"Unscheduled off world activation." Before the words where even finished the gate's iris was activated. The gate took time to get a connection, the second generation gates of the galaxy at large taking longer to dial then the third generation one the city had, which gave time for soldiers to take up defensive positions around the gate room while the twin heavy machine gun emplacements where manned. Two combat MALPs where used both as point defences and cover as multiple soldiers stood behind them, weapons pointed at the gate.

The gate's activation caused a tension to fill the air.

"What have we got?" Brigadier Martin asked as he and Schmitt entered the room.

"No idea sir. Wait, getting ICC from. It's our recon team sir." Sofia stated. "Getting a radio signal."

"Open the iris! Hank's been hit, need medical assistance now, we're coming in hot." Behind Matthew's voice gunfire could be heard, both of the rifles the men had with them and the machine gun Sparky used.

Opening the gate, the first thing which came through was an arrow that bounced off one of the MALPs. The first person to come through was Yantok who had one hand holding his sidearm while the other was dragging Hank, the man backing up as he walked into the gate room. Hank had an arrow in his gut, penetrating his body armour and staining it with blood. The other three team members walked through the gate backwards as well, their rifled pointed towards the gate and a defensive stance taken as they entered the gate room. The last to enter was Sparky, which like the others entered the room in reverse as it continued to shoot at unseen targets before stopping once its lock on them was lost. The iris was immediately closed as the shooting stopped.

The iris was hit by multiple objects for the next minute, what or who they were being unknown. After a long, tense minute the gate shut down, the iris doing so as well.

"What happened?" Schmitt asked, walking down to the lower level of the gate room as medics started tending to Hank.

"Locals where less than receptive to our presence sir." Lee informed him, rubbing the back of his neck. "They took exception to the fact we came through the gate."

"Filthy savages wanted to eat us." Yantok stated bluntly.

"I look forward to reading your reports." Martin stated, walking next to his civilian counterpart. "Get down to the medical bay for standard post mission checkup."

"Sir yes sir." Lee stated. A moment later Carl fell over, Matthew catching him before he fell to the ground. "What's wrong with him, what happened?"

"There's a dart in his neck. Must have hit him while we were running." Matthew stated, pulling the dart out. "Get a stretcher out here."

"Sofia, put the planet on the 'no go' list." Martin barked to the higher level, getting a 'yes sir' in response.

Medical Bay

Doctor Haida didn't waste a moment as he started putting on his scrubs, walking through the bay as he did so. "Lucy, you are Terry are on Carl. We don't know what he's got but don't assume it isn't poisonous. We may suspect that it's only a paralyzing agent, but don't assume it is until we know for a fact. David, I want the LLC oxygenated and the sarcophagus prepped for use. I want it ready the moment we're done with him." The minutes rolled by as the doctors and nurses prepared for the patients to arrive, setting everything up as quickly as possible. It was moments after everything was prepared that the doors opened and the first of the two injured airmen where brought in.

Wheeling Hank into the operating room, Doctor Haida spent a long moment looking over the arrow. Sticking a good foot out of his gut, he noted the dark pool of red being absorbed by the cloth in his armour.

"Cut the cloths off, I don't want the have to yank that thing out if we don't have to. Even a slight nudge could add minutes to the kid being in that damned machine." Without hesitation two nurses started cutting the cloth of this armour while the doctor assisting him started to take the protective vest apart.

"Doctor, shouldn't we put him under while we do this?" One of the nurses asked.

"No, for all we know this arrow was tipped with something poisonous. The last thing we need is to finish the job only to have him go into a coma because his body is reacting to some unknown chemical agent." Haida replied, checking Hank's vitals. "But we should get some painkillers into him. No matter how this goes it's going to hurt."

"No. No painkillers." Hank's voice was quiet, his mind clearly in a daze as he made the statement.

"Are you sure son? You don't have to be a tough guy for this, it'll…"

"No painkillers." Hank repeated.

