of personnel on Atlantis. This allowed for the repairs to be performed on various sections of the city and new sections of the city to be opened up. The six months allowed the residents of Atlantis to spend some time with their family before getting back to work.

The only exception to this was the premiere team of Atlantis. The military commander of Atlantis oversaw the training of new personnel in the workings of Atlantis and the layout of the city. The director of science and research was busy repairing the power conduits around the city, certifying labs as safe, that he was unable to remember all the new scientists on board Atlantis. Not that he would have would have bothered to remember their names to begin with. The remaining two members of the team were natives to the Pegasus galaxy. They assisted Col. Sheppard in training the new military personnel to the hazards of Atlantis serving as guides around the city, and training all willing members in the martial arts of the Pegasus galaxy.

The time spent on earth did take its toll on people though. The Atlantis expedition members were adamant that Atlantis return to the Pegasus galaxy so that the Wraith could be defeated once and for all. The previous few years saw the elimination of the replicators, civil war between the Wraith, and destruction of the Wraith’s ability to mass produce warriors. The expedition members argued that the job was left unfinished and wanted to go back to finish the job. The chief medical officer agreed with them stating that too many humanitarian missions were left unfinished. Despite their reservations, the IOA finally relented set a departure date for Atlantis, but wanted as much of the Ancient database to be downloaded and stored on earth, and full reports from the science teams on how to reproduce ancient technology so that Earth may benefit.

The six month wait for the return to Pegasus was too much for Teyla Emmagan. Her desire to return to her young child and her husband at the new Athosian settlement grew as time passed. Additionally, there was the issue of Todd. The Wraith was frequently problematic to the expedition and the humans of the Pegasus galaxy, however he aided in the destruction of the replicator fleet, however as a ploy to obtain precious zero-point modules. His plans to use one to power a Wraith nursery, for lack of a better term, was thwarted, and when Sheppard and his team destroyed the facility. Another ZPM was lost when the hive ship was destroyed above earth and two more were offered to Atlantis to help destroy his rebellious second in command. Still, he claimed to have three more hidden in the Pegasus galaxy and offered them for his release. This tipped the scales for the IOA and it was decided that the General Hammond’s was dispatched to carry Teyla and Todd back to the Pegasus galaxy to collect the ZPMs and to gather intelligence on the status of the Wraith and the humans in the Pegasus galaxy.

*****

After six months on earth, Atlantis finally left Earth’s atmosphere and fired up the star drive to travel back to the Pegasus galaxy. The expedition had been expanded significantly, both with the scientific personnel as well as the military personnel. In addition to the Air Force and Marine contingent present on Atlantis, Special Forces from the Navy and Army were added. To say the least is was the most unusual military command any of the soldiers have ever experienced, not counting the whole living in another galaxy fighting aliens aspect. After several months of training with Col. Sheppard and Ronon, they were eager to begin work.

When the General Hammond returned to Earth, their intelligence report suggested that things have devolved with the Wraith and that more cruisers and hives have been lost to the civil war. The General Hammond added to the pressure by using the cancer causing retro-virus being introduced to the various hive ships. After witnessing Todd’s ship fall apart due to the retro-virus, it was theorized that it wasn’t necessary to infect the Wraith, rather their ships. By infecting the cruisers and hive ships they could deal a serious blow to the wraith’s ability to harm the humans of Pegasus galaxy.

On the trip to M35-117, the uninhabited world home to Atlantis Woolsey, Sheppard, Ronon, Lorne, Beckett and Keller had meetings to determine how to effectively reintroduce themselves to the Pegasus galaxy. It was decided that initially, the first several weeks would be spent either gathering intelligence, or coordinating the humanitarian missions. The first mission on Sheppard’s mind was to go and retrieve their missing member. It had been over three months since Teyla Emmagon had left for the Pegasus galaxy and Sheppard, McKay, and Ronon all wanted to see their friend again.

Three days after settling down onto M35-117 after all systems have been checked out after the long flight to the Pegasus Galaxy and the landing on M35-117. The team consisting of Sheppard, McKay, and Ronon got geared up. Dr. Keller joined the team after checking her medkit backpack and putting on her leather jacket. She decided that 6 months away there could have been some medical reason for her to be there, if only to help with the little things. They all knew that reason was superficial. She had spent the last 6 months on Atlantis, going through their medical database, and operating the infirmary. During that time, she and Rodney grown closer and the team knew her travelling with them to fetch Teyla was an excuse to spend some time off-world with Rodney.

Both Sheppard and McKay carried their P90s, and side arms in addition to their tactical vests. Sheppard, being the military man, had his filled with extra ammunition, and a life signs detector. McKay, had a limited amount of ammunition, but also had various electronics and sensors which have proven useful throughout the past 6 years with his ever present computer strapped to his back over his black fatigues and black leather jacket. Ronon was dressed much simpler. He wore his common leather pants, rough, woven shirt, and light brown leather jacket with a sword strapped across his back.

As they stride into the gate room, Sheppard says, “Dial it up, Chuck.”

“Dialing the gate” replied the technician Chuck.

Sheppard looked up to Woolsey. “Don’t wait up for us. If everything goes smoothly, we’ll be spending the night.”

“I know Colonel. Say hello to Teyla for me. We’ll keep the light on for you” Woolsey replied.

Ronon just grunted at this. He looked over at Amelia Banks and gave a small frown. With that, he turned around and followed the others through the gate.

After stepping through the gate, the four looked around and found they were not on New Athos.

“What the hell is going on here?!?!”

*****

Things had not been going well for the crew of Serenity. It had been a though year. The loss of Book had been hard, and it had been harder to desecrate his body and their friends by mounting them on the hull of the ship. Knowing what was happing to the ship made Kaylee shed a tear. The run through Reaver space was frightening, losing Wash on Mr. Universe’s moon. Somehow, they managed to hold off the Reavers long enough although Inara was the only one to really come out unscathed, at least physically.

Getting the deaths of over 30 million people off your conscious would be a salve to anyone’s conscious. For River, though, with the damage that the done at the Academy, it did not give Simon back the sister he remembered. She was still brilliant, but she was still the psychic assassin that the government had forced her to become. She still had problems filtering out others thoughts. There was the sorrow from the Captain from seeing his ship, his home tore up from the crash, his grief over Wash, and his sorrow for his best friend and right hand at the loss of her husband. Added into that was his buried feelings for Inara. Inara felt the same way as Captain Reynolds, about the ship, her crew, and the loss of their friends. Kaylee and Simon were conflicted. There was their grief over the loss of their friends, and from Kaylee the damage done to her girl. There was also the flow of warmth and love of their new relationship and small amounts of guilt that they are happy while so many around them are dealing with their grief. Finally there was the man called Jayne. As a mercenary, he was the best at his job, and did not get close to any of his partners, crew mates in the event he would have to shoot them eventually. It was the death of Shepherd Book that shook him. Since he left home at 15 he had always been wary of others. For the first time he had a friend and losing his friend showed him that Serenity just wasn’t a ship, but rather a family of sorts.

The year following the Miranda broadwave was tough. With a third of the fleet destroyed outside Mr. Universe’s moon opened things up for smugglers. Work was plentiful; however it often came with several risks. The outer rim saw no Alliance patrols so piracy, and slave trading were common. The crew had been ambushed nearly every other job. With only River competent enough to fly Serenity, she had to stay with the ship for a quick getaway. Only about half the time was she able to sense something wrong from the cockpit of the ship and warn the Captain and the others in time. This time, they had a job out on Haven. Both legal cargo and smuggled goods.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This is my first attempt at fiction writing, so comments and suggestions will be welcome.