"Alright, no painkillers." Haida turned his attention to the two nurses. "Remove his vest slowly. If it's stuck to him, or worst partially fused at the impact site, I want the damage to be minimal. On three: one, two, three."

On his orders the two started to slowly lift the top half of Hank's vest, stopping after only a second as Hank started to yell in pain. "Damn it, that's what I was worried about." Haida let out a sight. "Are the soldiers who brought him here still there?"

Getting a nod from the other doctor, Haida twisted his head to crack it, a tick he had when he was getting nervous. "Bring them in here."

"Am I going to live?" Hank asked quietly, mind clearly in a foggy state by the tone of his voice and his eyes having an empty look.

"I'm not going to lie to you son." Doctor Haida stated. "Probably. But you'll walk it off."

"Doctor, the bleeding's increased." One of the nurses pointed out, the cloth of his vest starting to become visibly more damp.

"We're running out of time." Haida stated. Looking at the door, he noticed his assistant running in with two soldiers. "Whichever one of you is stronger, grab Hank's shoulders and keep him down. The other do the same with his legs."

Matthew and Lee didn't waste a moment as they got in position.

"You're going to feel a very sharp pain and probably a ripping sensation. You may pass out from the pain, but try to stay with us alright son?" Hank didn't respond to the statement, but Haida didn't care as he didn't have time to care. "Alright, on three: one."

Without warning, he pulled the arrow out with as much force as he could, pulling it clear out of the wound and vest. Hank let out a loud yell and tried to flail around, Matthew and Lee forcing him to stay still. Without needing to be told what to do, the two nurses quickly pulled off the vest and the assistant doctor moved his hands over the wound, putting pressure on it as the bleeding continued. Haida turned to one of the tables and grabbed a small device, moving to his assistant's hands in a small opening between them that the man made. Pulling the device's trigger, the blood escaping the wound stopped and was replaced by white foam. One of the nurses handed the assistant doctor a medical stapler, Haida taking his place handling the wound as he used his two hands to force it closed. With a groan of pain from Hank, the wound was closed up.

"Good, all we need now is the damn sarcophagus. David! What's the status?" Haida yelled across the medical bay.

"LLC's fully oxygenated and the sarcophagus is full enough for operation." The man yelled back.

"Finally, some good news. Get the rest of his clothes off and dunk him in the tank." With that Haida turned his attention away from his patient and left the surgical bay, removing his bloody scrubs as he did so. "What's the status of our other patient?"

"He's awake but unable to move. There doesn't seem to be any other reaction to the substance as far as I can tell. I believe the initial assumption that it was only a paralyzing agent was correct and that we should wait for it to wear off." Doctor Lucy Graham informed him.

"I see. Then we have some standard medical checkups to get on with." Haida stated, turning his attention to the three standing members of the first recon team. All three had their attention on Hank as he was placed into the open sarcophagus.

"Won't he drown?" Yantok asked, noticing the device was almost completely filled with an orange liquid.

"No, that stuff's oxygenated; the level of oxygen within the liquid is high enough for it to be safely inhaled. It's uncomfortably as all hell while you're breathing it, feels like you actually are drowning when you let it first enter your lungs, and expelling it feels worst of all, but it's safe." Haida explained.

"Then why use it at all? What possible use does it have?"

"That machine heals a lot of things. In fact as far as we can tell every bodily injury short of brain damage can be fixed by one of those. The problem is they have an effect on your mind. It's like a drug, it makes your perception of things get off colour, it changes how you act, and it is addictive. LLC was made to reduce the negative effects the machine has without interfering with the positive effects at work." Haida stated. "Though even with it being used regulations demand those who use it be given three day's leave just to be safe."

"But he'd going to pull through?"

"Yeah, he's going to pull through."

Brigadier Martin's office

Later that day

"What's the status of the city's defenses?" Martin asked flatly as he filed Lee's mission report in his cabinet.

Sofia cleared her throat as she began reading off the checklist she held. "We're one 302 short of a full squadron, the remaining one should be done assembly within two days. We already have four craft patrolling the skies at any given time, with two puddle jumpers doing reconnaissance around the planet on six hour rotations. The anti-fighter nuclear missiles are all operational, as is the primary and secondary LADAR system. Conventional ballistic AA are all up and running, networked into the LADAR targeting program. The anti-ship staff canons are eighty seven percent finished being welded into place and sixty one percent networked into the LADAR targeting program. The Drone bay is currently filled out, though it is with Earth made drones instead of Lantean build ones, so the quality is significantly lower. The ship's shields are also back online, with the power generators around the city being more than enough to sustain the shields at full output. The engines are a different matter though; we're still trying to dig out the lowest levels of the city's interior from all the dirt and mud that found its way in there over the past few thousand years. We don't have any estimates for when the ship can fly again. The MALPs on the other hand are almost finished being fitted for direct combat roles. Estimates are six to eight days for the refits to be completed."

"I see, and how goes the relocation of the local Toralans?"

Sofia turned the sheet she was holding over. "They've finished relocating to several towers on Pier Four."

"What are the numbers we're talking about?"

"Seventeen thousand, one hundred and eighty six people in total."

"So they outnumber us more than two to one in our own base." Martin stated flatly.

"That is true sir, however while we have three thousand members of the armed forces present they have only several dozen dedicated warriors, all of which have only melee weapon training. On top of that a full third of them are below the age of sixteen. The MPs in the latest convoy from Earth should be more than enough to handle them and enforce law within the expedition." Sofia informed them.

"I see. I haven't been keeping up to date with what Doctor Schmitt has planned for them." As he spoke the Brigadier poured himself some coffee. "Want one?"

"No thanks." Sofia replied. "Doctor Schmitt's plan regarding the Toralans is integration into our expedition. At the moment we have the children being taught in makeshift schools being run by members of the civilian staff. Most of the adults have taken apprenticeship roles for different parts of the expedition, mainly labour roles or otherwise ones not requiring an education."

"I see. Can't say I perfectly agree with the idea, but I do see it has benefits." He paused to take a large sip of his coffee. "What do you make of it?"

"I think it's a good idea sir." Sofia informed him. "Our presence here may bring the Blight here, so we owe it to these people to offer them protection for that. On top of that this city was built to house one and a half million people, so space isn't an issue, and the Asgard Core we have means food isn't an issue either. Having them here also means that any expansion of our operations will not have as much of a need for unskilled labour for civilian work. We're seeing that already since they are the ones who are primarily digging the earth out of the ships lower levels, and even once that's done it will take months to properly lean the lower decks, so that gives us plenty of time to figure out what to do with them by then."

"Is that so? I had no idea Doctor Schmitt had already found work for them."

"He's going a step further." Sofia stated, turning the page of her papers again. "He's planning on minting a currency for the city and operating a basic economy."

"Really?" Martin asked, intrigued by the statement.

"Yes. Unlike the members of the expedition who are getting weekly payments into our bank accounts back home, the Toralans don't have such a payment plan given their agrarian lifestyle. By having a currency for them to be given for their work he hopes to set up a basic economy where rationing of food is made simpler, as well as the use of the Asgard Core for the procurement of civilian items. To that end he also plans to have payment with the currency extent to all members of the expedition, though it would not affect our own salaries in our home nation's currencies back home."

Martin took a moment to finish off his cup of coffee. "That's interesting. By chance, where is Schmitt right now?"

"He's inspecting the main power generator room at the bottom of the tower." Sofia informed him.

"I see. Dismissed."

"But sir I'm not finished…"

"It can wait until tomorrow. Dismissed."

"Yes sir." A moment after Sofia left the room Martin started to lock up his office.

ZPM room

Entering the ZPM room, Brigadier Martin was first taken by how different it was from when he had last been in it a month earlier. Each of the three walls in the triangular room had four large metal shelves welded onto them, each one, as well as the floor below them, housing Mark IV naquadah generators. Each wall had twenty such generators, totally sixty in the room alone.

He didn't dwell on how much power was being generated, instead turning his attention to the man he'd come to see. "Doctor."

"Oh Brigadier, I didn't expect you to come." Schmitt stated, and then turned back to the man he had been speaking with. "I think we're done here. If there's another problem don't hesitate to call me."

Schmitt walked up to Martin. "Sorry about that, had an issue with the power distribution system that needed my approval for a temporary diversion. It shouldn't interfere with the city's defences."

"That's good to hear, but it isn't why I came to see you." Martin informed him. "We need to have a little talk."

"Well I'm all ears."

"You may be, but I don't want others listening in." Schmitt didn't need to have it explained to him, the doctor simply walking out of the room and into an adjacent hallway. The two men started walking down the long hall, the hallway itself leading down one of the piers, going on for almost three kilometers until it reached the end.

"I take it this isn't a curtesy call."

"No doctor it is not." Martin stated. "I was having my weekly briefing from Miss Braginskaya on what your people have been doing. Your people have been doing quite some work, but what caught my attention was mention of your plan to create a currency and economy for this city. I found it quite interesting."

"Interesting you say." Schmitt said.

"Yes, interesting." Martin replied. "Now you are the only man in this galaxy who can give me an order, you are the leader of this expedition and I, as the leader of the military detachment, and under your command anything that isn't a military matter. I cannot tell or order you to do anything unless it is in regards to a military matter. However, as this does constitute something which is critical to our ongoing war effort I am going to give one an order under the regulations of our mandate. Is your planned basic economy and currency system a part of the governments Pax Terra policy?"

"I'm surprised you figured it out so quickly." Schmitt stated. "Yes you've deduced correctly."

"I did major in economics back in the day doctor, don't underestimate me. A few difference choices and I'd be in your position right now." Martin said, slowing down a bit.

"I see. How did you figure it out though? That was still faster then I'd thought anyone would catch on."

"The very need for an economy is a red flag in my eyes." Martin answered. "We've had expeditions and off world bases use locals for held before, but we've always made arrangements for housing and food and other needs and wants being provided, nothing as fancy as making a whole economy. On top of that even if we were to set up a local economy requesting a shipment of bills in the next supply convoy from Earth would be much more practical. I see right through what you're doing, you're trying to create economic ties, and dependency, for between us and any of the more advanced economic worlds of this galaxy. Start a bit of bilateral trade, they learn we have a functional economy and currency; they take in some of that currency as a foreign reserve. We are unlikely to do the same as we have no need for a reserve currency here and outside of possible medicines there is unlikely to be anything of value other worlds in this galaxy have to offer. Do this for a short period and the next thing you know all worlds that are industrial or above suddenly have us having a large amount of soft power over them on top of our military having the ability to project strong power as a constant possibility for them to consider when making decisions. It's a plan as cunning as it is malevolent."

"And you figured it out because you came up with the idea independently of my doing so." Schmitt stated, giving Martin what could almost be called a smirk.

"As I said, a few different choices and I'd have been in your shoes." Martin replied. "I won't obstruct things, but I will go on record saying I disapprove. Applying the policy of Pax Terra in the Milky Way galaxy is one thing, but there's no reason to expend it beyond."

"The politicos back home disagree." Schmitt came to a stop as he spoke. "The ambitions of many back home is to live up to our world being the fifth race to its fullest, with aspirations to dominate the entire galactic cluster by the end of the century with a network of colonized worlds. Part of my mandate is to work towards that goal, and my plan is a part of the foundation with which to do so. I don't know about how you regard your being here Brigadier, however I, as well as many civilians of the expedition, consider this to be a permanent posting. We are just as much settlers here as we are explorers, returning home would mean our mission is a failure."

"The clock moves forward but some things never change." Martin said, shaking his head. "I don't see where the honor is in being the Fifth Race. Three of the first four went extinct and the last one are a bunch of hippies."

Mess Hall 2

January 6th, 2016

"So Sergeant, is it true you and the Doctor are related to Captain Jon Haida?" Matthew asked a he finished his lunch.

"Yup, my little brother and his son. Couldn't tell you much about him thought, he wasn't raised with us since by the time he was born my parents both went headfirst into their work. I was old enough to take care of myself at the time, but he was made a ward of the state since we couldn't properly provide for him." Mark replied. "It was also partly done to allow him to properly develop his 'natural talents'."

"So no chance for an autograph, eh?"

"Nope." Mark answered without hesitation.

"Well, worth a try." Matthew stated. He fiddled with his fork for a few moments thinking of what to say next. "You know, I heard that the locals of this planet have some odd variation of the Ancient gene, something that couldn't be natural, or have come from breeding with Ancients."

"Really?"

"Yeah, member of the medical staff mentioned it to my partner Hank when he was in recovery."

"Hank, can't say that name rings a bell."

"He's the guy who got hit by an arrow last week."

"Oh, the guy the natives went native on. Everyone was talking about that." Mark laughed at the comment. "I can't believe our field armour couldn't take the hit."

"Well if it was a regular arrow it should have, but analyzing the thing showed it was made with trinium." Matthew informed him. "Which is why we're going back. As much as I hate to say it, command wants to know how the hell an early agrarian culture could manage such refinement of metal. It logically should not be possible, which leads us to suspect there's something else at play."

"And if they are using trinium arrows, how the hell are you supposed to actually find out what's happening?" Mark asked, Matthew now having his full attention.

"Simple, we're going to send a dozen combat MALPs ahead of us to clear out anything that's hostile until we find out where they're making it and how they're making it. After all if they're making it in a way that even an agrarian civilization could the things we could do are just, well, unthinkable."

"I'll say." Mark stated. "Trinium is one of the few things we can't make with an Asgard Core due to all the locks it has inside it. Those Asgardians really wanted us to have to work for the knowledge in those things. I mean we've had them for what, a decade now? And we still have most of the exotic materials deemed 'off limits' due to our 'advancement' as a society being not considered far enough in their eyes."

"Hey, look on the bright side, they could have left us with nothing, and for everyday stuff it may as well be a replicator from Star Trek."

"That's true, but it would be nice to have those things set to the more exotic materials out there. Just think of what could be done if we could pump out 304s in minutes instead of months, or build satellites like the one they found near Atlantis in an hour? Earth would never be threatened again." Mark stated with lament.

"True, but we're still the most advanced civilization in the known universe." Matthew stated back. "It's not as though the enemies we're facing are truly intelligent anyway. I mean the smartest thing we've fought in years was other humans, how bad could the Blight be given what we've seen?"

Blight Laboratory

Unidentified planet

Voz had been looking at the data for hours. On multiple monitors information regarding movement of his forces throughout the galaxy where displayed, factories coming to life, labs growing new minions and new armies being born before his eyes. The information had only held his attention for so long, the details being unimportant in that moment. What was important was the wrench that had been thrown in the gears of the vast machine he had built so many thousands of years ago. That wrench, which held his attention, was the small world which held Toris. He could not afford to take any chances with them; whoever lived in the city would have to be dealt with. It had been a mistake to leave the city intact. He had wanted to return to it when his goals had been accomplished, but evidently someone from Avalon had another idea, or perhaps they were from Pegasus, or possibly even Ida, however unlikely.

It mattered not though; the galaxy from which the new occupants of the city hailed from was irrelevant. What mattered was removing them from play and preventing them from interfering with his work anymore than they already had. And he had his galaxy spanning empire preparing to do just that.